Debate ISSUE 9 | TRENDING | 2021
RED BULL FLUGTAG 2021.
WIN $1,000 TO HELP BUILD YOUR WIIINGS. Want to represent your university at Red Bull Flugtag? One student submission from each city will win $1,000 to go towards launching their flying machine at Aucklandʼs Wynyard Quarter on Saturday 27th November 2021. APPLY NOW AT REDBULL.CO.NZ/FLUGTAG T&Cs apply.
EDITORS Alana McConnell, Nam Woon Kim alana.mcconnell@aut.ac.nz nam.woon.kim@aut.ac.nz DESIGNER Kwok Yi Lee
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From the Editors
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AUT Chancellor Suggests Co-Chancellor Model to Fulfil te Tiriti Obligations
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Nam Woon Kim
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No.1 Pancake Bids Farewell to City Centre
LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE EDITOR Lucy Wormald
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Broken Faucet Shut Down AUT New City Accommodation
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I'm Sorry, Taylor Swift
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What's On(line)
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Giveaways
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Trending Recipes From TikTok You Should and Shouldn’t Try
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#Tokyo2020: Rings of Failure
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Giving, Giving, Gone
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Loveless Island
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Fairy Got No Time for This: Volume III
ILLUSTRATORS Yi Jong, Kwok Yi Lee FEATURE WRITER Lizzy Carmine
STUDENT NEWS REPORTER Justin Wong NEWS WRITER Justin Hu CONTRIBUTORS Daria Carrothers, David Williams, Lucy Wormald ADVERTISING Jesse Jones jesse.jones@aut.ac.nz
DISCLAIMER Material contained in this publication does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AUTSA, its advertisers, contributors, Nicholson Print Solutions or its subsidiaries. This publication is entitled to the full protection given by the Copyright Act 1994 (“the Act”) to the holders of the copyright, being AUT STUDENT ASSOCIATION (“AUTSA”). Reproduction, storage or display of any part of this publication by any process, electronic or otherwise (except for the educational purposes specified in the Act) without express permission is a break of the copyright of the publisher and will be prosecuted accordingly. Inquiries seeking permission to reproduce should be addressed to AUTSA.
Debate is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA).
30 Horoscopes 32
Puzzles
FOLLOW DEBATE! debatemag.com debate_mag autsadebate
Cover illustration by Yi Jong
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The Sopranos a sceptical pass, but I’m open to exploring it more in the future. Nam: The Sopranos is one of those things that not only lives up to the hype, but could even do with some more!! The show started trending last year when people, like myself, discovered and watched it for the first time. Television today is oversaturated with shows that learned all the wrong lessons from it so why not give the OG a try? It is lockdown after all.
Crocs
From the Editors Alana and Nam sat down to assess some of today's hottest trends in this issue’s editorial.
Smoked salmon Nam: Alana recently turned pescetarian which means the conversations in the office often turn fishy in the best way possible. Maybe this is always in-trend but within our four walls at least, smoked salmon is the latest hot commodity. Alana: I’m a simp for smoked salmon, or any form of raw fish for that matter. Take me out and I’ll go crazy for sashimi, or I’ll immediately scan a café menu to make sure they have a smoked salmon bagel, complete with capers, red onion, and cream cheese. It’s healthy for you, not to mention melt in your mouth indulgent. But I can’t ignore that niggly feeling about how bad fishing is for the environment, which definitely needs to be dealt with at a later date.
Olivia Rodrigo Nam: Although I did plug that tribute gig in the previous issue, I’ll admit I’ve yet to sit down and listen through SOUR. Pop music was a staple of my Spotify rotation last year, which isn’t the case this year for whatever reason. Maybe I need
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less cheering up in 2021. That said, the snippets I hear on TikTok are promising. Alana: My sister is a huge Olivia Rodrigo fan, and as a general rule when she likes something I assume I will dislike it. But my frozen heart thawed quickly when I listened to 'drivers license'. Those lyrics, those damn lyrics. Play it when you’re driving home alone at night and it’s impossible not to resonate with Olivia’s devastating breakup. I wish my own heartbreak resulted in millions of dollars, but we all can’t be that lucky.
The Sopranos Alana: My opinion on The Sopranos is a hot take, which I may not be entitled to because I’ve only seen a handful of episodes with my dad. Maybe I should have stuck it out, but hey. The Sopranos has been claimed by Nam as one of the greatest shows of all time, and perhaps there’s truth to that. Another HBO show of the '90s is Sex and the City, and honestly one of the best things I’ve ever watched. But we never even include it in the “best of” conversation because it’s a female led show focused on relationships. Female led shows are considered appropriate for only half the population and male dominated shows are the norm. For me, I’ll give
Alana: Crocs may be one of the best purchases I’ve made. Albeit, the ones I bought were off-brand and a men’s size 9. They are the best outdoor-indoor shoes known to humankind, and they are also incredibly comfortable. Perfect for gardening, taking out the bins, and cooking in the kitchen. Pro tip: buy some jibbitz for your Crocs. It will make them stand out and add some extra pizazz to an already epic shoe. Nam: I’ve yet to own a pair of Crocs myself but if Alana’s enthusiasm is any indication, I need to hop on this bandwagon. I’ve seen some pretty cool takes on the Croc on Pinterest, which maybe I’ll see here come summertime. Or sooner. I challenge you, Alana, to show off your snazziest pair on our next Zoom call (sigh).
Sweater vests Nam: Sweater vests are another classic example of a Korean/Japanese staple becoming trendy in Western fashion and I’m all for it. Maybe it’s my bias for any smart-casual look, but they’re easy to pull off and don’t give af about gender, either. Alana: I’m a big fan of sweater vests, or body warmers as we used to call them in Canada. They are effortlessly able to be styled with a pair of sleek sunglasses and some baggy jeans, and voila, you’re the next Kendall Jenner. There’s about four or five in my wardrobe, all copped from some op shop for less than $5 each. Big fan, but I never knew about the roots in Korean/ Japanese fashion, so thanks, Nam!
AUT Chancellor Suggests Co-Chancellor Model to Fulfil te Tiriti Obligations By Justin Hu (he/him) AUT’s chancellor has suggested implementing a co-chancellor model on the university’s governing body to fulfil its co-governance obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi. Chancellor Rob Campbell wrote that examining co-governance within the university was a “clear responsibility” for the AUT Council. “People and organisations in Aotearoa/ New Zealand are examining the opportunities and challenges which co-governance between tangata whenua and tangata tauiwi offers,” Campbell wrote. “Any reading of the functions and duties of the university council shows that such examination is our clear responsibility.” “My thinking on this is driven not simply by the recognition that it is the right thing to do but also by the progress being made in many parts of the public sector.” The letter was attached as part of an update to the AUT Council at its last meeting in July. In response to Debate’s written questions on the topic, the chancellor added that he had made the proposal following staff consultation on selecting a new vice-chancellor. “In my recent consultation within the university regarding the selection of a new vice-chancellor, there were strong themes about stronger treaty partnership. Some wanted a co-governance structure at the vicechancellor level.
