Category Archives: Zeitgeist Movement

We grew up reading the history of the losses of the Partition of the Punjab. Anirudh Kalas novel Two and a Half Rivers tells the story of the Punjabs immense losses since Partition. Making good use of his own training as a psychiatrist, he spins a yarn that weaves together the various political and cultural schisms that have affected the north-western province and its people with a variety of ailments. Civilizational loss and guilt seems to weigh heavy in the air. This is personified in the title itself, where the Indian Punjab, once a land of the mighty five rivers, retains only two and a half Sutlej, Beas and often only one bank of the Ravi, with Jhelum and Chenab passing into Pakistani Punjab without touching its Indian counterpart. Indian Punjab is recognised as a pale shadow of itself, having been internally partitioned to give way to Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, becoming perhaps the only province of India to have its capital outside of its boundaries, in Chandigarh, and governed by Delhi. Independence for India meant a rule from its heart, its dil, Delhi, but the dirge here is sung for a state ruled from outside of it. Its rulers untouched, like the British were, by the problems of the territory they rule over.

The novel gives us three main characters whose psyches seem to be affected not only by their personal lives but their social and political fates, their civilizational losses in this divided land. The narrator is a depressed doctor who has shifted to an isolated house on the banks of a river that sees bodies flow in it during the Khalistan movement. He is kidnapped twice, once by the police, and once by the militants; his house is used without his knowledge as a hideout. This is everyday life for Punjabis in the early nineties.

One of his patients is the second of the three prime protagonists, Shamsie, a young village Dalit girl, who grows up and runs away with the third main character, her childhood friend and soulmate, Bheem. They leave their caste-ridden village for Bombay (as Mumbai was still called) to fulfil her dreams of becoming a dancer. Bheem, like his original namesake, is well-built and becomes a bouncer, but misses singing in the fields and at the canals.

But it is not just Punjab that is conflict-ridden or full of social ills, regional nationalism catches up with Shamsie and Bheem in Maharashtra and they are forced to return to Punjab. Still, it is high militancy and counter-insurgency time there. Shamsie and Bheem continue to face the brunt of sexism, casteism, and wanton violence that they had tried to flee with limited success.

Kala has his eye trained on all the important social phenomena of his land, and the powerful deras or communes of various spiritual leaders do not escape his ken. Shamsie and Bheem enter one such with the promise of relative peace. But we are well introduced to the deras internal workings, its murderous hypocrisies and corruption, its power over the people and sway over the state.

The insurgency is questioned and critiqued with interesting if not radically innovative devices. The doctor sleeping under pills has complex dreams of bodies floating in the river, giving the text a surrealistic texture. His erstwhile Welsh colleague, Enid, from his time in the UK doing post-mortems, guides his analysis of the bodies in his dream. The insurgency is not the first time that bodies have flown in the Punjab. Rivers of blood have flown in living memory at Partition in these parts, and possibly since the earliest of human civilisations in the region, and Enid deduces this in the dream from the long decomposition of some of the bodies.

The obsession of Punjabi writers with their rivers and death floating upon them is not unique to Kala, of course. Soni Mahewal, where Soni swims daily across the Chenab to meet her lover Mahiwal, using a pot as a float, until her jealous relatives sabotage the pot so that she drowns in the river, is one of the four famous tragic love stories of the Punjab. Fikr Taunsvi, the satirist, called his Partition memoir, Chhata Darya, or The Sixth River, adding the river of blood and fire, he says, to the five of Punjab.

Kalas tragic novel is not just premised on the momentary violence in the Punjab of the nineties, but of a land divided many times over, living a colonial legacy, in a society fraught with prejudice, where his protagonists struggle against the zeitgeist, most often in vain. His Punjab, unlike that of the Sufi-Bhakti greats before Partition, is no longer the grand province of flowing golden fields, it is at best a bowdlerised version of that former glory. Jerry Pinto, who calls Kala the Graham Greene of Punjab, is not far off the mark, as Kala captures adroitly the present of our tragic province in dis-/continuity with its past.

Maaz Bin Bilal is the translator of Fikr Taunsvis The Sixth River: A Journal from the Partition of India. He teaches at O P Jindal Global University.

Excerpt from:

Review: Two and a Half Rivers by Anirudh Kala - Hindustan Times

The Zeitgeist Movement is now ubiquitous. Everywhere I turn, I hear alienated youth having dialogue about this phenomenon, and I opened a local free newspaper recently to find an article about college dropouts who drive a bus around the country promoting the movements ideas.

There is a of course a great irony in this movement: Zeitgeist has all but replaced the fringe-groups discussing September 11th being an inside-job and other irrelevant conspiracies (of course the conspiracy industry is reluctant to acknowledge the two greatest public conspiracies: capital and the State). In other words, the anti-political fiction du-jour has had quite the metamorphosis. Alex Jones, one of the entrepreneurs of the conspiracy industry and proponents of New World Order theory (if ever a word was so bastardized), has been dethroned by Peter Joseph and his hypothetical technological utopia.

Joseph, too, has drastically changed his tune. The first Zeitgeist film was clich conspiracism, i.e., the Federal Reserve, September 11th, and the New World Order are discussed in intricate, albeit fabricated, detail. These are all favorites in the conspiracist milieus.

Zeitgeist has changed this, however. The mostly anglo-saxon, (previously) politically right-leaning constituency that praised Ron Paul as the new savior, has (kind of) done a 180. What do I mean by this? Well, for the uninitiated, the Zeitgeist Movement has now claimed to be the activist arm of the Venus Project, a strange organization spearheaded by social engineer and architect Jaque Fresco. Without digressing into an abyss, a brief overview of the Venus Project would be relevant to the discussion: a technologically advanced city blueprint that did away with money, war, environmental degradation, and eventually, they claim, government. Jaque Fresco and Zeitgeist leader Peter Joseph describe these sustainable cities as encompassing a resource-based economy.

What would be relevant to anti-authoritarians about such a movement? What should be relevant is the fact that many are co-opting, connoting, or merely associating the movement with anarchism.

An overview of Zeitgeist sounds good, and anti-authoritarian. Whats the problem, you may ask? The main problem is that its a utopian vision, i.e., the Zeitgeist Movement goes in depth on how the new world will look, but it offers no vision on how to create the new world within the shell of the old. The second problem is essentially an extension of the former: people should not be told what kind of society they should have. It is highly doubtful that anti-authoritarian theory can come from an authority, academic or otherwise. Anti-authoritarian theory is participatory, and if meaningful, is created by a majority. Wherein revolution is needed, to remain anti-authoritarian and relevant to a majority of the population, it requires the majority. Otherwise, it risks the danger of becoming a vanguard. But Zeitgeist has no mention of how to get from here-to- there.

