Interview: Cat From Hologender Talks Leftist Memes, Sailor Moon, #BlackLivesMatter, and More

By Ghia Vitale

Meme Credit: Cat from Hologender Photo Credit: Artwork of Usagi from a Sailor Moon x Riccimie Premiere Salon collab from 2016)

​Hologender is a popular meme page that’s famous for serving up leftist messages, an inclusive attitude, and vibrant imagery. Memes don’t get much danker than this! Check out this exclusive interview to learn more about Cat, the creator of Hologender as well as one of its admins.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Hologender the coolest meme page on the internet. Each meme drops a truth bomb or message of encouragement that perpetuates the ethics and spirit of radical leftism, all wrapped up with a notable character and a colorful background. The revolution will be digitized! When you look at these memes, you just know a certified meme monster made them. The memes feature too many amazing characters to count, ranging from Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino and Sailor Uranus/Haruka Tenou to Britney Spears and Barbie.

When I found Hologender, I had been sick of the gatekeeping and bigotry I witnessed in the anime community. Ever since I wrote my second Sailor Lizzo article, I found myself longing for an inclusive, anime positive space that celebrated Sailor Moon, feminism, and liberation for marginalized people. I’m all too familiar with the unfortunate “mean/ignorant person with an anime profile picture” cliche that’s so familiar, it’s become an actual stereotype and I’m tired of it. As a fat femme who’s bi, I’m all too familiar with being excluded for my size and being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Finding Hologender made me realize that I wasn’t alone in my desires and that others share quite a few of my views as well. Every time one of Hologender’s memes appears on my feed, it reaffirms the fact that other people are looking out for marginalized people like me.

After following Hologender for a while, I began to get curious and wondered, “Who comes up with these brilliant, sharable pieces of art?” After a while, curiosity got the best of me and I messaged the Hologender page with an interview request. The person who responded is Cat, the anarchist who created this stunning page. Here are their amazing answers:

1. What would you like the readers of Quail Bell to know about you?

I am a cat lover called Cat who uses they/them pronouns. I am a queer anarchist living in Denver and am always learning more about the world and myself with each passing day. 

2. What made you decide to create a leftist meme page, including leftist Sailor Moon memes?

To discuss this, I need to go back a few years. The idea to make a page didn’t hit me until sometime last year, but I have been talking about leftist ideas with people for quite a long time. Of course, when you just start to think about them, you don’t think that they are left; you feel like they are just making things more humanized than constricting.

I worked in fast food for 10 years. I started as a team member and worked my way up to being an assistant, almost a general manager. I thought, for a great while, that being a manager would help some folks out, but that’s not how it works. They train you to be cruel and trick you into thinking that it is better for you and the company, but it’s only better for their profits. Working in that industry absolutely radicalized me. I had the pleasure to meet so many wonderful folks that the company just threw away. By the end of my career there, I myself was chewed up and beaten down. The industry is going for $15 per hour right now and I can tell you it’s not enough for a place that expects you to do so much and be explicitly available only for them. I was being paid less than $14 an hour base rate for driving an hour to the store, busting my butt in an understaffed environment, and getting home at 4am to go back to work at 9am, all while being essentially on call because the general manager didn’t know what to do.

I wound up moving from the Northeast to Denver after leaving that job. For a while, I was jobless and had issues finding one. I had to take out all my money for retirement and from my HSA in order to survive. I finally caught a break in an office job, but it was invalidating for a long while as my new manager refused to train me herself. This only catapulted my views further. I wound up talking a lot about it and educating some of my new co-workers on certain points. About this time, a lot of leftist pages started booming on Facebook. I joined a lot, started deep diving into theory, and wound up solidifying a lot of my viewpoints. I thought about making a page and did wind up reserving a name in September last year; however, it wasn’t until I saw a page called “Elle Woods-Core” that I thought I should use it. 

Elle Woods-Core & the Delta Nuniverse changed the ways these pages functioned for me. There had been some core pages I was following already (namely Belle-Core), but the idea of using a well-known femme franchise like Legally Blonde hadn’t come across my plate yet. The idea of a core page is that you only post within that franchise you choose but use your own voice within it. It’s important to be able to criticize the material we take in and this is one very great way to do so. Elle Woods-core does this by using specific pieces of the movies and musicals to highlight certain archetypes and make them relevant to the culture we exist in. A lot of their memes are straight to the point with added humor and come with a small blurb on the side. I adapted that after getting over the initial nervousness of running my page.

Photo Credit: Elle Woods-core

It did take me a small while to think about an actual main subject to use for my memes. Sailor Moon came about after about a month of trying to figure out what to do. One of the core pages within our little group had shared something of mine that sparked a reaction and I had to think of why I hadn’t thought about Sailor Moon before. The show has been a lifelong love of mine. I have been absolutely floored by it and the community since it first hit Toonami back in June of 1998. It has been one of the only constants in my life and it makes a lot of sense to use it as a leftist meme machine. The series talks about every type of love, every type of caring, and a lot of mutual aid. There are tales within it that are affirming and so positive. Sailor Moon fights with love and justice in her heart every day. Who wouldn’t want to do that?

