I work at target and one of my coworkers has "they/them" on their nametag and literally NO ONE except for a handful of my fellow queer coworkers actually respects their pronouns. It bothers me so much that target actively chose to allow team members to display pronouns on our nametags if we wanted but then just have management totally disregard them??
Customers don't see how your managers talk to you, so business-wise, they have no reason to not be pricks. I mean, they are extracting tons of surplus value from you and not allowing any control over your work. You don't get to choose anything, have a say in anything, and then you return home with a few pennies to spend on staying alive. You want *those* people to respect your pronouns? My brother/sister in christ, they don't respect anything about you or any other worker.
@@digimaui One person here in the comments claims to have had an interview with them terminated the moment they expressed the wish to be referred to using a different name than the one on their birth certificate... I'm inclined to believe them. I'm trans myself, and I know how vile people can be towards a vulnerable group just because. Edit: It happened at target, which is why I brought it up.
I think it's also important to not hate on people buying from the collection. For some people this is all they can get, ESPECIALLY the undergarments and the compression top. For a lot of trans kids, it's the closest thing they can get to a binder for a while. BUT I also definitely agree that people who have access to small businesses go to them first. Target or any brand putting out pride merch don't deserve recognition.
Tbh the compression top being there feels like a baby step towards binders being available in physical stores. A really _really_ tiny one, and probably also a false one with the general vibe of everything rn, but a baby step nonetheless.
i have one of these shirts and i thought it was nice even though i know corporate pride etc etc, it felt a bit different than most pride merch i see and its what i could afford rn. this video kinda made me feel like shit about my t shirt.
You've got it and now it is simply a shirt. The shirt itself is not the problem, neither are you. Target and other corporations are the problem here. Yes, they have gotten a shirts worth of money outta ya but that's not a terminal situation and by no means does it make you deserve feeling shitty now that you're learning/reflecting. Go forth with your new knowledge and live life
you're right as always, Ashton. as a queer person who lives in Russia I'm disappointed (but not surprised) when corporations make their logos rainbow on european/american social media accounts, but not russian. and I'm also a little jealous when i see that it's profitable for corporations to make pride merch or something like that. I've rarely see something like that in russia and it usually ends with a post on social media from a corporate account, not something that a lot of people would notice. a year ago a big russian food store chain made an instagram post in support of queer people, but then deleted it because they faced backlash, saying after that their employee "made a mistake". the queer family featured in this ad had to flee the country. i guess it because a negative example for the rest. sometimes i wish it was legal and profitable for russian corporations to do something in support of the lgbtq community, even though i know it's not real support. but the government wants to ban all conversation about queerness at all now, they just recently came up with this new law project. it's scary and exhausting tbh. so i understand when people are glad to see this corporate pride. i think i would've been too, even though i have extreme leftist views
Yeah as much as I hate rainbow capitalism I am thankful at least we are in a place where it’s majority acceptable to be lgbt+ to the point where big corporations pander to us. It’s better than the alternative. I’m so sorry that Russia is not accepting I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in a place that anti lgbt. I feel like being able to be annoyed/frustrated at rainbow capitalism almost comes from a place of privilege of being in a place accepting enough to have it.
@@ollieno971 Two wrongs don't make a sandwich, though. It's a pity, especially considering that the west is directly for the chaos that's been happening in Russia for the last 30 years, yet they turn around and basically spew what is not very different from "better here than in Africa, am I right? Yeeehaw! Freedum!"
I'm also a queer person from Russia, and I second this comment. I would not be happy to see some corporate merch myself, but I agree that it indicates the place of queer people in a society. The coment of Authentic Baguette below is also right imo
Target also is (or at least was) shitty to trans people. I had an interview with them and the MINUTE I told them I wanted to be called something other than the name on my birth certificate, the guy interviewing me said he’d heard enough and ended the interview.
Jesus christ, that's horrific! I mean on one hand at least you were spared from working for/with a horrible person who wouldn't have respected you? 😬 But jobs are also necessary for most people sadly, so, yeah just wish people weren't like that
I always thought target felt really safe for me, in my area I saw trans people working there and they were chill about the gender bathroom/changing room stuff when it was first getting to be a hot issue.
I want to not believe this, but on a related note my mom called a place asking if they could accommodate some simple things (Im physically disabled where I'd need to use a cane and sit down sometimes) and the store owner straight up said it's company policy not to hire mentally or physically disabled people
Worst part was having to be very careful about what was said because the information was gathered by a family friend who needs to work there to afford the necessities
so glad you’re back!! i’m glad you took the anti-rainbow-capitalism side of the criticism especially since it seems like in previous years people just make fun of corporate pride merch for being ugly, which, while definitely correct, has always felt so superficial. thanks for making the video!
corporate pride is bad, and some of these designs are genuinely awful. but i got my mom to unknowingly get me trans flag underwear at target, and i'll take that as a win
yeah it's good to see someone else talking about the implications of the "love is not a crime" shirt. for myself, i also really dislike how most mainstream discussions of gay rights try to only focus on gayness as something Pure (and desexualising gayness), in order to appear more sympathetic or normative to people who might potentially support us. yknow, like sexuality does not always involve love, and it's fucken fine to not be _pure_ or _wholesome_ ,. and when you think about what "love is not a crime" is saying, it's pretty incorrect anyway because a lot of the laws criminalising gayness had to do with sex acts.. and queerphobic society oversexualises queer people. (people need to realise the answer isn't going to the other extreme and saying "gay people never have sex! if they do, it's very Normal and tame. they also Always have a deep love for each other") people always say shit like "it's so sad how gay people were treated back then; all they did was _love_ each other" as if having gay sex would mean someone is actually guilty of something , or are less deserving of rights because they're not completely "pure". it's still creating a standard of what is more acceptable/tolerable behaviour. people don't seem to realise that the reclamation of the word Queer also means you're reclaiming this idea that what you are as a person, and anything you could do, is inherently filthy. not just "weird".
yes to all of this! the focus on love, marriage, romantic relationships etc in these discussions is SO damn alienating as an aromantic gay transmasc lol :')
Just a couple of corrections about Native cultures as a queer Native viewer. We'Wha was not twospirit. This is a common misconception by nonnatives. And twospirit is not even a group of genders. It's a cultural identity and societal role. I know as many cis gay people who are twospirit as I do trans twospirit people. And I know probably even more twospirit people who do not identify at all with european concepts of gender and orientation.