Troublesome in the dialogue I have heard, as mentioned, is the idea that Zeitgeist is anarchism (Johnson, 2009). Anarchism has never preached one way, as does Zeitgeist (save for the anarcho-dogmatists). The lack of plurality within the movement and acceptance, of say, primitivists, syndicalists, communists, or other socialists, is not known because it is omitted. Zeitgeist also immediately connotes hierarchy since it puts all of its faith in science, hence scientists. Since some will be more apt than others towards science, this could easily give us a new bureaucracy.

Peter Joseph claims that Zeitgeist is not a political movement.(Joseph, 2009). This is a strange statement for Joseph. After all, he is deeming power structures useless and obsolete, wants to abolish the monetary system, dismantle multinational corporations, and, apparently, the nation-state. Not political? It sounds an awful lot like historical political movements that arose through the development of capitalism and the labor movements response to it (these are those pesky working-class people that Joseph is reluctant to mention), i.e., Marxism, and anarchism. Perhaps hes been on the fringe right-wing for so long studying conspiracism (which seems to be not so en vogue these days as evidenced by the popularity of this Zeitgeist thing) that he doesnt know his history. For a movement to be political, it doesnt require political parties and leadership; political movements can be non-hierarchical and have nothing to do with the state or, like anarchism, be against the state.

One would think that someone who is articulating a framework for overthrowing the State and capitalism would have done some research. Either Joseph is omitting the works of Marx and classical anarchism, i.e., the revolutionary aspects of what is called the Left, or he is simply omitting the history to appeal to a constituency that is of the extremist right. Think about the opposite scenario: lets assume that I try to sell a scheme to the Left that involves completely deregulated markets, dated ideas like the gold standard, condemn war because it isnt cost-effective, seek to abolish all taxes and reduce the role of government, but never mention the history of lasaize-faire economics; I dont think that the left would be as kind, and quickly point out that I am trying to pitch them a rehashed, watered-down version of capitalism.

A-historical accounts are troublesome in any regard. The American progressive community is quick to point out the criminal actions of Republican presidents like George W. Bush, but slow, or reticent, to discuss analogous and equally atrocious acts committed by presidents like JFK or Bill Clinton (the conspiracist right-wing is also reticent in regards to the former). For this, the so-called progressives, or the left-of-center, get nowhere and are not to be taken seriously. The Zeitgeist Movement is comparable in this regard.

Either Joseph doesnt understand what a political movement is or, worse, this isnt a political movement; the latter would suggest that the activist arm of the Venus Project is really just part of the larger, lucrative conspiracy industry that attracts an extremely alienated working-class to invest money in their pyramid schemes. To say that it is not a political movement would suggest that this is simply just a neat idea that is fun to read about; in this case, there is a vast body of futurist fiction, in which case, whatever one thinks about it, it is at least candid about the fact that it is science-fiction. If the former is true, then the Zeitgeist Movement represents vulgar utopianism.

Joseph and the Venus Project are proposing something radical: they are proposing that humanity, essentially, abolishes the nation-state, parliamentary bodies, and capitalism. There are many assumptions that can be made about the Zeitgeist Movement as such, but I will limit it to these for the moment: (1) Joseph and proponents of the Venus Project believe that they can achieve this new society through reforms (because to my knowledge they do not speak or write about a clash with the state, i.e., revolution); (2) they are coming from an angle that suggests that this will happen when there is a consciousness-shift, i.e., humans are too stupid and greedy to have this society at the moment; (3) they have a nave assumption, and again, an a-historical stance on what happens to the working-class (does Joseph even mention them?) when they attempt to overthrow the bourgeois state, i.e., fascist private militias, concentration camps, murder of civilians en masse, etc., because they do not speak of revolution as such; or (4) the proponents of this top-down movement do not really view it as something attainable, resorting it to fiction or an interesting idea.

If the first assumption is true, i.e., that a technocratic society sans government and capitalism could be achieved through reform, then this movement is certainly not to be taken seriously. Is anyone really nave enough to believe that abolishing the bourgeois nation-state and the arbitrary economic system that it resuscitates time-and-time again will be welcomed by the ruling-class ? This is, of course, nonsensical. But, to my knowledge, again, the Zeitgeist Movement has no class analysis, no politics, etc. It is agnostic on everything.

To perceive that this first sustainable city is built somehow, without the capitalists shutting it down any way they can, let us hypothetically extrapolate on the scenario: a city gets built in, were assuming, the Western world (because third-world US client-states would simply cut their heads off the second they said they were going to build an autonomous self-sustaining city) that is autonomous, has no allegiance to any government, any monetary system, and is completely off-the-grid. What is the first reaction that the State will have? Well, I would extrapolate that the national guard, Blackwater and other fascist, private militias, the police, the FBI, and probably every military force in the world would invade the city and murder everyone they can; this is if they do not simply drop missiles on the first sustainable city. This is the kind of defiance that the bourgeoisie has not tolerated, historically (see the Zapatista Movement and the Spanish Civil War).

Revolutionary social and political theories that historically come from class struggle in contrary to the development of capitalism are not nave about this; these theories acknowledge that if revolution is to be successful, i.e., dismantling the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, there must be organized resistance among the majority of people (the working-class) and, an unfortunate matter, a clash with the State (if only in defense). Marx acknowledged the class struggle in he and Engels The Communist Manifesto, and believed that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles (Marx & Engels). Further:

Freeman and slave, patrician and plebian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes. (Marx)

Marxs acknowledgements are spot-on; it is his techniques on how to have revolution that many believed to be flawed. Marx favored an educated sect of the working-class, what he referred to as the dictatorship of the proletariat, running a transition state which would yield a stateless, classless, society, sans monetary systems (sounds a bit like the Zeitgeist Movement, no?).

Who, on the left, was to the contrary? The relevant sect of the early history of the labor movement, and that sect that was, in fact, contrary to Mr. Marx, was that of the anarchists and their respective movements. Without digressing into too much detail, we can give a brief overview as such showing the split in the 1870s in the First International, or the International Working Mens Association (excuse the dated, sexist preclusion of women radicals in the name). This was an anti-capitalist, international organization of the working class that was communistic and socialist, but there was a major difference within the organization: those that sided with Marx and Engels, and those that sided with anarchist Mikhail Bakunin (soon to become one of Marxs loathed rivals). All were socialists, certainly (meaning, simply, they favored the means of production and political power being collectively owned by everyone), but the split came between the authoritarian and the libertarian socialists, the statist-wing and non-statist wing, respectively. Those libertarian-socialists came to represent a revolutionary philosophy that set out to dismantle capitalism, the State, and all other oppressive hierarchical structures; this was the philosophy of anarchism.

