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Originally Posted by ShaniFaye
Im quite confused....how does being silent help? Arent you just perpetuating the very thing thats being done? Its like...oops we cant talk about this so we're going to shut our mouths and not say a word.
It seems very very backwards to me and I dont see how it promotes anything, other than people are telling you to be quiet about your lifestyle and so thats what you're going to do.
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It probably won't change anything. It's symbolic. We have to hide who we are, or let others pretend that we aren't who we are so often that it goes unspoken and almost unnoticed. The day of silence is meant to bring attention to that silence.
Let me give you an example from last week. I'm period subbing for another teacher who has a doctor's appointment, Mrs. C. An 8th grade girl approaches us as Mrs. B is about to leave, and asks her, "Mrs. C., would you and your husband like to chaperone the Sadie Hawkins dance this coming Friday?" She was assertive but polite, explained that they were having problems finding chaperones, and asked Mrs. C. to please think about it. Then she asked me, "Miss Nakamura, would you like to chaperone . . ." and I got the same speech. I'm out at work, I've taken Grace to many sporting events, plays, and awards banquets. We don't make out in the cafetorium, but we don't hide that we're a couple. Everyone at the school knows I had my name changed to be the same as my partner's--they knew me as Miss Mitchell before the change and know me as Miss Nakamura now. Yet, I get invited to chaperone alone, while a hetero teacher gets her mate invited along. It's a little thing, and no offense was meant, but it shows that it's still not kosher to recognize that there are homosexual couples out there.
It's worse for transsexuals. For every drag queen glamming it up on stage, there are a dozen whose only goal is immersion; to be seen as, to
be the sex the feel they are inside. This is easy for the FTM; male hormones give a woman a beard, body hair and a deeper voice and the ability to build larger muscles, and masculinize the face quite a bit.
It's really hard for the MTF. Hormones don't really change much, not the voice, beard, and have only a mild affect on body hair and facial appearance.
Most don't want to be seen and heard, they want to be normal, unnoticed men and women. And this leaves them with no voice, because to speak up is to lose everthing they've worked so hard to get. They can't defend themselves without revealing to a hostile society who they are. This day of silence symbolizes their plight.
It isn't expected that it'll change anything, except make a few more people aware. Protests are always more about the people protesting being able to express themselves than solving problems. This is no different.
Gilda