the curious case for lowercase writing
this logbook is written entirely in lowercase. it is done deliberately as a fun way to adhere to my writing philosophy, as elaborated in my manifesto:
lowercase is lowercase
why lowercase? capitalisation inherits from a style of control. lowercase is an act of soft sabotage. it’s a mode of play. it’s a refusal to formalize. i write how i live: with open syntax and partial punctuations expressed throughout my experiences.
lowercase isn’t lazy. it’s intentional. it’s an aesthetic. it’s anti-hierarchical. it’s anticapitalist.
uppercase, lowercase, alternating case, all caps ... these stylistic choices have all been covered by fellow bear bloggers.
CAPITALS, somewhat sardonically (i think?), takes on the prevalence of lowercase bloggers arguing that it is uncool and difficult to read all lowercase posts/writing. both points i disagree with. but i can't help but say, this post was a fun little read.
the author of why i write in lower case argues that lowercase is cool looking, adding that the aesthetic is calming for them and helps to mitigate their anxiety. for them it is a relaxing aesthetic.
in proposing a new case systeM, monocyte humorously introduces a new case system akin to alternating case, that i would call endcase or endcaps. interestingly, a commenter on monocyte's guestbook brought up the possibility of accessibility issues for folk with disabilities. i am dyslexic, and when i was young i had problems with capitalisation. i would capitalise strangely in my writing, and sometimes miss capitals when starting a new sentence. reading lowercase is actually a little easier for me. well, that also might depend on the font. sans-serif fonts are typically easier for me to read.
but i digress and will now introduce you to kami's more technical post, How to instantly change all text on your website to be lowercase which provides a css-snippet to make your entire website or blog's text lowercase.
many of us choose to write in lowercase. we have our reasons. i won't argue that case-sensitive text should go away. it has its uses, such as with capitonyms ... but even there, context is king (so maybe we don't need it). for me, i have carried on with a tradition of lowercase writing with a sense of pride and joy ... but i won't get pushy. just have fun with your writing, mind your own p's and q's, and we can all just get along.
📝 i am not gen z (who are apperently popularising lowercase typing in this epoch). also, before the pandemic, i worked as an english and geography teacher for over a decade. funnily enough, i am also a letterpress printer. in that practice, i of course use both upper and lowercase letters when working with clients. oh, guess where those words (uppercase and lowercase) came from? printing of course. i promise you, my type cases are well sorted and organised. but digitally, and on here i will always remain a lowercase warrior.
