mattress-on-the-floor

[mattress-on-the-floor]

Thesis Post

We live in an age of limitless subculture. This is not our parents’ interaction with society anymore - we exist within such a wide expanse of worlds and the thousands of tiny little branches that each offshoot of millennial culture accompanies, all thanks to the ubiquitous connectivity of the internet. Our options for community and identification have become boundless, but with these developments, we still haven’t scrapped the social scripts that can hold so much control over our lives. Instead, they have become even more complicated and nuanced, and in many cases impossible to keep up with or even understand.

I see it everywhere I go and I feel this deep in my soul - we’re all just scrambling to keep up with each other, ourselves and the endless bits of directional information that is being thrown at us on a daily basis…

…AND WE’RE EXHAUSTED.

Skate and urban indie art culture have always existed on the precipice of counter-culture as it pertains to rejecting the mainstream and running along its own path. The ironic thing with that, however, is the fact that so much patriarchal influence still rules over the implicit social constructs that make up these collectives who claim to reject mainstream social directives and conformity as a whole. The ugly truth is that these communities are still built around a framework of toxic masculinity, strict gender scripts (mostly within the dominant straight male demographic), and misogyny. On the surface, there also exists a problematic pattern of micro-aggressions and performative wokeness that can emerge from the underbelly of a counter-culture movement boasting a deviation from social norms (while still exhibiting oppressive behaviour in the context of gender, race and class).

I have noticed in my own experience grappling with these realizations, i have felt a profound sense of catharsis in the female response to these social phenomena - with humour through art and meme culture.

I chose to pinpoint four artists running their instagram accounts with varying approaches while still on a very similar wavelength - exhausted with the shitty conditions and problematic behaviour that has shown to be catalyzed by the very social platforms they use to share their work. This becomes it’s own personal protest as well - by using the tools of social media to call out the very behaviours perpetuated by these digital spheres to highlight the irony and ridiculousness of the niche manifestations of problematic male behaviour as well.

The goal is to dig up the roots of where this feminist response is coming from -  how the patriarchy continues to work in ironic ways as it still influences the very subcultures that sprout up in opposition to mainstream existence. The unconventional lens for this endeavour just so happens to be through memes and web comics.

[mattress-on-the-floor]

Tinder pages, Exhaustion and More Self-Reflection

@gracelevinsondesign

Grace Levinson’s webcomic provides a satirical look into the world those of us participating in 2019’s dating scene know all-too-well: the tinder page.

(retrieved from @gracelevinsondesign)

tinder is sort of the phonebook of millennial culture, and it’s especially prevalent within Indie skate subcultures as the relied-on method for meeting people to bring to DIY Avant Garden shows or message at 1am for a lazy hookup request.

the exhaustion around dating apps as a whole seems to be becoming ubiquitous, with many conversations around the topic beginning with tired sighs or hesitant venturing into the details of the experience as a whole. As Aziz Ansari (2016) outlines, we seem to have reached a level of jadedness and disillusionment with the whole process that we’re getting lazy, creating bad habits with the apps (therefore real, human interaction), and perhaps even noticing the same disappointing patterns over and over within a culture of abundance (p.92-3).  

Grace’s art takes the classic tinder profile format and satirizes some of the key players you see all the times, going the extra mile to also outline the probable outcomes of the date (if there even is one in the first place). A reliance on niche, yet often extremely predictable personas within these cultures allows for a sense of satire that along with @tinyhat_skatelife and @theboyandhisdickies, calls out the shitty behaviour and eye-roll worthy presentations of self that pop up all the time when you tap into the digital public sphere of subcultures.

(retrieved from @gracelevinsondesign)

while Grace mostly takes her aim at male skaters, it’s also important to note that everyone who participates in these cultural practices is fair game. like all of the other female-run feminist meme and comic accounts I’ve highlighted so far, the authors of these pieces have no issue calling out the contradictory behaviour in other women and most importantly, themselves.