Does target not realise the fucking irony of turning an imperative riot in history, into a candle??? Like??? Ah what did the burning at stonewall smell like... hot cinnamon candy i guess
Yep !! That’s the funniest thing about this whole thing. It’s so clearly a backlash against past complaints of pride merch being tacky and meaningless while at the same time proving that pride merch will always inherently be tacky and meaningless. The stonewalls shit reads as more offensive almost than the ugly ass shirts because at least the ugly ass shirts didn’t pretend to mean anything. Protest will never be products, it will never be cute little nicknacks you can buy. Candles, shirts, tote bags and whatever sold at target can never be radical. Because it is target merchandise. People can criticize the small stuff, all the little ways it is wrong to do this, but at the end of the day the reason why this is counterrevolutionary is obvious, because it is sold at target
Also I just came out like a month ago, and coporate pride in the UK can be just as bad >< Our primark pride collection isn't too bad, but we have the same pronouns shirt with that 'he/she/they/us' slogan. it confuses me that corporations put 'us' on a shirt, as if they are part of the lgbtq+ community. Also, As someone who is gender quesioning, the whole slogan just makes me feel like they are saying 'who cares about pronouns?? we are all the same'. But pronouns are important. Its a basic human right to have your pronouns respected. And lots go genderqueer, trans and gender question people have to fight ever day to not be misgendered. :( Maybe i misunderstand the slogan, and i understand it may have been designed by a queer person, but it's still a weird thing to put on a t shirt.
I also didn't love the fact that basically all the other pride merch at Primark is Wizard of Oz themed, which is clearly a nod to the historical gay slang of referring to gay men specifically, and LGBTQ+ folk more broadly, as 'Friends of Dorothy'. Once again, big corporations appropriating the language of the queer community, particularly for profit, just feels super duper uncomfortable to me.
@@elliotcooper4604 yeah and me being new out the closet I didnt even know the wizard of oz connection, so i found that to be a really confusing design!
@Genevieve Pilz i always get confused when i see a rainbow flag, cos in my mind its instantly 'fuck yeah gay pride', but then i realise its a 'thank you nhs' thing instead. They could have chosen a different logo >
welcome back! i'm loving the hair and omg corporate pride makes me wanna scream, so tired of corporations profiting off of our community while exploiting all the people who made the merch 😌
At least they tried, mine aren’t against it just not very understanding, my mom said she’d tell my dad, never happened, I think she also forgot about me using different pronouns-?
Other people's reviews in past years were just "ew wearing this would make me look like one of *those* gays" very much in the style of the 'gay men I respect, gay men I don't' meme. Like I specifically remember a lot of jokes about it making someone more likely to get hatecrimed. How do you feel about target collabing with TomboyX
Dudeee the amount of times ive come back in the last 6 months waiting to see a new videoooo!!! Ive watched you for so many years loll so i was a bit conserned about the lack of videos. But im super glad youve got a life out of youtube and a life your enjoying (As far as im aware), but i love the hair, the peircings arw amazing, but can we talk about the.. FACIAL HAIRRRRRRR, looking sick dude!! Happy your back, or at least for this video! Hope your having a good day, and everyone else as well lol.
I came across an old video of yours when I was looking for thing to help me with a depressive episode and looking at you now helps me gives hope for my future transition
Go see a licensed therapist and stop seeking answers from a woman that's having an identity crisis and loves attention to the point where she permanently damages her body. This ain't it, fam, and you're life is going to get harder and I gaurentee that not everyone will play along with your games.
Please don't listen to the asshole above me, if they knew anything they'd know therapists suggest transitioning to help with gender dysphoria but they're just an asshole who wants others to hurt. You're gonna transition and its gonna be great, always keep hope ♡
Hey Ashton! Great video and honestly agree with everything you said here. Corporations do not give a shit about us and never will. Another thing that annoys me to no end is the cishet people that like to say that since we have some corporations doing pride collections that queer/trans people are safe and don’t need to rub in that we get a whole month to celebrate/ can shut up. No corporations just want money from whoever they think they can market to and just because they do stuff like this doesn’t mean laws aren’t still being passed and that in many places it is not safe to be openly queer/ and or trans. Corporations being there does nothing for us especially those people who suffer the most in our community. *also side note I love your new piercings and that hair color rocks!!
The ONLY thing I like about the pride collection at Target, is seeing it piss off homophobes. But...there are better ways to piss them off that are actually productive.
Another thing I hate about "love is love" phrases is its erasure of Aromantic and Asexual people. The queer community shouldn't be based off of just romantic and sexual love, aro/ace people are equally queer and equally valuable to the community
You really help me learn about the smaller nuances of things. Like pointing out the two-spirit is an English word ..the fact I hadn't thought of that..
You mentioned having three books about stonewall. Would you mind saying what they are? And do you have any other recommendations on queer history books? Thanks. Nice to see you posting again Ashton!
