THE
SUNDIAL VOLUME 62, ISSUE 5 FAll 21 11.29.21
EXPLORING THE UMBRELLA OF WOMANHOOD
CHALLENGING THE DEFINITION OF BEING A WOMAN FIGHTING PERIOD POVERTY WOMEN IN A MALEDOMINATED INDUSTRY
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Contents 11.29.21|Volume 62, Issue 5
Cover illustration by Kaitlyn Lavo
2. Letter From the Editor
16. Street Beat What can men do to better support women?
4. Pro-Con
18. Perform and Conform
Fighting against period poverty.
Jaqlynn Lyanna’s story of breaking the social norm.
6. Opinion
We need intersectionality in feminism.
22. Opinion
10. Too Close for Comfort
Dress codes do more harm than good.
Mansplaining Explained
12. Women could do it better
Charleen Quirino, owner of Queens of Needles.
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
W
hen I first found out the theme of this edition of the Sundial magazine was focusing on women, I let out a “hell yeah.” Almost instantly, Kait Lavo, the Sundial photo editor, and I began bouncing article ideas off of one another: women’s sexuality, an explainer on mansplaining, highlighting women-owned businesses in the area. One topic in our conversation that stood out to me was how women are taught things men often don’t have to worry about. How to hold your keys in your hand in case someone approaches you, to only have one earbud in if you’re going on a run around your neighborhood, sharing your location every time you get in an Uber and making sure to text those you shared it with once you’ve exited the vehicle. I take immense pride in the fact that my parents raised my brother and I the same, not limiting what our interests could be based on our gender. We both played sports, took dance classes, spent road trips battling Pokémon on our GameBoys. But even though we were raised the same, my brother was never taught these ways to protect himself. He doesn’t stress if he’s in a leadership role that people will undermine him for his gender or perceive his bluntness for bitchiness. He doesn’t have to worry about covering his drink at a party because someone nearby might slip something into it while he’s not looking. He’s never known the same fear when he walks down the street alone at night to his car. A few years ago, I was first introduced to boxing as a fun form of cardio. I started going to a boxing gym regularly and it has become one of my favorite stress relievers. It makes me feel strong and that I can defend myself. But as the sun has begun to rise later, my 7 a.m. class has had a darker start to the day. Thirty minutes before I feel empowered that I can take on the world, I am terrified as I walk from my apartment to my car, worried that there might be an unwanted visitor hidden by my parking spot. It’s a feeling too many women can relate to because we know how easily we can be the next headline, Citizen app notification or missing person report. This is the reality of the world we live in — where women are harassed, abused and abducted. Unfortunately, this serious issue cannot be changed overnight. I hope that the issues we tackle within this edition bring light to the many struggles women face in their day to day lives and in doing so we’re able to better inform our CSUN community how to look out for one another.
THE
SUNDIAL
Kaitlyn Lavo Photo Editor
Arvli Ward Publisher
Carolyn Burt Social Media Editor
Jody Holcomb General Manager Graciela Colorado Grace Da Rocha Abrielle Rounds Staff
Chris Torres Editor-in-Chief
Angel Lopez Designer
Andres Soto Sports Editor
Ryanne Mena Managing Editor
Shannon Carter News Editor
Samantha Bravo Culture Editor
Michaella Huck Print Editor
Trevor Morgan Online Editor
Munina Lam Copy Chief
Angel Peña Lead Designer
Blake Williams Opinion Editor
Sandra Tan Business Manager
Published by the Department of Journalism, California State University, Northridge Manzanita Hall 140 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330-8258 Editorial hello@sundial.csun.edu • (818) 677-2915 Advertising ads@csun.edu • (818) 677-2998 Because of high production costs, members of the CSUN community are permi ed one copy per issue. Where available, additional copies may be purchased with prior approval for 50 cents each by contacting the Daily Sundial. Newspaper the is a crime. Those who violate the single copy rule may be subject to civil and criminal prosecution and/or subject to university discipline.