(retrieved from @gracelevinsondesign)

the ability to turn the microscope on oneself and laugh about how ridiculous we can all be seems to be a pattern that is primarily deployed in female meme culture. perhaps as individuals who may sit with varying degrees of privilege at varying intersections, the tendency to self-reflect is more inherent as it often necessary to understand the patriarchal system that is stacked against us, in varying degrees of severity (as the concept of intersectionality explains). In her article, Ging (2017) touches on the anti-feminist, alt-right and incel movements emerging (in the primarily white, straight cis male demographics) online, where social media platforms and meme culture provided catalysts for these movements to catch on (p.2). often within these realms, the messages of the memes are littered in hate and violent rhetoric towards women and POC (as well as Jewish and often LGBTQ+ folks), however rarely would we ever see an alt-right pepe meme author that self-reflects on the outrageousness of his own behaviour.

the ability to laugh at yourself, in my opinion, gives you a little more footing to be able to call out the ridiculousness of others in a lighthearted way, much like all of these accounts do such an amazing job of.

Sources:

Anzari, Aziz (2016) “Online Dating”, Modern Romance, Penguin Books,

Ging, D. (2017) Alphas, betas and incels: Theorizing the masculinities of the manosphere. Men and Masculinities. 1-20.

Hasinoff, Amy (2012) “Sexting as Media Production: Rethinking Social Media and Sexuality.” New Media and Society 15.4

Pepe the Frog. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/pepe-the-frog.

[mattress-on-the-floor]

Abject Bodies, Self-Reflection and Shittiness

@bodeburnout

time to turn our thoughts inwards as we analyze the hard-learned lesson that sometimes we must look down at our feet and see the hard truth of checkered vans staring us in our face; yes that’s right, the ghost was us, all along.

social media has wrecked us, in the best and worst ways. It has absolutely disrupted how we operate within our culture on every single level. boomers are mad about it. Gen Z might be oblivious (they’re never lived in an internet free world!) and us millennials are stuck in the middle, navigating ourselves and our basic social interactions often wondering if we are the way we are because of, or in spite of ubiquitous connectivity.

none of us are perfect, however when you’re constantly screaming into the void of your socials it can be easy to forget that you yourself can be a bit shitty while navigating life in your twenties. Especially when life seems to constantly be served at you in an Internet shaped glass with an obnoxious garnish of ‘pressure to live up to social expectations.’

(retrieved from @bodeburnout)

Bode Burnout has got to be one of my favourite internet comics due to the hastily drawn lines, hairy/curvy body shapes and feminist social commentary on the mundane that exposes both sides of the equation; cis male and female, hetero and queer.

through her art, BodeBurnout’s characters at the forefront boast the abject bodies that instagram often wants to tuck away, and through a feminist lens normalizes the imperfect on all levels.

(retrieved from @bodeburnout)

no one is safe, and I think we can all relate in one way or another.

(retrieved from @bodeburnout)

embrace your shitty. grow, and move on.

(retrieved from @bodeburnout)

[mattress-on-the-floor]

Subculture, Misogyny & Dating Skaters

*wheels roll against concrete in the distance, a chill blows through the air*

@Tinyhat_skatelife

nothing gives you quite the loud exhale of air through your nostrils like a heavily relatable meme. especially when those memes feel like they could have sprung from your own dang fingertips regarding every single date you’ve been on in Vancouver in the last two years. when I first stumbled upon @tinyhat_skatelife, i knew I had found a corner of the internet that understood what it is to date skaters. I first thought that the trials I was experiencing while dating were specific to the east van niche, but this account allowed me to expand my knowledge beyond the giant neon crucifix on Clark and 6th and know the unsettling truth - the tinyhats are everywhere.

‘hello hi - what the fuck is a tinyhat?’

glad you asked! a tinyhat is a variation of toque (or beanie, hello american friends) rolled up so aggressively high that it really is doing none of the job it intended to do - as the QUINTESSENTIAL factor of this concept is that each one of the ear tips remain uncovered. Essentially, the physical form of the tinyhat works to cover as few square inches of the noggin as possible without *pop* flying right off.

(retrieved from @tinyhat_skatelife)

the deeper meaning of the tinyhat, however, comes from within the hearts and minds of the main user demographic: skaters and softbois. through the lives and experiences of these wearers, the tinyhat can now often be associated with leaving your text messages on read, listening to (male) obscure indie artists on vinyl (then mansplaining music to you), shooting 35mm and never shutting up about it, and owning uninspiring tinder pages full of skate photos with no bio.

this instagram page has done a deep dive into the idiosyncrasies of skate culture, outlining different stereotypes with scarily specific starterpacks that almost always nail down the ways in which these types of TH’s will inevitably ghost you.

