Gay aesthetics
The commodification of queer culture: identities through aesthetics and materialities
A tale as elderly as time: rainbow capitalism and the manufacturing of subcultures
To some extent, building a sense of individuality around an aesthetic you create from what you consume (culture, products) is not new, but textbook consumerism. For queer individuals, it has always been an important aspect but also a pitfall, as it is easily manufactured. Indeed, marginalized groups’ cultures have regularly been stripped of their characteristics to be turned into something marketable, a simple consuming style. Those subcultures are simplified, homogenized, turned into aesthetics, and nothing more than that. The commodification turns the subcultures into a product, an image, a stereotype.
Queer subcultures hold been a regular victim of this process due to an old stereotype, the one of the “gay market” or “pink consumer”. It’s the concept that gays and lesbians in particular have higher incomes and a robust desire for consumption. It is then logical to try to appeal to queer customers, even if it means selling their cultures and aesthetics, watered down, back to them. It’s important to notice that the idea t
Gay Nineties Revival(1970s)
ca.Late 1960s - Late 1970s
Revival of the aesthetics of the 1890s (or "Gay Nineties"), common from the late 60s to late 70s. Ordinary signifiers: Use of ferns as indoor decor, fake Tiffany lamps, use of brass and gold accents with medium-stained oak woods, "old timey" letttering. Tint scheme: Brown, orange, and old gold, often with prominent maroon and flash lime green accents. Prominent designers: Herb Lubalin.
Namesake:Pending Research
Foundational study by:Pending Research
Name coined by:Pending Research
Links
- Are.na -https://www.are.na/consumer-aesthetics-research-institute/gay-nineties-revival-y3it_5fe1r0
- Facebook Group -https://www.facebook.com/groups/250491002273732
Fifty-fouryears after the Stonewall Riots catalyzed an era of vigoroussociopolitical activism in the United States, the nominal protections afforded to the Homosexual community are advocate on the bargaining table as America’s puritanical roots crawl upwards along our political framework.In this legislative battleground, it’s critical to spin to our elders and archives to recall the survival tactics and modes of connectivity that fueled the movement toward liberation. The Gay Power newspaper was reportedly among over 150 LGBTQ-centered periodicals born from the Stonewall Riots, rife with revolutionary text and art meant to incite, bring together, and bring comfort to the LGBTQ+ collective throughout the 1970s.
Gay Power was by and huge a print manifestation of the same-sex attracted liberation movement that’s best characterized by its radical political activism and mitigation of societal shame with the beginnings of the Celebration movement. Primarily active between the after time ’60s through the early ’80s, the movement was inherently anti-racist and anti-capitalist — said ideologies are largely reflected in the periodical’s wide-ranging content.
“Variety is the spice of life an