“My own view is that there is demand for co-governance [...] It’s more important to do this well than to do it fast, but it has, after all, taken 180 years so far!” “My own view is that the ground is not yet well prepared for this at the executive leadership level, though much positive has been done." The university’s existing vice-chancellor, Derek McCormack, stepped down from his role in June and will formally leave early next year.
“Any reading of the functions and duties of the university council shows that such examination is our clear responsibility.” Campbell continued: “There are complications in moving to effective co-governance at senior executive and academic levels. These are a challenge, not a barrier. “I see establishing co-governance at the chancellor level as much more
straightforward and able to give a valuable guide to further work.” The chancellor also wrote that his views on co-governance were his own, rather than representative of the university’s entire governing body. “My own view is that there is demand for co-governance [...] It’s more important to do this well than to do it fast, but it has, after all, taken 180 years so far!” In his update to the AUT Council, Campbell added that he wanted to promote but not lead the discussion on the issue. “There are many people in the university more competent than [myself] to lead such examination, however, as chancellor it would be wrong for me not to promote this examination,” Campbell wrote. The role of the chancellor in a university is to focus on the long-term direction of the institution, while the vice-chancellor spends more time working with day-today operational issues. As a result of this split, the chancellor chairs the university’s governing body (the AUT Council), while the vice-chancellor instead focuses their time working with the university's senior management team.
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Abigail Park, SK Lim, Jonathan Lim. Photography by Nam Woon Kim
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No.1 Pancake Bids Farewell to City Centre By Justin Hu (he/him) and Nam Woon Kim (he/him)
The family owners of the business say they are heartened, but bittersweet, over the long lines of customers that capped off 17 years as a uni student stalwart. They say the effects of Covid and getting a better work-life balance played a big role in their move up north. With nostalgia clearly in the air, No.1 Pancake’s last day began with a queue that started long and only got longer by the hour. For the couple behind the city centre’s favourite hole-in-the-wall eatery, their last day open was an experience they couldn’t quite believe. "We’ve received so much love while we were here and we didn't think we would be missed this much. We thought we were just an ordinary shop,” says owner Abigail Park. For Park and her husband, SK Lim, flipping and frying pancakes on Lorne Street has been their life for more than 11 years. Debate spoke with the couple earlier this month, alongside their son Jonathan, to learn more about the family business’ history and where they’re headed.1 Prior to becoming Auckland’s pre-eminent pancake proprietors, Jonathan recalls his parents holding down many different jobs after the family emigrated from South
Korea in 1994. His father worked in radio broadcasting, managed a duty-free store, became a tour guide, and later took a real estate exam right before the 2008 financial crisis. Meanwhile, in 2004, a family friend in their church community began selling the Korean pancake known as hotteok (호떡) from the now-familiar corner on Lorne and Wellesley Streets. ‘Corner
“We’ve received so much love while we were here and we didn't think we would be missed this much. We thought we were just an ordinary shop.”
Pancake’, as it was originally known, focused on replicating the traditional form of the street food, with a glutinous,
Once they took over, one of the first
sticky rice flour base. After six years,
things Lim and Park did was evaluate
the original owners decided to move to Australia and handed the business over to Lim and Park. Along with their sons, the shop has been family-run ever since. In that time, the eatery has become a mainstay of guide books and annual name-drops in Metro
the pancakes themselves. Then came a careful refinement process. “I have no formal culinary background. I’d often read that baking is like a science — lots of hours were spent researching and trialling,” Park says.
Magazine, with the shop even nominated
She adds that the recipes that the family
as one of Auckland’s top 100 most iconic
uses today are completely different to
eats last year.
the originals that she inherited from the
1 Lim and Park spoke in Korean and their answers have been translated.
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Even though they’re leaving the city centre, Lim and Park want their customers to know that they’re not leaving for good. previous owners. Instead of replicating a traditional Korean pancake recipe, Park says she switched to a dough that was more bread-like and “closer to a Kiwi style”. “We had a litmus test of whether I’d be happy to feed this to my kids. There are endless, enticing options and lots of different foods people enjoy, but at the end of the day, I made the menu based on that. Their tastes were the baseline,” Park explains. Jonathan adds: “There were a lot of taste tests, being a family business. My brother and my palate were the standards, apparently — we didn’t know!” Aside from its pancakes, a defining feature of the family business has been its almost-comically narrow kitchen. Bringing up the topic immediately elicits laughter from SK, Abigail, and Jonathan. “It was like a food truck that couldn’t move,” Lim exclaims. “The only benefit of it was that we all got along very quickly as a result because we’d bump into each other!” He pinpoints the exact size of the working area itself: 5.3 square metres.
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Park adds: “It felt like working as a flight attendant. It did make us feel sorry for our workers because they couldn’t even sit down.” She went on to explain that all lunch breaks had to be taken outside as there wasn’t enough space inside to do so. Kitchen size aside, the family says the journey to where they’re at now has been far from easy, in more ways than one. Throughout the years, the most pressing issue has been their father’s heart problems, Jonathan says. “That was about four or five years ago, when it was just Mum, Dad, and myself when we usually had five people in the shop. Back then you might’ve seen a lot of abrupt closures. Those were times when we weren’t feeling well enough to open — especially when sometimes the ambulance had to come to our house.” He adds that this was a turning point for when his brother, David, paused his studies in Australia to return and help his parents run No.1 Pancake.
“It’s only been two or three years since [my father’s health scares] and they got back into the old rhythm after, but then Covid happened, so not really the old rhythm. People were coming back to the CBD, but that’s when the lease expired and when Mum and Dad took a step back to take another look at their worklife balance. ”I think definitely for them, there was a mental toll about [Covid]. Just worrying about paying the rent and about not enough people coming in.” Jonathan adds that less foot traffic from tourists was also a contributing factor to the couple’s decision to take a break. Even though they’re leaving the city centre, Lim and Park want their customers to know that they’re not leaving for good. The family currently lives in Rosedale and has a commercial kitchen there, where they’ve managed daily ingredient prep work for the city shopfront. “We didn’t want to sell the business because we’re still motivated and enthusiastic to continue. Even if we run something at a smaller scale and
slow down — we still want to continue providing our pancakes to people”, Park says. In the near future, hungry patrons may be able to order online and pick up their pancakes from a new store in Rosedale. But Jonathan says they’re considering all kinds of options, including partnering with other eateries to get their pancakes into the hands of as many Aucklanders as possible. “We’re looking at all kinds of options […] if we can find the right people. I think it’ll eternally be Mum and Dad’s job to be in charge of quality control, so they would still be supplying the dough and ingredients. But who knows.” Reflecting on their time, Park says that she finds that the city centre has changed a lot since they first started — for the better. “Lorne Street mostly has places to eat now. Back when we started, it was only the dumpling spot next door and Sierra Coffee.” Lim adds: “It’s more lively now. We feel that our shop has really grown and changed with the city.” Throughout their time, the couple agreed that the number one thing they valued the most was the relationships they built with their pancake patrons.
