terra firma
I arrived back in the United Kingdom this morning a good hour ahead of schedule, which is great considering the terrible weather on departure from Krakow Balica airport. I came within a hair's width of missing my flight because of the rain, but it made for some exciting sprints across flooded car parks, and a couple of amused glances from people at the security check and departure lounges; I was wearing white, so chances are that they could see my chest in its entirety. "Hee hee, check out those nipples!" Nipples is such an ugly word.
Yes, like all good Englishmen, I had an umbrella in my rucksack, but I was foolish enough to have my third arm removed before my eighth birthday in order to fit in. Big mistake for the baggage-laden moments of my life, and it certainly prevented me from keeping myself dry on this occasion. Flight was good, turbulence was fun, journey home was very quick. And it's Pride tomorrow... quality sleep is in order.
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'Nipples'? An ugly word? How so? I like the word 'nipples'. It is much preferred it to 'tits' at any rate. The word 'tits' gives me images of birds stuck to a person's chest. 'Nipples' however, rolls off the tongue deliciously like a dirty martini... somewhat like 'mamelons' or 'derriere'... but maybe that's just me...
Hmmmm...I'm trying to picture you in a tight white t-shirt with your nips protruding. Nice thought...let me work on that for a bit. I'll get back to you. :-) Welcome back!
Hey, that was my line. ;) Haha. I visit this site too much. Bleh.
See this? (points at face; deadpan). We are not greatly amused.
:) S'nice to be home... though still busy getting back into things after a pleasant but busy Pride weekend. And now work. The fun never ceases - speak soon!
Hehe... relax. ;) You're the one who brought it up anyway. We can hardly fantasize about the size of your cerebellum now can we? (Oooooh, those frontal lobes...) Okay, okay, I'm dropping it now... Have fun with your work. ;P By the way, how was Pride? Do anything interesting?
Isn't Pride about "being" rather than "doing" (in that sense)? Or am I just naive?
Actually, I've only ever been to Pride once, and that was a couple of years ago in Copenhagen. It turned into some kind of Gay-Nazi parade, with a "good prize" handed to Amnesty (OK, fair enough), and a "bad prize" being "awarded" to... ALL MOSLEM COUNTRIES, which received a massive cheer. I stood there surrounded by people I didn't know and didn't want to know. I suppose it's the double-edged aspect of Pride - on the one hand you want to support it, as it's a group you're a member of (!), but on the other hand: what do you really have in common with most of the people there?
Well addressed, David; this is a concern I've always had in the past, but my experience of Pride in this city, or rather London given that I'm back in Cambs, has always been pleasant. The march invariably has people waving banners, but all these do is to identify particular groups to which their bearers belong.
Among those on this year's march were the gay muslim group, and they were the only group (besides a float covered in drag queens) to receive a cheer and general applause from the bystanders, of course for a different reason to that which you witnessed. The only overtly political signage was a mass-produced, red placard which carried a message directed at the Egyptian government, demanding that they stop treating gay men like animals.
A friend of mine who has never been to Pride recently voiced a concern that I raised years ago before going on my first march, suggesting that most people out on such marches are probably all stereotypes, flambuoyant exhibitionists and fetishist types.
Indeed, some of them are, but there are many "normal" looking people out there too, and I think that's important. After all, people tend to recall the more bizarre and obviously gay looking characters from the crowd, so how better to avoid the perpetuation of such images than for us regular-Joes to get out there too?
For my friends and I, it's just an excuse for all of us to gather in one place from all over, for one day, and to catch up in festive company. We happen to participate in something with a greater agenda, but as with many people there, we merely make up the numbers.
Uhh... Pride isn't about who's portraying stereotypes or who's portraying the truth about gay men and women. It's about celebrating the freedom to be who you are, to love who you want to, and the right to not be ashamed of your sexuality. For every 'out' person in a Western country, there are two repressed people elsewhere.
How often I read or hear homosexual people from western countries criticize their own Pride. Criticize the stereotypes or garishness, the flippancy and the fun. And often these are the people that forget that they have the freedom to even put on such a display of stereotypes and garishness and flippancy and fun.
So even if there are stereotypes being portrayed, you should CELEBRATE the freedom that you have in being able to BE that stereotype. CELEBRATE that your country allows you to dress in chains or wear a dress or dance around cheek to cheek with another guy in a thong. CELEBRATE that you can hold and hug and kiss in public without fear of being arrested. CELEBRATE that you have the FREEDOM to CELEBRATE it.
So stop being so concerned about the message and just celebrate the freedom. Because for some of us, pride is just a dream.
Or of course you could disagree with me completely and simply take Lance's view that Pride is simply "a way to offend the most people in the least amount of time." Which works for me too. ;P
Actually, I'm not concerned about the message at all. Now.