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Grace Da Rocha
Fighting back against period poverty How California and social justice organizations work to make menstrual products accessible for all
S
hira Brown has seen many women on campus running into her office at the CSUN Women’s Research and Resource Center with bloodstains on their clothing. One day a student rushed in, jacket around her waist with a red spot on the skirt of her dress and hurriedly asked whether or not Brown had any period products. After providing her with a spare shirt to wear and some free pads, the young woman left. Brown, a professor of gender and women’s studies at CSUN and the director of the WRRC, believes students shouldn’t have to experience this. On Oct. 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 367, which requires all public schools and colleges in California to have their restrooms — or at least one dedicated and accessible location — stocked with free menstrual products for their students by the 2022-2023 school year. The University Student Union already offers free menstrual products in its restrooms, but now CSUN will have to find a way to bring them to the entire campus. To expand beyond the USU, CSUN will pull from its operating budget and decide on at least one location to offer these products. Each CSU will be responsible for determining how to get the products and where to make them available, according to Hazel Kelly, public affairs manager for the CSU. “You should be able to run into any bathroom and grab
a tampon or pad,” Brown said. “Just because 100% of the population doesn’t need it, doesn’t mean it’s not a necessity.” Period poverty is used as a general term to describe inequalities related to menstruation, such as a lack of access to period products and education. This issue affects menstruating people worldwide, especially those who are unhoused, incarcerated or in school. A study from George Mason University found that 1 in 10 female college students experience period poverty monthly, while 14% of those surveyed said they struggled to pay for period products within the last year. As of 2019, 30 states consider menstrual products a luxury item and have imposed sales taxes on them. California has a temporary exemption on its menstrual product tax until 2023. Period poverty has become a prevalent problem among menstruators in California. In a 2020 study by the Alliance for Period Supplies, 1 in 6 women and girls between the ages of 12 and 44 live below the federal poverty line in California. This affects their ability to afford period products, which cannot be purchased with support programs like food stamps. Newsom’s administration wants to eliminate period poverty for those going to school. “Often periods arrive at inconvenient times,” said Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia in an October press release. “Having convenient and free access to
menstrual products means our period won’t prevent us from being productive members of society, and would alleviate the anxiety of trying to find a product when out in public.” Inspired by Scotland’s adoption of its Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill in November 2020, Garcia wrote AB 367 in an attempt to alleviate period poverty in California. It stems from Assembly Bill 10 — which she also lobbied for — that required low-income schools to provide these products and now is expanded to include schools with grades 6 to 12, community colleges, and the California State University and University of California systems. Combatting period poverty has been a mass effort from nonprofit organizations and leaders across the globe. Menstrual advocacy in the United States started in the 1960s as a fringe movement by health activists, consumer rights advocates, environmentalists and feminist spiritualists. It later spread to subcultures fighting the exploitation of women’s menstrual cycles for profit and has since become a mainstream movement that now includes all menstruating people. Groups like The Pad Project, Period Equity and #HappyPeriod work within their communities to connect menstruating people with access to period products and education. Although women are often the ones facing period poverty, Chelsea VonChaz, the founder of #HappyPeriod, believes
that it is not just a women’s issue, but a human rights issue. “Period poverty has many consequences: students can miss class because they lack access to products; people might bleed through their clothes or wear products longer than medically recommended; people may use unhygienic and unsafe materials like socks,” said Rachel Wilson, associate director of domestic programs at The Pad Project. “Ending period poverty could change this.” To combat period poverty locally, the Pad Project hosts menstrual product donation drives and gives grants to local organizations and community groups to purchase menstrual supplies. Founded in 2013 by students and educators at Oakwood High School in the San Fernando Valley, the organization started as a documentary film project on a village in India that struggled with period poverty. The Pad Project has placed pad machines in two countries, and launched programs in the United States and other countries to make period products more accessible. During the pandemic, the CSUN’s WRRC received grant money from The Pad Project to provide free pads, liners, tampons and menstrual cups to the campus. Newsom’s AB 367 may not eliminate period poverty, but Brown believes that it is a necessary step towards ensuring that all menstruating people have access to a product that can greatly affect their day-to-day life.
