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Spring 2018
Choose to do good while being inspired
We are committed to making a positive change in the world, bringing more joy, kindness, support and empowerment to people who need it the most.
‘Mantra Changes Lives’ works with charities a to create jewellery to raise funds, show support, and build awareness for important causes.
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Contents A WARM WELCOME 4
8-9 Representation or Rectification in Fashion 10-11 Fashion Woes and Misrepresentation MUSIC 14-15 The Music Culture Fix 16-17 Women in Music: We are Mighty!t 18-19 Sexualisation of Men in the Music Industry
of it?
CULTURE
Editor’s Letter FASHION
Association - Heard
52-53 Ostracised by Love 54-55 Is Planned Parenthood a Form of Eugenics to Exterminate African Americans? 56-57 There is No Honour in Killing 58-59 White Activism and Being an Intersectional Ally 60-61 Make Love not Scars 62-63 The Witchcraft Routine in Spain
EDITOR’S CHOICE
66-67 Fighting the Rising Tide of Plastic LIFESTYLE Pollution 68-69 The Art of Tattoos 22-23 Gender Inequality in the Workplace 70-71 Espionage Acts in the United States 24-25 Discrimination in a Post-Brexit Britain 72-73 Male Empowerment: Why are we so 26-27 Love is Love....is Wrong? Scared of it? 28-29 Mental Health at Universities: Things 74-75 Yoga and Meditation: Exercise or a that Everyone should Know Gateway to the Spirit World? 30-31 Battling a Mental Illness in a Fast- Paced World THE POWER OF PROTEST 32-33 The Trials and Tribulations of the Solo Pictures are More Powerful than Words Female Traveller 34-35 Redefining the ‘Men’ in Mental Health 78-79 Pussy Power 36-37 Financial Cuts to Mental Health 80-81 Peoples Climate March Services Wound Patients the 82-83 True Love is Born from Understanding Deepest 84-85 “I Moved on Her like a Bitch” 38-39 “Ya’ll Better Quiet Down” 86-87 This Pussy Grabs Back 88-89 Fur Kills SPORT 90-91 Ban Assault, Dump Trump 92-93 Black Lives Matter 42-43 Sport and Disability 94-95 Immigrants Make America Great 44-45 Racism in Football 96-97 Nasty Women Unite 46-47 It’s 2018...Why is Gender Inequality in Sports Still a Thing? 98-99 Credits and Acknowledgements 48-49 Women’s National Basketball
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Editor’s Letter and wider reporting.
When I was younger, I was very sensitive to things around me. I grew up listening to the news and reading newspapers, and something I never failed to notice was the lack of compassion
As I got older, I started to take an interest to fashion magazines and topical magazines, and once again noticed that there was a limited coverage of certain stories, and a lack of variety in the people we were being shown in fashion. That was what inspired me to become a journalist. I wanted to provide a voice for those not being heard. I wanted to show people that there’s no need to fear discussing touchy subjects, or things that come with strong opinions or that sticking up for a minority group isn’t bad. I have a younger sister, who I want to grow up in a world where news outlets are covering stories about everyone and everything, to make people feel heard. I want her to feel comfortable that outlets with a big following are doing their upmost best to give minorities a voice so that they can be heard.
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The inspiration for Opaque came from my beliefs. I wanted to create a magazine that
anyone could pick up and feel as though they were being acknowledged. I wanted to make sure certain topics that the mainstream media don’t discuss were being included, such as males and mental health, body confidence, sexism in sport and so on. Everything you see scattered across the next 100 pages has been a part of a very collaborative process, working closely with a wider and diverse group of very talented writers, photographers, researchers and creative souls. As the editor, I wanted to be surrounded with as many people as possible to create a magazine that is full of diverse views and styles, to create a magazine full of voices that WILL be heard. It’s been a very intense, yet very humbling and fun process to make this magazine, and I am increadibly grateful to have had such an amazing team on board throughout the whole journey. I hope you enjoy, and will help us in making a voice for everyone, not just the mainstream.
Emily Stephens Editor In Chief Opaque Magazine
O PA Q U E
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FA S H I O N
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Representation
or Rectification in Fashion
By Kinnari Rathod As a Bollywood lover, scrolling through Instagram and finding fan clubs rave about hoardings of Priyanka Chopra at the Times Square always manifests the ‘proud Indian’ smile on my face. Priyanka Chopra for those who don’t know, is an ex Miss World and a massive star in the Indian film industry, as well as a singer, and the lead of a prime time American television show,Quantico. She’s part of UNICEF and is one of the 100 most influential people in the wold according to TIME magazine. She’s more than just Slumdog Millionaire and Appu from the Simpsons to the world today. That is modern representation in the media. Instagram is the same fancy app where we see millions of hearts on Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajowski’s washboard abs and butt cheeks that have never seen stretch marks. Hot bodies and healthy tea diets are supposed to make us want to jump up and hit the gym, right? Then why does scrolling through these perfect instamodel lives make most of us want to drown in a bucket of fast food and comfort food filled with insecurities and anxiety. Maybe because we’re not six feet tall with angular profiles and sculpted jaws. Maybe because we can’t afford the botox bills and pilate trainers. Maybe because our body type, skin colour and hair
“We’re Just not Supermodel Material”
texture is nothing like theirs. Maybe because we’re just not ‘supermodel’ material. Speaking of supermodels, you must’ve come across those before-after pictures of celebrities. And boy, Naomi Campbell’s comparison pictures are synonomous to black don’t crack. What I couldn’t help but ignore was her make-up in posts like this. Impeccable right now but whitewashed back then. Be it the red carpet or on magazine covers, white-washing dark skinned celebs is not a new trend. Decade after decade, celebs of colour have been victims of the infamous air-brushing and whitewashing. The sad reality is that even today, somewhere, some place, a black girl straightens her gorgeous curls to fit the norms and conventions placed upon us by the beauty industry. “There’s a battle outside And it is ragin’ It’ll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin’.” Dylan’s forever relevant words ring through the glass ceiling that’s breaking, don’t they? Headlines today scream of Lupita Nyong’o calling out a magazine for smoothening out her hairline, supermodel Kendall Jenner walking at the Golden Globes red carpet
with a face full of acne, Ashley Graham strutting the ramp in all her plus-size glory, Jasmine Tookes flaunting her stretch marks for a Victoria Secret photoshoot wearing a bra worth three million dollars, Rihanna launching 40 shades of concealer for every skin tone on the face of Earth, transgender models breaking the Internet, Kanye West’s show boasting of 74% models of colour, one clad in a hijab, and the list is endless. Season after season fashion and beauty moguls are pulling up their socks, joining the revolution and presenting to the world their pieces of art donned by models of all races, body shapes and gender identities. BUT - Is this enough? Is this progress? Or are we just rectifying the horrifying mistakes we’ve been making for decades? Are we loosening up globally about race, weight and gender or are we apologising for decades of uptightness and ignorance? It’s a broad concept, and a tangled web of rigged systems. For the optimists out there, let’s put it this way. While this progress strengthens hope, we still have a long way to go. “Your old road is Rapidly agin’.” But let’s keep in mind that the road ahead might be shorter than the one that led us here.
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Fashion W oes A M nd
isrepresentation
By Latasha Ford Oh, The Fashion Woes of Life! We must realize that strength, value, respect, and dignity lies within fashion; and creativity flows from within us when pulling those garments of ours together. Yes, some women may be more fashionable and artsy with their attire than others. Indeed there are some men who may prefer a bowtie with that two-piece, charcoal gray colored suit over a polka-dot pattern tie. But, does it mean we must face misrepresentation from the world when we step outside the doors of our homes? How bias and unjust are the actions of others which steers our direction on a daily basis? For many years women have come face to face with challenges and unfairness within the fashion world. Unfortunately, there has always been underlying stigmas associated with women (and men) and their preference of fashion sense.
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However, nowadays these said stigmas are ever-changing primarily due to the fact that fashion now results in much more variety. Women are also now exerting an immense amount of confidence in who they are. Years ago, if you made a conscious decision to reveal cleavage with your silk blouse, refrained from wearing pantyhose in the workplace with that perfect, pencilknee length skirt, or slipped on a pair of high heels which happened to have been taller than three inches, you were highly subject to being looked at as a sex symbol, alongside, the perception from others that you were just seeking attention. If we intermix this with the overall work place belief system, a woman who tends to have even a tiny bit sex appeal within the office space is instantly perceived as being less competent than both her female and male
counterparts. Whether there is any validity present with this thought or not, the view and misconception remains the same. Perhaps, said views aren’t as stringent as they were many years ago. But it does not negate the fact that such misconceptions still exist. There are a multitude of other misconceptions present with women and fashion as it relates not only to sex appeal, but to things like race and size too. According to, Kristeen Cherney - Live Strong, there are women whom are classified as being plus size that are under this misconception of there being rules and boundaries for them as they are
not part of the mainstream fashion industry. For
Could It Be So? instance, it is best to wear baggy
clothes rather than tight fitted clothes so that people don’t have to look at your ‘muffin top’ or ‘love handles’, despite the fact that baggy clothes actually add more size to your body. If you’re seen as plus size, you are told to steer away from bright colours because black has a slimming effect, which helps to make your body frame appear smaller. Flat shoes are not the most befitting because your body image appears to be much wider,
whereas height with heels elongates your body and provides an overall slim appearance. In retrospect, skinny women are often times told “you can put on anything and you’d look good in it,” which is just as derrogatory as telling a curvier lady that she can’t wear certain things. The fashion industry has been known to obsess over slim models as they are more often than not perceived as being perfect. Where did these ideals come from? Why must boundaries exist in fashion when fashion plays such a significant role in shaping society and culture, and is all about self expession? Women you are not alone in facing such challenges as it relates to misrepresentation in fashion. Men experience it just the same. For instance, society has placed emphasis on men that wear
business suits, categorizing them as highly educated, astute, very well paid business executives. Despite whether there is validity in this assumption or not, the reality is,.. there are prevalent stigmas present with men and fashion alongside women. There are men who work in job roles which don’t require such business attire being worn, and sometimes they are frowned upon as if they lack the educational background and more than likely took the shortcut in life. So, again men face challenges also but from a slightly different angle. The truth lies here,… often, there are times where both men and women are not being fairly represented in fashion and this differs based upon body shape, race, sexuality, and lifestyle. In short,… live free and dress as you please. Fashion doesn’t make you,.. you make fashion!
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MUSIC 12
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By Zurraq Khan Within music, there has been an endless amount of style and cultural icons, some of which have gone on to see their legacy live on through the widespread influence of their fan base, while others have made a mark that’s been collecting dust in the decade of their prime. Looking back at the vast influences of music and its movements, the expressive use of the art is unparalleled. One of the biggest cultural icons within music is David Bowie, the androgynous musical genius whose influences have been a staple within pop, LGBTQ+ culture and fashion. Bowie was a mysterious and wonderful musician, with a fashion sense as a weapon to turn heads. Utilising the tool of appearance as a form of expression, Bowie created an image that became a permanent imprint
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The Music C
Music is One of the Biggest Influences Across the World. We Take a Look on culture and style. Various personas arose from David Bowie’s library of music. During the era of Ziggy Stardust, Bowie’s style was, in my opinion, at its peak. An alterego who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings, Ziggy Stardust donned a truly striking androgynous style which will forever be influential. Being one of many cultural icons within the music industry, Bowie’s journey - using music as a tool of expression against the oppression of artistic creativity with sexuality, to openly celebrating one’s sexual orientation, unapologetically shows the progression from an underground culture to a movement that’s taken centre stage. One of the musical culture movements
that really set the pace for things to come was the movement of new romanticism in the early 1980s. Artists notable for this movement include Adam Ant, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Ultravox and Japan to name just a mere few. The overall look of this style provided a platform for artists to boast their flamboyance through appearance and music. Attire consisted of brash, eccentric outfits that were heavily influenced by glam rock superstars and new romanticism, and really pushed the boundaries of visual expression within the music industry. Even though not all of the artists were part of the LGBTQ+ community, the movement as a whole was a triumph.
The 90s was an interesting, experimental decade with the birth of the drug-fuelled rave scene headed by notable groups such as Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses, but it also saw the continual reign of solid LGBTQ+ icons artists like George Michael and the Pet Shop Boys.
