Her Culture: April 2017

HERCULTURE APRIL/MAY 2017

WORK WITH US! Join our executive team and help us reach new corners of the globe!

EARTH EDUCATION What it means to be environmentally friendly worldwide

EASTER EGGS A HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE ICONIC TRADITION

RELIGION IN MINORITY CULTURES How the notion of God and spirituality vary across the globe

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE FOUNDED 2013

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| @herculture

letter from

THE FOUNDER DEAR CULTURE GIRL, It’s finally starting to be Spring here at Her Culture’s headquarters!

Spring is such an amazing time for growth and renewal. I hope that by reading our 19th (!!!) magazine issue, you will have a newfound interest in travel, culture, and your fellow girl!

Please remember how special you are, and your culture helps make the world an amazing and beautiful place. Never feel afraid to share who you are with a confidence that will shine so bright to everyone around you.

I hope you enjoy this issue as much as I enjoyed creating it! I want to give a special “thank you” to all of our writers and editors who helped make this issue a special one. You’re amazing!

All my love, Kate

My Travel Log APRIL/MAY 2017

This month, I will travel to: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Next month, I plan on going to: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ I’ve always wanted to travel to: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

The countries I’ve been to are: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ My favorite article from Her Culture this month is: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ 5 things I’ll remember for my next trip: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ I can start a #CultureRevolution by: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

xoxo

ISSUE NO. 19

APRIL

/MAY

FIRST FEMALE FLIGHT CREW

CHINA AND RELIGION

WATER AND WOMEN

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN INDIA

MAZOUN ALMELLEHAN

NAVRATI & GARBA

THE HISTORY OF BIRYANI

HISTORY OF EASTER EGGS

AILEEN HERNANDEZ

14

26

38

18

30

40

22

34

44

MINORITIES & RELIGION

ENVIRONMENT & EDU

THE WORD EXOTIC

CALCULATED CELEBS

THE HAIRDRESSER FILM

DAY OF GIRL POEM

INDIA AND AMERICA

“GIRL UP” AND CHANGE

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

48

60

70

52

64

74

58

68

78

MORE TO LOVE… 20 GOING ON 30…84 THE EVOLVING CULTURE OF TRAVEL…89 SWITCHING BIRTH CONTROL…96 NATIVE AMERICAN TALES TO READ…102 FEMINISM: A REDEFINITION…104 THE RISE OF ISLAMOPHOBIA: AN INTERVIEW…106 EDUCATION: A STATEMENT OF SCRUTINY…110 THE 2 B WORDS…113

MAGAZINE STAFF

EXECUTIVES

Kate Avino - Chief Executive Officer Alexis Neuville - Chief of Staff Matt Maggio - Chief Financial Officer Katie Collins - Chief Marketing Officer Sareana Kimia - Director of International Development Meredith Bowman - Director of Partnerships

EDITORS Catherine Foley Gabriella Mayer

Haley Pereyo Jean Ng Ashwini Selvakumaran

Grace Halvorson

Daniela Frendo

Alana King

Ambika Sood

WRITERS Jessica Pereira April Federico Lindsey Hannah Moran Priana Aquino Kayla Jennings-Rivera Sarah Xiao Pranati Guduru Aishwarya Singh Talia Trackim Emily Paskevics Shaye DiPasquale Shanell Campbell Anjali Patel Colleen Dupirak Stephanie Tom Sri Varre Sasha Sharova Julia Schemmer Roseline Akwarandu Han Wang Cyndi Ashford Rachel Spina Engi Abou-El-Kheir Elizabeth Meisenzahl Ibnat Islam Ankita Dutta Thulasie Manoharan Aparajitha Suresh Rosa Elena Burgos Denisse Navarro-Perez Liv Senghor Kartika Upadhyaya Nicole Anderson

NEWS CULTURE

first all female flight crew china’s growing religious persecution clean water puts girls in schools the rise of i n d i a ’s s e x u a l a s s a u l t s mazoun almellahan missing navrati and garba season

All-Female Flight Crew Makes History

BY ELIZABETH MEISENZAHL On February March 3, 2017, the flight crew of Air India made history. The airline released a statement calling the flight the first to go around the world with a crew of only women. The flight left from New Delhi on February 27, flying over 9,000 miles to San Francisco. After a 15 hour flight, and a mandatory rest period, the crew made the same trip back, completing their trip around the world.

however. The cabin crew, check-in, and air traffic controllers were all women as well.

Even the doctor on board and the engineers who cleared the plane for take-off were women. The line operation safety audit was performed by a woman as well, making Harpreet A De Singh the first women to audit a flight around the world.

The flight took place as part of a planned celebration for International Women’s Day, less than a week after the flight landed back in the Indian capital of New Delhi. Other flights featuring a crew of only women were planned for March 8 by the airline. An Air India spokesperson has stated that the airline plans to apply for a Guinness World Record for this feat.

According to a Facebook statement made

by Air India, the plane’s crew consisted of women in every role. “The flight was in the safe hands of Capt. Sunita Narula, Capt.

Kshamta Bajpai, Capt. Indira Singh and Capt. Gunjan Aggarwal,” said the airline.

The female leadership did not end there,

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

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This is not the first time Air India has grabbed headlines for its female crew. Last year, also in recognition of International Women’s Day, the airline staffed several domestic and international flights with only women, which were records at the time.

These included the same flight that made up the first leg of the trip around the world, flying from New Delhi to San Francisco, which was then the longest flight staffed by women. In 1985, a flight from Calcutta to Silchar made Air India the first airline to operate a domestic flight with an all female crew.

Air India has made steps towards improving flights for female passengers as well. In January, the airline made a row of seats available to women traveling alone at no extra charge. The section is to be reserved only for unaccompanied women. This policy was instituted in order to combat sexual assault and harassment on planes, a rampant problem in India. The news came after several reports of women being groped or harassed by male passengers during their flight. “We feel, as national carriers, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level to female passengers,” said Meenakshi Malik, Air India’s general manager.

Air India is not the only airline dedicated to elevating women. In 2015, Ethiopian Airlines staffed a flight from the capital of Addis Ababa to Bangkok, Thailand with all women. Every position on the ground or the plane itself was held by a women. The airline’s CEO, Tewolde GebreMariam said in a statement that year, “Women are the continent’s greatest untapped resources."

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While a female flight attendant is not a rare sight, the majority of pilots are men.

Women make up only 5% of pilots worldwide, and the United States has an even lower percentage of female pilots.

However, the culture surrounding the airline industry is changing. Angela Masson, a retired American Airlines captain, told CNN that before a flight, she once had a male passenger tell her that he could not board the plane because he did not feel comfortable with a female pilot. However, older attitudes like this have become the exception in the industry. Younger women who became captains more recently have reported the opposite, stating that they have never felt that the men in the cockpit wanted them to leave. While other obstacles like cost and family obligations have historically kept women out of this field, the changing cultural stigma around women being captains has changed in the past few decades, giving more women access to all positions in the airline industry.

Elizabeth is a high school sophomore from upstate New York. When she's not writing, she likes to run, read, and watch '90s television shows.

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

CHINA’S GROWING RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

BY HAN (AMBER) WANG Amidst the recent decisions of President Donald J. Trump to ban immigrants from seven Muslim-dominated countries, America seems to be facing a growing issue of religious intolerance from both the government and its people. Although coverage of the implications and effects of the so-called “Muslim Ban” is important, religious intolerance occurs all around the globe and we must not limit our focus solely to the events of America.

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HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

China, a predominantly atheist and communist

However, Chinese Christians are not the only group affected, leading to a suspicious conclusion that China has a growing atheist tone behind its actions. Both Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists may also be suppressed from practicing aspects of their religion, as well as a spiritual movement called Falun Gong which was deemed as a “cult.” Punishments for violating restrictions included both fines and jail time.

country, was recently rumored to have been in contact with the Vatican and perhaps even making a deal over the ordination of Chinese bishops. Beijing and the Vatican have had some “creative differences” over the years—China appoints its own bishops and refuses the Pope’s authority while the Vatican excommunicates any bishop not ordained by the Pope.

This news comes as a rude awakening to many Chinese Christians who have been persecuted increasingly over the last few years, according to a Freedom House Special Report on the Religious Revival in China. The Chinese Communist Party have used “both violent and nonviolent methods” to put down various religious groups including Christians. According to the persecuted Christians, if the Vatican were to make the deal with China, they would be turning their backs on God and instead, catering to the Communist Party as they gain control over the underground churches as well. Their worship would therefore become more sanctioned— this time with approval from the Vatican.

Chinese Christians are the second largest religious group in China, right behind the Buddhists; however, 30-50 million of these Protestant Christians are unregistered compared to the 30 million that are, according to the Freedom House report “drawing on official figures, public opinion surveys, academic studies, media reports, and religious groups’ own reporting.” Their refusal to attend sanctioned churches make them more vulnerable to abuse by the government, including church destruction and cross removals.

In a recent CNN opinion piece, writer Ian Johnson states that the scope of religious persecution was magnified by the Freedom House report and that it “not representative of most Protestants' religious experience in China.”

Protestant towns are growing and underground churches are allowed to practice their religion.

From Johnson’s direct experience, he saw that even though the government has put heavier restrictions on religion, Protestantism and other Chinese religions are not dealing with a great deal of persecution. The future could hold more dire consequences to unregistered churches, but this has not happened so far.

According to the same Freedom House investigation, religious intolerance and persecution has been on the rise since the presidency of Xi Jinping in 2012. Chinese Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism and Taoism are the five recognized faiths of the Chinese government, supervised and controlled by official government organizations. Every aspect of the religion is micromanaged from places of worship and approved leaders to religious content and events.

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Johnson’s argument seems to differ from a separate CNN article and video documenting a Chinese priest, Paul Dong, and his makeshift backyard altar. He believes that he and his religion are being wrongfully persecuted and oppressed. According to Dong, the government sanctioned churches are not real Christians, but Communist party-controlled “Christians.”

I can’t prove or disprove either side of the story since I am not in China, living and breathing in religious persecution. However, I have to say that

even if the persecution is “not as bad” as everyone makes it out to be, even a small amount of religious oppression is a very dangerous thing.

Freedom of speech is not only an American value, but a global value although it does not seem to reach all parts of it. Johnson takes the matter too lightly by saying that there are more countries out there with greater levels of persecution. Religious persecution of any kind must be stopped before it can gain momentum and have more violent and disastrous consequences.

Han Wang, who goes by Amber, is an undergraduate at NYU and loves to read, write, and photograph.

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HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

IT’S TIME TO START A #CULTUREREVOLUTION Her Culture is the first magazine to explore culture through a woman’s eyes. Join us as we celebrate what makes us all unique, and make a change in the world.

WATER& WOMEN by sri varre

Women and children spend 125 million hours each day collecting water in developing countries. On a daily basis, women and children spend 4-6 hours walking to collect water.