Stonewall by Martin Duberman and Stonewall by David Carter are the two stonewall-exclusive books I have, and then a bunch of other queer history books that also discuss stonewall. i have a goodreads shelf w/ 40+ queer history books, and u can see my ratings/reviews of the ones i've read there too! www.goodreads.com/review/list/70763121?shelf=queer-history
Love the commentary around the 14 minute mark about the idea of the phrase “two spirit” being a colonist phrase, I’ve never thought about that before. I’m trans myself, but i know very little about how other cultures conceptualize gender. Pretty fucked up that target was selling that. Great video as always :)
@ivo They probably really did pitch that idea, but then someone pointed out that maybe someone would actually follow the advice. "Good catch, Ben. That was a close one!"
14:38 Two Spirit in my understanding is def an umbrella term. For some nations being LGBT+ makes you Two Spirit, in other nations it’s specific third gender/gender roles, each culture is different and it’s best to use the word that culture has for that specific experience instead of just Two Spirit
So cool to hear from you again!! Not american, never been to target, so I’ve only heard of this stuff in passing lol and I wish I never learnt more /hj
Yes you're back! Happy pride month! Speaking of that about 3 weeks ago I came out as a trans guy to my parents and a couple of friends. Most people don't know yet but I plan to be out to my whole school next year when I'm in grade 12.
@@sofastuffing They are trying to accept me. But it’s hard for them to start using male pronouns and especially my new name. But they still love me no matter what. They also aren’t transphobic. They just aren’t completely sure that I’m completely sure that I want to change my identity. They actually did see this coming.
first of all, i agree with everything said in this video. its deeply fucked for a mega-corporation to profit off revolutionary ideas and the aesthetic of queer liberation. with that being said, (and i know nobody's omniscient so i'm assuming you didn't know/might mention it elsewhere) i'm a bit disappointed that you didn't mention the fact that they were also selling compression tops (similar to chest binders) in physical stores. unlike most of the items in the collection, those would've been a game changer for me as a closeted trans kid, who was binding using improvised and often unsafe methods, like duct tape (just straight on my chest for upwards of twelve hours) and ace bandages to try and alleviate some dysphoria. I didn't have access to a credit card and even if i had, wouldn't have felt safe ordering anything online, but i couldve passed that off as a sports bra while shopping with my mom, or snuck it in the self checkout with my own money. my point being, while yes, please critique corporate pride merch for being counter-revolutionary, its also worth recognizing what steps are actually beneficial to queer youth, because while its complicated and probably imperfect, that compression top is going to save the lives (and the rib cages) of so many trans kids.
on the target pride website they also have a part thats like "lets celebrate these brands that support the lgbt community" ,, without any mention or info on lgbt activists or organizations????? that ??? are ?? actually focused on the lgbt community ??
Wow, this makes me happy that pride month isn't a corporate thing in my country! At least we can keep it amongst ourselves without watching our local Target (called Migros) trying to capitalise on us 😝
I passed some rainbow pins Target had on my way to grab milk and there was NO PURPLE. I get that the rainbow and flag have many forms, but purple is the superior color and to not include it means that rainbow sucks ass.
Putting aside that all their shit is ugly and the quality isn’t the best, you would be better off making smth on your own like a diy shirt or patches or smth. That way you can make it to truly represent you! My friends and I make bracelets with our flags and stuff like that :)
Some Thoughts, even though this is a year old video: I know and understand why there are people who disagree with Two-Spirit as a term. Pan-Indianism is a real problem and it warrants addressing! But as someone with indigenous heritage who grew up colonized and is still reconnecting... it's also all some of us have. I'm Métis. My people are devoutly Catholic (a lot of the ones I've spoken to in my community, anyway). The only word for any kind of queerness used in our community is "berdache", a derogatory term for men who sleep with other men. So. I don't identify with any settler-colonial terms for my identity, they don't ring true, but I also don't want to be called an insult for what we would consider a gay man today... Due to limited options, I'm sticking with Two-Spirit.
thank you for sharing this!! that absolutely makes sense - i think it's more than reasonable to claim that language for yourself. it's just off-putting to see Target profiting off of it, you know?
i would love to hear more about your thoughts on crime if you don't mind elaborating on them at some point? i've been struggling for quite a while to understand different political views and i've found that google searches only get me so far, especially when it comes to more extreme (for lack of a better term?) viewpoints. absolutely no pressure if you'd rather not and if you or anyone else has links to articles or other videos that may help me better understand instead that would be much appreciated as well! so far i know just a bit about it, but mostly with respect to laws that have already been outdated (like homosexuality as a crime) or those which i already strongly disagree with (like the criminalization of trans people in sports). i've also learned a bit about the criminalization of drugs based on race rather than lethality, but could definitely stand to learn more about that and other things.
if u search for 'crime' on theanarchistlibrary.org, u can filter by adjacent topics and maybe find smth that interests you! may also be helpful for you to look into PIC abolition, a couple good starting points for that are Angela Davis' "are prisons obsolete?", www.8toabolition.com/, and work by Dean Spade!
This is a really great video and I love how you went more in depth than just making fun of the designs (there is value in that too though lol)! Btw what size is your septum at? I just got mine pierced at 14g yesterday and I really love it and wanted to let you know I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't found your channel because when I first subscribed to you I noticed your septum piercing and thought it was hella cool and researched body mods a bunch and now here I am 3 new piercings and a tattoo later lol
This video was recommend to me after I got into a YT comment debate on this exact thing. Literally. Like I even said that Target shouldn't say Q* and Two Spirit. Actually, it's kinda freaking me out...but you got a new fan!
that's frustrating thank you, i'll see if i can find a better link! the essay is called "romancing the transgender native: rethinking the use of the 'third gender' concept" and it's by Evan Towle and Lynn Morgan !
