“Corporate Ally” and Other Oxymorons
Recently, Target has come under fire for allegedly selling “satanic” clothes in the children’s section. Keyword “allegedly.” Thanks to widespread misinformation and a nationwide lack of critical thinking skills, this abstract claim has been accepted as fact.
The issue I’m going to address isn’t the ridiculous notion of a children’s pentagram tee, but instead what led up to this point in the culture war: The Battle Over Children’s Clothing.
Abprallen, a London-based clothing/accessory/art company, partnered with Target to sell three items as part of Target’s Pride collection. The items, a sweatshirt and two bags, were fairly innocuous and in no way, shape, or form made any references to Satan or the occult. It’s true that the company sells pins and shirts that reference Satan, but these are not sold in any Target, and certainly not in the children’s section.
One pin on their site reads: “Satan respects pronouns.” Meaning to disrespect pronouns would make you worse than the devil. But most likely the meaning behind this pin is to point out how someone alienated by Christians has no choice but to embrace the entity that is not explicitly homophobic. It’s also a fun way to trigger the fragile people so easily offended by the image of a purple goat head.
The gas on the fire of this manufactured controversy was a series of AI-generated images. One of them depicting a mannequin with a red goat head, and two depicting small children wearing clothes with pentagrams and goat heads. These images were posted by a self-proclaimed satanist intending to mock the situation, but instead made it worse. The lesson to be learned here is that the religious right cannot discern joke from reality, resulting in a boycott and threats against stores and their employees.
But make no mistake, the “Target boycott” isn’t about satanism at all. The satanic element was merely a dog whistle to cover the transphobia of the religious right. The conservative disinformation machine has pulled the classic move of slandering a queer person in an effort to demonize the whole community. Erik Carnell has stated that he is not a satanist, nor does he believe in Satan. Using satanic designs and images are a way of removing the power from them, and claiming them as a way to mock transphobes and homophobes, who are oftentimes the same people offended by such symbols. So, no. Target did not sell satanic designs to children.
So what did they sell? The children’s clothing for Pride was just the regular clothing you’d expect to see but with more rainbows. Star Wars, Disney, Minecraft, and other franchises that appeal to a younger demographic are backdropped by the colors of the rainbow, or with rainbow hearts, or with “PRIDE” draped across the shirt in big rainbow letters. Simple shirts stating plainly that “love is love.”
Not “I’m four and I’m gay” like the religious right seems to think. I often wonder about the terrifying reality conservatives choose to live in. Is it really plausible that ten-year-olds are taking themselves into superstores unsupervised? And what money do they intend to purchase these clothes with? Most ten-year-olds don’t have jobs. Though, this is subject to possibly change as soon as the next election. Plus, no cashier is going to sell merchandise to a child without asking a few questions. Besides, most kids are too interested in toys, video games, and movies to spend their parents’ money on clothes. An adolescent fashion sense necessitates an adult’s input into what a child wears. Most parents/caretakers/guardians/etc… have enough sense to decide what is and isn’t appropriate for a child to wear. They aren’t buying shirts that read “hail Satan,” nor are the people running the stores putting them on the shelf. To a reasonable person, a shirt worn in recognition and celebration of queer people isn’t dangerous. But to the average extremist, it’s “indoctrination.”
What, exactly, is being indoctrinated? Respect and recognition of queer people? Really, I’d like to know. What goes on in the head of a right winger when they see a child in a Pride shirt? That the parents are “grooming” their kid to be gay? This just isn’t true. Even two gay parents would encourage their child to make an independent decision in regard to their sexuality. Because the parents grew up in the world the extremists have created, and they know what it’s like to be afraid to be your true self. A homophobic home produces a homophobic child. A gay-friendly home produces a gay-friendly child, regardless of a shirt. If a child wants to buy a Pride shirt, it proves that they are already pro-LGBTQ+. In a pro-equality home, this result was inevitable. The clothing is only an accessory. A buyable material that becomes an outward expression of the beliefs contained within. So if a corporation sells Pride merchandise, does that automatically mean they are pro-LGBTQ+?
Not necessarily. As soon as Target started receiving backlash, they removed Abprallen’s products from their stores. Sales dropped as threats rose, and the Pride merchandise was moved to the back. Hidden away, in shame. This does not capture the spirit of Pride at all. Pride originated to commemorate the Stonewall Riots of 1969, but also to “raise the consciences of participating homosexuals-to develop courage, and feelings of dignity and self-worth.” This is according to E.R.C.H.O member and activist Foster Gunnison Jr. after the first Pride, then called the Christopher Street Liberation Day, in 1970.
Pride has been around for over fifty years, and has been supported by Target since 2012. The gay community and Target have an interesting history, going back to 2011 when Lady Gaga withdrew from a deal to release an exclusive version of “Born This Way.” This was in response to the then CEO Gregg Steinhafel donating to multiple candidates who held anti-LGBTQ+ positions, such as Spencer Bachus, who voted to ban same-sex adoption. And to Erik Paulsen, who came out against classifying anti-gay attacks as hate crimes. Also to John Kline, who voted against job discrimination based on sexual orientation. This was all spurred on by a donation of $150,000 to a political group that endorsed Tom Emmer, who opposed gay marriage in Minnesota’s 2010 gubernatorial election. Target’s CEO would apologize for the mistake, and then immediately continue donating to anti-LGBTQ+ candidates. The actions of Steinhafel prompted shoppers to boycott Target by vowing to never step foot inside another store.
In an attempt at redemption, Target has improved their LGBTQ+ friendly policies over the years, donating to GLSEN as well as other LGBTQ+ non-profit organizations. The attempt to save face evidently worked, as Target was ranked by LGBTQ+ consumers as a favorite brand as soon as 2016, and was ranked the same the following year. So why would Target turn over so easily?
Because it was never about equality. Each donation and sponsorship was a performative action done to appeal to a demographic. To make itself look good in the eyes of the consumer. Target’s sole motive is to make money. And as soon as religious zealots and homophobes threatened to withdraw their wallets, Target abandoned the community that they had claimed to support. Nothing has changed. This was just a facade Target put on in order to gain the trust of queer shoppers. And now, the company has exposed itself for what it really is: a rainbow capitalist.
In the age of rainbow capitalism, where it’s becoming more and more common for corporations to “celebrate” Pride month by displaying Pride-themed merchandise or putting a rainbow filter over their social media’s profile picture, we must think critically about what these performative actions really mean. On the part of the corporation, and the consumer.
Aside from supporting queer artists and designers, what does buying Pride merchandise really do? In some cases, the purchase of a shirt or tote may support one or a handful of queer people, but what does it do for the community as a whole? How does a shirt protect gender affirming care? How does a bag protect same-sex marriage? How does a pin prevent discrimination? How does a rainbow dog toy make HRT more accessible to the people who rely on it for their gender identity? Allyship must go beyond impotent performative action and requires political activism. Vote. Call your state legislators. Donate to a candidate who will protect and expand the rights of LGBTQ+ people. And if you want to do that in a Pride shirt from Target, fine. As for me, I’ll be cutting up my Red Card.