JUSTY
NOVEMBER 2013
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CONTENTS This months GUU news from President, Ash.
Rebels with a Cause?
Fearing Feminimity
FROM THE BOARD
CURRENT AFFAIRS
POLITCS
PAGE 4
PAGE 5
PAGE 6
Another Bloody Column on Free Speech OPINION PAGE 7
On the Inside Looking In
Who am I? A Nations Identity Struggle
e-Identity
From Eco Feminism to Queer Ideology
SCIENCE
CULTURE
CULTURE
PRIDE FEATURE
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PAGE 9
PAGE 9
PAGE 10
Attitudes towards LGBTQ+ across the Globe PRIDE FEATURE PAGE 11
Marked with Pride
Boxed In
Identity Feature
LGBTQ+ vs Queer PRIDE FEATURE PAGE 12
She is Hers.
PRIDE FEATURE PAGE 13
ARTWORK FEATURE PAGE 14-15
Winter Olympics
Environmental Identity
Love is in the Air
Glasgow's Cultural Identity
NATURE & ENVIRONMENT
SCIENCE
CULTURE
SPORT
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PAGE 17
PAGE 17
PAGE 18-19
Comic Creators Club: Stone Hearts. p19 2 | MULTIPURPOSEMGZ
GU Yoga Club
CONTRIBUTORS Annabel White Ash Ringhus Suzanne Elliott Regina Buffey Doug Jack Savannah Stark Bethany Howard Sophie Bryer
WELCOME
Cameron Duck Daisy Thomson Catrin Stephen Olivia Erikson Kirsty Dickson George Bell Skye Brettell Lauren Gatting
EDITORIAL TEAM Cover/Graphic Design - Rachel Mccarney Politics & Current Affairs - Owain Campton Views & Column - Amy McShane Lifestyle & Culture - Anya Brzeski Sports, Health & Science - Ciaran Doherty Nature & Environment - Isabelle Thornton Website/Features Editor - Caitlin Young Artwork & Photography - David Nkhansah Social Media & Socials Editor - Tom Smits
Cover Artwork and Design:
Annabel White and Rachel Mccarney 'For this issue's theme Rachel and I wanted to use an animal as a symbol of pride and strength. A stag seemed the perfect fit for this theme of 'Identity' and it has connotations of Scotland. The half geometric design represents the breaking of a mould and transformation into a real sense of self.'
The opinions expressed in this magazine are not representative of Glasgow University Union.
Hello readers! Welcome to the March issue, and my final edition of G-You as Editor-In-Chief. It's been an amazing journey on the Libraries Committee, both producing and contributing to G-You Magazine for the last three years. In my first year, when I beame involved, I would never have dreamed to have been where I am today and walking away with lots of fabulous friends and experience from being part of this team. I urge anyone with an interest in writing, editing, artwork, graphics or photography to get involved! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the amazing committee and contributors from the last year, and thank Anna and Lucy for their support since I started on committee, and, of course, to wish Owain the best of luck for the year ahead. Being involved in student media is alot of fun and gives you the opportunity to meet new people, research different topics and showcase your work online and in print. 'Identity' is a difficult topic. It can differ so greatly for different people and we might feel we have many different identities. But, it's been exciting to see the articles and artwork for this issue develop, and I'm sure you'll enjoy reading them as much as I did! Don't forget to check out our PRIDE featured section, acknowledging LGBTQ+ histroy month in February on pages 10-13. If you'd like any information on how to get involved, please email libraries@guu.co.uk. Happy reading!
Lottie van Grieken Editor-In-Chief
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FROM THE BOARD Ash Ringhus President 2017/18
Board of Management 2017/18 Well, well, well, good day to you, esteemed reader, and congratulations on picking up an absolutely phenomenal edition of the G-You Magazine. Election season is upon us, and to quote the great Justin Bieber, ‘it is the most beautiful time of the year’, at least for those who are enthusiastic about excessive flyering and DIY t-shirts. It’s not very hard to anticipate how annoying the period around the elections must be for those who take little interest in the four student bodies. Various campaign teams invading campus, dishing out anything from sausage rolls from your local frozen food chain to promises to convert the entire first floor of the QMU to a recording studio. Despite this, I have absolutely no sympathy for those who find student elections annoying, as I believe they represent two extremely important aspects of student life. Firstly, it offers students an opportunity to vote for the candidate they think will have the most positive impact on their University experience. To say that the views and wishes of the student population are well accounted for and aligned with the decisions of University management, would be rather generous. Having student representatives who have the drive and motivation to not only represent the views of the students, but actively working to fulfil them, should be of importance to any student, and by voting in the elections for your candidate(s), you can have a say in the matter. Secondly, for those who decides to do so, standing for election and involving yourself with one of the student bodies is incredibly rewarding. I can safely say that running for the Board of Management
was the best decision I made at University, for a vast number of reasons. Firstly, the GUU has been an absolutely phenomenal arena for meeting people, students and non-students alike, and I can safely say, as cliché as it sounds, that I have made friendships that will last for life in the Union. Secondly, as a board member, you haven a unique opportunity to put your personal stamp on how the GUU is run, and thereby have a direct effect on the student experience of thousands of members, which both is incredibly rewarding and an excellent addition to your CV. Thirdly, you acquire a lot of new skills and knowledge. As a Board Member, you are effectively responsible for the running of a million pound organisation, you sit on the Board as a trustee of a Charity, and this naturally comes with an abundance of insight into a large-scale commercial operation, and you develop a great understanding on how a business is run. Finally, and most importantly, it is so much fun. Being on Board can naturally be quite demanding at times, but it also gives a lot back, both in form of perks and in form of the experience and skills you take from it, and I could not recommend it enough. Of course, by the time you read this, nominations for this year’s election has shut, but that does not mean you will have to wait a year before you can get involved with the Union. There are a wide range of ways you can become involved, whether it be by applying to one of our four committees; Debates, Games, Libraries or Entertainments, applying for the PR team or to be a Fresher’s Helper. Regardless of which one of these that appeals the most to you, they are all excellent starting points for learning more about and putting your mark on the Union, and a very good foundation for running for the Board of Management in the future. The upcoming election does of course not only mean a new Board coming in, but also the old one making way. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved this year, both on the Board and otherwise, for a great year of working together, best of luck with the election to all the candidates and to those who are successful, I hope and believe you will enjoy being on Board as much as I have.
Libraries Committee 2017/18
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Keep an eye out for committee applications opening soon
POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
REBELS WITH A CAUSE?
How much of our political identitiy do we owe to our parents? Suzanne Elliott
portrayed in all facets of media and literature, it plagues societal narratives regarding teenagers and just young adults in general. Intolerably liberal, yuppies, millennials, the English language has evolved to insult and disparage younger generations for this supposed misguided, rebellious streak. This narrative shapes our conventional
Elias Dinas produced a study in 2013 that grappled with this conundrum. Dinas ultimately found that the loudest voices, the most politicised and partisan parents are the ones who drive their children most decisively to that youthful rebellion society characterises. Enhanced political socialisation at a younger age, was found to produce the perfect characteristics for political 'Are we truly rebel Corbynites change and challenge. This political or are we destined simply to socialisation engages us more with follow the beaten track laid political issues but also opens up out by our parents before us?' mechanisms to challenge our parental assumptions, such as a broader view of young political voters, as left- knowledge of issues and desire to leaning by nature and readily gulping converse and critique. Simultaneously down a diluted form of Marxist thinking provided to us by our university lecturers.
