Queers, punks and pagans share more than their ostracization and oppression by the dominant, mainstream society. Their basic beliefs often involve a determination to stand outside of society, to respect our individuality, to intentionally resist absorption by and integration into a repressive, oppressive system, to challange the powers that be, to be subversive by being true to ourselves. Neo-paganism is by nature anarchist; although there are hierarchies within some schools of pagan thought, most pagans will tell you it's a DIY kind of religion. There are many paths and you just have to find the one you can groove on. There are many tools, you figure out which ones work for you.
Queers, pagans and punks share in common the possibility of being co-opted by (and thereby made less subversive of) the dominant structures. Capitalism seems to suck up everything in its path and shit out tv dinners, compact disks, cellular phones and streams and clouds of toxic waste. Any revolutionary movement which tries to work within and through capitalism will suffer from the requirement that it somehow make MONEY, fund-raise, grant-write, market itself in $17 t-shirts and 10 second sound-bites. Gay liberation has become a shopping mall, and sexual identity is the commodity on the shelves. Punk and queer styles have been absorbed into the maw of the fashion industry and spit back out in the form of imported silk "grunge" shirts and $500 plaid bondage pants. Must I even go into the attempts by MTV and the rock-n-drool boys' club music industry to regurgitate punk in neat plastic packages, digitized and sanitized for your protection and aren't-we-oh-so-cutting-edge? Many people looking for alternative paths of spirituality will find on offer very pricey crystal knick-knacks, book after book on the same scented-candle meditations, the saccharine ennui of new age music and $300 week-end retreats.
What else do these three groups have in common? Their lack of immunity to the stranglehold the PUDRIARCHY has on our society, its values insidiously permeating even the minds of people who try hardest to battle against it.
The gay 'movement' as it exists now is a big farce ... it fails miserably where it should be the most progressive - in its sexual politics. Specifically, there is a segregation of the sexes where unity should exist, a veiled misogyny which privileges fag culture over dyke, and a fear of the expression of femininity which has led to the gruesome phenomenon of the "straight-acting" gay male. But subversive gay boys and girls who expected to find in punk an alternative to a stagnant culture find themselves largely disappointed and unwelcome.6
We need to consciously confront sexism, racism and homophobia in ourselves and our subcultures, as well as in others. We'd do well to continue blowing the cobwebs out of sexuality by doing exactly as we please short of spreading disease.
In the midst of this constant abuse at the hands of a queer-hating, woman-hating, witch-hunting society, how on Earth are we supposed to be goody-two-shoes-Glindas groveling to be assimilated into a totally screwed up system? I'm not begging to be accepted by the herds. I for one refuse bedeck myself in rainbow accessories and shout out, loud and proud, "We're Here, we're Just like you, we love going Shopping! Market to us, make your campaign speeches to get our votes too, put airbrushed photos of some really nice gays in the glossies, blah blah blah!" I refuse to assimilate, to be pasteurized and sanitized, to be absorbed into the homogenous mass of wage-slaves and shop-aholics, to participate in the truly warped, male-worshipping, mechanistic, militaristic society that so despises me. Is this refusal part of what makes one a PUNK Queer?
What's it like to stand at these crossroads? A person like me catches flak from all sides. I go to a punk show and find no welcome in the sweaty pit dominated by sexist lunk-head puds; in their ever-so-much-like-the-rest-of-this-lame-society world, I'm considered second-class for being a woman and totally threatening and hated because I'm a dyke. In fact, a queer stands a chance of having the shit beaten out of them by these bullies. I might as well crash a frat-house party.
As a queer pagan, how do I fare? I imagine that if I went to one of the public gatherings (many of which one has to fork over 15 bucks or more to attend - forGET it! They've forgotten their low/no income fellow pagans!) there's a slight chance I'd be immersed in the heterosex-centric mindset there as well, tho' I can't really say, as I've never shelled out the dinero to go, preferring small groups of friends or individual work. I have heard that many pagan groups foster a very BISEXUAL environment, wherein people prefer not to be tagged with a sexual identity label of any kind, and will snog whomever they like. That's very encouraging! A good direction for any group to take! I have met many pagan queers, some of whose writing you can find at the Library.
As a queer I feel fortunate to be able to live in a city so full of out lesbians, gays, bis, and trannies that being out here is easy and less dangerous, if not less expensive (take a walk through the Cemetary to learn more about landlord greed.) San Francisco is also a freak-magnet, so you have to look pretty outrageous to even turn a head on the streets, which is cool. I got jobs at weekly newspapers sporting a five-color mohawk. When I think about living somewhere else now, I remember how ghettoized we are, how fucked up the world is, how much work there's left to be done.
An outcast can often (but not always, as in the case of the well-off GWM riding his privilege of gender and skin color and enjoying the perks the old boys' club still extends to him) see more clearly the fucked up shit all around us. We're thrown out of the squares of acceptance, and are unwilling to play the games and destroy our selves in order to crawl back in. Once free of the rules of the squares, we parade in flamboyant colors in celebration of our survival of spirit, we cross-dress, spit in the face of authorities (whom we know intend us great harm and consider us less than human) and we hurl a few bricks if necessary.
Blessed be and FUCK SHIT UP!
-ZANNE ROCKHOPPER
6. From "Don't Be Gay or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Fuck Punk Up the Ass" by G.B. Jones and Bruce LaBruce.
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Witches in Media A colorful KVETCH about how media portray witches and pagans, and the effects of these portrayals. |
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REVIEWS A look at a few movies and tv shows with portrayals of witches, including The X Files, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and The Wizard of Oz. |
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The Craft Check out this review of a teeny-bopper witch movie which packs a big, woman-hatin' wallop. |
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All Artwork ©ZANNEROCKHOPPER1999
For illustrations contact zanne@cea.edu.