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INSIDES p. 4............................................... Open Letter p. 8................................................... How-To p. 14.............................................. Cheet Sheet p. 16......................................... Poems by Siobhan p. 17............................................ Siobhan Stuff p. 19................................................ Chit Chat p. 21............................................... Brain Food p. 22............................................ Featured Artist p. 24.......................................... Item of the month p. 25........................................... Roll the Creds
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AN OPEN LETTER TO “KIDS THESE DAYS” OPEN YOUR EYES. When you’re around the age of three or four, your mom takes you to the park and sits on a bench. You can finally go on the swing sets all by yourself. You’re bursting with anticipation, little stumpy legs trembling. Your mom grabs you by the arm, “Remember honey, don’t talk to strangers.” You nod. You don’t really care, you just want to go down that slide so badly. But your mom cares. No mom or dad wants their precious little angel to be taken away by some bad man. You are taught not to trust. Now you’re a little older, and it’s Halloween. You’ve got a huge pillowcase stuffed with candy, set like a trophy at your feet. Could things even get any better? You dump the night’s winnings on the living room floor to count each little treasure. “Hold on a second, kiddo,” your dad instructs as he enters the room and begins to inspect the treats. He weeds out any suspicious looking ones, saying “Sometimes bad people try to do bad things to kids like you.” You know he’s saying it more to himself than to you. You don’t put any importance on this. All you can think about is how much candy you’ve already lost and you feel disappointed. No parent wants their kid to eat a Reese’s Cup that has been infused with small, sharp razor blades. You are taught that people will hurt you. In the middle of class your teacher gets an email from the principal. She shushes all her students. “This is important, class.” She shakily starts reading the message aloud, her face pink with worry, “ ‘At 7:30 this morning a middle-aged Caucasian man driving a navy blue van attempted to lure a student into his vehicle. She refused and managed to escape safely, but the man has not yet been caught. We are advising all students, especially girls, to get rides home today if possible. Otherwise, walk in groups. Do not walk alone. Do not be distracted. Do not be on your phone. Do not wear headphones.’ Okay, class, back to World War II.” Every parent and teacher alike is afraid of one of their kids being taken. You are taught to be afraid. You’re going to a party years later. You are waiting for a friend in the living room with a few other people. Your friend finally walks into the room wearing a 5
skin-tight dress that barely grazes her upper thigh. Seated next to you is her friend. You see his face fall somber, and he jerks up and walks over hurriedly. “You can’t wear that,” he hisses, warningly, “you’ll be asking for a roofie in your drink. Sluts get raped.” He hits the last words like a hammer hitting a concrete wall. You nod your head slightly. You’ve heard rumors about a girl in another school who passed out and was raped in her drunken sleep. You wonder if her dress was that tight. Then you wonder why that should even matter. You are taught that you bring it on yourself. It’s January in Chicago, and you’re walking down the street with a friend. You see a young homeless man whose face has turned red with early hypothermia. You reach into your pockets, hoping you’ll have anything to give him. “Hey!” Your friend grabs your arm, their eyes wide, “What are you doing? They’re just going to use that money to buy drugs.” You take your hand out of your pocket, mumble “Sorry, I don’t have anything,” and keep walking. You feel bad, glancing back at their cherry red face. You think to yourself, If I had to be outside all winter in the middle of Chicago with only a sweatshirt to warm me, I’d rather be getting high, too. You are taught not to care. Back in school, you’re bored, staring at the wall and vaguely listening to a lecture. Then an announcement plays over the loudspeakers. “This is a code red.” The teacher locks the door and shuts off the lights. Your class huddles together in a corner of the room that is out of the line of vision of any outsiders. No one speaks, and you’re left alone with your thoughts. You wonder how badly a gunshot would hurt. You wonder who in your school would be most likely to be the shooter. You wonder how shooters get all their guns, but you scoff at that thought, knowing that it’s not all that hard. You wonder why they do it. Do they want revenge? Do they want to see others suffer just as much as they do? Do they get off on it? Do they just want to see what would happen? There’s a jostling on the door handle. Is there a god? You’ve never been sure in all of your, say, seventeen years, so how the hell should you know now? The jostling stops. You remember hearing on the news how during one shooting, nearly all the teachers had put themselves in front of their students to protect them, and sometimes they ended up saving some of the kids. Would your teacher do that? An
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announcement plays over the loudspeakers, “Thank you for participating in our drill today. Your safety is always our top priority. You may presume with classes now. Have a good, safe day.” You are taught that you are never safe. We, as today’s youth, have been raised in an age that has never been more connected and has never been more distant. Excuse the cliché . We, as today’s youth, do not trust one another and we see the evil in all whom we encounter. We, as today’s youth, have grown up in an age of abduction, massacre, rape, and separation. Yet we, as today’s youth, are expected to do nothing about it. Rather, media is funnelled down our throats, making us believe that Kimye’s wedding is more important than issues of basic justice and equality. We are expected to tweet about how unfair it is that our mom grounded us for staying out an hour past curfew, rather than how unfair it is that women still make seventy-seven cents to every man’s dollar. We are expected to pay more attention to MTV than to our own communities. We are expected to sit aside and make no objections to the world we have been brought up in. The youth has always been society’s punching bag, perpetually written off as the powerless, apathetic, conceited “kids these days”. Well, all I want to know is why are we so willing to stand for this? Why are we so eager to prove them all right? Children must be seen and heard. We don’t have to be content and passive. One person may not be able to change the world, but a generation united could possibly sway the course of history. Maybe it’s time to be active. Maybe it’s time to do something, so one day kids won’t have to learn the same lessons we’ve been taught our whole lives. Maybe it’s time to show the world that we care about it, by saving it. Maybe it’s time to get angry at this bullshit culture that we’re expected to endorse. Maybe it’s just time. xoxo, One angry kid.