Feminism often puts women of color at the bottom of the movement. Black and brown women are often victimized and fetishized by white women — something that can be changed with intersectionality.
Michaella Huck
Michaella Huck
Why we need intersectionality in feminism Issues of race, class and sexuality need to be included in the feminism movement for progress and equality for all.
I
ntersectionality is a term many know but do not understand. Its modern use began in 1989 when Kimberlé Crenshaw, a civilrights activist and intersectional feminist, first used the term in a paper discussing anti-discrimination as a whole and how it fails Black women by denying that they face unique and intensified discrimination because of their overlapping identities. Crenshaw explains that oftentimes people have assumptions about race and gender. They put people into categories. Crenshaw cited “All the Women Are White; All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us are Brave”, a feminist anthology, to explain that the light is often shined on men of color who experience racism, but what about the women of color who face not only racial but also gender
discrimination or those who fall into the categories of one or more societal struggles? Intersectionality looks at different systems of oppression like sex, religion or race and how those systems overlap. This is important because companies and organizations often preach the values of diversity and inclusion, but the topic often becomes: “We’re focusing on women or people of color.” The relatively-new term “intersectional feminist” is something I didn’t understand until entering college. I read “Bad Feminist” by Roxanne Gay during my first year of college and it opened my eyes to the phenomena. I never really aligned with the feminist movement because women who looked like me seemed stuck in the back. I felt as though our issues were seldom shown. I dove into intersectional feminism. I
remember thinking that the idea was too perfect. Intersectional feminism seemed to come with this idea that white women would magically take accountability for their dismissal of women of color and other historical biases, while becoming the kind of women who are all about passing the mic to their Black, brown and LGBTQ sisters. “In what universe?” I thought to myself. However, research has helped me understand how powerful it truly was. When we take an intersectional look at feminism as a whole, we can utilize historical contexts to be inclusive of all categories of women. There are histories of violence and systematic inequalities against women of color and LGBTQ women that can be better addressed using intersectional feminism.
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Ariele Bonte on Unsplash
“We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality, or immigration status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just a sum of its parts.” - Kimberlé Crenshaw
Throughout its existence, feminism has focused on the experiences of white middle class women. It’s important to understand that “white feminism” is not practiced by all white women. It’s the idea that the way white women face inequalities is equal to the same way every woman faces gender inequality. This is not true. When we look at the way the gender pay gap is largely viewed, it’s often stated that women make 78 cents to every man’s dollar. However, this does not equally represent the pay gap between women of color and white women. In a 2018 interview with Time, Crenshaw stated, “We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality, or immigration status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just
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a sum of its parts.” Bringing together women’s inequalities into one experience is crucial. With division comes lack of strength. In Angela Davis’ book, “Women, Race, and Class,” she used history to explain the idea of intersectionality. There was a moment in the history of the movement to gain the vote where intersectionality. When Black Americans asked white feminists to support their efforts to gain the right for Black men to vote, Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the early feminist movement, spoke out against it. What they were unable to see was the idea that Black voting rights were women's rights. While white women were free during the 19th century, Black women were fighting to stay alive on plantations as they faced rape and death. Elizabeth Stanton and many
other prominent white feminists pushed for women to be granted the right to vote before Black people. The book is an eye-opener for women who fail to see the racial issues that went hand and hand to feminism. Intersectional feminism won’t work if white women still struggle to support those whose identities contain multitudes, such as race, class and sexuality.. So the question now becomes, “What do we do to fix this?” There is no one answer. However, I have some ideas. It’s about being inclusive and being conscious of other oppressed groups, starting a dialogue about it and finding a place for everyone, especially those who have historically been left out and have not found their place in society. It starts with being okay with discomfort, educating yourself and others, and most importantly, self-reflection.
