#Political movement

[alpaca-clouds]

The history of Solarpunk

Okay, I guess this has to be said, because the people will always claim the same wrong thing: No, Solarpunk did not "start out as an aesthetic". Jesus, where the hell does this claim even come from? Like, honestly, I am asking.

Solarpunk started out as a genre, that yes, did also include design elements, but also literary elements. A vaguely defined literary genre, but a genre never the less.

And I am not even talking about those early books that we today also claim under the Solarpunk umbrella. So, no, I am not talking about Ursula K. LeGuin, even though she definitely was a big influence on the genre.

The actual history of Solarpunk goes something like that: In the late 1990s and early 2000s the term "Ecopunk" was coined, which was used to refer to books that kinda fit into the Cyberpunk genre umbrella, but were more focused on ecological themes. This was less focused on the "high tech, high life" mantra that Solarpunk ended up with, but it was SciFi stories, that were focused on people interacting with the environment. Often set to a backdrop of environmental apocalypse. Now, other than Solarpunk just a bit later, this genre never got that well defined (especially with Solarpunk kinda taking over the role). As such there is only a handful of things that ever officially called themselves Ecopunk.

At the same time, though, the same sort of thought was picked up in the Brazilian science fiction scene, where the idea was further developed. Both artistically, where it got a lot of influence from the Amazofuturism movement, but also as an ideology. In this there were the ideas from Ecopunk as the "scifi in the ecological collaps" in there, but also the idea of "scifi with technology that allows us to live within the changing world/allows us to live more in harmony with nature".

Now, we do not really know who came up with the idea of naming this "Solarpunk". From all I can find the earliest mention of the term "Solarpunk" that is still online today is in this article from the Blog Republic of Bees. But given the way the blogger talks about it, it is clear there was some vague definition of the genre before it.

These days it is kinda argued about whether that title originally arose in Brazil or in the Anglosphere. But it seems very likely that the term was coined between 2006 and 2008, coming either out of the Brazilian movement around Ecopunk or out of the English Steampunk movement (specifically the literary branch of the Steampunk genre).

In the following years it was thrown around for a bit (there is an archived Wired article from 2009, that mentions the term once, as well as one other article), but for the moment there was not a lot happening in this regard.

Until 2012, when the Brazilian Solarpunk movement really started to bloom and at the same time in Italy Commando Jugendstil made their appearance. In 2012 in Brazil the anthology "Solarpunk: Histórias ecológicas e fantásticas em um mundo sustentável" was released (that did get an English translation not too long ago) establishing some groundwork for the genre. And Commando Jugendstil, who describe themselves as both a "Communication Project" and an "Art Movement", started to work on Solarpunk in Italy. Now, Commando Jugendstil is a bit more complicated than just one or the other. As they very much were a big influence on some of the aesthetic concepts, but also were releasing short stories and did some actual punky political action within Italy.

And all of that was happening in 2012, where the term really started to take off.

And only after this, in 2014, Solarpunk became this aesthetic we know today, when a (now defuct) tumblr blog started posting photos, artworks and other aesthetical things under the caption of Solarpunk. Especially as it was the first time the term was widely used within the Anglosphere.

Undoubtedly: This was probably how most people first learned of Solarpunk... But it was not how Solarpunk started. So, please stop spreading that myth.

The reason this bothers me so much is, that it so widely ignores how this movement definitely has its roots within Latin America and specifically Brazil. Instead this myth basically tries to claim Solarpunk as a thing that fully and completely originated within the anglosphere. Which is just is not.

And yes, there was artistic aspects to that early Solarpunk movement, too. But also a literary and political aspectt. That is not something that was put onto a term that was originally an aesthetic - but rather it was something that was there from the very beginning.

Again: There has been an artistic and aesthetic aspect in Solarpunk from the very beginning, yes. But there has been a literary and political aspect in it the entire time, too. And trying to divorce Solarpunk from those things is just wrong and also... kinda misses the point.

So, please. Just stop claiming that entire "it has been an aesthetic first" thing. Solarpunk is a genre of fiction, it is a political movement, just as much as it is an artistic movement. Always has been. And there has always been punk in it. So, please, stop acting as if Solarpunk is just "pretty artistic vibes". It is not.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, I guess.