Unfortunately, this time is spent not working, taking care of family members or attending school. Usually, the locations that these people travel do not have potable water. Sometimes the journey and water sources for the people is very dangerous, but people will still go because their families are counting on them to bring home water. There have been many cases in which women and young girls have died due to lethal injuries from animals and falling from high elevations on rugged terrain. Aside from these instances, these women’s leading cause of death is from waterborne diseases.

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HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

Water-related diseases affect more than 1.5 billion people each year, and water, sanitation, and the hygiene related disease kills nearly 1 million people each year.

Women are the core of their families. If they die, there is no one to provide water for cooking, washing clothes, or cleaning. In turn, more people in their families will die.

Women deserve to be relieved from the stress of collecting water for their families.

They deserve to have jobs and make a living for themselves. Every one dollar invested in clean water can yield 4-12 dollars in economic returns. Access to clean water is one of the humanity’s most powerful tool for stimulating economic growth.

Additionally, young girls deserve to go to school and also live their dreams like their mothers. They feel empowered because they have the opportunity to learn and grow. As a result, girls will worry less about water and their families and instead focus their attention on their future. When a girl is given an education, she can change the world. Not only are young girls able to receive an education because of clean water, they are also able to teach their families proper sanitation practices that they learned in school.

the day. Thus, most women wait till it is dark to have some privacy to go to the bathroom. This issue affects the woman’s health and put them at risk of being sexually assaulted or raped. Most schools in developing countries do not have toilets causing girls to drop out of school when they hit puberty. This again due to a lack of privacy for these girls to use their feminine products. When sanitation facilities and hygiene are improved during pregnancy child and maternal mortality are reduced.

The lack of water and sanitation keeps girls from attending school and earning an income. Because of these two issues, women are stuck in a cycle of poverty unless these issues are addressed.

Fortunately, this problem can be solved. We can educate people about the global water crisis and how it impacts women; then we can donate to organizations that have plans to build and maintain water projects in developing countries. With everyone’s help, girls and women, in particular, can have an increase in dignity and reduction in psychological stress since they can manage symptoms associated with menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth can be dealt with when they arise. women can feel confident in speaking up in their communities and embrace their true character. Water changes a person’s life forever.

Another immense problem women face with not having access to clean water is a lack of adequate sanitation. Less than one in three people have access to a toilet in the world, and more people have a cellphone than a toilet. Most people resort to open defecation. Once it rains all the human feces runs into the community’s water supply. The majority of countries deny the access of a woman to relieve herself during HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

Sri spends her days thinking about how she wants to change the world and making others laugh. She hopes to one day travel the world and have her own non-profit.

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THE RISE OF INDIA’S SEXUAL ASSAULTS

BY COLLEEN CLAIRE

IN AMERICA Statistically speaking, every one in six woman in America will be sexually violated leading to a total of 321,500 yearly. In America, women across the country have taken a stand in favor of women's rights following the recent election and Donald Trump’s proposition to defund Planned Parenthood. From abortion rights to the infamous case of Brock Turner, American females have gained a great amount of resilience these past couple years.

Unfortunately, that is not the case in India as their has been an alarming increase in discrimination against women and an

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

astounding height of sex crimes being reported in the last few months.

Wearing jeans and walking on streets late at night is western culture.

Groping, molesting, and raping women is Indian culture.-Hira Naaz

PAGE 27

IN RECENT NEWS On the eve of 2017, several women ringing in the new year reported they were sexually violated on the streets of Bangalore. Women were catcalled and groped throughout the night, while bystanders simply ignored the media-proclaimed “mass molestation”.

Horrific videos of women being assaulted were leaked online sparking an outrage on social media while insinuating a contentious discourse in India’s safety for women. One video displayed a women being sexually harassed by two men on a motorcycle while she was trying to hail a taxi. As she tried to fight the men off, they threw her to the ground and drove off. She retold the incident, stating “I went blank, totally blank. Like I couldn’t understand what had happened”. As a result, only six men were arrested. Indian politician, G. Parameshwara blamed western values on the crime, explaining young Indian women are subject to these crimes in both their mindset and their way of dressing. He went on to make light of the situation saying, “these kinds of things happen” after citing that Bangalore is a safe place for both women and children while safety is a priority.

IT’S NOTHING NEW Not only does Bangalore face a rising increase in women’s assaults, Delhi is also on the list, being infamously named, “the rape capital” with reports of assaults occurring six times a day. However, many attacks are rarely a direct threat to foreigners. In a 2015 report by the NCRB, 1893 rapes occurred, this excludes the

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crimes that go unreported. While this news has been scrutinized in mainstream media, this isn’t the first time events like the New Year's Eve assaults occurred. In 2012, a fatal gang rape against a 23-year old women on a bus in New Dehli inspired women across India to fight for equality and women’s rights. Teens are also affected by this. In April 2014, a 14-year old girl was also gang raped by five men on a bus. Since then, India has attempted to strengthen laws against violence among women, but fail due to a widespread manifestation of misogyny.

Women have gone into the streets protesting their rights, but are often looked down upon because of rising oppression.

This displays a sense of powerfulness in Indian women today. A question often brought upon this subject is, how will Indian females overcome this? Little progress has been made for these women to achieve justice.

WHY NO REPORTS? It’s an understatement to say reporting a rape isn’t easy for any women; However in India reporting a rape is exceptionally hard as it has become the cultural norm in regards to violating women. In a report written by Al Jazeera Times, a majority of women in India’s inner villages are often told to marry their own rapist to “preserve her honor”. Many don’t even understand their own rights as they try to resist, which is holding them back from fighting. India seems to have adapted the philosophy of patriarchy, where men feel more superior in the household. Other reasons for not reporting include:

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

future of feminism in this country, women need to continue to protest for their rights, along with the support from the government and men. This is only the beginning of a new revolution for Indian women.

Lack of Police: The India Times reports, there is a considerable lack of police protecting the inner cities of India. There is also a shortage in female police officer, which makes it increasingly harder for women to report.

Domestic Violence: All throughout India, the act of domestic violence has been adopted and women have accepted being treated less than men.

Victims Being Blamed: After a woman reports her attack, she becomes a prime suspect instead of a victim's. Officer’s often question their clothing, if they drank that night, or why they were out so late.

Weak Court System: India’s court system is rather stagnant. For an attacker to be held accountable, the time span can go from months to even years for him to be acquitted. According to The Washington Post, a women waited 11 years for her rapist to be acquitted. Through the years, she was gang raped at thirteen and attended a countless number of court hearings until he was prosecuted last spring. The maximum sentence for an attacker is 20 years.

THE FUTURE OF INDIAN FEMINISM As India’s feminism is increasing, women across the continent will continue to face backlash. Incest, abductions, and human trafficking also play a role in India's’ intensifying sexual assault crisis. There needs to be a better education system for men to learn the aspects of violence, gender equality, and social patriarchy. For the

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

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WHO IS MAZOUN ALMELLEHAN? by ibnat islam

School is a right that children in Western societies are graciously afforded. To receive a basic understanding of a large variety of topics, not necessarily because the knowledge will be useful to us in our daily lives, but because the knowledge is a form of beautiful power meant to enhance our lives and our understanding of many aspects of it, is a gift given to every child regardless of who they are and where the come from. When you live in a country slaughtered by war, this gift is a privilege.

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HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

It is a treat that is gained through luck.

Mazoun Almellehan knows this reality all too well. Driven by a fierce desire to learn, she refuses to let her circumstances limit her education. Her story is one of ambitions and hard work. Her story is one that needs to be told.

to solve our problems. If we don't have education, we can't defend ourselves.” For Mazoun to fight for other girls’ right to an elongated education in an environment where this perspective is generally not considered, shows a passion and strength within her educational endeavours. In Mazoun lies a true fighter. She wants a bright future not only for herself, but the rest of the girls in her camp.

Mazoun adores gaining knowledge. This is easily deduced in the way that she speaks when asked about her favourite courses from an interview with CNN, "When we learn about science, we learn more about the world around us. Oh, and English of course!”

Due to Mazoun’s relentless activism and undying passion for female education, she has been called the “Malala of Syria”. Should one be familiar with Malala’s story of incessant activism of educational rights and the risks she took in her Taliban dictated environment to fight for what she believed in, then know that Mazoun does truly obtain the same force to fight as Malala. While their stories are different, they are bound together by ambition and a desire to change lives. Malala visited Mazoun in February of 2014 in Zaatari, and the two also met when Mazoun went to Oslo to watch Malala win her Nobel Peace Prize.

Both are inspired by the other, as their friendship allows them to motivate one another to continue their journeys of education activism and peace.

Under a blanket of warm Jordanian summer sun, she wants to ready herself for next year’s courses by hopefully getting to know the curriculum. She is 16 and filled with a spirit that constantly yearns for knowledge. Her and her family, including three younger siblings, fled their village of Daraa in 2013. They arrived in Jordan, where they now dwell in a refugee camp in Azraq.

Despite her circumstances, Mazoun is determined to stay focused on education, not only for herself, but fighting for that opportunity for every girl. Due to the difficulties of living in a camp, many Syrian girls have been getting married off at ages earlier than 18, and there has been a continuous rise in these marriages for the sake of security for the daughters. Mazoun, however, disagrees with this method of coping with insecurities. As the war rages on, these marriages become increasingly more common.

Rather, she believes that educating your daughters and giving them the chance to build on their knowledge will be more beneficial to them.

Mazoun’s story will never cease to be an inspiration. Her circumstances might create barriers and waves of difficulty, but her will to see a brighter Syria will push her through, will allow her to break every barrier and swim through each wave no matter its force.

Mazoun is on her way to changing lives. May her unwavering dedication and powerful ambition continue to guide her.

Mazoun is an activist. She goes door to door at her camp, and explains to parents why allowing their daughters to remain in school is better than placing them onto the path of early marriage. She says to CNN, “Education is very important because it's the shield we can use to protect ourselves in life. It's our method HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

Born and raised in the beautiful city of Toronto! Ibnat loves books, cats, and long,

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Missing Navrati & Garba Season: A Festive and Religious Celebration

BY ANJALI PATEL

I was recently scrolling through some old pictures on my cell phone and came across pictures from this past fall at Garba. Garba is a traditional dance celebration and festival that usually takes place multiple times between October and November. I was reminiscing on how I really miss Garba season and getting together with my friends and family to learn dances I’m only slightly proficient at.

blouse, a long skirt, and a piece of cloth called the odhani that can be wrapped around the outfit in multiple ways. Chanya cholis can come in all different colors and are decorated with elaborate designs constructed with plastic gems, beads, and threads. The styles and designs are altered over the years as companies try out new ideas and customers demand certain styles. However, the more traditional garments are still worn today by many individuals. Attending Garba will allow you to see the differences between the modern and classical styles. Traditionally, men wear the kediyu which according to Utsavpedia, is a long top and baggy pants. The entire outfit is decorated with intricate patterns, trinkets, and charms that come in various colors. Although today the kediyu is not worn by men as much as the chanya choli is worn by women (especially in the United States where there are more Western influences), many still embrace this traditional outfit.