Girl Power can be much more universal when it pertains to all women.
DRESS CODES DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD Carolyn Burt
Kaitlyn Lavo
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
A
t 27 years old, I was dress-coded for the first time. It happened this summer when I was getting in a quick cardio workout at CSUN’s Student Recreation Center. I was just heading back to the locker room to change out of my gym wear when a staff member approached me. I took out my earbuds and heard her begin the conversation with an apology, but my gut told me that it was I who had done something wrong. She informed me of the SRC’s dress code, that shirts needed to cover the midriff and that my top, which had an open back, went against this policy. She also explained how this was for my own safety so that creepy guys wouldn’t stare at girls. I nodded along, understanding that by going to workout there I had agreed to abide by this policy. After leaving that conversation, I didn’t feel safe. I felt small, embarrassed and sad. It took me back to when I was first introduced to the concept of a dress code in 5th grade. At 10 years old, I was already struggling with body image issues. I was now being told by my teachers, adults that I trusted, that it was inappropriate to wear spaghetti straps or shorts that were shorter than where my fingertips laid against my legs when I held my arms to my sides. I didn’t question it then, because I didn’t know any better. I accepted it. I accepted it again in middle school when teachers would walk around during break periods with a yardstick in hand to make sure our clothes were dress code appropriate. If not, it meant going to the locker room to change into our gym clothes for the rest of the day. It doubled as a humiliation tactic, as peers would whisper about the swap to workout wear. As my body began to develop, I became almost hyper-aware of the attention I was getting for my physical appearance. If I wore polos, they were buttoned up to my neck. If a top was low cut, I’d wear a tank top underneath. Sweatshirts became a feeling of safety.
No wandering eyes came my way, internally I began to associate my selfworth with the way my body looked. And because I wasn’t happy with how I looked, I wasn’t happy. The damage had been done but I didn’t know how to shake it. I thought if I went on a diet, and lost weight, it would solve it. So I went on a diet, I lost weight, but when I looked at myself in the mirror, I still felt ashamed of my body. It’s taken much of my 20s to work past that. When I first started college, I was so cautious about what I wore being of the assumptions one might make about me. If a top seemed too scandalous or seductive, I was worried bystanders might perceive me as a slut. These voices in my head didn’t come from nowhere. They were conversations I had overheard about classmates and I was terrified of those same comments being made about me. I lacked any confidence in my appearance. This mindset only started to change when I started working out regularly. It allowed me to have a healthy relationship with my body because I was no longer viewing it with its worth to a man. I could see my body changing as I was getting stronger, both physically and mentaliy. I stopped caring about what I worried about what others were saying behind my back, because I had concrete goals in mind. The gym had become my safe space, where I finally felt confident with my body. To be dress coded in a space that had brought such body positivity into my life made it all the more painful. The SRC has since changed its dress code policy. However, as of writing this article, the policy still remains on their website “Appropriate clothing must be worn at all times throughout
the SRC. Shirts covering the midsection, including front, sides and back, are required. Bottoms covering the buttocks, genitals and pubic region are required. Clothes with zippers and/ or any other feature that may damage equipment are prohibited. Clothing displaying profane or offensive material is prohibited.” The only reason I was aware of the policy change was once the fall semester started, I noticed women in the gym wearing crop tops or sports bras in lieu of a shirt, with no staff members approaching them. In some ways, I was relieved, because I didn’t want the dress code to exist in the first place, but I couldn’t help but question why they had taken the time to approach me and not others. I ended up going to a staff member to ask if the dress code was still in place, to which I was informed that they had updated the policy so that so long as private areas are covered, that as long as your chest and bottom are covered you can wear sports bras as tops and no length requirements on shorts. Selfishly, I wish they had come to this decision sooner and had saved me the embarrassment I felt this summer. But I don’t think changing the policy is enough. The SRC, as well as other other facilities that have updated their dress code policy, needs to inform their patrons that a change has been made, and why. By ignoring that it’s been changed, we’re ignoring the problem and the toxic culture dress codes implement. A woman can decide for herself what is and is not appropriate. To label a woman’s body as distracting is to limit their self worth to their body. We are more than that. We are leaders, we are fighters, we are caring, we are compassionate and we will dress however we please.