(Retrieved from @tinyhat_skatelife)

the creator of @Tinyhat_Skatelife has stated in a recent article by Vice  that while this account targets a niche audience, dating and hookup culture in this current time makes for some solidly relatable content - which makes sense seeing as her account now has over 59k followers.

from a wider perspective, noting what this has to say about the impact of hegemonic masculinity on a niche scale is really important. skate and indie art culture is PACKED full of toxic masculinity that tends to manifest in a lot of exclusion (hello, homosocial environments like the skatepark), and it works to normalize shitty male behaviour within the realm of dating as something to not only be expected, but often excused and accepted as an inevitability. and although Hasinoff (2012) suggest that in certain cases online dating interactions may provide some advantages for women (p. 455), we still have to grapple with the fact that the men in these environments tend to get away with a lot more, with a lot less accountability (patriarchy rears its ugly head once more).

(Retrieved from @tinyhat_skatelife)

@TheBoyandHisDickies

and on that note…

masculinity in skate culture still remains as a fragile concept that is still under pressure to be performed in a toxic manner. @Tinyhat_Skatelife’s page allows a bit of a catharsis for those who get involved in this (still highly, highly heteronormative subculture, on the male side of things) while still calling out the ridiculous behaviour from both sides of the coin.

The Boy and His Dickies also works this angle with a subtle ferociousness that honestly feels like a post from your funniest, most culturally tapped-in friend who just simply gets it.

(Retrieved from @theboyandhisdickies)

oh boy do I like a multi-referential cultural nuance when it calls out problematic hegemonic maleness through a traditionally feminine medium of literature.

amiright?

The Boy and His Dickies uses the same poetic format of massively successful internet poet Rupi Kaur while replacing the words and messages with pointed and hilarious commentary on skate culture by focusing primarily on the trials of dating male skaters. the admins of this account have admitted to forging this product out of a desire to use the medium of ‘tumblr poetry’ to highlight both emotionally unavailable, fake woke and slightly misogynistic skater boys, as well as the ones who find themselves hopelessly attracted to them.

((Retrieved from @theboyandhisdickies)

the poems can often feel like a battlecry for those who know the utter disappointment that comes with yet another underwhelming dating experience, inevitably either ending with a mattress on the floor and likely a swift bout of ghosting.

((Retrieved from @theboyandhisdickies)

bigger than that however, what @TheBoyAndHisDickies and @Tinyhat_skatelife do is contribute to the continually strengthening rhetoric within the world of “networked feminism”(Breheny 2017 p. 37). The accessibility and ‘relatability’ of this content allows for users to engage in this route of participatory culture and work through the specific levels of misogyny it calls out, while also reflecting on their own actions when it comes to dating and interacting within these specific subcultures. these accounts work off of both irony and exhaustion to keep everyone engaged with the experiences they highlight aware of their actions and how they impact other people. this sense of awareness and self-reflection, in my opinion, can only contribute to the greater good of dismantling the leak of hegemonic  masculinity into these subcultures that thrive off of deviating from the norm.

if we call out the bullshit, maybe thats when things start to change for better. for now, i’ll keep laughing at the memes that so perfectly describe what it’s like dating in East Van.

Sources:

Breheny, C. (2017). “By Any Memes Necessary” Exploring the Intersectional ... Retrieved from http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1113531/FULLTEXT01.pdf.

Haidari, Niloufar. “Memes That Perfectly Skewer Dickhead Skater Boys.” Vice, April 8, 2019. https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/nexap8/memes-that-perfectly-skewer-dickhead-skater-boys.

Hasinoff, Amy (2012) “Sexting as Media Production: Rethinking Social Media and Sexuality.” New Media and Society 15.4

Sung, Morgan. “The Skate Culture Parody of Instagram Poets Calls out Bad Men.” Mashable. Mashable, December 11, 2018. https://mashable.com/article/instagram-poet-skate-culture-the-boy-and-his-dickies/.

[mattress-on-the-floor]

welcome

the theme I chose for my blog is stripped back, minimalist, much like the #softboi you know named Cam for Theo or Benjamin claims to be, as he lights up another hand-rolled dart and invites you to his buddy’s show this tuesday at 333. you might see him there. probably not.