Many celebrate the Goddess, Durga from the Hindu religion during October. This Goddess acts as a symbol of the mother figure in one’s life. Navrati is a Hindu holiday that honors the concept of the mother giving birth to the child. Depending on where you’re from in India, the way this holiday is celebrated varies.

One of the major aspects of Navrati is Garba, a form of dance traditionally practiced amongst individuals from Gujarat, a state located in the Western part of India. Now people from India and all over the world take part in this folkdance.

The main goal of Garba is to unite all people regardless of race, gender, cultural background, and religion in celebration of some universal concepts including the different stages of one’s personal life (why the mother goddess is celebrated) as well as the bigger picture of the way everyone is interconnected to each other regardless of one’s background (why garba usually does not exclude anyone who wants to participate).

To set the scene of what happens, a statue of the Goddess is placed in the center of the room or the premises of which the dance will take place.

Individuals dance around the statue in circles. Over the course of the night, several rings form around the Goddess. Within each ring, there is a distinct set of repetitive footwork, handwork, and twirls that are beautifully composed into a set of dance steps. These dance steps are carried out through the entire ring.

Garba is done in rings because it represents the basic cycle of life. The duration of each circle also differs as it can last for as short as fifteen minutes or as long as a few hours. Some of these combinations are faster while others are slower. Some are a bit more complicated as they involve more twirling and footwork while others are relatively simple. After some examination and practice, one should be able to pick up on the patterns and freely dance to the music. The music often consists of live singers and musicians who sing traditional songs that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Anjali is a high school senior who will be studying international affairs and journalism in college next year. She loves reggae music, meeting new people, and art from all parts of the world.

Garba is artistic not only in movement but also in the imagery. Women wear colorful chanya cholis which are typically three piece outfits that comprise of a

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

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DIY

CULTURE

the history of biryani the history of easter eggs

THE HISTORY OF BIRYANI by ankita dutta Biryani is one of the most popular dishes in India. It has been said that the Mughal’s introduced Biryani to India. This delicious, aromatic, and colorful dish has won the hearts of millions.The world’s most expensive spice ‘saffron’ is used for coloring this dish which is a signature dish of Indian cuisine.

Hyderabadi Biryani is a famous variety. The world-famous Hyderabadi Biryani is basically a layered biryani. This variety came into light by Niza-Ul-Mulk, a ruler of Hyderabad. His chefs created almost 50 different versions that used fish, shrimp, quail, deer, and even hare meat to make the layer of meat in the dish.

The origin of Biryani is heavily debated.

“Biryani” came from “Birian”, a Persian word for “fried before cooking”. Many say a famous traveler Al Biruni once mentioned this dish in his books. Another source says that Turk-Mongol conqueror, Timur, brought the precursor to the biryani with him when he came in India in 1398. It was a staple part of Timur’s war camp’s diet.

Traditionally, Dum Phukt is the process for making delicious Biryani. It is where slow cooking over charcoal is followed. In earlier days, long brown rice was used to make Biryani. Nowadays, Basmati rice is being used to make perfect biryani. Now, Biryani has evolved. Many varieties have been introduced to the Indian cuisine.

Kolkata Biryani is another popular variety. It is prepared with fried potatoes. An interesting story says that the legendary gourmet Nawab Wajid Ali Shah tried to recreate his beloved Biryani in the city of Calcutta. He was unable to afford meat due to budget constraints so the local cooks gave the recipe a tweak, replacing meat with perfectly cooked golden brown potatoes.

Afterwards, potatoes became the part of Calcutta Biryani.

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

If you are a fan of Indian cuisine, you must try Biryani.

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THE HISTORY OF EASTER EGGS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE HUFFINGTON POST

BY JAHNABI BAROOAH Brightly decorated eggs, Easter egg rolling and Easter egg hunts have become integral to the celebration of Easter today.

dyed red to represent the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal vigil and distributed to the congregants. The hard shell of the egg represents the sealed Tomb of Christ, and cracking the shell represents Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Moreover, historically Christians would abstain from eating eggs and meat during Lent, and Easter was the first chance to eat eggs after a long period of abstinence. (Orthodox Christians continue to abstain from eggs during Lent.)

However, the tradition of painting hard-boiled eggs during springtime pre-dates Christianity. In many cultures around the world, the egg is a symbol of new life, fertility and rebirth. For thousands of years, Iranians and others have decorated eggs on Nowruz, the Iranian New Year that falls on the spring equinox.

Some claim that the Easter egg has pagan roots.

Before Christians celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, some argue ancient pagans in Europe observed the Spring Equinox as the return of the sun God — a rebirth of light and an emergence from the lean winter. Some also point to the Venerable Bede, an English monk who wrote the first history of Christianity in England, for evidence of this connection. Bede argued that even the word Easter derived from a pagan fertility goddess named “Eostre” in English and Germanic cultures. Scholars have since noted that there is little to no evidence of such a goddess outside of Bede’s writings. Also, in most other languages the word for Easter — Pascua in Spanish and Pasques in French, for instance — derives from the Greek and Latin Pascha or Pasch, for Passover.

Easter egg hunts and egg rolling are two popular egg-related traditions. An egg hunt involves hiding eggs outside for children to run around and find on Easter morning. Eggs are rolled as a symbolic re-enactment of the rolling away of the stone from Christ’s tomb. In the United States, the Easter Egg Roll is an annual event that is held on the White House lawn each Monday after Easter.

For Christians, the Easter egg is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Painting Easter eggs is an especially beloved tradition in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches where the eggs are HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

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LIVE

CULTURE

aileen hernandez the word exotic and deeper meanings day of the girl my favorite foreign fi l m a n d t h e p l u s s i z e community controlled celebrity feminism the relationship of india and america girl up international women’s day religion in minority cultures environmental education the rise of islamophobia the evolving culture of travel native american tales powerful females redefining feminism education

AILEEN HERNANDEZ

by Shaye DiPasquale

“Gentlemen, women are enraged. We are dedicated, and we mean to become first-class citizens in this country.”

These were the powerful words of feminist trailblazer, Aileen Hernandez, as she testified before a Senate subcommittee about the proposed Equal Rights Amendment in 1970, shortly after assuming the position of the president of the National Organization of Women.

As one of the first African-American women to fight sex discrimination both through governmental positions and through prominent roles in the women’s movement, Hernandez has truly earned the acknowledgement as one of America’s most influential intersectional feminists Hernandez was raised in Brooklyn, New York by Jamaican parents. Her mother worked as a seamstress, trading domestic work for physician's services and her father was a brushmaker.

Hernandez graduated from Bay Ridge High School in Brooklyn, where she was taught that women should be “nice” and submissive. She quickly decided that being the stereotypical “nice” girl was not her style.

Hernandez studied political science and sociology at Howard University in Washington D.C., where she began to work as an activist fighting against racism and sexism with the NAACP and in local politics. According to Hernandez, she was drawn to activism after an experience where she and her father were told to find a “black cab” to get them from the train station to Howard University.

“We were New Yorkers and thought the color of the cab was black,” Ms. Hernandez stated in an interview with Makers. “But that wasn’t the issue. If you wanted to go to Howard University, no taxi driver who was white was going to take you.”

After completing her undergraduate degree, Hernandez traveled to California after hearing that the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union had an open spot in their labor college, which intended to train new labor leaders. She started out as an active organizer and later became the Education and Public Director for the union’s Pacific coast region. While working in this position, Hernandez completed a master's degree in government from the California State University at Los Angeles.

Shortly after earning this degree, Hernandez left the union to work on the comptroller campaign of Alan Cranston and with his victory, she was appointed as the Deputy Chief of the California Division of Fair Employment Practices.

During the 1960s, Aileen Hernandez was the sole woman appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the newly established Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She later resigned from this position after just eighteen months due to frustration with the EEOC’s inability to address sexual harassment and to enforce laws against sex discrimination.

Around this time, women's equality was gaining more and more government attention and activists were discussing the need for a private women’s rights organization. In 1966, a group of inspired women came together to address this need by founding NOW, the National Organization of Women. Hernandez was elected NOW’s first Executive Vice-

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President and four years later, she succeeded Betty Friedan as the second national president of NOW. Under Hernandez’s leadership, NOW worked to help women in the workplace by advocating for equal pay and a better handling of discrimination complaints.

NOW activists participated in demonstrations in several states, threatened to sue the U.S. Secretary of Labor and organized the Women’s Strike for Equality, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Hernandez resigned from the presidency in 1971 and co-founded NOW's Minority Women's Task Force, but she became frustrated with what she saw as the organization's unwillingness to tackle the issues surrounding racial inequality. She broke with the organization in 1979, after white candidates were elected to every NOW officer position for the second year in a row.

In an interview with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, women's rights activist Dezie WoodsJones said, “It was very important, from Aileen's perspective, that all women were facing injustices and that we needed to have a presence - I'll quote, at that time, in what we referred to as the "white woman's" - in the feminist movement, where there was really not, at that time, a lot of women of color engaged in what we call the feminist movement.”

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Hernandez went on to tackle a number of other social justice issues including education, the environment, healthcare, housing and labor. In 1973, she co-founded the Black Women Organized for Action, in addition to working with organizations such as Black Women Stirring the Waters and the California Women’s Agenda.

Throughout her lifetime, Hernandez won multiple awards for her humanitarian work.

In 1989, the Northern California chapter of the ACLU honored Hernandez with its civil liberties award for her hard work in equality and justice. In 2005, she was a part of a group of 1,000 women nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize honored for their work in social justice and civil rights.

Hernandez passed away this past February, but her legacy will be felt by generations to come. In the words of the ACLU's deputy director Dorothy Ehrlich: "Aileen Hernandez’s entire life embodied the movement forward for women and people of color, and her significant role in that history will never be forgotten."

Shaye DiPasquale is from Howell, New Jersey and is pursuing a B.A. in Communications at Elizabethtown College with minors in Human Services and Women & Gender Studies. She hopes to pursue a early career in online content production and later work for the United Nations in human rights advocacy.

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RELIGION IN MINORITY CULTURES

BY SHANELL C.E. CAMPBELL

Whether for good or for bad, religion often becomes the focal point of how we choose to live our lives at one point or another. In minority cultures, however, religion tends to play a much bigger role than simply "doing right by God."

church or to the mosque just for prayer.

They go for many reasons, especially for the social aspect. I remember going to Sunday mass with my grandmother, who was very popular at the time. The fact that she'd remain in church just to gossip with her friends for hours, made me really upset. It annoyed me that she'd stay for so long after service to converse with people she didn't like or even care about. I think part of my frustration stemmed from hunger, because church started at 8AM and ended almost four hours later! Anyway, that was then, but this is now, and I completely understand why religion means so much to minority groups.