“To label a woman’s body as distracting is to limit their self worth to their body.”
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Charleen Quirino outlines a floral tattoo sleeve at Queens of Needles in Northridge, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2021.
Graciela Colorado
Graciela Colorado
Tattoo flash sheets sit on the shelves at Queen of Needles in Northridge, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2021.
Women could do it better Why the owner of a female-owned San Fernando Valley tattoo studio created the space to inspire other women and challenge stereotypes
C
harleen Quirino was once told that she was not good enough to be a tattoo artist. She can remember a time when people doubted her skills. “I had a homie that I was tattooing in the very beginning — I didn’t finish the tattoo because maybe I just couldn’t grasp the concept of the tattoo whatever it was. His friend said, ‘Well that’s why you never should’ve let a girl do it,’” Quirino said. During a brief stint at a tattoo shop where there were mostly men, Quirino felt that she was always being
judged about her abilities. Th is took a toll on her self-esteem. Quirino became a tattoo artist seven years ago, despite people telling her she shouldn’t go into a maledominated business. Out of over 7000 tattoo artists in the U.S., only 25% of them are women, according to Zippia, a career resource site. Quirino believes that she has beaten the odds and is doing everything others told her she couldn’t. That drive also led her to open Queens of Needles, a femalerun tattoo shop located on Reseda Boulevard.
“I’ve always wanted to have and create a community of women empowerment,” Quirino said. Her competitive drive began when she was young. She felt like the only girl at her elementary school who would rather play kickball than hang out with other girls during lunch. She didn’t just want to play with the boys — she wanted to be better than them. “I’ve always wanted to do that and to prove them wrong, like no — [women] could do it better,” Quirino said.
Quirino had role models. She said that she was inspired by an older generation that started the female tattoo artist movement. One of her role models is WhangOd Oggay, a 104-year-old Filipina tattoo artist from the village of Buscalan in Kalinga, Philippines. She is the oldest practitioner of Kalinga tattooing, a style of tattooing done by the indigenious Kalinga people. Scholars believe that the style is over a thousand years old, according to Lars Krutak, an American anthropologist. Traditionally, only men were allowed to learn the artform. Whang-Od broke the tradition when she learned how to tattoo from her father. Currently, her grandnieces Gracia Palicas and Elyang Wigan are learning the tradition from her. Quirino first began tattooing because of a girl she met through a Facebook Market meetup. She visited the girl’s home for a piercing and the girl told her that she should learn how to tattoo. “I tattooed her and I had a great feeling about the outcome of the tattoo and I liked it,” Quirino said. Beginner tattoo artists typically apprentice under an experienced tattoo artist. However, Quirino did not. She started off by tattooing her
friends and family in her apartment. Quirino also found that the skills she got from doing graffiti helped her pick up tattoo outlining quickly. Today, Quirino tattoos customers at Queens of Needles, which has seven female tattoo artists and a body piercer. Lery Jane Torres is one of the artists. She likes working in an all-female shop because it gave her confidence after joining 10 months ago. Torres, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, said the shop provides a diverse working environment and a place where artists can work collaboratively. “Queens of Needles is a safe place for me and my clients,” Torres said. “I know that here we are all welcome, we are diverse and I know I am accepted. No such competition but our very own selves. I’m confident that we are pretty different from other shops.” Samantha Garcia, a San Fernando Valley resident, has several tattoos from Queens of Needles. She was anxious about going to a tattoo shop, but visiting Queens of Needles made her comfortable. “[Quirino] was kind of like a therapist, I definitely appreciate that. Especially when you go into a tattoo shop it’s all very intimidating, you see all these men, and all this
Assorted decorations line the wall shelves of Queens of Needles in Northridge, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2021.
