Pride:
Didn't know whether or not to jot something down about this. As much as I may be prone to be the party pooper and the devil's advocate I actually don't enjoy bringing people down or at all discouraging them from having fun, but I think that being honest with yourself about why you are celebrating something is very important. I have felt this way about all holidays which is largely why I try and avoid Christmas, Halloween, and sundry other holidays that have gotten out of control. If they cannot be avoided though, or you desire to have a celebration inspite of them, I think it is best to find a way to celebrate in a way that is meaningful to you. That is why instead of Halloween I celebrate Samhain and instead of Christmas I celebrate Candlemas.
So as it is with those I feel that the real meaning and spirit of pride parades has been completely lost in the last two decades of celebration. Now pride is shameful. Hrm...maybe not shameful but certainly nothing I feel prideful about. Debaucherous excesses of alchohol, drugs, and lechery. None of which are inherently wrong in and of themselves but taken to extremes on this day to an undesirous level. Pride is now another circuit party and that is probably the last peculiarity of the gay community to be proud of.
When pride parades started it was a political and radical thing. A statement not really about pride but about a lack of shame. "We are gay and we are not ashamed of that." But you can't really call it a "Lack of shame" parade. So they became proud of it in response to shame. We live in a time now where many of us are not at all ashamed and never were. The very idea of shame is foreign. Thusly so is the idea of pride. Now being gay is just one little part and not such a radical statement anymore. I am no more prideful of being gay than I am of being caucasian or middle class. If anything I am more proud of my atheism than any part of my self...but that's a whole other entry. So with nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to be proud of either, the only thing left is politics or partying. Well there are tons of queer political organizations now that lobby for us every day of the year. That just leaves the party. So what are we celebrating at pride? Being gay? Hardly. We're celebrating what is always celebrated within the gay community. Being pretty and naked and shaking your ass with a beer in your hand. And don't forget money. We worship that to with all the corporate sponsors that we allow in that also celebrates all the aforementioned attributes. "Be proud, drink bud." Might as well say "Be proud, drink apple juice." The two have just about the same relevance.
Don't get me wrong. There are still a lot of people in the world that believe that being gay IS shameful and who try to oppress us. But dancing drunk naked and coked up in the sun does nothing but egg on the sterotypes that they have laid down about us. Pride parades do nothing to fight those who would put us down, and if anything gives them fodder to throw in our faces. I am reminded of a Onion article who headline read, "Neighboors thing gay man next door is nice upstanding citizen until they see him on parade float." The adjoining picture was perfect. I believe it was actually taken from San Fran pride.
Starting to stray I can tell........My point is that if you want to party...party hardy. But don't do it under these pretenses of being pride. Party because it's summer and you want to party. Have naked men dancing around you and drag queens screeching with all thier might because you love them both and want to cheer them on...not because they are suppose to represent what being gay means. You want to get smashed and roll on the substance of your choice and get laid....by god do it and do it WELL....but don't do it and pretend that it is a prideful act....do it because you like to get fucked while you're huffing poppers.
Today I intend to celebrate pride in a very specific way. I recieved several invitations to the parade but instead I am going to prepare my home to receive guests who are all queer so that we can gather and share sustenace and enjoy each others company. To me that is the most prideful and revoloutionary thing to do. Gather, converse, share ourselves, and enjoy. That is how I will be proud.
Didn't know whether or not to jot something down about this. As much as I may be prone to be the party pooper and the devil's advocate I actually don't enjoy bringing people down or at all discouraging them from having fun, but I think that being honest with yourself about why you are celebrating something is very important. I have felt this way about all holidays which is largely why I try and avoid Christmas, Halloween, and sundry other holidays that have gotten out of control. If they cannot be avoided though, or you desire to have a celebration inspite of them, I think it is best to find a way to celebrate in a way that is meaningful to you. That is why instead of Halloween I celebrate Samhain and instead of Christmas I celebrate Candlemas.
So as it is with those I feel that the real meaning and spirit of pride parades has been completely lost in the last two decades of celebration. Now pride is shameful. Hrm...maybe not shameful but certainly nothing I feel prideful about. Debaucherous excesses of alchohol, drugs, and lechery. None of which are inherently wrong in and of themselves but taken to extremes on this day to an undesirous level. Pride is now another circuit party and that is probably the last peculiarity of the gay community to be proud of.
When pride parades started it was a political and radical thing. A statement not really about pride but about a lack of shame. "We are gay and we are not ashamed of that." But you can't really call it a "Lack of shame" parade. So they became proud of it in response to shame. We live in a time now where many of us are not at all ashamed and never were. The very idea of shame is foreign. Thusly so is the idea of pride. Now being gay is just one little part and not such a radical statement anymore. I am no more prideful of being gay than I am of being caucasian or middle class. If anything I am more proud of my atheism than any part of my self...but that's a whole other entry. So with nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to be proud of either, the only thing left is politics or partying. Well there are tons of queer political organizations now that lobby for us every day of the year. That just leaves the party. So what are we celebrating at pride? Being gay? Hardly. We're celebrating what is always celebrated within the gay community. Being pretty and naked and shaking your ass with a beer in your hand. And don't forget money. We worship that to with all the corporate sponsors that we allow in that also celebrates all the aforementioned attributes. "Be proud, drink bud." Might as well say "Be proud, drink apple juice." The two have just about the same relevance.
Don't get me wrong. There are still a lot of people in the world that believe that being gay IS shameful and who try to oppress us. But dancing drunk naked and coked up in the sun does nothing but egg on the sterotypes that they have laid down about us. Pride parades do nothing to fight those who would put us down, and if anything gives them fodder to throw in our faces. I am reminded of a Onion article who headline read, "Neighboors thing gay man next door is nice upstanding citizen until they see him on parade float." The adjoining picture was perfect. I believe it was actually taken from San Fran pride.
Starting to stray I can tell........My point is that if you want to party...party hardy. But don't do it under these pretenses of being pride. Party because it's summer and you want to party. Have naked men dancing around you and drag queens screeching with all thier might because you love them both and want to cheer them on...not because they are suppose to represent what being gay means. You want to get smashed and roll on the substance of your choice and get laid....by god do it and do it WELL....but don't do it and pretend that it is a prideful act....do it because you like to get fucked while you're huffing poppers.
Today I intend to celebrate pride in a very specific way. I recieved several invitations to the parade but instead I am going to prepare my home to receive guests who are all queer so that we can gather and share sustenace and enjoy each others company. To me that is the most prideful and revoloutionary thing to do. Gather, converse, share ourselves, and enjoy. That is how I will be proud.