It’s probably a fairly reasonable claim to make that our parents, or primary care giver, are the primary influencers in our young lives and arguably the most crucial for our initial development in life. Throughout our childhood, they shape every way in which we interpret the world around us, from our moral code, to our values, to the way we perceive others, both those who are similar and different to us. We’re forced to play nice with siblings, to share books and toys despite our reluctance to learn to care for the needs of others. But they inform us on a larger scale too, making decisions regarding the kind of friends we can make, the people we can associate with beyond the politics of the playground, shaping the way we learn to interact and communicate and So, the question remains as to which value certain types of people more than is true? Are we truly rebel Corbynites others. or are we destined simply to follow the beaten track laid out by our parents before us?
Furthermore, it is probably fairly reasonable then to assume, that this influence also comes to shape our political leanings as we grow, our moral code that they so heavily shaped just as soon dictates our voting decisions as it does our everyday ones. Yet this assumption clashes head on with another, that when we as teenagers take the first steps in our young adult lives, we yearn to rebel and take a daring step away from this parental influence. This stereotype has been
Our parent’s income surely does influence our political identity, as it does our opportunities and life, the type of school we go to, our ability to attend tertiary education, our attitudes towards money and its availability and ultimately what we do with it. This influence dictates a lot of who we are as a person, the opinions we hold and such. These kinds of factors help build our opinions on things as serious as the legitimacy of taxation, our opinion on education and the necessary nature of universal health care as exemplified in contemporary attitudes to this in parts of the US, in the same manner the moral values we are taught do. But what about political opinions themselves? Do conservative parents breed conservative young adults? The answer, not necessarily.
other factors contrast with this parental influence as we get past initial stages of development such as our friendship groups, particularly our significant others, and the setting in which we interact with them are crucial to this development of political identity. These findings also lead us to that assumption that children who then do not have politicised parents, are less likely to involve themselves in partisan affiliation. Whether this is true on a universal scale is unclear? I am uncertain if my political affiliations are down to my own thoughts or the thoughts of my parents or my friends or my significant other. It’s a theory that demands a lot of self-reflection, to ask ourselves if we are truly our own person or more accurately a patchwork of the people and institutions that shape our lives?
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POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
Regina Buffey As I come up to the end of my degree, and ideas are swarming around my head as to what I would like to do for the future, I cannot help but feel this under-tow of pervasive worry that when entering the workplace, I will be entering a pre-coded masculine environment. First off, to be clear, I do not associate masculine traits exclusively with males and vice versa with femininity and females; the problem that I am getting at is the valorisation of hyper-masculinity, placing it as the absolute ideal for progression in the workplace, which in turn ignores and undervalues feminine, non-binary and other forms of skill and leadership.
a feminine way in workplace, she may be liked but not respected or seen as a leader in the workplace - and if she behaves in a masculine way she will be seen as arrogant and ‘bossy’ and disliked for it. Either way, if a woman puts on a feminine or masculine persona, she will be castigated. The fact that she submits herself to either stereotype reveals the accepted artificiality involved in the way people act in the office. The problem is not only its artificiality, it is also the idea that having a hyper-masculine structured environment, paves the way to those who are naturally masculine having a
is feminine will have a large effect on the way in which people accept her into the workforce and expectations of her output; the same for males. Therefore, presumption of character can be seen as a controlling and manipulative force, as females associated with the more “negative” feminine traits will have to work a lot harder to prove their worth and value. A good example of this kind of stereotyping was the Daily Mail’s article headline “Never mind Brexit, Who won Legsit!” with a picture of prime minster Theresa May and Nicholas Sturgeon behind it. This kind of belittlement reduces female power down to asserted notions of femininity. It is
Fearing Feminimity:
Gender Bias in the Workplace It appears to be generally acknowledged and accepted that masculine traits such as dominance, assertiveness, egotism and aggression are valued in leaders and generally successful people, whereas feminine traits such as receptivity, empathy and sensitivity are ruled out as strengths. Surely, if one group of traits is seen as naturally superior and as an imperative for success, only a minute amount of people, male or female, will have inherited these traits to full end of the spectrum and will be in power. This means that the majority of workers who are somewhere along the scale of both femininity and masculinity will have to adapt and fit themselves superficially to a hyper-masculine orientated environment for their whole working career. Is it damaging to have to do so? Shouldn’t the workforce be more open to different ways of achieving success? The idea of the “double-bind” encapsulates the way that a worker has to personally adapt to fit masculine norms in the workplace. A “double-bind” stands for the contradiction that if a woman behaves in
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strong sense of entitlement in their presumed superiority, perhaps without true merit or value underneath **COUGH** Donald Trump… Entitlement is a dangerous thing, as it leads to exploitation and disrespect to those working below them. Those who feel entitled without merit will want constant reassurance of their superiority, and that is where those that work beneath them risk having to do things they shouldn’t to adhere to those above them. An example of a female having to submit to masculine norms in the workplace is Hilary Clinton’s action of dropping her maiden name from ‘Hilary Rodham Clinton’ to just ‘Clinton’ for the electorate vote, providing evidence that women have to fit themselves to patriarchal traditions in order to maintain respect and prestige. Although, here, we have acknowledged that feminine and masculine traits are not exclusive to gender; it is widely presumed that these traits are confined to biological gender and this results in unfair prejudgement of one’s ability and value. The presumption, for example, that a female
this kind of behaviour which makes me question whether, as a female, I will be reduced to someone else’s feminine ideals when entering the workforce. So, what to do? First, we should acknowledge that it is a norm, but not a truth and is therefore changeable. Secondly, those who identify as being feminine, should be allowed to embrace it, in turn empowering femininity and redefining it in its capability for strength and new value in the work environment. As Mary Beard says in Women and Power: ‘You can’t easily fit women into a structure that is already coded as male; you have to change the structure’; we want to take that notion and apply it to the broader notion of femininity which encompasses all different types of people, calling for freedom of opportunity and respect when making your way through the career ladder.
OPINION
Another Bloody Column on Free Speech Doug Jack Debates about free speech on campus are overdone, but at the extreme ends people often forget that the principle of free speech does not exist in a vacuum. If you take a gander at certain publications in this country it’s actually hard to miss. Whether it’s a column that moans about how trigger warnings are creating a snowflake generation, to how certain no-platforming decisions are Stalinism in a microcosm, every couple of months the right of centre press never fails to display its anxiety about the rise of ‘the real fascists’. Pivot your gaze to the other end of the newsstand and you can read about how certain opinions are a threat to student safety or something. All of this has become so out of hand that even Theresa May and Jo Johnson have felt the need to encourage free speech at University. I’ll be honest, I’m one of those people that thinks listening to views you don’t agree with - and may even be deeply personally offended by - is important for your development as an individual. Being able to process those opinions and think about responses to them can help you break out of monotonous group thinking, which at the very least can make you a less boring person intellectually. Is University the best time to do this? Also yes. Unless you go into journalism (may God have mercy on your soul) most of your time will be spent arguing about corporate strategy or for those of us blessed with humanities degrees trying to convince employers that making up references in an essay is in fact a transferable skill.
All of that being said, it’s a stretch for the government and free speech guerrillas to try and force Universities, student bodies, and societies into engaging in this exercise. What I think those engaged in promoting free speech on campus forget is the wider liberal philosophy that free speech is placed in. For all the fawning over Locke, Mill and (god forbid) Ayn Rand, that some free speechers engage in, they forget that private organisations also have freedom of association. The right to freedom of speech and expression doesn’t mean I or
fellow Union members have to subject ourselves to ramblings that will inevitably include some homage to the great, but ironically deified, Christopher Hitchens. See? Even I’ve done it. Whilst some try their best to promote civil discourse at University sometimes you just have to admit that people don’t care.
