Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile Version | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Why we took out Ann Summers on Saturday 26 March:

George, Julian, Dick, Anne and Timmy | 29.03.2011 01:36 | Analysis | Culture | Public sector cuts

A response to the confusion emerging from the broken Ann Summers windows on a march about... CUTS?!

We dropped the windows of an Ann Summers shop on Saturday 26 March. It commodifies the act of sex itself. This stands in contrast to the endless marketing of sexual attraction. There is a clear distinction between the notion that sex sells and selling sex. Sex is and should always be free. Free, as in from the logic of capitalism, not free, as in a hippy-bollocks free-for-all.

Ann Summers presents a thin veneer of respectability to what is ultimately total exploitation of our attachments, insecurities and fears. It is a point of capture for the feelings of inadequacy synthesized by capitalist marketing.

The present commodification of sex is so successful because the insecurity it generates distracts us from rejecting capitalist values as the only possible precondition for meaningful sexual relations. As if worth and value can be calculated from the frequency of orgasms. Good sex becomes quantifiable. Pleasures must be maximized. Are you missing out because you are not flirtatious, adventurous or daring enough?

But let us not spend too long missing the wood for the trees. This is the nature of the real subsumption beneath capital: once capitalist production is established it seeks to permeate every aspect of life that exists within it.

Our act was not one of destruction but one of rejection. A rejection of a process of capture. Of ensnaring and taking our desires from us. Of taking everything we want in life and returning it to us in a box. As something to work for.

It was also a rejection of the current dominant discourses. We find ourselves able to divide the anti-cuts movement into three main campaigns:
~ Tax-dodging
~ Tory-hating
~ Preserving the status quo (or at least, as it was before capitalism's crises became manifestly inescapable).

We reject all three themes for the simple reason that they expect an ideological shift within the capitalist framework, a framework that is programmed to self-perpetuate. Capitalism's function is accumulation[1], and capitalism is the most efficient means to accumulate. Therefore to fulfill its function it must ensure its existence and evolution. Begging to deny this for a set of unworkable liberal ideologies is a mere derailing of any sensible critique and possibility of escape.

The cuts ARE inevitable. This is the nature of capitalism. Capitalism is clearly not a social relation that exists to grant benevolence. Our continued denial of this obvious reality renders us impotent. We no longer act in our own interests but allow capitalism to design our playpens. Here and now we will not be penned. We are throwing our toys out of the pram and we do not subscribe to any illusions of consent or consensus[2].

We denounce any cries for unity. Unity is us all together as a unified one. Unity makes the same assumption as capital: the interchangeability of humans with interchangeable desires, as interchangeable parts within a machine. Unity again leaves us as numerical values, as quantities that must amassed and displaced to accomplish goals set out by others, since there can be no true representation.

We can only represent ourselves. We can only represent our own desires, express our own anger, and take our own action. This is not a statement of individualism, but an exposure of the myth of democracy. Just as it is impossible for a single representative to satisfy the demands of an entire electorate, so it is impossible for any unification.

Democracy is achieved by dividing the sum of desires by the number of participants. The mean, or expectation value, of a human. None of us, however, are average. So how can our differing and conflicting desires be calculated, calibrated, and returned to us a smoothed-out sameness?

Waiting for consensus is as impossible as voting for democracy. There can be no democracy within capitalism. We act because there is no alternative to this inevitability, we cannot wait for permission because there is no-one to bestow it. Neither waiting nor voting will set us free. Freeing ourselves begins and continues in an eternal now.

We free ourselves from our desires by realizing them. They are ours and only ours. Thus, we can only act alone. Solitude is not a cause for despair, but our onto-epistemology[3]. Only by accepting this can we approach the possibilities of meaningful social relations. Social relations free from comparisons, expectations and replications, none of which have ever emancipated anyone. Embracing our singularities is not severance from the world, but creation of connections between free and equal individuals.

Singularity is not synonymous with difference. Rather, it is the essential origin of commonality. Our anger erupts from our meaningful social relations, which we see as violated, exploited, and destroyed (or commodified) daily. It would be narcissistic of us to feel alone equipped and qualified to feel this anger. Common anger arising from the social condition necessitates solidarity.