19:35 this shirt even has that one blue mlm flag that is a blatant ripoff of the lesbian flag but blue because "pink = girl blue = boy" and implies that lesbians are just a female version of gay men. from my experience 90% of the people who use this flag are those white able-bodied people who are willfully ignorant of their privilege within the community and call people slurs without asking if it's okay. i'm gay and i wish this flag wasn't a symbol of my community because we can do better than that
apologies if this came off as harsh i'm just very tired of the mlm community's disregard for lesbians and trans ppl. great video ashton i'm glad you're back :)
That’s interesting. I thought the original pink lesbian flag was inspired by the bear/leather pride designs and thus the gay male flag is an inspiration of an inspiration (many flags nowadays reference other flags in their designs). This isn’t meant to be hostile or silencing your comment in any way (sorry if my tone comes across as harsh) but I’m genuinely curious to know more about your thoughts on the flag. I thought of the mirrored colors as more of a solidarity thing rather than demeaning towards lesbians, but I certainly see how it could be taken that way.
I have mixed feelings about corporate pride, but I'm honestly just happy that the LGBT community is accepted enough that companies know they can make money off of us. It's just a money making scheme for them, but for me it's a sign that homophobia and transphobia aren't winning
I’m sick of arguing with people about how rainbow capitalism is not beneficial. Ya it’s nice to see inclusivity in media but it’s problematic that as a society, we look to see ourselves an advertisement, and in these huge corporations that do not care about us. Then manipulate us to make profit.
Hey I was watching one of ur videos yesterday and u mentioned that “shooting an elephant” by Orwell could be considered leftist. Anyways I read it and I like it a lot and I never heard about it before u so thx for the recommendation:)
4:23 $13 sounds cheap for target Pride. That’s how much I paid CLEARANCE PRICE for my pride shawl I got from target. Tag says original retail price was like $30. It’s not worth more than like $10.
Looking at the red pronoun shirt and as a former Target employee I'm assuming it's red so employees can wear it at work. Which honestly makes it worse tbh.
i thought the same thing as a former target employee. They did the same thing last year with a shirt that said "love is love" the actual design wasn't too bad but it was very specifically Target Red and so many workers started wearing it. This year's pronoun shirt design feels especially performative though.
@@FlyingBlueNic Talking about performative, I remember they put out a shirt that had a giant wall of text saying something about supporting black families. They were handing them out for free and everyone was wearing them, and while it seemed like a nice message and all, it felt like such a lie, not to mention bad shirt design.
Mostly unrelated to the video but right before this I got a pride add from Tik Tok Y'know the video platform that forces people to censor LGBT related words to stay in the algorithm
Personally, though I realize that corporate pride does not do good, I think it can be good to recognize them as indicative of a more general social good. After all, corporations only do what's profitable, and if pretending to support the queer community is profitable, and thereby popular, I think that's a good thing, descriptively, if not prescriptively.
I work at target and one of my coworkers has "they/them" on their nametag and literally NO ONE except for a handful of my fellow queer coworkers actually respects their pronouns. It bothers me so much that target actively chose to allow team members to display pronouns on our nametags if we wanted but then just have management totally disregard them??
Customers don't see how your managers talk to you, so business-wise, they have no reason to not be pricks.
I mean, they are extracting tons of surplus value from you and not allowing any control over your work. You don't get to choose anything, have a say in anything, and then you return home with a few pennies to spend on staying alive.
You want *those* people to respect your pronouns? My brother/sister in christ, they don't respect anything about you or any other worker.
@sewer~rat what?
@@authenticbaguette6673 Believe me I know there's no respect there. I'm just pointing out how performative it all is, just like their pride collection
Yeah that's bullshit
@@digimaui One person here in the comments claims to have had an interview with them terminated the moment they expressed the wish to be referred to using a different name than the one on their birth certificate... I'm inclined to believe them. I'm trans myself, and I know how vile people can be towards a vulnerable group just because.
Edit: It happened at target, which is why I brought it up.
I think it's also important to not hate on people buying from the collection. For some people this is all they can get, ESPECIALLY the undergarments and the compression top. For a lot of trans kids, it's the closest thing they can get to a binder for a while. BUT I also definitely agree that people who have access to small businesses go to them first. Target or any brand putting out pride merch don't deserve recognition.
Literally!!
Tbh the compression top being there feels like a baby step towards binders being available in physical stores. A really _really_ tiny one, and probably also a false one with the general vibe of everything rn, but a baby step nonetheless.
i have one of these shirts and i thought it was nice even though i know corporate pride etc etc, it felt a bit different than most pride merch i see and its what i could afford rn. this video kinda made me feel like shit about my t shirt.
You've got it and now it is simply a shirt. The shirt itself is not the problem, neither are you. Target and other corporations are the problem here. Yes, they have gotten a shirts worth of money outta ya but that's not a terminal situation and by no means does it make you deserve feeling shitty now that you're learning/reflecting. Go forth with your new knowledge and live life
if one likes the collection but one doesn’t want to support target, one could hypothetically borrow from the target! yeehaw!
you're right as always, Ashton. as a queer person who lives in Russia I'm disappointed (but not surprised) when corporations make their logos rainbow on european/american social media accounts, but not russian. and I'm also a little jealous when i see that it's profitable for corporations to make pride merch or something like that. I've rarely see something like that in russia and it usually ends with a post on social media from a corporate account, not something that a lot of people would notice. a year ago a big russian food store chain made an instagram post in support of queer people, but then deleted it because they faced backlash, saying after that their employee "made a mistake". the queer family featured in this ad had to flee the country. i guess it because a negative example for the rest. sometimes i wish it was legal and profitable for russian corporations to do something in support of the lgbtq community, even though i know it's not real support. but the government wants to ban all conversation about queerness at all now, they just recently came up with this new law project. it's scary and exhausting tbh. so i understand when people are glad to see this corporate pride. i think i would've been too, even though i have extreme leftist views
Yeah as much as I hate rainbow capitalism I am thankful at least we are in a place where it’s majority acceptable to be lgbt+ to the point where big corporations pander to us. It’s better than the alternative. I’m so sorry that Russia is not accepting I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in a place that anti lgbt. I feel like being able to be annoyed/frustrated at rainbow capitalism almost comes from a place of privilege of being in a place accepting enough to have it.