Fashion icon Grace Jones had released a few singles during this
Culture Fix at some of the
Biggest Names, and the Impact they have had on Culture
time and went on to feature on albums by artists such as cartoon hip-hop group Gorillaz on their latest instalment, ‘Humanz’. As the decades surpassed, the LGBTQ+ community was becoming more and more accepted in society, as artists and celebrities started celebrating their sexuality, identity and way of life more and more. The 2000s saw a mass influx of artists that are part of and support the LGBTQ+ community, and due to the vast array of acceptance coming into society, artists started to come into the picture from a
younger age. Olly Alexander, part of the popular group Years & Years, is a pop culture icon who boasts an enormous fanbase thanks to his music, persona and general style in which he approaches his profession. Sam Smith is another music megastar whose talents have gripped the nation over the years. In the present day, the list is endless. The growth of the LGBTQ+ community within the music industry has
been like a non-stop train heading in the right direction. Being open with your sexuality and identity is something that is no longer
discouraged, but encouraged. Society has flipped its majority view on the community and embraced it with open arms.
Artists from every nation are supporting the community and promoting the hard work and talents of people who were wrongly oppressed by a lot of the general public over
the decades. Tyler the Creator, Frank Ocean, Elton John, Lady Gaga, RuPaul Charles, Halsey, Sia, Adore Delano, Todrick Hall and Kaytranada are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to musicians and artists who are either a part of or support the LGBTQ+ community as a whole and continue to celebrate and be proud of how far it has come. The music industry has finally become what artists such as Boy George, George Michael and Elton John set out to achieve, a wide spread community where visionaries, artists and
experimentalists can parade their flamboyance and personality to the world without feeling ashamed.
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Women in Music: W A M ! e
re
ighty
When will Women be Appreciated for their Talents, Instead of Just Being a Pretty Face?
By Latasha Ford Coachella! Is there really more that needs to be said?! From Coachella to the MTV Awards, to the BET Awards, to the Grammys (the list goes on), women are now dominating the music industry more so than ever. If you don’t believe me just try asking Google! Just for a moment, pause and take a brief second out of your day to simply conduct a quick Google search of top artists within the music industry. Amazingly, the artists that come up are artists such as: Cardi B, Camila Cabello, Dua Lipa, Halsey, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, SZA, Demi Lovato, Pink and so on, all appearing at the tops of the charts. To date, millions of fans, viewers, and listeners are still raving over Queen Beyonce’s performance at Coachella, one of the most influential women of all time at one of the world’s biggest music events. Are We Surprised? Absolutely, Not! But, know that this isn’t the first time that such buzz has been generated around Beyonce and other female artists whom are of power stature; nor, will it be the last. So, you might want to get yourself accustomed to seeing females top the music industry! This
not only goes for Beyonce, but for other female artists who are in fact earning their place in the music industry as well such as Taylor, Cardi B, Chelsea Cutler, TYSM, Astrid S., Chrisette Michelle, and many more. Iconic female artists such as: Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Paula Abdul, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Mary J. Blige and plenty more have in fact helped to pave the way for a younger generation of artists, while also building the foundation for their presence at award shows such as those mentioned before. Tides have fortunately begun to turn in a different way. The music business is no longer a male dominated in-dustry, and sexism within it is being battled constantly every day, the biggest case to date being with Kesha, where she won a sexual abuse case against her producer, Dr Luke. Since this, the music industry and the treatment of women has changed massively. Women are taking to the stage and using their power and positions to tell other girls that they are unstoppable and they should make their story heard, and aim for their dreams every day. In simple terms, a complete
infiltration into the music scene has occurred, alongside the emergence of a multitude of music genres that millions of listeners can relate to. Music festivals like Coachella are not the only platforms where women are in fact capturing awareness while also gaining earned recognition of their beaming talents. There are a multiplicity of female artists who are known to put on classic, memorable performances at the AMA Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, MTV Awards, Rock and Roll Awards, BET Awards, Soul Train Music Awards, and so forth. The bottom line is, women identi-fied as being both high-powered and major top-solo artists, fortunately, have demanded change within the music industry and recording sector. In turn, this has played such a significant role in their status today. They have not only earned the recognition in the strength and perfection in what it is that they do; but, they have also taken a stance towards ensuring others do the same. In the words of Janelle Monae “We come in peace, but we mean business. And to those of you who would dare try and silence us, we offer you two words: Time’s up.”
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Sexualisation of Men in the Music Industry Sex Sells. but why is it Okay to Sexualise Men when it’s not Okay to Sexualise Females?
By Zurraq Khan The music industry is a place spread with controversy, flamboyance and flair. Artists have to make a name for themselves in a saturated scene through various means of expression, whether it be the outfits they don during a concert, their choreographed dance routines or just their overall charisma. Recent movements within the industry have brought to light the fact that many artists become idol-like figures like never before. With so many platforms to express your opinion like social media, print media and a good old fashioned topical chat, the reputation of artists are paraded constantly. This leads to artists becoming almost God-like figures in their fan’s eyes, role models and now even one-in-a-million love interests. A major problem within the music industry is the sexualisation and objectification of musicians. Most cases as of recent have been about sexualisation towards female artists, campaigning to stop them being objectified as sexual objects and to be seen for their musical talents. An example being Miley Cyrus, a musician who went through mass sexualisation via the media despite her raw and incredible musical ability, tarnishing her image for a while for something that she doesn’t even condone. It’s bizarre. Thankfully, her reputation has been restored to what it should be. Let’s talk about male musicians. Female musicians being sexualised is now hugely frowned upon which is great, they can now be truly recognised for their musical talents, yet male musicians continue to be sexualised regularly. Ex-One Direction member and current solo musician, Harry Styles, has been a victim of groping during his concerts and is constantly sexualised by the media. Granted, he’s got a flamboyant ambience about his character, but being subjected to raunchy tweets and sexual harassment during the time where he wants to perform for his fan base is completely unacceptable. Another example is pop music megastar Justin Bieber. With a huge career launching when he was just 16 years old, Justin was obviously an immensely talented young musician, receiving the credit he deserves. However, many see his career being propelled by sexuality. A huge portion of the media branded the artist as an object of sex, someone for fans to drool over and idolise. I mean,
there’s absolutely nothing wrong with appreciating an attractive individual, but groping, harassing, and posting inappropriate, sometimes even invasive thoughts on social media is wrong and isn’t something that’s hard to come by these days. I hate to say it, but there seems to be a severe case of double standards in the music industry of present. We live in a world where male musicians can be sexualised and nowhere near the amount of people who stand up for women will stand up for men. A society that prides itself on striving for equality should be fighting the battle for everyone to be treated the same in all aspects of music. Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room here, right? Sex sells. We all know it, we all see it in a lot of the present day media and most of us have drooled over the odd celebrity in our time, but the modern day sexualisation of male musicians is becoming increasingly worrying as it’s become this accepted thing for people to do. Granted, there are people who stand up for men against sexualisation, but seeing crude sexualisation plastered all over social media towards men and being accepted by a lot of people is scary, especially when everybody knows how someone’s reputation would be completely destroyed if they were to sexualise a female musician. The same attitude needs to be enforced here. Finding an artist attractive is by no means a crime, but sexualising a musician instead of acknowledging their musical talents is something that needs to be addressed, because it has a domino effect on the whole industry. Record labels, managers, agents, the media and the general public instantly pick on someone’s sex appeal, and if they see that people latch onto it as oppose to appreciating their music, sex becomes their main driving force and not always by choice. We’re living in the generation of provocative lyrics, suggestive imagery and raunchy choreography, which is a lot of the time, produced by a machine other than the artists themselves. Songs, albums and overall aesthetics are presented to or wrote by ghost writers, record labels or just teams assigned to perform these tasks. This all contributes to sexualisation. Musicians are musicians. They’re there to perform. Share the prevention. That’s it.
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Lifestyle
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Gender Inequality in the Workplace By Cassandra Wiley In 2018, women in the United States still make only 80 percent of a man’s salary. A man can ask for a salary increase and receive it. However, when a woman negotiates salary, she may not receive a salary increase. Instead, she may receive a sign-on bonus to compensate for the difference. Sometimes, the new salary is based on the previous salary. For example, if a woman’s previous salary was $52,000 per year at one company, her new salary may be $60,000 per year at a new company. However, the salary range may be up to $65,000. We have
With Women only Receiving 80% of a Man’s Salary, It’s Time for Change
seen many scenarios in which there was a broad salary range, but the candidate was offered the lowest salary within that range. For instance, if the salary range for the position were $43,235 to $53,959, the candidate would be offered $43,235.
however, most women will take sick leave because their children are ill. Some companies will only give you one week of sick leave; once that leave is exhausted, you have the option of using vacation time, a floating holiday, or taking unpaid leave.
work full-time, she is still expected to do housework and child care in some households. (Some husbands are understanding and help with those tasks). Many employers expect employees to put their jobs before family.
Alasdair Thompson, head of the Employers and Manufacturers Association in New Zealand, claimed that “women are paid less because they take more sick leave than men.” Thompson said that “women are sick each month because of their ‘monthly problem’”. Of course, he received backlash for his comments. In the United States, you may have a few women take a sick day due to their monthly cycle. Generally,
There are even cases in which taking multiple sick days affect a woman’s yearly performance review. Should taking multiple sick days to care for sick children count against you? Does family matter today? In fact, “housewives” rank in the lower social status groups under “blue collar workers”. Even if a woman does
International Women’s Day was on March 8th. The theme was #PressforProgress as colleagues, friends, and communities celebrated the achievements of women around the world. Many women believe that gender equality won’t happen overnight, but want to stay motivated through events, activities, and initiatives.
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Discrimination in a P By Maisie Hancox Post-Brexit Election Britain is something else. We have become a hub of tension, led by confusion over the future and mislead by facts we can’t trust to be real, fearing for our finances and attitudes to come. But what has really been left behind is an attitude towards immigrants and tourists, which has set us back to values from the 50s. Residents who were born here, but have relatives who were descended from other countries feel the brunt of postbrexit, as their birth certificate shows they are a British Citizen, but right-wing extremists such as Britain First, comment on their ethnicity rather than facts.
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It raises the question of whether society will
always be heightened through the remain or leave side, as it has split the United Kingdom down the middle. I took to the West Midlands, a diverse place that was conflicted during the Brexit elections. With Birmingham having one of the largest Asian Diaspora’s in the U.K and Coventry being one of the most Multicultural cities, I interviewed people on whether they felt discriminated against, since the election. I first meet up with Tazmin Sheikh, a student in Birmingham originally from London. Tazmin was born in England, but is half Moroccan, half Indian. She is a Muslim and loves her faith, but states she feels scrutinized in London, but accepted in Birmingham.
“There’s a lot of racism towards Islam in London, especially since the Terrorist attacks last year. You start to learn how to deal with it, but you shouldn’t have to.”
until she was 40, where she did a part time retail job after her Husband passed away. But blames immigrants for the reason her son can’t find work.
“This is my third year living in Birmingham now and I feel much more comfortable with who I am here. The people are friendlier, occasionally you get a racist comment but it’s not with nasty intentions. It’s usually when people ask you about your race or religion and are not educated enough about how to approach people who aren’t white. There needs to be more education on how to be racially sensitive.”
“I think it’s utterly ridiculous. You see people on the street, our people, with no home or food to eat. But you see a family of about eight immigrants get a house straight away, no questions raised. This country is a complete joke. I’m lucky I’m getting older, because I dread to think of what it’s going to be like for my grandson when he gets to my ageutter hell.”