So, anarchism is certainly a political movement. Yes, it seeks no political party or major organization to govern the people, and abhors the notion of parliamentary, representative government. But it seeks to put political power in the hands of communities, through whatever means the communities deem appropriate, i.e., direct democracy, consensus, workers council, or even technocracies like Joseph condones. Perhaps this is what Joseph means to say: the Zeitgeist Movement does not seek to establish some kind of political party or organization, but it is certainly a political movement since it seeks to put the political power in everyones hands.

An anarchocentric critique of the Zeitgeist Movement doesnt reject many of the ideas for which Joseph has presented. But there are major fallacies. Joseph has proposed a futurist society that will not appeal to everyone as the end-all solution to our problems. I certainly wouldnt oppose a community like the one Joseph speaks of existing after a revolution that dismantled capitalism and the State; I utterly condone a pluralistic world with many different types of societies co-existing, as long as they are voluntary, and non-oppressive. Also, as mentioned, this is not something we can achieve, whether technocratic or a society ran according to anarcho-syndicalism principles, through reform, or an unprepared working class. As far as Im concerned, if the majority of the working class is not participating in the movement, then the movement is not significant.

If the second principle is the case, i.e., they believe that such a grand scheme can only come about when there is a consciousness shift, or further evolution of the human species, well, this would be a simple case of a philosophy which condones some form of idealism and utopianism, and is not rooted in the pragmatic or material world. Comparatively, pacifists might tell the Palestinians to let Israeli aggressors slaughter them or their family, because pacifism is an ideal. Some hardliners would promote this nonsensical idea, while most anti-war activists acknowledge that the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves from aggressors.

This ideal suggests that capitalism is simply outdated; that the power-structures that enslave the working class and prevent them from a life of human solidarity and creativity, and destroys the environment through (Joseph acknowledges this) a profit-driven incentive that surpasses anything else.

This brings me to Josephs perception of the global economy. He defines the players involved as employers, employees, and consumers. And his perception is that the problem with these relationships is that capitalism is terribly inefficient. Joseph almost seems to place working-class individuals in the same realm as the bourgeoisie, explaining that they simply cannot reach a compromise. This is analogous to saying that those who run prisons cannot compromise with the prisoners. Those who currently own the means of production need not compromise; they have an army of desperate wage-slaves, ranging from neurosurgeons to janitors. Their job is to buy these wage-slaves labor on the cheap, and collect surplus value. Ironically, the capitalist does not use the means of production that she or he owns.

This is an historical critique of capital and private property. Anti-authoritarians have criticized the idea that such an entity exists. Anarchists and libertarian Marxists agree that what one uses, one possesses. So, if a capitalist owns a chunk of property and employs 80 wage-slaves who use his means of production daily, the anarchist or libertarian Marxist feels that the wage slaves possess the means of production that the capitalist technically owns. A thoughtful critique of private property is missing in Josephs analysis.

Does Joseph think that the property owners, whether the State or private owners, will tolerate him using their land to build an off-the-grid city that is not affiliated with the State or capital? Certainly, he is not this nave. If he is suggesting that people buy up property to do this, then it is simply liberal reform. This is the same elitist stance that liberals take; they believe that if we simply consume less, eat organic, and ride a bike, we can moralize a morally bankrupt system, i.e., capitalism. I would see little difference if property-owners bought land in bulk to build such cities. Joseph will have to develop his analysis, because it is unlikely that the bourgeois State will allow his utopia to coexist.

Joseph is correct: capitalism is inefficient and will most certainly destroy the planet left to its own cancerous devises. But his lack of class-analysis connotes that hes never seriously studied capitalist critique. I suppose this is a good thing, that people inherently see the flaws in capitalism, but when one has a platform speaking of these ills as if they happen in a vacuum, I find it quite troubling.

When the words wage-slavery, subordination, and, perhaps most importantly, private property are missing from a critique of capital, it begs many questions, and suggests liberalism and reformism, like the social democrats attempts to create a green capitalism.

In this essay, I could be perceived as one who has written the Zeitgeist Movement off as conspiracist drivel; mostly I have. However, at the crux of it, there are anarchistic connotations. Whos to say that this is not prefigurative politics, i.e., the idea of building a new world in the shell of the old? Or, who could argue that, if this truly was a decentralized, non-hierarchical free-space for people, it is not striving to build a dual power structure? Both prefigurative politics and dual-power building are both anarchistic tendencies, and I argue the Zeitgeist Movement could be that.

Also, certainly environmental degradation subordinates the majority of human beings who would not destroy the planet left to their own vices to the miniscule percent of the population of property owners who are destroying the planet. Joseph is addressing these problems, and a majority of his audience is coming from the conspiracy industry that predominantly believes global-warming is a hoax created to perpetuate socialism through carbon tax (no, Im not kidding). The fact that a constituency who bought ultra-extreme ideology for so long seems to be accepting of the sustainable technocracy for which Joseph is a proponent is certainly less-worse. But is the technocratic metropolis something that can ever be sustainable? Has Zeitgeist thought outside the box, or would Frescos sustainable city be every bit as alienating as our current cities? Further, can we reach sustainability without creating new paradigms? I believe it is doubtful.

I think praxes that explain This is the way to freedom! can be interesting; there are certainly other examples of classical anarchists like James Guillame and Peter Kropotkin writing specifically about their ideal communities, or even Michael Albert with his intricately planned Parecon idea (whatever one may think of it). I do believe, however, that the rigidity of a plan can alienate anti-authoritarians, and perhaps Joseph should sympathize with all people who are opposed to capital and state; this should be the area on which we focus instead of focusing on our ideal new society. I am not suggesting we should not try to build alternative institutions like co-ops and free spaces for everyone; this is the kind of work we should certainly take part in. But we need not focus all of our time on someones specific praxis and ideal about a future society. It is crucial to understand for these ideal future societies to exist, we must dismantle the oppressive authoritarian institutions that prohibit Josephs scientific green city, or my ideal communist society. This is where our activism, and certainly our creativity, should focus.