“Lots of students who enjoyed us back in their uni days loved to see that we were still here and still tasted the same. That’s when it clicked for me that we weren’t just another place to eat — that we had really built relationships with our customers.”
For SK Lim, he says it clicked for him when he saw former uni students returning to eat with their children or seeing regular customers come in with special orders. “Before Covid, there was the challenge of feeling like work never ended, but we learnt that doing this for a long time can be fun because the customer reactions gave us a lot of strength to keep going.” “Lots of students who enjoyed us back in their uni days loved to see that we were still here and still tasted the same. That’s when it clicked for me that we weren’t just another place to eat — that we had really built relationships with our customers,” Lim says.
Jonathan says his mum especially treasured the relationships with her employees, some of which returned to help out with the final days of the eatery. “One of our old workers offered and they came in from Christchurch on leave. One person came in on leave from their job as an early childhood educator in Auckland. That kind of close relationship is something that Mum is proud of.” From all of this, Debate asked the family whether they had anything to say to their customers. “We received lots of love while we were here and we’re going to miss everyone. If we could have stayed, we would have.”
“We had a list of customers and their usual orders, and we thrived off their reactions,” Jonathan added.
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Broken Faucet Shut Down AUT New City Accommodation By Justin Wong (he/him) Fifteen residents living at AUT’s new twin-tower city accommodation are still to return to their apartments more than three weeks after a broken water pipe forced them to leave. The new student accommodation at Mayoral Drive could house almost 700 people and also featured AUT’s students-only recreation centre. More than 150 residents were forced to evacuate in the early hours of July 30 after water leaking from a broken faucet in the 17th floor of the complex’s South Tower triggered the smoke alarm system.
The residence, known as the WQ building or Te Āhuru, opened in February this year but it has been mired in construction problems. Student accommodation facilities were not fully completed until May as burst pipes on five floors of the South Tower last December caused water damage in up to 80 apartments during construction, which delayed the completion date.
Operator UniLodge told residents in an email later the South Tower’s accommodation would be closed until further notice and residents living there would need to move to the opposing North Tower.
The podium and the recreation centre were also not in use for students and residents until months later than planned at the start of Semester 2, as fit out works started four months later than originally scheduled.
The email also said the Student Recreation Centre would be closed until August 2, but communal areas located on the podium between the towers would remain operational.
The entire complex is built by construction company Icon under supervision from consultancy firm Development Advisory Services Limited (DASL).
AUT also told staff in a July 30 email that offices on levels 4 and 5 of the podium, which are used by staff from the Schools of Language and Social Sciences & Public Policy, could not be used that day.
Both companies are yet to respond to queries from Debate.
A spokesperson from UniLodge told Debate that the broken faucet caused superficial damage and the decision to move all South Tower residents was to help investigate the problem.
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The spokesperson also said work is now being done to redecorate affected areas and it could take “a couple of weeks”, but they did not say when the fifteen residents can return to their own rooms.
Fifty-one residents have since signed a petition demanding their rent be dropped from $375 to $300 per week, with some telling Debate they were not informed about the delays until they moved in. Other residents told Debate they felt misled by AUT marketing, which said residents at the complex would have access to “a recreation centre and sports court, and a shared study, social and dining spaces.” They were later told by the university that the recreation centre is not part of the accommodation area they live in and those who are not AUT students would need to pay to use the facility. Despite being AUT-branded, the building is owned by Brisbane-based developer Cedar Pacific. The company also owns and operates three other student accommodations in Auckland that are branded with the University of Auckland, including 55 Symonds Street, 5 Whitaker Place, and Te Tirohanga o te Tōangaroa on Anzac Avenue. It also owns other student housing developments in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide. The developer’s ultimate owner is private equity firm Pamoja Capital, which is based in Luxembourg and registered in the British Virgin Islands. Pamoja Capital is also UniLodge’s biggest shareholder.
I’m Sorry, Taylor Swift By Alana McConnell (she/her), illustrated by Kwok Yi Lee (he/him)
We’ve done Taylor Swift dirty. And she’s not the exception, with Selena, Britney, Kesha, Lindsay, and Paris all going through hell and back. They’ve been through it, from traumatising conservatorships, leaked sex tapes, mocking mental health issues, slut-shaming and body-shaming, and our society’s collective obsession with virginity and purity of young women. Why is it that starlets tend to be the ones who face the largest backlash and are held to back-breaking standards? Is it reflective of our unresolved wider issues with women as a whole? Was my past-disdain of Taylor Swift a sign of internalised misogyny? It’s Britney Spears being grilled on live TV when she was a new voice as to whether she was still a virgin, as if the public deserved to know. It’s Kesha who has been locked in a horrible legal battle since 2014 fighting Dr. Luke for physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Or Paris Hilton being shamed by David Letterman for her stint in prison as the crowd laughs along. We revel in the fragile tipping point into breakdown of these starlets, gleefully witnessing Amanda Bynes’ Twitter rants, Lindsay’s fluctuating dress size, or something as mild as a female celebrity deciding not to wear makeup on her supermarket outing (prompting concerns she is haggard, sick, or let herself go). I can’t write this article and not mention the incessant slutshaming of Taylor Swift, the media frenzy of her dating life, Taylor becoming the butt of the joke about “going through men” and using them for writing material. These women have had lengthy careers, usually starting out as adolescents, being under public scrutiny as they grew up and lived their lives, locked in a straightjacket that prohibited mistakes and imperfection. We’ve held these women to impossible
We’ve held these women to impossible standards in another universe to their male counterparts, who are constantly given permission to run wild and even spread carnage with no tangible consequences. standards in another universe to their male counterparts, who are constantly given permission to run wild and even spread carnage with no tangible consequences. We expect female celebrities to be perfect, virginal, mysterious, interesting, and worthy of our attention. We don’t allow them to age, to gain weight, to be too sexy, or not sexy enough. I’m guilty of writing Taylor Swift off. I didn’t want to be considered a stereotypical white girl, and I turned my nose up at basic pop music (I was a twat). I found her image to be too squeaky clean and inaccessible. Her insanely large discography was also slightly intimidating. Where did you start? The tides turned only recently, the perfect storm of my painful first breakup along with Taylor’s close collaboration with my favourite’s Bon Iver and The National. Suddenly, Taylor’s tracks about love and loss and loneliness hit me like a truck. I found myself in a state of longing and wallowing, listening to ‘this is me trying’, a track wrought with emotional vulnerability, expressions of regret, struggles with addiction, and mental health. My alienation after the breakup was alleviated in a significant way. As I watched Taylor perform, her genuine anguish and emotional