Also in Birmingham, I meet Jane Keyes, a 67-year-old woman, who voted Leave. Jane hadn’t worked
“I’m not racist but I think British people should get priority always. We used to be a good, solid country and now we’ve crumbled. You
Post-Brexit Britain
“We have too Many People who Come into this Country, Money Free, and Exploit the People who do Pay their Way Through Life.”
go to the market now and nobody speaks English. It’s a job and a half to get what you want in under an hour because you have to play translator, we’re a laughing stock.” The streets of Birmingham are bustling with people from different cultures, and the majority of the locals accept it. It’s a very different experience to what I had in Coventry. Lena Clark is from Scotland, but was on a work trip to Coventry. Lena is British, but her great, great grandfather was Spanish. She looks Spanish herself, but says this causes her to be discriminated against. “If people ask me where I’m from and I say Aberdeen, the first thing they do
is look twice at me in disbelief like I’m lying. As if my accent wasn’t enough. The worst experience I had was in my teens, I was working in a supermarket part time to make a bit of extra savings and this one man asked me how long I’d been in the country and if I was fluent in English yet.” “It makes you so angry, because I’m a British person. And for those who aren’t, it must be so much worse and you sort of put yourself in those shoes. I definitely think Brexit has elevated the way we think we can talk to people, and the bad part is we’re not even officially out of the EU yet.” Coventry market is a place where locals gather to get local produce and great finds, but everybody
seems to know each other on a first name basis. Jason Pearson has lived in Coventry his whole life, originally from stoke, he believes that Coventry is being ruined. “Everywhere you go, immigrant and student. And most students are immigrants, we’re paying them to come over here to do an exam. I work hard, and I don’t like that my taxes are going to them.” “I’ve grafted all my life. And I’ll teach my kids to do the same. You can’t sponge off hard working people. We have too many people who come into this country, money free, and exploit the people who do pay their way through life.” “I actually voted
remain- and I would again. But that’s because we’ve gone so far, we can’t turn back and people who think we can are ignorant. It’s rare to walk through Coventry on a Saturday and see somebody who either is not an immigrant or not on the dole.” People from the West Midlands seemed to have very strong opinions on what the Brexit election has done to their areas, but most were concerned with how people treated them following it, which was one of the main concerns when the election was announced. With families scared for their children’s future, we can only hope that a tense Britain will calm down after we officially leave the E.U.
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Love is Love...is Wrong? Being Told you can’t Love Someone because it isn’t Right is one of the Hardest things to Face. It’s Time People Accepted that Love is Open to Everyone
By Emily Stephens Compared to life in the 80s, members of the LGBTQ+ community receive much better treatment when it comes to attitudes towards them from other members of society, and people from the community are being much more widely accepted from a wider group of people, however there is still a long way to go. Imagine being in love with someone, but being told that what you’re doing is disgusting and wrong, and that you shouldn’t be together or you don’t have the right to get married? This is what people from the LGBTQ+ community face on a daily basis. Are people that cruel to not allow someone to be in love just because of their gender or sexuality?
increased, starting with the Netherlands and ending with the most recent country being Australia. However, still only 26 out of 195 countries have now legalised same-sex marriage, so there is still a very long way to go. It would be naive to think that same-sex marriage will be legalised in every country across the globe, as a lot of countries outside the western world will just simply never agree with it, however it is nice to be hopeful and optimistic that everyone across the globe, despite being inside or outside the western world, should be able to get married.
Love is impartial and unjudgemental, it isn’t exclusive to a certain ethnicity or race, and it isn’t exclusive to heterosexual people either. Anyone should have the right to get married and start a family with the person they love. We have come a long way as a society, with Pride marches across the world every year seeing more and more numbers turning up to show their support for the community, and campaigns for marriage equality are bigger than ever, but it’s still not enough. We shouldn’t settle until everyone is allowed to get married without being discriminated against. Everyone should be able to walk down the street hand in hand with their partner without fear of having abuse hurled in their direction. Society needs to understand that being part of the LGBTQ+ community wasn’t a choice for most people, they were born that way and should be encouraged to embrace who they are, not be told to change to conform to what society views as the norm. Since 2001, the amount of countries to have legalised same-sex marriage has steadily
If, eventually, we lived in a world where marriage equality had been achieved, and same-sex marriage had been legalised across the globe, the fight for LGBTQ+ rights doens’t then stop. We have a long way to go to fight against the negative beliefs towards members, and how they choose to live their lives. It is important that we stand in unison with members and use our voices to campaign for what is right, as everyone deserves the right to be in love with no prejudice or judgement. As campaigns still go on globally, one can only hope and watch with optimism, to hope that one day no one will be told their love is wrong.
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By Ashleigh Henry In 2015, 639 people aged between 10 and 24 were lost to suicide in the UK. That’s 639 sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, boyfriends, and girlfriends. 639 loved people. Suicide is preventable and our country has the power to reduce the sheer volume of deaths by suicide. In 2015, 134 of those young deaths were students. There is not enough help given to these students and the help that is there, is often unknown. I want to share some things that I am either aware of, or have personally benefitted from. People are not made to be aware of the help that is available, and that is a tragedy. Firstly: Many people do not know that the A&E is fully accessible to all mental health sufferers. If at any time a person feels low or worried for their safety, they can go to a local accident and emergency department. This does not mean that they will be institutionalised or seen as ‘crazy’, but that you will be spoken to and referred to a local counselling service. The department can also talk with your GP about whatever you are going through and access some medications. Why don’t people know this? Because there is a stigma.
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If you have a broken limb, an open wound or a searing pain, you would go to A&E. Similarly, if you feel sad or alone or anxious, you are completely within your rights to use your Public Health Service. Not all hospitals have a separate psychiatry department, but there are doctors whose job it is to help you. People need to know that they deserve the best. If you were mistreated at A&E, or if your doctor is not sensitive enough to your mental health needs, then you are completely allowed to complain and demand more. We are all human beings and our physical and mental health needs to be valued by all healthcare professionals. Secondly: universities treat mental health the same as physical (at least on paper). Every university has some kind of PEC form
system. This is when you are unwell or something terrible and unforeseen such as a death in the family has caused troubles in
completing work. You can get a GP to sign a form that allows you to gain some recognition and support from the university. On top of this, you can use such a form, to receive essay Deadline extensions or mark
improvements when the mental strain has been too much. Thirdly: Nightline, Samaritans, CALM and SANEline. If you’re a student, then you are probably aware of Nightline but I would just like to
reiterate their policies. Nightline is anonymous and you do not have to provide your name, age or location within the call, if you do not want to.
They do not push you or tell you what to do or think, you are allowed to navigate the call as you like. Samaritans, CALM and SANEline are very similar services, maintaining confidentiality and only intervening with the phone call if the caller seems unable to communicate rationally. CALM specializes in Male mental health, it is important to remember that there are specific mental health services. There are help lines for LGBTQIA and for various religions. It takes 20 seconds to Google and it is so worth it. Different people respond to different companies, it is frustrating but it might take a few tries to find the perfect confidant. The important thing to remember is that these are free, confidential and 24/7. These services are amazing if you are trying to make friends at
university, and do not feel comfortable sharing your mental health issues with them yet. One final piece of advice is DSA Forms. If you log in to student finance you can actually claim money for your mental health issues. If you are struggling to afford anti-depressants or want private counselling, you might be entitled to £1000 from the government. I put this point last as it’s not definite for everyone. But I believe this is not widely publicized and it is certainly worth applying. This is in no means trivial and I am not suggesting this solves everything. However, the government is discussing so many supposed plans for mental health, and yet young people are not made aware of the current help available. It is just important to remember that these services exist for a reason. You are not alone and your feelings are valid. There is not enough funding or help in the NHS for mental health, but please use what is there. Nightline web nightline.ac.uk Samaritans 08457 90 9090 samaritans.org CALM 0800 58 58 58 thecalmzone.net SANEline 0845 767 8000 sane.org.uk
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Battling a Mental Illness in a Fast-Paced World How do we Keep Up?
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By Joyline Maenzanise Over the past festive season, I made the decision to spend as little time as possible on social media because I didn’t want to be reminded of my aloneness over the period. I even deactivated my Facebook account and every now and then, I would check my Twitter account especially for any interesting news (or opportunities to write). That tended to be depressing because, much of the world is just topsy-turvy right now. Wars, corruption, slavery and various other injustices. Staying abreast with what’s happening around us can be overwhelming. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. Some social media users took the time to reflect on the past year and what they had accomplished. Some had signed book deals. Some had published books. Some had stories that had won writing competitions. Some had been promoted at work. Some had gotten new jobs. Some had travelled the world. Some had signed modelling contracts with prestigious agencies. Some had bought their first house. Some got their driver’s licences. Some bought their first cars. Some had started their own companies. Some had received scholarships to pursue further studies or attend certain workshops abroad. Yes – they had productive a year. I, on the other hand, had spent the year battling suicide ideation. I struggled with fighting my addiction to smoking and at some point, I seemed to be replacing this form of self-medication with alcohol. On top of my life being turbulent, I discovered that a loved one, who has been a great source of emotional support, had been diagnosed with cancer. As their life was involuntarily reorganised, so too, was our relationship. I could no longer dump my emotional baggage on her because “the negativity” would not provide a space conducive enough for them to come to terms with her illness and find their way on this new path that life had paved for them. This meant I had to learn to be my main source of emotional edification and that was hard. Last year – like many other years that have gone by - was a battlefield for me. On most days, I struggled to get out of bed. My panic attacks and social anxiety spiked. In
that process, I also managed to mutate into a raging bull of which my anger would become even more heated when I was menstruating. I made use of various means – some healthier than others - to help me take the urge off and one of them was music. As calming as it often was, certain music often resulted in me thinking about my dead mother (and my break-up with God) and feeling as if I was in solitary confinement. Those moments always ended up with drenched pillows and puffy eyes. While I have learnt to be kinder to myself and allow myself to stay in bed if my lethargic body refuses to get up, I would be lying if I said I do not regret that when I am in a better emotional space. I know that allowing myself to be in that emotional rut is an important part of the process of getting better. Still, I also feel that our society makes it a bit hard for us not to beat ourselves up for that “unproductive” period. The world around us is fast-paced and we feel under pressure to move with it at the same pace. We need to be quickly figuring out solutions to our problems, we need to quickly get up when we fall and continue in what really looks like a race. When one falls or allows themselves to take a breather when they feel burdened or unfit to effectively function in society, one can’t help but worry if it ends up looking as if they spent way too much time in that state. I don’t know about others, but I know I do worry about this. I know that expecting the world to slow down while we nurse our wounds is hoping against hope. And the truth is we are humans who are wired to compare our lives to others’. It is inevitable that I will beat myself up a bit when I see that while I slept in other people were conquering the world. I guess all one can do, and to ensure that they don’t end up lapsing into another bout of depression over their mental battles, is to remind themselves of the reasons why their year, in retrospect, may not seem as productive or fruitful as others.
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The Trials and Tribulations of the Solo Female Traveller “W ’ H ?” here s your
By Sue King
The bus driver was horrified. I was on a typically dilapidated Indian bus heading for the spiritual city of Varanasi, when we pulled up for a break. The friendly driver asked me where my husband was. I was clearly over thirty and when I responded that I didn’t have a husband, he couldn’t hide his shock. The combined look of horror and pity that I received taught me a valuable lesson - being an unmarried woman in India when you are on the wrong side of thirty is not acceptable. I didn’t make the same mistake again. From then on I invented a husband who hadn’t been able to make the trip due to work commitments. I didn’t feel comfortable with the deceit. In an ideal world, my desire would be to enlighten those who don’t understand, to attempt to explain that it is actually ok to be single, whatever age you are. But this was India – it would have been like hitting my head against a brick wall time and time again. The attitude is so engrained in the culture, sometimes you just cannot fight it.
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This incident is an example of the challenges women face when traveling in many
usband
countries of the world. As western women, we are generally accustomed to our independence and equality. Traveling in India and certain other destinations can be a shock to the system.
phenomenon and they told me that this had rarely happened to them. This could be due to the fact that, for whatever reason, people find women more approachable than men, which can have both advantages and disadvantages.
Another aspect of travelling in the subcontinent that western women have to tolerate is being openly stared at by men. I have to say that I rarely found it threatening and my ploy was to ignore it. Occasionally, men would surreptitiously take photographs on their phones. Others would approach and request ‘one snap’. Somebody would produce a camera, and within seconds a large group would form around me. Although it was usually men, sometimes women would get in on the act too.
Traveling has always been my passion. I grew up on the south coast of the UK. In my early twenties, I took off on my first adventure to work in a summer camp in the USA. Since then, I have been round the world twice, done several multi-month trips in various parts of the world and lived or traveled in fifty countries. I have traveled solo, with friends and more lately with a partner (also female).