[themogaidragon]

Jewish Anarchism Flag

PT: Jewish Anarchism Flag /end PT

ID: a completely black flag with in the center a white symbol composed of a circle with the Hebrew Aleph inside. The Hebrew letter Aleph consists of a diagonal line that connects two horizontal lines at the top and bottom. The upper line is slightly longer than the lower line, creating a shape that resembles a stylized X with a vertical line through the middle. END ID

Jewish anarchism: a political movement that combines elements of anarchism with Jewish thought and culture. It advocates for a society without hierarchical structures or centralized authority, emphasizing individual freedom, mutual aid, and community cooperation. Jewish anarchists often draw on Jewish traditions, texts, and values to support their beliefs in social justice, equality, and critique of oppressive systems.

No know creator for the design since it is a widely used one since years.

Edited 30 to correct wrong credits.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Gender reality is performative which means, quite simply, that it is real only to the extent that it is performed.

-- Judith Butler, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory”

--

This doing of gender is not merely a way in which embodied agents are exterior, surfaced, open to the perception of others. Embodiment clearly manifests a set of strategies or what Sartre would perhaps have called a style of being or Foucault, "a stylistics of existence." This style is never fully self-styled, for living styles have a history, and that history conditions and limits possibilities. Consider gender, for instance, as a corporeal style, an 'act,' as it were, which is both intentional and performative, where 'performative' itself carries the double-meaning of 'dramatic' and 'non-referential.' When Beauvoir claims that 'woman' is a historical idea and not a natural fact, she clearly underscores the distinction between sex, as biological facticity, and gender, as the cultural interpretation or signification of that facticity. To be female is, according to that distinction, a facticity which has no meaning, but to be a woman is to have become a woman, to compel the body to conform to an historical idea of 'woman,' to induce the body to become a cultural sign, to materialize oneself in obedience to an historically delimited possibility, and to do this as a sustained and repeated corporeal project. -- Judith Butler, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory”

--

Queer theory functions to complicate existing academic frameworks, and conceptions of social relations, by deconstructing the dominant, heteronormative structures undergirding extant scholarship (Marinucci, 2010). One theoretical strategy relies on an insistence on the social construction of gender and sexuality (see Butler, 1990). Theories of social construction claim that human identities are not inherent or essential (that is, having an essence), but rather emerge out of social relations and discourse. In Butler’s (1990) work, she understands gender as produced through repetitive practices of personal and social practices. In other words, one’s gender does not exist a priori discourse, but instead is constructed by characteristics and experiences. At the base of social constructionist theories is the assumption that, since identities are constructed, they can always be constructed otherwise.

Queer theory also offers the opportunity to rethink or reimagine normative or dominant discourse “queerly.” Intellectual labor of this sort requires scholars to transpose queer ideas of identity formation and social relations to texts that might otherwise be taken for granted as part of the dominant sex-gender-sexuality matrix. For instance, one might imagine that two women in a mainstream magazine advertisement are lovers and then consider the social and political import of such a reading. Or one might “read” texts through a queer lens, as illustrated by Alexander Doty in Making Things Perfectly Queer (1993), which allows scholars to offer a queer “corrective” to mainstream interpretations of media culture. One could also read historical discourse queerly, as Chuck Morris (2007) and others do in Queering Public Address, an intellectual strategy that allows us to imagine a queer past.

One of queer theory’s strengths is its explicitly political character. Drawing on its roots in feminist intellectual projects, queer theory attempts to bridge the gap between the academy and the populations being theorized (Beemyn & Eliason, 1996). Because queer theory functions to complicate and challenge heteronormativity, it is situated in opposition to many oppressive practices (sexism, homophobia, etc.). Queer theory thus has the potential to undermine systematic domination by deconstructing the practices that lead to oppression. Scholars and activists (these identities frequently overlap within the realm of queer studies) often find that queer theory and the process of deconstruction is a productive way to rethink identity and to rework social relations. In its ideal manifestation, queer theory is also a form of queer practice.

-- Sherwood Thompson, "Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice" (TOR)

==

Gender dysphoria (Gender Identity Disorder) is not required; this isn't about alleviating distress.

https://www.hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms

Transgender | An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth.

https://www.realityslaststand.com/p/exposed-gender-workshop-for-parents

Question: Do you need to have gender dysphoria to be trans?

Kyle responds, “Absolutely not, no. Not every person is going to experience dysphoria, or sometimes it might develop, or it might come and go like a little annoying house guest.” Kyle then says “You don’t need to have anything to be trans besides the knowledge or the feeling that you’re trans.”