@@ollieno971 Two wrongs don't make a sandwich, though. It's a pity, especially considering that the west is directly for the chaos that's been happening in Russia for the last 30 years, yet they turn around and basically spew what is not very different from "better here than in Africa, am I right? Yeeehaw! Freedum!"
I'm also a queer person from Russia, and I second this comment. I would not be happy to see some corporate merch myself, but I agree that it indicates the place of queer people in a society.
The coment of Authentic Baguette below is also right imo
Target also is (or at least was) shitty to trans people. I had an interview with them and the MINUTE I told them I wanted to be called something other than the name on my birth certificate, the guy interviewing me said he’d heard enough and ended the interview.
Jesus christ, that's horrific! I mean on one hand at least you were spared from working for/with a horrible person who wouldn't have respected you? 😬
But jobs are also necessary for most people sadly, so, yeah just wish people weren't like that
Not only that, but I’ve heard they’re big union busters as well :(
I always thought target felt really safe for me, in my area I saw trans people working there and they were chill about the gender bathroom/changing room stuff when it was first getting to be a hot issue.
I want to not believe this, but on a related note my mom called a place asking if they could accommodate some simple things (Im physically disabled where I'd need to use a cane and sit down sometimes) and the store owner straight up said it's company policy not to hire mentally or physically disabled people
Worst part was having to be very careful about what was said because the information was gathered by a family friend who needs to work there to afford the necessities
there’s something so sinister about the stonewall candle.. idk what specifically but it seems so fucking strange
sinister is the perfect word for it !!
By the time I saw the "YAS QUEEN" sticker, I realized how lucky Canada is to not have Target anymore.
cool moxxie pfp :)
Agreed, also like I love your pfp and user 💕
Now cool Angel Dust profile picture
so glad you’re back!! i’m glad you took the anti-rainbow-capitalism side of the criticism especially since it seems like in previous years people just make fun of corporate pride merch for being ugly, which, while definitely correct, has always felt so superficial. thanks for making the video!
yes i feel u! i always crave something more than just 'lol this is ugly' bc there are definitely more important factors than that
corporate pride is bad, and some of these designs are genuinely awful. but i got my mom to unknowingly get me trans flag underwear at target, and i'll take that as a win
I saw accidentally trans flag boxers while i was being stared at in the mens section (i very much do not pass) so i got them as a fuck you lmao
yeah it's good to see someone else talking about the implications of the "love is not a crime" shirt. for myself, i also really dislike how most mainstream discussions of gay rights try to only focus on gayness as something Pure (and desexualising gayness), in order to appear more sympathetic or normative to people who might potentially support us. yknow, like sexuality does not always involve love, and it's fucken fine to not be _pure_ or _wholesome_ ,. and when you think about what "love is not a crime" is saying, it's pretty incorrect anyway because a lot of the laws criminalising gayness had to do with sex acts.. and queerphobic society oversexualises queer people. (people need to realise the answer isn't going to the other extreme and saying "gay people never have sex! if they do, it's very Normal and tame. they also Always have a deep love for each other")
people always say shit like "it's so sad how gay people were treated back then; all they did was _love_ each other" as if having gay sex would mean someone is actually guilty of something , or are less deserving of rights because they're not completely "pure". it's still creating a standard of what is more acceptable/tolerable behaviour.
people don't seem to realise that the reclamation of the word Queer also means you're reclaiming this idea that what you are as a person, and anything you could do, is inherently filthy. not just "weird".
yes to all of this! the focus on love, marriage, romantic relationships etc in these discussions is SO damn alienating as an aromantic gay transmasc lol :')
Just a couple of corrections about Native cultures as a queer Native viewer. We'Wha was not twospirit. This is a common misconception by nonnatives. And twospirit is not even a group of genders. It's a cultural identity and societal role. I know as many cis gay people who are twospirit as I do trans twospirit people. And I know probably even more twospirit people who do not identify at all with european concepts of gender and orientation.
based
Does target not realise the fucking irony of turning an imperative riot in history, into a candle??? Like??? Ah what did the burning at stonewall smell like... hot cinnamon candy i guess
Yep !! That’s the funniest thing about this whole thing. It’s so clearly a backlash against past complaints of pride merch being tacky and meaningless while at the same time proving that pride merch will always inherently be tacky and meaningless. The stonewalls shit reads as more offensive almost than the ugly ass shirts because at least the ugly ass shirts didn’t pretend to mean anything. Protest will never be products, it will never be cute little nicknacks you can buy. Candles, shirts, tote bags and whatever sold at target can never be radical. Because it is target merchandise. People can criticize the small stuff, all the little ways it is wrong to do this, but at the end of the day the reason why this is counterrevolutionary is obvious, because it is sold at target
Yay!! Earlier in my transition I used to watch you all the time! I got top surgery yesterday so it was really cool to see your video pop up!
congrats on the top surgery! hope the healing process goes well
Hey! Congrats! 🎉 I wish you a good recovery and great results! 🤗
CONGRATS!! :D
so happy for u!! wishing u luck with ur healing process!
Congrats!!! I hope you have a good recovery
Also I just came out like a month ago, and coporate pride in the UK can be just as bad >< Our primark pride collection isn't too bad, but we have the same pronouns shirt with that 'he/she/they/us' slogan. it confuses me that corporations put 'us' on a shirt, as if they are part of the lgbtq+ community. Also, As someone who is gender quesioning, the whole slogan just makes me feel like they are saying 'who cares about pronouns?? we are all the same'. But pronouns are important. Its a basic human right to have your pronouns respected. And lots go genderqueer, trans and gender question people have to fight ever day to not be misgendered. :(
Maybe i misunderstand the slogan, and i understand it may have been designed by a queer person, but it's still a weird thing to put on a t shirt.
