Awareness concept
Going out, partying and dancing is part of a good life for many people. It's about having fun and living it up. But what fun means to individuals varies from person to person, because personal boundaries are individual and subjective. It should be a matter of course to respect them, precisely because we want to be able to rely on our own boundaries being respected by others.
Especially in spaces that are characterized by loudness and darkness, confinement and intoxication (but also in other areas of social gathering and interaction), there are unfortunately always boundary violations. These often affect people who are already discriminated against by existing social power relations. Sexism and sexualized violence, trans- and homophobia, racism, rejectionism and anti-Semitism are just a few examples of structural forms of discrimination. Often, affected persons leave the event after such experiences, although it is not them but another person who has done something wrong and crossed personal boundaries. They are then left alone with their negative experiences and avoid these places or even parties, events, etc. in general for a longer period of time. However, this excludes those affected even more, discriminates against them and thus manifests the existing conditions.
In order to counteract this, it is necessary that all those involved in an event know their limits and respect their own as well as those of others. It is therefore the responsibility of everyone (guests, organizers, artists, etc.) whether the party has the potential to make everyone feel comfortable.
Why awareness?
- because we are aware that border violations and assaults unfortunately happen
- because the conditions addressed (structural discrimination) are unacceptable and must not be allowed to become more entrenched
- because we are aware that boundaries are subjective and sometimes difficult to put into language
- because we are aware that it is not easy to always be empathetic and to respect everyone's boundaries, including our own
- because situations can be so drastic and stressful that those affected feel powerless and alone
- because we want to devote our time and attention to those who are affected rather than to those who have behaved in a transgressive way
- because we want to sensitize for structural discrimination and borders, your own and those of others
- because we hope that eventually everyone will be aware and we will make the awareness crew redundant
source: Theorie-Konzept B-Aware Berlin