 | Mental health needs to be a mainstream civil liberties issue. Other oppressed groups - women, blacks, gays and people with physical disabilities, for example - have made significant advances in terms of their rights and social standing over the years by campaigning, direct action, making a fuss, and being proud and unapologetic. Mad people are beginning to learn from this but have some catching up to do. This won't involve sitting on government committees pleading for rights, or deferring mad pride and pleasure until society sees fit to recognise the correctness of madness. | ||||
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RECOMMENDED SITES MAIL diy at x-madpride-x.org |
But it will involve learning to speak French. Mad people will make advances in terms of their status not by going down on their hands and knees, but by turning madness into a sexy issue. Madness has a certain je ne sais quoi. Mad people will no longer go to psychiatric hospitals but will instead visit the mental boutique to get their heads pampered. This will not mean hiding the rightful anger, nor the pain, but it will mean refusing victim status. People practising Mad Pride will remove their groceries from their Kwiksave carrier bag and put them into a Harrods carrier bag, to keep up appearances. | ||||
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