Using the series has gotten a lot of different reactions, mostly positive. There are those that think that Sailor Moon wouldn’t say things like “Black Lives Matter” when she absolutely would. The whole series is about fighting those who seek to oppress others and accepting one another with our faults to work towards a brighter future together. You can’t erase that from its core.

Photo Credit: The Sailor Moon meme that inspired Cat to make their own

3. How would you describe Hologender’s aesthetic and overarching message?

I have often described the overall aesthetic as a ‘90s roller rink, but there are a lot of things I use to craft these sharables. Many of my textures come from holographic and iridescent materials, glitter, marbling, and whatever else strikes my fancy at the time. I use a lot of gamer or anime references because that has been part of me since I was a kid, but also classical art works and styles that have had an impact on me over the years. 

My one goal has been to have a message of love and acceptance, one that overrides the oppression that grips us each day. Every time you see a post from the page, it should be educational, nostalgic, helpful, or funny in some way. It’s important to me that the page remains inclusive and accepting of people who might get excluded from other areas. Everyone is valid and should be loved. Excluding folx only allows for discrimination to spread. There’s no reason for that kind of negativity.

​4. Your memes look very well-made. What is the level of art and computer skills that go into them?
​
Thank you! I did go to college for art, but not for graphic design specifically. I enjoy making traditional art (watercolor, paints, inks, pastels, etc.) and tend to be a bit messy with it. I feel like that comes through on some of the memes with how I piece them together. I have used one of my own works within a meme and really liked the feeling it gave, so I might do it again at some point in the future.

As for computers, I use Photoshop a lot. I prefer using it as I have been familiar with its choices since version 2 (it is now version 20) and have a good idea of what it can do. I did get lucky enough to take classes in graphic design, but I have also been perfecting it on my own for an exceptionally long time. It’s been a huge hobby for me and helps me get that creative edge out. When I do post from my phone (which is rare), I have a wide range of apps to use, mostly vaporwave-themed.

The biggest thing to remember is that you should always fiddle with things until you feel it’s right. Explore the programs or apps you are using and don’t get frustrated with them. We are lucky to live in an era where people are expending free labor to teach other people certain techniques that you wouldn’t learn without a class or are making apps that are easy to use. It’s mostly about you and becoming comfortable with the programs or apps you want to use. I know quite a few meme pages run solely off phones and that’s fantastic. Making memes should absolutely be accessible to all and apps help tremendously.

5. Who is your favorite character in Sailor Moon and why? What are some of the other anime you watch?

My favorite character is Usagi Tsukino herself, even though all the characters are amazing and complex. Usagi started out as a clumsy school student and transformed over the course of the show and manga into someone with an absolute and reaffirming love for all people. She has had some falls over the course of the series, but she has always bounced back with an even greater force. The ending of it brings me to tears every time because of how strong her love has grown. There are quite a few shoujo shows out there that have the same feeling as Sailor Moon, but none of them could match it for me.

Besides Sailor Moon, some of my favorite anime are Ergo Proxy, RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne (which can be risqué for some), and Ghost in the Shell. I tend to lean heavily into the SciFi portions of anime because of the potential for the future. I do enjoy a vast amount of shows and I try to use them as I can in my memes.

6. Is there a particular Black organization you want people to donate to?

I am absolutely in love with Black Visions Collective, their goals, and how they are organized. They are a strong force within their community and a powerful voice abroad.

I also have been pushing for indigenous lives during this time as they suffer from COVID19. First Nations works with many tribes in the West who need extra support, especially now. They are working towards a better flow of food and water, sorely needed in many reservations and communities.

Photo Credit: Cat (This artwork has been featured in a meme about indigenous lives.)

7. I see you also like to make dank Barbie memes. What’s the story/reason behind that?

Barbie is an interesting subject for many reasons. When I was a child, she was stiffer than she is now, strictly being portrayed as a supermodel and beautiful. Her evolution since then has been great. Not only has Mattel recently introduced new body shapes and sizes, they have also made her more human by celebrating ethnic and gender diversity. I can only imagine the joy created by them putting the effort into making such a big change. She is anyone and everyone, too, with a wide variety of jobs and shows with her in different roles.

As she is so recognizable across the globe, it makes it easier to engage with people who might not otherwise do so. There are also many narratives where using her is an appropriate approximation of the subject at hand, like the post I made about ensuring the safety of others and listening to your protest leaders when it comes to photography. It’s something fun to utilize and hit a spot that I think a lot of memes miss out on.

8. Are there any tips for self-care and resistance that have been helpful for you? If so, what are they?

The biggest thing is to take care of yourself. If you fail to do that, you’ll wind up burning out and won’t be able to help other people. Do what you can, when you can, and don’t overdo it.

If someone wants to argue with you, make sure you have time and energy to. If you don’t, drop it (and them if you need to). You owe no one free labor. Those that want to be around you will make sure to give you the same respect you give them.

Last thing: Never do something by yourself when it comes to activism. We’re far stronger together. By being one united force, we can push forward with inclusivity and with solidarity.

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