I believe that these actions are mostly innocent and motivated by a sense of curiosity about foreigners. Most of the time, the men were polite and respectful. I did, however, speak to some male travelers about this
Whenever I have felt fear in my travels, it has turned out to be totally unfounded. Many years ago in Mexico, a friend and I became stranded in the desert when a tire blew on our car. Two men stopped and offered to take us to the nearest town so that we could buy a tire. They added that they would bring us back to the car and change the tire for us. There wasn’t an abundance of passing traffic, so we decided to risk it and take them up on the offer.
We climbed into the back of their car. Mariachi music was playing on the radio and my mind was full of horror stories that I had heard about kidnappings and murder in Mexico. Ten minutes later, we found ourselves at a dusty shack in the middle of nowhere. My hand was on the door handle of the car and I was ready to jump out and start running like a maniac across the Sonoran desert. It transpired that one of the men just wanted to call in and let his wife know he would be late home! True to their word, these kind men took us to the garage and then back to our car, where they changed the tire for us. This was not an isolated scenario, but just one of many positive experiences I have had traveling both alone and with female friends. Ironically, the only truly scary experience I have had was whilst traveling with three male friends in Lima, Peru. On our way from the airport, we were carjacked at some traffic lights. The perpetuators smashed the back window of our taxi and grabbed a backpack from the trunk. One of the other issues that women travelers have to deal with is machismo, which although it does exist in western countries isn’t so blatant. Although Mexico and the Central and South American countries have come a long way in terms of equality in
the last few years, whistling, leering and groping is unfortunately still prevalent on city streets and local transport. Although rarely potentially dangerous, it is an annoying and frequent occurrence that women have to endure. In Mexico City, women-only metro trains and anti-groping buses have been introduced to combat the problem. I have to admit to not having traveled extensively in the Middle East, mainly because I have chosen not to due to restrictions placed on women in that area of the world. Having said that, many women report that they have been treated with nothing but respect when traveling in such countries as Iran and that the hospitality to be found there is second to none. Whatever the politics of the region you are traveling in, ordinary people are generally friendly and more than happy to help out a visitor from a distant land. Often, being a lone women traveler can even prove to be an advantage. People aren’t as threatened by women and female travelers are more likely to receive invitations into homes or to family celebrations. A woman finding herself lost or in trouble will
usually find that help from a friendly local is forthcoming. One night, I was waiting for a connecting bus in Jaipur, India. It was about 3.00 am and a rather shady man was making a nuisance of himself, hassling me and making me feel a little uncomfortable. I moved seats, but he followed. A woman approached and asked if I was alright. She said she had been watching and offered to give me a lift if I needed one. I didn’t, but it was a lovely gesture and the fact that she had kept an eye on the proceedings was a touching act of female solidarity. My experience as a female traveler has been overwhelmingly positive. I am not naïve and I know that not every woman who goes out into the world is as lucky as I have been. I can only recount my own experiences and in my last thirty years of travel, I have never found myself in any frightening or threatening circumstance due to my being female. Intuition, common sense and not putting yourself in a vulnerable situation all help, but the fact is that when you travel you frequently have to put your trust in strangers. As with the men who helped us in Mexico, the vast majority of people that you take a chance on turn out to be kind and genuine and simply want you to feel welcome in their country.
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Redefining the in‘MMental en’ Health
By Charlotte Winter
On the 26th of March, ITV unveiled a sculpture titled Project 84, which was designed by the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) in order to increase awareness surrounding the male mental ill health pandemic.
The term ‘hysteria’ is derived from the Greek word for the uterus – husterikós – which meant uterine ‘suffering,’ and was used to describe uncontrollable emotions.
sign of vulnerability of weakness was seen to emasculate men and went against the gender expectations of the time. As a result, men were forced into the performativity of strength; the combination of this performance with the rejection of the notion that men could experience the ‘hysteria’ extinguished the possibility that men could experience mental health issues, and therefore the platform to discuss their experiences. In the 19th Century, this platform was further denied existence. Any female that displayed the signs of hysteria was prescribed the ‘rest cure,’ a medical practise pioneered by Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell and widely accepted in society that staunched the voices of women, and labelled such women ‘irrational’ due to their mental ill health. As a result, women could not voice their experiences, and because men were perceived as innately strong, they were the opposite of the irrational female voice.
The Ancient Greeks developed this into their theory of hysterical suffocation by arguing that, if a woman was not sexually active, her uterus would migrate around her body, causing physical ailments as her womb applied pressure to certain organs.
Mental ill health forced women further into submission, and a combination of old and new cultural practises further denied men the opportunity to acknowledge that they too could suffer because mental ill health in itself was hidden away.
This attitude and lack of anatomical understanding persisted into the middle ages, wherein hysteria became coupled with demonic possession and womanly strength.
Later in the 20th Century, along with the pejoration of the female as irrational, the pathologisation of homosexuality as a mental disorder further staunched the occurrence of mental ill health among men as homosexuality was coupled with effeminacy. For men to appear vulnerable or to speak of mental health issues meant that they ran the risk of appearing effeminate, and could be subjected to a barrage of prejudice and discrimination, or even conversion therapy.
The 84 statues demonstrate the statistic that 84 men commit suicide every week, a number that made up 75% of suicide cases in the UK alone in 2015. This percentage highlights the necessity of addressing male mental illness, and forces us to ask why it is that such issues are only beginning to push into the fore of public awareness. Historically, mental illness was deeply entrenched in female anatomy and sexual identity, and so was solely a woman’s experience.
Womanly strength and power, then, was viewed as wholly negative into the 18th Century upon the advent of the Industrial Revolution, where society began to more deeply entrench the notion that it was the male gender that was supposed to strong and powerful. Men were expected to publically display the ideals of dominance, strength, and power through physical labour and exertion, and so any outward
Homosexuality remained a mental disorder, categorised in the DSM from 1968, until 1987. Because
of this, even in recent history, for men to display what was perceived as similar – feminine – attributes as women, was viewed as an unnatural sickness. Once again, the platform for men to discuss their mental health was wholly denied to them. Today, the smouldering legacy of these oppressions has shackled men to the concept of toxic masculinity, which confines them to the traditional gender roles of strength and dominance. This confinement prevents men from expressing emotions that transcend those within dominant discourse, such as psychological problems. As a result, society is faced with statistics such as those demonstrated by CALM and project 84. The focus, then, is to open platforms on which men can speak and destigmatised their experiences. An example of which is the ideabased social media platform the Good Men Project, who’s motive is to spark conversation about ‘the conversation no one else is talking about.’ This project aims to redefine the cultural understanding and experience of men in the 21st Century by amplifying their everyday struggles and experiences. What can be done to support plights such as these? The statistics alone call for the redefinition of male gender roles so that conversations about their psychological struggles can be sustained and accepted as genuine struggles. We must provide the platform to revolutionise the subject matter, so that male mental ill health is no longer a conversation that no one is having. In doing so, we strive to ensure that mental health is not defined by gender, and instead is viewed as a human experience.
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Financial Cuts to Mental Health Services Wound Patients the Deepest
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“Government Negligence of Mental Health Services Makes me want to Tear my Hair out… Literally.”
By Holly Mclaren My curly, unruly hair was constantly plaited as a child. Occasionally, something would feel ‘off’, so I’d pull on the plait from below the hairband and I wouldn’t stop until I felt the roots of individual strands pop from their follicles. I didn’t know it yet (and I wouldn’t for many years), but it was the start of my life living with trichotillomania. According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 4% of the global population suffers from some degree of trichotillomania. The bodyfocused repetitive disorder (BFRB) typically first presents itself in adolescents and young adults. As I transitioned from a child into a teen and stopped wearing plaits, I began to pluck my eyebrows. I went in from the top and destroyed the arch - it was ridiculous. My mum couldn’t believe what I have done to myself, but I couldn’t stop myself until I had only a thin line of hairs left above each eye. I was the butt of all the jokes at our family Christmas that year. Mascara and kohl liner was my weapon of choice as a teenager, but the thick product on my lashes sometimes felt unbearable. I’d start my English lessons with voluptuous eyelashes and end it with a pile of mascara clumps on my textbook. Occasionally, I’d rip out an eyelash along with it, and marvel at the release in pressure. By the time I was sitting my A-Levels, it had become cool to fill in your eyebrows. I
was the last of my friends to do so - my brows were fine (and had recovered from my tweezer happy days) so why would I need to fill them in?! Fast forward a few months and I was filling one in with blue biro in the hope that it would be less noticeable than a huge gap I had created in the lesson beforehand. The ridiculousness of the situation is still bought up in conversation with my friends to this date. Talking to ABC News, trichotillomania expert Dr Nancy Keuthen explain that those who suffer from the disorder “may spend hours in front of a mirror in these very odd postures trying to locate that one hair that they know is there that they feel doesn’t belong.” It’s like an itch that needs to be scratched. While the effect of the disorder is known and recognized, knowledge on the cause and appropriate treatment is lacking. The preferred recommendation for most GP’s is a referral to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, however many suffers find that their symptoms never fully ease up. It’s a cause of shame for many, causing interruptions to their social and professional lives. Often those suffering will avoid activities that expose their bald spots or potentially induce more picking. According to The Trichotillomania Impact Project for Adults, 20% of their survey group refrained from going on holidays and 23-4% found it impacted their occupation or school attendance. With no true ‘cure’
a large proportion will never feel ‘normal.’ Throughout my life, I have used humor as my coping strategy. My lack of eyebrows is a running joke and openly admitted, however only a handful of my nearest and dearest have seen my alien looking face without them. Trichotillomania in itself is a coping strategy, an impulse disorder to combat anxiety. To have reached a point where you mask one coping strategy with another would suggest that there is not enough help out there for those suffering with mental health disorders. With Government spending on mental health now lower than it was in 2012, despite the increase in recorded cases of mental health issues, this is unlikely to improve any time soon. Professor Wendy Burn, President of RCPsych believes “prioritisation of mental health is about getting the right care, at the right time, in the right place. This can’t happen when mental health trusts continue to receive inadequate investment.” Whilst the financial side of mental health services suffers, those who are already suffering feel the effect deepest. Like plants need water to grow and flourish, our mental health services need financial input to do the same. Our government likes to remind us that there are no ‘magic money trees.’ If just a little money was put into the roots of our mental health services, they could just be surprised at the magic that can happen.
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“Ya’ll Better Quiet Down” On Femme-Phobia
By Katy Jalili “In the past two year I’ve had so many arguments with gay men, specially on a night out when I’m supposed to be having fun, they always try to prove to me that they’re gayer than me. I had a 32 year old gay man telling me that his life was harder than mine, that I’d never know what he went through, he shouted at me on a bus and he said he thinks I’m going to die alone cause I’m such a bitch. Its true I’d never know what cis gay men experience, and yes I am a bitch. I told a trans gay man in a bar to stop being transphobic towards a trans feminine person, he had called them a transphobic slur, he then physically attacked me, he poured his drink on my head, but before he did that he said to me ”I’m the gayest person in the world”. He assumed he was gayer than me, as if we’re in a competition, as if the gay bar belonged to him. A gay man pointed his fingers at me shouting “you’re female” in the smoking area of my local gay bar, he did this because I asked him to use “they/them” pronouns for me and he refused because “I’m female”. My heart was racing, he said “I see you as a woman, you’re a woman” , I tried not to cry, until he left, then I cried. I also cried when the man who poured his drink on me wasn’t kicked out by the security guard. The security was a butch dyke, she thought my femininity was disgusting and fake, she told me “I was pulling out a race card” and that I was making a scene for no reason, after all I’m just a hysterical little girl aren’t I? she had something in common with that man who attacked me, they were both masculine, like most mascs, they hate and desire femmes at the same time, to them I was just a toy that made too much noise and needed to shut up. But that’s what straight men have told me for a long time, it’s weird facing such backwards and oppressive behaviour in a gay bar, under a “pride flag”. A gay man came up to me, he was white, and I’m not, he pointed at me and said “you look like a
Gender Based Discrimination in the Gay Scene and Sylvia Rivera
and
brown Miley Cyrus” people don’t believe me when I tell this story, but it’s true! I tried to tell him why he had offended me, he denied it, because there’s no racism in a gay bar. we’re too liberated for that! It turned out he was a primary school teacher, he called me a bitch, then apologised and offered me a drink, I ordered the most expensive thing off the menu, an espresso martini, which I don’t even like, but it was expensive, as I sipped away I told the night promote to kick him out, he got kicked out and I drank my espresso martini while swallowing back my tears that were building up. All these incidences have one thing in common, they were all targeted at a brown femme trans person by masculine men. My relationship with femmeness has been difficult recently. My femmeness is in a battle with my gender, I’m trans, but I never want to confirm to masculinity to gain more power, but my femmeness constantly leads to being misgendered and mistreated. The problem is not my identity, its femme phobia in the gay scene. I’m not the only person who’s affected by femmephobia, femme gay men are also constantly mistreated by the masculine folks, and the same narrative plays in the traditional lesbian butch for femme binary context. The big issue we need to address is the fear of femmes. As soon as people realise femmes have a voice, they are terrified of how powerful their voices are. Masc people have always been trying to shut femmes down, for evidence look up Sylvia Rivera’s speech in which gay men disrupted her several times, she tells them “ya’ll better quiet down” , Queer liberation was built by the power of queer femmes and trans women, who fought for days at stonewall riots to keep queer spaces from being shut down. These are the women and femmes that built the liberation that men claim today, and if you’re a man reading this, watch Sylvia Rivera’s speech before you mistreat a femme ever again.
