UNSUNG HEROES: 4 fascinating women in Asian history
TED TALKS
that will change your life
IT’S ALL IN YOUR
HEAD
how language affects the brain


MAGAZINE
www.herculture.org @herculture press@herculture.org
Happy Summer, from all of us here at Her Culture HQ! I would love to welcome you to our 26th magazine issue, filled with tons of cultural articles that explore the world in new and exciting ways. It was such a joy to read about all of the experiences our writers and readers have had over the year, and what they’re excited about for the summer. I hope you use your sun, sand, and relaxation time to reflect on all those cultural things that make you, well, you!
This month, I will travel to:
Next month, I plan to visit:
I’ve always wanted to go to:
I can start a #CultureRevolution by…
SUMMER
“Summer Days” by Martin Garrix, Fall Out Boy, and Macklemore “Only Human” by the Jonas Brothers “Mother’s Daughter” by Miley Cyrus “Here With Me” by Marshmello and CHVRCHES “Adrenaline” by Simple Creatures “Okay” by LANY and Julia Michaels “If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes “Juice” by Lizzo “Earfquake” by Tyler, the Creator
MAGAZINE
STAFF EXECUTIVES
Kate Avino - Chief Executive Officer Alexis Neuville - Chief of Staff Katie Collins - Chief Marketing Officer Sareana Kimia - Director of International Development Cameron Oakes - Director of Partnerships
EDITORS
Elaine Zedack
Kate Avino
Manvita Gandhi
Alana Cohen
Chelsi Harris
Robin Jennings
WRITERS
Samantha Lizzio Skylar Cale Shivani Ekkanath Amanda Ryan Amy Liu Likhita Yegireddi Pooja Banerjee Kathelyn Bonilla Chelsi Harris Emily Pfeiffer Tejashee Kashyap Pip Blankenship Samantha Galasso Maria Javaid Sterling Shore Radhika Sharma Julie Pawlikowski Agampreet Kalra Andrina Voegele Carol Lee Stephanie Chang Jenny Busch Hannah Duke Isabella Jiang Amrutha Garimella Morgan Fykes Monica Sager Aalekh Dhaliwal Sarin Drew Gari De Ramos
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TABLE OF
THE GREEN BOOK
THE YELLOW JACKETS
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
FOOD INSECURITY
12
26
MOVING FROM HOME
35
16
28
KNOWING YOUR WORTH
38
PODCASTS
22
ASIAN-PACIFIC HERITAGE
32
DIY CULTURE
42
TOP TED TALKS
AROMA THERAPY
TABLETOP GAMES
CULTURAL TATTOOS
NEW BARBIE
STITCH FIX
TALKING ABOUT SEIZURES
LADY JANE GRAY
SCIENCE OF TOUCH
44
60
72
54
62
74
56
66
80
MORE TO EXPLORE… PAGE 10
IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD: HOW LANGUAGE AFFECTS THE BRAIN…84 LYFT LIFE TIPS…88 SLEEPLESS IN CITIES…92 18 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE GOING ON BIRTHRIGHT TO ISRAEL…96 SPIRITUALITY & SEXUALITY: THE SPIRITUAL LIVES OF LESBIAN RELATIONSHIPS…100 WHAT I OBSERVED ATTENDING MARDI GRAS…104 THE TOP 10 AFRICAN FUTURISTS OF 2019…108 THE RISE OF THE BROFLAKE…130 4 FASCINATING WOMEN IN ASIAN HISTORY…133
HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26


The Green Book Archives Black Achievement and Entrepreneurship
by samantha galasso It started as a pamphlet. A collection of businesses and hotels first published by Victor H. Green in 1936 that would accept and serve black travelers in the Jim Crow era. By 1947, “The Negro Motorists Green Book� was a well-established guidebook updated annually and sold in Esso gas stations for 75 cents. Emblazoned on the front cover was a picture of an open highway weaving through a scenic lakeside--the very image of endless possibility and quintessential American countryside.
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A
nd beneath that, a warning: “Carry your Green Book with you...you may need it.” For black travelers nationwide, “The Green Book” was an essential resource for avoiding discrimination and potential violence while traveling in the Jim Crow era. But it also served another purpose: highlighting achievement and entrepreneurship within the black community. In cataloguing black-owned businesses and newspapers, as well as colleges that admitted black students, the annual “Green Book” documented black Americans’ ability to persevere and prosper in a time of severe racial oppression.
essays showcasing successful black businessmen and women alongside professionally photographed headshots. Similarly, headshots of proprietors would occasionally appear beside ads for their businesses in “The Green Book,” and essays could be read in the front pages promoting colleges (as in the 1947 edition) and later, the Civil Rights movement. “They can be seen as a utilitarian tool for helping people find black-owned businesses that would serve them, and a way to promote the accomplishments of African American doctors, lawyers, clergy and other educated professionals,” Reut wrote. “Directories say ‘we are here’ in a number of ways.”
“Publications like the ‘Green Books’ and ‘Travelguide’ came out of the tradition of Negro Business Directories, which were published by communities going back to the 19th century,” Jennifer Reut, an architectural historian said on her blog, “Mapping the Green Book.” “They usually included churches, educational institutions, funeral parlors, insurance agents, and other professional offices as well as small businesses that were owned and run within the black community.”
“The Green Book” was particularly significant in documenting the entrepreneurship of black women. Alberta’s Hotel in Springfield, Missouri on Route 66 was a source of refuge on a road notoriously dangerous for black travellers due to the lack of places to stop and the many “sundown towns” along the way. Owner Alberta Ellis began listing her hotel in “The Green Book” in 1954, and for a number of years, it was the only hotel in Springfield listed.
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Ellis had known the struggles of travelling, as she and her family had been turned away from a hotel when they made the trek from Missouri to California. Experiences with racism made Ellis recognize a growing need to serve the black community and spurred on her entrepreneurial spirit. She initially worked for the Bell Telephone Company and used money she earned to buy property. Ellis started with a small but profitable snack shop and later bought an old hospital from the city at auction for $10,000 cash to convert into a hotel.The location right along the business route for Route 66 was prime for westward travelers.
“She built an empire, really, a tiny empire from this extremely skilled ability to look at the whole market and see what the need was,” Reut said to NBC Washington. Elizabeth Calvin, Ellis’ grandchild, recognized the business savvy of her grandmother, whose guests included such famous names as Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Roy Hamilton, and Reece “Goose” Tatum. “You couldn’t go to a regular hotel, so she probably saw it as a good business opportunity, as well as hospitality,” Calvin told NBC.
Ellis was not the only one. Flipping through the pages of various Green Books, one will often find businesses owned by black women among the pages. Many were beauty parlors that specifically cater to black women, such as Up to Date Beauty Shop in Denver owned by Myrtle Foster advertised in 1947’s edition. Smithsonian Channel’s documentary Green Book: Guide to Freedom, noted that women owned some of the most successful businesses listed in “The Green Book.”