'Whilst some try their best to promote civil discourse at University, sometimes you just have to admit that people don’t care' The same applies to those who get angry when a speaker they don’t like comes on to campus. No one is forcing you to go. If you’re worried about your safety fear not, neither the Dialectic Society or Politics Society will be knocking on your tenement flat door to hold a panel discussion featuring Nigel Farage in your kitchen. In fact, Glasgow seems to have the balance right. I can think of a couple of examples where those often maligned by the other side in the free speech debate have conducted themselves in a manner that shows they understand the wider context of freedom of expression. On a particularly busy Wednesday at the QM, the Socialist Workers Party were hosting a seminar on women’s rights. The feminist society, on the grounds that the Socialist Workers Party has had a checkered past on the issue, decided to protest against. But they didn’t try to have the event cancelled, instead two of them very politely handed out leaflets outside the committee room and explained their grievances. On the other side of the debate, and during Glasgow’s close brush with the rise of right-wing populism, during the Rector election I had to contact all the campaigns to let them know that the GUU would only be hosting material related to Lady Cosgrove’s campaign. Whilst some of the campaigns derided us for not supporting democracy, the Milo campaign sent a lovely email explaining they understood our decision and would even co-operate in the removal of their campaign material if we found it in the building. Considering Milo wanted to host a ‘free speech festival’ this was quite refreshing. So what does this all mean? Well, this debate won’t be going away, so long as students convince themselves of the universality of the non-aggression principle, convince themselves that being controversial equates to being an intellectual maverick, or convince themselves that views they don’t like are a threat and not an opportunity, we’ll all be damned to live in this rut. At Glasgow we have a happy medium, the prevailing apathy of the majority of the student population toward campus life is at both times depressing but also heart warming. For the small majority engaged in the particulars of campus current affairs there does seem to be an understanding that freedom of expression is good, and debate should be encouraged, but it shouldn’t interrupt my workout/anti cycle-thievery/pint of fun/mac and cheese. MULTIPURPOSEMGZ | 7
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
On the Inside Looking In Caitlin Young Website and Features Editor
This year was the 100th anniversary of women having the right to vote, for most modern females the thought of not having this right seems so far fetched because why should we not? It’s the same as feeling perplexed about the fact that there is still a gender pay gap. Now, there has been progress in closing the gender gap in other ways, particularly the representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics or just simply STEM. Even though we have more representation in these fields, are we seen as equals or is there still work to be done? For years science and engineering fields have been seen as a “Man’s World” and one that women weren’t welcome in. But as things changed for the better, it became clear that females could not just rival but also better their male counterparts, as everyone says a little healthy competition never hurt anyone. Pioneering female scientists such as Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin and Lise Meitner, to name a few, paved the way and proved that women deserve a voice in the world of science. But what happens when you join the club?
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Between 2004 and 2014 there was a drop in women graduating in STEMrelated degrees in the United States, Europe also followed this trend with only 4 countries claiming that 15% of STEM graduates were women. But why is this happening? As we gain gender equality you would expect the number of women pursuing STEM subjects to increase. Engineering companies have been known to offer more money to female graduates in order to entice them in and make the job seem more appealing. However, while the financial benefits are clear it might knock your moral compass off slightly and make you wonder if you got the job through pure talent or to meet a quota. I myself am coming to the end of a 5-year Physics degree and over the last half decade I have definitely had many academic ups and downs. It all started when I was in school and was inspired by my wonderful Physics teacher to pursue Physics beyond the classroom and that I did. In 2013 I arrived at Glasgow University very much the epitome of a fresh faced fresher, somewhat sheltered from the difficulties that females in my area of study face. It was only when I reached my third year that I came to fully understand what it
was like to be a female in a male dominated course. I felt naïve by the fact that it had taken me so long to notice, despite the fact that in my very first lectures it was clear that we were outnumbered. It became a running joke amongst my male course mates and I, but obviously there is a real issue with under representation not just in physics but also in other STEM courses, particularly engineering.
I would say that I have never intentionally been made to feel on the sidelines but I have experienced situations where I have felt that I am the odd one out or I haven’t felt confident enough to speak out in a lecture. However, I believe it is more to do with society’s thoughts and views on females in such an environment and so how these transpire into the learning dynamic. Times may have changed but the perspective hasn’t, many people can be stuck
in their ways and not see that their actions can be classed as old fashioned. In a metaphoric sense I have found that, on occasions, my voice has not been as loud as my male peers. I can see that for the students of the future this could be very off-putting. With political movements such as Time Up and #MeToo campaign, gender equality or lack there of between the sexes has never had more attention and more backing from both genders. I am proud to identify myself as a woman of science and I couldn’t be happier to be near the finish line and almost be a STEM graduate. However, it would be wrong for things to change just to keep the masses happy about gender equality. I for one am a person that takes pride in my own work and I would never want to be prioritised or favoured to meet a quota or because I am female. I don’t necessarily want my voice to be the loudest in the room I just want to feel respected and feel like I am truly part of the world that I have been studying in for the past 5 years. In general, we clearly still have work to do but we are moving in the right direction and that’s an important thing to focus on. A change is definitely in the air, and it’s about damn time.
CULTURE Anya Brzeski Culture and Lifestyle Editor
Who am I? A Nations Identity Struggle A pre-Brexit Britain was like a really good pub. Everyone knew where the toilets were, beers were a reasonable price, they had bar snacks. A roaring fire in winter, and a leafy, sunlit beer garden for the warmer months. Before you raise your eyes and pass this off as another rant on Brexit- either positive or negative, let me put you at ease. This is, in fact, an attempt to address the shifting ambiguity of a concept known as National Identity. A phrase which strikes fear into the heart of constitution-quoting Americans, and fanatics of anything Strong and Stable. A post-Brexit Britain is a mite more difficult to pin down. Perhaps it’s a dive bar, all neon signs and shifty clientele. Or maybe it’s an elegant wine bar: so many wines to choose from that you feel ashamed of asking for the cheapest Merlot they have. The concept of National Identity seems, in recent years especially, to have more to do with speaking
the language of the country in question. In a PewResearch survey undertaken in 2016, the factor most important for National Identity in America and most European countries, was language. Rather than where one is born, it is the language that seems to be at the heart of National Identity. But it is also the cumulation of culture and traditions. How then, do we attempt to establish what on earth the identity of a country is when it’s just broken up from its gang of girlfriends who have been mostly constant for the last 65 years or so. Especially when our traditions include rolling a 4lb wheel of cheese down a ludicrously steep hill, and racing chickens (with complete silence from the audience to avoid disturbing the hens, of course). Perhaps we should instead look to the precedent other countries are setting. France had something of an identity crisis in the 2000s, and it is still largely unresolved today. Nicolas Sarkozy attempted to reiterate the value that anyone can be French so long as they speak French and live like the French. Sarkozy perhaps wasn’t the most eloquent person when he set this out, but the idea was there at least: we need to figure out who we are and who we want to be. Or maybe the key lies in flag waving and closing our ears when someone in the back pipes up with an uncomfortable idea. Having a cup of tea and waiting for all this to blow over seems like a very British attitude to the problem. Though sitting back and blindly accepting whatever authorities tell us hasn’t gone down too well since the 1960s. One
of the main channels of British National Identity had been the people’s relationship with parliament, the armed forces, and the British reputation as the world’s oldest industrial nation, amongst other things. When these beliefs and connections started to erode, people no longer seemed content to take the authorities word for it. In any case, perfunctory swallowing of politicians manifestos leads to some interesting situations: for proof, see the state of affairs the world over. Marx pushed the idea of an identity among workers, rather than identities confined to nations in his work Das Kapital, and Superman certainly liked the idea. In 2011, the most famous American cartoon character renounced his American citizenship in favour of being a global citizen. It caused uproar at the time, but there may be something to be said for this attitude. We are globally linked to other people and places in ways which have never been available before. This path might be something akin to a souped-up Wetherspoons- it’s got something enough to appeal to almost everyone, but doesn’t try to be every bit of life that you need. There’s room for identity to come from other places- music, art or fashion movements, to name a few. Perhaps we shouldn’t try to pinpoint national identity as anything more than an idea, otherwise we may start ostracising people who were, and are, very much down with the shape of National Identity in their own way and time. Perhaps we should all carry on doing what we do best: go and have a pint at the local pub and put the world to rights there.
