#ENDURANCEIssue

evolve.

#ENDURANCEIssue

to our staff.

stay hungry.

It

is with the heaviest heart that I write my final letter to you. Truly, how could it be that time has flown this fast? It seems like just yesterday I was criss-cross-applesauce, ripping out pages of magazines and trying to convince everyone around me that this wasn’t just a shot-gun dream. Four issues later, I am so happy to say it wasn’t.

The past three issues of evolve showed me a lot of interesting things about myself-- from my insatiable need to control every aspect of something I love, to the bare, animalistic desire I hold to succeed, evolve was more helpful to me than any number of books or therapist ever could hope to be.

We’ve noted many follies of the human condition in the past three web issues, tossed over stones of uncertainty, sat with defeat in the great open, and pushed ourselves to think beyond what we see on the surface. I say this because there is nothing more important than the journey of getting where you want to go, of driving through the thick of it all and knowing that you can survive past the point of doubt.

And when I note the tiresome feeling of doubt, I mean it in its fullest extent. The possibility of a print issue was so far out of my mind that it seemed like a distant, forgotten dream. Doubt crawled into my veins as if it was a cuffing ghost, shackling me and carrying my intuition to a dark place that resembled

a disappointing ending to a movie with too much potential.

I realized that I had lost my intuition last Fall, in the middle of our #DISRUPTIONissue. Nothing was exciting me, impressing me, lighting a fire in this coffee-stained, cheezit coated stomach of mine. So, I decided to turn back inside where I found something quite compelling. For the whole lot of us, despite status, age, race, gender, we have this gaping hole in our heart of which we fill with quirky personal things. For me, it fills up with classic rock and horribly crude humor, seals over with books and the second to last season of Game of Thrones, and shines off by the trusty oils of good friendships and indulgent food. It is what gives us this sense of self that is unique to our own being, it is this thing inside of us that pushes us to endure.

So, I will leave you with this: be good, but be strong.

Stay in your lane, stick to your guns, but always look next to you to see who can keep up. Keep them close, learn from them, and hold them to the highest level of respect.

Do not lose faith in the part of you that is so inexcusably your own it almost seems laughable. Let your guard down when your heart is pounding to get out of that cage you built and let it cling to the person, place, or thing it yearns for.

And finally, stay hungry, stay foolish, and stay wild.

Editor in chief

Editor in chief Kendall Rotar Kendall is a Senior at Florida State and this is her fourth issue as the Editor in chief of evolve. magazine. She started evolve with a mission to create cultural change to media in hopes of shifting the mass conversation about social issues to a more intellectual and impactful narrative. She found inspiration in her writing from authors like Joan Didion, James Baldwin, and Margaret Atwood. She finds #ENDURANCE from her friendships, her staff, and people who push her to be better.

Fashion Editor Serena Lemand Serena LeMand is a Junior at FSU double majoring in marketing and management information systems. Though she studies in the business school, she is passionate about fashion and haute couture. This is her second issue as evolve’s Mode Editor, and she’s been working with evolve. since she was forever inspired

by Kendall’s incredible mission to invoke a cultural change, especially through fashion. Serena finds #ENDURANCE in her own mission to encourage her readers to push past the boundaries of what they think is ‘trending’ in fashion, and to make their own trends through their own personal, creative style.

Trends Editor Riley Giberson Riley is a sophomore at FSU majoring in accounting. She has served two terms of being the Evolve financial director and has had the opportunity to become the first ever Trends Editor for Evolve. She has a passion for classic rock, fashion, politics, and creating humor in all situations. She finds comfort in writing both creative and commentary style writing; and sleeps peacefully knowing it is possible to be both funny and profound. Riley finds #ENDURANCE in her struggles and in encouraging others to find their voices, whether it be their political voice or their voice of self reflection. She believes we are nothing without our weaknesses, because they help us find our strengths.

Humor Editor Dakota Kershaw Dakota is a senior at Florida State. He has been with evolve. as it’s Conceptual Director and staff writer since it’s start. He hopes everyone gets to appreciate all the beauty and unique voices that went into the making of this issue. Dakota describes his writing style as, “delivering unsolicited advice that is equal parts concise and scathing”. Dakota finds inspiration from the horrors he witnesses in his daily life that he complains about incessantly.

ENDURANCE

#ENDURANCE Writers

ENDURANCE

Commentary Editor Jennifer Hopkins Jennifer is a Senior at Florida State University and evolve’s first Creative Commentary Editor. Her mission is to embody the expression of personal narrative and freedom in thought, creativity, and perspective while combating the usual structure of how stories are typically told. She believes in the creative strength of each individual author that has something genuine and impactful to say. Inspired by her peers, she works harder because of those who are authentically passionate, not only in their expression but in their existence. Jennifer finds #ENDURANCE in her pursuit of achieving more, embracing the world and its complexities, and striving to express and mold intangible ideas into a tangible reality.

Staff Writer Cailin Kaklamanos Cailin is a sophomore at Florida State majoring in editing, writing, and media.

This is her second issue with evolve. magazine. Cailin has had an interest in art and fashion ever since she can remember. She joined evolve. to grow more creatively and as a writer. She finds #ENDURANCE through the evolve. team who is constantly inspiring her, music, and her friends and family.

Staff Writer Melek Turkmen Melek is a sophomore at Florida State, this is Melek’s first issue with evolve. magazine. Despite being a business major, Melek has had a passion for writing since middle school. She wanted to be apart of an organization that served as an outlet for her to express her opinions and find creativity. She finds #ENDURANCE through artistic outlets like music and fashion that inspire her to continuously grow as a person.

Staff Writer Danielle Richardson Danielle is a Junior at Florida State, and this is her first issue as a writer for Evolve magazine. As an English major, she has always had a passion for writing and using it as a tool to spread awareness and share opinions. This is what prompted her to join Evolve, as it is a platform that’s very open to diverse viewpoints. Writers such as Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, and Nicola Yoon are her inspirations. She finds #ENDURANCE through various forms of storytelling and the love and support of her family and four best friends.

Staff Writer James Hurley James Hurley is a 2nd year student at FSU studying Journalism and French. He is a double gemini and loves to dance, party, and look good while doing it. He has a passion for all things artsy and tries his best to be trendy and unpredictable. He has a passion for writing and wants to share his little nuggets of thoughts with all.

Follow him at @jimmy_hurley for fun quirky relatable kontent.

Julian Randall

PHOTOGRAPHER

Randall is a first year member of evolve.

His work for our magazine can be seen in our Mode section where he was able to highlight the intricacy of detail in jewels for Nepotism and in our Trends section where he focused on portrait images in natural lighting.

His attention to detail and extreme dedication to help make this magazine was unmatched.

View more photography of his own, like the one to the left at his website: julianrandallphoto.com

Esper Supplice Model

Austin Shaw

HEAD OF PHOTO

Shaw is a third year member of evolve.

As head of photography, he has worked on all three issues of evolve. His work for this issue can be found on our cover and “theme� section where he was able to turn a normal bathtub into a water oasis.

He can also be found in our Mode and Sound sections where he was able to work with natural lighting to create interesting, inviting images for each shoot.

His help with getting our magazine off the ground and constant dedication to getting the job done makes evolve possible every year.

To view more of his work check out our last three issues on our website at www. evolvemagazine.online.

Ours is the god who only got the job because his brother runs several successful universes.

T.J. Kirk

James Hurley Staff Writer Julian Randall Photographer Elizabeth Gjergji Model Elle Mariano Model

3

mode.

d o o g e h T d a b e h T

ul if ut a e b The nepotism (noun): the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.

Nepotism is a big buzz word in the modeling and fashion industry of today. With huge names such as Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber, and the Hadid Sisters, family legacies and power seems to have a huge weight on the current it-girls of the industry. But this new-wave hit of near-royal societies elite coming into the modeling industry isn’t new either, nor will it really ever fade away! While the issue isn’t clear cut good or bad, everyone has an opinion somewhere on the spectrum when it comes to the ideas of nepotism because who doesn’t love investing their lives in the lives of others?

It’s also interesting to take a look at how nepotism came about in the fashion industry and how these names have become a part of the current fashion rulebooks.

To be completely honest, I wholeheartedly love Bella Hadid, I think she is fantastic and honestly if I could be best friends with one person, oh my baby Jesus I would love to go horseback riding with Bella while gossiping about kombucha and The Weekend. Putting aside my sheer love for the younger Hadid, she didn’t have to go on the grind to get where she is today, but that’s just what makes the world of fashion nepotism so interesting- Bella Hadid is gorgeous and I think an objectively great model, but she got where she is from her older sister and the name power of “Hadid”.

