After the fires that followed the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, writer Henry Fielding wrote this:
If, as they say, God spanked the town for being over-frisky,Why did he burn the churches down and spare Hotaling's Whiskey?
This was penned about the fact that the city's largest distillery escaped without any damage. I was reminded of this poem (shared with me by my high school APUSH teacher) in lecture the other day and I think it raises some interesting points about the incredibly varying cultures that thrive in San Francisco that are regarded as in need of divine correction. Something that has always interested me are the ways in which these cultures are and aren't visible to a layman. My visits into a city with people more familiar than I am had us strolling by men crowded around cafe tables talking in low voices (Soprano-esque is what I'm getting at here). I'm not saying Mobsters (or whatever that looks like in modern culture), but I am heavily implying it. Shadowy business done in broad daylight? Not my place to say. But it's a visible manifestation of the diversity that becomes apparent crossing from one neighborhood to the next.
Other sub-culture dealings are exemplified by the Kink.com acquisition of the historical San Francisco Armory -- Kink.com being an internet fetish company. The company claimed that they would be discrete and non-disruptive, but a women's shelter relocated after the purchase, citing discomfort with the company's presence. Additionally, the armory has been known to fly pride flags of various subculture, such as the leather pride flag below:
My point is this -- the different bubbling-ups of the subterranean subculture of SF are visible markers of the subversion and diversity the city is both prized and targeted for.
I think San Francisco is really beautiful in this way. It is, contemporarily, a very open and accepting community. I think in any social hub, especially place like SF and LA, there is going to be an 'underbelly' below what the tourists can see, but I think in the context of what you discussed, it is people appreciating their personal freedoms in a city as socially diverse as the heritage of its citizens.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of that article from Reclaiming San Francisco about the meta-tourists. It's interesting to see a place from a different perspective. I believe they stopped at a sex shop during their meta-tour. All of the sex and dirty dealings are part of the micro-communities within the city. Do we really need everything to be pristine and clinically clean? A little grime keeps things interesting.
ReplyDeleteThat's unfortunate the woman's shelter felt that Kink.com made the people they were trying to aid feel uncomfortable. It would be nice if the communities didn't clash, but tensions like these seem to arise between more conservative and more liberal groups sharing a space.
These are great examples both of subversive/countercultural spaces and also of places where there is a clash between the progressive and conservative parts of San Francisco. We’ve talked a lot about this conflict within the city (going off of Solnit’s Right Wing of the Dove) and the woman’s shelter leaving because of the Kink.com company is just one of those. It’s always unfortunate to see, though, that in a place that prides itself on its sexual liberation harbors people that would feel uncomfortable just being in this company’s presence.
ReplyDelete