{"id":2362,"date":"2023-10-02T20:06:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T00:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/?p=2362"},"modified":"2023-10-02T20:11:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T00:11:10","slug":"to-build-something-that-lasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/2023\/10\/02\/to-build-something-that-lasts\/","title":{"rendered":"to build something that lasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reoccurring theme of capitalism invading activism efforts has arisen in our class discussions as of late. Eli Clare mentioned his two cents on this phenomenon in <\/span>losing home<\/span><\/i>, talking about Stonewall 25 and pride events in general. He says, \u201cStonewall 25 strikes me not so much as a celebration of a powerful and life-changing uprising of queer people, led by trans people of color, by drag queens and butch dykes, fed up with the cops, but as a middle- and upper-class urban party that opened its doors only to those who could afford it,\u201d (43). At an event supposed to be celebrating the joy of queer existence, admission had a cost. Queer community lost its inclusivity, something that might seem paradoxical. The capitalist mindset that pervades the social activism sphere prohibits lower classes from inclusion. The non-inclusive middle- and upper- class party idea applies to sustainability too. Many people simply can\u2019t afford sustainable options. Somehow, highly processed food and other industrially made consumer goods are priced lower than local or sustainably made food, clothing, and goods. Houska says, \u201cFar too much of our collective energy is directed toward a pursuit that leaves us mirroring capitalism…\u201d describing the environment of administrative-level climate change activism, which also is profit-driven, despite its original ideals (214). <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This inability for us to enact change outside of capitalism is reminiscent of the desire for \u201cqueer time.\u201d If capitalism is the \u201cnormal,\u201d regulated subjugation of people\u2019s organization of life, then queer and sustainability activism are a battle to broker a reality where we can exist outside of those bounds. Eli Clare is fighting an essential battle in this arena, highlighting the ways we can truly exist outside of the binaries and confines of the dominant culture– by escaping back to nature, finding peace within ourselves in a natural way, existing in a fluid, genderless world of connection. In <\/span>stones in my pocket, stones in my heart, <\/span><\/i>Clare describes the mental stone wall he retreats to when considering his experiences of hardship with identity. He writes, \u201c<\/span>In the end, I will sit on the wide, flat top of my wall, legs dangling over those big, uncrackable stones, weathered smooth and clean,\u201d (159). The language he uses to describe this wall is strong, evoking an image of something that withstands the test of time. He hopes to conquer this wall of gender, class, disability, but also live in peace, working together to build something sustainable.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reoccurring theme of capitalism invading activism efforts has arisen in our class discussions as of late. Eli Clare mentioned his two cents on this phenomenon in losing home, talking about Stonewall 25 and pride events in general. He says, \u201cStonewall 25 strikes me not so much as a celebration of a powerful and life-changing … Continue reading to build something that lasts<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5316,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[346798],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2023-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}