Nepotism isn’t new in the world of fashion, in fact, before the model boom of the 80’s and 90’s with new super stars such as Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Cin-

dy Crawford, and Tyra Banks strutting down the runway, there were seeds of nepotism planted with young royals and famous children (Such as Isabella Rossellini, daughter of Ingrid Bergman) taking the cake from these working models. It’s only because we see the lasting impact of the fresh new models do, we seem to think this name-dropping is a new issue. It’s not even just a model problem, Stella McCartney, one of the most known British designers is child of Paul McCartney! In fact, you could maybe think that it’s in fact the resurgence of couture in the 80’s that seemed to put a foot on nepotism neck as new designers such as Karl Lagerfeld or Alexander McQueen started their own lines and heading design for other iconic fashion houses in conjunction with the birth of the “supermodel”.

I’m not necessarily saying whether nepotism is inherently bad or good for the fashion industry, but rather look into the intricacies of nepotism in the world of social media, and just how some people think it stifles creativity in the arts, fashion, and leaves no room for fresh new ideas from unknowns around the world.

When it comes to the general dissent of these famous models, there tends to be a model always at the end of the barrel: Kendall Jenner. Miss KJ is no stranger to the limelight, being the youngest of the powerful and beautiful Kardashian/Jenner clan. Her rise as a supermodel was so sudden and came out of nowhere almost: she was tall, pretty, famous, and therefore could easily throw herself into the industry.

To date, Kendall is the current highest paid model in the industry, and her name for sure has some weight in this title. Jenner is also not a stranger to controversy, but while most of her famous controversies can be bundled into different realms, one re-sparked the discussion of nepotism and its arguably problematic place in the career (For being the highest paid model, she also seems to be highly un-liked by certain groups on social media and the public despite her meteoric power).

In 2018, Kendall was quoted saying: “Since the beginning we’ve been super selective about what shows I would do, I was never one of those girls who would do, like, 30 shows a season or whatever the f--k those girls do. More power to ’em”.

This quote instantly went viral and Kendall received huge amounts of backlash for saying how oh so se-

7

lective she was and how unstoppable and she didn’t have to constantly be working. Models everywhere sent responses to Kendall calling her out for not really knowing what the modeling industry was like with the constant working, booking, running from show-toshow and just the generally chaos of the career. While, I agree that the backlash was warranted, there’s one problem: the quote that went around cut out the final “More power to ‘em.”. This changes the whole quote, arguably saying that Jenner does in fact understand what it’s life for most models. Nonetheless, Jenner was the catalyst for a conversation that is highly talked about in the world of today’s fashion, as designers, current and past models, all start voicing their opinions.

I’ve already gushed about my love for Bella Hadid, in fact I will again: I want to take grainy selfies whilst wearing Prada sunnies with Bella, and god damn will I try to do so. But, she’s Bella Hadid! Sister of another world-famous supermodel Gigi Hadid! They didn’t really have to work a single day to get to where they are because of that diamond studded last name. Her father is one of the biggest real estate moguls in the United States, her mother Yolanda is a famous model and was one of the stars of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Similar to Kendall, they were born famous and used the power the carried to get to where they are now, already being several steps ahead of new models and established models solely because the following they carry. The Hadid’s have an interesting place in the world

of nepotism because to the current millennial or GenZ’er we don’t really associate Yolanda or Mohamed as being super celebrity parents. We’ve acclimated to the fact they’re famous and beautiful and that’s a fact we don’t care about- we’ve accepted them into our fashion canon.

In contrast, there is still a constant and steady stream of new-names and fresh faces in the modeling industry as we see the rise of both the Instagram model and just how social media can create supermodels in a way we’ve never seen before. Names such as Duckie Thot, Slick Woods, Winnie Harlow, and Adwoa Aboah are popping up like beautiful wildflowers alongside these already deep-rooted family names. These new icons are growing just as fast thanks to social media and celebrity endorsement: many of the new it-girls are popping up because of their role in the boom that is FENTY Beauty, earning them Rihanna’s approval and worldwide fame.

Nepotism is here to stay, and that’s just something we’re going to have to accept as consumers as having a powerful name or shiny keychain of connections is an asset that is still valued in the market and won’t be something, we get rid of in the near future. But as social media and new models start blowing up all over the internet, it’ll be interesting to see where the fashion industry will go in terms of models and creators.

We’re getting new creative and fresh ideas and faces and there’s one thing that is for certain: the royals of the industry will have to start working harder to keep their given thrones as young stars start shining.

Serena Lemand Fashion Editor Austin Shaw Photographer Elizabeth Gjergji Model Franni Fuentes Model

seasons of growth

A

s winter slowly but surely turns into spring, we can’t help but think about change. From my own experience, with each new season comes a different type of change. When summer fades into fall, my warm, easy going July weekdays change into cooler days spent thinking about classes and studying. And when winter ends and spring brings out all of the beautiful flowers, I think about changes to come when school ends and summer adventures begin.

As the seasons have shown us, change is inevitable.

When a new season comes around, we acknowledge the changes in weather, and we alter our lifestyles accordingly. We have learned to embrace change in order to grow.

But now it is time for us to acknowledge a new season: A season of growth.

I’m not talking about growth in nature, but instead, a lifestyle growth. For years now, we heard about the horrible impacts of fast fashion. But what have we, more specifically, you, done to make a change in the way you consume and dispose of fashion?

This new season has been on the horizon for years.

I think it is safe to say that we all know that when we shop at Forever 21 or Zara, we aren’t doing it because it is good for the environment, but because we can get a tube top for $6. We put aside the negative thoughts about the production of their clothes, their treatment of their garment factory workers, and the millions of pounds of waste that they produce each year, all because we want that cheap tube top.

But, maybe we need to start paying attention to these facts about fast fashion and start to think about making real lifestyle changes.

Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India are all known to be the cheapest countries to produce clothes. Bangladesh has over 3,000 factories, with over 4 million people working these factories for less than 40 cents an hour.

For many fast fashion companies, their clothing is produced in these factories and sweatshops, allowing them to produce additional collections of clothing throughout the year with little extra investment.

Almost six years ago in Bangladesh, the eight-story

Rana Plaza retail and apparel manufacturing complex, who produced clothes for brands such as The Children’s Place, Mango, and Joe Fresh, crumbled. This catastrophe injured 2,500 and killed more than 1,100. It was the deadliest garment industry accident in modern history.

What is even more tragic is the fact that this could have been easily prevented.

Cracks in the building were reported days before the collapse, and reports were even made by industrial police to request the evacuation of the building until an inspection had been conducted. It’s also interesting to note that one of the engineers of the building visited the site, declared the building unsafe, and requested public authorities to conduct a more thorough inspection, but then helped the owner illegally add three floors.

These companies who used the factory to produce their clothes were not paying any attention to the welfare of the garment workers. To them, the reward of being able to produce more clothing for less, outweighs the risk of the safety of their garment workers.

Fast fashion not only tends to ignore social responsibility, but also the environment. The fashion industry is the second largest industrial polluter, with the first being the oil industry. Fast fashion companies favor using synthetic fibers such as polyester or nylon. Polyester is so popular because it is cheap, versatile, and has wrinkle-free properties. Because this is a synthetic petroleum-based fiber, this fabric could take up to a thousand years to biodegrade. This is scary when over 70 million barrels of oil are used to make polyester every single year.

Plastic microfibers shed from clothes that are made from those synthetic materials and, according to new research from Plymouth University, washing clothes made of these materials releases 700,000 tiny plastic fibers into the environment for each 13 pound load of laundry washed.

All this being said, it’s very clear that fast fashion is bad, and change is long overdue. But the blame isn’t all on these companies. Globally, we now consume about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year—400% more than we were consuming just two decades ago.

It’s time for us to start holding ourselves, and our shopping habits, accountable.

Sustainable fashion is on the rise, people, get with

the program. Sustainable fashion brands have been around for decades, but fast fashion brands have been overpowering them with their cheaper prices and wide range of collections. It seems that we are demanding so much from fashion brands today, that we pay no attention to brands who can’t keep up with the cost of labor and production.

Changing our perspective on fashion can end this cycle. Clothing should be purchased to wear and to last.

When we stop wearing our clothes, we need to sell them or give them away, rather than throw them in the trash to be added to waste in a landfill.

To help in the fight to reduce waste, help our environment, and decrease the demand for cheaper labor, we need to be conscious of the materials that brands are using and where their clothing is produced. When a brand is transparent about their production process, this emphasizes that they are socially responsible and environmentally conscious.

One argument against buying sustainable fashion is the price. The media often praises environmentally friendly fashion designers such as Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood. But these price tags don’t really fit the average college student’s budget.

Online shopping is addicting, and cheap options like Nasty Gal and Zara make it simple for us. There is a desperate need for a lower-priced sustainable brand for us all to worship, but for now, there are a handful of great online sustainable fashion brands.

People Tree creates beautiful clothing that women can wear all year round using fair trade practices and eco-friendly and organic fabrics. Their items can be expensive, but the sale section is where you can find all of the great deals.

Everlane sells ethically made and affordable basics that you can rock in any season. If you’re looking for a brand that will give you your sustainable fashion starter pack, look at Everlane.

Even some fast fashion companies like H&M are catching on, and are working on sustainable initiatives.

