The fall weather has arrived, and I'm finally revealing my secret to conjuring pride socks! not really, but the air is colder now which makes me a happy cave goblin. I've "summoned" plenty of yarn though 🧙🏼♂️
⬇️long think below ⬇️
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On another note, capitalism sucks as always, and I've continually thought about the push-pull relationship between that and the value of an artist's work. Yes, hand knit items would be massively expensive if the creators were paid "fairly" according to hours worked, but I cannot play further into a system that is designed to be imbalanced, particularly when it comes to pride socks.
I see charging the "real price" for these socks as a cog that could keep the capitalist machine going. Raising prices reduces accessibility, and while a bigger price *could* be justified for say, an alpaca blend sweater that attracts the aesthetic tastes of the relatively wealthy, it cannot be applied here. Representation matters, and in the broader world of soulless corporatism, marginalized communities are either ignored or given lip service, according to what has been calculated as "most profitable."
Over the months, I've struggled with this dynamic since the pride socks were initially a key piece to my month-to-month financial survival. Now, through my relative privilege and (what seem to be) near-scrapes of circumstance, I no longer have to vary prices so precisely according to my own need. So, my pride socks can be kept affordable; they now have free shipping anywhere, which is another big part of this.
I'm not sure how to end this long think piece, but it's something that is good to be aware of and discuss, rather than take our capitalist circumstances as unquestionable givens.
