
Well as many people might know, yesterday was the National Day of Silence (
[link]). This year it was dedicated to the memory of Lawrence King, a 15 year old kid shot to death on Valentine's Day 2008. He was allegedly killed by another male student whom he had given a valentine. So somehow the murderer learned that having another boy like you is so scary and terrible that you have no other recourse than to kill him. I wonder where he got that from? His family? His church?
And on that note, four years ago bigoted Christian students started an organization called Day of Truth, which like most conservative religious things is a euphemistic misnomer for something psychotic and hateful. And like most conservative religious people, they are protesting the Day of Silence but they have no idea what the hell it is or what it means. These idiots think it is a "politically correct" maneuver intended to force people to be silent about the issues, rather than its true purpose which is to call attention to the silence GLBT students already have to endure because of pervasive homophobia and anti-gay bullying in schools. The Day of Silence is about recognizing the silence that already exists so that one day we can end it.
So ironically as always, these Day of Truth assholes will show up Monday with a thinly veiled anti-gay message, wearing t-shirts that read "let's have an honest conversation about homosexuality." And just like the phrase "Day of Truth" is a misnomer, so is "honest conversation". Of course they have no intention of having anything remotely close to that - what they want is to shove their moronic superstitious beliefs in other people's faces and make GLBT students and their friends feel ashamed, alone and terrorized. Business as usual for anti-gay Christians, and funny because that's the whole reason the Day of Silence exists in the first place. (Rule number 48 in the manual on how to be a conservative Christian: help to continue the thing you claim to want to get rid of. Oy.)
Well I don't want to spend too much time on these yahoos, but being aware of their existence and the persistence of other homophobes is important because it reminds us what the Day of Silence is all about.
There are two components to it. There's the silence of course, which is meant to make us think about all those LGBT kids (and adults for that matter) who have to suffer in silence and fear, especially the ones who are hiding in the closet or living in dangerous environments. For some people, being discovered as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender can result in pain and loss - the loss of friends, family members, religious community, reputation, job, or even life. We must never forget that, especially those of us living in the liberal, urban bubbles like Madison, WI where we are tempted to think the world is becoming oh so much better for LGBT people. In some places it is. But not all places.
The second part of all this is where we break the silence. In Madison, middle and high school students from all over Wisconsin meet us college folks at the university, we march silently down State Street to the capitol building, and there on the steps we break the silence - which starts off with a lot of very cathartic screaming and roaring, followed by numerous speeches. I didn't make it this year, but I have in the past and I am always amazed at the courage and intelligence of these middle and high school kids, some from very small, very homophobic towns, who are able to get out in front of a crowd of people and deliver articulate, heartfelt speeches about their own experiences and the need to continue the struggle for tolerance and equality for all people.
Today I am encouraging anyone reading this to break the silence in whatever way they can. You can shout it from the rooftops that you are LGBT or a straight ally, and damn proud of it, that's one way. But I'd bet for most people that's not altogether feasible. Just remember that breaking the silence in small ways is just as powerful as doing it big and loud.
If you're straight, why not just do something positive, like write an on-line journal entry, or just say something supportive to a gay buddy of yours if you have one, or hell just give him a hug. Most of us queers do a fine job of handling the stress of bigotry on our own if we just know that our friends and family are there for us.
Or maybe you're a Christian who believes in equality - well those Day of Truth douchebags and others like them are always trying to pass themselves off as the exclusive representatives of all Christianity. Why not do something, no matter how small, to show that they don't speak for you? If you need some inspiration you can check out a great website here:
[link]You don't need to be a big activist to make a difference. Case in point: my best friend is heterosexual, and while he supports my rights and well-being, he hates politics and religion. He hates when I bitch about current events, which is often. He has no intention of writing an editorial or staging a protest. And I don't expect him to. What I expect him to do, which is what he's always done and what I love him for, is to drink beer with me, and go disc golfing, and watch me play video games, and force me to watch movies I haven't seen yet, and to tell me to stop making political art and "draw something cool".
But I do know that in the past, when other friends of his have made homophobic comments, he has been quick to say "hey, one of my best friends is gay". And that might seem small, but I feel that is one of the most important things people can do - stop the spread of homophobia in mundane conversations, because that is largely where intolerance is propagated. If everyone just did that little thing on a day-to-day basis when they encountered homophobia (and sexism, racism, and any other form of ignorance), I think it would have a greater impact on society than the grandiose efforts of all the activists and lobbyists in Washington.
And you never know who around you is secretly LGBT, and will be there to witness someone taking a small stand against ignorance. They might even be the person making the homophobic comment. It could make a lot of difference in someone's life, especially if they are accustomed to only hearing negative things about LGBT people.
Peace and love.