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How-To-For-You:
How to Maintain your SANITY in 10 Easy Steps Are you afraid that your brain has become fried like the eggs in your Chinese food? Well, let me be the first to tell you--you’re not alone! Do you ever feel like every little thing makes your very skin crawl and you can feel a pressure building in your head like the precursor to a monumental explosion? Me too. Everybody has problems; that’s a gimme. True, there will always be someone in a much harder situations than you find yourself in, but you shouldn’t feel guilty about your problems! Just because they aren’t as big as someone’s, that does NOT mean they aren’t important. Even the most most trivial problem is yours to put in the work to deal with and overcome it. You are entitled to the pursuit of your own happiness, and sometimes it’s essential to take on that pursuit before you can take on the challenge of aiding someone else’s. So here goes, time to start finding your happy place, because YOU DESERVE TO BE REALLY, REALLY HAPPY. *These are the tip of the iceberg. I don’t know the key to finding happiness and enlightenment. The following tips are things that I’ve found help me out personally, but seeing as everybody is their own individual person, they may not all float your boat. The point of this list above anything else is to catalyst your own personal search. Maybe some of this will help you out, maybe not. Just rock to your own beat and don’t give up on the hunt for happy.
1. PRESENT TENSE
You know what causes stress? Your brain. If you are the kind of person who sweats all the small stuff, or that person who lives in the past, obsessing over all the things they should have done instead, or that guy who wastes days worrying about the future and how that will all pan out for you, or you just spend any more time thinking than you’d like, then it’s time to come into the present. This is not an easy thing to hear, trust me I know, but it could all just be in your head. Many people often tend take their problems and let their mind distort them into insurmountable walls covered in spikes and barbed wire. Does this sound like you? Well, if that is the case, you’re not a lost cause- I promise! What you need to do is train yourself to be present. Instead of focusing on all the anxious tumult going on in your head, take a 9
look at your surroundings. Take it all in. Where are you? Who are you with? How do you feel about it? What does it smell like? You’re never going to be able to live out this moment again, so take it in. Be present. Exist. With some practice, you’ll be able to live in the moment with ease. This can really take some stress off of you and in turn, you might not lose your marbles!
2. DON’T BE BORED
Did you ever complained to your parents when you were little about being bored only to hear that annoying shit about how “only boring people get bored”? Yeah. Maybe they might have been a little bit kind of sort of right. That’s not a fun thing to admit, but here’s the thing- what makes a person boring? Well, personally, I think the most boring people are the ones who are passionate about absolutely nothing. You know what I’m saying? Those people who have few to no interests and just come across annoyingly vapid. So okay, now we’ve identified boring people as those without any real spark in their lives. What about boredom? That probably hits even the most interesting of us from time to time, no? Well, okay, boredom is what strikes you when you have nothing to do. So how should we combat boredom? By being less boring! Find something that sets your soul on fire and do that! Find your passion and you find your way out of boredom. Find your passion, and pursue it with your whole heart. The way I see things, everything is pretty pointless in the end. That’s the thing about life, it’s pointless, but that doesn’t mean your life has to be worthless. Do what you love and change the world. Maybe it’s naive and idealistic, but if you aim big, what you reach might not be all that small.