masculinity and going into the feminine Queen of Needles, it’s just full of women empowerment,” Garcia said. “It just felt super comfortable and I think that was the best part of everything. No one was judging you.” With Queens of Needles’ first year anniversary coming up in December, Quirino set goals for the future: for her shop to go worldwide, inspire other women to start their own business and encourage women to go into tattooing. “Women empower all over the world but I wanted to start first in the San Fernando Valley and also create footsteps for the future generation of females,” Quirino said.
Customer Samantha Garcia, right, rests her arm as Charleen Quirino outlines her floral tattoo at Queen of Needles in Northridge, Calif., Oct. 5, 2021.
“I’ve always wanted to have and create a community of women empowerment” - Charleen Quirino, owner of Queens of Needles Customer Samantha Garcia rests her arm while taking a break from the tattooing session at Queens of Needles in Northridge, Calif., Oct. 5, 2021.
Street Beat
The Sundial Asks the CSUN Community
What Can Men do to Better Support Women? Abrielle Rounds
Delan Pasquil: “I definitely think there’s a lot of emotional and physical ways men could help women. One is normalizing their behaviors, just in terms of not ostracizing them, or thinking down upon them or calling them out for things that are natural.” Being able to address womens’ vulnerability in order to make them feel as comfortable as possible in social situations was something that came to his mind. “If a girl is walking by herself at night, obviously it would be a bad thing to stand or walk right behind her because that would put pressure on her.”
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Nanor Bedrosian: “ One of the most important things I think men can do is become more sensitive and open-minded when it comes to [women’s] issues. I think it’s very important when, for example, it comes to women’s reproductive rights and taking into consideration women’s voices and listening to their issues and what they have to say. The first step to actually sympathizing with women is to go ahead and listen to what they have to say. If anyone knows about the issues plaguing women, it would be women themselves. I think they have to be open-minded and try to deviate from their misogynistic mindset that has been unfortunately engrained into society ever since society was established, so I think that is the most important thing.”
Chris Rodriguez: “I think men, specifically fathers, can teach their sons to be more respectful toward women. Men grow up thinking they can do whatever they want and that’s why there are problems with consent. The problems have to do with them not knowing how to deal with their emotions, so I think men should be encouraged to go to therapy. There’s a lot of problems with them not knowing how to talk about that. People tell them, Oh if you show your emotions, then you’re weak.”
Christian Ortega: “Men can better support women by moving the stigma around feminism. Being a feminist for a man is equality for women and not viewing it as women wanting to take over. It’s like, we are equals, and respect that.”
Bobbi King: “I think men can be more respectful to women and show more courtesy in the way they talk about women and use their words.” King also added that men can show support by the way they handle women physically and emotionally. “Men should also just be taught these things when they are younger.”
Aubrey Adams: “Be respectful and listen to what we have to say and our viewpoints on things. If they listen to our viewpoints they will be able to see a different perspective on what they might initially think is fine, and they can understand we might see things differently than they might.”
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Kaitlyn Lavo
Kaitlyn Lavo Jaqlynn Lyanna’s picnic blanket is in red-and-black gingham — the same colors of the dress that Lyanna wore when she first saw herself reflected in the mirror.