“With greater job opportunities, higher incomes, and paid vacations, the Negro has come into his own,” Novera C. Dashiell, who helped publish “The Green Book,” wrote in an essay titled “Janus” printed in the 1961 edition. “He is selective. He is no longer content to pay top prices for inferior accommodations and services. White owners of various establishments are now advertising in the Green Book. They have come to realize the enormous economic power of the Negro. Conversely, our business men must now raise and maintain higher standards to compete for our people’s patronage.”
“Many of them would be hotels or nightclubs. Many of them would be catering businesses,” Smithsonian project director Marquette Folley said in the documentary. “Successful businesses have been owned by women forever, but you can forget that if you don’t have evidence. ‘The Green Book’ gives you evidence.”
Still, Green hoped for the obsoleteness of his guide, which eventually ceased publication shortly after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published,” he wrote in the 1948 edition. “That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment. But until that time comes we shall continue to publish this information for your convenience each year.”
By the ’60s, white businesses began integrating their customers, recognizing the economic market they were previously ignoring. While integration signaled incredible progress for civil rights, it did challenge black-owned businesses. “The Green Book” had eventually listed up to 9,500 locations; today, only about a third of those buildings are still standing.
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THE YELLOW JACKET MOVEMENT: A REVOLUTION? by Shivani Ekkanath
O
ver the past few months, spanning over fifteen consecutive weekends, the Gilet Jaunes or the Yellow Jacket Movement in France has not only gained the national spotlight, but has also taken the international community by storm. Their activities and chauvinistic protests have been a weekly occurrence and the source of many satirical jokes, internet memes and headline articles. Coming from a country that universalised the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, the Yellow Jackets are also a sign of France’s protest culture, political consciousness and long-term political strife. Beginning on 17th November 2018 and garnering the support of over 300,000 protesters across France, the movement itself is built on a string grassroots
foundation and gained momentum via social media with widespread support. It struck a chord with many in the country and before long they were marching in organized protests. Marching in the heart of France, in the Champs ÉlysÊes Boulevard of the french capital city, attracted a great deal of attention.They remain accessible and open to the public and oddly enough, even have many Facebook events and pages. I was personally delivered a pizza by a young man sporting a yellow jacket one Saturday night after his full day of protests. Yet, amid the violence, chaos and national outrage that the protests and movements have given way to, can the yellow jacket be truly deemed one of the biggest socio-political revolution of the French Fifth Republic?
Without equivocation, the Yellow Jackets are an impetus for social change due to their symbolic high- visibility vests in protest of the rising fuel prices for vehicles, and is emblematic of the Marxist class struggle and hardships of the working class in the country. French President Emmanuel Macron’s aim to cut carbon emissions and combat climate change by imposing fuel taxes has greatly isolated himself from the common people, calling into question his capability to remediate many social and economic problems. As a result, many suspect his succession during the remainder of his term particularly with the rising outcry, ‘Macron Demission’ (Resignation of Macron), especially among youth groups and student bodies. One of the most remarkable aspects of the movement is probably its mass mobilization power in France. Despite the country being vastly divided in a number of policies, the Yellow Jackets are a movement uniting workers from all walks of life, across different political spectrums. The protests also remain a pertinent indicator of the wider societal and economic context, particularly the existence of social inequalities and injustices in French society.
The intensity of the movement is especially pre-dominant in small French cities with a strong industrial and working class where people continue to feel isolated from everyday mainstream political discourse and agenda and decision making. Most remarkably, the Yellow Jacket Movement has had significant impacts on policy making since its inception. Despite the abandonment of the fuel taxation policy, protests have not abated and are demanding further concessions like better pension schemes, higher salaries and social security payments among many others. The movement continues to garner support among various opinion polls and was supported by about two-thirds of the French, especially in the initial phases. In December 2018, President Macron agreed to increase the SMIC minimum wage among workers by around 100 euros a month. Moreover, the government also launched the Grand Debat, a major national debate to provide the citizenry with the opportunity to voice their opinions on key defining issues and themes impacting them. The protests were also a platform for French students to raise their grievances
reform regarding the secondary-school leaving baccalaureat that would severely undercut students from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds and more rural classes in France. However, at the same time, the movement did escalate and fuel a great amount of violence, especially back in November, calling into question the purpose of the movement and the motives of the demonstrators. This scepticism isolated the Gilet Jaunes politically among the people and the government, given the level of social chaos during the protests. During the month of December, over 142 of the 200 arrests were carried out in Paris alone. In an attempt to quell disorder, police resorted to the usage of tear gas to coerce subordination from demonstrators. A series of articles citing the presence of ‘ultra-left’ thugs have been a sour point for many in the country and raised questions against the protestors themselves, coupled with concerns about political extremism among others. According to an opinion poll taken in February 2019, there has been a rapid decline in support for the movement among the general public.
against the newly fangled education
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As recently as a protest on the 16th of March, 2019, nearly 80 businesses were left damaged in some way in the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. Overall, the Gilet Jaunes remain a symbolic political movement in France in this day and age given its impacts and momentum. Despite the controversy
and even sensationalization of the protests over the past months, the movement is still noteworthy highly emblematic of wider socio-economic issues impacting Europe today, especially in the wake of an uncertain economic and political future.
PODCASTS:
An emerging medium for queer storytellers. by Pip Blankenship Over the past few years there has been an increase in queer stories in movies, on television, and even on stage. Love, Simon made waves in the LGBT+ community last year as the first film by a major Hollywood studio to focus on a gay romance, and in 2014, Shonda Rhimes brought us a compelling story between two gay characters in her latest addition to ‘Shondaland’, How to Get Away with Murder. We’re beginning to see more queer characters, but there hasn’t been much diversity beyond that. Even in one of the most accepting communities, theatre, a lot of the stories being told there are about white gay men.
