Put the “Punk” back in “Steampunk”

I just saw a post talking about how steampunk is a circlejerk for “classy friendzone dudes” who want to wax nostalgic for the days when it was even cooler to be a cishet white dude. As someone who really enjoys steampunk, I was heartbroken when I came to the realization of how true this is.

I think steampunk needs to put a bit more emphasis on the whole “punk” aspect.

And I don’t mean like leather studded jackets and 80s rock music (although those are cool too).

I mean acknowledging as cool as the Victorian aesthetic and stuff is, the Victorian era sucked for A LOT OF PEOPLE. 

Colonialism, racism, sexism, classism, ableism, all that nasty ass shit was running rampant during this time period.

As much as I love pulp adventure and airships and corsets and top hats and goggles, if that’s all you see in the 1800s and early 1900s you need to do a bit more research.

The “punk” suffix to steampunk is purely in response to cyberpunk, a genre that deals with a technologically advanced society built on oppression and the underground movement meant to rise against it. 

Now, tell me, why in the fuck is science fiction based in the Victorian era, one of the most oppressive eras in human history, mostly centered around white nobles in corsets and top hats flying about in airships?

If anything, I think steampunk should be MORE about oppression and underground movements and stuff than cyberpunk. 

I want steampunk stories about queer people, people of color, disabled people, and other marginalized groups having their own adventures. Whether they’re grand airship rebellions against imperialists fucks, or just struggles with day to day discrimination from the folks in your hometown. 

Like I said earlier, the “punk” suffix has no real meaning in the original coinage. But, we could give it meaning, and therefore, raise this really cool yet problematic genre to its full potential.