I also didn't love the fact that basically all the other pride merch at Primark is Wizard of Oz themed, which is clearly a nod to the historical gay slang of referring to gay men specifically, and LGBTQ+ folk more broadly, as 'Friends of Dorothy'. Once again, big corporations appropriating the language of the queer community, particularly for profit, just feels super duper uncomfortable to me.
@@elliotcooper4604 yeah and me being new out the closet I didnt even know the wizard of oz connection, so i found that to be a really confusing design!
@Genevieve Pilz i always get confused when i see a rainbow flag, cos in my mind its instantly 'fuck yeah gay pride', but then i realise its a 'thank you nhs' thing instead. They could have chosen a different logo >
welcome back! i'm loving the hair and omg corporate pride makes me wanna scream, so tired of corporations profiting off of our community while exploiting all the people who made the merch 😌
my parents got me a ton of target's pride stuff and i'm like. rightish idea and shitty execution??
if ur into DIYing, there are always ways for u to cut stuff up and make it more ur own!!
At least they tried, mine aren’t against it just not very understanding, my mom said she’d tell my dad, never happened, I think she also forgot about me using different pronouns-?
No need to apologise for not being on UA-cam for a bit as you said you fortunately have a life
Other people's reviews in past years were just "ew wearing this would make me look like one of *those* gays" very much in the style of the 'gay men I respect, gay men I don't' meme. Like I specifically remember a lot of jokes about it making someone more likely to get hatecrimed.
How do you feel about target collabing with TomboyX
honestly im glad you're still active on youtube, even sparsely, i feel like a lot of nb youtubers were chased off the internet ://
Once I saw that candle I almost started crying how do they think this isn’t horrifically insulting
No co(r)ps at Pride.
Dudeee the amount of times ive come back in the last 6 months waiting to see a new videoooo!!! Ive watched you for so many years loll so i was a bit conserned about the lack of videos. But im super glad youve got a life out of youtube and a life your enjoying (As far as im aware), but i love the hair, the peircings arw amazing, but can we talk about the.. FACIAL HAIRRRRRRR, looking sick dude!! Happy your back, or at least for this video! Hope your having a good day, and everyone else as well lol.
What picrew is in your PFP :o
@@Stickbugsoapopera Its called "Baby carrot Character maker" by Baby_Carrot_Art. Its a really good one, one of my favs!!
I came across an old video of yours when I was looking for thing to help me with a depressive episode and looking at you now helps me gives hope for my future transition
Go see a licensed therapist and stop seeking answers from a woman that's having an identity crisis and loves attention to the point where she permanently damages her body. This ain't it, fam, and you're life is going to get harder and I gaurentee that not everyone will play along with your games.
Please don't listen to the asshole above me, if they knew anything they'd know therapists suggest transitioning to help with gender dysphoria but they're just an asshole who wants others to hurt. You're gonna transition and its gonna be great, always keep hope ♡
this video cured my imposter syndrome about being a graphic designer
Hey Ashton! Great video and honestly agree with everything you said here. Corporations do not give a shit about us and never will. Another thing that annoys me to no end is the cishet people that like to say that since we have some corporations doing pride collections that queer/trans people are safe and don’t need to rub in that we get a whole month to celebrate/ can shut up. No corporations just want money from whoever they think they can market to and just because they do stuff like this doesn’t mean laws aren’t still being passed and that in many places it is not safe to be openly queer/ and or trans. Corporations being there does nothing for us especially those people who suffer the most in our community.
*also side note I love your new piercings and that hair color rocks!!
The ONLY thing I like about the pride collection at Target, is seeing it piss off homophobes. But...there are better ways to piss them off that are actually productive.
Another thing I hate about "love is love" phrases is its erasure of Aromantic and Asexual people. The queer community shouldn't be based off of just romantic and sexual love, aro/ace people are equally queer and equally valuable to the community
YOUR HAIR IS KILLING IT ITS SO BADASS YES
You really help me learn about the smaller nuances of things. Like pointing out the two-spirit is an English word ..the fact I hadn't thought of that..
You mentioned having three books about stonewall. Would you mind saying what they are? And do you have any other recommendations on queer history books? Thanks. Nice to see you posting again Ashton!
Stonewall by Martin Duberman and Stonewall by David Carter are the two stonewall-exclusive books I have, and then a bunch of other queer history books that also discuss stonewall. i have a goodreads shelf w/ 40+ queer history books, and u can see my ratings/reviews of the ones i've read there too! www.goodreads.com/review/list/70763121?shelf=queer-history
Love the commentary around the 14 minute mark about the idea of the phrase “two spirit” being a colonist phrase, I’ve never thought about that before. I’m trans myself, but i know very little about how other cultures conceptualize gender. Pretty fucked up that target was selling that. Great video as always :)
the pronouns shirt is laughably bad. cis people continue to be baffled by pronouns and the fact that they are simply a part of speech
welcome back! i've missed your vids!!
bruh like what if they made a rosa parks candle
also the 2 spirit thing is just another level insanity i cant believe these things exist
also why sell pride is a protest merch like you might as well just sell a shirt that says "say no to rainbow capitalism"
like...its ABOUT YOUUU
@ivo They probably really did pitch that idea, but then someone pointed out that maybe someone would actually follow the advice. "Good catch, Ben. That was a close one!"
