Katrina Rix Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Well, for those of us in the States, the Day of Silence is tomorrow - the 13th. That means I will be doing something practically unknown fo me - shutting up. :shock: For a whole day, no less! See, you're not supposed to talk to symbolize those people who can't talk about their orientation, out of fear, ignorance, or other reasons. I figured it's a very good thing for asexuals, since we're pretty under-the-radar at best, and many of us are silent because they have no idea they're not unique or feel uncomfortable talking with friends or family about asexuality. So... *uncomfortable silence* Rock on. Yeah. Link to post Share on other sites
-V- Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 I've never heard of that. WHat could there be keeping people from talking about it besides fear and/or ignorance? Link to post Share on other sites
hafnium Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 there is something similar that native hindus do as part of yoga, but for three months at a stretch. you are suposed to be in isolation and not speak one word and communiate your needs with signs. they say keeping mum that long has beneficial effects on psychology and "cleanses" you. Link to post Share on other sites
Islander9 Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 For myself, I'd prefer to spread information (thanks for those pamphlets cijay!) Can be done silently of course-but I am a word person and this includes spoken, shouting, and uninhibted outright screaming of the fact, ASEXUALS ARE A-OKAY! Link to post Share on other sites
borrowedTime Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 I've never heard of that. WHat could there be keeping people from talking about it besides fear and/or ignorance? Well, of course this is more relevant to gay and lesbian people than to asexuals as such, but policies like Don't Ask, Don't Tell spring to mind. So, if you're not allowed to speak, I presume you're not allowed to use the telephone? But text messages are allowed? And email, and chatting on web forums? What about deaf people? Do they stop using sign language for the day? Link to post Share on other sites
str8fuknpimpin Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 i'd like to at least be able to talk to myself and my cat, man. omg, i don't know if i can not talk to myself all day, or even for a couple mins....whoaa, yeah, i don't know about this Link to post Share on other sites
Amcan Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 That's interesting. I'd never heard of it either. Doubt I could do it I spend so much time talking to myself.... Link to post Share on other sites
CC Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 I participated last year, and for a little bit this year, and yes, it can be tough. Sadly, though, I've other stuff that I HAVE to do that requires talking, so... :? Link to post Share on other sites
Shivers Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Hm, wonder if I can make that fly at work? Go the whole shift without speaking? Nah. It'd be hard to take an order through the drive-thru without speaking (-:þ Seriously, though, I think I'd be somewhat opposed to that. I mean, encouraging silence about different orientations is just clinging to discrimination, IMHO. I'm actually fairly silent already. Maybe I can have a loud day instead? Link to post Share on other sites
hafnium Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 here is the official link if anyone's interested Link to post Share on other sites
Katrina Rix Posted April 14, 2005 Author Share Posted April 14, 2005 Hah! I did it!... And that was really not normal for me. Link to post Share on other sites
-V- Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 yay, i didn't think you could do it. Link to post Share on other sites
Chozo Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Hmm. I've never heard of anything large-scale like that in the UK. It would be mildly cool but also maybe kind of pointless, unless people are aware what you are silently protesting. Although if I did it at work nobody would notice :) Link to post Share on other sites
Silly Green Monkey Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 I read in the paper this morning that yesterday the Day of Silence was observed. First I'd heard of it on campus. Link to post Share on other sites
sexiseverywhere Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Day of silence is for those who suffer in silence from abuse and harassment or simple fear related to their sexual or percieved sexual orientation. At my school the GSA made it the 21st...the day that Mathew shephard died I believe. Link to post Share on other sites
cait Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 there is something similar that native hindus do as part of yoga, but for three months at a stretch. you are suposed to be in isolation and not speak one word and communiate your needs with signs. they say keeping mum that long has beneficial effects on psychology and "cleanses" you. Is that like a dathun? I really want to do one of those sometime, but at the same time I have too many inhibitions about it. As much as I love talking, I love not talking. But that's not really an activist activity, just a meditation thing. I don't feel any purpose for personally being silent for a day. I don't go out much anyway! I probably haven't said anything to anyone but myself today anyway. But I get the concept, saying something by not saying anything. I just can't see how it can be pulled off in normal life, unless you lock yourself in your room all day...and that seems to defeat the purpose as nobody knows you're doing it. I'm not trying to criticize the idea >.< I'm just being honest. Link to post Share on other sites
hafnium Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Is that like a dathun? I really want to do one of those sometime, but at the same time I have too many inhibitions about it. As much as I love talking, I love not talking. But that's not really an activist activity, just a meditation thing. yeah, dathun is meditation but there are a lot of things you do including talking. i am talking about this form of yoga in which the person goes spechless for a month. everything- food etc. is given to you in hand. its called maun here. they say there is a lot of loise in the modern world and the human mind cannot delve deeper so long as it is part of this noise. with a prolonged period of silence, people are forced to look within. i read an article that covered this thing and it said that some people drop out in the third or fourth day because they just cannot deal with the silence. ironically, they are agitated by it. their pulse quickens, they pace up and down their rooms- they show signs of physical distress. those who are able to complete the course say they are transformed for life. Link to post Share on other sites
cait Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 I'm not actually clear on what a dathun is, but I was under the impression that people just don't speak. I guess they have certain activities where they talk about specific stuff with eachother, and they listen to people talk or something. I am intrigued by the maun now. I can imagine that most people just wouldn't be able to deal with it. Heh, I have this strange feeling I'd start hallucinating if left to silence for a month. >.< But I am sure it would be quite interesting. I know that some people just get really anxious and need to do something and make contact and be stimulated, and can't handle their boredom of solitude or lack of stimuli around them and engagement in outside activities (woo, runon sentance). But it must be so hard to and/or weird to go back to regular life after the experience. I've talked to people who've done dathuns and they say it's really surreal, and it's hard with all the noise and activity around them. This is really ironic, but I think if I did not have social phobia I could do something like that. >.< Maybe I'll do it when I'm older. Then I'll write a book on how crazy it made me. It will be awsome. Link to post Share on other sites
VivreEstEsperer Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Oy gosh, I forgot about the DOS AGAIN? for the second year in a row? How sad. Hey, that was a new intro to After Midnight on this radio stn. /end off topic Anyway. My GSA didn't do anything to recognize it. I can't believe I'm so out of the loop of gay current events that I would never have even remembered it was DOS unless I'd read it here. Sigh. At least there are still people who remember.... Yeah I couldn't be quiet for a day either. But it's a nice idea. Kate Link to post Share on other sites
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