Perform and Conform Jaqlynn Lyanna’s story of breaking the social norm
T
wenty four-year-old Jaqlynn Lyanna is an artist, drummer, writer and barista, but what makes her stand out among women is the journey she took to feel comfortable being herself. As a transgender woman, her experience redefines and expands the idea of what it means to be a woman. “I identify as a woman, but I don’t want the version of womanhood by whoever created the words ‘woman and man,’” Lyanna said. Lyanna takes a picnic blanket out of a bag, both of which were in red-andblack gingham — two colors that are meaningful to her. They were the colors of the dress she wore when she looked in the mirror and saw Jaqlynn Lyanna
looking back for the first time. She stood out from her peers from a young age. Her taste in music and personal style leaned toward a grunge aesthetic. Lyanna’s friendships began dwindling in middle school. She noticed the toxic behavior of the boys she used to hang out with. They would say, “that’s gay” when they didn’t like something. “Feelings are for girls,” her friend would tell her. “I wasn’t fitting the norm or acting ‘manly’ enough,” she explained. “I had to perform and conform and it hurt me.” Lyanna described the next nine years as the time she went into hibernation. She found it hard to recall that point in
her life because she was deeply buried under a masculine mask to survive high school. Lyanna met her “found” family throughout college and in the punk community. They would give her makeup and gender-affirming clothes — a practice she continues to this day by paying it forward to those in similar situations like hers. With her physical appearance finally matching who she was, Lyanna began to feel at home in her body. By Christmas of 2018, Lyanna felt that it was time to come out to her family, or as she prefers to call it — “let them in.” Some members of Lyanna’s family practice Evangelicalism, a branch of
Jaqlynn Lyanna plays with a handmade necklace, which was given to her by one of her friends.
“I am letting people in to see a more authentic version of me”
Christianity that does not look fondly on transgender people. “I am letting people in to see a more authentic version of me,” Lyanna explained. She made her announcement at dinner. Like taking off a bra at the end of the day, telling her family made her feel free. “It felt like I wasn’t suffocating anymore, ” she said. A silence fell over the table as she finished. Her aunt and uncle stood up and left abruptly without saying a word. Today, they regularly misgender her, use her dead name — the name she was assigned at birth — and tell her they are praying for her, which feels like nails on a chalkboard to Lyanna. “All the bullying and hate from you own family, whether we are gay or trans or anything connected with identity —it screws us up,” Lyanna said. She turned to drawing and song writing as a way to understand her role in the world. She pulls out her journals from the
Jaqlynn Lyanna reads passages from her personal journal at Creek Park in Whittier, Calif., on Oct. 26, 2021.
black mesh bag. They are filled with original song lyrics. There are sketches from a gender-inclusive comic book she is writing. Her characters have no set gender in a utopia where gender does not exist. She wrote it because she didn’t see queer life in mainstream media growing up. None of the protagonists looked like Lyanna, so she was forced to identify with villains or side characters because they were the nonconformists. These characters were often “gaycoded,” meaning they embodied queer characteristics without explicitly confirming their sexual or gender orientations. “They would be painted as someone who was very extravagant or flamboyant or the embodiment of a flaming individual who is just obnoxious and full of exaggeration,” she said. The media monitoring group GLAAD found that less than 7% of primetime broadcasts between 2005 and 2017 — when Lyanna was growing up and
watching mainstream media — featured regular LGBTQIA+ characters. One of the characters that stood out in her memory was the villain of “The Powerpuff Girls,” Him. Him wore devilish drag queen-inspired clothes, which reinforced the idea that anyone who looked like that was evil. The lack of relatable characters left Lyanna feeling like a side character in her own life. Lyanna’s authentic self was hidden as she tried to fit into a social mold that was never made for people like her. As Lyanna continued to explore womanhood, she let go of traditional ideals. She no longer felt the need to wear makeup everyday and took comfort in knowing who she is without the need to dress or act hyperfeminine. Though she found inner power, external forces were there to test her newfound strength. Trans women face discrimination when they look for work. “Sex work is a way to get money because other businesses won’t have us, ” she explained. “That’s why many people believe all trans women are prostitutes.” Lyanna worked in a sex shop where harassment was a regular occurance. Customers would objectify her, and her Latina and Asian female coworkers because the pornography the shop sold hypersexualized women from those communities. Customers thought it was acceptable to use slurs or to ask them for sexual favors. Some of the pornography’s violent and racist themes bothered Lyanna, so she decided to hide those DVDs in the back of the shop. Her manager found out and fired her. She knew this was something beyond just losing a job. The incident made her realize the need to take action against the mistreatment of fellow women and combat the mindset that women are hypersexualized objects. As Lyanna says, “Our journeys may be different but we’re all women, we’re all in this together and we get to decide what it means to be a woman, not a man.”