14:38 Two Spirit in my understanding is def an umbrella term. For some nations being LGBT+ makes you Two Spirit, in other nations it’s specific third gender/gender roles, each culture is different and it’s best to use the word that culture has for that specific experience instead of just Two Spirit
LOVING the current look ashton!! Your hair looks lovely
So cool to hear from you again!! Not american, never been to target, so I’ve only heard of this stuff in passing lol and I wish I never learnt more /hj
Yes you're back! Happy pride month! Speaking of that about 3 weeks ago I came out as a trans guy to my parents and a couple of friends. Most people don't know yet but I plan to be out to my whole school next year when I'm in grade 12.
@@selfcompassionate Yeah, my parents accept that I’m trans but they still call me by my deadname and use female pronouns.
@@Sonicfan-cc1te forgive me if I'm overstepping, but that doesn't sound a lot like acceptance to me. Hope it gets better
@@sofastuffing They are trying to accept me. But it’s hard for them to start using male pronouns and especially my new name. But they still love me no matter what. They also aren’t transphobic. They just aren’t completely sure that I’m completely sure that I want to change my identity. They actually did see this coming.
im glad youre back regardless of the content, ill always be happy watching your videos remembering you introduced me to my favorite band back in 2019
I almost screamed when I saw the notification for this. I love your videos you make me more comfortable with my gender :)
I love your new hair!!!
"i dont think target should be allowed to-"
yes
first of all, i agree with everything said in this video. its deeply fucked for a mega-corporation to profit off revolutionary ideas and the aesthetic of queer liberation. with that being said, (and i know nobody's omniscient so i'm assuming you didn't know/might mention it elsewhere) i'm a bit disappointed that you didn't mention the fact that they were also selling compression tops (similar to chest binders) in physical stores. unlike most of the items in the collection, those would've been a game changer for me as a closeted trans kid, who was binding using improvised and often unsafe methods, like duct tape (just straight on my chest for upwards of twelve hours) and ace bandages to try and alleviate some dysphoria. I didn't have access to a credit card and even if i had, wouldn't have felt safe ordering anything online, but i couldve passed that off as a sports bra while shopping with my mom, or snuck it in the self checkout with my own money. my point being, while yes, please critique corporate pride merch for being counter-revolutionary, its also worth recognizing what steps are actually beneficial to queer youth, because while its complicated and probably imperfect, that compression top is going to save the lives (and the rib cages) of so many trans kids.
anyways, i really fuckin love your stuff and respect you a lot as a creator, just wanted to share my thoughts on that
I clicked so fast!! I love your videos!! Used to watch you all the time!
on the target pride website they also have a part thats like "lets celebrate these brands that support the lgbt community" ,, without any mention or info on lgbt activists or organizations????? that ??? are ?? actually focused on the lgbt community ??
you see its not counterrevolutionary if i just steal it
Well sometimes if the quote is good but nice point ^^
Glad you're living outside of UA-cam 💖
Omg you changed your appearance so much. And you look so freaking amazing
Welcome back it’s been a while
the candle is fucking dystopian to me, who would want to own that
Wow, this makes me happy that pride month isn't a corporate thing in my country! At least we can keep it amongst ourselves without watching our local Target (called Migros) trying to capitalise on us 😝
bruh i think we're the same person
we're both demi/bi nonbinary trans anarchist dudes who go by he/they
wow we match :)
I passed some rainbow pins Target had on my way to grab milk and there was NO PURPLE. I get that the rainbow and flag have many forms, but purple is the superior color and to not include it means that rainbow sucks ass.
omg we absolutly love your collar
Thank you for this video!! Super excited for the 2021 book wrap up. Can’t wait to read the sources in the description. Also your hair looks great!!
Putting aside that all their shit is ugly and the quality isn’t the best, you would be better off making smth on your own like a diy shirt or patches or smth. That way you can make it to truly represent you! My friends and I make bracelets with our flags and stuff like that :)
it would be awesome if you made a video essay on queer organizations and the hrc, that sounds rlly interesting
The hair is serving
I'm so so happy to see you for a new video!!! and thank you so much for linking all of those resources. i hope you continue to be doing well
Nice beard
21:01 the fake smiles 💀
Edit: typo. Sorry
Some Thoughts, even though this is a year old video:
I know and understand why there are people who disagree with Two-Spirit as a term. Pan-Indianism is a real problem and it warrants addressing! But as someone with indigenous heritage who grew up colonized and is still reconnecting... it's also all some of us have. I'm Métis. My people are devoutly Catholic (a lot of the ones I've spoken to in my community, anyway). The only word for any kind of queerness used in our community is "berdache", a derogatory term for men who sleep with other men. So. I don't identify with any settler-colonial terms for my identity, they don't ring true, but I also don't want to be called an insult for what we would consider a gay man today... Due to limited options, I'm sticking with Two-Spirit.
thank you for sharing this!! that absolutely makes sense - i think it's more than reasonable to claim that language for yourself. it's just off-putting to see Target profiting off of it, you know?
@@graveyardpansy Yeah, I hear you. We'wah especially.
💀 thought the intro was "hi I'm estrogen"
Lol
im glad ur back with another video, excited for your future vids!
i would love to hear more about your thoughts on crime if you don't mind elaborating on them at some point? i've been struggling for quite a while to understand different political views and i've found that google searches only get me so far, especially when it comes to more extreme (for lack of a better term?) viewpoints. absolutely no pressure if you'd rather not and if you or anyone else has links to articles or other videos that may help me better understand instead that would be much appreciated as well! so far i know just a bit about it, but mostly with respect to laws that have already been outdated (like homosexuality as a crime) or those which i already strongly disagree with (like the criminalization of trans people in sports). i've also learned a bit about the criminalization of drugs based on race rather than lethality, but could definitely stand to learn more about that and other things.
if u search for 'crime' on theanarchistlibrary.org, u can filter by adjacent topics and maybe find smth that interests you! may also be helpful for you to look into PIC abolition, a couple good starting points for that are Angela Davis' "are prisons obsolete?", www.8toabolition.com/, and work by Dean Spade!