e-Identity Anya Brzeski Culture and Lifestyle Editor It sometimes seems as though we've gone so far past the point of normalcy online that when someone shows their true selves, we have to praise them for ‘bravery’. It feels like it, wouldn’t you agree? When a celebrity model posts pictures of her pregnancy stretchmarks, we wax lyrical about how brave she is for going against expectation. When a man expresses his love for his children online, we cheer his openness. Have we all forgotten that these things are trademarks of average human lives? Doing something which is entirely normal in the real world, is akin to an act of defiance in the online sphere. A whopping 2.2 billion of us plaster our lives on Facebook, or rather, we cover our timelines in the things we want to be associated with. The positives, the highlights, and the humour. There is a subtle pressure to conform to these ideals of perfection. It’s undeniably a problem- this creation of the unattainable, where what you see of others is their good times, with no notion of any trouble in paradise, gets to us, at some point or other. Feeling down about our own situation in life, FOMO, and concerns over
our own aesthetic can consume us. The average person under 40 in the western world spent over 2 hours per day on social media in 2016 . If you think that doesn’t sound like much, over a lifetime that will add up to the equivalent of 5 years on social media. Enough time to fly to the moon and back 32 times. So we spend a lot of time browsing the web. Thats a lot of time spent looking at all of those ‘perfect’ lives. It’s no wonder that we put up content that those around us will approve of, seeking the thrill of likes, shares, retweets or whatever online currency you’re into. It therefore comes as little surprise when people turn to anonymity as a form of escapism. As a way of getting out from the suffocation of all those sunlit pictures and #goals posts. But anonymity can provide a dangerous breeding ground for hate groups and other cyber misusers. Perusing the net as we are all given to doing, I came across a forum given over to the phenomenon of Black Knighting: a truly horrible way of targeting women to make them feel miserable for no other reason than the simple fact that they are female,
because these men feel that they have it worse in society than the gals do. It sounds almost harmless- after all, there must be countless hate groups and anti-’whatever’ forums online which come to little more than sniping. But the stories these users tell are truly unsettling. Jogging after women at night when they are alone to scare them, and to enjoy the fear they have created. Sending flowers and a “congratulations on a great interview and we look forward to working with you” note to a female manager’s bossmaking it look like the manager was looking for a job elsewhere: she was subsequently fired. It’s cruel behaviour, but it also sheds light on how people are inclined to behave, as soon as any accountability is removed. In the face of so much change in the world, in the face of the continued efforts of good people the world over, to bring us closer to equality, these forums are increasingly a way to deal with uncertainty that some have. And any online presence whatsoever brings with it a swarm of algorithms calculating what you like and spend time looking at online. Extrapolating out from that, sites feed you things they think you’ll like. Meaning it can be easy to be exposed to similar opinions over and over, never challenging your
opinions. Not to say that the internet is a big bad wolf peddling malice and deceit. Through the internet, millions joined together for the #MeToo movement in just 4 months. And, as with so many things these days, the landslide set off when social media started to fill up with the stories and hashtags. And in defiance of conformity, there have emerged the endless videos of people failing at things, or playing tricks on one another- healthy signs of humans doing what humans do. And lets not forget that the internet is wonderful for holding people to account. A double edged sword, but one that lost Katie Hopkins her job for her false accusation and tweets of ‘final solutions’. When there is no anonymity, there is great potential for things which seemed trendy at one point, to come back to haunt you. It’s a difficult line to draw: where and when anonymity online should or shouldn’t stop. And it’s equally difficult to dictate what our online presence ought to be, but it certainly pays to be mindful of the fact that online isn’t the same as the real world- not yet, anyway. MULTIPURPOSEMGZ | 9
PRIDE FEATure Queering Nature: From Ecofeminism to Queer Ecology
Savannah Stark
W
hen relating to the world around us, we often prescribe human-like qualities to non-human forms. Someone might say that a vase of wilted flowers looks “sad,” and they may feel empathy towards the eventual death of the colourful blooms. Obviously, flowers do not have feelings. When people place values and perceptions on an object or landscape, it often reflects more about the person and what they value rather than the object or landscape itself. This is specifically relevant considering how people perceive the outdoors. Our relationship to the environment is defined by values and human qualities placed on nature. Indeed, our own biases and preferences including gender are reflected as well.
arguing women have a greater obligation to protect the environment. However, the leading ecofeminist thought is radical, where the association of women and nature must be severed to end the oppression that the male domination narrative asserts. To end the oppression of women, both sexes must see and relate to nature equally, where men and women have an equal obligation to protect nature for their own interest.
When analysing nature, we can look past the male and female reproductive systems of primates, sparrows, sharks, and so many other hallmark species. Deeper investigation shows a world where asexual reproduction is common; the Amazon molly fish is a female species that has reproduced on its own for thousands of years. A queen bee mates with many drones for the survival of the hive. Flowers with an ovary and stamen (pollen) are hermaphroditic, and the sex of some plant species changes depending on the season. For living organisms, there is no consistent form of sexuality.
When we discuss nature, people often refer to “Mother Earth.” The natural environment is perceived as a feminine entity where biological characteristics are synonymous with the female body and reproduction. Ecofeminism provides a theoretical lens to label and view this social norm. The ecofeminist movement focuses on how these narratives reflect a patriarchal society because of the inherent belief in man’s ability to dominate and exploit nature. Think of the quintessential flannel-wearing lumberjack, a bearded, masculine man chopping down pine trees. Think of the machines that have replaced these lumberjacks in the forest, still often mechanized by men. This example presents a narrative of masculine humanity plundering the forest, an environment we often describe as “she” or “Mother Nature.” Ecofeminists believe that these gendered descriptions reinforce humanity’s domination over nature. In this lens, women and nature are both described as chaotic and disordered, in need of being tamed to provide for humanity. Thus, this association perpetuates the oppression of women and the environment. Some cultural ecofeminists embrace the connection between women and nature, 10 | MULTIPURPOSEMGZ
Insights from queer theory and queer ecology are important to recognize. When the equality of men and women in relation to culture and nature must occur for the liberation of the environment, ecofeminism pushes a heterosexual and binary narrative. As a result, a dualism is created between heteronormativity and the nonbinary, or erotic. In queer theory, the use of “erotic” refers to how queer identity has been historically viewed by society as unnatural, which demonstrates the oppression against LGBTQ+ individuals. Queer ecology challenges this heterosexual/erotic duality by changing the way nature is contextualized.
Like all feminist movements, ecofeminism has been criticized for the lack of intersectionality, or the inclusion of class, race, ability, and sexuality in the theory. Ecofeminist literature has since begun to incorporate theories from a variety of disciplines with the fundamental assumption that all oppression is interlinked; the oppressed can only be freed when the system is dismantled. For example, the liberation of women cannot occur without ending the oppression against gay women. Thus, only the end of homophobia will allow for the liberation of women, which means the liberation of all LGBTQ+ individuals must also be achieved. This linkage extends to all forms of identity, but the links to nature require extra clarification.