H&M recently released their H&M Conscious Exclusive collection, made from sustainable or recycled materials. H&M has been public about their goals to become a more sustainable brand in order to promote an environmentally conscious lifestyle, even saying, “Showing that sustainable fashion has a place on both the red carpet as well as a natural part of our day-to-day lives is just one of the ways in which we are pushing the development forward towards a more sustainable fashion future”.

Thrifting is an easy way to be sustainable with your fashion. By thrifting, you’re not only giving that piece of clothing a whole new life; you’re choosing to end the cycle of fast fashion. Rather than going online and ordering a new bag from Amazon, you can stop by the closest thrift store and get something not only cheap, but vintage.

Selling clothes is on the rise. Poshmark, Tradesy, Curtsy, the list goes on and on. These apps make it easy for us to recycle our clothes. You can instantly become a #GirlBoss, simply by selling your closet and making some extra money.

What we wear matters to us. As lovers of fashion, what we wear matters quite a bit. Instead of trying to keep up with trends by giving into the deadly fashion fashion cycle, we need to start making our own trends, and shop purposefully.

Spring is here, and so is a season of growth. It is time for a season of not just changing how we shop, but a season of growth in the way we think about fashion and its impact on our environment. As consumers, we are driving demand. And now it’s our responsibility to drive change throughout the fashion industry.

Will you join us?

editorial.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS YOUR V ICE MATTERS YOUR VOICE MAT TTERS YOUR VOICE MATTERSY UR VOICE MATTERS YOUR VOIC MATTERS YOUR VOICE MATTER YOUR VOICE MATTERS YOUR V ICE MATTERSYOUR VOICE MAT ERSYOUR VOICE MATTERS YOU R VOICE MATTERSYOUR VOICE MATTERSYOUR VOICE MATTER YOUR VOICE MATTERS YOUR V ICE MATTERS YOUR VOICE MAT TTERS YOUR VOICE MATTERSY YOUR VOICE MATTERS.

Don’t be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible. Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more, until the day you die, world without end, amen.

G. Saunders

20

stated.

OUR HEROES #CANCELLED

Riley Giberson Trends Editor

L

ike most, I’ve experienced heartbreak several times, but nothing ever hit me as hard as when the man I loved the most, hurt me twice. John Lennon broke my heart on two separate occasions. Once when I found out he died 19 years before I was born (12-year-old me was very unsettled I had an exactly 0 percent chance of marrying my favorite rock star.) The second time was when I realized he was a complete prick and everything I ever thought was a lie.

It’s no secret that younger girls tend to go through a “band phase” where they obsess over musicians they’ll never meet and fill their heads with daydreams about their heroes. I was no different, except my rock star of choice was a little outdated.

Despite my idol of choice not being very current, John Lennon influenced me in major ways. Before I knew about politics, I swore up and down, left and right, that I was a republican. I loved God, I loved my country, and most importantly, my dad told me we were.

John Lennon is the one who really introduced me to pol-

itics, along with many other dead rock stars that would make this article too long to read if I listed them. If you are not familiar with the Beatles, they created hippy-dippy sounding songs in the 60s and preached a lot about love and peace. When you’re 14, peace and love is like “oooh, yes! I want that for the world!.” Because, I mean, who doesn’t?

But, John Lennon took this a lot further and wrote “Imagine” which is often used as an anthem for peace, change, anti-war sentiments, etc. The lyrics of “Imagine” include things like “Imagine there’s no Heaven…” and “living with no possessions, it isn’t hard to do…”

I was inspired by John Lennon because I did not realize that I could question God, I could question society, I could question morals, ultimately, I could question anything I wanted to. I became interested in politics because I liked that politics was about questions. What is the best way to do something? How will we do it? Does it work?

I started to look at the world with an introspective view and began to formulate my own opinions on issues I previously thought to be decided for me. I can thank Lennon for helping me open my mind to a world where I can question and grow.

Except truthfully, John Lennon was kind of the worst.

He had a history of domestic violence, heavy drug use, aggressive behavior, and was often a negligent father.

Despite his apologies for these things, they are not things that are always forgivable.

Writing this was a struggle. It feels like I am finally waving my white flag, admitting my wrongs. In this moment of weakness, however, I still feel a lot of strength.

This needs to be said because I feel currently, a lot of people may be struggling with this issue and may not even be aware enough of it to consider the problem an “issue.”

I might have found my passion for politics and knowledge when I was in the middle of my obsession with Lennon, and he might have done me a favor by voicing some ideas, but he didn’t create them. Words do not live and die with people, they’re forever.

A pattern we see trending right now is everyone’s always looking for a champion. Someone that can perfectly match their ideals and stand up to those in power. We, as young people, want people to be perfect, so we build up these stars until something is unearthed.

A cheating scandal, an old tweet, a private video, anything that contradicts how our new champion is living their current life.

Anyone remotely involved in social media understands the term “canceled.” It means over, done with, next. Usually, this occurs when someone well-known says something that surprises or pisses a lot of people off. That person is from then on “canceled.”

Sometimes, it’s completely necessary. In 2019 we have no room for anybody inviting racism, sexual violence, transphobia, homophobia, islamophobia, into the world. However, we often see people rise to a little bit of fame, and then fall. And on their way down, their ideas and words (even the good ones!) are taken down with them.

People are not all or nothing. In all of us, there is a duality. This may be shocking but hear me out: good people are capable of doing and saying bad things, and the opposite is also true. Our experiences with people are not universal, and we don’t know the lives people live before we meet them, or even when we are not physically with them.

Realizing this is scary, thinking about how if the people we surround ourselves with are “good” or “bad.”

Or when we start to think of ourselves in the same way.

A bad person can say something good, and this doesn’t

mean we should be quick to forgive them or justify their actions. We can say “nice” and move on, wrongs don’t erase rights, but rights do not erase wrongs, either.

We must refocus on the amount of power that we have in words. And remember that not only do people’s words have power when we believe in them but that also, our own words have power when we believe in ourselves.

Being able to speak and write freely is something that I know many of us take advantage of often. I’ve been in situations where I’ve laughed at a joke I shouldn’t have or I didn’t stand up for someone when I should’ve. I can look back at these days and see my clear wrongdoings and think, “maybe I am a bad person for things I’ve done in the past.”

I struggled with these thoughts for a long time. What I have personally come to believe is that your first thought doesn’t say who you are, your second thought does. It’s always encouraged to think before you speak, but I believe we should also check ourselves after we speak. Once you say something, consider how it came across, would you reword something? Could you have offended someone? Are you content with what was said?

That’s not to create anxiety about always worrying about what we say and continuing to dwell on it. It’s about asking ourselves questions and keeping ourselves “in check” to alleviate some of the stress of speaking to others about serious topics, or topics that are special to you.

This is why it’s so very important that we champion ideas and not people. I understand that no matter what, there will always be a “spokesperson” for political parties, policies, and more. But I hope that this article inspires people to feel more power in the words that they speak out into the universe. And that we start to focus on the messages that we love, and not just our champions that can ultimately let us down.

I hope that when you “cancel” your heroes, you don’t cancel the inspiration you received from them. I hope you don’t cancel the comfort you received because there was someone out there you felt connected to. I hope you don’t cancel the person you grew into after you listened to their music, read their books, or watched their movies. I hope that when you cancel your heroes, it’s because you’ve come to realize you don’t need them to be whole.

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A DYSMORPHIC STEREOTYPED SLUR... FEMINIST Melek Turkmen Staff Writer

W

AIT. Stop right there. Don’t flip the page. This isn’t the type of regular feminist advocacy paper you think. I am here to set the record straight.

What once was a term deemed as a symbol of revolutionary progressivism now transcendently took on a new meaning. A perfect example of the power of words.

Evolving from the original intended meaning to some new, dysmorphic stereotyped slur... feminist.

Feminism isn’t about one gender being better than the other. It’s not about women being greater than men. It’s about having equal rights. It’s clear there’s misunderstanding of the term going on because even in 2018 Donald Trump said, “No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist.

I mean, I think that would be, maybe, going too far. I’m for women, I’m for men, I’m for everyone.”

Over the years, radical feminists made the movement into something different then it is. It’s not just about thinking men suck, telling everyone to go vegan, or growing out your body hair. What it is about, however, is female empowerment. I mean it could mean those things, but it’s important to remember that all women feel empowered differently. This movement is so much more than what everyone now thinks. It consists of recognizing the discrimination women face in general and even bigger problems like discrimination towards women of color, muslim women, army women, etc..

And let’s put this out there now. You simply cannot be an advocate of equal rights if you don’t realize the

stigma men face. We, as women, need to be vocal about the prejudices men face, too, in order to put women and men on equal bounds.

Recognizing that men aren’t allowed to show feelings, told to constantly be masculine, that they can’t cry, can’t wear pink, need to like sports, and that they need to be the financial provider of their family is important to the progression of bipartisanship between genders. I agree this movement isn’t about “them.” But, that’s not the point-- we can’t get anywhere if we try to do it by putting another group down. This degradation of men isn’t okay because then, we become just like them.