3. EXHALE
As important as it is to breathe out the Carbon Dioxide in your lungs, you also need to exhale negativity. Sorry, was that too hippy? Yeah, it was much too hippy. Well, let’s just let that one slide, because the hippies are on to something. Letting go is the most powerful thing you can do when life deals you a horrible hand. It’s also one of the hardest things you can do. There was this psychological study by a guy named Daniel Wegner in which he would tell his subjects to not think of a white bear, but the thing was that the harder they tried not to think of a white bear, the 10
more they thought of it. Thus the White Bear Effect was born. It’s hard to let bad things go, because the harder you try not to think about them, the more you are bound to obsess over them. Pretty counter-intuitive, no? So how the hell are you supposed to exhale all the bad vibes when you can’t even stop thinking about them? Well, remember, exhaling is only a half. You also need to inhale. Let’s go back to step one- the present. Inhale all the good moments you experience and let yourself exhale what’s now long gone. Don’t force it, if you do you’ll just be stuck with a white bear mauling your insides (no offense to all the nice bears out there). Breathe in. Breathe out. Don’t hold it all in, you’ll just pass out.
4. OTHER HUMANS
It’s important to remind yourself that you’re not alone. Everyone has people who love them, friends, family, S.O.’s, so acknowledge them. I’m a pretty private person, so the idea of talking to others about my problems and bad things in general was kind of alienating to me initially, but I’ve done more opening up in the past few months than I had ever in the entirety of my life. I’ve now talked through so so much and Jesus, I have no clue why I’d tried so hard to close myself off to everyone and everything before this. So, if this step scares you, trust me I understand completely. There is very little that is more revealing than telling your weaknesses and problems to another person, no matter how close you are to them, but it can also be startlingly therapeutic, so fear not! Or fear less. Carry on with an appropriate amount of fear, whatever you deem fitting.
5. SPEW
Not literally (unless you’re currently very nauseous and/or sick, in which case proceed accordingly), but some emotional spewage can be pretty relieving. When you vomit you’re releasing toxins from your body, and so vomiting out your feelings serves essentially the same purpose. I realize how cryptic this is coming across, so allow me to explain myself here. I started journaling last year when I fell into a really nihilistic funk. I’d write out page after page of inscrutable word vomit. I’d do long stream of consciousness entries about heavy philosophical theories about the
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objective worthlessness of everything and I’d write about the foggy, miserable feelings I had and I’d write and write about pretty much anything that crossed my mind until eventually I’d find some little piece of enlightenment that had been buried away in my head, and that made it all worth it. The first time this happened I was on my fifth fairly depressing page on how pointless everything was when I wrote down “There’s no point in thinking of the pointlessness of it all,” and I don’t know, it meant a lot to me at the time. So find some medium to channel all your emotions through. For me, it was journaling, but that’s not for everyone. Maybe you’re really into music or painting or coding or building birdhouses or performing pagan rituals in the woods in the dead of night. Just find some form to manifest your soul. Sorry, too hippy again? But, the point is, find a medium to spew your emotions. Spew Spew Spew!
6. REFLECT
If you’re in a really bad place, don’t be afraid to scrutinize it a little bit. What’s the deal right now? Is it a relationship thing? Is it a school thing? Is it Existential Dread? Is it something you can fix? Is it something much, much bigger? Know what’s going on in your life. Know if there’s anything you could do (And know when THERE’S NOT A SINGLE THING). Analyze your situation as objectively as you can. Recognize your own mistakes, but don’t beat yourself up over them; if an apology is needed APOLOGIZE. If there’s something you can do to fix it, don’t let your pride stand in the way, FIX IT. If your situation is a lost cause and you know there’s nothing you can do, WALK AWAY. Analyze your situation, weigh your options, and do what’s best for you, first and foremost. Remember that it is okay to put yourself first every once in a while, but don’t use this as an excuse to make another person miserable. You’ll get nothing out of putting someone else down, if anything that does more harm than good. Try to be objective and logical, as hard as that is, it is the only sure way to know you’re making the best choices you can.
7. DISTRACT
Kind of like being present, being distracted will keep you from obsessing over your problems, and avoid falling into White Bear Syndrome. Basically, it’s easier to 12
live in the present when the present is full of great stuff to keep you occupied. To be honest, distractions are the baby steps that will get you ready to enter the present. Some of the best stuff happens when you aren’t stuck in your own head dreaming up unattainable expectations. When you let all your thoughts and energy be swept away by a real moment, you allow yourself liberation, if only for that one moment. So surround yourself with warmth and positivity and distance yourself from all the bad juju clogging up your system. Distract yourself from the bad if only to let yourself embrace all the good, because when you’re not busy driving yourself insane from worry, there is a lot of good out there to be beheld. Go get you some.