Jaqlynn Lyanna shares her favorite poetry book.
The sounds from party music and chatter are muffled from the door separating the people inside and those who stepped out onto the patio for a smoke. The haze from the smokers left a film under the dimly lit wood awning. I stepped out to get a bit of air and locked eyes with one of the men I had just met that evening. We continued to catch each other’s gaze throughout the night but had not taken the moment to introduce ourselves. He asked the usual introductory questions, who I was and what I do. I told him I was a full-time student, which led him to ask what classes I was taking. I listed a few, but I was most excited to share about the introduction anthropology class. He then said he was an anthropology major. This was exciting to hear and I looked forward to having a discussion about this topic. He began to throw out vocabulary which I learned in class during the semester, but anytime I would begin to say something, I was immediately talked over and dismissed. As the “conversation” continued, I found it harder to pay attention and feel engaged. He continued to tell me about what seemed to be everything he knew about the topic, but this left little to no room for any engagement. I wound up feeling drained after he finished talking. I didn’t understand at the moment why I felt so exhausted after that interaction. A friend who I came to the party with happened to eavesdrop on us. She informed me that he had been mansplaining the topic to me for the last fifteen minutes. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines mansplaining as, “to explain something to a woman in a condescending way that assumes she has no knowledge about the topic.” I had hoped to bring up the things I learned in the course and expand on them through a mutual conversation. I did not have the opportunity due to the assumptions made
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before taking a moment to listen to what I had to say. I’ve heard countless stories from other women in my life on what they had to deal with, like a boyfriend explaining the entire plot of a video game that she had played for years in front of him, to a man explaining lesbian sex to a queer woman. This phenomenon continues to happen and many people are unaware of it. Since this encounter, I started taking note when people would mansplain to me. It not only came from men but other women as well. It brought feelings of constant anger and annoyance. Until I actually stood up for myself, I finally figured out what needed to be done. That’s when it dawned on me: maybe I could have avoided so many unappealing encounters if I just spoke up for myself instead of worrying about hurting someone’s feelings. Women are taught to be polite and tone down their opinions, whereas men commonly communicate with a “well I ... ” one-up competitive mentality. This dates back to our adolescence and how we communicated within the gender groups. According to a research article from the Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, “On average, women use more expressive, tentative, and polite language than men do, especially in situations of conflict ... Men, on the other hand, are viewed as more likely than women to offer solutions to problems in order to avoid further seemingly unnecessary discussions of interpersonal problems.” The first step to solving this sore on social behaviors is self awareness. Noting your conversational partner’s response or lack thereof. Asking yourself questions like, “Is this a mutually beneficial conversation?” and checking in to ask questions to gauge what the person you are talking to already knows. People can’t read minds but you can get a pretty good idea from asking and listening. Before you go into a long explanation, ask them what they know. Even if you’re an expert, you may be surprised at what you can learn from others and how enriching your conversations will be with just a bit of awareness and mutual respect.
Story by Kaitlyn Lavo Illustration by Carolyn Burt 23
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THE
SUNDIAL VOLUME 62, ISSUE 5 FAll 21 11.29.21
EXPLORING THE UMBRELLA OF WOMANHOOD
CHALLENGING THE DEFINITION OF BEING A WOMAN FIGHTING PERIOD POVERTY WOMEN IN A MALEDOMINATED INDUSTRY