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“Women in entertainment are discarded in an elephant graveyard by the time they’re 35. The female artists I know of have reinvented themselves 20 times more than male artists. They have to, or else you’re out of a job. Constantly having to reinvent, constantly finding new facets of yourself that people find to be shiny. Be new to us, be young to us, but only in a new way, and only in the way we want.” – Taylor Swift honesty was palpable. This woman has felt things, she’s been through it, and she isn’t afraid to express it. Her authenticity was admirable, and her softness never faltered, after years of the world around her trying to control, harden, and reduce her. Taylor Swift signed to a record label when she was only 15, rising to fame after her second studio album Fearless (2008). She was a country darling, complete with blond ringlets, cowboy boots, and a potentially fabricated Southern twang. Her smile rarely faltered, even after Kanye’s shocking interruption at the VMAs. Over nearly 17 years, Taylor Swift has undergone countless transformations, reinventing herself, and acting as a mirror for her critics, using their words as fuel to challenge herself. Her work ethic and dedicated passion has remained constant, churning out song after song with no sign of slowing down. In the documentary Miss Americana, Taylor muses on being a female popstar in a cutthroat industry. “Women in entertainment are discarded in an elephant graveyard by the time they’re 35. The female artists I know of have
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reinvented themselves 20 times more than male artists. They have to, or else you’re out of a job. Constantly having to reinvent, constantly finding new facets of yourself that people find to be shiny. Be new to us, be young to us, but only in a new way, and only in the way we want. This is probably one of my last opportunities as an artist to grasp onto that kind of success, as I’m reaching 30, while society is still tolerating me being successful.” Taylor Swift has never remained stagnant. Taylor evolved from the acoustic lovesongs of Tim McGraw, to the fairy-tale fantasy of Speak Now, to the edgier Red era which began the transition from country to pop, to the darker and revengetinged Reputation, all the way to now. In a virus-riddled world resulting in lockdown and alienation, Taylor’s creative energy has only grown larger and more magnificent. She released two studio albums in 2020, Folklore and Evermore, another sign of her constant metamorphosis. Introspective, poetic, painstakingly authentic, listeners and critics alike could see the unmistakable maturity and wisdom that Taylor has acquired over her long career.
It feels like Taylor has come into herself. She isn’t as dependent on what others think of her and she doesn’t expect everyone to love her, which you can see has given her freedom. Her sense of style isn’t carefully curated anymore; she’s let go of the unattainable image of the perfect body, and settled into a healthy relationship away from the public eye. She has shed the layers that held her down but retained a soft heart and her trademark earnestness. Miss Americana encompasses that, showing the trials and tribulations of Taylor’s lengthy career, inexplicably linked with her personal life and her identity. She’s transparent about her issues with selfesteem, need for external validation, eating disorders, and sexual assault. The documentary explores Taylor’s voice outside music, initially keeping quiet about social issues and things that were important to her, prioritising keeping the peace and being seen as a sweet and mild-mannered songstress. As she has matured, she has become more outspoken, going to court after being groped and counter-suing for a mere $1 simply to make a statement, encouraging her young fans to vote in elections, and advocating equal rights. This activism has been an active defiance against that deep desire to be liked by everyone, to have the cheers and the applause and the external proof that she was good enough. I’m sorry, Taylor Swift, for sleeping on your talent all these years and constantly dismissing you. I’m a mad feminist who wants to support all women and a shameless lover of heart-wrenching breakup songs. My scathing attitude towards your music was in reality perpetuating the age-old patriarchal curse of the female popstar. I guess I can now claim the title of a Swiftie, and if people write me off as a basic white girl, I’ll use it as an opportunity to preach about my new-found love and respect for Ms. Swift!
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What's On(line)
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Academy on Demand
The Daily podcast
ondemand.academycinemas.co.nz/
nytimes.com/column/the-daily
Cost: Between $4.99 and $7.99
Standout episode: The Fall of Afghanistan
Our favourite local, indie cinema is not to be forgotten during lockdown. Academy Cinemas has created an On Demand website where you can rent a selection of critically acclaimed and captivating movies. The picks are curated, where the staff have chosen their favourites, or you can browse through categories of director, theme, or era. Support local instead of watching a low-quality streaming version or profiting huge corporations.
Do you want to stay up to date with the happenings of the world in a compact, accessible, and engaging way? The Daily is a podcast produced by The New York Times, twenty minutes each, 5 episodes a week. The news around the world is pretty bleak and hard to take in, from climate collapse to the horrors of Afghanistan, but it’s still important to be up to date.
Here.fm
Way too much stuff
Staying in touch and having something to do with your friends or partner is essential to managing your lockdown. If you want something a little different from your standard video calls or love spending hours customising and decorating, Here.fm is worth checking out. Create a room which you can edit to your heart’s content and host a movie night, flex those Chess skills, or just catch up.
By the time this is on your screen, it’d have been almost a week in lockdown. Here at Debate we’re all about setting boundaries with our work, the news, and everything else we access through the internet. This slot is a lil reminder that you shouldn’t feel pressured to be available all day, nor do you need to be always doing something. Rebel against productivity culture and simply do nothing – it’s good for us.
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Giveaways We’ve got you covered on all things trending. Want to start composting? Sorted. Keen to try gua sha to get some glowing skin? Nice! Let us hook you up with some stylish goodies. To be in the draw, follow us on our Instagram @debate_mag and DM us something that you think deserves to be trending.
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The Art of Composting
Kodak Portra 400 film
Composting is trendy right now, or at least the idea of it is. So many people would love to start composting in their flat but are held back by the planning, the ick factor of it, and sheer laziness. The Koanga Institute is located in Hawkes Bay and are trailblazers when it comes to all things bio-intensive harvesting and nutrient dense food. Learn from the experts, who will show you how they compost and the principles and patterns their technique originates from. Food wastage? Don’t know them.
For broke students with a penchant for film photography, it’s often the film itself that’s difficult to justify in your monthly budget. Whether you’re a budding photographer or a professional with a side hustle, getting an extra roll of film will never go unappreciated! Take some candid snaps of friends on your upcoming holiday, or of your neighbor’s cat Bugs. The choice is yours when you’re holding the camera, and you know the gram will look amazing too.