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Magnifying Sports and Disabilities
Should Disabed Athletes be Allowed to Compete Alongside Able-Bodied Athletes?
By Latasha Ford
Whether it be Sports, Parasports, or Adaptive Sports the reality is there should be equality across board. Adaptive and Parasports are both known as Disability Sports played by those individuals whom happen to have some form of disability. Nevertheless, such persons’ should always be treated as equals, with the upmost respect, and should not be frowned upon despite his or her position.
upon men and women in sports, primarily women, but especially with disabled athletes. Women have a harder time than men in this instance, as they have double prejudice towards them, be-ing both a woman and disabled within the sports industry.
many. Both sports and humanitarian organisations are continuously working towards creating opportunities while improving the livelihood of those playing sports with disabilities i.e. Paralympics and Special Olympics.
Many people think that disabled athletes However, in light of shouldn’t even be the aforementioned categorized into a double standard, whole new sector of there is a positive sports, and should stance tak-en on the instead be able to end of certain sectors compete alongside of individuals in the able-bodied athmedia, television, letes, however many radio, and enterreject this belief, as APA, Adapted tainment industries. they think that able Physical Activity and bodied competitors Sports has been There are so will be given an inter-connected with many in industries unfair advantage, as providing positive as such who are they obviously are outcomes for athletes building aware-ness not disabled and can who are disabled. around athletes perform better. Unfortunately, that are involved in there are both Parasports/Adaptive They believe that discrimination and Sports. you should compete bias gestures and This has become of within your own treatment placed great importance to ability and ranks.
Whereas some may believe that there is little to no space for persons of disabilities within the sports industry, many disagree and think that it is empowering and fair for those with disabilities to know that they can still take part in sports and be treated as equals to ablebodied people. Society also seems to have finally come to the consensus of the need for there to be more of an established sense of awareness built around those with issues steered from disabilities and sports. The times are vastly changing, and we can only hope that disabled athletes start to re-ceive the recognition they deserve.
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Racism in Football By Zurraq Khan
Racial Abuse is Still a Consistent Problem within Football. Enough is Enough!
Whether you’re a full-on football fanatic or just somebody who watches the news every morning accompanied by a bowl of porridge before your morning commute, the headlines surrounding racism in football have been nothing short of thought-provoking. From player-to-player altercations to fans hurling projectiles at the pitch, the scale in which racism can be expressed is large. To sit here and see that racism still exists in a sport which has the power to unify an entire planet, is very puzzling indeed. In imminent anticipation of the 2018 World Cup, I wanted to talk about the sheer animosity that racism brings and previous incidents which show that it has no place within the beautiful game.
football players like John Barnes and Howard Gayle being victims of racism in the sport during the 1980s, but the efforts to eradicate such behavior have made a profound difference in today’s society.
Notably famous incidents such as John Terry racially abusing Anton Ferdinand and Luis Suarez using a derogatory racist slur towards Patrice Evra have sparked somewhat of a surge in racism prevention in football these recent years. Granted, racism’s no stranger to football, with historic
Another incident in 2014 involved superstar defender Dani Alves, during his time at Barcelona. Whilst the full back was taking a corner during a league fixture against Villarreal, a banana was launched at him from the crowd. An obvious act of racism yet Dani Alves dealt with the situation in a
Punishments are now severe in order to combat racism in football. CSKA Moscow were punished for racism and crowd disturbances during their UEFA Champions League fixture against Manchester City during October 2014. A ban was enforced on the club’s fans, with only 650 tickets allocated for the game, which shows that racism doesn’t just affect the people involved in the incident, it involves everybody and the club’s image and reputation.
classy manner, simply picking up the banana, peeling it and taking a bite. Adding a dose of humor to the situation can take the burn away from a hot situation, but the fact remains that the topic of racism in football is far from fun and games. Sadly, the more recent stories surrounding racism in football have been surfacing in Russia, where in football there seems to be a large presence of prejudice against black people. Spartak Moscow were criticized in January this year for posting a racist tweet against their own players and Leonid Mironov, Spartak defender, was charged with subjecting Liverpool youngster Rhian Brewster to racial abuse. Another one of Liverpool’s players, Nigeria-born Bobby Adekanye was subjected to racist chants from Spartak fans and the club were subsequently charged and punished for these incidents, having to partially close their stadium for their imminent UEFA Youth League fixture at the time.
Even more recently, Zenit St. Petersburg were accused of throwing objects and shouting racist abuse during their Europa League showdown with RB Leipzig. Even as an international country, Russia’s football fans were accused of racism towards France’s players during their World Cup warm-up friendly in March. By no means are the only stories about racism in football coming from Russia, but a lot of them are. Racism in football is everywhere, it’s on a global scale in the Champions League, the World Cup, international friendlies and leagues. Luckily since 1993, we’ve had Kick It Out, the campaign which started as a way to prevent racism in football. With advertisements featuring football superstars of past and present, putting the sport’s famous faces to the campaign, Kick It Out give football fans a personal touch when doing their best to prevent what is such a big problem in today’s game. Keep racism out of the beautiful game.
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It’s 2018...Why is Gender Ineq By Latasha Ford
Ok, so… can women not fairly be perceived in the sports industry via an unjust light? Will Gender Inequality reach the point of no debate? And, will women earn due respect and acknowledgment in a male-dominated industry? Yes, we are women but there is a genuine love for sports as equally the same as men. Women in sports is a topic which has been of discussion for many years and likely will be for several more years to come. Gender equality has always been subject to biased discussions via a multiplicity of platforms
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such as: university lectures, roundtable discussions, in relationships, via politically driven conversations and a multitude of other mediums. But, the questions still exist, when will females earn just as much as their male
counterparts in the workplace? And, will the day ever come whereas women will receive just as much attention as men receive in sports, for example via tv-media rights, equal salaries, relatable numbers of fans and support, marketing endorsements, unlimited partnerships and
quality in Sports Still a Thing? sponsorships as it relates to individual brand? According to BBC News, in the ranking of the 100 highest paid athletes, there is only one woman whom stands, Serena Williams. In saying such, it is of known fact that the sports world is a maledominated industry but must such immensity exist as it pertains to Gender Equality? As change comes forth via a multiplicity of eras in day-to-day living, one must believe gender pay gaps will level-set and even its way out. And, women will eventually be perceived as equals in comparison to their male
counterparts. However, there are complexities present in the rules of sports as it relates to women and men; and, an imbalanced withstanding of gender pay gaps in the world of global sports. The presence of women has become more prevalent with women in the sports media sector, specifically.
sport moguls to fans and the sports world. Now, it would be nice to have a glimpse of those ratings, right? It’s only fair, one should agree. It’s only right, however to assume that the ratings did not reach numbers male panels reach.
To date, women earn 83% of what their men counterparts earn, according to a Pew For instance, one of the Research Center Analysis nation’s most reputable, sports television platforms per median hourly earnings via both partESPN featured a panel time and full-time US less than two years ago of all-females for the very workers. In retrospect, first time in ESPN history. women continue to be The aforementioned panel overrepresented in lowerconsisted of Sarah Spain, paid occupations despite Jackie Macmillan, Jemele their increase of presence Hill and Kate Fagan whom in higher-paid occupations are now well-known media which are predominantly male-dominated. As such, similar factors continue to contribute to the gender equality as it relates to pay gaps. Nevertheless, I am hopeful for change… you should be as well.
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Women’s National Basketball
Many People Aren’t Even Aware that a Women 2018. Why is Womens Sport not being Publicis
By Latasha Ford Isn’t sweat, sweat? Isn’t hard-work, hard-work? Isn’t time, time? Isn’t energy, energy? Isn’t drive, drive despite whatever the gender role may be. There should be no subjection towards any one person based upon his or her femininity or masculinity. Such actions are simply considered to be of bias nature, simply outright and unjust.
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Unfortunately, to date, there is still no grasp upon of women not being seen as equals in comparison
to male counterparts in certain professional settings. Although, many actions have been taken in efforts of fighting for womens rights and gender equality, though there is still room for improvement as it relates to overall fairness. Candidly speaking, women are still secluded and slightly frowned upon as it relates to certain entities of life; and business for that matter. Specifically, women whom exercise their athleticism
with delving into the spectrum of sport industries, specifically the WNBA-Women’s National Basketball Association. There are a multiplicity of factors associated with women who play basketball on a professional level for the WNBA. In being transparent, many of such factors are derived from negative stereotypes which also leads into unwarranted assumptions. Strictly speaking, there is slight distaste present when you happen to see a
beautiful woman dribbling a basketball up the court. There are times whereas women have been viewed as being abnormal because she would rather play on the basketball court versus cheer along the sidelines of a basketball court. On the other hand, many are in total agreement with women indulging in sports sectors such as volleyball, tennis and/or golf. For instance, according to The Good Men Project “women’s beach volleyball is an
ll Association - Heard of it?
n’s
National Basketball Association Exists. It’s sed and Covered the Same Way as Male Sport?
exception to the latter, as I’m pretty sure the women all have appeared in at least one of the lad mags.” Now, if this is not a clear indicator of gender inequality and women in sports - I am unsure as to what is. Unfortunately, to date, according to The New York Times after nearly two decades the WNBA is still somewhat struggling for relevance. Have you ever been in attendance at a women’s basketball game whether that being on a high
school, collegiate, or professional level? Well, if you have been fortunate enough to either attend or support female players I am most certain that you can vouch in saying such arenas are typically empty. Conversely, as of recently the WNBA reached its highest attendance over the duration of six years during their record breaking season. So, although women in professional sports may not receive all of the respect, recognition or
reward which is well deserved, change is on the rise. In essence, one may inquire as to why in 2018 this topic is still of such popularity? Well, regrettably, this is still without reason. Simply put, this is a facet of the sports industry which should be delved into much more, analyzed and strategically assessed. And, then…. perhaps more questions can be answered. In the interim, we will push forward with the Catch-22’s which are
fans being present at the games yet the arenas aren’t as packed as they are for NBA players. The reality is, both the game of and love for basketball should be even-kill across the board. But, as it stands this is yet to be a fair game. Surely this is bias enactment as it relates to men and women in professional sport leagues but with time, said issues will be non-existent. One can only hope!
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Ostracised by Love
By Lulua Maimoon
It is a marvel that whilst mass media constantly facilitates society in participating to the ongoing debate surrounding a variety of racial issues, ranging from racial persecution within a nation to racism within the workplace, one issue that appears to lack impetus in the global race-related rhetoric, yet has proven to cause as many civil wars within homes, is that of interracial/interfaith relationships.
and, in the most sordid cases, killed. With western society exhibiting such promising prospects for those wishing to experience positively integrated lives, we must ask ourselves - how are interethnic marriages still considered to be such a bizarrely selfish decision? How does a society that prides itself on encouraging multiculturalism still so frequently denounce the romantic union of two cultures?