No form of transitioning - literally the trans in trans- is required.

https://www.hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms

Transitioning | A series of processes that some transgender people may undergo in order to live more fully as their true gender. [..] Transgender people may choose to undergo some, all or none of these processes.

Note: Queer Theory says that there can be no such thing as a "true gender," as it's performative and socially constructed, not innate; something you do, not something you are or have.

==

This isn't a civil rights movement, it's a political ideology that denies objective, material reality in order to undermine and dismantle it. Because trans experience is defined by biology, this denial of all things anchored in reality - including psychology and neurology - means it's as much anti-trans as it is anti-everything-else, while wearing the mask of trans people, Face/Off-style, and pretending to be the real thing.

The human rights issue issue at hand is the damage it's doing to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transsexuals, those with intersex (DSD) conditions, women, children - especially those who are NGC, autistic, gay, or have self-esteem or body issues, and therefore vulnerable - and yes, men and heterosexuals too, as objective reality itself becomes unspeakable.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Could pink be Earth’s oldest color? That’s the implication of a 2018 study that found bright-pink pigments in 1.1 billion-year-old rocks — thanks to the fossils of the billions of tiny cyanobacteria that once dominated oceans.

The natural world has long been painted with every permutation of pink — whether embedded deep in ancient rock, sported by shrimp-hungry flamingoes, or simply lining the shores of Bermuda’s pink-sand beaches.

And yet the color carries a lot of cultural baggage.

As pink made the jump from nature’s palette to human adornment, it gathered connotations of colonialism, beauty, power, and gender.

How did pink become such a cultural flashpoint? As the world takes a revitalized interest in the hot-pink planet inhabited by Barbie, here’s a short history of the compelling color.

Admiration for pink in the ancient world

Early humans quickly transitioned from admiring pink in the natural world to attempting to wear it.

For example, in the Andes Mountains about 9,000 years ago, fierce hunters in what is now Peru wore tailored leather clothing with a pink hue thanks to red ochre, an iron oxide pigment that is one of the oldest natural pigments used by humans.

Humans weren’t content just to smear this pigment on cave walls or use it while tanning their leather garments.

As far back as ancient Egypt, humans used ochre to tint their lips and cheeks.

When applied to human skin, the red pigment created a blush-like pink that onlookers associated with love, sexuality, and beauty.

Lookalike concoctions prevailed around the world, employing everything from crushed strawberries to red amaranth.

The color of cosmetics—and colonialism

Though the word’s etymology is unknown, the word “pink” was used to describe the color in the 18th century.

By then, pink had become inextricably tied with colonialism — as demand for the pigment for cosmetics drove Europeans to harvest natural resources in other parts of the world.

For example, in a bid to make pinkish pigments from the bark and red sap of brazilwood trees, European traders forced enslaved workers to cut down so many of Brazil’s eponymous trees that the country was left deforested and the tree nearly driven extinct.

During this Era of Exploration, consumers also got their pink cheeks and lips from other pigments like carmine, derived from cochineal insects harvested in Central and South America under similar conditions.

Meanwhile, the color also had a more literal association with colonialism:

During this time, the British Empire grew so massive that the color pink — which mapmakers used to mark its territories worldwide — dominated the world map.

Pink becomes a bona fide fashion craze

As red tints became more accessible and cheaper, 18th-century European aristocrats indulged a passion for pink.

Art historian Michel Pastoureau writes that “the most privileged classes of European society wanted pastels, halftones, and the newest innovations in color shades in order to distinguish themselves from the middle classes, who now had access to bright, strong, and reliable colors.”

Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV of France during the 1740s and 1750s, used the color as a signature.

The artists who painted her and created fine objects for her many homes used pink in all their designs, even her carriages, and she helped further popularize the hue throughout Europe.

The emergence of synthetic dyes in the mid-19th century — which gave rise to the purple-pink color known as mauve — made pink more accessible than ever before.

By the 1930s, bright pink had become a bona fide fashion craze.

Avant-garde fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli made “shocking pink” her signature color, helping spread the vogue for women’s wear.

It worked: By 1935, even local newspapers like the News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, were declaring that “PINK IS FAVORITE.”

And in 1939, a royal commentator wrote in London’s Daily Telegraph that pink was so popular, it was nearly ubiquitous for both bridesmaids and debutantes.