I was baptized Catholic, and was raised in an Anglican household, but for the past three and a half years, I've adopted Islam as my religion. To be honest, I've never been the religious type (although I did want to become a nun when I was 13). Instead, I’ve often considered myself more spiritual than anything else. To me, God is in everything and in everyone, and wherever I am is where he'll also be, so I didn't care much for attending Sunday mass. As I became older and more concerned about life and God's teachings, I felt a need for belonging, and it hit me that people didn’t go to

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Let's take a look at the word, “minority.” It can be defined as less than half of a whole or group; a small number of people representing a certain race, religion, region,

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community and so on. Here in North America, we characterize minority groups based on race, language, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. In other words, anyone who isn't Caucasian, English speaking, Christian and heterosexual, is in the minority. The same thing can be said for different parts of the world. Take for instance, Christians being a minority in Middle Eastern countries and Muslims being a minority in European countries.

There is roughly 6% of Muslims living in Europe and 5% of Christians living in the Middle East. Culturally, Jews are a minority, as well as Catholics, and across the board; homosexuals are and will be the minority.

Now that we're in agreement, you're probably wondering where religion fits into the lives of these minority groups, right?

Well, when you take away the fact that some religions were introduced and adopted around the world due to certain promises, it is the doctrine for a healthy and happy God-fearing life. In the Qur’an, Allah arms you with all of the knowledge you need in order to get to Jannah, just like the bible teaches you about the 10 commandments for living a life close to God.

difference. Many churchgoers are for the most part, people seeking refuge and planting seeds that one day something good will happen in his or her life. “Religion is the foundation of what keeps me going. My source of strength,” said Roxanne Russell, an Ordained Minister of African descent.

She went on to say, “when I was young, my grandmother would sit and hum and when I asked what it meant she’d say, ‘god will bring me through.’ So we were taught to stay focused on our faith.” And this is reminiscent of most struggling minorities holding on to faith for something good.

Here are some reasons why minority cultures might value religion a little more than others:

It lifts your heart and spirit to be in a place of worship with others who might be feeling similarly to you, and that alone is enough to brighten someone's day. Some people go to prayers to give praise for the wonderful things they’ve been blessed with because they believe it will continue to open doors for even more blessings. I remember hearing people at church giving thanks because their son or daughter received a new opportunity or because

Religion serves as a roadmap to live a faithful and morally sound life, but also gives the underprivileged hope and something to believe in. Growing up humbly on a small island, only makes you dream bigger, and for the ones who couldn’t afford to, prayer made all the PAGE 50

Churches, Synagogues and Mosques offer a safe place to those in trials and tribulations; it's a place to feel comforted and accepted.

God doesn't turn his back on his children and no man of God would ever do that to his congregation. Mrs. Russell also commented on how she has “learned to trust in [her] religion and church in order to get through hardships, and [she has] learned that from [her] grandmother.” Some churches also offer prayer meetings to those looking to study the religion further or even those seeking advice on a particular issue.

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someone won a court case, or even someone meeting a new prospective spouse. Overall, people don’t just choose to go to prayers or mass because they’re down on their luck, they go to give thanks throughout the year instead of waiting until Thanksgiving.

struggling to find their way through counseling and enrichment classes. If you lack accountability, then your place of worship will surely whip you into shape.

Being absent from service one too many times lead to two things: being called several times throughout the week and by different people and/or being dropped from their circle all together. I’ve experienced both. Ultimately, religion is sacred and it's very personal, and it should be something you choose based on your morals and need for spiritual guidance. For many years, I lived a spiritual life, but still included some elements of religion into my daily living.

According to Dzevat Selmanovic, an Albanian Muslim, “religion means everything to me. It’s a way of life, a way of thinking and a way in which I relate to my brothers and sisters.” In my experience, I think this resonates with minorities everywhere because when the odds are against you, who can you trust if not your faith in God?

Mosques, Synagogues and Churches help communities with information and special programs like food pantries, housing, job opportunities, rehabilitation, etc. It’s a civic duty for most places of worship to provide its congregation with free services, including counseling and help with paying certain bills. Some churches have pantries where community members can go to get food, Mosques take clothing donations to distribute to the poor and homeless, and Synagogues provide free counseling, as do many other religious organizations. In case you’re struggling and don’t know where to turn to, look into religious organizations for help.

Places of worship also provide social fulfillment and satisfaction for those

Born in Grenada and immigrated to the U.S. as a child, Shanell discovered her passion for writing, which lead her to get involved with a couple of workshops such as, Youth Speaks NY and The Asian American Writers Workshop. She received her bachelor’s degrees from SUNY Plattsburgh where I studied Theatre, Journalism and Broadcasting.

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Environmental Education and Earth Day

by Talia Trackim

When I was a little girl, I made a list of three things that I wanted to be when I grew up: A ballerina, a cat owner, and an environmentalist.

Though my yearning for tutus has since faded away and the realization that I was allergic to cats crushed my dream of having a feline friend, my love of the environment has only grown with age. And I know I’m not alone in thinking this. All over the globe people value the natural world for its resources, hospitality, and beauty.

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Though I’ve tried my hardest to be socially conscious for my entire life, last year, my fascination for the environment was radically turned from wonder to worry when I took an AP Environmental Science class at my high school.

Though I knew how important it was to recycle and was aware of the horrible effects of pollution, up until then, I wasn’t truly aware of the vast impact that humans have on the environment. From lighting our houses to waging wars, nearly every new advancement or interaction humans have takes a toll on the environment. Or rather, merely existing in our large capacity of over 7 billion people is a humongous burden on the planet.

around the globe. They will be implementing this through several programs and campaigns

Increasing Environmental and Climate Literacy Earth Day Network is launching a global campaign to “ensure that that every student around the world graduates high school as an environment and literate citizen” by 2020. In order to do this, Earth Day Network plans to work with non-profits, governments, and businesses around the world to conduct research and work to improve education.

And yet, so many people forget about this. The knowledge that we consume about the environment is often limited to political discourse surrounding human-induced climate change and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Too often liberal and conservative politicians cheer or jeer with their respective sides for the sake of politics, but they do so without truly understanding what really is at stake.

Earth Day Network is not the first organization to implement environmental education. The Foundation for Environmental Education runs a program called Eco-Schools, an initiative that encourages students, teachers, and the community to work together to implement environmental policy in their schools and communities. The North American Association for Environmental Education has members in over 30 countries who work in business, government, formal and informal education, STEM and science education, and more to increase environmental education.

Fortunately, the Earth Day Network is working tirelessly to change that. Earth Day was born in the year 1970. Within a year of its origination, the celebration was a catalyst for the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Today, April 22nd marks an international recognition of environmental issues, such as global warming, conservation, and pollution prevention.

These efforts create enormous momentum. By expanding environmental education, these organizations hope to raise a generation of environmentally conscious individuals who are dedicated to sustainability and preservation, igniting a chain reaction that will carry on for generations of advocacy.

This year, Earth Day Network is setting out on a mission to increase environmental education

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March for Science This year on Earth Day, thousands of scientists and science supporters will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., U.S. to

march for science. The march and teach-in will serve to defend the vital role that science plays in ensuring the prosperity and safety of the world. It will include speeches, training sessions, and more, and is being co-organized by March for Science and the Earth Day Network.

“Training of Women Panchayat Leaders Program” The Earth Day Network is initiating a three-year program to educate Panchayat women leaders, rural women, and girls in India on eco-friendly policies and sustainability, from leading efforts against deforestation to promoting clean energy.

The Earth Day Network recognizes women as being effective voices and leaders in their communities, and they are working with the global women’s education movement to empower women to make positive change.

Talia Trackim is a high school senior from Pennsylvania with a passion for writing, the arts, global issues, and culture. When she's not busy editing her school's newspaper or writing for Her Culture, you can find her with a good book, listening to show-tunes, or planning her next big adventure.

In the meantime, it’s important for us to take our environmental education into our own hands. Take an Environmental Science class or join a club at your school or university. Read about the different environmental issues affecting your nation, and your world. And above all else, go outside and appreciate the world around you, and feel inspired to do your part to make the earth a healthier, better place.

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THE WORD EXOTIC & ITS DEEPER MEANING

by Engi Abou-El-Kheir Many, many people who are mixed race or nationality, and look atypical to what a usually close minded person would expect for that, have heard the phrase “you’re [look] so exotic”.

This is usually not intended to be, or to be taken as, an insult, but it can showcase a bit of racism and/or exclusivity. A lot of the time, the statement is said after telling someone where you’re from, when your appearance doesn’t match their preconceived ideas. The word exotic basically means something that is rare or different and strange (to you).

As someone with a lot of mixed blood and different nationalities, this has happened to me on many occasions. People have commented on my freckles, more frequent in people with lighter hair and skin, and slightly smaller eyes than is usual for a person that looks almost fully white. I realize that it was usually always said as a compliment, and I take it as such, but I also look at it deeper. People don’t see everything that you are. They don’t know about that small percentage of Vietnamese or Spanish blood you’ve never mentioned, so it doesn’t connect. What makes people decide what is exotic about other people, to them? Is it the colour of their skin, or if their eyes don’t seem to match their coloring? A personal preference as to what exotic is, or a general viewpoint? If it’s just the facial and body features being observed as exotic, I don’t find that it a real problem.

But I feel that by saying someone looks exotic for what they are...race, nationality...it puts them, and in fact everyone of that nationality and race in a box that labels them and seems to say that you are too foreign and different to be here if you don’t fit the cutout. And that is something that takes away from the individuality and the infinite beauty that each and every single person has.

It's not wrong to call someone exotic, but it’s important to be careful with how you use, and place importance and emphasis on it. I’m sure that no one thinks twice when using the phrase, and means only the best, but it’s always good to dig and think about what things could and do really mean.

CALCULATED CELEBRITY CULTURE by han (amber) wang)

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HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

I n what has arguably become the fourth wave of feminism, a recent emergence of celebrities who proclaim themselves feminists dominate mass media in a highly influential way, especially to young millennial women. From Beyoncé’s huge litup “feminist” sign to Emma Watson’s HeForShe campaign, celebrities are beginning to self identify and support feminism in a way that normalizes the subject, but also leaves it vulnerable to more scrutiny from the public eye.

On one hand, there are those who encourage their less famous counterparts to join the movement and be proud of the label; but on the other hand, this phenomenon may cause others to become more averse to feminism. Many negative sentiments have arisen such as these celebrities are only speaking out to promote their brand and become more famous and that most of those who are speaking out now did not have a background in feminism before it became mainstream. Whatever the case may be, we can think of this emergence of highly digestible celebrity feminism as an effect of the rise of the fourth wave of feminism that began prominately with the digital age.

From this, we can extrapolate the phenomenon of celebrity feminist culture.

Performers like Miley Cyrus and Lena Dunham have inserted themselves into the public eye with their feminist sensibilities and strong cries of “girl-power.” Are they truly benefitting the fourth wave movement, or are they simply adhering to the PAGE 62

individualized postfeminism mentality of mass media?