about representation and where we thought it would come from. Many of us agreed that theatre was more than likely going to lead the way and be the place for our stories, however within the last year I have become aware of a new emerging medium where queer stories are almost exclusive: Podcasts. More specifically, audio fiction. Welcome to Night Vale is a podcast created by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor in 2012, and it seems to be a common entrypoint for many into this genre. Night Vale is set up as a radio show for the fictional town of Night Vale, hosted by Cecil Palmer (voiced by Cecil Baldwin) and includes news updates and announcements for the town, more often than not featuring pseudo-absurd elements that give the
Two years ago, when Significant Other was on Broadway, I remember having a discussion with other queer creatives HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
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show an almost dreamy feel. Night Vale also presented a queer romance from the beginning. In the very first episode Cecil comments on a new scientist that’s just arrived in town, “[h]e grinned, and everything about him was perfect, and I fell in love instantly” (Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, Episode 1 - Pilot. Night Vale Transcripts). Since 2012 and Night Vale’s beginning the world of audio fiction has expanded, and many of the shows are very, very gay. Lauren Shippen’s The Bright Sessions features several queer characters, Dane Terry and Ellie Heyman’s Dreamboy centers on a queer musician who spends more time working and looking for hookups on Grindr than trying to become a musician, and Erin Kyan’s Love and Luck is Australia’s first LGBT podcast, telling a happy love story via voicemails. The best part about all of these podcasts, and the many others out there that I unfortunately don’t have the space or time to name? They’re all different. The stories are unique, the characters are diverse, and there’s representation out there for everyone. The Bright Sessions is more sci-fi, and Dreamboy has those same absurdist elements of Night Vale, while Love and Luck is a “slice of life romance
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story” (Kyan, Erin. Phone Interview. 18 March 2019). When creating Love and Luck, Kyan says he wanted to tell a LGBT story that was “happy and nice, and no one gets killed and everyone lives happily ever after”. This sentiment appears to be behind many of these shows and in the minds of creators. Julia Schifini shared that “in general … queer communities, especially online, tend to latch onto things that they see themselves in and because we’re very starved for content in a lot of ways, especially in big media, … being able to latch onto media that represents us and shows our stories without murdering us within three episodes of being introduced is really, really nice” (Schifini, Julia. Phone Interview. 11 March 2019). Alex Welch was also attracted to audio dramas, stating that she was “struck at how creative they were and the amount of diversity, especially in regards to queer identities, that were in these genre stories in a way that … a lot of other industries don’t really have” (Welch, Alex. Phone Interview. 19 March 2019). Schifini is a voice actor, community manager, and ad sales representative for The Whisperforge, as well as a producer and co-host of her non-fiction podcast Spirits, and Welch is the co-writer, co-
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creator, director, and voice of Abby in the upcoming podcast Lock-Ups. Something else these three creators all have in common, they’re queer creators making queer content for their audience, and they agreed to chat and give a little more insight on why this medium is ripe for queer stories.
shared for free, so with the power of the internet and word-of-mouth, these shows can find their audience. All three creators agreed that this medium is more accessible for creators and audiences alike than mediums like film or television, from expenses of creating to the ability to listen.
Schifini agreed that “there are very few straight fiction podcasts” and added that “the ones you find that are very, very straight are written by white men or are produced by big companies”. A lot of podcasts today are being produced by smaller companies or more often it seems independently by individuals, which does play a big part in the stories they can tell. Kyan and his partner, Lee Davis-Thalbourne, began Love and Luck together and continue producing under their independent company, Passer Vulpes Productions, as the show enters its third season. Welch is also producing Lock-Ups independently, and believes that it’s this lower barrier of entry that has made it possible for queer creators to make their content. Podcasts are also something that can easily be
Podcasts and audio fiction are giving queer creatives the space they need to tell their stories, rather than the same, overused narrative that is continuously played out in other big media, and in turn giving the queer community the representation we’ve all been desperately craving. If, like me, you have been seeking out that beautiful, gay story delivered in a natural subdued manner - or rather, told as if the queer characters are actual people, not a stereotypical mold they need to fill - and want to support some amazing creators, I fully recommend the podcasts in this article. All can be found on your podcast app, and Alex Welch and Petra Lord’s Lock-Ups will be launching this summer.
Human Trafficking: the slavery of today by Andrina Voegele
Human trafficking is one of the most prevalent crimes against individuals as well as humanity as a whole. It isn’t something any of us can shut our eyes against; it happens on every continent, in every country. And it can happen to anyone. To a middle-class white girl from New York City; to a young man fleeing the conflict in Syria; to a mother and her infant child in India whose only fault was trusting her husband. Despite its name, human trafficking does not necessarily involve any moment; someone can be trafficked within their own hometown. The United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.” It takes many forms today, from domestic servitude, to forced marriages, sex trafficking, child labor or bonded labor. In essence, any practice that is forced and a lifestyle which takes away the agency and freedom of the individual could fall under the term ‘human trafficking.’
practice, it has now been outlawed in almost every country. As with too many illegal things, this lead to it becoming one of the most lucrative businesses across the globe and the fastest growing criminal enterprise, garnering an estimated $150 billion for traffickers every year. Although exact numbers are hard to determine due to the nature of the business, it is suspected that there are 20 to 30 millions slaves in the world today; of which just about one million are actually being transported across international borders annually. In India alone there are approximately 14 million people who are currently a victim of the human trafficking trade. Even though it could affect anyone anywhere in the world, this number alone should be reason enough for this issue to be a pressing one.
Slavery has been a part of humanity dating back to our earliest civilizations.
Nevertheless, increasingly there are stories circulating of white girls from a happy, healthy background who were tricked into the trade by traffickers posing as agents who could launch their modeling/singing/acting career. Although their cases are not worse or less so than any others, they are often perceived to be more shocking as many people in the west presume that wealthier countries are exempt from such crimes. But money is money and it
Whereas it used to be an acceptable
is what traffickers are usually mainly
Food Insecurity on College Campuses by monica sager
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P
icture a college student. You may see an affluent, young adult who comes from a privileged background with plenty of money for college, groceries, and any other necessary spendings. You may even imagine a lazy, privileged, and coddled person. However, that’s not the reality. More than half of students get some sort of financial support. Most college students do not end with a degree, and 90 percent of those that do have debt[i]. Realistically, most family incomes are stagnant, yet college costs continue to rise. Work doesn’t pay enough, and colleges themselves are underfunded. Today, federal SNAP regulations necessitate people to work 20 hours per week for food stamps. Unfortunately for students, college enrollment does not count as work. The value of minimum wage has declined so that many have to hold more than one job. It is harder to find work opportunities that are viable, and financial struggle is a reality for many.
healthy and productive life. A 2018 survey of college students, conducted nationally by Sara Goldrick Rab, found that 36 percent of university students and 42 percent of community college students were food insecure in the prior 30 days. Many students support their families financially, leaving them short on bare essentials. A lot of students experiencing food insecurity experience stress due to trying to keep up with classes, work, and the need to eat. This messes with cognitive functions, leading to students not being able to participate in class the same way others can.
The issue of food insecurity among college students is on the rise. The term food insecurity is meant to describe those who do not have a stable source
I am blessed to be a part of the student body here at Clark University. We care about our peers—as our motto literally is "Marginalization is not something we do here.” Yet, I’m confused when I see that we don’t have many resources on campus for food insecure people as Clark doesn’t have many offerings on its website or through clubs. We have the community garden, but that does not bloom all-year round. There are no designated points of contact. There are no scholarships or emergency funding available for students. There is no way to donate extra meal swipes or dining dollars. The best a student can do typically is go to events hosted by clubs that include free food—which could
of nutritionally adequate food for a
potentially only include carbohydrates
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and are not obliging to a balanced diet. This lack of on-campus resources is detrimental to not only the students that need the help, but also to what we represent as a campus as a whole. If the national average of 1/3 of college students being food insecure holds true, about 800 students are potentially food insecure at Clark alone. This initiative of finding solutions and remedies to food insecurity needs to continue at not just Clark. College campuses within Worcester need solutions. College campuses throughout Massachusetts need help. College campuses across the nation are in need. As a Challah for Hunger Cohort member, I recognize the importance of one step, one talk, one email. Any effort
you make can bring us closer to ending food insecurity. Talk to your student government representatives; their job is to represent your voice and concerns. Reach out to your alma mater’s Dean of Students; she needs to be aware of issues pertinent to her campus. Do you have a child in college? Have them email the President of their college; he too can help. You can even take this initiative further: into the community, at town hall meetings, in discussion groups. Each and every voice and contact you add to this outreach is pertinent to the termination of food insecurity. We cannot be successful as a community, as a nation even, unless we are all combating food insecurity together.
