PERFORMATIVE ACTIVISM: The art and craft of pretending you care

I learned a new buzz phrase the other day: performative activism. I'd never heard it before, but decided I wanted to know what it really meant because new phrases used on the interweb are rarely used correctly, if not totally co-opted. Wikipedia defines performative activism as:             

activism done to increase one's social capital rather than because of one's devotion to a cause. It is often associated with surface-level activism, referred to as slacktivism.

I kinda like slacktivism, too. That gets an even bigger definition:

...the practice of supporting a political or social cause by means such as social media or online petitions,
characterized as involving very little effort or commitment. Additional forms of slacktivism include engaging in online activities such as "liking," "sharing," or "tweeting" about a cause on social media, signing an Internet petition, copying and pasting a status or message in support of the cause, sharing specific hashtags associated with the cause, or altering one's profile photo or avatar on social network services to indicate solidarity.

I get why "likes" are good for blogs and posts and stuff like that. I know I want to know if people like something I wrote. I'm okay with that stuff. But what I'm no longer okay with is symbolic bull-oney on profile/avatar pictures, copy-n-paste-this "I know who my friends are if you repost this" nonsense, and other assorted labels. I mean, it's really, really meaningless, dontcha think, to put a WE LOVE MONKEES frame around your profile picture when one of them dies? The only thing you're saying is that you're stuck in some other decade and that maybe you liked the Monkees when you were 8.

Yeah, I'll admit I used to do that. I had a Charlie Hebdo support profile pic after the massacre. I had the red equal sign for a same-sex marriage. Looking back, however, I realize I was preaching to my own choir while doing nothing other than making myself feel better. I suspect it's a not-so-new version of masturbation; no one feels better after the act except me.

Am I being harsh? Probably.

If you're posting symbols like this, chances are you're in your own little bubble and preaching to your own little choir. Your sentiments are nice, but meaningless. You are doing nothing to stand up against anything. Sure, you feel like you've made a statement but really? Have you contributed anything meaningful to your cause? Do you honestly believe posting these things will impact the hate of an antisemite, or change the mind of a white supremacist? 

If you look a little more closely at this "status," you'll see it's from 2018. This has been such a successful campaign that acts of antisemitism have increased substantially. In fact, the ADL created a graphic that illustrates that point quite well. 

You can see that in 2012, prior to the legitimization of Feckless Loser's MAGA movement, incidents were under about 1000 per year. But look at the jump in 2016...and now, 2021. Data for the year 2022 is not yet available,  but it's expected to look much like 2021. With celebrities touting their hatred in very public forums, the receptive audience for those attacks grows every month. Ignoring the upswing is not an option. Standing around moaning about it is not an option. Putting up status boxes with statement circles is pointless. At some point stands must be taken and they must be truly activist. 

Alongside those status boxes, by the way, are the ribbons and the tie-ins. Buying something because it has a pink ribbon on it does not do anything for people with breast cancer. Better you should sign up to be a chemo buddy or bring meals to those who are fighting the disease.

Truth is, no matter what the cause, you have to put your money where your mouth is, and put your mouth in the public arena. Mass demonstrations have their place in activist society, but turning up at town halls, school and library board meetings, and even sitting at information tables is where your cause needs your body just as much as your checkbook. If you're not a public person, there are envelopes to stuff, articles and letters to the editor to be written, PSAs and visual art to be created. The list is endless. 

Buying milk with pink ribbons on the carton is not on that list.

All those winter nights chanting and waving protest signs at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza taught me many things. not the least of which were these:

• Wear a hat when it's cold. (Thank you, Dr. Heschel)
• Persistence is good even if your action doesn't yield instant results.
• Participate any way you can.
• BEING PRESENT IS EVERYTHING.

Seriously. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

COVID is not a thing of the past. 

It's all around and people are still getting sick.

Do yourself and those around you a favor:

wear a mask when you go out in public.

It really does make a difference.