SUBALLIES x 'SUBCULTURE AGAINST THE PATRIARCHY'

SubAllies organised a demonstration on Frauenkampftag/International Women's Day through the streets of Berlin, featuring performances (musical and otherwise) and speeches to celebrate and draw attention to FLINTA+* in subculture as well as other current feminist topics.

SubAllies collective and crew on the day consisted of entirely FLINTA+ and came together as collaboration between Konvent, Witches Are Back, Berlin Strippers Collective, Sound System Culture Berlin and Fraktion Nimmersatt.

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''Subculture is the product of “creativity from below” and represents a safe space for marginalised groups. In their mostly grassroots democratic and self-governing communities, politics at the micro level question existing conditions and explore alternative forms of social interaction. Whether graffiti, rave or squatting; the gestures of the diverse currents - always an interface between art and protest - serve as a means of self-empowerment.

The characteristics of these creative protest movements make it clear: subculture has the potential to be a nucleus of social change.

But despite their socio-cultural value, subcultural spaces are increasingly being repressed. Protecting them and promoting their communities does not seem to be in the interest of urban planning policy-makers.

However, it is also important to take a critical look at our own a, because despite its system-critical dimensions, our scene is not immune to patriarchal power mechanisms (economic inequality, high barriers for FLINTAS in decision making processes, lack of real intersectionality, sexualised violence).

Therefore, on Women's Day, we want:

- to celebrate the FLINTA community as such to set an example for the feminist contribution in the Berlin subculture
- to encourage FLINTA stakeholders to network in solidarity
- to call on the subcultural scene for self-critical reflection on (scene-specific) forms of structural discrimination
- to demand the preservation of subcultural spaces and the promotion of their communities from urban decision-makers
- to establish spaces crafted for, and organised around FLINTA bodies and desires.

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cover photo by Kali Meri
@kalimerii
analog shots by Felix Nathan Fuss
@felixnathanfuss

*FLINTA+ stands for Female, Lesbian, Intersex, Trans and Agender. It stands for anyone who is not a cis man.