@@graveyardpansy thank you so much!!! will definitely be checking those out!!
@@cameron9177 of course!! i love to give book recs :))
"Hi, I'm Ashton" damn bro, that voice is lower than my grades...
So good to see you're content again!!! ^^ Your make-up is on so good!!!!
Well, this was interesting to watch, as I lay on my bed, wearing a pride shirt, pants, and sandals all of which I purchased from Target
YOUR HAIR LOOKS AMAZING!!!
You helped me realise that I am trans
Hi trans I'm dad
Congrats on that realisation!
@@soyboy6953 thanks
They also had a ruffly skirt that was literally the genderfluid flag upside down. Skirt is itchy af
Love your hair in this video ✨
Thank you!
Nice to see you / hear from you, and nice to learn you have been primarily too busy living your life to be producing UA-cam videos.
This is a really great video and I love how you went more in depth than just making fun of the designs (there is value in that too though lol)! Btw what size is your septum at? I just got mine pierced at 14g yesterday and I really love it and wanted to let you know I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't found your channel because when I first subscribed to you I noticed your septum piercing and thought it was hella cool and researched body mods a bunch and now here I am 3 new piercings and a tattoo later lol
my septum is at 10g which i believe is 2.5mm? i am unsure if i wanna go any higher but i rly love it!! congrats on ur new piercings :))
ASHTON UR BACK!! missed you! :D
BORN THIS GAY omg i cant
The advert before this video was literally rainbow capitalism 😭
Your hair! 💜💙😲I think it looks cool
NEW ASHTON VIDEO WAHEYYY
Completely unrelated I absolutely love your aesthetic and envy it so much.
Love your outfit Ashton hope you've been ok and safe with all the craziness in the USA at the moment ☺️🥰
This video was recommend to me after I got into a YT comment debate on this exact thing. Literally. Like I even said that Target shouldn't say Q* and Two Spirit. Actually, it's kinda freaking me out...but you got a new fan!
Watching this video on my lunch break at target rn 😻😻
MISSED U BRUV LETS GOOOO FUQ TARGET
As always, great hair.
the link to the essay doesn't work for me. Can I get the title to I can google it myself?
that's frustrating thank you, i'll see if i can find a better link! the essay is called "romancing the transgender native: rethinking the use of the 'third gender' concept" and it's by Evan Towle and Lynn Morgan !
@@graveyardpansy Thanks :)
1:25 arctic fox purple and like crime purple have similar fading looks btw
In the time between vids I have come out to my close friends and gotten more confident in myself hfdjhfdkjd
Glad to see you uploading again. :)
19:35 this shirt even has that one blue mlm flag that is a blatant ripoff of the lesbian flag but blue because "pink = girl blue = boy" and implies that lesbians are just a female version of gay men. from my experience 90% of the people who use this flag are those white able-bodied people who are willfully ignorant of their privilege within the community and call people slurs without asking if it's okay. i'm gay and i wish this flag wasn't a symbol of my community because we can do better than that
apologies if this came off as harsh i'm just very tired of the mlm community's disregard for lesbians and trans ppl. great video ashton i'm glad you're back :)
That’s interesting. I thought the original pink lesbian flag was inspired by the bear/leather pride designs and thus the gay male flag is an inspiration of an inspiration (many flags nowadays reference other flags in their designs). This isn’t meant to be hostile or silencing your comment in any way (sorry if my tone comes across as harsh) but I’m genuinely curious to know more about your thoughts on the flag.
I thought of the mirrored colors as more of a solidarity thing rather than demeaning towards lesbians, but I certainly see how it could be taken that way.
I have mixed feelings about corporate pride, but I'm honestly just happy that the LGBT community is accepted enough that companies know they can make money off of us. It's just a money making scheme for them, but for me it's a sign that homophobia and transphobia aren't winning
would be very interested in a video on the HRC and its history!
I’m sick of arguing with people about how rainbow capitalism is not beneficial. Ya it’s nice to see inclusivity in media but it’s problematic that as a society, we look to see ourselves an advertisement, and in these huge corporations that do not care about us. Then manipulate us to make profit.
Oh what are those books on stonewall that you mentioned?
Hey I was watching one of ur videos yesterday and u mentioned that “shooting an elephant” by Orwell could be considered leftist. Anyways I read it and I like it a lot and I never heard about it before u so thx for the recommendation:)
4:23 $13 sounds cheap for target Pride. That’s how much I paid CLEARANCE PRICE for my pride shawl I got from target. Tag says original retail price was like $30. It’s not worth more than like $10.
summer of 1969 candle is frickin crazy
Looking at the red pronoun shirt and as a former Target employee I'm assuming it's red so employees can wear it at work. Which honestly makes it worse tbh.
i thought the same thing as a former target employee. They did the same thing last year with a shirt that said "love is love" the actual design wasn't too bad but it was very specifically Target Red and so many workers started wearing it. This year's pronoun shirt design feels especially performative though.
@@FlyingBlueNic Talking about performative, I remember they put out a shirt that had a giant wall of text saying something about supporting black families. They were handing them out for free and everyone was wearing them, and while it seemed like a nice message and all, it felt like such a lie, not to mention bad shirt design.
Mostly unrelated to the video but right before this I got a pride add from Tik Tok
Y'know the video platform that forces people to censor LGBT related words to stay in the algorithm
would love to see a video essay about the hrc
Personally, though I realize that corporate pride does not do good, I think it can be good to recognize them as indicative of a more general social good. After all, corporations only do what's profitable, and if pretending to support the queer community is profitable, and thereby popular, I think that's a good thing, descriptively, if not prescriptively.
Do any of the leather makers in the description sell vegan products?