Performative In Pink
It will take a lot more than wearing pink shirts to end bullying
I don’t really have an issue with pink shirt day, per se. In fact, I think it’s a great way to increase awareness and to start conversations about bullying in schools and classrooms.
Pink shirt day even began as a grassroots movement by some awesome teenagers in Nova Scotia, Canada.
As the story goes, pink shirt day began in 2007 when a grade 9 student was bullied for wearing a pink shirt. Whether the boy is gay or not, it was assumed he was because he was wearing pink, and he was called homophobic slurs.
I imagine there’s a bit more to the story, but the cool part is that a fellow student and his friends all decided to wear pink shirts to school the following day, in support of the bullying victim. Not only that, they went to a thrift store and bought as many pink shirts as they could find, then handed them out for other students to wear.
The campaign has grown worldwide and is used to promote bullying awareness and anti-bullying programs. Proceeds from pink shirt purchases often go to charitable organizations, such as the CKNW Kids’ Fund in British Columbia.
That’s all pretty amazing.
