Performative Activism: Is It Helpful or Just Derogatory to the Actual Cause?

This pride month, I took a step back to witness the recurring ritual of brands painting their logos in rainbows as soon as we step into June. Although that’s not the most surprising event taking place. To elaborate further, let us first get acquainted with what it all means. Performative activism is when anyone supports a social issue for other benefits such as capitalism or as a chance to show others how “woke” they are. This leads to a movement where people only share information relevant to a cause for clout or social approval and validation.

One of the biggest examples of performative activism is when you see stories on Instagram asking you to repost something such as pet pictures and in compensation, they will plant a tree for it. Such companies merely play with the very basic human sentiments. They provide the audience with this illusionist opportunity to picturise themselves as a hero and save the world. People fall prey to it since this makes them feel better about themselves and gives them validation from their peers. This brings up a crucial question, are we considerate about the cause that we are advocating for? Needless to say, if the answer is no, then it is derogatory to the actual cause.

The above question is answered when we expose the reality by doing some research on companies. Some examples of companies that have rainbow-washed their products are Walmart, IBM, American Airlines, AT&T, and Mercedes Benz. A newsletter by Popular Information recently identified “25 rainbow-flag waving companies [that] donated $13 million to anti-gay politicians.” These corporates have been hypocritical and proven to be disrespectful to the people. This type of behavior is considered a trend, more like a capitalistic trap. This trap makes people believe that these companies are a safe space for the specific individuals affected by the causes they are advocating for. However, this isn’t true. Many things can be done to support the actual cause: creating a friendly environment, doing your research, and adopting correct and inclusive terminology. 

Many companies hire women and people from marginalized communities only around days like Women’s Day, Pride month, etc. Every Women's Day, my social media gets filled with requests for features, interviews, and more. The fire lit on March 8th slowly extinguishes as the day dies down. These are well-timed strategies by companies so that they can appear to be inclusive. It's awful how they don't pay attention to compensation and dedication to the essence of Women's Day. This disappoints me as they deserve much more recognition. We should advocate for these causes throughout the year and in all spheres of life.

After the Black Lives Matter movement, the social media world has seen a skyrocketing rise in posts called infographics that skillfully attract their audiences’ attention. As a person who has created infographics for various occasions in the past, I see these graphics as alternative ways for young adults to educate themselves on social causes that aren’t vividly described in textbooks in school. The situation gets out of hand when people start posting them on their stories without reading or understanding an issue. It’s very important for us to deeply empathize with an issue before sharing something just because others are doing it. Social media activism requires little effort in trivial things such as sharing posts on stories but it’s important to advocate for such issues in person as well.

Activism burnout is a stage where activists who produce content for social media face difficulty sustaining online due to extreme burnout and fatigue. This not only affects the personal health of individuals but also reduces their potential towards their motive. I remember an acquaintance of mine who thought mental health was my “hobby.” This made me furious. A great example of activism burnout. People forget that this is more than a hobby and individuals who are making these infographics are working hard for it. I have worked with non-profits as well as done individual infographics in a time of crisis. Most infographics require a lot of time, editing, and proper research, and are extremely time sensitive. If an individual is connected with a non-profit then the odds of getting properly paid are slim as most non-profits have just enough funds to sustain themselves. So people who are doing this do it out of their passion and taking out time from their own lives, and their resources. The mental well-being of these people is at stake. Hate comments and shallow feedback reduces the morale of the creators. This can serve as a huge setback for them.

This is our sign that we should take some time to do some introspection. We need to look at our actions and their consequences on the causes that we are supporting. Activism and change aren’t easy tasks. With pure intentions and passion, together we can work towards making the world a better place.