Paradoxpunk is a subculture and identity surrounding challenging the the societal norms to be "either" something "or" another when one is "both" and "neither" at the same time. It's for those who often feel rejected or disconnected from humanity/society due to being both one thing and an opposing thing, yet neither at the same time. Someone who feels as though they are "both" and "neither" at the same time when humanity/society says you have to be "either/or". They might feel pushed away from both/all groups when society says you must be either one or the other. They feel like they don't quite fit one or the other, but sometimes both or neither, often being both and neither at the same time. These are groups that are frequently dehumanized or called "subhuman" by a society that thinks people should fit nicely into "either/or" boxes. Voidpunk is based on embracing the idea of being "not human" due to their paradoxical identity. While some individuals within these groups seek to prove their humanity to their oppressors, often trying to fit into one box or another, paradoxpunk instead recognizes that these oppressors are bigoted and taunts them by saying "Maybe I'm neither and both at the same time. What about it?".
A paradoxpunk individual doesn't necessarily need to feel "non-human". A paradoxpunk individual might feel both human and non-human, yet neither at the same time. Neither normal enough to be human nor abnormal enough to be non-human, but also having attributes of being both "normal" and "abnormal".
A common example of this would be someone who is LGBT+ and not at the same time; of course they are still LGBT+, but they may feel at times disconnected from the LGBT+ community due to being too similar to non-LGBT+ people (cis, straight, allo) and disconnected from non-LGBT+ people due to being LGBT+. This can include, but is not limited to:
- People who defy being either straight or gay/lesbian/bi/etc-
- Straight queer individuals who fit any of it's definitions (such as straight trans individuals, straight a-spec individuals, and plentisexual individuals who are re-claiming the term "heterosexual")
- Penultisexual individuals who are attracted to genders other then their own ("hetero") and are m-spec (attracted to multiple genders)
- Genderfluid, genderflux, and fluidflux individuals who are occasionally straight
- Abro (sexual or romantic) people who are occasionally straight
- People who defy being either cis or trans-
- Multigender, genderfluid, genderflux, fluidflux, and/or demigender individuals who are still partly their agab in a way
- People who are parially xenogender and partially their agab of are fluid between the two, exclusively or not
- People who are both cassgender (or cassflux) and their agab; anyone who is their agab but doesn't feel connected to it in some way
- Condigender people who feel like their agab only during certain circumstances
- Centrgender individuals who are both cis and trans, cisn't and transn't, and/or somewhere in the middle
- People who defy being either allo or ace/aro-
- anyone under the gray-aro or gray-ace umbrella who feel too "gray" to be either allo or aro/ace
(Individuals mentions in the lists above don't have to be paradoxpunk. Not all individuals who are paradoxpunk have to be "both LGBTQ+ and not LGBT+"; paradoxpunk can apply to other topics. Not all individuals who are paradoxpunk are listed.)
Paradoxpunk has no one aesthetic or style but can include relating to, or comparing oneself to partial-human creatures such as shapeshifters, werewolves, centaurs, mermaids, or other monsters, especially those that can take human form, are partly human, or are paradoxical in a way.
This can be considered a subset of voidpunk or something completely separate altogether.
History
Originally coined by IAmArtemisTheCat, on October 13th, 2021, but the first mention of it was on a post by IAmArtemisTheCat on October 14th, 2021.[1][1]
Flag
Flag made by IAmArtemisTheCat, on October 13th, 2021, but the first post with it was on a reply by IAmArtemisTheCat on October 14th, 2021.[1] If pink and blue are the "either/or" groups, purple represents "both" because it is a combination of pink and blue while yellow represents "neither" because it's the opposite of "both" options (opposite of purple). The dark gray circle represents being between white and black, like being between two groups, as well as a lack of humanity. The white stripe represents the unity of the many communities under the paradoxpunk subculture. Its based off the voidpunk flag.
Etymology
"Paradox" comes from the conflicting ideas of being "both and neither". "A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation."[2] The idea of paradoxpunk is that they themselves are "logically self-contradictory" and can be "contrary to one's expectation." A paradoxpunk individual's identity or beliefs might be defined as paradoxical by others.