Winter Mendelson: This issue definitely signifies our evolution in ideology, content, and quality. When Posture launched as a blog in 2013, it was actually a blog for “queer women,” whereas now we take a holistic and inclusive approach to identity. I started to realize the problematic nature with gendered language, but also I think a lot of Posture’s evolution was related to my personal identity. I grew to realize that I was genderqueer/nonbinary (versus lesbian and/or female-identified), and I continued to meet more and more people like me, so I wanted to work on a project that reflected reality as well as what I believe to be the future. Our tagline is “the creative exploration of identity,” and what that means is that we feature creative people whose work addresses what is means to survive, dismantle, and/or succeed in a society that is created for the hetero, cis white male patriarchy. Posture is purposefully inclusive and not focused on particular labels.
After putting out two print issues, our network widened a lot, and we were able to work with so many talented people for Issue 03 (The Boss Issue). I have a two-person core creative team comprised of Phil Gomez, our Fashion Art Director, and Asher Torres, our Photo Art Director, and having a talented and dedicated team has impacted the brand significantly. We’re still a small grassroots kind of magazine, but are able to make magic happen with minimal resources. We went from printing 200 copies to being nationally distributed, and I am beyond excited to put important stories and perspectives on bookshelves across the world. Up to this point the print has been the centerpiece of the brand, but we’ve got some big plans for digital as well coming up in 2017.
This issue is titled “The Boss Issue” ― what does this mean to you? Why did you choose this theme?
I felt like our second print issue, The Ornamentation Issue, was heavily focused on challenges certain communities face and emphasized a lot of negatives. This perspective is crucial and important, but I wanted to create an issue dedicated to people who are working to “succeed” — ie: create personal brands, build companies, become widely known artists, produce massive projects, etc — to show that there are a lot of women of color and queer/trans folks who do wish to “make it” so to speak, on their own terms or within existing industries. On the one hand we have people who rebel against capitalism as much as they can, and some who want to infiltrate problematic systems in order to inspire change. Both goals are valid in my opinion, and The Boss Issue is about celebrating artists, designers, and activists seeking to make global impact.
How did you chose the subjects you featured in this issue?
Each issue is an organic process when it comes to deciding who will be featured. I sit down with Asher and Phil and we reference our existing database of potential features, and also start adding people that come to mind that would be a perfect fit for our theme. It can take over a month to determine exactly who we want. A lot of the process comes from paying attention to what’s happening in the world and pinpointing exactly who we want to work with.
Why are publications like Posture so crucial during times of political and social turmoil like we’re in right now?
The first thing that comes to mind is the importance of power and ownership. The majority of global media companies are owned by white hetero cis men, even many sites dedicated to women’s fashion or issues. In my opinion it is extremely important to have companies owned and run by LGBTQIA+ and POC entrepreneurs because that affects everything at the core. Posture is a project of longevity, we don’t exist to be tokenized or to give outlets cool points. This is a matter of basic human rights. It’s about proclaiming to society that we’re not going anywhere and deserve to be recognized for the important and ongoing cultural contributions made throughout history by marginalized communities. Posture is crucial because we represent a demographic who are not only on the forefront of innovation and trend-setting, but are the pioneers of change and revolution. Our content has no filter. We publish important perspectives and projects made by communities who are the most targeted always, but especially during what we’re facing now in the Trump Era.
What do you want people to take away from this issue of Posture?
I want people to know that we exist to support the people who are not always seen or heard for the right reasons. We’re a community first and foremost and are always open for submissions or collaboration so please reach out to us with any ideas!