“So general is the pink craze,” the paper wrote, “that some women are rebelling against it.”

Pink is for…boys?

Around the same time, pink gained relevance in another realm: baby fashion.

Gender and baby fashion had intersected for years; around World War I, etiquette guides and fashion advice columns began advising that mothers dress their children in clothing with gender-specific hues.

But which colors? A 1927 retailer survey on infant clothing colors published in TIME shows a split nation, with retailers like Filene’s and Marshall Field’s recommending pink for boys, but Macy’s, Bullock’s, and others claiming pink was best for girls.

By the 1960s, however, mothers began buying pink clothing for their female babies, dressing their male children in pastel blues.

“None of this transition happened by childcare expert fiat or industry proclamation,” writes historian Jo B. Paoletti.

Instead, pink gained steam as a signifier of a baby’s female sex as part of a post-World War II push to reinforce traditional gender roles in American homes — and the realization by retailers that they could make more money that way.

“The more baby clothing could be designed for an individual child — and sex was the easiest and most obvious way to distinguish babies — the harder it would be for parents to hand down clothing from one child to the next, and the more clothing they would have to buy as their family grew,” Paoletti writes.

Soon, retailers featured entire “pink aisles” packed with pink-colored clothing and toys for tiny consumers.

The dark side of pink

Pink was also rejected by some as a symbol of weakness or even sinister intent.

In Nazi Germany, for example, the color was used to brand gay men in concentration and death camps.

As the Cold War emerged, suspected Communist sympathizers were given the derogatory name of “pinkos” — a term that referred to a person with “red” tendencies toward radical politics.

Meanwhile, members of the women’s liberation movement attempted to distance themselves from a color that had become inextricably linked with femininity and sexuality — think: Marilyn Monroe slinking down a staircase in a shocking pink gown, surrounded by tuxedoed men.

Anti-feminists, meanwhile, embraced pink.

Author Helen B. Andelin, for example, made public appearances in all-pink ensembles in the 1960s and 1970s during lectures encouraging women to abandon feminism and embrace lives as housewives.

Reclaiming pink

Pink remains associated with femininity to this day — but in recent decades, groups once disdainfully branded with the color have made moves to reclaim it.

In the LGBTQ community, for example, people who were once forced to wear pink as outcasts have adopted the hue as a symbol of their movement for social justice.

In 1987, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) adopted a bubble-gum pink triangle in its “Silence = Death” campaign to increase awareness of HIV-AIDS and destigmatize the disease.

It was just one example of pink being used to represent gay pride.

Some feminists have also reclaimed the color, fighting gender stereotypes with a tongue-in-cheek adoption of all shades of rose, fuchsia, and bubble-gum pink.

At the 2017 Women’s March, for example, a sea of protesters wearing pink, cat-eared “pussy hats” protested the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose lewd remarks about female genitalia during a leaked interview drew worldwide condemnation.

Today, pink is what you make of it — and it has grown in popularity once more.

In 2016, Pantone announced that a shade of dusty pink — dubbed Millennial Pink for the generation that had embraced it—was its Color of the Year.

This year, Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie helped fuel the rise of the pink-drenched “Barbiecore” aesthetic, inspiring admirers to saturate their homes and wardrobes with every shade of pink.

According to Axios, searches for the term “Barbiecore aesthetic room” rose over 1,000 percent between May 2022 and May 2023, reflecting consumers’ craving for as-pink-as-possible interiors.

There’s no telling which permutation of pink will captivate us next — but given the colorful history of the hues that fall somewhere between white and red, pink’s next heyday is probably right around the corner.

Barbie would approve of the pink petals on this beach morning glory.

Pink flowers like this one get their rosy tinge from a group of biological pigments called anthocyanins, which attract pollinators — and human admirers — to colors ranging from the palest carnation to the most ostentatious tropical fuchsia.

[taylorvaughnsaidso]

One pop star never afraid to do something worthwhile!

[chongoblog]

So a lot of political scandals just dropped in the last 24 hours

-NC Governor Candidate Mark Robinson's online posts were found, including some VERY graphic descriptions (like seriously, do not read if you're not 18) of him cheating on his wife, calling himself a black Nazi, and expressing support for reinstituting slavery. His email address was also found on Ashley Madison

-Robert F Kennedy Jr was revealed to be cheating on his wife with a reporter (and that isn't even the weirdest thing since federal law enforcement opened an investigation into him allegedly cutting off the head of a whale and taking it home with him less than 24 hours ago)

-GOP Senate candidate who is the CEO of a bank has been found accepting millions of dollars from what seem to allegedly be Mexican drug cartels.