T
he month of May is Asian-/PacificAmerican Heritage Month. Like February for Black History Month, it is a time for celebrating representation, because, after all, “representation matters.” When you hear this statement repeated over and over again, it tends to lose its meaning. Over the years, I have definitely had moments where I doubted the importance of representation. Personally, I didn’t have a difficult time feeling for and relating to many white characters I would see on the big screen. Just recently, I was reminded about the importance of representation. I like to think of myself as an empowered queer immigrant woman of color who works to empower others, but that doesn’t mean I am without my own biases. When bantering with friends just a few days ago, the subject of a children’s novel I wrote and self-published when I was 10-years-old came up. The main characters names were Alison and Andrew Axel. The villains were Izzie and Ian Indigo. Poor alliteration aside, these were white names in my mind. My characters were white Americans who lived in suburbia, whereas I was a brown girl living in Hong Kong at the time. They were not, like myself, of color.
Representation, Power, & Presence: The importance of Asian/PacificAmerican Heritage Month by Gari de Ramos
Now at 20-years-old, I am baffled by this. I thought I was writing myself in with Alison, but I had missed an important part of me. Little 10-year-old me, who really only consumed Western media, hadn’t realized that people of color could be the main characters in their own stories. So, representation matters.
on Latin-Americans. I didn’t want people to think that we had the same experience moving here. It took me a lot of soul-searching, community-building, and independent learning for me to truly internalize the fact that there is no one way to be an immigrant. There is no one way to be an Asian-American. Gatekeepers don’t – or at the very least, shouldn’t – exist.
I moved to the United States on a dependent visa just three years ago. It was quite difficult for me to really claim the “American” part of “AsianAmerican.” I was too new, I thought. I couldn’t even claim “immigrant” because narratives from the news talking about immigration only focused
I was able to accept my identity for what it is because I had found the vocabulary to verbalize my experience and the community to help me shape it. I would learn about intersectionality, privilege, and oppression through multicultural programs at my university. I would find online communities of fellow Asian-American women who, like me, believe the public’s idea of Asian is far too focused on East Asian countries. I found a book called “The Latinos of Asia” that captured the in-betweens I felt as a Filipino-American specifically. Finding the comfort in claiming my identity required external validation that my identity is present and powerful.
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How Tabletop Games can be Used as Therapy by Pip Blankenship According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 12.1% of adults experience social anxiety at some point in their lives, and 9.1% of adolescents are dealing with social anxiety disorders (National Institute of Mental Health). There are several treatments including cognitive-behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, or prescribed SSRIs. Two men in Seattle started a group that takes a new approach at therapy for adolescents experiencing social anxiety, by combining therapeutic techniques with a popular tabletop roleplaying game: Dungeons & Dragons. D&D is one of the more popular tabletop RPGs in which the players create and play as their own characters, being led through a story crafted by their Dungeon Master, full of great
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adventures and mysterious monsters. Adam Johns and Adam Davis of Seattle founded the Wheelhouse Workshop, now working through Game to Grow, where they use D&D as a therapeutic technique to help kids with social anxiety. Game to Grow uses “tabletop role-playing games to help teens, adolescents, and emerging adults become more confident, creative, and socially capable” (Game to Grow). Game to Grow is an example of an official program that uses the game as therapy, and there are several examples that could be found in fiction, as well. These work more on an individual basis typically focusing on characters that use the game, or similar games, to help deal with their anxiety, or express things they couldn’t outside of the game.
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The Bright Sessions, an audio drama podcast created by Lauren Shippen, recently released an episode in which a character dealing with social anxiety finds solace in a roleplaying game online. The character, Niko, speaks on how much easier it is to connect with people online rather than in school or at group events. They even mention a friend of Niko’s, and how he had been “going through a hard time” and “playing a character who could make a different...helped” (The Bright Sessions).
to terms with her sister’s death enough to pack up their old house and move out. It wasn’t an escape for Agnes, it was the one place where she could see her sister outside of the labels of ‘weird’ and ‘nerd’ Tilly had grown up under. The reason Agnes was able to learn more about her sister, however, was because for Tilly it was an escape. Tilly used D&D to express herself in ways she couldn’t as a teenager in Ohio. Tilly’s character, Tillius the Paladin, was a lesbian in love with a demon queen, Lilith. Tilly hadn’t been able to come out to her family, but within the world that she built she could live her truth. She was a hero that managed to defeat succubi (based off bullying cheerleaders), a shapeshift (based off Agnes’ boyfriend), and evil fae. She wasn’t just the nerd that her family and peers saw.
Niko’s story may be fictional, but it reflects the way that many socially anxious teenagers and young adults found a place to express themselves. They’ve opened up an escape from a world where they may feel forgotten, misunderstood, or just lost, and give people the ability to create their own space, rules, and characters. Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters is a D&D-centric play where the main character, Agnes, finds and plays through a campaign created by her late sister, Tilly. Agnes and Tilly weren’t close before Tilly’s untimely death, but through playing this campaign Agnes is finally given the opportunity to get to know her sister. The game wasn’t meant to be a form of therapy for Agnes, but by
Those labels also fall on many people that play tabletop, online, or any form of RPG. When I was in school, any mention of D&D was followed with snickers and some comment about how lame it was. What often goes unnoticed is the level of creativity and storytelling involved in these, and how those fantasy creations can help some people work through things they may find hard to face otherwise. That is what lends it to being
the end of their journey Agnes had come
an effective therapeutic practice.
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TATOOS AS SYMBOLS OF CULTURAL HERITAGE by Andrina Voegele Tattoos adorn the skin of so many today. Just one or two generations ago the tattoo market was stereotyped to have been dominated by sailors and army men, but, now, it has become much more widely accepted. It is seen as a form of self-expression–people choose to permanently ink something onto their body because of the meaning behind a certain design or simply because they think it is beautiful. Despite a huge rise in individual tattoos, however, tattoos are ingrained on a deeper level in many cultures, both past and contemporary.
variety of simple, dark markings that scientists believe to be the earliest known form of tattoos. Considering their placement, many believe that they were used as a sort of therapeutic, medical treatment. Based on other findings, which show the use of tattoos throughout ancient history, it has become evident that their meanings and roles within societies vary incredibly depending on the times and cultures. One thing is for certain: despite what some parents may tell their kids, tattoos aren't just a fad, and they certainly aren’t just reserved for sailors.