Further, it could be argued that it is wasted effort writing about something so insignificant like Zeitgeist. It is, after all, weak in theory, and seems to come from a film-maker who realized that the conspiracism that made his first video so popular is losing momentum (this is certainly a good thing that the alienated, mostly white males, who patronized the intellectually bankrupt industry of distraction seem to be abandoning it). But it is sort of quasi-anarchistic, and quite popular. This gives libertarians, whether Marxian or anarchist, an opportunity to discuss their ideas with people who may have previously been unsympathetic to anarchism. It can be a nice segue, like You know, this whole Zeitgeist thing is pretty close to anarchism.

I am not suggesting that libertarians should be missionaries, always trying to recruit new worshipers. But it is an opportunity to create dialogue, which is of the upmost importance. Anti-authoritarian politics should not be tucked away in a dusty closet. With the popularity of the Zeitgeist movement, this dialogue could happen on a large scale. And that is why Josephs work is a significant piece of pop-culture.

Johnson, F. (2009, June 10). The dudes on the bus. The Leo, p. 10.

Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2008). The Communist Manifesto. New York, NY: Oxford University Press

Joseph, P. (n.d.). Zeitgeist Movement: Orientation Presentation I. You Tube. Retrieved July 12, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com

Visit link:

The Problem with Zeitgeist | The Anarchist Library

The Zeitgeist Movement is a sustainability advocacy organization, which conducts community based activism and awareness actions through a network of global/regional chapters, project teams, annual events, media and charity work. Founded in 2008.

The movement focus on the recognition of the majority of the social problems that plague the human species at this time are not the sole result of some institutional corruption, absolute scarcity, a political policy, a flaw of "human nature" or other commonly held assumptions of causality. Rather, the movement recognizes that issues such as poverty, corruption, pollution, homelessness, war, starvation and the like appear to be "symptoms" born out of an outdated social structure.

While intermediate reform steps and temporal community support are of interest to the movement, the defining goal is the installation of a new socio-economic model based upon technically responsible resource management, allocation and design through what would be considered the scientific method of reasoning problems and finding optimized solutions.

This Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy" (NLRBE) is about taking a direct technical approach to social management as opposed to a monetary or even political one. It is about updating the workings of society to the most advanced and proven methods known, leaving behind the damaging consequences and limiting inhibitions which are generated by our current system of monetary exchange, profit, business and other structural and motivational issues.

The movement is loyal to a train of thought, not figures or institutions. The view held is that through the use of socially targeted research and tested understandings in science and technology, we are now able to logically arrive at societal applications that could be profoundly more effective in meeting the needs of the human population, increasing public health. There is little reason to assume war, poverty, most crime and many other monetarily-based scarcity effects common in our current model cannot be resolved over time. The range of the movement's activism and awareness campaigns extend from short to long term, with methods based explicitly on non-violent methods of communication.

The Zeitgeist Movement has no allegiance to any country or traditional political platforms. It views the world as a single system and the human species as a single family and recognizes that all countries must disarm and learn to share resources and ideas if we expect to survive in the long run. Hence, the solutions arrived at and promoted are in the interest to help everyone on Earth, not a select group.

See original here:

Zeitgeist Movement | Emerging economy Wiki | Fandom

Pulling Through, the title of Chris Kellys show at Gallery 444 in Provincetown, is both a nod to his Provincetown debut hes pulling through town and a reference to the act of pulling ink through a screen. The Eastham artist and designer will show a series of paintings and small sculptures created primarily through silk-screening, a printmaking process using delicate screens to transfer images onto a surface.

Kellys introduction to silk screen printing was at a motocross shop in Tampa, Fla., where he worked cleaning screens used to produce motorcycle graphics. Although the shop was far removed from the world of fine arts, it became a part of his arts education.

Through observation, he understood how they were building up the layers to create imagery, recalls Kelly. I thought it was really cool, because you get immediate results when youre doing it. After establishing himself as a graphic designer and using silk-screening in some of his projects, he returned to the technique when he started to make artwork.

Again, he found inspiration in a small-scale industrial setting. After a friend opened a wood shop in Tampa, I had access to all this wood that he had laying around, says Kelly. And so I started screen printing on it, and I did some blocks, kind of like those in the corner. He gestures to a group of small wooden sculptures in his studio. He set up a workspace on the property of his friends wood shop, eventually turning it into a gallery.

Kelly grew up in South Bend, Ind. and moved to the Cape in 2016 with his wife, Katie Emond, whose family had a house in Eastham. Here, he has continued to work as a graphic designer (including for the Provincetown Independent) and to develop his artistic practice.

In June 2020, he opened the Longstreet Gallery on Route 6 in Eastham with his friend Keith MacLelland, an illustrator and educator. The two transformed a nondescript shingled building into a stylish white-cube space, showing a roster of young artists some local, others from Kellys broad network. The gallery was a bright spot on the cultural landscape, favoring work with a colorful, clean aesthetic and blurring lines between fine art, design, and illustration. It closed in January 2022.

In the rear area of the gallery, Kelly and MacLelland shared studio space, which they lost when their landlord, Willys Gym owner Barbara Niggel, didnt renew their lease, citing an interest in developing the space, Kelly said. It is now slated to open as a beach shop and local artisan market run by Niggels son, Benten Niggel, owner of Paddle Cape Cod MA.

When you have your own gallery, you get so much immediate feedback, Kelly says, reflecting on the experience of exhibiting his own work at Longstreet along with that of other artists. I like the idea of being out with my work in a gallery setting.

At Gallery 444, which rents space to exhibiting artists, Kelly plans to be in the gallery for the two weeks of the show. Ive never worked in Provincetown, he says. Im excited.

Kelly composes his pieces using visual elements with universal recognition. Im using a language that is ubiquitous, he says. It ranges from quilt patterns to elementary circles and squares. In an exuberant orange painting, End of the Day, he composes overlapping screen printed images in a loose grid, working with universal signifiers of Provincetown, like wave patterns, No Parking signs, and Fudge, reproduced in the same font as that adorning the windows of Cabots candy shop.

He freely pulls from advertising, design history, and even the creations of his four-year-old son, Cosmo Kelly. In Blue Notes, an oblong shape reads as the cut-paper creation of a child, its dark form floating in space, engaged in a Hoffman-esque push-pull dialogue with other more hard-edged shapes. This painting, like End of the Day, is a largely monochromatic all-over composition.

Using a ubiquitous form like a circle, Kelly says, you can start to create a conversation with anyone else that used a circle. His painting Bokeh Dots of overlapping multi-colored transparent circles echoes Damien Hirsts market-friendly dot paintings.