Nature is queer. Nature is erotic. Intuitively, we can connect the masculine domination and degradation of nature to the oppression of the erotic, which includes women and LGBTQ+ people. A queer ecofeminist movement moves us away from the goal of liberating women through an equal relationship of men and women to nature by broadening to the aspiration of ending the separation between humanity and nature for the liberation of the oppressed. When humanity realizes that we are created from and we reflect nature, we will begin to understand that humanity is as diverse and fluid as the environment.
Pride and Prejudice: Attitudes to the LGBTQ+ Community across the Globe Owain Campton Politics and Current Affairs Editor The turn of the millennium brought us many things. Big Brother hit the screens and the UK IQ average dropped by two points (not necessarily a causation effect…); Clippit became the default Office assistant on Windows 2000, the latest in processing software, successfully annoying us enough to become one of the first mainstream internet memes; and the first Sims game came out, allowing Millennials the joy of playing in a fantasy world where they could have a job, a family and still buy a house! The cultural jokes aside, there was one thing that made 2000 an important turning point, and that was the Netherland Parliament passing a bill allowing same-sex marriages, permitting same-sex couples to marry, divorce and adopt children. This monumental decision, the first of its kind, started the movement towards marriage equality bills being voted in across the developed world. The most recent positive move towards LGBTQ+ equality came on the ninth of January, from the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights, who ruled that all signatory parties of the Pact of San José were required to provide the same rights to samesex couples, including marriage. This may lead soon to legalizing same-sex marriage in most of the Americas, where Panama and Costa Rica have already agreed to comply! However, not all developing countries are quite as liberal. Eighty countries still have criminal punishment for consensual homosexual sex, six of which currently enforce the death penalty for same-sex relations – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen, plus some regions of Nigeria and Somalia. Five further states; Afghanistan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, permit the death penalty technically, but have yet to publicly invoked it. Of the latest to change their laws, Chad last year criminalised homosexuality, and Brunei, in 2014, moved to allow the death penalty for homosexuality, but is yet to enact the change. Saudi Arabia by far has the greatest list of challenges against LGBTQ persons. When the UN and other bodies that monitor countries equality and development, look at the progression of LGBTQ+ rights,
there is a list of things they look for to get a bench mark of how tolerant a state is. Is same-sex sexual activity legal, is there equal age of consent for hetero and homosexual couples, are there anti-discrimination laws in employment, in the provision of goods and services, or in all other areas (for example indirect discrimination, or hate speech), is there legal same-sex marriage, or recognition of same-sex couples married in other jurisdictions, is there the ability to adopt a step-child by same-sex couples, or have joint adoption, are they allowed to serve openly in the military, do they have the right to change legal gender, is there access to In Vitro Fertilisation, or commercial surrogacy, and can sexually active homosexuals donate blood? In Saudi Arabia it failed to score on any one of these markers. It is not even illegal to discriminate against a non active LGBT member, in fact, discrimination is encouraged, enforced and heavily applied to the LGBT community. The reason Saudi Arabia is so intolerant primarily comes down to its legal system and staunch stance in Sharia law, Islamic law derived from the Qur'an and the Sunnah traditions. All laws come from Royal decree, some based on advice from Sharia Judges, or high ranking clerics. In addition to law enforcement, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has the power to arrest and detain people who violate the traditional teachings of Islam, including acts of homosexuality and cross-dressing. All together, it creates an environment that is deadly for the LGBT community. Recently the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to condemn the use of the death penalty for homosexuality, however unable to enforce any measures efficiently, the vote only acts as a wagging finger in the face of the culprits of such penal codes. This is weakened even more so when the US, yes the home of freedom, where same-sex marriage is legal, voted against the condemnation measure. Meaning there is little pressure on these countries, as the US, widely regarded as the world police, decide to turn their back to it. The Pew Research Centre for Global Attitudes and Trends found acceptance of homosexuality is
particularly widespread in countries where religion is less central in people’s lives. These are also among the richest countries in the world. In contrast, in poorer countries with high levels of religiosity, few believe homosexuality should be accepted by society. This is most prevalent in the Middle East, where only 11.2% believe that society should accept homosexuality. Though this value was pulled up by the split vote of the Israeli population, who are 47% in favour of acceptance. The spread of homophobic tendencies can also be traced back to evangelic fundamental Christian groups whom have a great belief in missionary work, but also theology rooted in specific reading of the Hebrew Bible and Paul’s Letters, which some site as condemning homosexuality. Regularly, in exchange for aid, they would encourage local communities to move towards their theological teachings, leaving the LGBTQ+ at the fringes of society.
Religion, however, is not the only reason that many countries form such negative attitudes, and laws, against the community. Of the eighty countries where same-sex sexual activity is illegal, forty rely on sodomy laws, brought in with the British Empire. These sodomy laws are based off the British “Buggery Act”, which was a legal act that defined buggery as an unnatural sexual act against the will of God and man, later defined by the courts to include only anal penetration and bestiality. Despite the fact many of these cultures pre-colonization, had fluid gender roles, and the “third gender”, this has all been eradicated by the enforcement of the colonial culture onto the native culture. This has been noted, again by Pew Research Centre, who showed only 8.5% of the population in Postcolonial nations believe homosexuality should be accepted. However, if you take out South Africa, who legalised for same sex marriage, as not to be in violation of its constitution which heavily
values equality post-apartheid, this value drops 3.2% showing how the colonial era culture and laws have had a devastating effect to the acceptance within these countries. Unfortunately, this is not something we can fix. As the British Empire imposed itself as culturally and morally superior for centuries, these countries have an anti-colonial sentiment that will push back against any further imposition from the West, and it is justified given the atrocities we committed. This can be seen as proposals to have British foreign aid be dependent on the repeal of anti-LGBT laws, have armed many countries with antiimperialist and cultural protectionist rhetoric, that actually lead to backlash of even more intolerant governments moving into power. In fact, often as the West step forward in terms of legalising for LGBTQ+ rights, the anti-West mentality moves these countries towards more hard line laws. We rely on new emerging economies, like South Africa or Brazil, who may offer better received advice, to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights, and move for these countries to do the same. However, there are a number of countries that are making strides forward in the legislation for LGBTQ+ rights, specifically within the Global South. “On gay rights, Vietnam is now more progressive than America” A headline ran by NBC, and although maybe a little over ambitious in how progressive Vietnam actually is, it is true to say that it has made huge movements recently to narrow the gender and sexual identity equality gap. In 2016 Nepal moved to recognise the third gender legally, protecting the rights of Hijras, a transgender community who have a long cultural history in Nepal, and the September prior to that, they constitutionally enshrined protections for the LGBT community, a first for any Asian state. Mozambique, the ex Portuguese colony, with harsh ties to the Catholic Church, decriminalized homosexuality, a huge step forward in that southern region of Africa. The Theodore Parker quote, made famous by Martin Luther King Jr., comes to mind now; “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice”. Although totally equality may not have been reached as of yet, in this age of globalization, with international and social pressures, there is no doubt that LGBTQ+ rights are on the rise. MULTIPURPOSEMGZ | 11
Daisy Thomson
MARKED WITH PRIDE
In 1972 a band of 1,000 LGBT+ people marched in the streets of London, the first time pride was brought to the UK. Fast forward nearly half a century later, and pride is a huge event that attracts hundreds of thousands every year and huge commercial sponsors. LGBT advertising is so present in current society we see it in the food we eat, cafes we sit in, the technology we use, and it had raised a lot of debate within the LGBT+ community over whether this increased commercial involvement in the movement is a good thing or not. One of the key advocates of decommercialising pride is close to home in Free Pride Glasgow, an organisation demanding the removal of corporate sponsors and a return the campaign’s roots. One of the main arguments used by campaigns like Free Pride Glasgow, is that the pride movement should be first and foremost about people, not profit. The commercialisation is seen as exploitative because companies are taking a movement designed specifically by a minority, to advocate for themselves, and using it for their own purposes, and there is no overlap between these purposes because all companies purely operate on profit motive, not philanthropic incentives, or to progress the cause of social justice. When companies use gay symbols or advertise using LGBT people or events, they are exploiting a marginalised
group for their own gain, because they think it will be good for their brand image to be associated with the ‘progressive’ values that LGBT+ rights groups have. This advantage comes twofold: first from the ‘pink pound’ which is the spending power of LGBT people themselves, and secondly from winning the loyalty of liberal allies who want to support socially conscious companies.