The earliest signs of tattooing were found on Ötzi the Iceman, a mummy that had been astonishingly well preserved in the ice. Experts have dated it back to 3300 BCE. The mummy had a
When Rihanna, a singer whose love for tattoos is well documented, got new ink added to her ever-growing collection in the fall of 2013, the world’s attention was drawn to this ancient style of
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Tā Moko is the name of these permanent markings put on the bodies of the Maori, the indigenous population of New Zealand. They are often placed on the person’s face, as the head is considered the most sacred part of the human body. Having these markings on you is a sign of your heritage, of being proud of your roots and your tribe. Although Tā Moko markings are strictly for people of this heritage, the Māori created ‘kirituhi’ in order to share their customs with foreigners; it is essentially the same type of design, but by referring to it as ‘kirituhi,’ it shows respect for the culture of the Maori from an outsider perspective. Just like with the traditional Tā Moko, a chisel and mallet are often used in making the markings, a process arguably more painful than the modern
tattoo guns most of the world has grown accustomed to. Another tattoo design that has expanded its reach beyond its original culture is the mandala. It is a symbol that was originally used primarily in Asian Cultures such as India, Nepal and Tibet. Mandalas are made up of hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of geometric and figurative designs, coming together to form multi-layered and oftentimes highly meaningful pieces of artwork. According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia, ‘mandala’ is Sanskrit and translates to ‘circle’ or ‘circular,’ which is why a circle is usually at the heart of such a design. It represents wholeness, balance and eternity, as a circle is seen as the perfect shape with no beginning and no end.
Moreover, all the points on a circle are at an equal distance to the center, creating a perfect equilibrium. Whereas mandalas were originally associated with religion and spirituality and are, hence, ingrained in the Tibetan Buddhist culture, the meanings of such tattoos will vary by the individual who wears it on their skin. Using a historic, religious mandala design is frowned upon and many artists might not do it, but creating a new one or copying the sun or moon ones are not seen as an appropriation but as an understanding of the original culture surrounding the mandalas. In other parts of the world, tattoos have a more sinister association. Japan, for instance, has a complicated and complex relationship with tattoos. In the past, they have been used as a punitive measure, permanently marking someone based on their indiscretions. Moreover, there is a tradition of yakuza–members of the Japanese gang syndicate–getting tattooed. The association between tattoos and gang members is one of the reasons that inkings are rather rare in that country. Brian Ashcraft, an expert on Japanese tattoo culture, notes, however, that on a more subconscious level, there is still a lingering Confucian and Chinese influence, even on the country’s contemporary culture. Within that, the idea of marking your body in such a permanent way is disrespectful to your parents who gave you this body. Furthermore, tattoos are seen as a very private thing. Even traditional bodysuit tattoos are meant to be kept out of view, hidden under clothes and covered whenever possible. This presents an issue when those tattoos, meant purely for the private realm, enter a public space such as a bathhouse. In such a setting it is impossible PAGE 62
to cover up extensive work. Many hot spring resorts and bathhouses around Japan, therefore, ban guests with tattoos. Although the Japanese may be accustomed to this line of thinking, many foreigners are not aware of it. Considering that hot springs and traditional bathhouses are a huge draw for tourism, this presents a conflict between the way tattoos are regarded in the West and how they are received in Japan. Tattoos have become more accepted in recent years; although, people still warn others about having designs that are too exposed. Although having visible ink may have been off-putting to potential employers in the past, that conception is steadily changing. Tattoos are hailed as a form of individualism, of something that is about you and the way you perceive yourself or the world. Their long and complex history shows that they are far from simply being the trendy thing of the moment. Societal placement, religion, selfexpression and art have all come together to create a tradition in tattoo design that spans across millennia and around the globe and has cemented its place of importance in the global society.
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SEIZE THE DAY Why We Need to Talk About Epilepsy by Samantha Galasso
It’s a little after midnight on New Year’s Eve. I’m with my boyfriend and his friends at a timeshare in the Berkshires. They’re an extremely warm, fun group of people, but we don’t know each other beyond the socializing we do at parties. The night has rounded the bend from drinking games to a makeshift dance party. The room is darkened and bodies sway to the beat of whatever house tune plays through the speakers. It’s a gentle, festive euphoria. Until someone pulls up a video of strobe lights on their phone. The other guests cheer and jump around, their movements jerky in the half-shadows, but I immediately feel my night crashing to a halt. I hide my eyes in the crook of my arm and tug blindly
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at my boyfriend’s sleeve, frantic for him to find the phone and turn the video off. And it’s at that moment that I have to reveal to everyone at the party that I have epilepsy. I have had countless moments like this throughout the course of my life. And it’s only within the last few years, and through active research, that I realized I’m not alone. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the United States after migraine, stroke and Alzheimer’s, affecting one in every 26 Americans. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates 50 million people are epileptic. Yet even with its prevalence, it invokes both a sense of mystery for those who do not experience it and a sense of isolation for
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those who do. We have made great strides in opening up about mental health at large. Depression and anxiety are discussed and portrayed often through the media. Awareness has been raised on behalf of autism, while celebrities such as Pete Davidson and Kanye West give a face to borderline personality and bipolar disorders respectively. Schools readily accept and accommodate learning problems such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and attention deficit disorder (A.D.D.) But epilepsy— which statistically affects a significant portion of the population—remains untouched by these efforts to normalize and educate.
mask their needs—is as pervasive as it is crippling. The fear of stigmatization carries over into adult life as well. Countless forums exist on the internet where epileptics seek advice about whether they should disclose their condition with their bosses or supervisors, fearing losing their jobs. Many are cautioned against it. Although epilepsy is protected by employment discriminatory laws, in today’s especially competitive job market it’s easy—and not unheard of— for employers to pressure employees into leaving their positions for vague, difficult-to-prove reasons after finding out about their mental health conditions.
As an epileptic, I will readily say that I played a part in the silence. I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 7 and for most of my life, I didn’t allow anyone except for my close friends to know. And even in those cases, I didn’t tell them until years of trust were earned between us.
I firmly believe that the discriminatory tendencies I and other epileptics have faced stems not from a lack of empathy but from a lack of education. And this lack of education has dangerous consequences. If an epileptic has a seizure in public, it’s imperative that people around them know how to help so they don’t risk further injury. But without the dialogue, education and training—without the normalization— epileptics are at a severe disadvantage if they have an episode publicly.
My silence stemmed mostly from fear of ridicule and judgement when I was younger. This fear of being stigmatized or othered, of being “disabled” and therefore lesser, paralyzed me to the point where I refused my parents’ suggestions to get an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for accommodations when I entered high school. This deep awareness for the neurotypical norm—and its subsequent pressure on those who do not fit it to HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
One of the most disturbing examples of this lack of training that I’ve come across is in teaching programs. I’m a high school teacher by trade, having graduated with my master’s and
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certification from a well-respected university in Connecticut. I did not have to learn about how to handle an epileptic student in my classroom in order to get my degree. It was not brought up once, not even in my classes specifically designated to discuss students with exceptionalities or special needs. The gap in mandatory training— especially for teachers—is, quite frankly, terrifying. But glossing over epilepsy is not done because anyone is actively excluding us from the curriculum; it’s just that they haven’t thought about us at all.
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So it falls on us to be advocate for ourselves. Our silence and our decision to masquerade as neurotypical does nothing except allow ignorance to become the norm. Often, people don’t know they’re introducing possible seizure triggers to an environment. They don’t realize making a joke about having a seizure is in bad taste. But ignorance without malice isn’t something to condemn, it’s something to correct. Only when we embrace our own neurodiversity can we expect society to embrace us.