In addition to conversing with contemporary artists, Kelly places himself in conversation with mid-century modernists, lifting shapes from Eamess shell chairs and intermixing them with imagery from other times and places. In one painting, Kelly works with a razzle dazzle pattern, a striped design painted on warships in World War I to camouflage a ships movement.

Kellys paintings are very much of the present and owe as much to design as to fine art. They recall sampling in hip hop, but also the collage aesthetic of Robert Rauschenbergs early silk screen paintings.

If you look at different items that have been designed and this goes back hundreds of years you will find this pattern, Kelly says, pointing to a design of interlocking triangles he favors in his paintings. Its very simple, right? Anyone could scratch this into a rock. Im sure people have doodled something like this on a notebook. Its something thats universal. You know it. You might have seen it. Theres something about that that I like.

Pulling Through

The event: An exhibition of works by Chris KellyThe time: May 20 to 31; opening reception Friday, May 20, 4 to 10 p.m.The place: Gallery 444, 444 Commercial St., ProvincetownCost: Free

Follow this link:

Screen Printing the Visual Zeitgeist - The Provincetown Independent

In the late 90s, there was a fear that a new generation who had never known a pre-Roe world was unaware of the threat that abortion might once again become illegal in the US. A group of pro-choice activists came together with the imperative to push back against the notion that abortion rights were sacrosanct, and to motivate women to remain passionately engaged in the pro-choice struggle.

Their great fear was that, with people turning their attention to other battles, the enemies of Roe might gain the upper hand.

Starting in 1998, the group including Naral, Planned Parenthood and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice began running ads warning of a dystopian future where Roe v Wade would be overturned. With vivid images, zeitgeist design and provocative language, the ad campaign was difficult to miss.

If I dont get under your skin and if I dont push your buttons in some way, Im just putting some paper out there, says Ellis Verdi, president of Devito/Verdi, the agency that created the ads. I need you to fight me in order to reduce your apathy.

Using the imagery associated with backstreet abortions such as wire hangers and beat-up cars, the ads attempted to embody a bygone era. One image read: Per order of the supreme court, any female who enters into a marriage shall be considered the property of her husband. Another, with a design nod to Barbara Kruger, showed an image of a young woman with tattoos and piercings, warning, Think you can do whatever you want with your body? Think again.

Now, with the court seemingly poised to overturn Roe v Wade, the ads seem chilling and prophetic.

My high school had the most pregnancies of any school in the country, says Verdi. In my teens I was arguing for daycare for these young women so that they could go to school. I actually won the argument and had the high school put in a daycare center. The biggest opposition was from the parents.

Verdi says the campaign also made a splash. The funders were extremely enthusiastic and financed the campaigns three-year run in cities across the US. And on-the-spot interviews of subway riders pre- and post-exposure to the ads showed heightened interest and involvement in pro-choice issues.

I think everyone was feeling that, postRoe v Wade, there was a tremendous increase in apathy, says Verdi. If you went to college campuses, the movement didnt have the same support system. In an environment like that, you can pretty much assume it would be easier to pass legislation or overturn Roe.

Read more from the original source:

'Think you can do what you want with your body?': vintage pro-choice ads in pictures - The Guardian

Inside a coffee shop in Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, California, a man writing code has transformed a ... [+] cafe table into a standing desk, using a portable computer rig which incorporates an ultra-thin laptop, reticulated laptop stand, and split keyboards, which the man operates with both hands, September 20, 2017. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Though statistically the pandemic is starting to recede, the work-from-home culture is statistically looking like it is going to stay. Known societally as The Great Resignation, how much will this cultural phenomenon affect the media industry and society at large.

The rise in remote working is set to have an impact on numerous fields. Before the pandemic, the opportunity for remote work at high paying jobs was just over 3%. Today its at 15%. The pandemic acted as a seismic catalyst to workplace policy, with potential proof of concepts being found that people work longer and more efficiently remotely, with the next step potentially being to decrease the standard workweek to four days instead of five.

The 2021 edition of the State of Remote Work Report from Owl Labs found that 90% of 2,050 full-time employees that partook in remote working said that they were just as productive - if not more - remotely. 84% said that working remotely after the pandemic would make them happier. Most were even willing to take a pay cut.

Ultimately, numerous reports found that hybrid working conditions - with freedoms predicated around work completion - were what respondents were most satisfied with in regards to their mental health, happiness, and productivity.

Employees have left companies in droves over the past twelve months - across sectors - because of an unwillingness from firms to evolve their collective thought process when it comes to working conditions.

With the change in societal conditions, media budgets are being spread very differently juxtaposed to pre-pandemic times.

A study from Forrester Consulting, on behalf of Microsoft MSFT , found that 81% of brands now feel that social media is a much more important part of their marketing strategy than ever before due to the change in consumer habits.

75% of brands surveyed thought that search engines were more important, with online display, online video/OTT, and influencers hovering around the 60% mark among company respondents, in terms of importance.

With changing habits comes an opportunity for technology to aid in the adaptation. AI, Web3, conference calling, and cloud staffing entities have made massive gains due to the change in the zeitgeist.

BE started as a company aiming to create opportunities for people to live, learn, and earn anywhere they want. Its now on a mission to create a workplace for 1 million people from their smartphones.

BE uses AI to empower its users to run their businesses from their phones anywhere in the world. Capitalizing on the market, the company experienced sizable growth during the pandemic.

We're excited about the assets that BE has in the areas of education, fintech, travel and lifestyle. We were able to develop such rapid solutions in the face of unpredictability in these extraordinary times, and this is hopefully just the beginning of our growth. Moyn Islam, CEO of BE, affirms.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK - Moyn Islam outside of his office building.

Ehsaan B. Islam, Chief Technology Officer of BE, continued, Exponential growth in business means developing rapid solutions over efficiency in the face of unpredictability. We will continue to seek growth as long as there is space for technological evolution in the world.

The company is specifically built to capitalize on the current market trends and with a surge in revenue, the firm is well-placed to have foresight on the future.

On the reticence of large global corporations to adapt to the new global remote working movement, Monir Islam Chief Visionary Officer of BE added, The industry is stuck in its ability to leverage modern technology to reach new people. Throwing in-person events, cold calling people, are all outdated modalities of reaching the masses. BE helps its affiliates reach more people through its advanced marketing techniques.

The Great Resignation hit many sectors in the world because people are beginning to value their quality of life more than their job. That is a major change in trend and I dont see it ever going back to the way it was, where people based their entire life around their career.

Freedom is now what workers number one goal is, and many have realized that it is very much attainable.