Taylor Swift, for example, has garnered much popularity along with controversy at the expense of her “feminist” actions. Swift embodies a type of media-friendly, barelyscraping-the-surface feminism that can be both helpful and detrimental to her adoring fans and critics alike. Her “girl group’s” message of solidarity and “squad goals” among women is masked by the fact that they are predominantly young, rich, thin, white women who make no public political stances or comments on social issues. Her lack of participation in the public debate around Donald Trump, supporting the Black Lives Matter movement or weighing in on transgender rights allows her fans to also ignore these issues. Popular culture reporters and mass media take Swift’s girl group and turn it into a postfeminist message on how they do not need feminism anymore; they rely on and empower each other as is.

When Beyoncé performed her song “Diva” at the Made In America festival in 2015, she paired it with UFC fighter Ronda Rousey’s “Do Nothing Bitch” quote. When I first heard the quote before her performance, it already sounded shady. Rousey seemed to be shaming women who stayed at home or used their bodies aesthetically in their careers in order to raise her own esteem and her opinions of her body, which was deemed masculine by the media. In my opinion, playing this quote in front of her bright, flashing “feminist” sign and the intro HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

of a song that empowers women seemed like a juxtaposition that left Beyoncé’s message crumbling. Showing support for a message such as Rousey’s aims to put conventionally successful women like Beyonce and Rousey on a pedestal not meant for anyone else.

Although these were just two more specific examples, we still have incidents like Miley Cyrus’ appropriation of African culture, Jennifer Lawrence’s “acceptance” of her societally perfect body, and Karlie Kloss’ Instagram posts in front of feminist signs amidst her racially insensitive Vogue photoshoot. Gaylene Gould sums it up perfectly in her The Guardian article, “We can feign denial but we know that a powerful profitable machine plucks, primps, primes and proffers up saleable acts for us.

We also know that what's packaged up is designed to feed the machine, not dismantle it.”

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MY FAVORITE PLUS-SIZED FOREIGN FILM by shanell c. e. campbell It was in the fall of 2014, while in the midst of finishing up my homework, when I suddenly felt the urge to stop and take a break from my studies. I turned on Netflix, went through my recommended movies and came across a film titled, "The Hairdresser" from 2010. It was written by Laila Stieler, directed by Doris Dorrie and featured Gabriela Maria Schmeide. It peaked my interest even though it was in German. I was intrigued and impressed to see that the film's official poster featured a plus sized woman, so I had to see it!

really changed from the 40's and 50's. Kathi lived in an apartment complex and it's quite easy to see that the neighborhood was not the best, nonetheless she was still very comfortable. She had a wonderful group of friends cheering her on throughout her journey.

The movie was written quite beautifully and it makes you wonder if this was based off the life of the writer due to the specificity and the believability of the details of Kathi's life. Well, based on an interview with the writer, Laila Stieler, she explained that "the stimulus for The Hairdresser was the stories of my hairdresser." We are still fighting for equal opportunities here in the states, to this day, with a cultural revolution that aims to open doors in television and fashion for plus size women, so it is rather unnerving to imagine the lives of these women in East Berlin. If it's this hard in America for overweight women, then this movie, The Hairdresser, points out the global stigmatization and injustice that fat women experience.

The film was about an older, overweight and divorced, single mother from East Berlin, who is unemployed and struggling to find work as a hairdresser due to her size, and finds even more problems when she tries to open her own salon. Through it all, Kathi (Schmeide) pushes on and refuses to give up. This movie makes you think about your own life and struggles, while you connect with the character. Although it works to show us a modern Berlin, I couldn't help but wonder whether or not things had HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

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It resonates with me a lot because I've experienced the rejection that Kathi has endured. As a plus size woman wanting to get into mass media, it's exceptionally difficult. It's what I have wanted to do and when I chose my major, I was obviously naive to think that my skills and abilities would be taken into consideration without regards to my fuller figure. With every interview, I've experienced anxiety, stressing and wondering if today is the day that someone sees past my physical appearance.

Being plus size can be excruciating, knowing well and good that most people don't even wait to hear what you have to say, instead they look at you and immediately decide that you don't fit with their company's “culture”. This is what Kathi went through each time she interviewed at a hair salon. She was mocked and treated like an outcast. The film did a great job at capturing her emotions and making her an easily likable character.

Although her life was tough, she took it all in stride and remained optimistic. She was funny and resilient, patient and yet, persistent. She was kind and generous with her services, as well as her time.

percent of the United States' population.

Approximately 64 percent of females are overweight. This is in no attempt to promote or glorify being bigger, but simply an observation with the intent to create a positive dialogue on extending more opportunities to plus size individuals.

The world is changing and it's imperative that we remain open minded to accepting people the way they are. It's my hope that weight will one day become irrelevant during the hiring process and that everyone will get a fair chance when fulfilling his or her dreams. With adequate support, remaining proactive and determined, and keeping a positive attitude, Kathi was able to accomplish her entrepreneurial dreams.

If you're struggling with anything, continue on with the fight and never give up because eventually it will happen.

I feel incredibly proud when I watch television or a film and see a plus size actor making her mark in the industry. One person in particular is Chrissy Metz from “This is Us.” She's an amazing actor and she's opening so many doors for larger women. By casting her on the show, it allows other casting directors and writers, as well as other plus size actors to become more involved and more open to having roles for the people who make up a large PAGE 66

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DAY OF GIRL

by Engi Abou-El-Kheir That man who walked by me, with my sister and mother, and loudly called ‘tres jolie’. {Wipe off my lipstick} That man sitting on the steps in front of a building, yelling at me to stay still while pointing his phone at me {I should have yelled} Those men sitting on a staircase watching all the women walk down {What can I do} That boy who sat next to Zineb and me on the bench, yelled, tried to put his arm around her, and asked us for our food, while his friends, boys and a girl, watched {I would be so scared if he wasn’t only thirteen or fourteen} The man who yelled good evening at me repeatedly while I walked by {Why won’t he stop} The drunk man who stopped me in the middle of the street and wouldn’t let me pass by, yelling in my face {Just walk} The men who talked about and to me in Arabic and then yelled ‘ti amo’ at my back {Don’t make eye contact} The many men that have walked too close and tried to reach out {Maybe I shouldn’t be out on my own after dark or even during the day} The many men that have smiled so dirtily {Stand up straight} The countless men that have stared and looked so wrongly and grossly {I feel so dirty} The men that have whispered in my ear while walking by {I shouldn’t wear jeans this tight} I’m only sixteen Engi has lived in five countries throughout her whole life, other than the two countries she is from (France and Canada); she's visited over 15 countries and have loved them all. Engi is a writer and a poet and is very interested in fashion, photography and journalism.

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INDIA AND AMERICA:

The experience of a first generation Indian-American just trying to fit in The United States of America is the most diverse country in the world, but still to this day the country’s biggest problems are surrounded by issues of race. I am a first generation American, who was born to Indian immigrant parents. From a young age, I understood that I was different from my classmates because of my culture and religion. Although my classmates have been from various ethnicities, I always found myself putting each of them in a box with a distinct label. This was a natural instinct I had and I did not realize till I met my best friend that everyone at the core is human.

Looking back, I think I had this thought process because all the guests that ever came to my house were Indian. My parents never had problems with interacting with people from different racial backgrounds, but instead, they became so accustomed to being around Indians that they never took the time to become friends with a descendant of a different country. The friend I met in kindergarten, now my best friend, was also Indian, but she somehow fit in so seamlessly at school. I always saw her talking with everyone in the class even

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when we were not forced to work to new peers in our class.

Since I was a shy kid, it was always difficult for me to make new friends especially with someone that was not Indian. As I slowly spend more time with my best friend, I became more exposed to western culture. I learned how to be respectful and polite through the use of “please” and “thank you.” I also learned how Americans celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Every Time I was invited over to my friend’s house for a birthday or social gathering, I met African Americans, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and Middle Eastern people. Through each interaction, I learned about the person’s culture and religion, but surprisingly I also learned that the person had many similar perspectives on life. They too felt like they did not belong in America because they were not able to assimilate into the American culture and lifestyle. We all felt fortunate to live in a country with more opportunities and freedoms than our native countries, but at the same time, we did not know how to live an “American” life.

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Till this day, my family has never celebrated Thanksgiving because we were vegetarians, and we only celebrated Christmas a couple times because we never felt the need to give gifts to each other. Both of these holidays at the root encourage people to tell loved ones how much they love and appreciate them and to spend time with their families. As I grew older, I saw myself making more friends from different backgrounds, but I still saw myself having the prejudices I had when I was younger, granted they were not as extreme. I found that I faced this difficulty because I lived in two worlds that were always flirting with each other, but never becoming a couple. I took part in American holidays at my friend's house, ate American cuisine, and even became a football and basketball fan. I was doing what normal Americans would do, but I just did not feel like I was a part of this culture because of the Indian food I ate, the holidays I celebrated, and the traditional clothing I wore. Unfortunately, when I visited India last fall, I realized that I did not even fit in my home country. Despite speaking the same language, wearing the same clothes, and eating the same food, I

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felt I was too American to be a part of India.

My parents came from humble backgrounds causing them to adapt to a lack of water, sanitation, pollution, and disorder. Every time I visited a well-known temple I felt myself becoming impatient and uncomfortable with the number of people standing in line and their desperate attitudes. India faces many issues dealing with water, such as water scarcity and safety, so there were many instances when I had to wait till there was water for me to take a shower and when I was there I only drank bottled water. Because of these experiences, I felt like I had one foot in India and one foot in America, but never in both.

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how girl up is changing the world by elizabeth meisenzahl

Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation, is an organization dedicated to improving the health, safety, and education of girls around the world. It began in 2010 as a campaign primarily for American girls, but it has come to have a global impact on young women. In addition to securing rights for girls in developing countries, Girl Up is also dedicated to the empowerment of young women in the United States, relying on them as advocates and leaders in the fight for equality.

documentation of girls worldwide. The organization’s particular areas of focus are in Guatemala, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, India, and Liberia. Through their efforts in lobbying Congress in the United States, fundraising in American schools, and grassroots efforts in their target countries, Girl Up has improved the futures of countless girls. In just seven years, the campaign has over seven million dollars to aid girls in developing countries. young elementary school students during much of the great recession and the country’s outrage against Wall Street greed and corporate scofflaws. So, some hypothesize

Girl Up’s main goals are to improve the education, health, safety, and

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One of the girls impacted by the campaign is Christine, a 16 year old from Malawi. In her culture, education, which is not free, is reserved for boys. Nearly half of all girls in Malawi are married before they turn 18.

Although most of her female peers were married by the age of 14, Christine dreamed of attending high school. However, no one, including her family members, supported her in this. Instead, they allowed her to be locked in a village boy’s home against her will in the hopes that she would marry him.