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Sleepless in Cities by Andrina Voegele
Big city life can have a weird effect on people and their bodies. The combination of the buzzing energy, the thrum of people, the constant temptation of activity, and the promise of an adventure lurking around every corner can lead to even some of the most peaceful sleepers having a hard time drifting off into dreamland at night.
tiredness and fatigue as your constant companions, and it means no amount of coffee is ever strong enough to completely eradicate that heavy, exhausted feeling that has settled deep in your bones. City life can amplify this issue, even if a person normally might not have any troubles sleeping. Urban insomnia, although not as severe a medical condition as ‘regular’ insomnia is nevertheless classified as an environmental sleep disorder. There are so many factors within a city that can keep people from sleeping as soundly as they would somewhere more rural.
Everyone has experienced a bad night’s sleep at some point. Endless hours when sleep, the one thing you desperately want is the one thing that keeps eluding you. We all know how challenging the next day can be, how getting up in the morning seems like the hardest thing in the world. Insomnia means struggling with that on a regular basis. It means having HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
The constant noise level is a huge factor when it comes to the quality of sleep. Highways, sirens, air traffic, noisy
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neighbors...anyone who lives in a big city will be able to tell you that silence is a rarity. You learn to blend out the noise and commotion, but it fades into the background rather than disappearing, a constant stream of sound accompanying your city life. Although it may seem as though it won’t bother you anymore, your body will still register it and will keep you from falling into the deep slumber you must be craving. And whenever an ambulance with a particularly loud siren drives past underneath your window, you will wake up, even just for a split second, just long enough to be dragged out of your REM cycle. Another issue is FOMO: the fear of missing out. In round-the-clock metropoles and cities that never sleep, sleeping means you might be missing out on something else. There is always something to do, somewhere to go, an event to attend, or people to see. Sleeping means potentially missing out on some fun, unexpected adventures and, despite how important sleep is for us, we can’t always help that little voice in our head that tells us that we can sleep when we’re dead and that right now we should be out doing anything else. Most of us know that this isn't sustainable and yet when we try to close our eyes, the thought may be nagging at our subconscious, keeping us awake despite our best intentions. PAGE 94
Understanding sleep is an important step to take towards getting more (and more effective) zzzs, because not all sleep is restful and regenerating. There are 5 stages of sleep (although stage 3 and 4 are often lumped together into one). The first phase of sleeping are the initial roughly 7 minutes of your sleep; you are still somewhat alert so there is not much restfulness about this stage. We actually spend about 50% of our sleep time in stage 2, which, although it is still a lighter sleep phase, nevertheless leads to your heartbeat slowing down and your temperature decreasing. Stage 3 and 4 are the deepest parts of your slumber and if you get woken up during this time you’ll feel groggy for quite some time. 3 and 4 are the only phases of your sleep during which your body is immobile. You have truly sunken into the dark, seductive pit of a deep, rejuvenating slumber. You’ve probably heard of stage 5: the REM phase. It is during this time that the sleeper dreams, which leads to the rapid eye movements which lend themselves to the name of this sleep phase. It is also a crucial time for your memory since it is when the brain absorbs, consolidates and processes the events of the day and everything that you have learned. It is after this stage, if uninterrupted, that you start waking up. The issue with insomnia is that your body is being kept awake or constantly woken up due to stress, mental health HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
strains or any number of environmental factors; the latter being particularly challenging in an urban setting. This makes it even more important to practice sleep self care on a regular basis. Sticking to a sleep schedule and establishing a regular, relaxing bedtime routine can go a long way towards rejuvenating slumber. Getting as much natural light exposure as possible during the day is also beneficial, as it reminds the body to slowly start shutting down once it gets dark. The most painful of tips is probably that you should avoid naps. This is especially difficult at first, but by resisting the urge
to nap during the day you will be that much more exhausted once bedtime rolls around and that much closer to a restful night of sleep. A busy city often goes hand in hand with a busy pace of life and irregular patterns. Long commutes, late nights, and naps squeezed in for that extra little burst of energy all lead to the body being confused and lost in its regular cycle. Add in the constant noise level, the blinding lights that never quite seem to dim and you’ve got the perfect recipe for urban insomnia.
18 Things to Know Before Going on Birthright to Israel by Monica Sager
Birthright is a free trip to Israel for young Jewish adults, in hopes of “transforming the Jewish future,” according to the Birthright website. It is a large, educational trip to a country abroad to learn, explore, and connect. It is the hope of the organization to “motivate young people to continue to explore their Jewish identity and support for Israel and maintain long-lasting connections with the Israelis they meet on their trips.” I went on Birthright this past winter, and I am so happy I did. It was an amazing trip that I will never forget.
Here are some things to know before you go: The plane ride is long
knew each other for so long. There were nights we stayed up just talking, playing cards. We sang at the top of our lungs during bus rides, roomed with each other, and simply just bonded.
It’s a 12 hour flight. That’s long. Eat. Sleep. Read (I read Michelle Obama’s Becoming on this trip, but if you’re looking for something a bit more Israel-related, check out Arusha Kaplan’s “Jewish Meditation” or Rebbe Avraham Morechai Gottlieb’s “Inner Works,” as you go to Tsfat and these will give you a deeper understanding).
And you’re going to miss them after the 10 days is done
You’re up and about all week at some really early times. Don’t worry. The trip is done in 10 days and you’ll be able to readjust to your normal sleep schedule. Just be ready to not sleep much.
As soon as I got into the car at home, there was something I saw out of the window that I wanted to tell one of my friends from the trip. I turned behind me since that’s where he always sat, just to realize no one on my trip was with me anymore. The people you meet, you get really close to quickly. I still text a lot of them everyday. I truly miss them.
It is a safe trip
Because 10 days goes by quickly.
Birthright is able to change your itinerary based off of what is happening in the world: let that be dangerous events or just weather. They are there to make sure your trip goes well. They want to show off their country, not hurt you. You will have a security guard on your trip with you the whole time.
This was the fastest 10 days I think I have ever experienced. It seemed so fast. We did so much in so little time, exploring the whole country. We went to Tsfat and explored Jewish mysticism. In the Negev, we rode camels, went to the Dead Sea, and climbed Masada. Jerusalem was full of Mt. Hertz, the Israel Museum, and Yad Vashem. There was a walking tour in Tel Aviv, and even a lot of shopping in shuks.
But the plane ride is the only time you’ll sleep all week
You’re going to make new friends My trip was amazing in that we all became super close. There were a lot of us, but it seemed by the end of the 10 days that we all HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
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Make sure you get everyone’s contact information This is how you keep in touch! Let that be snapchat, instagram, facebook, or even phone numbers. You’re going to want to keep in touch, trust me.
Including the Israelis who join your trip Each trip includes eight Israelis: four men and four women. They’re on the bus with you, join you throughout the museums and shuks (markets), and even room with you for the few days they’re on your trip. They may even teach you some Hebrew! These people are there really for the same reasons you are: to explore the country and meet new friends. They are the same age as you, often serving in the Israeli army. I became so close with a lot of them. It was really one of my favorite things about the trip: the fact I was able to meet and become so close to the Israelis.