According to Merriam-Webster, feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” And yes you heard right, that’s the definition, there is nothing about women being better than men. However, what once was a word used to empower women and men alike, became a word that makes those bearing it ashamed. Let’s start by dissecting this statement piece by piece.

“The advocacy of women’s rights.” What does this mean? Plenty of things. It’s easy to understand when you look at what rights women do not have. In 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, expanding coverage to millions of women, forbidding the denial of coverage based on gender and guaranteeing access to birth control, maternity care and breastfeeding supplies.

“It’s not just about thinking men suck, telling everyone to go vegan, or growing out your body hair. What it is about, however, is female empowerment.”

This was a huge win for women, considering our role as primary caregivers. Even the National Partnership for Women & Families called the ACA “the greatest advance for women’s health in a generation.” However, Trump and Republicans in Congress vowed to repeal and replace it, couldn’t, but have done significant things to weaken it like cut funding and personnel needed to help people enroll, cutting $5 million in advertising, and posting negative messages about the ACA on YouTube and Twitter.

One in 3 women are a victim of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and one in six American women will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. The Department of Justice reports that rates are even higher for transgender and bisexual women. 82% of all juvenile victims are female and 90% of adult rape victims are female.

So, then we look at the second part of the definition, “On the basis of the equality of sexes.” And that’s the most important part of the definition. Equality. The one thing everyone in this entire world is already seeking.

We all face prejudices, but the ones we look at for feminism are of course about women. Starting with the injustices women face; women pay more for common household items than men do, women in the U.S. working full and part-time make 84 percent of what their male counterparts earn, black women have to work 19 months to make what white men did in a year, women are underrepresented in government, women still shoulder more of the household burden, women are far more likely to be the victims of human trafficking, female soldiers face rape and harassment, and young women experience inequality in high school sports.

And overall, women earn 80 cents for every dollar

earned by men, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families, with black women earning 63 cents and Latinas earning 54 cents. Women are also less likely to ask for high compensation and studies show they are penalized more than men for trying to negotiate. Women make less than men for the same jobs.

The need for change is beyond transparent. Anyone who reads the facts knows that too. I must ask myself, where did all of this go wrong?

It dates back to the beginning of radical feminist beliefs. Radical feminism isn’t a new theology, its roots began in the 1960s around the Civil Rights Movement.

That’s the interesting part -- it’s gained so much traction now. Just like any popular group, there will always be radicals. Like the KKK or... ISIS. But, we can’t relate those extremities to everyone in our movement.

No one is taking millennials seriously at this point, and they think there are bigger problems in the world than to have women’s marches. The meaning transcended so far beyond its real intention. Social media made feminism a tease where people take to Twitter to tweet by mocking the “sensitivity” of feminists and branding the movement as a new meme. I had recently seen a tweet where it said, “Feminists now want Santa to be gender neutral.” These are radicalization no one is intending for.

Twitter trolls tweet those things to get a reaction out of everyone and make feminism seem outrightly absurd.

And then there’s the part where my friends, my girl friends, try to tell me they’re not feminists but they still believe in equal rights. This is what breaks my heart the most. Have we become so far gone that even women don’t want to associate with something that is striving so hard to help them?

We need to try again. We need to reset this movement and start over, with healthier demands and less stigmatization. Feminism is about loving each other, empowering each other, and fighting for change. We are demanding a better society for all, but we must do it in an inclusive way.

I don’t want to be embarrassed to call myself a feminist because I’m scared people will think of me differently. I want people to be proud of me when I associate myself with this movement and I want them to be intrigued enough to learn more about it. You’re not “woke” just because you’re a “feminist.” You are apart of the problem every single time you try to say “men are trash” and bring down an entire other gender.

Feminism isn’t a bad thing, guys. It’s a great thing.

I really believe, and I mean this, that if we spread this movement with a kind heart then we have a much better chance to start seeing the change we want to see.

COLORISM: THE COVERT ANTAGONIST OF DIVERSITY IN FILM

Danielle Richardson Staff Writer Julian Randell Photographer Shantae Plummer Model

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or as long as there have been films, whitewashing has been an issue when it comes to the portrayal of people of color (POC). From the classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s to 2015’s Aloha, white actors have been contributing to a lack of diversity on screen by replacing POC in roles meant for them.

However, as of late, Hollywood seems to be turning over a new leaf when it comes to the representation of young black women (typically between the teenage years and early adulthood) on screen. Actresses of African descent are being given more opportunities for roles in mainstream cinema, but there’s a catch: most of these actresses are light-skinned and/or biracial.

Although the use of these women adds diversity to an overwhelmingly white industry, change is still needed to accurately portray the vast range of skin tones and hair textures exhibited by black women in reality.

Naturally, there were instances where casting biracial actresses was perfectly acceptable. Amandla Stenberg played the lead role of Ruby in The Darkest Minds, a character that was white in the source material. Similarly, Storm Reid starred in the film adaptation of the classic children’s novel A Wrinkle in Time, playing a character that was originally Caucasian.

Because white people are the default for the majority of roles in Hollywood, casting biracial actresses as the aforementioned characters worked well. It contributed to diversity without taking an opportunity away from an underrepresented group in Hollywood. Still, the ideal would be to adapt more works originally featuring black characters from the start.

Both Stenberg and Reid share the common biracial parentage of one black parent and one white. Although it is possible for biracial people to display a more monoracial phenotype (dark skin and kinky hair), neither actress does. They both exhibit stereotypically “mixed” features.

Biracial actresses have been casted on more than one occasion to portray originally dark-skinned or mono-racially black characters, such as Stenberg’s casting in The Hate U Give, Alexandra Shipp being casted as X-Men’s Storm, and Yara Shahidi’s casting in the upcoming The Sun Is Also a Star.

This is problematic because their features are not representative of the majority of mono-racially black girls.

trends.

But, whenever certain groups of black people take issue with these casting decisions, they are often told to stop complaining because “we’re all black anyways.”

Yes, actresses like Shipp, Stenberg, and Reid are indeed black. But they are also white, and this is not something that should simply be ignored, as it is effectively erasing half of their parentage. Acceptance of biracial actresses as fully black inadvertently encouraged Hollywood’s colorism and led to them becoming the main faces seen on screen for young black female roles.

Some black people began noticing a severe lack of dark-skinned female representation in mainstream film, but they are often told to “stop dividing the race” when they point out Hollywood’s blatant colorism in casting actresses deemed more acceptable by Eurocentric beauty standards.

On the other side of this equation, when biracial individuals are casted in originally mono-racially white roles, many white people take issue. I especially noticed this with A Wrinkle in Time, having read plenty of comments online made by Caucasians who were unhappy with Reid portraying their beloved childhood character because she did not match the author’s description.

No one viewed these people’s complaints as unjustified because in the eyes of most Caucasians, black is black, regardless of mono-racial or biracial parentage.

However, this led to an unfair balance when it comes to black and white people’s reactions to biracial castings.

White people are allowed to be upset when a biracial person is casted as a mono-racially white character, but black people are ridiculed for feeling unhappy when the same is done with mono-racially black roles, despite the fact that mixed persons are half of each race. This blatant double standard can be explained by a bit of history.

Lack of white acceptance for mixed individuals more than likely holds roots in aspects of slavery, more specifically the “one drop rule.” This simply meant that anyone with even a bit of black heritage was seen and treated as black only, whether or not they were mixed with white ancestry.

Thus, biracial casting is viewed as black casting by Caucasians, but make no mistake, they can tell the difference. Biracial actresses’ typically less Afrocentric features makes them more palatable in colorist Hollywood’s eyes, so they use them in order to provide hungry black audiences with diversity in

films. But truly, this is not what’s being done at all.

True diversity would involve a wide variety of skin tones and hair types for young black female characters in mainstream cinema. Obviously, this is not what’s happening right now, with the most popular “black” actresses for young adult roles being girls like Stenberg, Shipp, Shahidi, and Zendaya, who are all mixed and/or racially ambiguous.

These women are talented, to be sure, but there are dark-skinned/monoracial actresses with just as much skill who do not receive nearly as much attention or opportunities. It’s high time women like Ryan Destiny, Lovie Simone, Kiki Layne, Ajiona Alexus, Ashleigh Murray, Keke Palmer, and Tanyell Waivers were given their due representation.

The next time a young adult novel with a black woman is adapted to film, it would be nice to see a dark black girl with kinky hair casted. The most recent young adult films to feature black female characters (Love Simon, The Hate U Give, The Sun Is Also a Star) all utilized light-skinned and biracial girls for roles.

Colorism is, unfortunately, very prevalent within the black community itself. Little girls with kinky hair are teased and called “nappy-headed,” as though their hair texture is less-than. There are dark-skinned people who desire a lighter skin tone, with some even going as far as unhealthily bleaching their naturally dark hues. More often than not, dark skin and kinky hair are viewed as second-class phenotypes by black individuals.

