Sarah Dopp has been working to make the Internet a better place for many years. Sarah is a builder of websites and a creator and manager of communities (like the fabulous Genderfork). Much of what Sarah does is to try and make change by building new things collaboratively, seeing what works for people, adapting things when they don't, and usually trying to include as many people as possible who also want to make the world (on and offline) a better place.
Sarah has a new project she's inviting people to check out and participate in. It's called Genderplayful Marketplace. The project may grow into something much bigger, but it's starting with a focus on clothing.
The frustration that this new project is trying to address is the reality that off-the-rack clothes are to gender identity sort of like what compulsive monogamy is to relationship health. I'll explain.
Forget about gender identity for a second and think about the last time you had to buy clothes. Was it easy? Did you find clothing that fit you (not just physically but emotionally, energetically, spiritually, etc..)? If you didn't, did you think to yourself that it's your fault? Your bodies fault? Most mass produced clothes (and even most custom made clothing) is built to fit social norms of gender, body shape, personalities, and movement. And most of us don't fit easily into those norms. Which doesn't stop us from trying. We may complain about shopping, but we rarely talk honestly about what really bothers us, and we rarely name the real culprit. Not our bodies, not our minds, but our clothing options. This, to me anyway, is like compulsive monogamy. It's a social norm we're supposed to meet, but in my over 20 years talking to people about sex, I've never met a monogamous couple that didn't struggle with the idea that monogamy wasn't a choice, it was a requirement.
The Genderplayful Marketplace is all about choice. Here's how Sarah explains it (spliced together from the site):
We're building an online clothing marketplace for anyone who can't easily find what they're looking for in a typical clothing store. This project is interested in custom solutions. The cultural emphasis of this site will be on androgynous, unisex, butch, dapper, femme, gender-bending, gender-transgressive, and gender-fanflippingtastic clothing solutions for all kinds of bodies.We're going to fill this site with a lively community that is actively finding and creating solutions together. Vendors will include indie designers, crafters, clothing makers, tailors, and people selling things from their closets and local thrift stores. Pair that with great communication tools that help members share what they're learning, what they're excited about, and what they're looking for, and we'll have a culture-rich gorgeous Internet bazaar for the playful, the exquisite, and the just trying to get dressed in the morning.
Right now Sarah is asking for donations to see if there's enough interest (and money) to make the site possible. They need to raise $5000, and they are almost 30% there. Sarah is great at listening and acting, and I donated to the project not only because I'm a little bit queer and like the idea of a place to shop, but because I believe in Sarah's desire to make things better and commitment to doing it in a way that includes more of us. And it makes me excited to imagine what a space like this could become.
So if you're looking for a way to make some change in the world, check it out.
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