Eat as much hummus as you can The hummus in Israel is 100 percent amazing. I don’t know how else to explain it. It’s way better than the hummus we get in the supermarkets back at home. It’s homemade. It’s creamy. It’s just delicious. Eat it all.
Take as many photos as possible You’ll have the memories in your head, but it’ll be nice to look back on once you arrive home in the States. You’ll be able to show friends and family, and maybe even post a few (or all) to social media.
Bring a towel and shoes that you can throw out at the Dead Sea
how else would you float? It’s going to get everywhere: in your shoes, on your swimsuit, all over your skin. And, yes, it does sting you in certain areas. You’re not going to want to bring your towel and shoes home with all that grime on them. Being able to throw them out will save you space in your suitcase and will save you from a big headache.
Walking down Masada is scary You go up the direct root, and you go down the winding path. It sounds good, right? Well the walk up isn’t bad at all. The walk down isn’t as straight forward. There is a railing but only on certain parts. If you’re like me that means you’re going to get scared of the heights. Take a friend’s hand, that’s what they’re for. (See No. 4).
Camel riding is pretty awesome It’s weirdly nothing like riding a horse. Two people go on the camel at once: one in the front, one in the back. But you both have to get on and off simultaneously. Watch the camels’ feet. They’re almost like plungers and sink down to the ground with each step. The ride is for about 20 minutes, but you’ll be smiling the whole time.
Bring clothes for every season The weather can be variable, depending upon where in the country you are and at what time of year you take your Birthright trip. One thing for certain though: Bring layers. Masada was buring hot, but places like the Bedouin tents were really cold. Make sure to check out your itinerary and pack accordingly.
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Don’t be afraid to ask your tour guide questions Your guide has a wealth of knowledge. If the person leading your group is anything like mine, they will tell you so many different perspectives to different stories and different times of history. They will point out the different monumental sites but also the little things that you wouldn’t have known had you gone alone. The tour guide is there for you. Take advantage of it.
You get out of the trip what you put in If you don’t want to learn anything, you don’t have to. If you don’t want to take photos and buy trinkets, you don’t have to. The trip is really what you put into it. Yes, you have to go to certain places and listen to certain talks but if you don’t want to engage, that’s up to you. Ask as many questions as you’d like (See No. 15). This trip is your gift.
Don’t pet the cats Cats in Israel are like squirrels in the United States. You wouldn’t necessarily go up and pet the squirrels on the street. Don’t do that to the cats either! There was another trip going on at the same time as mine that a girl had to go to the hospital since a cat scratched her. Don’t go to the hospital!
This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience Pick a trip that is set to what you’re looking for. This is a gift to you from the Israeli government. It’s totally free. You just pay for a meal once a day and for whatever gifts you want to bring home. You will not regret this trip. I certainly don’t. I am honored and so thankful for the 10 days I spent in Israel, and I can’t wait to go back. (18 in Hebrew means “life”)
Spirituality & Sexuality: The Spiritual Lives of Lesbian Relationships by Sarin Drew In a groundbreaking interview, prolific philosopher, Eckhart Tolle, succinctly describes why Queer people are naturally inclined to understand their consciousness. His proposition is that lesbians or gay men who do not identify with heteronormative gender roles or who feel as if they have been given the wrong gender due to their sex, are more likely to dissociate with form. Form in this sense is the “the flesh” as they describe in born again Christian ministries, or “al-fitra” as described in Islam. It is the worldly attachment to egoic desires of the bodily form that prevent enlightenment or awakening. Spiritual awakening is attributed to the experience of exploring inner consciousness without the limits of “the flesh” or form. Lesbians, especially in Africa, are starting to accept both the presence of male and female energy circulating within form without the limitation of set roles. This, consequently, disrupts mainstream notions of what sexuality means in relation to spiritual purpose. PAGE 100
This acceptance of balanced energies in Queer people is inherently spiritual because it seeks to understand the grey area of human purpose outside of gender roles. In heteronormative society, the understanding of spiritual and sexual purpose are preordained. You are baptized as a man or woman, grow up, sexually reproduce within a heteronormative setting and due to these processes are given access to heavenly bliss and awakenings in the afterlife. While this is the narrative most religions have constructed about the conflation between sexuality and spirituality. Perhaps different understandings settle in the grey area that only Queers are afforded. My name is Sarin Drew and I am an African lesbian feminist. These identities are constructed in society at the moment as both political and social, however, I find this definition of myself devoid of my identification with my spirituality. It is not a religious spirituality, often African lesbian women who practice their spirituality have HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
formed hybrid rituals and religions that they can initiate in the comfort of their home. Other African lesbian women create their own ministries and become pastors within their church, taking up a masculine role with a female form. In this sense the limits of bodily form and egoic roles, i.e. what a female should or should not do, is broken apart.
realm, especially for an African context that has a false history of homophobia. For many people looking into the lives of lesbian womxn, they are often inundated with narratives of identity crisis, religious rejection or even over glamorized accounts of heteronormative experiences within lesbian relationships. Lesbians do not go to church, but even congregating with women exploring their subconscious and consciousness more deeply is a space of communion. This communion is not dictated by a male identifying God, in fact, the God is within us in the sense that she is omnipresent.
Lesbians are able to explore female energy, not just through harboring the energy themselves but also through experiencing this energy intimately. They are able to disassociate with clearly defined form and reform new identities that emanate from subconscious manifestations and not through socialization. Exploring your consciousness becomes a necessary spiritual journey for lesbians seeking to define themselves outside of mainstream culture. Some lesbians even date other women they consider spiritual partners, that are there to endure the rollacostor of exploring their consciousness together without judgement or expectation.
The spiritual lives of lesbian relationships exist in private spaces, very closed communities and often do not get publicized or appreciated for its existence. This is because this narrative is new to colonized and patriarchal ideas about the God within us and how it manifests. If God is not gendered according to the binary, if God does not identify with bodily form, who is to say that lesbian womxn do not possess God consciousness?
In South African society, these relationships exist in culturally defined spaces. Sangomas are people in South African Zulu culture who are spiritual healers or spirit doctors whom employ a decolonized method of medicine. Often these women during Amathwasa, which is a Zulu word for initiation, experience a deep spiritual connection with the trainer or other trainees. If this connection is ordained by the ancestors then women Sangomas are allowed to take other women as wives or sexual partners, even if they have a husband. This culture predates colonial African history and gives us a greater understanding of the acceptance of different sexualities within the spiritual HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
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aving come from my university in Massachusetts, stepping into the warm and humid New Orleans air was such a relief on my dry skin. Moisture, however, wasn’t the only thing I soaked in. The minute I stepped outside of the airport, I could feel the Mardi Gras season radiate from everywhere.
Bourbon Street, most people appeared to have been drinking for hours. The festival was a definite culture shock for me, and I couldn’t help but wonder what I had gotten myself into.