Hollywood and the general media may not be personally responsible for building up each and every black girl’s self-esteem, but there is no denying that they hold powerful influence when it comes to what is deemed attractive or not in society. By continually delegating young black girl roles to light-skinned actresses, they are contributing to the pre-existing (and entirely incorrect) notion that dark-skinned women and girls are undesirable.

Representation matters, plain and simple. Anyone that says otherwise has most likely never known what it feels like to not have anyone that resembled them in their favorite movies and TV shows. Biracial actresses playing most young black female roles implicitly tells viewers (monoracial/dark-skinned

black girls in particular), “This is the more acceptable version of you. This is what you should look like.”

When I was a little girl, I received an African Barbie doll one Christmas. She was very dark-skinned with short kinky hair, a truly gorgeous doll. As soon as I opened up the package, I was upset. I thought the doll was ugly, but I masked my disappointment in front of my father, who had gifted her to me. In the future, whenever I would play games with my dolls, I would always make the African Barbie the evil villain every time, without fail.

I share this story to demonstrate just how influential representation is on the mindset, particularly of younger individuals. My parents never raised me to believe that dark skin was ugly. In fact, my mother was affronted when she heard me call the doll ugly once, and at the time, I couldn’t fathom why she was so upset. But seeing an extreme lack of positive dark-skinned representation in the movies and TV shows I was watching subconsciously made me believe that black girls could only be pretty and good if they were lighter.

The power of representation can also influence young black men into only desiring light-skinned or biracial women. This is already happening, with a large amount of dark-skinned black men flat-out refusing to date dark-skinned women and excusing their bias under the guise of it being a “preference.”

Back in high school, I witnessed how the girls who got the most attention from boys were often mixed and/or light-skinned. Hollywood’s current casting trends can only make things worse, until one day, young women with strong Afrocentric phenotypes will not be on screen at all.

For those who aren’t members of the black race, seeing mostly biracial women in positive black female roles could lead to an unfair negative bias when encountering monoracial or dark-skinned black women in real life.

On the rare occasions that young dark-skinned women are casted in mainstream cinema, they are often relegated to more masculine, negative, or stereotypical roles.

These include the “ghetto girl” (Keke Palmer in 2018’s Pimp) or “the one with an attitude/angry one” (Ajiona Alexus in 2018’sAcrimony), very unlike the more layered and positive roles given to young light-skinned actresses.

Because of this, many non-black individuals feel as

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“Although the use of these women adds diversity to an overwhelmingly white industry, change is still needed to accurately portray the vast range of skin tones and hair textures exhibited by black women in reality.� though this is what dark-skinned women are truly like (consciously or subconsciously), but this is obviously not the case. Dark-skinned women (like every other group of women on the planet) have a variety of personalities and behaviors, regardless of their skin color. It’s high time they were no longer stereotyped and put in a box.

Diversity in film casting is improving, but there is still work to be done when it comes to portraying black women, particularly those in their teens to late

twenties. Light-skinned girls are not representative of all young black females and naturally should not be predominantly seen in mainstream cinema. Black girls are not a light-skinned, curly-headed monolith. Darker shades and coily hair are beautiful too.

Women with these characteristics deserve opportunities for complex positive character roles, providing fair and balanced representation for all black girls.

Ava Goplerud Creative Director Austin Shaw Photographer Elle Mariano Model Hoda El-Koussa Model Elizabeth Gjergji Model

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Behind The Theme

#ENDURANCE

Ava Goplerud Creative Director

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s a society, we have had to constantly endure unpleasantries. Faced with adversity at every turn, we are forced to adapt. Whether it be conflict going on around the world or conflict in our homes, we have to experience difficulties in order to come out stronger on the other side. Endurance is found in the power we hold as a society to better ourselves and overcome the conflicts that set us back.

Endurance can be found when we look at the world around us and become aware of our imperfections. We become aware of where we have gone wrong as a society. You can never move forward if you cannot learn from your past-- we have to endure to make ourselves stronger.

Think of the metamorphosis of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The caterpillar works tirelessly to construct a cocoon. Then, they must wait in the cocoon for several weeks until they can emerge as something beautiful. They endure the discomfort of confinement to come out on the other side stronger, more beautiful, more alive.

The idea of overcoming struggles fits well with not only our journey as a magazine, but also for the state of our society. In the past few years we have been on a difficult journey, but each day we are becoming stronger in one way or another. The alarming degradation of the environment, especially, needs our endurance.

Pantone’s color of the year for 2019 is Living Coral. Pantone describes the shade as “vibrant yet mellow,

embracing us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment�. This color is the embodiment of endurance.

We used Living Coral, along with other vibrant colors throughout the issue to emphasize endurance.

Aside from just the color coral, coral reefs are a good example of endurance in the natural world. Coral reefs are dying at a rapid rate and have had to endure a constant battle with the changing environment that humans have neglected. We are using this theme and color to shed light on the impact that humans have on the environment. We encourage you to go to www.coral.org to learn more and support coral reef efforts on behalf of our team.

Endurance, as a theme, was the most logical follow up to our past issues. Our inaugural issue was Reclaim.

The issue dealt with reclaiming things that have been lost and starting a revolution. We focused on the ways that we can change the world around us and create a positive impact.

The second issue was the Motion issue. This issue was all about movement and flexibility. We focused on our strengths and worked towards a better future. The vivid nature of the future helped to shape the present in a lively way.

The third issue was Disruption. This issue had an emphasis on disorder and disfunction. We were at a rough time in society and this was our way of showing the good that can be found in the bad. Disruption forces adaptation.

That brings us to Endurance. We have had to endure all changes and struggles in order to become stronger and make it out on the other side. As a society we must evolve, we must endure.

ISSUE- Water Photos

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sound.

STICK IT TO THE MAN AND OTHER KNOCK OFFS Kendall Rotar Editor in chief

T

he bible always talks about the second coming of Jesus. That one day, when we least expect it, a super-human will come down and preach the word of the Lord and bring us back to salvation. Well, I never really bought the whole christianity thing, so I never thought a second-coming was possible. Until, of course, I slid on a pair of headphones to clean a record at my summer job and found, what might just be, the second coming of rock and roll’s Jesus Christ.

Yes, I am completely and shamelessly talking about those three brothers and that other guy from Michigan who came together to form Greta Van Fleet. Formed in 2012, Greta Van Fleet stole my heart after listening to one song called “Edge of Darkness.” For music buffs

out there who haven’t dove into them yet, turn it on and tell me who you hear. Familiar?

The undeniable fact must be brought forth, Josh Kiska sounds a hell of a lot like my old, dear friend Robert Plant. Many critics noted that this could be their downfall, that comparison will kill the possibility of Greta’s own future in rock and roll. I think the contrary. Never in my life did I think that there would be a band who could even slightly give me the same chills as Led Zeppelin, but, my god, they did it.

It’s like that old saying, you never think it will happen and then it does. Hits you like a brick and makes you realize that maybe your “Jesus” isn’t the only messiah in the game. Needless to say this band humbled me down a bit. I was one of those rock-and-roll-is-dead types and I can happily report that it is most definitely alive.

Greta made their big-stage debut when their first feature song “Highway Tune” was played on Showtime’s Shameless in 2013. Later that year, their EP Black Smoke Rising was released being titled “New artist of the week” by Apple Music. From this small success, the

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band started acquiring awards and recognition around the country and released another EP entitled From the Fires.

Before I dive into the specificities of each album and why they deserve the insane praise I am giving them, I want to refer you to a quote by the band mates themselves about their music. Sam Kiska, one of the three Kiska brothers stated,“It’s not like we set out to be a rock and roll band, it’s just that sound that comes out [when] we get together and play.”

The Kiska boys grew up with folk and blues influences from their parent’s vinyl collection. The four members all find musical inclinations from different parts of the industry. They note Jazz, Blues, Rock, and Folk as their biggest influences when creating sound. Together, they morphed a bluesy, rock discography that fans are eating up around the world.

Their impression from Led Zeppelin hasn’t been disregarded by the band either. They’ve noted multiple times that they found influence from Zeppelin’s discography and even studied their craft heavily, giving a lot of credit to the band who came before them.

Plant, lead singer of Led Zeppelin, even regarded that Greta is one of his favorite up and coming bands and commended their lead singer on his vocal strength.

There is nothing but love between both bands, and their success is only a recognition that the taste for rock and roll has not disappeared from the world.

So, now, I will turn you to an almost comical review I found published by a very angry old man named Jeremy D. Larson:

Greta Van Fleet sound like they did weed exactly once, called the cops, and tried to record a Led Zeppelin album before they arrested themselves. The poor kids from Frankenmuth, Michigan don’t even realize they’re more of an algorithmic fever dream than an actual rock band. While they’re selling out shows all over the world, somewhere in a boardroom, a half-dozen people are figuring out just how, exactly, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are supposed to fit into the SUV with the rest of the Greta Van Fleet boys on “Carpool Karaoke.”