The most recent census conducted reveals that, one in ten relationships in the UK are inter-ethnic, comprising around 2.3 million people. Whilst this figure shows that the phenomenon is far from remote, it is not without stigma. To ‘marry out’ of one’s religion, community, caste or racial group is regarded, by an unnervingly vast amount of the English population, as an unacceptable or incomprehensible decision, leading to couples being excommunicated from their families and places of worship, verbally attacked
Following the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, it would be safe to assume that the law adapted to England’s generally liberal view on who ought to be able to celebrate their love in front of the world, the answer being: everyone. With our society then being so obviously progressive in eliminating discrimination against certain, previously ‘unacceptable’ relationships, how is that so many people of marriageable age find themselves in fear of losing their family and community, if they happen to fall in love with the ‘wrong’
person? The thought does indeed seem difficult to grapple with, let alone tragic. What is more, the issue is very rarely spoken or campaigned about, due to the fact that those wishing to engage in such relationships are afraid of their loved ones ever discovering that they had broken the mould of convention and dared to love somebody different. Reports show that whilst this phenomenon exists in almost every religious community by some measure, members of the Sikh and Islamic faith, in particular, have detailed the oppression faced in the context of interfaith or interracial relationships. The occurrence of honour killings is, abhorrently enough, of no surprise any longer in the media, despite being one the cruelest acts that we can envisage. Male members of a family would rather see a female member dead, or at least grievously harmed, instead of pursuing a relationship with someone who the family or community
does not see as an adequate suitor. Whilst this is the most dramatic example, the fact that such a barbarically backwards act can be committed in a society that otherwise encourages the acceptance all forms of love, shows that there is most definitely an awareness issue. As with all discriminative cognitions that persist, education is necessary. Those who are apprehensive to share their story must realise that they could in turn provide inspiration to other couples and, even more significantly, enlighten the minds of those who still feel that such relationships merit any kind of negative response. Increasing the exposure of this issue within the media will, at minimum, cause a realisation amongst opponents to inter-ethnic relationships that the phenomenon does indeed exist at large, and that the pure intention to create a life with another cannot so easily be quelled by prejudice any longer.
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Is Planned Parenthood a Form of Eugen By Cassandra Wiley
Abortions are the number one killer of African Americans. Many young Black teens resort to abortions because the pregnancy is unplanned, and they are not mature enough to care for a child. Others are in fear of their parents and may have abortions without their parents’ knowledge. Many young Black women who are unmarried are generally not financially prepared; the biological father is typically absent from their child’s life. Patients between the ages of 20 and 24 obtained 34 percent of all abortions. Women ages 25 to 29 obtained 27 percent. In 2014, whites accounted for 39 percent of abortion procedures while blacks accounted for 28 percent of them in the U.S. In 2016, white mothers accounted for 37 percent of abortions while being 77 percent of the U.S. population. By contrast, black women only comprise 6 percent of the U.S. population, but they account for 35 percent of abortions, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC). About 1.3 percent of these reported abortions had a gestation period beyond 20 weeks. What is the reason for this? On October 26, 1916, Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, opens the first birth control clinic in the poverty-stricken section of Brownsville in Brooklyn, NY. The notion was to help control the problem of overbreeding. Sanger’s childhood is said
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to have been unhappy. Her father was an unstable alcoholic with radical political views. Sanger was a poor student and did not take working seriously. It is believed that her short, unhappy career in teaching children of immigrants led to her embracing eugenics. She became passionate about “Marxism, anarchism, free love, secular humanism, and Darwinism”. On May 2, 1927, the United States Supreme Court case, Buck vs. Bell, gave states the right to forced sterilizations for those that they deemed genetically unfit. Elaine Riddick was a victim of this type of eugenics. At the age of 14, she was raped by a man in her neighborhood and became pregnant. Upon giving birth to her son in 1968 in North Carolina, a doctor cut her Fallopian tubes. Because her grandmother was illiterate, she unknowingly consented to the procedure. Forty-four year later, the state of North Carolina wanted to compensate Riddick and other victims $50,000 in damages. That angered her even more. In 1939, Margaret Sanger began to discourage the population growth of African Americans, particularly those that are poor. In short, to discourage “the defective and diseased elements of humanity” from their “reckless and irresponsible swarming and spawning”.
nics to Exterminate African Americans? Sanger knew that so-called African Americans primarily were a religious group of people. She used this and prominent African Americans to help her cause. How did she put this plan into action? She wrote a letter to Dr. W.E.B. Dubois, a prominent sociologist and author. Sanger’s “claim” was that birth control was the solution to prejudice and discrimination in the Black community. If births were more spaced out, families could recover financially and physically. (The mother’s body needs to heal from childbirth and each child is expensive to care for). Diseases would decrease, and healthier babies would result. Opponents of this believed that abortion was immoral and the population needed to increase for an equal distribution of wealth. However, more people believed Sanger’s deception that birth control would improve conditions in the black community. Black churches even invited her to speak to their congregations! It wasn’t because they were gullible; Sanger was very crafty at hiding her true agenda. Sanger also wrote about her meeting with the women of the Ku Klux Klan in her autobiography. In spite of this, Planned Parenthood still honors Margaret Sanger to this day. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former senator, first-lady, presidential candidate,
and recipient of the Margaret Sanger award in 2009, expresses her great admiration for her and her vision. In 2014, former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, accepted that award with the same gratitude. The rabbit hole goes deeper. Planned Parenthood harvests baby parts and sells them to human organ buyers. PepsiCo is said to have used aborted fetal cells in its products. Kraft, Nestle, and other companies are using aborted baby fetuses as flavor additives. African Americans are very valuable in this way. You can decrease the population and make money from their body parts. In addition, there is DNA in those aborted fetuses. Scientists can use that information to create new diseases to exterminate African Americans. There is a claim that scientists created Ebola for this purpose. In spite of the attempts made to exterminate African Americans, they are still here. Many have awakened, realizing who they are and the importance of family. Before Margaret Sanger, there weren’t abortions. African Americans weren’t sterilized because they were thought to be genetically unfit for reproduction. A woman gave birth as long as her body produced eggs.
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There is No HMonour, inL K?illing urdered for ove
By Thanya Mavish On the 21st of February 2018, the BBC released a programme called ‘Murdered for love? Samia Shahid’. The programmed followed the story of Samia, who was killed allegedly by her father and ex-husband on a trip to Pakistan. Samia’s crime? Marrying for love. Living a life undictated by her family. Being a normal 28-year-old. Her case has been labelled as an honour killing but what does this exactly mean? What is honourable about murder? To answer that bluntly, nothing. Honour based violence has become an unfortunate practise within, but not exclusive to, Asian communities. It is the act of harming or even killing a person for bring shame/dishonour upon their families. For these families’ honour is everything, it is the way they are seen in the wider community and the way they live their lives. The fate of their honour rest in the hands of the women in their lives. These women must conduct their lives according to traditionalist values. They must behave proper. They mustn’t interact with men from outside the family and god forbid if they marry for love like Samia did. Initially she had fulfilled her family’s wishes and married her cousin in Pakistan. Quickly realising the marriage was breaking down, she had gotten secretly divorced when she arrived back in the U.K.
relationship with her family meant Samia couldn’t truly be happy in Dubai, she was constantly worried about them. She decided to visit the U.K a few times to try and make amends with them. It seemed to be working. But one fateful phone call manipulated her into going to Pakistan, ultimately leading to her death. She was raped and strangled by her ex-husband after being given the get go by the man she thought would always love her, her father. How anyone can stand by and a watch an innocent person get murdered let alone a father watch the murder of his daughter, is well and truly beyond me. Unfortunately, in cases like this, it’s not uncommon. The perpetrators are usually people within the family. Shafilea Ahmed was suffocated by her father whilst her mother supplied the bags. Samaira Nazir, stabbed 18x by her brother and cousin whilst the rest of her family looked on. Banaz Mahmood, strangled, stuffed into a suitcase and shoved into an empty fridge by her father, uncle and cousin. That is to name but a few girls who have been victim to honour based violence. The term itself is romanticizing the act of murder. No matter what the motivation, murder is murder. The need to call them honour killings is unnecessary. By doing so it is almost justifying these heinous crimes and further feeding into the toxic mentality apparent in some families.
A little while after she met and fell in love with her 2nd husband, Mukhtar Kazim. Her family disapproved of Kazim as he wasn’t someone they had chosen for her. Samia decided to follow her heart and wed Kazim against her family’s wishes.
‘Murdered for love? Samia Shahid’ has brought these cases back to the forefront of our minds. Samia, Shafilea, Samaira and Banaz are a mere drop in the ocean of girls whose lives are held by a fine thread. Its reminded us that there are hundreds, thousands of girls conflicted by two paths of life.
The pair moved to Dubai where Kazim worked and started to live their lives as newlyweds. During this time, Samia’s relationship with her family had broken down. She had been cast out for marrying for love. The breakdown of her
One path leads them into a miserable, depressing life whilst the other results in their untimely death in the name of honour. There is no winning situation for them. They are killed in the name of honour, but there is no honour in killing.
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White Activism B I
and eing an ntersectional Ally
By Charlotte Winter On the 24th of March 2018, Selena Gomez was branded a hypocrite for using the ‘#notjustahashtag’ hashtag on her Instagram post, depicting her at a March For Our Lives rally, after she had previously mocked hashtag activism in relation to the Black Lives Matter movement. This sort of public outcry speaks back to a wider issue in society today that deals with errors of white activism, and constantly calls for the recognition and reassessment of racial privilege. White activism such as Gomez’s sees that the struggles of the white, cisgender population gain the most attention from the public and the media that largely ignores the plights of minorities. Instead, minority groups are asking those privileged members of society to check their privilege and become intersectional allies. Intersectionality is the political practise, closely linked with feminism, which seeks to illuminate
the ways in which dynamics of gender, race, and class are intertwined. Such a practise forces white people to recognise the ways in which they benefit from white privilege, and how this propagates the structural racism of society. American social activist bell hooks famously criticised the first- and second-wave feminist movements by pointing out their lack of intersectional inclusion, stating that white women must recognise their privilege as oppressors, as well as their position as oppressed, within society. In today’s society, the prevalence of white activism both inside and outside of feminist debates ignores the position of minority people within concurrent social issues. At the forefront of our current awareness lies the shooting and murder of black father Stephon Clark, alongside gun violence and school shootings such as the Mary Stoneman Douglas
massacre. Many now aim to highlight the ‘whiteness’ of the March For Our Lives movement in tandem to the constant outcry against gun violence from black communities and the BLM movement. Statistics show that 73% of the lives claimed by gun violence in America are black, and so now people ask why so many protestors did not turn up for the BLM Campaign Zero marches in 2013. This public questioning highlights the disparity in political movements today, and calls for intersectional alliances in place of white activism. How can those of us in privileged positions within society respond to this? By questioning our position of privilege, we have already made the first step; by understanding that your privilege affords you opportunities because of the colour of your skin is an immediate way to effect change and become an intersectional ally.
We must listen to minority voices as they seek to educate us on their struggles by engaging in conversations about race that make us uncomfortable. We must ask questions and know how to apologise on behalf of the mistakes we make in doing so. In order for these methods to be effective, we must be consistent with our support, and encourage others to do the same as ourselves. Historically, speaking for others mirrors linguistic imperialism that sought to eradicate native languages in favour of the language of the coloniser, and so we must recognise that there are social and political situations where our voices must not drown out those of minorities. Although allied voices are crucial for progression, by preventing the minimization of minority voices, we cease to permit oppression and instead help to enable the volume increase of the minority voice.
