ever think that the "frontier days" of the internet, then the start of social media, parallel the "communal connection for the common man promptly monetized and co-opted" pattern Barbara Ehrenreich talks about in "Dancing in the Streets"?
@Leucrotta We've never read Dancing in the Streets but that sounds /incredibly/ apt.
@KitRedgrave @Ylfingr I no longer have a copy (sold, or went missing), but she tackles festivals and communal experiences as diverse (and so not always positive) as references in the OT, Woodstock and music festivals of the 60s, football games and Nazi party rallies. All of this stuff which is very much individual meaning within a larger group. It's not a perfect discussion (she dismisses rave culture in one sentence!) but I really got a lot of mileage out of the thing.
@KitRedgrave @Ylfingr And, since furry subculture is very much driven by festival and features costumed dancers - it's relevant to think about.
@KitRedgrave @Ylfingr Fairly late in the book - after she talks about how all these different festivals are incredibly similar - is basically gentrification. Assuming a more organic thing started this off, some point people try to file all the rough edges off to make it more legitimate, and there's usually an associated increase in price point.
@Leucrotta @Ylfingr random furry discourse thought: oh hey this makes uncle kage a gentrifier doesn't it
@KitRedgrave @Leucrotta Who's uncle kage?
@Ylfingr @Leucrotta long story short, someone who has been trying very hard to manage the public image of furry as a thing by filing the weird edges off and smiling nice for the camera and making sure everyone else does too
who i disagree very much with
@KitRedgrave @Ylfingr I have mixed feelings about the guy; I feel that being appointed spokesman for furry fandom is *not* an easy job and will involve some statements which are not great, but I also feel like 1) once given a hint of that position, he grabbed on with both hands and didn't let go and 2) there's a certain amount of apology and revision that goes with inevitable mistakes, and I don't feel like he does that. I might be wrong as I haven't staffed AC like my friends.
@KitRedgrave @Ylfingr Uncle Kage aside, I feel like furry's in a weird position where some gentrification is inevitable and even positive in some ways - f'rex the way fursuits have become pricey, but very polished items compared to the amateurish nature of 90s fursuiting (for both good and ill). Most people would draw the line at corporate sponsorship, etc -- but I feel the actual boundary is further inwards from that, and I'm not entirely sure where it should lie.