If my memory suits me correctly, I believe it was Lester Bangs himself, legendary rock and roll reviewer for Rolling Stone, who regarded Led Zeppelin as just a childish knockoff of Cream. From which you could probably trace Cream back to some other band’s “knock-off” and then do the same with that band’s knock off’s knock off.

So, what did Zeppelin do back when they were called knock-offs? Trash his review and continue to play millions of shows they were selling out around the world.

And Bangs? Well, he died. He was a terribly unhappy alcoholic and let out most of his anger at the world for “killing” rock and roll after the 60s.

These critics, who sit on their golden pedestals and disregard anything that passes by them but the original band who touched their heart, are the very reason young people are disregarding rock and roll music and exploring different genres. Reviews like this one not only show a hateful, pompous attitude in music, but also shine light to an age old notion that “it has all been

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done before.”

Because, Jeremy D. Larson, it has. But, that doesn’t mean you turn down the music because you maybe, one time, when you were young and spritely and not so bitter, heard a song with a similar voice. I think it would be easier to trace back the bands that sound like other bands in rock and roll than it would be to pull apart the bands that sound different. Holistically, I think this “Led Zeppelin knock-off” reel is just a bunch of old men jealous of a younger generation making a name for themselves in the rock world.

Again, though, what do I know? I am just a twenty two year old girl wanting to be a music journalist and Jeremy “has written stories for New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Buzzfeed, Time, NME, Hazlitt, Billboard, and others.” Surely, if I wrote for the same outlets about the same bands it would just be a knock off of his pieces. This is probably just “more of an algorithmic fever dream than an actual [review].” Oh, but I will digress and put my claws away for the sake of an angry email or a ban from Pitchfork.

I do think, though, that we need to pay attention to malicious reviews as signs of resistance to newness in rock culture. Greta Van Fleet are among the good still left in the music industry. With the rise of scandal at every turn in the music world, their squeaky clean record

(no pun intended) gives hope to young listeners that we, too, can have a rock and roll band for our generation.

Now that I have directly stuck-it-to-the-man as so many of my rock heroes have taught me, I want to dive into some of my favorite and most notable tracks from Greta’s EP’s and first album Anthem Of The Peaceful Army.

As aforementioned, I was fully taken aback by “Edge of Darkness” on my first listen, but as I dove deeper into the album, I found a lot more I wasn’t expecting.

Some of the tracks are not lyrically charged which put me off at first. I wanted more substance from the band and eventually found it when I explored songs like “Black Smoke Rising” and “When The Curtain Falls.”

The less lyrical songs do make my feet move, despite the lack of lyrics. I can’t help but feel some sort of connection towards these songs as they feel so new-aged inspired with doses of punk just lingering in the background while they mix in a nostalgic feeling of classic rock.

Greta is nothing of a fever dream. They have taken a new approach to rock, one that is refreshing and also encouraging to age-old rock fans around the world.

Check out the band on tour this summer in the U.S. to get a first hand experience of their talent, you won’t regret it.

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humor.

COMPLAINING Dakota Kershaw Conceptual Director

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very day it seems like there’s a new and somehow shittier issue occurring in the world than the day before.

Lately, the amount of problems we have to deal with are as terrible as they are just straight up confusing.

From global warming to overpopulation, giraffes are going extinct, Nazis are making a comeback, (which is terrifying by the way), and I’ve been trying to wake up from the nightmare that is Donald Trump’s presidency for over two years now with no success.

And it seems that the second we wrap our minds around one issue, we find out that literally every actor, director, musician, politician, or public figure we could possibly conceive of is a rapist, murderer, drug addict, pedophile, or some combination of all those. I’m not saying it’s not a good thing that we found out R. Kelly is evil, but it’s getting a little exhausting and the list of things I need to process in therapy has gotten so long I’ve legitimately considered getting a second therapist.

Like seriously, I can’t remember a solid three days in the past year that some scandal hasn’t broke, throwing me into an existential crisis, when I’m still processing the last fifty shocking revelations. And, I know I can’t be the only one feeling this way.

Honestly, it’s more infuriating than anything. How can so many people that we elevate to these positions of power in society be so fundamentally incorrect that they don’t know the difference between right and wrong?

And even more so, how have such a large proportion of them not learned the simple two-word phrase, everyone should have been instilled with at birth: don’t rape.

Ignoring these issues and/or burying our heads in the sand are not viable solutions. In doing so, we would be committing a grave injustice to both the victims

and our future selves, especially when the problem has long-term implications. But what are we, the average citizens, who are 1) fully aware of how fucked up the world can be, 2) aren’t necessarily contributing to that fucked upness, and 3) still not sure how to personally respond to these issues to do?

Side note: I’d like to say that there is only one correct response when someone you once held in high esteem is no longer deserving of society’s respect and that response is outrage and the conscious decision to no longer support that person, such as the case of R. Kelly.

However, when the issue is not so black & white and is subject to multiple interpretations, taking a hard-line stance makes you seem militant and uncompromising.

And look how well that turned out for ISIS. This route is the opposite of conducive to achieving any kind of social or political change you might wish to see.

In our modern internet culture where interpretation is everything, and you only have 280 characters to make your point, it is far too easy to make the mistake of coming on too strong and weakening your entire argument.

But, herein lies the issue. On the one hand, society depends on people calling each other out when they are guilty. But on the other, if you respond with the same anger and frustration to every issue that is hurdled your way, then you can’t be mad when people stop listening to you. And then it doesn’t matter if you were right to call that person out because you yourself have just been dismissed.

Unfortunately, some young people like former news correspondent and current racist psychopath, Tapioca Lahren, have recently made careers for themselves by manipulating the American ideals of free speech and

the right to an opinion. When people like Tomi Lahren and that girl from Kent State who gets off to guns, or whatever, espouse their dangerous and incendiary beliefs, they know what they are doing. Tactics like these are specifically designed to get attention, to get reposted, and to garner a response.

People who utilize the Internet in this way are successful for multiple reasons. First, their audiences act as free advertisers by reposting the message to their followers because of its reactionary nature. Then the content pops up on the feeds of users who disagree with such beliefs (as most people do) and will react in overwhelmingly negative ways (as most people would). These reactions, however, have an effect that is opposite of what was intended and only serve to polarize us even more.

They ultimately diminish what the rest of us have to say and the words of people like Tomi and gun girl are not only given legitimacy but their arguments seem more reasonable to people who already hold similar beliefs. At this point, the conversation stops being about whether someone is right or wrong and more about who has the loudest and most extreme voice in the room.

Even repeating their names as I am doing now, indirectly gives these people more power to say whatever they want.

If tactics like these were not successful, then there would be no need to have a conversation about them.

But since we as a country are still, three years later, reeling from an entire presidential campaign molded after these tactics, this is something we need to be talking about.

This is behavior reminiscent of schoolyard bullies, but with much more devastating consequences. Having spent many of my adolescent years as an overweight, very strange child, who at the time lacked the knowledge on how to defend himself, I am familiar with being targeted for things about who I am that I cannot change.

When people with an agenda who seek after retweets and all the worst kinds of fame, like I once sought after Big Macs and rare Pokemon cards, target groups like immigrants and the poor, groups who are unable to defend themselves, they are not fighting fair.

Over time I learned that the best way to respond to these types of people was to ignore them, thus stripping them of any power or satisfaction they might receive from my response. While that worked in elementary school and may have some impact against the sentient jars of mayonnaise that spew racism on Twitter like a

pubescent boy prematurely ejaculating after touching his first boob. When that behavior comes from our president and his legion of followers with backwards beliefs chanting, “build that wall,” the difference between remaining silent and standing up for what’s right means the difference between living in a post-apocalyptic hellscape created by someone who has more in common with an orange billiard ball than an actual human being and living in a country we can all share and be proud of.

If not responding to horrible news makes us complicit and responding negatively only feeds the beast more, what are we supposed to do? If we can answer this question, there might be some hope for the survival of civil society.

Not to brag, but I believe that I’ve stumbled upon the panacea to this recent flooding of bad news and every other horrible day to day problem we as humans encounter: I complain about everything.

No, seriously, and not even just the big things like our seemingly never-ending government shutdown or the serious glitches in the simulation. If traffic is moving too slow for my impossibly high standards or if my iced latte costs more than I think it should someone is going to hear about it. On a personal note, the price of soy milk at Starbucks is so offensive it should be labeled a hate crime. Seriously, it’s like a dollar extra and to me it’s a little ridiculous that if I want to save money, I have to drink cow’s milk like some kind of freak.

Complaining is so effective because it directs your anger and frustration at one specific incident, rather than the issue as a whole. By breaking the issue down into smaller, more manageable parts, you are able to target what it is specifically that is bothering you, which allows you to achieve a greater understanding and makes you better able to deal with the situation. Beyond this, complaining provides a healthy means of getting your anger out, which in turn reduces your overall stress.