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Make Love Not Scars By Thanya Mavish In 2017 the U.K saw a rise in the number of acid attacks experienced across the country. The act itself is pretty self-explanatory, throwing acid at someone with the intent to harm. The concept itself is not a new one. Unfortunately, it’s something commonly known to certain South Asian countries. The motive for these uncalled acid attacks varies. In relation to the U.K. it is linked highly with gang violence whilst a small percentage is due to racial issues. Whilst in South Asian countries its usually linked with
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More and More Acid Attacks are happening Every Day Globally. It’s Important that Charities Exist so Victims Know they are Not Alone
honour based violence amongst other things. Both women and men are victims of acid attacks, they are left disfigured and forced to try and rebuild their lives. We are all quick to see them as victims and nothing else. But their lives must go on, they must now live every day with a constant reminder of what has happened to them. One can only imagine how they do so. A high profile U.K story from 2017 was that of Resham Khan and her cousin Jameel Mukhtar. The pair had been out celebrating Khans birthday in London and were waiting at a traffic light when
the attack happened. John Toplin threw acid through their car window before fleeing the scene. Both cousins suffered severed burns to their bodies and required plastic surgery. The story blew up as a manhunt for Toplin came underway, who eventually handed himself into a police station. That was no real motive for Toplins attack, with many citing it as a racial attack. Resham Khan and Jameel Mukhtar were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The case however started opening important conversations.
People started questioning how easy acid was to purchase and started to become more aware of how survivors were really affected by these attacks. Khan started a blog where she documented her recovery, both physically and mentally. There was a mass support over social media towards Khan, any applauding her bravery for telling her story and sharing her journey. With acid attacks its easy just to feel sympathy towards the victims but not really do anything about it. So what can be done? This is a question fashion student Ria
Sharma asked herself. In 2014, Sharma embarked on a journey to India to film a documentary around acid attack survivors for a university project. Little did she know this proejct would change her life. Being in these hospital wards and visiting the survivors enabled her to see first-hand the pain and suffering they had been put through. She felt like she only had two options, to go back to the comfort of her own life or try to help and make someone else’s life comfortable. She decided to go with the latter and set up a rehabilitation centre called ‘Make Love Not Scars’. It was the first rehabilitation centre in New Dehli, India. The aim of the centre was to help better the lives of the survivors, by not only helping them raise medical funds but helping them gain life skills through computer and English classes. In Pakistan, salon owner Mussarat Misbah helps survivors in similar way. In her salon not only does she train survivors but employs them too. These sorts of initiatives have helped change and
better the lives of so many surviors and these are the kind of things that we need to be reading about. The stories of these acid attack survivors remind us that there is a larger social and political issue that needs to be dealt with. But the story of these organisations reminds us that these survivors don’t need just our empathy, they want to change their lives. They want to be viewed as human beings and they want to be able to live normal lives.
Make
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The Witchcraft Routine
We Take a Look at the Historic Witchcraft Routines around Spain
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By Inka Margitta Piegsa-Quischotte Spain’s north eastern province of Navarra is deeply steeped in legends, myths and history about witches, sorcerers and black magic. During the 16th and 17th century, mountains, isolated villages, lack of education and contact with the outside world, as typical for Navarra, provided a fertile ground for superstitions. On the other hand, there were many wise women and men, who know about the healing properties of plants and herbs, brewed lotions and potions but were surrounded with an atmosphere of mystery. Although they did a lot of good, it was only a step from associating them with witchcraft, covens and black magic, aided by a good measure of malice and envy. At the same time, one of Spanish history’s darkest chapters, the Inquisition, raged across the North of the country. Anyone even remotely considered a heretic by the merciless inquisitors of the Catholic Church, with a center in Logroño, was arrested, tortured and many, ultimately, burnt at the stakes. The witchcraft route of Spain brings this
part of Spanish history to life by way of museums, events and even festivals. With Pamplona as a starting point, I made my way to the beautiful town of Baztan and from there to legendary Zagurramurdi. Still a small mountain village, it is the site of one of the most haunting museums to document the events and cruelties of the Inquisition. Located in a traditional house which once, according to local lore, belonged to a witch, you are received by the sound of desperate screams and lapping flames projected onto canvasses. Walking from exhibit to exhibit, there are reconstructions of cages in which the suspects were held, the offices of the inquisitors, implements of cauldrons, tables of healing plants and much more to project a vivid image. In the 16th century, nearly the entire population of Zugarramurdi, no more than 500 at the time, were arrested and dragged off to Logroño. Two huge pillars at the entrance carry the names and ages (from 6 to 80) of the unfortunate people, 11 of which ultimately were burnt. Denunciations
abounded, because those who could point a finger to others, could exonerate themselves and therefore be spared a terrible fate.
the inhabitants did not repent. The last witch of Trasmoz, la tia casca, was in fact killed by being thrown into a deep well as late as 1860.
Next door to the museums, a path leads along a small river towards a huge cave, where the witches and sorcerers, always according to legend, held their black Sabbaths, copulated with the devil and even offered human sacrifices.
In June, tiny Trasmoz triples its population with a colorful festival, with stalls selling potions and herbs, dances and reenactments of Inquisition proceedings.
During the summer, a festival is held in Zugarramurdi, where communal meals, cooked in the huge oven in the cave, are offered to the many interested visitors. There are many more places connected to witchcraft in Navarra, stretching from Sanguesa to Viana and Bargata.
Yet again another area which is full of tales and legends surrounding witches and the devil is the province of Galicia in the North. Anyone who is interested in this particular subject will find plenty of things to do and see in the northern part of Spain.
Another highly interesting place is the small village of Trasmoz, not in Navarra but in Aragon, reached from the medieval town of Tarrazona. Trasmoz is the only village in Spain which, to this day, remains excommunicated from the Catholic Church because of witchcraft. The huge castle was supposedly the seat of covens and
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E d i to r ’ s Choice
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Fighting the Rising Tid
Find Out
By Melissa Hobson
When David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II aired in October 2017, it opened many people’s eyes to the horrifying impact of plastic pollution on our oceans and inspired the nation to act before it’s too late.
empowering education initiatives and sustainable conservation methods has seen more than a 90% decline in manta and mobula ray sightings in southern Mozambique (according to data from 2003-2016).
According to the WWF, there was a 50% reduction in marine life between 1970 and 2012. Similarly, the Marine Megafauna Foundation - a charity dedicated to protecting endangered marine life through pioneering research,
Mariana Coelho, MMF’s Mozambique Country Director, said: “It’s so sad to see the destructive impact human activities - such as industrial overfishing, unintended bycatch, plastics and other pollution - can have on marine life. If we don’t act now, the oceans risk facing a ‘sixth mass extinction’ caused by humans so public support and action is vital in reversing this trend.” In response to overwhelming public demand - dubbed by some “The Blue Planet effect” - many companies are now trying to minimise their own impact: from this year, Waitrose will no longer offer disposable coffee cups, both the BBC and Sky have committed to removing single-use plastics from operation by 2020 and all McDonald’s packaging will be made from sustainable materials by 2025.
better waste management. This follows the success of 2015’s 5p plastic bag charge which has resulted in the purchase of single-use plastic bags falling by around 90%. According to Michael Gove, the UK’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the levy has “been one of the most popular taxes ever introduced by this Government - or indeed any government.” While the actions of large organisations can make a huge difference, you too can have a huge impact. So what can you do to help? Support marine conservation charities If you care about the ocean, pledge your support to a marine conservation NGO to help them continue doing their amazing work. For example, you could help the team at MMF by becoming a member, making a donation, taking part in a fundraising event or even volunteering.
Eat sustainable fish In a nutshell, we’re eating The UK government more fish than our oceans will spend £61.4m on can cope with - the stocks fighting plastic pollution of many species of fish have through research, curbing declined significantly and environmental pollution other sea creatures (like caused by manufacturing and turtles, dolphins and birds)
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de of Plastic Pollution
t
What You can do to Make a Difference to Sea Life Before it’s too Late are accidentally caught as part of the fishing process. You don’t necessarily need to give up seafood altogether but it’s crucial for us all to think more carefully about whether the types of fish we’re eating are responsibly sourced. Things like MSC’s blue fish label and the Good Fish Guide app are really helpful here. Buy a reusable plastic bottle (and
actually use it!) Globally, 20,000 single-use plastic bottles were sold per
second in 2016, according to the Daily Telegraph, and a recent survey for Keep Britain Tidy and BRITA revealed that only one in five people who own a reusable plastic bottle actually use them. If everyone used their bottles, rather than buying single-use, this would make a significant impact. Spread the word when you see #PointlessPlastic Greenpeace is calling on people to take and share photos of any excessive plastic packaging (such as clingfilmed coconuts and plastic-
wrapped cauliflower “steaks”) using the hashtag #PointlessPlastic to shine a light on ridiculous packaging. The charity says supermarkets are producing 800,000 tonnes of plastic every year! Say no to plastic straws This one’s pretty self explanatory - you just don’t need them!
Keep your beach clean It might sound pretty obvious to clean up after yourself but the amount of rubbish strewn across our beaches shows that lots of people are leaving litter behind. Take any rubbish with you after a day at the beach and, if you have time, you could even organise a beach cleanup event with your friends and family.
Result.
Buy a “keep cup” Not only are reusable coffee cups environmentally friendly and come in a range of awesome designs (classy William Morris Ecoffee Cup, anyone?) but many stores are now offering customers with reusable cups a discount on their coffee.
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The Art Of Tattoos “That’s not very lady like!”
By Maisie Hancox Tattoos used to be a taboo- you would associate them with the deviants of society. They were the symbol of rebellion, having something marked on your skin forever was completely alien to some people. In the past few years, this has really turned around with tattoos almost becoming a trend. In this article I’ll be exploring how peoples’ attitudes towards tattoos have changed, but also why there are still preconceptions about people with ink. Walking around Coventry’s Fargo Village, it’s alight with stores for the individuals who like to stray away from the mainstream. It’s home to a very popular Midlands tattoo parlour, The Drawing Room. A group of females head in my direction from a Vegan Restaurant, one of them has a whole arm covered in tattoos and is happy to talk about her experiences. “I love art and I think it’s a way to express yourself. I’m an art student, maybe one day I’ll train to do tattoos, I don’t know. But what I do know is I’ve never felt more comfortable about myself than I have since choosing each piece, each design. They all feel so personal to me and each one I slaved and saved for, so for myself it’s gratifying that I’ve got them.”
In an experiment, I decided to walk down my high street in clothes that expose my tattoos. My town is a very traditional and old values town, so I thought it would be interesting to see what people thought of my own tattoos. After what feels like a hundred shaken heads and tuts in the direction of my tattoo, somebody finally speaks to me. “Why do you have a dinosaur tattooed on your leg? That’s not very lady like.” I explained my reasons behind the tattoo and decided to ask why she thought tattoos were not ‘lady like.’ “Tattoos are butch. If you want to make yourself more masculine that’s fine but you won’t find a husband to stand by you in life. It’s just not feminine at all and I don’t understand why you would want to mark your body forever with a stamp that repulses people.” She was very heated about the subject, she even turned to her grandson and told him not to get them because she stated they were not ‘manly, just chavvy.’ A few minutes later as I walk past the church, a man and his wife come up to me.
“I’ve never had a tattoo from The Drawing Room, we mostly come here for Vegan food and there’s a festival on today, but I do love their stuff on Instagram. I think at some point I would love a lush tattoo from one of the artists at The Drawing Room, they looked really cool on insta and if I had the money I would of booked it.”
“I think it’s really disrespectful you are showing that off on church grounds.” I’m confused; my tattoo is of a Dinosaur with some flowers around it- it isn’t offensive in the slightest. When I explain I’m just walking past, his wife mutters something very offensive under her breath that has got me thinking, do tattoos really trigger these attitudes in people?
Instagram now has its own community of tattoo lovers and tattoo artists. In the past, Instagram has proven vital when it comes to promoting trends of change, for example, in 2015, we first saw the rise of motivated fitness fanatics creating a gap in the market for gym wear. Since 2016, Instagram has done wonders for the tattoo industry, with artists posting what tattoos are available and organising with clients over the social media site. What helps most is it creates an online portfolio of work for each artist, which proves helpful especially for apprentices training to be full time tattoo artists. Jack Norwood, a student from Coventry University has used Instagram to locate the best tattoo artists since he got his first tattoo.
My experiment was coming to a close, feeling like I have no answers behind people’s opinions on tattoos. I decided to ask around why people thought they were a negative thing.