The pandemics effects have coincided with the furthering of the technology around web3 also, perhaps allowing more freedom and opportunity for individuals to start businesses or work remotely for a company in the future.

Moyn Islam concluded, My brothers and I are proud that were playing a pivotal role in helping hundreds of thousands of people unleash their potential.

Our company BE is all about digital innovations that harness the power of artificial intelligence, which not only allows people from all walks of life to succeed but also better their lives in general.

With our concept of Live & Learn, we have created an ecosystem that revolves around unique e-learning, live streaming and travel platforms. With our hard-earned experience, weve put together a system for others to have a taste of success.

Here is the original post:

How Will Remote Work Effect The Media Industry - Forbes

Last night, Pennsylvania Republicans nominated a Big Lie proponent and January 6th "Stop the Steal" attendee namedDoug Mastrianoto run for governor of Pennsylvania in November. Mastriano is so MAGA that even Donald Trump was afraid to endorse him until it became obvious that Mastriano was going to win so he jumped on the bandwagon last Friday in order to keep his followers from wondering where his loyalties lie.

Kathy Barnette, the other super MAGA GOP candidate running for the open Senate seat, made a late surge but was unable to overcome her opponents, the Trump-endorsed TV celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz and his arch-rival David McCormick, a wealthy hedge fund executive with establishment credentials. That race remainstoo close to callthis morning and could be decided bylate counted mail-in ballots. Funny that.The irony is so thick it would take a chainsaw to cut through it.

So, in the big marquee primary races in Pennsylvania, it appears that one undisputedly far right MAGA candidate won despite not being endorsed by Trump himself until the last minute and the other will be won by a hair by either the Trump endorsee or a man pushed hard by the GOP establishment.

Naturally, the big question among all the political analysts is whether or not Trump still has any clout.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

He did seem to push JD Vance to the top in last week's Ohio Senate primary, but as you can see, it didn't seem to mean that much in Pennsylvania. Last weekhis chosen candidate for Nebraska governor (a fellow accused sexual abuser) lost badly, and last nightTrump's choice for Idaho Governor(a far-right candidate in the Mastriano mold) also went down in flames.

RELATED:Cawthorn's loss highlights Trump's waning influence but election deniers win big in GOP primaries

Congressman Madison Cawthorn, meanwhile, in North Carolinalost his race, after a brutal barrage of negative opposition from the GOP establishment in D.C. which decided that he'd crossed their red line whenhe publicly mentionedthat he'd been invited to cocaine-fueled orgies by members of Congress he'd always looked up to. Trump had endorsed Cawthorn and even stepped in belatedly on the day before the election to appeal to voters togive Cawthorn a second chance.So that's another one in the loss column. Soothing the wound, however, wasthe big win by Ted Buddfor Senate in North Carolina. Trump had endorsed Budd very early against the wishes of the state GOP.

So, the Trump endorsement clout game has been a mixed bag.

You can see that Trump obviously did not want to offend the MAGA voters ...

He, of course, will take credit for the wins and ignore the losses as he always does and his followers won't even notice. In fact, it seems pretty clear at this point that while they remain enthralled by Trump himself, MAGA is bigger than he is and Pennsylvania's Mastriano is its poster boy. He's more Trump than Trump.

RELATED:Leading GOP candidate for Pennsylvania governor opposes health exceptions for abortion

If there is an important story coming out of the primaries so far it's that there are two kinds of candidates in the Republican Party, those who are led around by the nose by the MAGA base and those whoarethe MAGA base. Ironically, Trump himself is one of the former. He's always been tuned into the right and far right's zeitgeist and he follows it closely. Take for instance what he said about the insurgent candidate Kathy Barnette in the days just before the election:

"Kathy Barnette will never be able to win the General Election against the Radical LeftDemocrats. She has many things in her past which have not been properly explained or vetted, but if she is able to do so, she will have a wonderful future in the Republican Party and I will be behind her all the way."

That mealy-mouthed comment was worthy of Rep. Kevin McCarthy at his most unctuous. You can see that Trump obviously did not want to offend the MAGA voters who were flocking to her. They aren't his. He is theirs.

In fact, every Republican candidate has to ensure that he doesn't antagonize the base and even if he or she is trying hard to walk the line between the less doctrinaire Trump voters and the true believers in statewide races, some positions are non-negotiable.

RELATED:Is Pennsylvania losing it? Hate groups proliferate as state GOP descends into MAGA paranoia

For instance, no GOP candidates are allowed to admit that the Big Lie is a big lie otherwise they risk alienating a huge portion of the GOP electorate. Trump started that, of course. But it's no longer really about him. It's now a MAGA litmus test a sign of respect, a sort of loyalty oath to the movement. If you aren't ready to deny reality in service to the cause, you simply aren't MAGA.

Candidates like JD Vance and Dr. Oz are willing to follow the base and do a fairly good job of sounding like they mean it. If David McCormick ekes out a win you can bet he'll have to do some fancy footwork to keep the base happy. But if you want a candidate who is the real deal, it's Doug Mastriano. Heisthe MAGA base. He's a hardcore evangelicalChristian Nationalist, retiredArmy Colonel,far-right insurrectionistandQAnon conspiracy nut. He's got it all.

And if he wins this race, he will be able to choose his own secretary of state to administer elections in the important swing state of Pennsylvania. We don't have to guess what will happen:

There is nothing curious about it. They are saying that if elected Mastriano will ensure that Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes will go to Donald Trump or whomever they choose. They aren't even trying to hide it.

Doug Mastriano is the perfect reflection of today's GOP and you can bet they are thrilled that he has won such an important election. But just as the evangelical base happily made common cause with the libertine Trump in order to get their social conservative courts, the base will back others who are clearly inauthentic as long as they follow the party line. In the end it really doesn't matter what theybelieve in their heart of hearts, the end result is the same. The MAGA genie is out of the bottle and it's unclear if the American people will be able to put it back in.

Originally posted here:

2022 GOP primaries prove that MAGA is now bigger than Donald Trump - Salon

My friends, it has been very difficult to produce enough brain juice naturally to function as a normal person. Even things that I usually enjoy a lot, like video games, dont achieve what they used to be too much Reasons. But after spending some time with escape academy By playing around a bit and talking to the developers, I think I have the serotonin delivery system that I desperately need.

escape academy From Coin Crew Games is a narrative puzzle game curated to look like real escape rooms. You play as an escape room enthusiast who is invited to a secret academy where students can train to become the best escapees. The people at Coin Crew games actually worked on real character escape rooms, and during the bout of cabin fever caused by the pandemic, they went looking for games that recreated that experience. But they didnt really find the type of toys that scratched that particular itch, so they decided to make their back scratcher work.