Moreover, when your initial shock and irritation over the situation are gone, you are far more likely to respond objectively and intelligently to the problem at hand. And in my experience, the calm, rational approach is almost always better than the dramatic, set fire to everything approach. That is, unless you’re like me, and you ultimately just want attention. In that case, please, by all means, go nuclear.

If there’s one thing you take from this overly-caffeinated, emotionally-charged, keyboard-smashing rant, I want it to be this: exasperation is hot.

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commentary.

UNCHARTED COMMUNICATION AND ITS FRIENDS Jennifer Hopkins Commentary Editor

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y grasp of social media used to be much more conscious. Back in the day, I was fifteen and browsing through Twitter. Maybe this was because I had yet to hold real responsibilities, a job, or thoughts that expanded outside of my social relationships. However, I knew for certain who I was in the scheme of digital media: I proudly avoided the indirect dramatic subtweets and the nitty-gritty of my then “tough” times, and of course, never posted something for “likes.”

Young Jen, you were wise. Of course, I aged with this monster of technology and social-approval seeking culture. Looking back with a retrospect, the smartphone in my hand and all of its capabilities were only just a tool— my understanding and navigational control over

it was something simply defined and easily put down.

But, ultimately, this thing expanded into a tangible reality in ways which I never thought definitive.

There is so much that we do not know about these tiny, blinking, beeping machines in our hands. Hypothetically, there is something deep within human nature that urges this principle of connection: human interaction is vital to our social, mental, and physical survival.

We envy the relationships, the success stories, and the achievements of those who seem to embody the idea of “perfection” outside of the digital sphere. It urges me to question how we think about others, and how we find ourselves consumed in the content that tells our story that makes us strive to match the“perfection” of who we follow online.

How do we engage in understanding intimacy when

“In this process, we slowly act counter-intuitively, deteriorating our psyches by the concepts so new that even esteemed researchers are yet to understand.” the forms of connection that are socially imposed on us and devalue the nature of craving interaction? I’ll remind you that even though your messages reach human hands, it is told through a device: Your message cannot be felt—Emoji’s Your text can be misinterpreted—iMessage Your face can be filtered—Instagram Your actions can be erased—Snapchat There is the most incredible strength in being able to learn from others in the present moment. Put your phone down at the table when you speak. Better yet, put your phone down when you listen.

Technology seems to allow us to “connect” with each other, although these days it seems like more of a way out. Of course, we can share intimacy in our words through our devices, but when we rely only or mostly on this to prescribe our daily dose of information, we devalue our ability to communicate authentically outside of the digital sphere.

We can give in to these forms of communication that are half-hearted and turn our computers or phones into a wedge between strangers, acquaintances, or friends.

In this process, we slowly act counter-intuitively, deteriorating our psyches by the concepts so new that even esteemed researchers are yet to understand.

If your phone keeps you awake at night, can you tell yourself to stay away from it? If not, I’d try to turn off your notifications and take back the desire to give into the beeping or buzzing. Think more about the content that you are consuming with the proposition that humans can only consume a certain threshold of information per day via books, television, web content, social interactions, etc. We cannot simply stay on Instagram for the entire day and allow ourselves to focus full-heartedly or mentally on a task.

In this way, we give into our ability to unknowingly deceive ourselves by over-consumption of the media presented to us. Phones and devices do not allow us to regularly find the agency to stray away from the madness of the internet.

Say, for instance, I feel as if checking my Instagram feed, in a form of relaxation, will take me away from the stress of my workload. The more that I engage in this brain junk of information, the more I open myself up to critically comparing my own existence with the digital representation of others who have specifically framed their world around posts, pictures, and achievements. This is one of the ways we can succumb to problems for ourselves when we judge our own character.

In result, the fifteen-year-old mindset that I used to have, the one that was able to put it all away and knew where she stood within the digital world, has fallen victim to wanting to give the attention back to the machine. Mostly, because she feels as if her career, social status, and social relevance relies on it.

But, more than that, it is all a facade. The way we choose to connect with the thing in our hand in justification that we are “connecting” with someone else is a terrible lie. It is not the truth. Every day we allow something to tell us when to wake up, how to get to work, when to connect with others, and what we should be paying attention to.

Spend more time with the people you love and less time with a phone in your hands. Turn off your notifications and learn how to check things by your own agency. Don’t spend all night surfing the web and watching YouTube videos of the guy who can eat 200 cookies in one sitting. Do not fall victim to a social norm in which you feel is an inherent definition to who you should be. Do not think for a second that the digital world and your presence in it is more important than your presence with the people and the opportunities immediately around you.

With more time, technology will become more powerful, and thus difficult to navigate, especially if we are all accepting what it is telling us to do rather than responding with agency.

Digitally, we’ve made so much progress in the expression of communicating ideas and thoughts, but the last thing I’d want to see in humanity is the digression of raw passion and intimacy replaced by the want to connect with a machine in your hand rather than the person standing in front of you.

Author’s Note

SUBMISSION WINNER

HOW DO YOU ENDURE?

Mary Campbell

I was talking to a friend of mine about writing this piece about endurance. In fact, I talked to a few friends about it. All of them nodded, and thought it was an especially appropriate topic for me to take on at this moment in my life. I came up with my first draft on this compelling theme and sent it out to a few personal friends for review. One of those sent me a critique that addressed two themes within my first draft.

The first related to my descriptions of endurance itself, where I define it as requiring a hopeless resolve and a commitment to a certain drudgery of necessity. Her critique said I was describing the essence of endurance as being somewhat meaningless and burdensome. What’s the point of enduring, she asked, simply to endure for endurance sake?

The other critique was not related to the definition per se, but more to my explanation of the specific circumstances (i.e.: the relationship that was the frame for the

discussion of endurance) in the past 8 or 9 years, that had caused me to color the concept with such a dark hue. I was, in fact, in the context of the second critique, being called out on trying to blame my failed relationship on an external issue, rather than on the internal changes that ended up pulling my partner and I apart.

Those critiques were provocative to me and useful.

And hence, my mid-life crisis (hopefully the only one I will be required to endure, LOL), manifesting itself as the end of a long relationship, remains the backdrop for these revised, and hopefully improved, ramblings on the subject of endurance.

The relationship with my partner spanned just about my entire adult life. 31 years to be exact. And it recently ended. I expected it would be a partnership that endured, a relationship, with that one person. Our life at first, was indeed, alluring, different, challenging, exhilarating and fun. The good life endured though it was of-

ten difficult, while quite rewarding, demanding though risky, uncertain but provocative. And always in the face of the challenges, the hope for more and for better also endured, and a commitment to the good and the better made the relationship thrive.

And then... a wave of unexpected life circumstances rolled in, endured, and the once solid foundation began to painfully erode. All that had been, the compelling “what if’s”, the “how to’s” and the “yes, we can”, were gone... In what seemed like a moment, our life devolved into loss, and difficult decisions, worse or even worse, consequences, mental and physical exhaustion, the fear of how. It was misery then, that endured. And so, it became those difficult decisions, the worse or even worse consequences, the mental and physical exhaustion, and the fear that somehow became all that remained.

At this point, in my previous piece, I blamed the Great Recession, and our subsequent financial undoing, for the cause of our problems. But no... that was simply the catalyst for the beginning of the end. One of us (he) was blaming everyone and everything (except us) for where we ended up. One of us (me) was realizing that none of those details really mattered, we had to look in the mirror and realize our own participation in this awful end-result. And more to the point, we had to begin to rebuild. Now. And fast. It was then, within this one set of circumstances, where we ended up with two completely different perceptions of what to take from those circumstances, and how to move ourselves forward.

I suppose the above clarifies the “why” in the road to our eventual breakup, but the journey from there provides the setting for the dark and sad endurance that followed. One of us (he) was paralyzed emotionally.

One of us (he) felt the losses were too extensive, and that there was not enough time given his age, to carry on and pick up the pieces in a way that was worthy of

the effort.

The other of us was me. And what then, must I do?

Endure. Endure the unwelcome changes in the mindset and capabilities of my partner. Endure the wreckage of the reality of our losses. Endure the uncertainty of our ability to survive. Endure the reality that life as we knew it, would never be the same.

And so, the fact is, my life for almost a decade has been about an endurance amidst the backdrop of a dying relationship. A romance, a friendship, a partnership was unraveling. I think we both hoped that the efforts to keep a love alive, through the memory of how it was, should have been able to make our relationship survive through the cataclysmic circumstances. Life would somehow get better going forward, wouldn’t it?

Shouldn’t we be able to get to the other side? Unfortunately, both of us, whether we realized it or not, had changed. The writing was on the wall. It then became endurance for endurance sake, but why?

For better or worse... endure. Be supportive, loving, thoughtful. Endure the emotional and physical breakdown of a person who is convinced that no effort could be worth making. Hope that love could lift us both up and out, to a place of contentment. But each person must want to change and be open to where that change leads.