Another argument against this process is one of inclusivity. Movements like Pride should include and prioritise the voices of its most marginalised members, but when huge companies are involved in funding Pride marches like Barclays and Starbucks, and companies' LGBT adverts are the main representation of LGBT people to most of the population, the most marginalised are more likely to be pushed to the edges because they are the 'least media-friendly'. When pride and the LGBT community is commercialised, companies then get ability to shape how LGBT people as a movement and as a community are presented to society. This happens because society is inundated with adverts and unlike newspapers or social media, you don’t have to seek them out or consciously access them in anyway, so they have become the most pervasive and effective form of mass messaging in society. This means that it becomes a representative record of society at that time, and also effective in shaping societal norms. Therefore it
is significantly worse when advertisers misrepresent LGBT people. This would happen because advertisers would want to use the most socially accepted and media friendly LGBT people to use in their campaigns which means white gay men get over-represented, over people of colour, trans people, and other people within the LGBT community who are less visible or less easy to empathise with. However ultimately the most marginalised people should be at the forefront and given voices, particularly in the case of pride when it is explicitly a fight for the rights of marginalised sexualities and gender identities.
But most of all, pride is first and foremost a protest movement, that is its birthplace, that is all of its achievements, and it is important that pride remain a platform to demand and create change. When it is commercialised it becomes harder to do that because although companies are quite happy to sit on the laurels of the movement’s success, they never want to rock the status quo or push the boat out to demand the radical change that is needed because that means going against the dominant norms in society currently, which is not an effective advertising strategy. Furthermore, Pride’s history is another thing that will be lost if the commercialisation of Pride goes too far. Pride marches have always been on some level a place to remember the history of LGBT struggles such as
the Stonewall riots, this history will be sanitised and ignored if it doesn’t suit the narratives that companies want to advance, which could be a huge loss for the community’s collective memory. However, the commercialisation of the movement can also be seen as a huge success. Advertisers wanting to be publicly associated with the pride movement shows how far the movement has come, it is a sign of unprecedented success of a social movement, that it can go from complete oblivion to mainstream adverts from huge brands publicly backing it, in half a century. Adverts are also a key way of normalisation, gradually changing social norms to make LGBT people more accepted and ‘normal’ within the mainstream, which should be an important goal of the movement, particularly in the West where most legal rights have now been achieved. The influence of capitalism over the movement can have unfortunate side effects, but it is a sign of success and it also enables the pride movement to receive huge amounts of funding they would not otherwise receive, which can be used for independent campaigns as well as sponsored events. It is also important to recognise the alternative, that although white men may get prioritised, at least it does provide huge representation which would not be there otherwise.
LGBTQ+ vs. Queer: A Deliberation n the last 10 years the use of the word ‘queer,’ as a new way for people to identify has rapidly grown in popularity. It is an umbrella term to describe all people who are gender and sexual non-conforming aka LGBT people. The aim of activists who use the word queer is to reclaim the word from one of hate to one of pride. However not all gender and sexual non-conforming are as enthused about this movement and are unsure whether the term queer should be used as a symbol of strength or if we should continue to use the established LGBT label.
it provides the crucial representation for people whatever their identity, having effective representation is crucially important in a world which continually tells young LGBT people that they are different from the typical heterosexual lifestyle. When a young person is able to use a label which is easily understood by a majority of people, a global language is unlocked and liberates them. Solidarity can be made between different LGBT people across the world who are facing similar fights for rights such as equality and respect among society. The representation liberates LGBT people to a point where people can freely be themselves.
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Q
Cameron Duck
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he typically used acronym LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) has become the established and accepted term of use and many people believe that this acronym is still| fitMULTIPURPOSEMGZ for use in today’s society. They believe that 12
ueer in itself is especially problematic when introducing an umbrella term which not only removes an individual’s representation it to leads towards an assumption that all LGBT’s experiences are the same
and equal. While in the fact a trans person’s experience is far from the same a gay man’s in modern Scotland and even within each identity there are no two experiences which are the same. Attempting to equate such experiences through one term for all, completely ignores the nuances and does a huge disservice to the community as a whole.
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owever, it is important to note the advantages to establishing an all-encompassing term, for the community and wider society. Firstly, ‘LGBT,’ is far too simplistic to break down into easy categories simply for the ease of communication with wider society. Queer establishes a term for people who do identify with such labels and those who do not, the people are in-between and outside.
Essentially everyone is represented in the word queer in a way the categorised LGBT term does not allow. Why should people who have already broken conforming norms be forced to comply a new set of norms and criteria just to feel part of the community? If being queer means loving who you are, however you identify then what is the harm?
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econdly the establishment of a new term queer allows for interpretation of different cultures to integrate a global word for gender and sexual non-conforming people. Different cultures across the globe have their own terms and norms to describe gender and sexual non-conforming people but have been forced to adopt the overwhelmingly Western influenced LGBT norms and the associated culture. The global diversity is ignored through these re-established terms. The word queer allows for interpretation to flourish and for all to be included. In a world of rapid integration
Tom Smits Social Media Editor
our articulation of our community should be as inclusive as possible.
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lthough queer is a word which holds major baggage, for decades it was use to shame LGBT people. Hate crimes have been committed for years with the word queer used to beat and oppress LGBT people. Some argue that words have power and sometimes words which have been used as a wasp in the past should not be born again simply for the argument of reclamation. The word queer can be a weapon and people should be careful about how and when they use it.
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am of the belief that anyone can chose to identify however they would like to, as long as it doesn’t harm others. In my own coming out process I found an understanding and acceptance within myself by being able to use a commonly understood label to express how I was feeling inside. I was able to articulate my fe-
elings in my own mind and with others as I came out. Labels helped me and I believe advocating the removal of them would only making coming out for LGBTQ+ youth harder regardless of their identity. Queer is a word I have always struggled with; I still believe it to be a word of hate which should be left in the past. If someone else choses to identify themselves as Queer, then I support them but I don’t identify as such and would correct someone if they did refer to me that way.
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ords have a power in our culture which is often underestimated, and while debating over labels appears meaningless when larger more substantive issues such as homelessness in LGBT youth and continued systematic oppression of LGBT minorities, but words matter in the cultural understanding and norms that we place of value. Ignoring the debate doesn’t help anyone it only continues to ostracise and make young people’s identities even more confused.
Boxed in
Hey, I’m Tom, and I like boys... and maybe girls – I’m not really sure. But why would that matter to you? I’ve found that over my years here at Glasgow Uni, people love, and almost need, to put you in a box in order for you to make sense for them. I came out when I was sixteen and was in a long-term relationship with a guy till I was twenty. Throughout that relationship the label of being gay was more and more emphasised, to the point where I was almost adjusting towards everyone’s view and definition of what gay was, even though those who defined me weren’t the ones who were gay. They accumulated these characteristics of what being gay meant from TV shows, movies, social media, family and friends. The moment I did not fit inside their definition of gay it was a massive shock! “What do you mean you’ve never been to gay pride?”, “You played sports competitively?!’, “Well that’s a big drink for a gay guy!” ... you get the idea. Similarly, when I mentioned the fact that I played with Barbie’s when I was 6 and starred in musicals it was so easily understood because “of course you would, you’re gay!” One of my favourites was the assumption that I was or should be disgusted by vaginas. To the point where I would even react to the word with utter disgust when I really did not have an issue with the organ or the word itself, it was just me fulfilling other people’s views on my sexuality. I’ve now come to the ripe and bright age of twenty-two where this affects me less, and I’m less afraid of being me. If people ask I’ll answer, but so many people have already made assumptions, and when they have it is hard to explain your situation. Do I know what ‘sexuality box’ I need to be in? No definitely not, but I’m good just sitting in the ‘Tom box’. Because the ‘Tom box’ is made up of all sorts of things that have a greater contribution to whom I am than my sexuality, and probably of more interest to you.
