PG on Nostr: Was pleased to see this article on “Naked Capitalism” - If you hadn’t noticed, ...
Was pleased to see this article on “Naked Capitalism” -
If you hadn’t noticed, the unofficial Xenogender and Otherkin websites are ad-supported. Like I said, commerce is never far behind and the dovetailing of commerce and gender obsolescence isn’t that far off. With each passing year, gender becomes more fluid. Not just between the male/female binary, but between many other distinct identities. If Kendall Jenner and Pepsi can make a Black Lives Matter advertisement, is it crazy to conceive of Planet Fitness encouraging people–with inducements like discounts and personal training–to identify as Planet Fitness? PF’s yellow/purple colorway, no lunk/meathead philosophy, and low prices already appeal to several marketable segments, not just straight men looking to get a pump in. Instead of using brands to form part of what gender you identify as, what if you instead identified as those brands? In essence, brands would co-opt more of the space between your internalized self and your presentation to the world. I’d no longer be Jared, who identifies as a man and as part of my gender presentation wears J. Crew hoodies and Old Spice deodorant. Instead, I’d be Jared, who identifies as Nestlé and presents my gender through the exclusive use of Nestlé foodstuffs and apparel. At this point, brands will have absorbed the personality traits and social signifiers which presently signal a person’s gender.
The efforts companies would take to encourage this would undoubtedly be awful, cringey, and mostly tasteless. Yet, if gender’s reached such ambiguity that it can be so crassly commercialized, we’ll be in a good spot. Is there anything more meaningless than identifying as Jiffy Lube?
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/03/gender-reveal-its-brands.html
If you hadn’t noticed, the unofficial Xenogender and Otherkin websites are ad-supported. Like I said, commerce is never far behind and the dovetailing of commerce and gender obsolescence isn’t that far off. With each passing year, gender becomes more fluid. Not just between the male/female binary, but between many other distinct identities. If Kendall Jenner and Pepsi can make a Black Lives Matter advertisement, is it crazy to conceive of Planet Fitness encouraging people–with inducements like discounts and personal training–to identify as Planet Fitness? PF’s yellow/purple colorway, no lunk/meathead philosophy, and low prices already appeal to several marketable segments, not just straight men looking to get a pump in. Instead of using brands to form part of what gender you identify as, what if you instead identified as those brands? In essence, brands would co-opt more of the space between your internalized self and your presentation to the world. I’d no longer be Jared, who identifies as a man and as part of my gender presentation wears J. Crew hoodies and Old Spice deodorant. Instead, I’d be Jared, who identifies as Nestlé and presents my gender through the exclusive use of Nestlé foodstuffs and apparel. At this point, brands will have absorbed the personality traits and social signifiers which presently signal a person’s gender.
The efforts companies would take to encourage this would undoubtedly be awful, cringey, and mostly tasteless. Yet, if gender’s reached such ambiguity that it can be so crassly commercialized, we’ll be in a good spot. Is there anything more meaningless than identifying as Jiffy Lube?
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/03/gender-reveal-its-brands.html