Soon, though, Girl Up offered her a way out by funding her education. Today, Christine has a degree in Natural Resource Management, and plans on continuing her education.

The child marriage that Christine escaped from has been a focus of Girl Up since it was founded. Although Girl Up’s dedication to ending child marriage is based primarily on the protection of young girls, it negatively impacts the entire world, as child marriage keeps women out of the workforce and slows economies. The campaign has had a significant effect on U.S. foreign policy in this regard, particularly since lobbying Congress to pass the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act, which passed unanimously in 2013. Under this law, efforts to end child marriage must be integrated into existing development programs in foreign countries.

through their frequent partnerships with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees to provide education for girls in refugee camps. With the support of Girl Up, Nasttho, a refugee who fled Somalia due to violence in her area, is now studying in Ethiopia, where she has been provided with books, solar lamps, and other school supplies.

In addition to its United Nations partnerships, Girl Up has over 1,000 clubs in 51 countries, each of which is involved in fundraising. With over 117 Teen Advisors hailing from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and England, Girl Up’s reach and ability to impact the lives of girls globally continues to grow.

Along with education, Girl Up is dedicated to ending the epidemic of violence against women and girls that often contributes to their inability to attend school. Girl Up has shown their particular concern for refugees PAGE 76

HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

INTERNATI ONAL WOMEN’S DAY

by shaye dipasquale

“

A group of women demonstrated in front of a Roman Catholic Church in Manila, donning masks caked in fake blood to call for an end to violence against women. An all-female aircrew from Brazil took to the skies in celebration, just days after Air India became the first airline to fly around the world with an all-female crew. Women gathered together under a symbolic “glass ceiling” in Tbilisi, Georgia to highlight the limitations that women face in their careers and in society in general.

All of these events occurred on March 8th, an internationally recognized day of celebration known as International Women’s Day. Every year on March 8th, citizens and governments of various nations come together to speak up in support of women’s equality and empowerment.

But what exactly is International Women’s Day? How did it come to be, and why is it such an essential international celebration across the globe?

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THE HISTORY International Women’s Day’s origins can be tracked all the way back to 1909, when the Socialist Party of America organized the first National Women’s Day in New York.

This early day of recognition was meant to commemorate the 1908 strike of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. A little over a year later at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, female representatives from 17 countries decided to adopt the Socialist Party of America’s idea of creating a day to address the rights of the working woman and establish a worldwide day of celebration, International Women’s Day. After 1977, when the United Nations invited its member states to participate in the celebration annually on March 8th, International Women’s Day became the more popular holiday that it is today.

According to Vox, over the past decade or so, International Women’s Day has become “a corporate-backed, global rallying day for

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women’s issues with a key goal: to finally bring about gender parity around the world.”

In 2001, the holiday received its own sponsored website and was given its first annual theme. The 2017 theme, #BeBoldForChange, encourages individuals and organizations to sign a pledge to commit to championing equality in the workplace, among other settings.

The International Women’s Day website says: “Each one of us - with women, men and non-binary people joining forces - can be a leader within our own spheres of influence by taking bold pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity. Through purposeful collaboration, we can help women advance and unleash the limitless potential offered to economies the world over.”

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EVENTS The people of every country that participates in International Women’s Day each have their own unique ways of publicly drawing attention to the fight for gender parity.

Small groups of women took to the streets in Buenos Aires to call attention to the high statistic of women being killed every day in Argentina. Since June 2015, Argentina has seen four women’s marches across the country, during which tens of thousands of women leave their workplace midday to make their voices heard. The particularly brutal rape and killing of a 16-year-old woman in October sparked the first women’s strike in the nation.

Over 20,000 people – women and men of all ages - marched through the streets of Rome, wearing pink boas and chanting old slogans from the 1970’s, to protest wage inequality and violence against women. The lower house, Montecitorio, flew flags at halfstaff in memory of women killed by intimate partners.

In Guinea-Bissau, the United Nations helped to host a bike race as part of a workshop promoting the importance of women in the workplace.

county. Women who are forced to relieve themselves out in open fields are often left vulnerable to sexual assault. By ensuring that women have proper toilets and facilities to use, the risk of sexual violence is reduced as well as the spread of diseases.

The hashtag #ADayWithoutWomen trended across various social media platforms as American women were called upon to participate in a national strike by taking the day off from work, wearing red in solidarity or abstaining from shopping on that day (unless it was a small, local business or a female or minority owned store).

All of these events draw attention to one of the biggest problems in the world today: women are still far from achieving equality in any country in the world. According to the World Economic Forum, which ranks 145 countries on women's equality on a scale of 0 (no equality) to 1 (full equality), Iceland is the most equal nation with a score of 0.881 and Yemen is the least equal nation with a score of 0.484. These scores factor in a number of things: equal representation in the government, the severity of the wage gap and the number of women in the workforce.

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, headed a ceremony to honor 10 “clean warriors,” women who have been working to improve rural sanitation in the

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Each country faces its own unique set of issues regarding the treatment, empowerment and well-being of women and girls. But in order to make any real progress in enacting change and bettering the lives of these women, it is important that more awareness and attention is placed on the issues that women uniquely face in society today.

With the annual celebration of International Women’s Day, women and men around the world hope to make one thing clear – equality is worth fighting for.

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20

by kayla jennings rivera

GOING ON 30

M

y birthday is August 29 which has made

me the baby of my class throughout school. I would celebrate other’s birthday counting down the days until I got to do the same. Every year I felt a year older than the age I was celebrating. I always felt as mature if not more mature than my friends and I was always ready for the next year. I will be celebrating my 21st birthday in just a few months but this time I don’t feel just one year older, I feel almost 10 years older.

Growing up, I was told by many to not do it too fast - that growing up just means responsibility, bills, and no fun. At 20 years old, I can honestly say there was never a time that I wanted to be younger; even now I am facing the adult word and my responsibilities have changed my lifestyle but I wouldn’t change a thing because I enjoy the process. I love pushing myself, learning, and working, and having responsibilities. I feel self-reliant and strong.

The adult life is just around the corner. For now, I have a few classes left to take and have time to explore my career options. About a year from now I’ll be making big decisions as far as postgraduate life with where I want to live and what company I want to work for. The problem is, I don’t want to be in this limbo area - I want to be settled already. Maybe it is naive to think that I have the unpopular opinion but I remember being told college will be the best time of my life and I beg to differ.

I strongly believe that the best time of my life will be when I wake up in the morning and head to my dream job where I look forward to spending my time. This will be a job that I am comfortable at, where I feel needed, and where I’ve been able to have a second family. After work, I can head to my house and greet my family. We can cook dinner together, talk about our days, and spend the rest of the night

watching a movie on the couch until it is over and we say goodnight. Yes, I may have the responsibility of multiple people and bills coming in everyday but I will be managing, stable, and happy.

Call me crazy but I dream about being 30 (and flirty and thriving). I want to have a job that has made all of my hours of working for minimum wage worth it. I want the education that I have fought for, and will pay off forever, to prove to me that the skills I’ve learned can make me important in a workplace. I want to know that the person I love is willing to spend the rest of our lives together forever. I want to have a minime … or 2 to greet me with a big hug when I get home. I want to host family dinners in the house I call home that has my favorite photographs hanging on the wall.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not rushing through my next 10 years. I have spent a long time focusing on the present and less of the future. I am aware that 10 years is a long time and I look forward to the adventures that will happen. At the end of August, I will turn 21 and while I live in the present, I will continue to think of the future so everyday I can work towards that dream of being stable and happy.

Kayla is studying Film/TV Production at New York University. Her passions include learning new things, meeting new people, educating others, and discovering more about her culture and who she is in this big world.

THE EVOLVING CULTURE OF TRAVEL

BY THULASIE MANOHARAN

Travel, a word of two syllables but a myriad meanings. When asking people some would say that to travel is to live, that travel holds treasures one cannot speak of but that can only be felt. Some say why leave and see the other side of the world, that the grass ain't always green on the other side. Travel experiences vary from person to person.

But today in our world of collectivism, grows a budding culture of social media travellers. Social media travellers, in simple words are people who visit a specific set of places to take so-called social media worthy photos and share them with the world.

Here comes the big question, how authentic are the travel adventures of today and what are we motivated by?

Yes all that may be well and true, but the choices of society today severely challenges the integrity of individualism.

Not very long ago a friend and I had a conversation, she had told me about her chance encounter with a stranger in the airport. The following conversation left me with an utter sense of amazement. Mr. Stranger as we had called him was an engineer, who made it lucky and retired at 45 and since then has been travelling the world and motorbike racing. Mr. Stranger as my friend Roshni, 20, had recounted "was an adventurer with some crazy stories up his belt". She went on to say that he "sneaked into France in the back of a truck with no visa, and got chased by a mad woman who was interested in him in a hotel made entirely of salt somewhere in Bolivia".

At first glance, this seems a very trivial matter, people might even say that's making too much of a hullabaloo about nothing, or that this is based on personal choices.

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I had remembered vividly the emotions that I felt upon listening to the story. It was nothing less than amusing, but most of all it was unparalleled. What entails this story is its unique essence that is slowly fading away in our culture of collectivism.

upon war and crusades, diplomacy and pilgrimages. Ideas were tested and beliefs challenged. Ramon Llull a traveller of this time travelled to far away places, as it was believed, to "test directly the force of his arguments with people from other places and beliefs".

If we dial back to not too long ago, travel was synonymous to exploration, expeditions and even globe trotting. That was the magnificence of travel. One would bring back tales of the seven seas, of pirates and treasure chests, Arabian water routes, stories from deep within the Amazonian forests and the hardships of the Silk Road.

These were the stories that fed our world with wonderment. The motivations behind these travels were severely interesting to explore.

Renaissance and The Age of Reason (1500-1750) was the mother of famous travellers like Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, John Cabot and Jacques Cartier to name a few.

The Renaissance was a period of high levels of Romanticism and discovery. While some Europeans during this period pursued these ideals through art, mathematics and other branches of learning, others decided to sail the oceans to explore the world.

The Age of Revolution (1750-1900) was a time when Kantian and Marxist theories sipped into society. The Industrial revolution called for business travel as this was a time for the major expansion of trade.

Economical aesthetics were the ideals behind the mindset of the people of this time.

The Ancient world (700 BCE-250 BCE), where the Greeks gave birth to free curiosity and eagerness to question and the Romans, social utility and practicality, had brought upon some of the earliest travel to date. People of this era, did not travel far, but did do so, for trade and commerce. The rich aristocrats would be able to travel a little further for leisure, but the most common travel was still for trade.

The Medieval world ( 250-1500) , or more commonly known as the Middle Ages or Dark Ages was a time when Kings travelled extensively, to reach out to their subjects and to be visibly in control of the kingdom.