-Ryan
Devious Comments
I knew all along that you were hiding them for me. I thought it was really sweet of you, I just didn't wanna go flooding you with messages if you didn't want me to.
lol I learn somthing every time I comunicate with you! I will definatly look into this artist, I love it when artists hide meanings in their work, it makes it all the more entertaining for the observer.
That thing at the end with your teacher made me lol. :3
g2g do some stuff, otherwise I'd say more, bye for now!
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Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. ~Winston Churchill
And discuss whatever you want on my page, I only hid your comments at first because you seemed a bit nervous, I just wanted to protect your privacy.
I thought of you the other day by the way, because I'm writing a paper on this great Canadian, two-spirit artist named Kent Monkman ("two-spirit" term that means queer, gay or transgender Native Americans, in case you don't already know that).
In some of his paintings Monkman directly references 19th century paintings of Native Americans by white, Christian Europeans and Americans - but he subverts them by slightly altering them in "queer" ways. Like one thing he does is insert himself in the paintings as his drag queen persona, Miss Chief Share Eagle Testickle. Or he might do an epic American landscape with Indians hunting buffalo - but there will be something slightly gay if you look closely, like maybe the Indians will just have abs that are a bit too defined, or there might be a cowboy in assless chaps riding alongside them.
Well there's a lot of stuff going on in his paintings and he's pretty popular in Canada right now, so it should be easy to write a 10 page paper (whenever I stop procrastinating and get around to actually writing it of course).
But the reason I thought of you was that in one of his interviews he talks about copying, how historically it was always a learning technique and common among artists. And even though he's sort of making fun of the old 19th century paintings, he admits he's learning a lot about painting by copying them. So he's both respectful and critical of white American renderings of Native Americans; and he's at once making fun of Western art history, but also becoming a part of it himself by using the same style and techniques.
So here's a great example of direct appropriation of other work that I was talking about earlier.
Here's where all the interviews are, they're really interesting: [link]
And if you google images with his name, some examples of those paintings should come up.
Plus he's kinda cute. I told my professor that's why I picked him to write about, and instead of realizing it was a joke and laughing, she just said "yeah, he is beautiful".
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"It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
- I Corinthians 7:1
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Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. ~Winston Churchill
Nice work about sexuality and drugs, I've loved it.
Best regards from France.
John
The best advice I heard was just not to sound sad or apologetic when you do tell someone. The other person will feed off of the emotions you're showing them. If you are confident people are more likely to listen and respect what you're saying, but if you act all freaked out, they're more likely to freak out.
Well I can't guarantee that will work for everyone, it's just advice I heard that seemed to work for me. Not like you asked for my advice but you got it anyway.
And anyway aren't you still in high school? There's no rush.
As for copying, it is an instructional tool, an exercise. Of course in college you do also have to come up with original work for actual class projects, and when you want to put work up in a show you can't just submit a rip-off of something already made, you're likely to get booted out of college for plagiarism.
(Well unless you can make some convoluted, pretentious appeal to "artistic appropriation", but that's a whole other thing you shouldn't worry about right now.)
But in the meantime while you're practicing, don't let anyone tell you how, just do whatever motivates you. Then when it comes time for you to create original work, you'll have all that skill under your belt.
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"It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
- I Corinthians 7:1
And thanks for not posting on my page, if people clicked the link, they would read this stuff and know before I was ready to tell them.
Thanks a million dude.
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Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. ~Winston Churchill
But anyway I was just going to echo that there's nothing wrong with copying, even though a lot of people seem to think there is. That art has to be completely original is a modern idea, a result of our commercialized culture where everyone is competing against everyone else.
But in past times art was considered a trade skill, and if you could draw or paint exactly like a master artist like Michelangelo, your skill was considered highly developed. Most of those master artists had a team of workers who did most of the painting for them anyway.
Copying is a great way to develop your skill. Just yesterday I noticed in the show I'm in right now, that a group of undergrads were in there sketching some of the paintings. One of my colleagues probably made it an assignment for their class. And in my own education I've been sent to museums many times to sketch the works on display there.
So not only is copying not bad, it's actually good for you. Just don't try to sell the copies.
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"It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
- I Corinthians 7:1
Also, thanks for the
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Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. ~Winston Churchill
Please feel free to keep in touch.
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"It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
- I Corinthians 7:1
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Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. ~Winston Churchill
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"It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
- I Corinthians 7:1
I really love the way you drew the feet of the men in the piece I added as a fav.
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I Like My Coffee Black. LIKE MY SOUL. Dx
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Heh, I'm not a fan of Paul, in case you can't tell!
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"It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
- I Corinthians 7:1
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"It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
- I Corinthians 7:1
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breathe deep, seek peace
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"It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
- I Corinthians 7:1
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I Like My Coffee Black. LIKE MY SOUL. Dx
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