8. SLEEP IT OFF
THIS IS A SHORT TERM FIX THAT MAY OR MAY NOT ALWAYS WORK.
Okay, that’s out of the way. If you can honestly say that the problem you’re facing right now is pretty minimal, then sleeping it off is a pretty viable option for you. When you sleep, especially during the REM stages, it has been proven that your creative problem solving skills are actually enhanced. Have you ever slept on a decision and woken up to an air of clarity? It’s like that. When you go to sleep with a problem on your mind, your subconscious takes the pragmatism-wheel and attempts to solve your problem, and all the while you’re peacefully snoozing. Wow, thanks, brain, you cool. So If you’re currently melting your brain trying to figure out the answers to life’s problems, give it a rest- literally. It’ll all be good in the morning. Or at least a bit better. Or you’ll at least be less tired if nothing else- and you might even have a cool dream of like a dragon or something!
9. NETFLIX
Take a mental health day, kiddo. You deserve it. It’s completely okay to veg out, just so long as that isn’t all you do (I’ve done that, whoops). If you’re feeling run down, cut yourself a break. Did you know that in Japan there is an affliction called karoshi that directly translates to “Death by overwork”? Yeah, you can die from workaholism. Granted, the majority of the cases are from Japan, and it is far less common in the western world due to societal differences in attitude surrounding work. As well, the United States does have a bad rap of being pretty lazy in 13
comparison to the rest of the planet. However, the point I’m trying to make here is that it isn’t healthy to never give yourself a day to unwind. If you never stop pushing yourself, and you’re riddled with stress and unhappiness, that’s not a coincidence. So just stop. Stop stressing out and working so hard for just a few hours at least. You know, they just put Wayne’s World on Netflix. Tempted yet? I mean I watched the hell out of that.
10. PRODUCTIVITY
I myself at that stage of life right now where everything is becoming transitional. So, I’ve spent this week looking at college stuff and while the whole idea of college is something that I (and a significant lot of my peers) find really scary right now, actually filling out forms and writing essays for scholarships, etc. is a very tranquilizing thing. Productivity, to me at least, gives this really nice sense of control. I feel that I’m on top of stuff, and I’m calling the shots, and I have the capability to take it all on at this point. That takes off a lot of the stress. Also this assortment of my ramblings that you are currently reading is another product that I’ve productively produced, and I’m pretty partial to it. So here’s the deal, if you find something to do, it will offer you a tangible feeling of structure and purpose. Put your time and energy into something and all the problems you were worrying about will wither away so long as you keep working. If you’re like me, productivity can actually be pretty meditative.
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*Cheet Sheet*
Let’s Learn Things About: SEX OBJECTS ●
Sexual objectification became a normal integration into society around the 20’s as the flapper movement came to rise. Women attempted to liberate themselves by flaunting their sexuality with a devil-may-care attitude, but unfortunately this attempt, in a highly patriarchal society, backfired, and women’s bodies were objectified and used for the first time in advertising.
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A study was conducted that analyzed the way people process images of men and women; it showed that all people, despite their gender, have the tendency to perceive women as a compilation of parts rather than a whole person. Basically, the subjects of this study generally used the same system of processing delegated for objects (rocks, cars, light bulbs) in viewing women.
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From 1983- 2003 the percentage of all advertisements that use sex to sell their products rose from 15% to 27%, nearly doubling. The highest concentration of these ads was in hygiene products.
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The media has steadily made the sexualization of women a normal thing from younger and younger ages and as a result, many girls are left with wounded self-esteems. A survey among 1st-3rd graders found that 42% of those asked wanted to be skinnier; another survey aimed at 10-year-olds found that 81% of participants were afraid of getting fat; additionally, a survey taken in a college campus found 91% of women asked had tried to control their weight through dieting before.