Gua Sha Facial Sculpting Tool
Handmade Resin Earrings
If you haven’t heard of gua sha before, where have you been? Originating from traditional Chinese medicine, gua sha has been used for thousands of years, known for its amazing ability to promote cell repair, healing, and recovery. Now in popular use with Instagram influencers, gua sha has been claimed to reduce signs of aging, sculpt your face, and increase circulation and lymphatic drainage. If you’re sceptical of the recent gua sha trend for facial massage and not wanting to commit to a purchase, then this giveaway should be right up your alley.
Give a pop of colour to your outfit with these delightful earrings by @luciddreamaccessories. It’s always good to support small businesses; you fight the fast-fashion machine and get yourself a pair of cute earrings as a result.
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Trending Recipes From TikTok You Should and Shouldn’t Try By Nam Woon Kim (he/him)
Mayo ramen
I use 'trending' generously here as some of these you’ve no doubt seen as early as last year. But, if people are still producing content about it then it’s fair game! Time flows differently on the internet where there’s something new trending every day while also beating the same dead horse for months. For your enjoyment, I set aside a Sunday afternoon and whipped some egg whites to put these viral recipes to the test. (You won’t find any recipes here because there’s a gazillion available online but I did include some tips.) Ranking scales from F (that’s bad) to S (that’s *chef kiss*).
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Although I no longer regularly snack on this childhood staple of mine, I’m pleased to announce this dish is worth it, kind of. On paper, adding mayonnaise to a packet of instant noodles sounds like the most struggle of struggle meals. Hats off, though, to this marriage of two humble student-kitchen staples: kewpie mayo and your choice of ramen. The mayo is there mostly for texture and as far as ramen twists go, this one is worth having up your sleeve. Hot tip: Don’t use the full packet of ramen seasoning, go for like ⅔ or half. EASE
COST
YUM
A
B
B
Frozen honey
Cloud bread
With my sweet tooth renewed this year, I couldn’t not try this food hack. It tastes like what it says on the tin so for my money, honey is better used elsewhere. A salad dressing. Toast. Ginger honey lemon tea. Not particularly life changing this one.
Much like whatever Netflix show is trending at the moment, no amount of token colour can save this snack. At least, according to the recipes you’ll find on Tiktok – there’s a version out there somewhere that probably salvages this dish. It’s literally just baked eggs.
Hot tip: As tempting as it may be, please don’t binge this.
Hot tip: Don’t make it.
EASE
COST
YUM
EASE
COST
YUM
S
D
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F
🤢
F
E
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😚👌
Smashed Brussels sprouts
Pasta chips
As something of a vegetable enjoyer myself, I wanted to try something that’s not just carbs or sugar. Brussels sprouts have a terrible reputation and rest assured for the five Brussels sprouts fans in the room (that includes Alana), I was neutral going in. One try of oven-baked Brussels sprouts later, I’m still just as neutral on them. Easy to make but I regret not adding cheese.
I may not own an airfryer but the consensus was that you could chuck these in the oven and still get a fun, crunchy snack. Maybe Debate readers with an airfryer can chime in because this was not it. I made two batches: one with parmesan, and one with buffalo sauce. Both were thoroughly underwhelming but also strangely addicting?
Hot tip: Eat your vegetables! I know you’ve been slacking. Frozen is fine too. In fact, studies have shown that sometimes there’s no difference in nutrients; it comes down to how you cook it. EASE
COST
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❤
Hot tip: Skip the baking part of the recipe and you’ve got yourself some delicious penne, rigatoni, etc. EASE
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Pesto fried eggs Whipped lemonade It’s never too early to perfect that drink you’re planning on having stocked in your fridge all summer so I snatched some lemons out of life’s hands and made some whipped lemonade. Maybe it was the so-so hit rate on the previous recipes that made me sceptical but how wrong can you go with sweetened condensed milk? It tastes delicious and as my dad said, it’d be perfect with a shot of your favourite spirit too. (Maybe soju?) Hot tip: Instead of only adding a pathetic, performative lemon slice to garnish like most suggest, chuck in some lemon rind (that’s chopped or grated lemon peel) to boost the flavour before blending. Then, use it to decorate as well. Sparkling or tonic water is essential too, and don’t forget your ice. EASE
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If you had to only try one thing from this lineup, I’d make it this one. Grab your pesto, heat up a pan, and enjoy some eggs sunny side-up or scrambled. I’ve been having pesto eggs every morning since making it for the first time. Partially so I can finish the pesto within a week like the label recommends. Hot tip: Add some chill flakes, maybe even some sriracha. EASE
COST
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Concluding thoughts I have no doubt that your average TikTok foodinfluencers are competent cooks, but clearly there’s not enough gatekeeping going on. For once, I recommend that you do read the comments.
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#Tokyo2020: Rings of Failure
By Lucy Wormald (she/her) I remember watching the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. I was fourteen. The lights were low and I was sitting on the edge of my beanbag, with bated breath, eyes like saucers. The magnitude of creativity and stupendous effort of the ceremony, for the sake of beauty and brilliance and utter celebration, was moving. In all my innocence, I cried, oddly touched by the humanity of our world coming together to acknowledge our own grandeur. I remember watching Mo Farah run in the Men’s 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres, unbridled joy in his eyes. I remember watching Usain Bolt win three gold medals. I remember the force of Nicola Adams. Whenever the Olympics come up in conversation I always find myself fiercely declaring my love for them. I am sold on the dream, drunk on its ideals. But this year, things feel different. The opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics was guarded. And so was my reaction. A little older, a little less naïve, and tempered by the presence of the pandemic, I could not lean in to what
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the Games aim to represent. Instead, I found myself uncomfortable with the corruption, the inequality, the health risk, the Games’ budget of $15.4 billion, that have been made stark by the global turmoil we find ourselves in.
In Japan, around 80% of the population have opposed hosting the Games. Terms such as ‘dumpster fire’, ‘cash grab’, and ‘moral disaster’ have been comfortably interchanged when describing the decision to run the Games while the pandemic still storms. This moment of global unity, of audacious and joyful impracticality, of athletic triumph, now feels as rotten as everything else in our society. In a time where the Games feel reckless and negligent, is it irresponsible to ignore
the political framework of the Olympics? Is it possible to still watch in good faith when aware of the complex moral contradictions it poses? I think we should have known that keeping ‘2020’ at the end of the Tokyo Olympic Games title, despite it now taking place in 2021, was a terrible move that has undoubtedly brought all of last year’s bad juju back for another hot dose of carnage. And lo and behold… the Tokyo Olympic Games have been fraught more than ever with ethical and social issues. This year’s event has, and will continue to be, severely diseased with inequality and injustice. The most striking of these issues is the choice to host the Games while the globe still battles a constantly changing pandemic. In Japan, around 80% of the population have opposed hosting the Games. Terms such as ‘dumpster fire’, ‘cash grab’, and ‘moral disaster’ have been comfortably interchanged when describing the decision to run the Games while the pandemic still storms. Scientists and medical officials have been unequivocal in their opposition of the event. In a medical system already overstretched, Olympic officials have estimated it will need the services of 10,500 medical workers to staff the Games.
