Why is ‘Z’ a symbol of war for Russia?
Mōrena lil shits!!
First of all, really glad we’re all on the same page re: bringing back the cringe emoticons :P The fact that kids these days are growing up in a world without xD or 8-) is a grave injustice - newsy reader Summer even emailed me saying:
“My friend's 10 year-old daughter saw her use :P in a text and asked what that meant. My friend explained that it was the tongue face before we had emojis. Daughter was shook: "There was a time before emojis?!?!!!"
Just wait til the kids learn about hieroglyphics!!
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In today’s newsletter:
Some hilarious International Women’s Day highlights
Why has the letter ‘Z’ become the symbol of war for Russia?
LimeWire is relaunching...as an NFT marketplace
A Russia/Ukraine update
Do you call your ✨directional lights✨ blinkers or indicators?
Some International Women’s Day highlights
Remember last year for IWD when Burger King tweeted that women belong in the kitchen??? Nothing will ever top that for me, but this year has been pretty good.
The day started with Spotify and Discord going down, so nothing was taking any attention from the main characters of the day.
Next, we had the Gender Pay Gap Bot causing violence on the timeline. The bot retweets company’s International Women’s Day tweets and figures out their median pay gap (here’s an article about the person behind the bot)
And to top off what had already been a great IWD, I got this gem of a story sent to my inbox:
“I got robbed yesterday and they stole my phone and keys - even my clothes!!! I knew that it was women because I saw them in their car (and the witness gave a description of what they looked like.)
THE WORST PART: they stole my book - “Women Don’t Owe You Pretty.” THE IRONY.
STEALING A BOOK ABOUT FEMINISM FROM ANOTHER WOMAN ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY! I hope at the very least they read the damn book and learn something from it.”
Hope you all celebrated in style (☆○_○)
Why has the letter ‘Z’ become the symbol of war for Russia?
Have you seen the letter ‘Z’ being slapped on tanks/ people/ property throughout Russia?
I first saw it on Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak who displayed it on his uniform as he stood next to a Ukrainian rival, but then I started seeing it everywhere & thought… wtf does it mean?
The first thing I thought was that it gives me big Qanon vibes. You know how they paint the letter Q onto random shit to show their belief in the conspiracy theory? Well basically in Russia, the "Z" is sorta becoming a symbol for people to show they're pro-war. You’re pro-war? You slap a Z onto some of the shit you own. It’s been sported by politicians, seen on the sides of cars, vans, tanks - even terminally ill kids and their carers formed a Z outside their hospice - and these photos have been going pretty viral.
Ryan Broderick from Garbage Day also noted the likeness to Qanon, but with some interesting distinctions:
“The most obvious parallel to the Z movement is QAnon. Suddenly, the letter Q began popping up at rallies and protests around the world, carrying with it an entire universe of far-right propaganda. But really the Z movement could be swapped out with any recent “grassroots” viral campaign led by Republicans over the last decade. “Let’s Go Brandon,” “Deplorables,” “MAGA,” Pepe the Frog, the Freedom Convoy — they all essentially function the same. They’re easy memes and political shorthand, meant for remixing and sharing, something you can put on a hat or a T-shirt.”
Why Z?
Some say it is Z for За победу - pronounced "za pobedu" (meaning "for the victory"), some say it is for "Zapad" (West).
Others have noted its similarity to the swastika - the symbol used by Nazi Germany in the Second World War - nicknaming it "Putin's swastika".
It could also have been used as a way for Russia's military to identify its own forces, to prevent things like friendly fire (to me it feels like this may have been the initial use for it but as the symbol became more widely adopted by war supporters, the military's PR arm seemed to get in on the act.)
It’s interesting to note that the 'Z' they’re using doesn't actually feature in the Cyrillic alphabet. Oddly for a nationalist symbol, the Z being used is the version from the Latin alphabet (the Russian version is more rounded, like a 3.)
The importance of symbols:
In wartime - and actually, in any type of community building/ rallying - symbols are incredibly important. Think about the swastika, Q, the hammer and sickle, the peace sign - they’re all signs used to physically show your solidarity to a cause or idea - and almost as importantly - they pinpoint those who don’t agree. If you don’t embroid the 'Z' onto your clothing are you a dissenter? Are the state gonna come for you?
Vasily Gatov, a Russian-American media analyst has called the 'Z' symbol a “state-induced meme,” (meme here simply being an image that holds/ is spreading some sort of meaning) and I don’t think he’s that wrong. Even if the state didn’t intend to make Z go viral (which is me giving them the benefit of the doubt) they definitely aren’t mad about it, and are capitalising off it now. Z merch is even being sold by the Kremlin-backed TV channel Russia Today.
