Saw an article today about a recent march held in SF with the headline “March raises awareness.” I love that “raising awareness” used to be a step on the path towards getting people to act and has now become an end in itself. It is awesome how many things I am aware of now: breast cancer, Haiti, the war in Iraq. And how little I do about any of that.
However, I’ve realized that there are categories of awareness-raising that will lead to actual changes in someone’s behavior. A few examples:
– Raising awareness in your boyfriend about the stove being on fire.
– Raising awareness in the guy hitting on you about your particularly horrifying STD.
– Raising awareness in your dinner guests about your dismissive attitude towards personal hygiene.
If you’re wondering, the march referenced in the article was raising awareness for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Week, a multi-layered cake of awareness-raising that blows my little brain.