In the lead-up to the Games, Covid-19 cases were rising by the hundreds in Japan and the increasing allocation of medical staff to the Games is seen as a concerning misuse of resources where people’s lives may be at stake. Organizers have not required athletes to be vaccinated to compete. It appears Japanese residents are being forced to risk their health and the quality and availability of their public resources to ensure the games continue on. And yet, the Games march forward, torch held high. When it is clear the motivation of the Games disregards the possible cost of human lives and public health, it begs the questions: who and what are these Games for? It is a telling sign of what our world prioritises. Considering this, the celebration that has beguiled me in years previous suddenly feels hubristic. It is hard to ignore the commercial engine that is driving the Olympics forward in such a time. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) is making serious bank from the Games. Raking in billions, revenue here trickles up, not to the athletes, but to those who manage the Olympics. While the IOC does inject a significant amount of funding into supporting sports, this scale of commercialisation often conspires with exploitation, the pair inseparable forces. The Olympics is no exception. The reality for host cities is that the Olympics accelerates gentrification, displaces communities and increases policing. Social and cultural spaces are erased and commodified. The IOC is essentially handed the city to control and serve its political and economic interests. And this year, the city will not be reendowed for their sacrifices. An Olympic Games without spectators means no flow of patron profits. What is perhaps more concerning is the fact that these outcomes of hosting the Games are intrinsically built into the Olympic system – a feature, not a fluke. The IOC have always instituted these harmful states of exception, thriving off their willingness
The reality for host cities is that the Olympics accelerates gentrification, displaces communities and increases policing. Social and cultural spaces are erased and commodified. to exploit both city and athlete for the commercial success of the Games. Yet, these are the Games that the IOC promised would be the most innovative, most sustainable, best prepared and the most socially responsible in history. These Games will feature the most female athletes at an Olympics and is hosting 18 mixed-gender events. While this is, in isolation, a positive statistic, the fact it is framed as a feat to be met with applause feels disheartening. The dismay of this being touted as the most socially responsible in history does not stop there. What have we witnessed in the onset of these Games if not the Olympics’ shameful treatment of our minorities? Swimming caps designed by a blackowned company to accommodate natural black hair have been rejected by the IOC for not fitting ‘the natural form of the head’. Namibian sprinters, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, were banned from competing in the Women’s 400 metres due to naturally high testosterone levels. Female athletes are continuously referred to as ‘girls’, ‘wives’ and ‘mothers’ instead of ‘women’ or ‘athletes’. Transgender athletes have been subjected to pronoun misuse and physical scrutiny. The Olympics present a global opportunity to inspire rectifications of our social norms. This year, it appears to be merely a spotlight for our social failings. Our athletes occupying minority spaces are reduced to arenas in which we negotiate and debate our
existential musings on what is socially acceptable, erasing the identities and accomplishments of these athletes in the process. The tension between supporting the Olympics with my viewership and the pillars of social injustice it perpetuates has been difficult to navigate. It is inevitable that watching broadcasts and consuming media of the Games validates the IOC in its current form and contributes to the revenue that supports it. Watching Simone Biles or Laurel Hubbard perform athletic feats is also being complicit in a corrupt and harmful system. Yet boycotting the Olympics doesn’t feel like such a clear-cut decision. And that’s because refusing to support the Olympics is also refusing to support Olympic athletes. The Olympic Games are an opportunity for athletes to elevate themselves to the mainstream and make a living. If we deny that to our athletes, are we not also furthering the decay of ideal Olympic values? We must not avert our gaze from the complexity that the Olympics pose. We must imagine and voice frameworks that support athletes but also extinguish the unjust system they work in. It’s not ‘where’ and ‘when’ that constitutes the main problem with the Olympics. It is ‘why’ and ‘on whose terms’. If we can imagine an international sporting event that is community-controlled, premised on joy not profit, then we might have a return to the values I initially found so enticing.
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Giving, Giving, Gone By David Williams (he/him)
The fleeting nature of internet trends has resulted in a surge of attention and donations to charitable causes until a new trend replaces it. David Williams investigates and owns up to his own fickle charitable giving and explores the consequences of trending social causes. A common thread binds together an attempted insurrection, an apocalyptic Covid-19 wave, missile attacks against refugees, and a transgender weightlifter. In the first six months of 2021, each of these events captured our collective attention. They awakened our emotions, forcing each of us to decide where we stood on these issues. I was not spared from being ensnared by the emotional vortex that came from watching each of these events play out. To show that I cared, I donated money to causes that help alleviate the suffering of those caught up in the action or help fight those doing the damage. On the morning of Thursday seventh of January, we were all glued to our TVs and social media feeds watching far right insurrections storming the United States Capitol and pushing American democracy to breaking point. That day, I donated $10 to Anti-Racist Action, $11 to Black Lives Matter, and $20 to two prodemocracy organisations. When India was consumed by their second wave of Covid-19 in the first week of May, I donated $45 to World Vision’s India appeal. Three weeks later when Gaza was going through some of the worst
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bombing campaigns in recent memory, I donated $100 to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, better known as UNRWA – a relief organisation designed to help Palestinian refugees.
Donating to each of these causes made me feel good. I had done my part to try and make the world a better place. But secretly, I also donated to them because they were trending. Even here at home when transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was selected to represent New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics, resulting in horrible derogatory comments coming to the surface, I donated $10 to Rainbow Youth and $10 to InsideOUT. Donating to each of these causes made me feel good. I had done my part to try and make the world a better place. But secretly, I also donated to
them because they were trending. For a short period of time, each of the events I mentioned occupied a prime place in my consciousness because they were atop of the news cycle and across social media. I wanted to act like I cared about what was going on at that very moment. Sudden surges in support for trending causes are very common. Many charities and organisations reap the benefits of such surges. After far-right former politician Nigel Farage labelled the UK's Royal National Lifeboat Institution a “taxi service for migrants”, donations surged. They raised almost £200,000 in one day after his comments. This phenomenon occurs for New Zealand organisations as well. Tabby Besley from InsideOut, an organisation supporting LGBTQ+ people, saw a rise in donations after Family First sent a transphobic document to schools. “We made a tweet encouraging people to donate to help with sending our trans affirmative resource to schools. It got a great response.”
