The Critical Stans Episode 9: “Cause-sumption And The Commodification Of Activism”

Join The Daily Vox journalists SHAAZIA EBRAHIM and FATIMA MOOSA every week as they chat all things fun and serious around fan culture, fandoms and what it means to be a stan. They’ll be destroying tropes around the supposedly traditional hardcore male football fan and the manic pop culture fangirl; covering everything from football, Young Adult fiction to Beyoncé and K-pop. Living in the fanworld as women of colour who are avid consumers of all things fan-related means that it is impossible to ignore the politics of these things. And that’s what the Critical Stans are all about.

Nike made a splash on Tuesday when it dropped an ad-campaign with Colin Kaepernick as it’s face with the slogan: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Kaepernick is a former San Francisco 49rs quarterback, famous for being the first player to start kneeling during the US anthem before NFL games as a protest against racial inequality and injustice in the country. But what does it mean that brands are so quick to align themselves to political causes when they perpetuate socio-economic inequality by the very base they are premised on? We discuss consumerist ethics and the commodification of activism in episode nine of The Critical Stans.

Nike’s headscarf doesn’t take on Islamophobia and patriarchy. Muslim women do

Produced by Sipho Hlongwane

If you missed our last eight episodes, check them out below.

Episode 8: Pleasures and Perils of YouTube

Episode 7: Desi Girls Feels

Episode 6: On the Obsession with Reality TV

Episode 5: The Most Wonderful World of Kpop

Episode 4: The Science Behind The Boy Bands

Episode 3: Worshipping At The Altar of Celebrity 

Episode 2: YA Is Lit

Episode 1: World Cup and Misogyny