S. Radhakrishnan, India's second President observed "The very completeness of the edifice of thought raised by the Middle Ages left little room for undiscovered facts and paralysed thought." This epoch, brought PAGE 90

The motive of travel is multifarious, but one can see a pattern in each epoch respectively.

The Ancient times, travelled for trade and commerce, the Middle Ages, for pilgrimages, religious convictions and power, The Renaissance discovery and intellectualism and the Industrial Revolution, business and social conventions. Now this leaves us the question of what our Modern Age travel entails?

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The term social media travellers once again, mind you, is in no form an attack on social media, rather a highlight on the thought process that governs this actions. Minus the fancy jargon, the act of uploading to social media would come down to a game of prestige. We currently live in a culture of people who roam about with the ideology of "who dunnit better". This affects all aspects of life including travel. So what entails the travel of today? Simple; attention, acceptance and approval. Travel has long been equated to soul searching but travelling for the approval of others would inadvertently mean the act of selling your soul, which is quite ironic. This matter is not something to be taken lightly. If we continue down this path, we will end up becoming a breeding ground for Xerox copies. What we must realise is that every travel adventure is an experience that is single and unrepeatable.

Thulasie is 20 year old, who has been moving around pretty much all her life, with an extreme taste for books, design and the renaissance.

I am aware that I have been fading in and out of both travel and philosophy, but the thing is I believe that travel is in itself a philosophy. A very noble one that allows people to expand the horizons within themselves. Ray Bradbury had once asserted that "Ours is a culture and a time immensely rich in trash as it is in treasures" and picking trash from treasure is literally up to our reasoning minds. Why waste "our mortal visiting rights", a term coined by poet Ann Lauterbach, on the approval of others. Let us instead take the irrational whims of Mr. stranger and let it guide us through a path less travelled.

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WHY I SWITCHED MY BIRTH CONTROL

BY KAYLA JENNINGS-RIVERA

In November, I made the decision to switch from Birth Control pills to the Depo-Provera birth control shot. I had been on the pill for a few years and wanted a change. I was also experiencing irregularities that I wanted to take control over. After talking with a women’s health doctor at my university, I committed to the shot.

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I started taking Birth Control pills my Freshman Year of high school due to a medical issue. One day after school, I was experiencing intense pains in my hip of the opposite side of my appendix. I had went to the hospital and after multiple tests they were unable to find the answer. The next day, I went to my pediatrician and he told me that I must’ve had a cyst on my ovary that burst which caused the pain. He recommended that I go on the pill to prevent any further cysts and also fertility issues.

instead of renewing it I wanted to go over alternate options. She told me I could change my pill that’ll give me a more regular and heavy period but then I realized that I didn’t want that either. I asked her about “the shot” even though I am afraid of needles just to see what is was all about. My doctor informed me that the shot is only needed every 3 months and will eliminate my period completely. While I was skeptical about the health reasons behind not getting a period, I wanted to try something new and having no period is okay with me as long as it’s supposed to be that way.

While my mother was unhappy, I was okay with starting the pill to be able to have a regular period. Since I first got my period in 6th grade, it was quite heavy and I always had severe cramps on the first day. Most days, I would asked to get picked up from school early so that I could take medicine and rest with a heating pad. After starting the pill, my period regulated to a better schedule. It lasted about 4 days and I had no cramps.

I expired no side effects from the DepoProvera shot. I didn’t gain weight from it, my boobs didn’t get bigger, and I never spotted either. My arm was sore for a few days but other than that my body has reacted well to it. I enjoy not having to take a pill every night and worry if I miss it. I also enjoy not having cramps or having to buy tampons every month. I am only committing to the shot for 2 years as the recommended time but I am very happy I tried it and would like to go on it again after I go back to the pill.

I started to experience irregularities when I got to college. I got my period about every other month which was quite scary for me. I didn’t like it being so inconsistent since I didn’t know how to prepare for it. I didn’t even spot during the months I missed my period. When I studied abroad, my period became extremely irregular. I believe the change of environment and time difference really confused my body.

While the shot itself has been great, I do have a horror story about getting it. I moved away from campus for this semester and therefore had to get my prescription transferred to a local Walgreens from the university. I was told that anyone could give me the shot as long as they’re trained accordingly. I was just up to get the shot again at the end of January/beginning of February. I started spotting at the end of January which seemed like a normal period

I saw a women’s health doctor at NYU in November since my Birth Control prescription was about to expire. However, HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

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without cramps. I was also really hormonal.

At this point, I was desperate to get the shot to get my body back on track.

I picked up my prescription and ended to a CentraCare nearby since I do not have a doctor yet where I am. The CentraCare denied me insisting they don’t do Birth Control shots. They told me I would have to go to the hospital. I called a local hospital and they told me it would cost me over $1000 since I would have to be seen by a doctor and receive a check up. While I was already emotional, I broke out into a panic because I felt like my body wasn’t acting the way I needed it to and I was concerned about not being able to get the shot at all. I called my mom, of course, and she did her own research and found a CVS that had a walk-in clinic where I would be able to get my shot. The next day, I went there first thing in the morning and was able to be treated there. I was extremely relieved as my period stopped and I felt less hormonal.

To anyone looking to get the Depo-Provera shot, I recommend it! I think a change is nice and if the shot isn’t working for you at any point, you would be able to go right back on the pill. However, I highly suggest getting your next shots done at the beginning of the window of time the doctor gives you. Additionally, ensure there is a place for you to go to get it to avoid being an emotional mess in the CentraCare parking lot like me.

Kayla is studying Film/TV Production at New York University.

Her passions include learning new things, meeting new people, educating others, and discovering more about her culture and who she is in this big world.

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HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

NATIVE AMERICAN TALES TO READ

by Anjali Patel Folktales and legends offer valuable insight into another culture. Many times, they indicate not only the beliefs that people of those past and present cultures withhold but also exhibit the magnitude to which certain aspects of life are valued. Native Americans are known for placing a large emphasis on nature and respecting the natural environment. However, their values extend beyond the physical environment as they also touch upon the morality of one’s intentions, persistence, and satisfaction. Here are three short Native American tales you should read.

Rabbit Shoots the Sun In this story, the rabbit grows extremely frustrated with the sun as it was radiating an intolerable amount of heat on the land. The rabbit decided that it wanted to shoot

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the sun to eliminate a tremendous impediment affecting not only the rabbit’s life but also the lives of the other living things. The rabbit worked hard practicing shooting its bow and arrow so that it could effectively shoot the sun and be able to peacefully live. However, when the sun rose every day, it decided to rise at different places so the rabbit would be unable to shoot it. One day, the rabbit did end up shooting the sun and the results were not as ideal as the rabbit thought they would be. You will have to read the tale to find out what happened but this story highlights the important characteristic of tenacity. The rabbit tenaciously worked to achieve his goals. However, the rabbit’s intentions to shoot the sun were not moral and as a result faced an unfavorable outcome.

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The Earth on Turtle’s Back

one must never hold any biases when considering what others are capable of.

I first came across this legend in my eleventh grade English class as reading about Native American legends was part of the curriculum. This specific legend stood out to me because of the way it expresses how one’s appearance does not determine one’s capabilities. In this tale, the story of how the Earth began is told. Several animals were residing in the waters while a family was residing way above the waters. The woman in the family accidentally fell through the perimeters of the place of which she was living and the animals below realized that they had to make sure she could survive. Deep down in the waters there was an Earth but the Earth was heavy and many were unable to carry it up to the surface.

Unexpectedly, a very small muskrat carried the Earth for the woman to fall on. The muskrat placed the Earth on the turtle who offered its back to birth this planet.

The woman fell onto the Earth and ignited life. The way these animals automatically took responsibility to save the woman portrays a necessary aspect of humanity that people must maintain. The fact that the muskrat was able to do what was not expected of it also displays how HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | APRIL 2017

Gift to the Hummingbird This tale highlights why the hummingbird is such a colorful bird. The hummingbird was a likable creature in the folktale as many admired her for her down to earth nature. As a wedding gift, those who admired her decided to collaborate and construct a wedding dress.

Everyone offered their help and utilized multiple colors and patterns. The hummingbird expressed much gratitude as she greatly appreciated what her friends had done for her. As a result of her kind and modest character, she was allowed to wear the dress at all times.

She was now a colorful bird. The significance of remaining grounded and always being thankful for what one has is displayed in the story as the hummingbird was rewarded for her disposition.

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FEMINISM: A REDEFINITION

BY ROSELINE AKWARANDU

A feminist, contrary to any of your previous definitions, is a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of both sexes.

Female AND male. Now, as a male, are you aware of your male privilege and all the misogynistic hyper-masculine ideologies you’ve subconsciously learned from other men and which you continue to perpetuate micro-aggressively? If your answer is no, then you are a part of a system that oppresses women. Plain and simple. But understand this, feminism is not a war against men.

That’s why it’s important.

Beyonce once said, “We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life.

And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible.”

A beautiful and talented woman herself, Beyonce is a great example of a modern feminist. In her song Flawless, she takes an excerpt from speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TEDx 2013 speech “We Should All Be Feminists.”

Prime examples of why you should be a feminist not just for your mom, but for all women: Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. Because women are human and all humans deserve the same rights. Because my self worth should not be determined by my appearance. Because every six seconds a woman is sexually assaulted. Because for wanting to having casual sex just like men do, women should not be called sluts and whores.

Because women should have authority over their own bodies. Because women shouldn’t be called “bitches” for being assertive and wanting their voice heard.

Being a double minority, as in a young, AfricanAmerican female in our country, I do not only have to deal with the prejudices associated with being black, but also those associated with being the inferior sex. Constantly undermined by these two attributes, I have naturally instilled in myself the drive to work twice as hard to get half as far, half as good and half as much as those who are more privileged than myself. While others may allow such a feat to get them down, I use it as a foundation on which I anchor myself for a bright, successful future.

Because in today’s society, Fox News would rather report on a female politician’s outfit than her intellect and capabilities. Because equal pay for equal work makes sense, right? Because at my school, the administration reprimanded girls based on the length of their skirts, due to the fact of possibly being a “distraction” to male students.

Same with spaghetti strapped tops. Because no should mean no without women having to explain themselves. Because if women don’t want to smile, then they don’t have to (I am incredibly wary of men who tell women to do so). Because I have to talk to you about this whole subject.

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Roseline is 17-years-old and wants to major in marketing in college.

She is also a Her Campus High School Ambassador and really excited to working as a blog writer and magazine writer!

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THE RISE OF ISLAMOPHOBIA interview by colleen claire

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Dhuha Darweesh is a high school senior at Chalmette High School. She was born in Palestine, and moved to America when she was six months old.

Since arriving in America, she and her family have made it an effort to frequently visit their homeland and stay in touch with their culture. Dhuha is very involved within her community along with her school’s student council. Her parents have encouraged her to become opinionated when it comes to politics. I interviewed Dhuha wanting her insight on the recent events in light of the contentious viewpoints towards Muslims today.