It can be difficult to move something originally designed for a physical space into a digital one. There will always be a part that cant really faithfully translate from the real to the unreal, and its our brains job to suspend disbelief enough to fill that gap. One of the most attractive things about escape academy is that it sounds like a lost semi-translation of the escape room experience. I didnt feel like I was missing anything or was limited by the fact that I wasnt in a physical place. I remember feeling the same awkward angst peeking over the run counter every now and then as I made my way through a majestic looking room as I would in real rooms with real people.

The ace lawyer A series of puzzle games that I enjoyed a lot, but one of the biggest puzzle games that bothered me, Especially the latest version, is that solving questions or puzzles sometimes requires huge leaps in logic. Its a lot of A + B = D and you have no idea how the game designers got there.

One of my favorite puzzles in the demo.Coin Crew Games

But all the puzzles I played in it escape academy makes sense. It wasnt so easy but not so complicated that I couldnt follow the games logic to get to the correct answer or figure out the next step in the puzzle series as is often required in ace lawyer.

I love this kind of midstream approach to confusion because it makes you feel like a brain god. Yes, you followed the clues not too difficult and not too simple to solve this puzzle correctly. I am the Queen of Mind, salute. This kind of good vibes is priceless and hard to come by, especially in a game design culture that seems to be happy to have them The voice of the player character you have to do right away While you are recording something to do. (Im looking at him directly you Forbidden horizon west.)

While escape academyThe designers trust the players intelligence enough to let them decide this themselves, and theres also a powerful hint system that pushes players in the right direction without explicit solutions being revealed. I was actually a little annoyed because its really easy to accidentally hit the help me button when I dont need it, messing with my results.

I havent noticed the keyhole yet.Coin Crew Games

another bothers you ace lawyer is that these games will require you to go through every step of solving the puzzle even if you have already figured out the answer. Its like if I knew the answer to 32 + 3 = 9, the game would still require me to do the work of multiplying three by two and then adding three again instead of just being able to answer nine. Its slow and frustrating and at least sometimes in ace lawyerthe game will make you take even more Strange steps to get to an answer youve already come up with.

escape academy He doesnt care if you can show it work, he cares that you know the answer. In my play there were puzzles I didnt complete or clues that I could completely ignore because the game allows me to jump to the answer. I appreciate this kind of confidence to the player to solve puzzles without friction.

Im the kind who knows theyre having fun when they start mumbling to themselves. Im a square scorer, very satisfied with marking metaphorical squares and realizing that while I was talking about puzzles, I need to turn this map upside down. Movement up is movement down, movement to the left is right, I was ticking the boxes . These puzzles will definitely require some pen and paper, and having the sense of touch to write things down and cross things while solving puzzles enhances the games already very satisfying gameplay loop.

Escape Academy also offers some interesting stories as well as puzzle solving.Coin Crew Games

Escape rooms, once the pride of strip malls and the culmination of any corporate retreat, have recently lost their popularity. They had a brief, bright moment in their late teens before the pandemic made intimate gatherings where people tossed out so many solutions to breathing puzzles and yelled at each other in cramped quarters that an extremely unappealing option. And even as these activities slowly return to the zeitgeist for good or evil I dont think the escape room industry will ever return to its pre-pandemic glory. But the idea of escape rooms is still really alluring, which makes escape academy An early favorite of one of the most charming and well-rounded entries on the 2022 gaming calendar.

escape academy Releases June 28 on Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation, and PC. But! If you are like me and need a good brain scratcher like escape academy and more ImmediatelyIt will be available to try from today until May 23 as part of Steams Cerebral Puzzle Showcase.

View post:

Escape Academy captures the fun of escape puzzles, without the cramped rooms - BEAM Media

by

Chinasa Afigbo

Every now and again, preceding trends return to add glam to the existing culture. The latest to make a comeback is the Y2K fashion that dominated the late 90s to mid-2000s. From low-rise jeans, monochrome outfits, baby tees, and halter tops to dark lip liners, leather skirts and over-the-top everything, the retro style is back in demand thanks to the young crowd and certain creatives. We have compiled a list of six Nigerian artists living and building loudly on Y2K fashion, a trend that reminds the millennials and Gen zs of their early childhood with a zeitgeist of nostalgia and deviance.

Ayra Starr

Mavins upcoming diva is into Y2K style big time. From her music videos to her onstage looks, she loves to be in boot cut trousers, monochrome tops, baggy jeans, and all. In an interview with Notion Magazine, the self-proclaimed celestial shares the inspiration for her style,

With my fashion, I feel like growing up in two different places has influenced me, you know? Having two different cultures, two different styles, two separate, thats two worlds. Both Benin and Lagos think contrasting things about what beauty is. Having two different beauty standards in the back of my mind has blended my mind in a way thats made me very diverse. I know how to mix other things together, and I know how to express myself through art and fashion. Its so natural to me because I like to express myself through art, and music is art. Fashion is art, so it just comes very easy to me. Its not hard at all. I enjoy it a lot.

Rema

Rema is another fast-rising act from Mavin Records that embodies the Y2K style effortlessly. He can be seen in primarily baggy jeans, bumpa jackets, head warmers, baseball jerseys and more; outfits depicting the ultimate Y2K cool kid. Speaking with Dazed magazine, the Benin prodigy traces his retro style to his childhood when he used to rock his elder brothers chains and clothes. In his words, The clothes were bigger, and I was looking really different in the era of skinny jeans. I look like 2pac!

Lady Donli

Nigerian alternative artiste, Lady Donli, has built her identity, fashion and art around the distinct demeanour that identifies with the Alte lifestyle. Invariably, her style depicts the Y2K fashion; and one of her music videos, Corner is known to be highly themed around the Y2K fashion. Donli is unarguably one of the championing creatives in the Y2K movement.

TG Omori

Fondly referred to as Boy Director, TG is one of Nigerias finest and most influential music video producers. He embodies the techniques and creativity of Y2K aesthetics so well from the old school glasses to the outfits; infusing his Y2k style into his videos which makes his work stand out. The industry has come to respect TG for creating some of the edgiest and most creative videos in the country.

Cruel Santino

Santino is another fast-rising alternative singer and rapper who stands out for not conforming to the norm when expressing his art in fashion and music. Formerly known as Santi, he is credited as one of the artists at the forefront of the alte movement, who is not afraid to sound and look different. His Y2k inspired style often blends into his music and visuals because as he puts it in an interview with DJ Booth; Style goes hand in hand with the music. Its very essential and gives you the full form of expressing yourself. Visuals allow people to connect the dots and grasp the message fully. The same goes with style.