“I love tattoos because they’re my way of expressing myself. They are my personal art collection; they also help with my body confidence. I feel I love myself more putting quality art that is reflective of myself onto my skin.” “I think Instagram is definitely showing people that tattoos are unique and no one is the same, you can travel around for a tattoo that suits you and you don’t just have to go to your local tattoo shop where the style may not be your style.”
James Rowe, a local college student says, “It’s not that people think they are a negative thing. It’s just it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I wouldn’t judge someone with a tattoo but I do think there are preconceptions about professionalism and respect for your body with them. I think people think if you get a tattoo and you are willing to put yourself through that pain, that there must be something wrong with you. But I think that preconception comes from when tattoos were first around, people would get them for gang symbols and for dominance in back street tattoo places and although that has changed, people haven’t kept up with the fact it’s changing.” So tattoos can be wonderful things, a sign of confidence and happiness within themselves for some, but for others, it’s still a sign of deviance and rebellion. In time, these attitudes might change as society’s values are fluid, forever changing. But in the meantime, we can just look at how the trend is flowing through platforms on social media.
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Espionage Acts in By Ashleigh Henry The Oxford dictionary of English describes the act of espionage as “the practice of spying or using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information.” Since childhood we have all been told that lying is wrong and “nobody likes a snitch.” However as we grow up we realise that the world is a complicated place and nothing is black and white.
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Recently a film concerning this very topic was released, ‘The Post’ this film slightly went under the radar at the Academy Awards, due to better-marketed films. However the issues explored in the film are of great
importance. The film details the events of The Pentagon Papers. These were a set of documents that spanned four presidents and demonstrated Nixon’s corrupt approach to the Vietnam War. Realistically Nixon is a criminal, he sent thousands of young men to war, knowing full well that he was sending them to their deaths. He would rather let innocent men die, than admit defeat and lose the war. These acts were futile, Vietnam was a war that accomplished very little but contained uncountable sacrifice. The decision to leak the Pentagon Papers was a huge decision
resting on the publisher Katharine Graham and the editor Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post. However, the papers were obtained by a former employee of RAND (a cooperation funded by the U.S. government, providing research and analysis for the armed forces) named Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg made photocopies of the Pentagon Papers in 1969. The main scandal of the papers involved the Vietnam War. The war had already been going on for 14 years, and by the end of 1968, resulted in just over, an estimated 30,000 deaths. The papers revealed many distressing
facts about the US presidents and showed ultimately that the current president, Richard Nixon knew he was sending young men into a battle that the U.S. had no chance of winning. In 1973 Ellsberg was threatened by a 115-year sentence under the Espionage Act of 1917. He openly surrendered stating, “I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in concealing this information from the American public.” Due to a reputable lawyer in his defence, and the illegal means in which Ellsberg’s acts were discovered - through wiretapping
the United States “Nobody Likes a Snitch!”
- all charges were dropped. Now, many Americans consider Ellsberg a hero, just as many people see Nixon as a villain. However today there have been similar cases in America of leaked information, and the people who are the cause are not treated with the same sympathy. It makes one wonder why one act of ‘espionage’ is acceptable and another is a crime. Edward Snowden was charged in 2013 violating the same act as Ellsberg, the ‘Espionage Act of 1917.’ However Snowden has not really been seen in the same way. He decided to flee the country and is
now living in Russia trying to seek asylum elsewhere. Joe Biden pubically spoke out against Snowden and even made it clear to some countries, that if they gave him asylum that would affect the relationship between their country and USA. The main revelation of the documents that Snowden released was that the NSA the ‘National Security Agency’ was spying on people in a 1984 fashion. American citizens were disgraced and shocked to discover that their web data and phone calls and daily lives were being scrutinised. To me it seems that the American government is more
afraid of disgrace on their nation than caring about the wellbeing and happiness of their citizens. However that does not mean Snowden is excused. This issue simply becomes problematic as can one act of espionage be moral and another be immoral? The facts as well are, that some people cannot handle the truth, after all ignorance is bliss. Ultimately I agree with Ellsberg’s point in an interview when he ultimately made it clear that a very special type of person is needed for those kinds of positions. You have to be ok with lying, you have to be ok with keeping
secrets from even your closest family and friends and you have to be ok with the dark and sometimes bad things that the government is doing. I ultimately do think that it is a crime, and some Information should not be made accessible to the general public. However I think that the American government should not be taking the crimes more seriously than they take issues of murder or terrorism. With regards to the press, I believe that the press should always be allowed to publish any documents that they receive, rightly or wrongly.
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Male Empowerment By Emily Stephens Today, there are more campaigns calling for body positivity than ever before. With eating disorders and self-harm amongst teenagers being at an all time high, it is important to acknowledge that not all, but a lot of these issues stem from low self esteem and body confidence. In a world so obsessed with how many followers we have, or how many likes and comments we get on a picture, who can be surprised that these illnesses are affecting more and more people? There is already an enormous amount of pressure on young people, as they are going through changes with their bodies, emotions and hormones, which in itself is a lot to deal with. Do they really need the pressure to conform and fit in on top of it? With the likes of Instagram and Snapchat, it is harder than ever before to conform, as it seems as though if you don’t get a certain amount of likes on a selfie, there is something wrong with the way you look. Upon searching for body confidence images, and after scrolling for a few minutes, it became clear to me that all the images were of
Why are we so Scared of it?
women. There was nothing about empowering men, and body positivity for males coming up at all. In a society that is supposed to empower everyone, how could we be so inconsistent with who we are promoting body positivity for? For many, when they think of an eating disorder, they think of a young girl, refusing to eat and looking merely like a walking skeleton, however they fail to realize that the harsh reality is, somewhere, a male is feeling so low about his body, that he is spiraling into depression, an eating disorder, self harm and suicide attempts. Where are all the positive and empowering posts to help him? Figures show that in the last six years, the number of men being admitted to hospital with an eating disorder has risen by 70%. The rate of increase was slightly higher among older men, at 70% for the 41-60 age group, and 67% in the 26-40 category, and 63% among 1925 year olds. Alongside this, steroid use among young people quadrupled. If you are a Corrie fan, you will know that the soap is exploring a storyline with
Robert Preston, a character who recently suffered from testicular cancer, and sadly had to have a testicle removed. He is now suffering with his body image and self worth, and has therefore turned to steroids to make him feel somewhat like the man he used to be. This just highlights the pressure that men face to conform to certain body ideals. The difference is, where are the body positive campaigns and posts for them to show that all body types are okay? We see hundreds for women, but never any for men. Surely at a time where more and more men are suffering with eating disorders, there should be something done about it. New body confidence campaigns are emerging every day, but they are all around women. However, men are seen to be weak when opening up abut issues and struggles, especially surrounding mental health and body image, but it’s time that the stigma was broken down, and we are empowering men just as much as we empower women, to ensure that all men know they are valued and that there is nothing wrong with the way that they look.
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Yoga and Meditation: Exercise or
We Take a Look at the Benefits of Yoga and Med
By Cassandra Wiley
Many people see yoga as a way to relax or as a form of exercise; they may take a class or do it solo in the mountains. They can practice yoga in their home watching a video. If you enjoy cardiovascular workouts, exercises that allow you to lose body fat, yoga is not for you. Yoga has become increasing popular in the past 5 years. Many gyms have
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an entire studio devoted to yoga. There are some fantastic photos on Instagram of various yoga poses. In addition to yoga, meditation is also a way that people relieve stress. But what purpose does yoga and meditation really serve? The goddess pose in yoga or utkata konosana from the Sanskrit, meaning “wild, frightening, above the usual, intense, gigantic,
furious, or heavy” and “posture” or “seat”. There are other poses such as the sun salutation and moon salutation. Sun salutations are said to allow for the opportunity to “give gratitude to the sun for its life giving light”. Sun worship goes back to ancient Babylon with Nimrod and the construction of the Tower of Babel.
would worship on “Sun-day” or sun worship. Many people believe that the Sabbath day is Sunday, but it is the seventh day of the week, which is Saturday. ‘The Kundalini spirit is part of yoga; however, many participants do not realize it.
The illusion is that it can offer peace, healing, visions, and dreams. It is a The idea was to set spirit, indeed, but is it a demonic one. up false religions It is a supernatural in which people
r a Gateway to the Spirit World?
ditation, and
Whether there’s Something more to them than Exercise and Relaxation
force that can overtake you. Many eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, practice yoga and meditation. In Hinduism, they worship many gods, teaching about a higher level of consciousness and your third eye. The third eye is the gate to your higher power. Many New Age religions such as these teach that
you can become a god or be godlike. However, many people that are part of Christianity practice yoga. Does that mean that they have a kundalini spirit?
You’re also inviting them into your home and every aspect of your life. When you mediate or channel energy, you do it in order to gain something, like power.
Yoga, in fact, does not mesh with the Most High God. Demonic spirituality is not the same as the Holy Spirit.
Demons can use this energy to travel from person to person, placeto-place, or even into objects. When you’re performing certain yoga poses, you are aligning yourself with certain deities. This will become very
When you practice yoga, you’re allowing evil spirits or demons to take over your body.
dangerous in the long run. In conclusion, Yoga is a New Age deception. One believes that they are gaining peace and healing when in reality, they are channeling dark forces. If you’re looking for healing, there are other alternatives such as herbal remedies. Before you sign up for a yoga class please consider the after effects.
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The Power of Protest (Sometimes, Pictures are more Powerful than Words)
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Editorial Team
Contributors
Opaque Magazine Birmingham West Midlands United Kingdom 07712213745 Editor in Chief: Emily Stephens
Zurraq Khan
Latasha Ford
Creative Director: Emily Stephens Deputy Creative Director: Zurraq Khan Production Manager: Emily Stephens
Lulua Maimoon
Ashleigh Henry
Cassandra Wiley
Thanya Mavish
Maisie Hancox
Katy Jalili
Adverising Production: Sinade Prosser Senior Contributor: Latasha Ford Social Media Manager: Emily Stephens Deputy Social Media Manager: Zurraq Khan Proofreader: Jessica Shirley Printers: BG Printers 688 Aldridge Road Birmingham B44 8NJ
And... Inka
Front Cover Photographer: Henri Meilhac Publishers: Coventry University
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Holly McLaren
Melissa Hobson Margitta Piegsa-Quischotte Charlotte Winter Sue King Joyline Maenzanise Kinnari Rathod
Photo Credits Front Cover: Henri Meilhac Page 2: Sinade Prosser, Fabulous Collections Page 7: Diana Ross - Upside Down Page 8: Sandra Chile Pages 10-11: Ian Dooley Pages 12-13: EMI Page 15: Olly Alexander - Tom Jamieson for The New York Times Gaga - Inez and Vinoodh Adam Ant - Adam and the Ants, Prince Charming Rupaul - Rupaul Charles Culture Club - Culture CLub Official Pages 16-17: Modzik Magazine Page 18: The Sunday Times Page 20: alex6730 - Unsplash Page 23: Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post Pages 25-25: Christian Sterk Page 28: Steinar Engeland Pages 30-31: Loic Djim Page 32:
Sue King Pages 34-35: Sam Burris
Page 65: Alesia Kazantceva
Page 36: Lyndsey Marie
Page 67: GreenPeace The Daily Mail Adolfo Felix
Page 38 & Back Cover: Elise Rose
Pages 68-69: Grace Madeline
Page 40: Georgie Cobbs
Page 70: Ambivalently Yours Dressmann
Page 43: Arisa Chassata Page 44: JC Gellidon Page 46: Viktor Jakovlev Pages 48-49: Keith Allison Donald Barnat Womens NBA Pages 50-51 Ravi Sharma Page 53: JD Mason Page 54: Cassandra Wiley Pages 56-57: Newsline Magazine Page 58: Heather Mount Page 60: Make Love not Scars Foundation Pages 62-63: Inka Margitta PiegsaQuischotte Miranda Wipperfurth
Pages 74-75: Matthew Kane Pages 76-77: Roya Ann Miller Pages 80-81: Heather Mount Page 78: The Climate Reality Project Pages 82-83: Heather Mount Pages 84-85: Roya Ann Miller Pages 86-87: Monica Melton Pages 88-89: Clem Onojeghuo Pages 90-91: Samantha Sophia Pages 92-93: Vlad Tchompalov Pages 94-95: Nitish Meena Pages 96-97: Monica Melton
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