Dhura talks about women in the Islam religion, the history of the hijab, and her notion of a Muslim potentially leading this country. She strives to be a leader for her fellow Muslims by taking a stand for what she believes in.

Much of the Islam religion is misinterpreted. From your point of view, can you explain the story behind the religion and how you practice your faith?

Islam is misinterpreted a lot. It is often portrayed with the media as a terrorist religion. Islam is taught to most Muslim youth as the religion of peace. At a young age, we are taught to be kind and respectful to everyone. Muslims believe in fasting Ramadan to feel with the less fortunate and to give to the needy. Even the customary greeting for Muslims translates to may peace be upon you. The way I practice my faith is to follow the five pillars of Islam.

Last year, former presidential candidate Ben Carson stated, “I would not advocate to put a Muslim in charge of this nation”. How would you respond to that? Do you see a Political Muslim leader in America’s future?

I would respond by telling him that there are already Muslim leaders in America.

Ilhan Omar, for example was elected as the first Muslim American woman legislator in the last election. Therefore, of course I see a future filled with Muslims as political leaders. It would be extremely prejudice and “Un-American” to see things otherwise, after all America is the land of the free-where anything is possible.

With the rise of Islamophobia occurring in America, do you as a woman feel safe?

No. I do not feel safe at all; Especially when wearing the hijab puts a target on my back. I really do wish that there were less prejudices in America towards Muslims because my faith shouldn't make me any less than someone of other religions backgrounds.

In regards to President Trump's recent attempt to insinuate a Muslim ban on this country, how did you personally feel?

Honestly? It's very upsetting. Even before the Muslim ban I was upset that people I had been friends with from childhood had wasted their first vote on a racist, prejudice, and all around white supremacists. I was even hoping that maybe he was all talk and that he would not take action. Then one day I woke up and I opened my Snapchat to see stories mostly about the Muslim ban. At that moment, my heart broke to see all these families fighting extra hard just to be viewed as humans with just as important lives as every other American.

What is the history behind the hijab and why do women only have to wear it?

The reason why I wore the hijab was simply because I felt more comfortable being modest and I also wanted to be judged solely by my inner beauty rather than my outer beauty as for why women only have to wear the hijab. It is because that is our form of modesty but men also have their own form of modesty too in the Islamic religion. It is not only for women to be modest.

In relation to intersectionality, do you feel there is gender equality in the religion of Islam?

Yes, because very seldom does it give the right to woman to get an education, to vote, to buy land as well as to sell land, to get a divorce, and to become leaders. It is not the religion of Islam taking away women's freedoms to equality.

Although if Muslim women aren't seen as equals it is because that is a cultural thing with in many cultures. America included, when it comes to inequalities between men and women.

Being a Muslim woman, do you feel the desire to empower young Muslim women to become leaders?

Yes, I very much do feel the desire to empower young Muslim woman to become leaders. I know that being a Muslim woman has many challenges in America and one of those challenges is that we lack a great amount of positive representation within the American media. This can be extremely discouraging for Muslim women but I took it upon myself to try and show the younger women at my school that we should not be afraid to show the world the powerful young feminists we are. Last May, my school had student council elections and I decided to run for president something that may not be the easiest task to achieve in southern Louisiana but it was important to showcase to my fellow Muslim woman that it is attainable. I spent hours after school practicing ways to make a lasting impression while pitching my campaigns and it paid off in the end. I was voted the student council president and to see the hope in the eyes of my fellow Muslim women at my school was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

EDUCATION: A STATEMENT OF SCRUTINY

by Thulasie Manoharan Everything that exists on planet earth is a thing of culture; a part of our human culture. Education once deemed a major part in the lives of living beings have somehow become less of an importance today, as in the words of German philosopher, Jurgen Habermas "Informed debate on issues of substance is replaced with celebrity gossip, and we are transformed from critical, rational agents into mindless consumers". In other words we have degraded our minds for the shiny objects the world or in this case, industrialism has tempted us with.

Pope himself proclaimed the book to be immoral. The excerpt is as follows;

Education should teach you how to find out about the things you need to know and give you the opportunity of developing your own particular talents and interests to the full. The trouble is that few people really know how to do this. Those who do know, or at least have some good ideas, are not the people who actually control the education system. The system is controlled by the people who have the money, and directly or indirectly these people decide what you should be taught and how. […]

Our current system of education is etiolated. For decades the education system has had the same hierarchy of subjects. The mathematics followed by the sciences and finally the arts are at the very bottom. This is a strange phenomenon because, our technological advancements exceed us, yet our education has pretty much remained the same. WHY?

We are told that we are to go to school at the age of 6 up till 18 and later we must enter an institute of higher education for the next four to six years and this is followed by a secure job that you'll probably work till you are 60. If you're unlucky enough, you would be entered into a system, this being called a Kindergarten, at a tender age of 3. This has been the ideal ideology for ages. Although this ideology is being put to the test today (by a very small minority) the question still stands; who are these ambiguous authority, who make major decisions on what enters the minds of billions? French philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard observed that knowledge is "owned by large corporations" and that today in the age of computers it is "produced to be sold". In 1969, Hansen and Jensen had written a highly critical piece on education in their book entitled "The Little Red Schoolbook". This book caused quite a stir that the UK authorities had confiscated all the copies, the Greek publisher of the book was jailed and the

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The industries and businesses that control our economic system need a relatively small number of highly educated experts to do the brain-work, and a large number of less well educated people to do the donkey-work. Our education system is set up to churn out these two sorts of people in the right proportions — although it doesn’t in fact succeed.

If education itself, our common human right, is being infiltrated and controlled, how different is our lives from the Truman Show? Sir Ken Robinson had put it succinctly and on point when he said "Our education system has mined our minds the way that we strip mine the earth for a particular commodity". Let us ask ourselves what would happen if we do not follow the so-called ideal system of schooling? What if we were all thought to think critically ? What if children in primary school were given university materials or who says that children of that age are not equipped to learn more sophisticated material? What if we were to accomodate *Socratic learning? What if learning was based upon discussions and problem solving instead of route learning? I am aware that a lot of "what if's" are being

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thrown around but the thing is all we can do at the moment is contemplate on a series of what if's. Our system of education is a rigid one, whether we choose to believe it or not. We are made to conform by boxing in our thoughts.We are not allowed to stimulate it any further. We have textbooks and a curriculum that is set by "ambiguous authorities" to suit all. A student from Hong Kong, in an interview for Davos 2016 debate had said that the present schools yielded "industrialised mass produced exam geniuses who excel in examinations" but are easily shattered when faced with challenges. I believe that, today, we are more than capable and would rather regurgitate facts and others opinions than think.

Education has the power to change our perspectives. It would solve the problem of poverty, equality, feminism, racism and every other existing "ism's" in the world.

How you may ask? Well logically, it will widen and deepen your scope of understanding of the world around you. You will have the depth to use your reasoning mind to make better informed decisions. We may think a culture weird because of their traditions, but with the aid of education, it would shatter such a point of view and have you appreciate another's culture.

We must not flippantly view this matter. The zeitgeist of learning must be restored to its full glory. Let learning not become a game of comparison. I for one would not like to be judged by my grades or the institute I am from. I will only be judged based on the work I produce from the resources that Mother Earth has presented me with. On a final note I will end it with a thought provoking statement by Mark Twain; "Don't let schooling interfere with your education".

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“International Women’s Day” by Maya Bauer

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THE 2 BWORDS by april federico

Everyone has those words they wish they could get rid of. For me, there are two bwords I wish I could ban. No, they’re not what you’re automatically thinking of. I’m talking about “bossy” and “basic.” In light of women’s history month (or should I say HERstory), I’d like to bring the negative connotation of these words to light.

When a boy asserts himself, he is called a leader. But when a girl steps up to lead, she is labelled “bossy.” In fact, girls are more likely to be interrupted and not called on in class, according to Sheryl Sandberg’s “Ban Bossy” campaign.

What’s up with this whole double standards thing?

I went to an all-girls private Catholic high school where we were encouraged to take on leadership roles as young women. But now that I go to a coed college in the Northeast, I’m starting to notice these gender stereotypes. It appears as though women aren’t taken as seriously as men are (in a specific setting? Academic, professional, etc). I tried forming a women’s collective on campus, and I’ve received nasty comments from the Dean saying, “why focus on women’s issues and feminism?” and I was mocked in a Facebook group while trying to promote the collective. Keep in mind, my school is very conservative. Not even the notion of feminism is being taken seriously. Students and even faculty try to

rebuff feminism on our campus. Not even the gender studies minor is talked about, as if no one is interested. I find it very disheartening.

Despite my high school’s philosophy on women in leadership roles, I still found my self being branded as “bossy.” At my high school, I was labeled bossy because I liked to get sh*t done. As a three-season varsity cross country and track and field captain, it was hard to get my teammates to do warmups and keep them motivated. But I guess the younger girls didn’t like my “captain philosophy,” which was to help us become the best we could be. I often found myself discouraged as people said, “Leader April, at it again!” Even in an environment lacking male competitors, other women would and will call each other “bossy,” essentially using the language of their oppressors.

Sheryl Sandberg’s “Ban Bossy” campaign states that the confidence gap starts even earlier in age; a middle school girl’s selfesteem drops 3.5 times more than boy’s during these formative years. Girls are twice as likely to worry about taking on leadership roles, fearing doing so will brand them as “bossy.” But the word “bossy” simply holds girls back!

Come on, we’re not in the 1950’s anymore.

Women and girls have more power to adopt leadership roles than ever before. So, what’s wrong with wanting to get shit done?

There’s another word that’s very demeaning to girls and women. I’m a huge fan of coffee and wearing certain types of clothing.

Because of this, I’m constantly labeled by my white male friends as a “basic white girl.” Emphasis on the word BASIC. This hurtful term has made girls and women ashamed of what they like. Since when is grabbing a Starbucks coffee something to be “ashamed” of? According to Reductress’s How to Win at Feminism, this word also stifled advancement in women’s fashion.

Sure, some of us like to wear simple pieces, but it’s because they’re classic pieces, not basic.

April is an English & Spanish double Major at Saint Anselm College with a minor in Gender Studies because she is redheaded ambition! She is just a New England-er with an appetite for coffee, peanut butter, writing, and service.

These are questions of a feminist who has personally had enough with being labeled “bossy” and “basic,” because both have made me feel inferior and dispirited. They not only affect me, but they affect women at large. Both words aim to achieve a specific goal: they attempt to categorize women and keep them within the confines of a stereotype. If you can take a characteristic of someone and turn it into a weapon against them, you have power over them.

And that’s essentially the guiding force behind gender issues and relations.

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THANK YOU! Thanks so much for reading Her Culture's 19th magazine issue. Without a community of dedicated, sophisticated, culture-enthusiastic women, we would not be where we are today.

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HER CULTURE MAGAZINE www.herculture.org @herculture New York, NY APRIL/MAY 2017 Issue No. 19