BOJ

Born Bolaji Ojudokan, he is one of the leading faces of eccentric fashion and one-third of the musical trio DRB; the originators of the alt lifestyle. Freedom to express yourself without boundaries, without the constraints of the mainstream in whatever sector, whether thats fashion, whether thats music, whether thats photography, whatever it is man, he explains in an interview with GRM Daily.As a pioneer of the movement, he lives by this; consistently repping the Y2K look and general aesthetics in his style and visuals.

Chinasa Afigbo is a creative freelance writer and a lover of nature.

Like Loading...

Related Posts

Original post:

6 Nigerian Artists Riding On the Y2K Fashion Big Time - The Culture Custodian

Hannah Riley talks about womens health, the contraception gap and the importance of owning the narrative

People who think womens health inequality is a thing of the past couldnt be more wrong. Its 2022 and women still receive worse healthcare and experience poorer health outcomes than men.

It has been over 25 years since the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on Women while some progress has been made, the battle for gender equality in healthcare is far from over.

Women still lack a strong voice in healthcare, which is an issue the communications industry needs to take greater responsibility for challenging. The need for radical change is starkly illustrated by the lack of attention female contraception receives in the healthcare industry.

Double standards

Last month, it was reported that a 99% effective male contraceptive pill with no observable side effects may be available imminently, following a successful trial on mice at the University of Minnesota.

While some saw the availability of a male oral contraceptive as an important milestone in the fight for men to share the birth control burden, why has the elimination of side effects been prioritised in men, when the same side effects still havent been addressed for women?

Human trials of the non-hormonal male pill could start as early as this year, and yet contraception remains an area of healthcare rife with barriers and inequalities. Since the widespread availability of the pill in the 1960s, progress has been painfully slow in the female contraceptives market. Noting the many persistent gaps, Julie Kohn, National Director of Research at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in 2018: I cant imagine another area of healthcare where we would say, Okay, I think were done here.

Kohn is justified too. Drug companies are reluctant to invest in new forms of contraception. Research by The Gates Foundation shows that only 2% of drug company profits are returned to research and development, despite an estimated ROI on birth control thought to be at around 9 per every 1 spent. This could be due to the perception that studying contraception involves studying the trickiest of experimental subjects women.

Inconvenient research vessels

In her 2019 work, Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Perez exposes the serious lack of representation women face in clinical trial research. There is a misconception, she explains, that fluctuations in progesterone and oestrogen levels throughout the menstrual cycle render womens biological make-up too difficult to study.

To circumvent our burdensome unpredictable physiology, studies are most often conducted on women in the early follicular stage of the menstrual cycle. Essentially, when we are superficially most like men.

What is perhaps most shocking, is how until recently very little was known about how hormonal contraception affects the non-reproductive systems of the female body, because research on these systems has been done almost exclusively on male subjects.

In her book This Is Your Brain on Birth Control, Dr Sarah E. Hill points to research indicating that the pill changes your brain, increases the risk of depression, affects your stress response and even influences your choice of mate.

Changing the conversation

Public sentiment about the pill certainly seems to be shifting. When a 2014 study of over a million Danish women showed an increased risk of depression associated with hormonal contraception, many women saw this as confirmation of what theyd long suspected.

Indeed, 26% of millennial women surveyed in 2018 reported that they had either considered giving up the pill or had ceased taking it because they were worried about ingesting synthetic hormones.

Yet the widespread availability of the contraceptive pill over the counter suggests that the medical world sees nothing wrong with the current contraception offering available to women. In this regard, womens voices have yet to be heard, but communicating our personal experiences may help to change the conversation and advance female birth control.

It would be encouraging to see the same progress in contraception that other areas of womens health have enjoyed in recent years. Bodyforms 2020 award-winning #Wombstories multimedia campaign shifted the period paradigm by starting a movement that encouraged women to share their own emotional, human experiences.

Created by an all-women team, the emotive advertising depicted the imagined life of wombs while capturing the emotional roller coaster of the lifelong relationships that women have with their uteruses and vaginas.

Bodyforms success hinged on listening to the needs of its target audience carefully. The campaign was born when its uncovered the shocking statistic that 40% of women said their mental well-being had been impacted by not being able to openly share experiences around issues like miscarriage, fertility and periods.

Unlike clinical research, Bodyform embraced the complex nature of womanhood and menstruation. It isnt arent, however, the only brand to catch on to recognise that putting the spotlight on womens health issues resonates with its target audience.

Oversharing is engaging

Research suggests that one in ten women experience mental health issues during pregnancy, or within the first year of having a baby; this can result in seven in ten women hiding or underplaying its severity.

Maltesers 2021 campaign #TheMassiveOvershare sought to break taboos surrounding mental health, pregnancy and motherhood by giving women an online space to share their experiences and connect with one another.

Mars website reads: Maltesers aims to help women build resilience by laughing together through the tough stuff. Its what weve always done and what we will continue to do, now and for years to come. Maltesers used the #TheMassiveOvershare hashtag to provoke discussion and then amplified user-generated content online and through outdoor ads.

EllaOnes My morning after campaign invites women to share their real-life stories of taking the morning-after pill in an online forum, in a bid to break taboos surrounding emergency contraception. In parallel, EllaOne uses its social media platforms to dispel sex myths and to answer the emergency contraception questions you were too afraid to ask. There are also important scientific developments in this area.

An equal share

Communications leveraging humour and shared experience are undoubtedly effective at pushing forward conversations about womens health. It seems there is no shortage of women with stories to share, they simply need to be heard.

Saundra Pelletier, Head of Evofem Biosciences, recently raised a reported $306.7 million from investors to bring a newly approved, non-hormonal contraceptive gel for women to market. Pelletiers success has emerged from the CEOs refusal to underestimate the importance of womens health.

She told Forbes: I wanted people to understand that it wasnt about me just wanting to be this feminist who wanted to empower women; that theres really a value proposition in investing in women.

Big pharma could look to Pelletier for lessons in capitalising on the unmet need for greater contraceptive freedom by simply listening to women.

Equality in womens health is long overdue and more effort must be made to close the contraception gap. Women make up half of the global population it is absurd that we dont make up half of the conversation about our own health.

Hannah Rileyis Account Lead at Onyx Health. Go toonyxhealth.com

View post:

Seizing the zeitgeist - PharmaTimes Magazine May 2022 - PharmaTimes