So rather than assuming what a person is like based on their sexuality, check out their individuality and what makes them unique. I should mention perhaps that as you are reading this please do not see it as a rant or an angry piece of writing. I don’t blame people for reacting the way they do. I just hope that this short piece of writing might enlighten a few people on their obsession with boxing people in (although I am absolutely shi**ing it to have this article released.) When I told my family back in The Netherlands that I was curious about dating girls (after telling them I was gay at 16) they could not care less. And why would they? It’s my life, I’ll learn from it, I’ll see whether I enjoy it or not, and they’ll respect it. Telling friends here is mind-blowing for them and then I’m put in the ‘bisexual’ box. A common response I hear from being in this box is that I am “taking away girls” from the potential market of straight men. I really do not get that argument. If you feel like I will take away your girls’ then maybe they are not the girls for you. My goal is not to take away anyone’s love interest; I’m just another person who is looking for a little lovin’ and cuddlin’ just like you. Maybe I am writing this in a progressive liberal university bubble, and I definitely do not mean to hurt or frustrate anyone. I’m just telling my experience and how challenging it is for me to be 'me' whilst also fitting into a rigid, constructed box that doesn’t fit. Let’s not let this descent into a millennial snowflake rant of over-hashtagging and keyboard activism, but maybe just take a second a think. Before you need to box someone, think why. Why do they need to be put into a sexuality box of socially constructed norms which defines who they are? Instead, get to know them on an individual level – have a listening ear. This does not just count for sexuality, but also counts for race, gender, religion and all other elements that make us uniquely individual.
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ART FEATURE
She is hers.
Sophie Bryer, 4th Year, Philosphy
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ART FEATURE
Catrin Stephen, 3rd Year Psychology
Sharbat Gula, ‘Afghan girl’, has become recognisable worldwide due to the fame of her photograph that was the cover of the National Geographic in 1985. Working from one of the less famous images of her, I particularly like the contrast between her pristine, glass-like eyes and rough hard-working hands. She seems shy, covering her face with her hands, but there is a quiet confidence in her piercing stare. Being so close-up meant I could focus on their expressions, particularly their eyes. Just as you can see the workmanship in a painting when you look closely at all the individual brushstrokes, I like how you can see the reflection of the photographer in Onno’s eyes. Aya is actually unfinished, in the photograph her skin is rough and raw in places which I am yet to incorporate into the painting. Two years later, I do still plan to go back and add some wear and tear to her young face as it was the contrast of her perfect eyes and tarnished skin that drew me to the image in the first place. There’s only so much you can tell about a person’s identity and character from a single image but such talented photographers as these achieve a sense of connection between the viewer and the subject of the photograph which make them an absolute pleasure to paint from.
Sharbat Gula (‘Afghan girl’), 12, Nasir Bagh refugee camp, Pakistan Photographer: Steve McCurry for National Geographic Painted using acrylics on black card in 2014/2015
Onno, a teenage girl from the Arbore tribe in Omo Valley, Ethiopia Phographer: Matjaz Krivic for National Geographic Photo Contest Painted using acrylics on black card in 2016
Aya Bandar, 6, Hama, Syria Photographer: Muhammed Muheisen for National Geographic Painted using acrylics on black card in 2016 MULTIPURPOSEMGZ | 15
NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT
Environmental Identity Isabelle Thornton Nature and Environments Editor This land is your land, this land is my land…or not, as the colonisation of many parts of the world saw a loss of homeland for millions of indigenous people. From The United States, to Australia and New Zealand, native people were forcibly removed from a land they had a deep, emotional and ancestral bond with, in the name of imperial conquest. When we think about environmental identity, we must return to the elements, the natural ways of life that Western colonialists deemed uncivilised and wild. The dictionary defines wild as “uninhabited, unmanaged and unconstrained,” and contrary to popular belief, these are all positive things. The freedom to be entirely unrestrained is pleasure so rare in modern, time-constricted life and is one that can only be found when returning to the land. Whether looking out to sea from a cliff or swimming in a lake in mid-summer, the feeling of complete wilderness is one to treasure, not to destroy. The implications of ignoring indigenous knowledges and prioritising the economy over ecology leads to the destruction of any wildness within us, but also turning wilderness into suburbia. Indigenous people across the world are caught between nature and the city as corporations pursue their land, minerals and plants. We only have to look at the environmental damage caused by the Dakota Access Pipeline to see the consequences of ignoring indigenous people’s right to their land. Despite huge protests from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, as the pipeline threatened sacred sites and fresh water supply, Donald Trump ordered the completion and opening of the pipeline – prioritising profit over people. The sheer arrogance of those in power, who completely disregard indigenous cultures, practices and knowledges, has been occurring throughout history and continues today.
European civilization has operated on a binary belief that places culture in opposition to wilderness. This has led Western imperialists into ruthless mistreatment of indigenous peoples and their wilderness lands around the world, and has been used to justify genocide and displacement for many hundreds of years. This horrific mistreatment of indigenous people is shown most prominently in Australia, where Aboriginal people have been at home for more than 60,000 years – one of the world’s longest-standing cultural groups with an unbroken ancestral connection. The arrival of First Fleet of British ships in Sydney in 1788 saw the beginning of the terrorisation of aboriginal people. The imperialists labelled the native people as savages, and they were treated horrifically - no better than animals. The colonialists also took complete control of the Australian land under the ‘terra nullius’ or ‘nobody’s land’ policy and in documentation described the vast deserts of Australia to be ‘barren’ and economically useless. Aboriginal people believe the opposite to be true, that the deserts are filled with songlines - paths across the land which mark routes so that one can never be lost in the desert and that connect the earth intimately to its people. If we all identified more with the land and felt a deeper connection to it, there would be a huge shift in priorities and far more respect for all things wild. In order to realise our environmental identity, we must not accept the Western superiority complex and learn about indigenous knowledges from all countries. We need to identify with the land in a far more emotional and sustainable manner and where better to look for inspiration than to those who have been caring for the environment for 60,000 years.
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SCIENCE
Skye Brettell
Love is in the Air
As everyone recovers from Valentine’s Day- whether that’s the blues or the lightening of the wallet-it’s important to realise that love is quite literally just chemistry. So while many of us may stress over whether or not we’ll get a card or a rose, if love is in the air that is simply just due reactions and chemical interactions occurring. Think about being on a first date- nerves high, awkward small talk, wondering if it will go well- the success of the evening is determined by chemicals out of our control. Dopamine, “the happy chemical”, along with adrenaline, are released which make the heart race, and often give the feeling of butterflies in the stomach. Testosterone release is triggered by dopamine in males, causing feelings of sexual desire, whereas more commonly in females, the release of oxytocin in the brain (often after sexual intercourse) can trigger feelings of affection and even love. Another uncontrollable factor in the world of attraction is the effect of pheromones. Pheromones are airborne chemicals (released in sweat, for example) produced by many species in the animal kingdom to attract a mate. Although specific human sex pheromones have not been identified, it is thought that their existence is probable. These chemical signals and your response to other peoples’ determine who you are attracted to, and
whether they are attracted to you. So next time you are stressing about what to wear on a date, or what photo to choose for your Tinder profile, just remember that your number of matches is simply down to chemistry. This is particularly important as we celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month, recognising the atrocities committed in the past against the community. There is still a lot of work to be done to convince those in society who are bigoted and clueless enough to believe that being homosexual is a “choice” or a “sin”, so that this vulnerable community can finally feel safe from persecution. In a recent study, a blind test revealed that homosexual males were more attracted to the sweat of another male, whereas heterosexual males were attracted to that of a woman. The fact that who you are attracted is simply a chemical process is something that the world is slowly starting to recognise and accept, and as a society we must strive to spread this acceptance and support. So if you’re still despairing after a Valentine’s spent watching Netflix, or that one who got away, don’t worry- to use that well trotted out excuse, “It’s not you, it’s…..chemistry.”
CULTURE
Glasgow's cultural identity
Olivia Eriksen
When asked to think of a place’s cultural identity more often than not we think of landmarks specific and widely known to said place. With the theme of this month’s issue was decided upon as being Identity, this photo series sprung to my mind. Having lived in Glasgow for nearly three years now, I have come to know and love many of the institutions about the city, some famous cultural landmarks such as Glasgow Cathedral, and others such as the Grosvenor Cinema simply being smaller facets of the city which make up its atmosphere so loved by many. This three-part photo series captures one site from the West End, one from the City Centre, and one from the East End, each of which for me stands out in my mind as being significant to the cultural landscape of Glasgow.
CITY CENTRE WEST END
EAST END
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SPORT
THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF WINTER OLYMPICS Ciaran Doherty Sports, Health and Science Editor
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o us the thought of standing in the freezing cold at the bottom of a snow covered hill in a crowd of 50,000 people to watch someone glide down a hill on a pair of skis doesn’t sound like most people’s ideal day out, but in countries with a colder climate or simply some very high points, winter sports are a way of life and their super stars don’t play football but instead ski or skate their way to stardom. Over the last two weeks, nearly 5,500 miles away the most prestigious winter sports event, the winter Olympics is taking place. Held every 4 years like the summer Olympics, it is the pinnacle of winter sport competition. At these Olympics there is a different list of countries that dominate the medal table, with Norway, Germany and Canada currently leading the way, with countries such as Great Britain and China only being minor medal contenders.
large hill slaloming through various gates as fast as possible) was won by a complete outsider. In fact the Czech republics Ester Ledecka is better known for her talents on a snowboard and had never finished on the podium in any slalom event on skis pipped Austria’s Anna Veith to the gold by 0.01s on the final run of the event. Ledecka was considered such an outsider that even before she had started her run, Veith had already begun giving out victory interviews to the media before ledecka ruined her defense of her title. Even after seeing her time after her run ledecka had to be told by one of the camera men that she had actually won the medal.
A lot of the news here has focused on speed skating, with Great Britain’s world champion skater Elise Christie pipped to do well at this tournament after her disastrous games in Sochi. Speed skating is roughly divided into short and long track. Short track is a straight forward race on ice involving several athletes, with high speed crashes, disqualification and heart break common place. Long track is largely a time trial, although mass start races have been newly introduced into the Olympic programme. The world of speed skating is dominated by an unlikely nation, the Netherlands. In many of the events it is not unusual to see a
A golden moment for team GB. The Skeleton Bob is perhaps one of the most terrifying looking events at the games, it involves sliding head first down a track of ice at speeds of over 80km per hour, but strangely for a nation without a track of its own, GB excels at it. In the ladies event it now holds the last three Olympic gold medals, with lizzie Yarnold becoming the first British athlete ever to retain a winter Olympic crown, when she slid her So what stories have stood out way to glory in Pyeongchang and from the games so far? In perhaps has not yet completely ruled out one of the better known events another crack at Olympic glory in the ladies Super-G (Super Giant Beijing in 2022. slalom, basically skiing down a
Dutch 1,2,3 on the podium and so far the trend has continued. Unfortunately for team GB, Christie’s Olympic curse seems to have returned, as she has so far crashed out in both the 500m and the 1500m events.
This year’s event is being held in South Korea, Pyeongchang and is the nation’s first time hosting the winter games. This year’s event features 102 events in 15 sports, with 2952 athletes from 92 nations competing for gold. For someone not from a country that specialises in the world of winter sport, the Olympics can range from the well known to perhaps the more obscure. The best known events include the downhill skiing and figure skating. With some of the more unusual events being the luge and cross-country skiing.
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The winter Olympics provide a chance to see some of the more weird and wonderful sporting events out there so catch them while you can, and if reading this has come after the finish date, the highlight videos will be around for a long time or you can always look ahead to the next game in Beijing 2022.
GLASGOW UNIVERSITY YOGA CLUB Yoga is a sport that not only supports the physical wellbeing of its participants, but also has many mental benefits. Due to this, my initial experiences with yoga saw me fall in love with the sport and question why it is not a mainstay feature in the lives of students at Glasgow. The passionate newly formed committee and I began to put together a plan to allow for yoga to become more accessible and affordable to students. We just had a very successful yoga launch event, which saw over seventy keen students come and hear more details about the structure of our club, and also be taking through a small ashtanga sequence. We hope that this club will grow into a close-knit community that allows us all to escape the stresses of University life and connect with like-minded people. We are currently in a trial semester with hope to secure GUSA affiliation in the coming year. Our club has been built with a focus on mental and physical heath; so, we believe it is important we incorporate this into all aspects of the club. This
has lead us to planning slightly unconventional socials- which will see a more relaxed atmosphere over brunches and smoothies to include those who are not looking for a GUSA club with an emphasis on drinking.
The weekly running of the club will see two instructor lead classes and one virtual class. The free virtual
Kirsty Dickson
class will also be paired with time to practice poses and learn from each other. The instructor classes will be one vinyasa and one Ashtanga; costing only an additional two pounds on top of a fifteenpound membership. This will bring yoga into an affordable sport that will hopefully encourage all abilities to partake. If you are passionate to start or continue your yoga practice then we would love to welcome you to our club. So far, the benefits I have gained from yoga have not only made me feel more balanced and physically strong but relives my anxiety that I can feel consumed by during the academic year. I would love to provide this experience to anyone who would like to join, and encourage you get in touch either directly to myself, join our facebook group (Glasgow University Yoga Club) or come along to our sessions. We hope that this club will positively impact students physically, socially and mentally for years to come.
George Bell and Lauren Gatting Not enough people know who Garry Mac is, especially readers and budding comic creators; Garry is one of the enviable folks who just can't be good at one thing, oh no, his creativity is almost unbounded. Hailing from Rutherglen, Garry is an accomplished comic artist and writer; his first comic strip Junkie Dad appeared in 'Wasted' magazine and was followed by his first long-form comic book The Abortion. His most recent work was as an artist on the BHP published graphic novel Tomorrow written by Jack Lothian. Garry works freelance, juggling comic artistry, illustration, graphic design as well as website development and the occasional synth-pop song. He also produced a powerful, often funny webcomic series called Suddenly Something Really Interesting (SSRI), a rough around the edges expressive
series based around topics of depression and anxiety. At the moment he is hard at work on two big projects; for completion by the end of 2019, a queer take on the zombie horror genre with a working title of Queazy. The other is a 100-page original graphic novel called AION with a semiautobiographical theme, tackling the thorny issue of abusive queer relationshis and which should be nearing completion by the end of this year. Garry can be found at various comic conventions locally and around the countriy, as well as serving on the board of Outspoken Arts Scotland (formerly Glasgay! Festival) which represents queer voices in the arts and encourages the next generation of creators.
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