In solidarity our singular actions form a multiplicity of resistances, only through which can the overcoming of capitalism become tenable.

*We say here everything we mean to say. However, we do not necessarily mean everything we say. We do this to confront mere passive readership and nurture critical engagement of all forms.*

[1] Assuming any supply is finite, accumulation necessarily implies concentration of capital.
[2] It comes as no surprise that the current economic paradigm is known as the 'Washington consensus'.
[3] Onto-epistemology is the nature of the reality of our existence, i.e. how things really are.

George, Julian, Dick, Anne and Timmy

Comments

Display the following 33 comments

  1. I agree what a disgrace... — how dare they
  2. How dare they? — Klamber
  3. i think i'm with you — fightSEXISM
  4. O.T. — anarchist
  5. An unhappy customer — catherine
  6. good work — 1q
  7. yeah — smashit
  8. love it — smashit
  9. Support it, but honestly... — Death to all ideologies and roles...
  10. All this sounds... — Dan
  11. Well done — C*
  12. Bord — noone
  13. Yeah... — Dan
  14. If it's so 'free' why no posters of men's tushies? — satori
  15. Please chose your words with care — a philosopher
  16. no posters of men's tushies? — OLD COMPTON
  17. Well you... — Dan Factor
  18. not sure that's going to win many people over — observer
  19. Thought it was all about sexism — MacF*ck
  20. People inside — Jaya
  21. Profit — Dan Factor
  22. bringing masturbation to the masses — Jessica Rabbit
  23. I dunno why Ann Summers was a Target. — Foxy
  24. Someones not getting any — t
  25. The original article — Dan Factor
  26. consent — vapidness
  27. Ann Summers' contribution to the downfall of all we hold dear overstated — A Thousand Gateaux
  28. Patronising... — Sarah
  29. The cuts are inevitable? — Sacha Ismail
  30. what a lot of arrogant bullshit! — rampant rabbit
  31. Venus and Mars... — Willie and Kate
  32. Hmmm? — Unfortunate baby
  33. Cuts not inevitable — Dan Factor
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
May 1st to July 31st, Brighton: Smash EDO: Summer of Resistance
27th May, Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts: Take the Flour Back! Mass action against GM wheat
June 4th, Brighton: Stop the Arms trade, Don't attack Iran
9th June for 30 days, Faslane: 30 Days of Action at Faslane Naval Base
17th-24th June, Stockholm, Sweden: No Borders Camp, Sweden
12th-18th July, Douglas Valley, Scotland: Take Back the Land!
14th July, Bristol: Oppose the EDL
15th July, Brighton: Gathering to Plan Resistance to the G8
16th-30th July, various: Making Nonviolent Revolution Speaking tour with George Lakey.
26th-30th July, Shropshire: Peace News Summer Camp 2012
1st-6th August, Shropshire: Earth First Summer Gathering 2012

Ongoing UK
Every Wednesday, Brighton: noise demos at EDO MBM
Ongoing, Lincs: RAF Waddington Peace Camp. Protesting against Drone Warfare. More info.
Ongoing, London: Occupy London Stock Exchange
Ongoing, London Occupy Finsbury Square
Ongoing, Sheffield Occupy Sheffield
Ongoing, Cardiff Occupy Cardiff
Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Climate Change: Climate Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern England
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Unencrypted Page
We suggest you use an encrypted connection for browsing this site.
Please install the CAcert root certificate to verify the authenticity of the site, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv

Africa
ambazonia
canarias
estrecho / madiaq
kenya

Canada
london, ontario
ottawa
quebec
victoria

East Asia
japan
manila
saint-petersburg

Europe
abruzzo
antwerpen
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
bristol
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
euskal herria
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
lille
linksunten
lombardia
london
madrid
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
nice
northern england
norway
oost-vlaanderen
paris/île-de-france
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
ukraine
united kingdom

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
ecuador
mexico
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
manila
melbourne
sydney

South Asia
india

United States
arkansas
atlanta
austin
baltimore
big muddy
binghamton
boston
buffalo
charlottesville
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hudson mohawk
la
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new mexico
new orleans
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
seattle
united states
urbana-champaign
western mass

West Asia
beirut
israel
palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech