what is rainbow capitalism (and why should I care)?
There's a few definitions out there, mainly differing in wording, but the gist of it is the same. I personally like the way it's defined on urban dictionary for its simplicity: "The action of companies pretending to support LGBT+ communities and/or specifically making merchandise for more profit" (source).
Rainbow capitalism is sometimes also called pink capitalism, or gay capitalism.
Essentially, it's companies and corporations using pride as a selling point to attract customers so they can make more money, without the side of activism that queer people get just from living their lives. This has led to the corporate invasion of queer spaces like pride, where you see more companies represented than people. It also leads to "allyship" being rooted in consumerism rather than actual activism and allyship, and turns pride into a way to make money instead of a liberation movement (remember, the first pride was a riot).
(source: https://webcomicname.com/post/185682073569)
[image description: a webcomic from webcomicname.com. It’s 3 panels arranged horizontally and titled “PRIDE”.
The first panel has a light blue background and features a pink blob-like character on the left. They have their arms raised and a neutral expression. To the right of the character is a sign pointing to the right with a rainbow flag on it. The character is speaking, shown in a yellow speech bubble at the top of the panel. The text reads “I can’t wait to go to LGBT+ pride”.
The second panel features the same character and background, this time without the rainbow sign. Their arms are still raised and they are slightly smiling. The speech in the yellow bubble reads “& see all sorts of people celebrating who they are”.
The third panel shows the character at a pride parade. The light blue background is sky, and the bottom part of the panel is bright green, with a purple stripe for the road. At the top in the sky is an orange banner that reads “pride parade” and there are three box-shaped vehicles on the road. They are gray and each has the word “corporation” written on it. They each have a pride flag on top. The pink character is in the bottom left, with a small yellow speech bubble to the right of them. They are slightly frowning, and the text reads “oh no.”]
There's a whole lot of reasons why capitalism itself isn't that great - rainbow or not. You can read a quick overview about that here. Rainbow capitalism specifically takes away support from actual queer people and businesses who actually need your money more than a corporation does. And chances are, your local business with handmade products is not exploiting workers in a foreign country.
(source: https://twitter.com/clarkbarkeep/status/1389663550700990474?lang=en)
[image description: A screenshot of a quote tweet. The tweet being quoted is by Deanne Revel, @deannerevel and is dated May 3, 2021. The text reads “Merch doesn’t fix Disney’s problem w/ #LGBTQ representation. But someone made the call on these pins and that was a good call.
🌈FIRST merch w/ the #Transgender Pride flag, #Bisexual flag & #Lesbian flag.
🌈FIRST use of the Philadelphia 8-stripe #Pride flag w/ black and brown.”
Attached is an image of the Disney merch: four pins shaped like Mickey Mouse ears. They are on a black backing that has a rainbow across it and the text on the rainbow reads “Disney rainbow collection” with Disney in a slightly cursive font, and the word rainbow in the red strip above the word Disney, and collection is on the purple stripe below. From left to right are the Philadelphia pride flag (from top to bottom, black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blow, purple), the trans flag (blue, pink, white, pink, blue), the bi flag (pink, purple, blue), and the lesbian flag (red-ish orange, lighter orange, white, light pink, darker pink).
Quoting this tweet is another from Mythical Hog Bear, @ClarkBarKeep, from May 4, 2021. It reads “The fact that the creator of the lesbian flag has to routinely ask for donations while her design is in the fucking Disney store makes me angry enough to cry. Donate to @diabolicdyke"]
Now, this is just an overview, and there's tons of resources out there to learn, even a wikipedia page of its own. Please don't use this as your only source, but as a starting point :)
