I started the Instagram page @rude_oil_pipeline in late April 2019, around two years after discovering alternative, feminist meme pages like @gothshakira and @goldnosering. Their ability to merge autotheoretical analyses with political discourse and personal details is really inspiring to me. While neither of these pages are very active right now, they both continue to inspire a new wave of memers. Characteristic amongst these meme creators is the central presence of the personal and the political implications of this fact. Memers share and hash out their stances on political, social, and cultural issues. People develop unique styles while also feeding into each other’s aesthetics, often collaborating through group chats. Memes can be cute and funny, but they can also be used to come out, critique capitalism, call for police abolition, or do all these things at once. Meming has become a processing tool through which I work out emerging elements of my identity, delve into my past, vent about daily grievances, and continually confront and renegotiate my conception of the world.
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Read the full article here.