“I’d really encourage people to do some groundwork. Reach out to the organisations you want to support." Rachael Russell from the Cancer Society says that they saw a rise in donations last year because of the cancellation of their street campaign because of Covid. “We think that news stories around Covid and the cancellation of our Auckland street collection last year helped our fundraising.” But what happens when these causes are no longer trending? While I believe surges in donations are wonderful for organisations who need the assistance, many of them only rely on one-off donations to survive as regular donors are much rarer. As a result, the sudden flood will often slow to a trickle when the news cycle moves onto something else.
Tabby from InsideOut says that they “occasionally pick up some regular donors after some public awareness about our work but more commonly it's one-off donations.” Charities are often strapped for time and resources; they crave consistency and security because it allows them to plan. However, trends are very fleeting. For the week of May 2 to May 8, the search term “Free Palestine” was at #3 on Google's search interest scale. However, by the next week, that number had fallen to #100. Yet two weeks later, that number has reached #10. Therefore, any offers of help, be they monetary or mahi, are incredibly valuable. Any offer of help for an organisation or a cause you care about is helpful, even when they’re not trending.
Malu Malo-Fuiava from refugee and migrant organisation Belong Aotearoa says “I’d really encourage people to do some groundwork. Reach out to the organisations you want to support. It could be something direct like an email, phone call, attending their event etc, or something less direct in checking out their website or social media, to get a feel for how you could support and what piques your interest too.” Rainbow Youth, an organisation who supports LGBTQ+ youths say “all support is incredibly valuable, even if it's simply sharing our mahi on social media! You can become a regular giver on our website and choose any amount that works for you.”
InsideOUT: insideout.org.nz/get-involved/ Belong Aotearoa: belong.org.nz Rainbow Youth: ry.org.nz/volunteer Cancer Society: cancer.org.nz/get-involved/
Charities are often strapped for time and resources; they crave consistency and security because it allows them to plan. However, trends are very fleeting.
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Loveless Island By Lizzy Carmine (she/her), illustrated by Yi Jong (she/her)
Feature writer Lizzy Carmine explores the nuances of hit trashy reality show Love Island. She questions the looming expiry date of a show existing in a world with evolving definitions of gender and sexuality, the lack of representation, and problematic beauty standards.
The show you love to hate and hate to love is back for a seventh season filled with the usual hyper sexualised heteronormativity we can’t keep our eyes off of. Welcome to Love Island. Islanders (contestants) prance around a luxury villa in Spain for eight weeks, searching for a ‘connection’ with one of the many carefully selected and extremely conventionally attractive twenty somethings from across the UK. Along the way new Islanders enter the villa to flirt, fight and … ‘connect’ with the existing cast, in hopes of coupling up to avoid getting unceremoniously dumped from the island. Basically, there’s a never-ending cycle of new hotties entering the villa to break up existing couples for a chance to become a Love Island celebrity and gain instant Instagram fame. The show ends with the public voting for their favourite couple to endure one final test. They each receive an envelope, one containing £50,000 whilst the other is empty. It is the biggest test in today’s transactional society: take the cash and dash? Or split the money with your lover? If you’re a Love Island watcher like myself, I’m sure you’ve had to defend your taste to non-watchers. After all, watching hot people talking about their love life does seem a bit daft, but it’s the intricacies of the show that interest me. Love Island is built on monogamous loyalty – long-term, single partner relationships – and the “relationship society” we live in froths it.
What’s a relationship society? It’s our society that tells us we would be happier in a relationship than single; take every single rom-com or Disney princess story for example. A happily ever after is seen as the epitome of happiness. Love Island provides us with the end goal of a fairy-tale ending we all long to see, but it also gives us raw and juicy ‘drama’ along the way… at the Islanders' expense.
If you’re a Love Island watcher like myself, I’m sure you’ve had to defend your taste to non-watchers. There’s no doubt, however, that Love Island has its flaws. The show is as heteronormative as it gets, and as the world becomes a more inclusive space for gender and sexual diversity I have to question, will Love Island soon lose its relevance or even become cancelled? Love Island is a breeding ground for heteronormative ideologies that reinforce patriarchal ideas such as traditional beauty standards, gender role stereotypes, and power dynamics. The islanders are first introduced to us in swimwear, a look they sport more often than not on the show. The lack of diverse body shapes is extremely noticeable, and sends a clear message to the viewers regarding perfect bikini bodies and six
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Women’s reactions are treated as invalid and out of proportion as a way for men to avoid any form of accountability. This normalisation of gaslighting on a popular dating show is alarming, and dangerous. pack abs. Traditional beauty standards are imposed on the contestants, and women in particular are expected to conform to the feminine beauty ideal, unlike their fellow male islanders. Ex-Islander Aaron Francis (good riddance), expressed that women with hairy arms are his biggest turn off. Sorry Aaron, unsure if you realised but hair is everywhere and so normal, perhaps you should try dating a doll? Love Island sheds light on the highly unrealistic standards we hold women to. Countless male contestants stress their checklist includes a “natural look” on a girl, but a natural look doesn’t leave space for the real and natural features that women truly possess, from pimples, stretch marks, cellulite, or crusty eyes when you wake up. It’s also important to mention the racism and colourism that creeps its way into the sexual politics of Love Island. The show is populated by a majority of white and blonde women, with the occasional black woman interspersed throughout, which feels undeniably tokenistic. Time and time again, in the first coupling up of the show, black women are picked last and sidelined, from Kaz, Leanne, Samira, and Yewande. The preference for fair-skinned women is subtly or overtly expressed by the men in the villa. With Kaz, the men she’s attracted to constantly talk about her “energy” while ignoring her physical appearance. And what impact does this have on BIPOC watching the show, especially those who are young and coming into their identity? That the whiter you are the more attractive you are? Former contestant Yewande Biala opened up about her experiences and Love Island being a mirror of society. “Black women are never really seen or admired by black men or any other kind of race. We’re always pushed to the sideline
and it’s obviously highlighted on a show like Love Island where there’s only like 12 contestants and one of them is black.” The cisgender space allows gender stereotypes to be easily magnified and characters use these stereotypes against one another to excuse their own behaviour. Alicia Denby analyses how gender stereotypes on the show are used by men to gaslight women.1 Gaslighting is emotional abuse that causes a victim to question their reality because of the abuser manipulating their victim into a new way of thinking. On Love Island, men manipulate women into thinking they are crazy or over emotional to shift blame from themselves when they are chatting up other women. Women’s reactions are treated as invalid and out of proportion as a way for men to avoid any form of accountability. This normalisation of gaslighting on a popular dating show is alarming, and dangerous. It is not just the male contestants using sexist stereotypes to help their own cases though. Producers emotionally manipulate women through manufacturing scenes that encourage an emotional reaction to create drama for views. Faye and Teddy have been the most recent victims of this type of producing for a second time this season, resulting with Faye swearing at Teddy 125 times while the rest of the Islanders uncomfortably watched the event unfold. This type of producing has viewers criticising Love Island's producing methods and questioning the effect this has on contestants' mental health. Love Island received backlash from fans as the double standard backed by cultural ideologies about gender and race has been applied to Faye’s abusive behaviour. Fans said if roles were reversed and Teddy
was the one doing the yelling, he would have been swiftly removed from the villa. Love Island teaches us that instant gratification has transferred into our dating lives, and many of the Islanders' ability to practice emotional intelligence is low. Most Islanders don’t understand their own personal behaviours and emotions, factors which affect people's dating lives. Islanders are self-serving, they are disinterested in truly understanding their partner but prefer to compare them to their dating 'checklist’. 2019 Love Island winners Molly-Mae and Tommy are the only couple from their season who have remained together since leaving the show, showing that society's romanticism of monogamous relationships typically leads to disappointment. Learning from philosopher Alain De Botton, we can understand that romantic relationships are backed by unattainable relationship standards forced on them by mainstream media, movies, and traditions. Relationships are not crazy attraction, hot sex, and romantic gestures all of the time. In fact, most of the time relationships are boring, ordinary, and sometimes even hellish. Love Island can be viewed as a cautionary tale for dating. It’s even used by some parents for their young teenagers about what to avoid in the world of relationships. For some, it’s an escape from reality to become obsessed with complete strangers' behaviours and actions. It can also be used as a social commentary for all that’s wrong in the world when it comes to gender dynamics, race, power, and the consequences of heteronormativity. Whatever your relationship with this show may be, Love Island is a testament to how you can enjoy something but also be critical of it as well.