-Finally, probably the biggest bombshell, according to multiple eyewitness testimonies within sealed sworn affadavits, Congressman Matt Gaetz allegedly invited a 17-year-old girl to a drug-fueld sex party

And we haven't even hit October, folks. Again, these are all still breaking news stories, so things are subject to change, but oh man oh man.

[nezreblogz]

[a-method-in-it]

You know that Chris Fleming line that goes "Call yourself a community organizer even though you're not on speaking terms with your roommates"?

I honestly think every leftist who talks about the "revolution" like Christians talk about the rapture needs to spend a year trying to organize their workplace. Anyone who sincerely talks about building a movement so vast and all-encompassing that it overwhelms all existing power structures needs the dose of humility that comes with realizing they can't even build a movement to get people paid better at a badly run AMC Theaters where everyone already hates the manager.

[themogaidragon]

Solarpunk: an artistic and political movement derived from science fiction subgenres, which arose at the beginning of the 21st century, in opposition to science fiction dystopias. Solarpunk offers an optimistic vision of a sustainable future, interconnected with nature and community, in light of the concerns of intersectional struggles. Solarpunk media often portrays themes of equality, anti-capitalism, and sustainability.

Some Solarpunk flags I made. So the idea I had with these was taking a bit of a different approach than the more common Solarpunk flags which tend to be anarchist style half-and-half.

The first was inspired by this commonly used Solarpunk flag, keeping the same general colors and symbol, but I wanted to lighten it up a bit to match the more optimistic beat of the movement. So I added the yellowish off-white color for that, but maintaining the black and green which obviously harkens to a lot of the Communalist and/or Green Anarchist roots of the movement.

The second was just trying to really lean on that bright utopian energy so decided to go with the very ecological green and yellow mix, while also keeping the light color from the first. It was also partially inspired by this flag I saw. I added the green boarder to the logo on that one as the yellow and white blended a lot.

The third was just a color combo suggested by a friend that I liked a lot and still had a very ecological vibe to it.

You can find larger file sizes for these here (be sure to download from desktop), but if you need a larger for any reason feel free to send me a message. These designs are completely free for anyone to use in anyway they wish so go wild.

[tenth-sentence]

The Ba'athists are best known as Saddam Hussein's murderous political movement in Iraq, but they first seized power next door in Syria in 1963.

"Why the West Rules – For Now: The patterns of history and what they reveal about the future" - Ian Morris

[wojakgallery]

Title/Name: Roman Stanisław Dmowski, commonly known as ‘Roman Dmowski’, (1864–1939). Bio: Polish politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy political movement. Country: Poland Wojak Series: Feels Guy (Variant) Image by: Unknown Main Tag: Roman Dmowski Wojak

[themogaidragon]

International Vegan Flag

PT: International Vegan Flag /end PT

ID: a flag with three isosceles triangles forming the letter v. Their colours are, from top to bottom, green, white and blue. END ID

A flag representing veganism, released in June 2017.

The flag was designed by a network group of graphic designers and activists from several countries. The group was opened by Gad Hakimi, a vegan activist, head of the Israeli A.L.F group in his town, and designer. The group chose to make the flag about human-animal equality.

The colors white, green and blue were chosen to represent the natural habitats of animals: sky, land, and sea. The letter V stands for Vegan, and is an inverted pyramid intended to symbolize the ability to do the impossible.

[prolibytherium]

I will say I get the vibe that a lot of peoples interest and support for strikers is a bit too much for a vicarious ‘burn it down’ thrill, rather than for the actual goals of a strike.

Like UPS has agreed to come back to the table and it is very possible they will concede to Union demands and avert a strike. And if that happens (so long as the union does not make concessions on its key demands) it’s a good thing. It’s a victory for the laborers. It is the same ultimate conclusion that a strike would intend to produce except without the workers having to go on (not so great) strike pay for a week or two.

[aalexan]

my heart breaks thinking about the elderly women who voted for kamala harris thinking they’d finally get to see a female president in their lifetime only for a man who wants to take women’s right away to win.

[travelinglikethelight]

Do y'all hear this??! Support & invest in women!