Fly Your Freak Flag High

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Where did the Fly Your Freak Flag High (FYFFH) project come from?

This project and the accompanying website is the brainchild of Julia Dvorin (that’s me, talking about myself in third person). I came up with it over lunch with a friend one day in 2011, while I was talking about the science fiction and gaming cons I was going to. I started poking fun at myself by saying “yeah, I’m really learning to fly my freak flag high”. And then I thought to myself: wouldn’t it be cool if I had an actual freak flag to fly? What would it look like? And where would I fly it? That random idea grew into the FYFFH project. Since I also have a background in web design and social media, I decided to combine the art project with an online social component. There’s a lot more to come here as the project evolves.

I’ve always been interested in the theory and practice of identity work, especially around stigmatized identities. For a long time I thought I’d study identity work as an academic (I got my MA in Sociology and wrote a thesis on identity work in women with cancer), but then I suffered through a serious disillusionment with academia and quit grad school. In the years since I have worked hard on surfacing and embracing my own multifaceted freaky self, and felt the stronger and more alive for it. The FYFFH project is my way of paying it forward by enabling this same valuable self-exploration and self-appreciation in other people.

FYFFH was also inspired by the fabulous WDYDWYD? (Why Do You Do What You Do?) project, as well as the feminist and queer/gay pride movements.

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Why do we have to fly our freak flags high?

Let me share with you The Freak Flag Manifesto:

1. Freaks are, by definition, different.
2. Different is good.
3. “Freak” should be a compliment, not an insult.
4. Everyone is a freak in some way, in some place, to someone. “Normal” is a myth. Diversity is strength.
5. We all need to discover, honor and celebrate our freaky bits by “flying our freak flags high”.
6. We are each more happy and successful when we embody ALL that we are.
7. If you “speak your freak”, you can release and heal from shame, embarrassment or fear of social disapproval and be more active, powerful and effective in the world.
8. We gotta be freaky together: the more we see each others’ freaky proclamations, the more we’ll find powerful, meaningful connections and alliances–some familiar, some potentially new and surprising.
9. If we can fully appreciate our own selves, we can also appreciate others; and once we can appreciate others, we can start working together in an honest and powerful way to build the kind of world and the kind of future we all want to live in.
10. Freaks can change the world just by being themselves.

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Will you bring FYFFH to my Event/Workplace/School/House?

I’d love to! I am a great presenter/workshop leader and passionate about this project’s ability to help change the world. I think this project would be a great fit for corporate diversity programs, school anti-bullying programs, and team-building programs. It’s also a fun party icebreaker and event activity.

So as long as it works with my calendar and you have some budget available to reimburse me for time and materials, I’ll happily bring you some freaky. (Generally you’ll also have to be in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, unless you want to pay my airfare and put me up in your town…which I’m happy to consider.) Contact me at julia@flyyourfreakflaghigh.com for more information and to discuss specifics.

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Do I have to put the word “FREAK” on my flag?

You don’t have to do anything you don’t wanna do. It’s a collaborative project, though, and the goal is to create a sort of common bond and/or an acknowledgement that we are all freaks, and using the “freak” logo is a quick way to do that. Plus I think constraints enable creativity.

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