When the openness to change and growth is absent, endurance needs to then become a facilitator for change... the change that had planted its seeds years ago.

Endurance for naught is now, no longer an option.

Instead, the next chapter has begun: endurance through separation. And if I survive it, the dark hue in my brand of endurance may be lifted. Hope and light may replace the drudgery of endurance just to survive, with an endurance to thrive, which I emphatically hope will be the topic of my next essay...

47

ENDURANCE V1

Mary Campbell

E

ndurance. The ability to carry on... to get out of bed, to get to school or to work, to take care of the body, the mind and the soul... Ahh, but to do so with purpose, with energy, inspiration and passion. Therein is the struggle that endurance requires. It can mean pain, or uncertainty, or darkness, or the feeling that moving forward, or merely hanging on is, for all intents and purposes, a meaningless affair. It’s when the end seems in sight, but the path forward is a void, pitch-black and motionless.

Unless there’s a breakthrough; a spiritual, cognitive, physical or emotional epiphany, euphoria, climax or raison d’etre, the void is what will endure. And so, each of us can choose what endures. What colors, what ideas, what problems, what people, what places, what answers, what experiences we seek... all of these will inform and determine what endures in our lives. The journey requires stamina and a willingness to learn and grow.

Here’s a mid-life story that in one way defines the complexity of endurance and how it evolves...

It was a relationship over many years. 31 years to be exact. It was my relationship, with my partner. And it recently ended. It was intended, no doubt, to be a life lived through one enduring relationship, with one person! The life at first was indeed alluring, different, challenging, exhilarating and fun. The good life endured though it was often difficult, yet rewarding, demanding but risky, uncertain but provocative. And always the hope for more and for better endured...

And then... a wave of unexpected life circumstances washed it away. All that was, the compelling what if’s, the how to’s and the “yes, we can,” gone. In a moment, our life devolved into loss, and difficult deci-

sions, worse or even worse, consequences, mental and physical exhaustion, the fear of how. It was misery that persisted. And so it became those difficult decisions, the worse or even worse consequences, the mental and physical exhaustion, and the fear somehow became all that remained.

This was the financial downturn, the Great Recession, almost 10 years ago now. We lost everything. to eek out mere morsels of a life has been a journey with sad and profound consequences. It caused the end to a life, that once was so rich in heart and mind, and I realized we could no longer live it together. I could no longer endure.

When my heart and my mind, my body and my soul, simply could no longer exist in the oppression of what was, the instinct to survive by any means, required change or extinction. And in choosing the former, endurance of a new kind took root.

By accepting the decisions and the consequences, I had to allow the loss to become reality.. The idea of leaving changed the fear of the how, to the fear of inaction. The necessity of recognizing that what had been for years, didn’t have to be the way it is now, nor would it have be the way in the future. It was a situation I didn’t have to endure.

I finally came to realize that there could be another way. The breakthrough was the recognition that a path lies ahead that is yet to be discovered. Yet, it will be a journey I need to take on my own. Shedding the past, shedding the partner, shedding the uncertainty about wanting and needing something else, accepting that it’s not only ok, but it’s necessary for me to keep going.

As life evolves, it inevitably brings change, loss and acceptance. Endurance, as agonizing and endless as it is, when taken on with acceptance, can also provide an opportunity to experience the most profound reflections on the inner road map that can provide each of us with a unique set of instructions for our journey through life.

One must then, simply, or otherwise with great difficulty, endure.

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51

ON ART AND GROWING Cailin Kaklamanos Staff Writer

W

e all have something that shapes us into who we are. Perhaps it is someone’s culture or family, maybe someone’s physical attributes. What has shaped me is that I am almost completely blind in my left eye.

This is something I never talk about simply because because it is so normal to me. I was born with a cataract that was not diagnosed until I was several months old.

Because of this, no light was getting into my eye, which deprived by brain of creating pathways, therefore my brain didn’t recognize my left eye as a functioning eye.

Due to having one eye that is legally blind, and one eye that has normal vision, I was never able to develop depth perception. That little cloud in my eye forever has had an effect on my life.

When I was 14 weeks old I had the cataract removed and doctors implanted an artificial lens in my eye. Due to various surgeries and traumas to my eye I had trouble walking and even went completely blind for a while.

My eye doctor told me I would never be able to play sports. Despite this my parents never allowed me to use this as a crutch. Even though school and sports were a little more challenging to me, they never let me use my

eye problems as an excuse.

I played every sport in the book as a child, but something that I always clicked with was art. It is safe to say my high school art teacher changed my life.

She taught me so much about colors, lines, shapes, and shadows. I can’t see 3D movies because of my eye problem, but by the end of my freshman year of high school I was creating 3D art like crazy.

Even though I had trouble seeing, my art teacher pushed me and believed in me.

Art was something that stayed constant to me. Through stress, break-ups, and college admissions, art in high school was my escape. Whenever I was upset, sad, happy, or excited art was always there; it became my church. I craved it, it was all I wanted to do.

I would skip my AP Computer science class and just paint. Sure I was procrastinating the work in my other classes, but this procrastination was productive I promise! But much to my schools dismay, my uniform skirt was constantly splattered with every color of acrylic paint.

As art became a necessity to my sanity I began to explore it more. I never liked painting anything ordinary; if I had to paint an elephant I made sure it had rainbow splattered ears.

Getting older and experiencing more was a breakthrough in relation to my creativity. I got new ideas and started to experiment in graphic design.

I spend hours on end on my laptop creating new designs or painting on canvas instead of doing my school work.

While some people may view my eye impairment as a disadvantage, I think of it as my super power. Having a vision impairment has taught me a lot about life. I have learned that the gift of vision is something we all take for granted.

Because I understand the fragility of sight, I take everything in. I think this impairment has allowed me to see the beauty in even the smallest of things.

I think I love art so much because it allows me to spill my visions and sights onto something that I can have forever.

I’ll be honest, a lot of my art is weird. I used to be so afraid of sharing it, because I knew it was funky and different. But hell, I’m different, we all are. Not everyone understands it, but that’s what I love.

Even though I can’t see as well as others, it is easy for me to see that inspiration and creativity lives absolutely everywhere, and I have my eye impairment to thank.

I also have a lot of people to thank.

Yes it has made me have some periods of insecurity, but when I feel low I look at other artists whose different circumstances have shaped them.

Kurt Cobain has taught me so much about music, art and fashion.

Born in Aberdeen, Washington in 1967 Kurt instantly had a connection with drawing and showed artistic promise almost right from the beginning.

As he got older and went through high school and different obstacles, his art matured and grew just as he did. His paintings were colorful and often focused on anatomy and alien-like creatures.

Along with music, Kurt created art as much as he could. Drawings, sculptures, paintings, and collages were his most used mediums.

Many overlook his art and just sum it up to being extremely odd, but it was a self-expression of himself and his feelings.

What inspires me about Kurt was that he always stayed true to himself. He said what he felt and meant everything he spoke. He put his art into the universe for him, nobody else. He didn’t care what anybody thought, he did what he wanted to do creatively because it was what he felt and he turned those feelings into art.

He poured his heart and soul into his crafts; he wasn’t in it for the fame, he just wanted to create.

At the beginning of the spring semester I was experiencing a funk in regards to my art. I just felt uninspired and I wasn’t creating anything. I hated it! I ordered Kurt Cobain’s journal and it changed so much.

After reading Kurt’s journals I felt like I knew him in some way. I got a sense of his thought process and his art. Kurt didn’t ever have to say that he didn’t care what others thought of him, it was shown through his art and music.

After reading that journal I went through a washing machine of Kurt Cobain and I came out with a new sense of self. It’s almost like I woke up and realized that I create for nobody but myself.

I was studying for midterms and made a funky graphic design. I loved it but I knew nobody else would understand it. But then I thought about Kurt and how the beauty of art is that it doesn’t need approval from anyone. So I posted it. This import to me because it was like I suddenly woken up and didn’t care one ounce about what others thought about it. It meant something to me, and that is enough. Kurt has been an inspiration to me and my own art. He was extremely unapologetic; so thank you Kurt, I can honestly say my art wouldn’t be what it is without you.

When I am feeling insecure or shy I think of Kurt and how he was authentically himself. I also think of my wonderful family.

So, thank you to my wonderful mother who let me turn her dining room into a makeshift art studio and for always holding my hand during the rough stuff.

Thank you to my amazing father who looks at my crazy art in awe and constantly supports it. Mom and dad, thank you for believing in my wild dreams.

To my sweet twin sister Delaney, you push and push me to be the best version of me. You have taught me that being chaotic and bold is perfectly ok.

And to my amazing big brother Duncan, your kind heart and love for music has opened my eyes to much more than I ever thought possible.

Delaney and Duncan, you two inspire me constantly.

Thank you for being my rocks.

I believe we are a sum of the people we know, the places we’ve been, the experiences we have gone through, and those who inspire us. I am eternally grateful for all of the people and places that have motivated me. Cheers to the many more beautiful adventures that life may take me!

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