*Some Resources*
Parts Study: ➢ http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/07/study-proof-that-we-sexually-objectifywomen/260339/ ➢ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120725150215.htm
Media: ➢ Material Girls: Making Sense of Feminist Cultural Theory by Suzana Danuta Walters (Book) ➢ http://www.livescience.com/20773-sexy-advertising-increasing.html (Advertising)
Girls: ➢ http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx ➢ http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/ ➢ http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/63514.php
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Poems by Siobhan: SEX Sex-enthused yoots Be not ashamed for curiosity. whether it be for your gender or the other or anything in-between is all cool bae Sex can be cool just be safe get consent don’t be pressured to have the frick-frack guys put on a condom gals create a barrier DON’T SAY Yes BECAUSE PRESSURE DON’T RAPE BECAUSE THAT IS HORRIBLE Like respect people’s wishes yeah peace out homie
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* Siobhan Stuff * Bisexual FAQ Q:What gender do you prefer? A:for me i prefer women. Q:does that mean you’re a lesbian? A:no... Q:But you’ve only dated girls. A: I identify as Bi. Q: BUt.. A: My sexual orientation. don’t you think I know It better than you do? Q: But.. A: No Q: Are you sure you aren’t confused? A: Yes... I like both guys and girls. Q: How did you find out? A: I had a crush on someone of the same sex. I thought I was a lesbian, but I still liked boys too. Q: Are you transphobic? A: No. I actually dated a trans* person. Q: then aren’t you Pansexual? A: Labels. I don’t give a damn. Just as long as you acknowledge that I like Whoever the fuck I like.
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Chit Chat Interviewing: Adriana Wydell ●
What’s your favorite color? ■
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last song you had in your head? ■
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“Rude” by Magic!
Who’s your oldest friend? ■
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Favorite color is green
my friend Pittner
Do you talk to strangers? ■
Yes because thats how you get to know people. Even if you never see them
again you talked to them for a short period and you never know, they could remember you
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What is the first memory that comes to your head right now? ■
Going on a walk with this person who used to be a very important to me. We met up at this park by my high school and we sat on this bench and talked
about everything and I remember the sky was getting dark and to be honest I hate the dark but I remember being with him made it all okay. He told me a story of how his dad kicked him out when he was 15 and I just remember
looking into his eyes and wanting to give him all the love in the world. We talked and then he walked me home and held my hand the whole time. I
honestly don't know why that popped into my head but oh well it's a nice story)
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What is your strongest held belief? ■
That I'm allowed to say how I feel. I believe really strongly that I shouldn't
hold back from anything I want to say. I've spent a lot of my life holding things inside so my strongest belief is to stick to telling people exactly how I feel
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Brain Food Math:
X
1
2
3
1
1
2
3
2
2
4
6
3
3
6
9
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 0
1 1
1 2
4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 1 2
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Featured Artist Oh! This is me. Right! Ok here you go! some of the works from Grace Bullock. I like to do art, but I just kind of do it then stuff it away for later, so in a year I’ll probably see this and be appalled at the work I put out here. Anyway, if any one wants a drawing or illustration or whatever I would be more than happy to oblige, if it is something I’ve already done or you want to commission some work. I’m game Enjoy!
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Thing of The month Siobhan: Positivity and unconditional love are very rare qualities in today’’s society, especially unconditional love. well, I found a tumblr user that compliments everyone. If you post a selfie and tag her in it, she comments about how beautiful you are and how you should be confident. This tumblr user is eartheld, and she is a wonderful positive human being.
Paloma: Do you have that one band on your itunes that you always skip over, until you hear one of their songs again and realize why you liked them so much in the first place? For me, that band has always been the ultra trippy, surf-rock meets electronica group The Rapture (1998-2014). This whole month-ish I’ve been playing their last album In The Grace Of Your Love (2012) on repeat for days, definitely weeks now. The album has this incredibly galvanizing effect that makes you want to drop acid at a beachside bonfire. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but I can dig it, and I have been digging it all month. I highly recommend you at least listen to “Can You Find A Way?”, “Children”, and the album’s namesake “In The Grace Of Your Love”, if nothing else. They’re really cool summertime tunes. R.I.P. The Rapture, you’ll be missed.
Grace: Wait, what? Where am I? Who are you? OK. Whatevs, here we go. I like old things. The smell of old books, old art, old people, old si-fi, old style, etc, the list goes on. I was reading an (adventure/si-fi) book and one of the characters threatened to destroy a fresco from ancient Rome, they did, and I cried for the fictional art. I get really emotional about the Library of Alexandria. So I guess you could say I’m the resident nerd who pretty much just wants to make sure everyone loves everyone, but loves nerdy things more.
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Roll The Credits Hit us up about anything your heart desires: contactbullture@gmail.com bullture.tumblr.com facebook.com/bulltureculture
Kudos: Editor Extraordinaire- Levi Todd Writers- Siobhan Sandoval, Paloma Campillo Formatting- Grace Bullock Cover- Paloma Campillo Times Tables- Satan Special Thanks to Adrianna Wydell Thanks to our Artist- Grace Bullock
WANT AN AD??? Do you want to advertise your business in BULLTURE? We’d love to put it in. Send us an e-mail (contactbullture@gmail.com) or call us at (708) 214-6353
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