The other thing about memes/ symbols is that half the power is in the ✨mystification✨ of the whole thing. You don’t understand ‘Z’ but you’re seeing it everywhere? You Google it. You search it on Twitter. You read about it. Maybe you agree with it and become a supporter? You probably don’t - but all this searching has made it a trending topic, so now a bunch of other people are reading about it. And a percentage of them DO agree with it. And BOOM, you’ve got a bunch of new ‘Z’ supporters.
Honestly, if it was up to me we’d co-opt/reclaim “Z” and make it mean Zelenskyy. But this feels like a job for the K-pop stans….
The latest from Ukraine:
Here’s your daily summary from the BBC:
Russia has for the first time acknowledged that it is using conscripts in its invasion of Ukraine
A maternity ward and a children's ward have been destroyed in a Russian air strike on a hospital in the southern city of Mariupol, officials there say
"The destruction is colossal," the city council says. There are reports of many dead and injured, with children buried under rubble
Russia earlier agreed a new 12-hour ceasefire to allow civilians to flee six of the worst-affected areas in Ukraine, according to Ukraine's Deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk
Civilians have been leaving the north-eastern city of Sumy and Enerhodar, the cities' mayors say
But Ukraine says continued Russian shelling has again stopped residents leaving the besieged city of Mariupol as well as Izyum near Kharkiv
Ukraine says the former nuclear plant at Chernobyl has lost its power supply, following the site's seizure by Russian troops
And here’s the latest from The Kyiv Independent:
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Explained - The Shit Show — open.spotify.com
Everything you've been wondering about what's going on in Russia/Ukraine right now, in words you ACTUALLY understand.
New Culture Vulture episode!
The complicated life of Kanye West, Part 1 - Culture Vulture — open.spotify.com
In episode one of our two-part series on Ye, we dive into the formation of Kanye West: his background, his ever-growing ego, and his rise to fame. Who was around him? Who was checking in on him? How did he become the Ye we know today? Listen wherever you get your pods!
LimeWire is relaunching...as an NFT marketplace
UHHHHH. Ok so I feel like most of you (especially if you once used :P or XD) will know what Limewire is (was), but for those who don’t, this is how we all used to (illegally) download all our music/ films before it was shut down in 2010 for - you guessed it - copyright infringement. It’s hella nostalgic for me and really made me feel like a tech-bro at age 14, so to see it now being turned into an NFT adjacent thing??? Can’t we just let a good thing die???
Here are the details:
“The defunct platform is getting a crypto makeover, thanks to a pair of entrepreneurs in Austria who have just bought the rights to LimeWire. Paul and Julian Zehetmayr will be relaunching under a new company, LimeWire GmbH, with no affiliation to LimeWire's previous team. According to Bloomberg, the brothers are hoping the "iconic name" of the platform will evoke nostalgia”
Luce note: “crypto makeover” ew
"LimeWire will not be an alternative to streaming platforms, but rather an additional channel for artists to sell exclusive music and art directly to collectors and to engage with their most loyal community of fans," Julian says, highlighting their aim "to give artists full flexibility and control when it comes to their content."
As an idea - cool, would love for artists to have full control over their content. Also, a platform that literally operated as a place to illegally download shit doing a complete 180 and rebuilding in favour of the people they once ripped off? Now that’s on growth.
In practice?? Who the fuck knows.
Do you call your ✨directional lights✨ blinkers or indicators?
OK I GET IT YOU CALL THEM TURNING SIGNALS! OR DIRECTIONALS! Turns out there are a lot of different names for these little lights. Me? I put my blinkers on to indicate.
48% of you say indicators
52% say blinkers
I LOVE A GOOD NAIL BITER!
The complicated life of Kanye West: Part 1 (Culture Vulture)
Food Companies, Long Symbols of the West in Russia, Pause Operation (NY Times)
To Test Cancer Drugs, These Scientists Grew ‘Avatars’ of Tumors (WIRED)
Kourtney and Travis Show Off a New Kind of Love Language (The Cut)
WHY IS MY BENTLEY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN? (The Shit Show)
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Explained (The Shit Show)
You can listen to us talk about all things pop culture on Culture Vulture, about THE WORLD on The Shit Show or watch us explain the internet on Extremely Online.
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LOVE YOU THE MOST, LUCE XX