1 Toxicity and Femininity in Love Island: How Reality Dating Shows Perpetuate Sexist Attitudes Towards Women (2021) Alicia Denby
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Want to work in
Debate is nothing without its cont hitting journalism, or some good come hit us up. We might even chu those text books you can no longe course related cost money dur
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Want to see your work in Debate? Debate is nothing without its contributors. Whether it’s poetry, hardhitting journalism, or some good old shitposting you want to share, come hit us up. We might even chuck some $$$ your way to help fund those text books you can no longer afford because you spent all your course related cost money during O-week. Shhh we won’t tell.
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H o ro s By Daria Carrothers (she/her)
Virgo (Aug 23 - Sep 22)
Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21)
Happy Solar return, Virgo! The coming weeks mark a period of energising forces. This favourable energy will allow you to bring
There is a calling to dedicate yourself to work, where there could be some good news about your direction in life. While this is an extremely turbulent time filled with any changes, opportunity coincides with it. By using the turbulence as a push rather than fighting it, you will come out of and be catapulted into your future.
peace and harmony wherever you go. With another birthday rolling around this energy is also encouraging you to look back on everything you’ve accomplished this year with pride. TRENDING...: Celebrate your birthday and throw a Zoom party
TRENDING...: Invest in a standing desk
Libra (Sep 23 - Oct 23)
Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)
This is a wonderful time to put focus into your internal world, getting in tune with your mind. It’s an opportunity to put energy into developing your connection with your intuition. Your intuition speaks loudest through your body, the body can feel what the mind can’t understand. By being more present in your body, that will in turn help you to tap into your intuition.
A situation will present itself that gives you a mentor role of guidance for someone younger or more inexperienced than you. If you choose to assist in this situation, not only will the person you're helping come out of it better off, it will also teach you a lot about yourself, particularly how you express vulnerability.
TRENDING...: Try one of the TikTok recipes we put to the test
Scorpio (Oct 24 - Nov 21)
Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18)
Your friendships and community are needing you more during this period, Scorpio. Investing more time into your relationships will help to reground you and remind you of the amazing network of people you have found around you. You may also feel called to extend yourself into new communities. If an opportunity presents itself, don’t hesitate as this is a favourable time for forming a deeper connection and establishing new ones also.
Skeletons in the closet are coming up for healing; ignoring them will only lead to things festering. Be open to the emotions that arise, move with them, and they will flow through you. Utilise your past lessons so you don’t find yourself stuck in the same pattern on repeat. A new approach to vulnerability might yield new results.
TRENDING...: Finally see what the fuss about Discord is.
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TRENDING...: Propagate that Monstera from your neighbour’s backyard
TRENDING...: Go dance in the rain
copes Pisces (Feb 19 - Mar 20)
Gemini (May 21 - Jun 20)
There has been a lot of potential for change recently and the direction of that change is often based on your reaction. Think about
It is a wonderful time for you, Gemini, to dedicate time to your home, reimagining the spaces that you occupy most of the time.
reacting vs responding; responding requires considering multiple perspectives. Be open to new connections, but don’t let them compromise your current situation. This connection may appear from unexpected places if you are ready.
The best place to start is in your bedroom, redefining the space through an almostspring-cleaning-time purge, declutter, and org. Creating room in your spaces will bring a new sense of mental clarity to the constant chatter echoing in your mind.
TRENDING...: Make a matcha latte instead of your normal morning coffee
TRENDING...: TikTok DIYs (upcycling old furniture anyone?)
Aries (Mar 21 - Apr 19)
Cancer (Jun 21 -Jul 22)
A fresh start with your physical health and wellbeing is beckoning; now is a great time to set intentions and revisit your daily routine. What is energising your physical body, and what isn’t? Evaluate the habits you have formed over the year so far and take a magnifying glass to what isn’t working. By looking after your health, tough emotions will be able to pass through much quicker.
Tapping into a sense of deep calmness through a practice of meditation will be immensely beneficial for you at this time, Cancer. Finding internal security comes with being comfortable in one's mind and self. Building a meditative practice or finding something that allows you to check out physically but mentally tap in is the key for you, Cancer.
TRENDING...: Work on your hip mobility
TRENDING...: Start one of Yoga With Adriene's 30 Day journeys
Taurus (Apr 20 - May 20)
Leo (Jul 23 - Aug 22)
Life right now is encouraging you to tap into your inner child's desires, so relish in joy and prioritise play. Letting your inner child to the surface will help untap blocked creative energy and has the potential to bring productivity to a new creative venture. Not only will acknowledging your inner child's needs bring you creativity, it will also provide you with a deeper sense of comfort and understanding within yourself.
There is a shining of light on your relationships during this period, Leo. A sense of tension and strain in your close partnerships will be illuminated through a situation coming to a head. There is no such thing as a wrong decision, only different paths taken. This situation is a fork in the road; make your decision with a clear head.
TRENDING...: Take up knitting
TRENDING...: Move away from that situationship!
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