What is Mardi Gras in New Orleans? In the Catholic tradition, Mardi Gras is used as a time to celebrate life’s more gluttonous elements before fasting and repentance during Lent. Today, Mardi Gras celebrations typically begin on January 6, which is the twelfth day of Christmas, and ends before Lent. During this time, there are parades throughout the city on most weekends. In the week immediately leading up to Mardi Gras, however, the population of New Orleans more than doubles and there is at least one major parade each day. These events are largely organized by the city and social clubs – also known as krewes.
All I had known about Mardi Gras before arriving was that it was an important holiday for New Orleans, it was right before the Christian holiday of Lent, and I would be in the city for it. The Uber driver taking us from the airport to the hotel was more than ready with advice of the best things to do around Mardi Gras season. I understood immediately how New Orleans’ tourist economy was ingrained in all aspects of life. My hotel was nicely located just outside the French Quarter, a neighborhood in New Orleans famous for its French origins, Spanish architecture, and the party-filled Bourbon Street. It was Sunday, so only two days before Mardi Gras, but everyone – of all ages and races – was dressed up in bright and colorful clothing.
These krewes are those who historically organize Mardi Gras celebrations and participate in the parades, as well as divisions of the United States armed forces and high schools from the surrounding area. Parades each have their own unique theme, but all floats tend to toss “throws” into the crowd, usually consisting of plastic bead necklaces, cups, or inexpensive toys.
While some were in the Mardi Gras colors of green, gold, and purple, most were dressed up in an array of costumes ranging from 1920s flappers, circus animals, and characters from The Little Mermaid. During the early afternoon on HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
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The New Orleans area has been documented as having celebrated Mardi Gras as early as 1699, but the parade has definitely evolved throughout the centuries. The first officially funded and organized celebration of Mardi Gras occurred over 150 years later in 1833 with the help of a wealthy plantation owner. Shortly after in 1875, the state of Louisiana declared Mardi Gras a legal state holiday, which marks Mardi Gras’ cultural significance. Later in the 20th century, the city of New Orleans began to better regulate the celebrations by restricting how long parades could be, how late they ended, and banning participating groups from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. A more controversial regulation was when the city government required to see a list of those riding in the parade, which violated a tradition of secrecy amongst groups participating in the events. Despite these changes, Mardi Gras remains an important celebration for the people of New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive storms to hit the United States, the people of New Orleans remained enthusiastic for Mardi Gras and saw it as an affirmation of life.
What I observed I enjoyed the beautiful parades and appreciated the vibrant culture around Mardi Gras. People of all races, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds all PAGE 106
came out to celebrate together. That being said, I could not help but think about Mardi Gras through a sociological, economic, and environmental lense. In sociological understandings of religion, a defining aspect of religion is differentiating between the sacred and the profane. I was intrigued by how the Catholic tradition almost encouraged indulgences in the profane – that is, partying, consuming alcohol, and enjoying the excess from parades – in order to truly appreciate the sacred immediately before Lent. This juxtaposition is highlighted further because it was apparent many who celebrated Mardi Gras, both locals and tourists, do not actually practice Lent afterwards. On the first day of Lent, Bourbon Street was still packed to the brim with partygoers simply celebrating to celebrate. With the city doubling in size for Mardi Gras, it is no surprise New Orleans has shaped much of its economy around tourism. This economic boost from Mardi Gras has facilitated the religious holiday’s commercialization. Hundreds of tons in freebies are tossed from the parade route. The sight of hundreds of people screaming in excitement along the parade route hoping to catch the coolest goodies that night only to dispose of it afterwards was truly a unique experience. The various parades in the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras itself have also been adapted in a HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
nonreligious manner. For example, one of the most popular parades, Bacchus, has been parodied as Barkus, which is a wholesome parade of dogs. Finally, the aftermath of Mardi Gras is an alarming amount of leftover trash. New Orleans is incredible about cleaning up and the city was totally back to normal not even two days later. It is a holiday celebrating excess consumption, which requires excess production. As an environmental activist, I couldn’t help but question the environmental effects of creating so many products that only go celebrated for a few days.That being
said, I applaud the city and its people for their organization in planning more sustainable ways to celebrate Mardi Gras, like with having more environmentally-friendly products. It is clear to me that Mardi Gras in New Orleans is no longer a religious tradition, although it may still be practiced as such in other places. Instead, it is a celebration that binds locals and tourists, Christians and nonChristians, rich and poor. For the weeks and sometimes months leading up to Mardi Gras, the city comes together to let loose and celebrate life.
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While Afrofuturism and Wakanda might ring a bell in the subconscious of those from the African diaspora, African Futurism is the practical implementation of solutions for a Wakandesque future. Futurism is an ideological movement towards ideating African imaginaries to compete with the technological and ecological possibilities of future industries. Africa suffers the particular task of catching up to much of the first world, however, having perceived disadvantages can become a huge advantage. For the globalized world, Africa is ground zero for a growing tech landscape as decolonial Africa harbors the possibility of exploiting Africa’s vast resources in favor of African existence. The following is a top ten list of African Futurists making waves in the various technological industries. These vibrant engineers and ideators have each made a mark in expanding the discourse on Africa's horizon. The most exciting thing is that these are young people with ideological values of their own.
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Iddris Sandu He is a Futurist architect that focuses on using design thinking to transform possibilities on how African tech systems can make mobility and communication industries easier. While he has worked for the likes of Instagram, Uber and Google, he is a force on his own. This young Sierra Leone adult invented an app at the tender age of 13 years old that aided students at his former school receive information conveniently. This app was later adopted by the school proving that African Futurists are making an impact.
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Kwame AA Opoku He is the well spoken winner of The African Youth of the Year award. However, Mr Opoku is known for his ideas. He believes in “exponential technologies� that are able to cause rapid and progressive growth that builds on the resources Africa rightly owns. He has contributed to decolonial views on space economy, Artificial Intelligence, robotics and nanotechnology used for the purpose of creating solutions to poverty, service delivery, tech accessibility and mobility in Africa.
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Wanuri Kahiu She is known for her films on Afrofuturism, Queerness and African culture. Wanuri is a self-proclaimed “African Futurist� who has produced films available on Youtube. One of them, Pumzi, analyzes the social conditions and values that would be present in isolated technological communities in post-apocalyptic Africa. For example, would we be able to use technology to cure water so that no water goes to waste?
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Sangulani Maxwell Chikumbutso Sangulani invented an electric car that requires no charging, unlike the hybrid cars that have gone to market. This would save African electricity grids that are already straining to supply power to most industries. The car does not require recharge but five regular gel batteries. He has dubbed his engine invention “the Greener Power Machine� - or GPM - which apparently breaks well-known law of physics.
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Rivo Mhlari Inventor, Rivo Mhlari, created a start up vehicle management system company. It allows a vehicle device using artificial intelligence to predict and diagnose a vehicle’s longevity, insurance information and system issues to help save the consumer time and money. What his patented technology ensures is data security for vehicle users and he has done this all at the young at of 24 years old!
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Diébédo Francis Kéré Diébédo is an architect that uses African inspired hut design to create educational and cultural institutional infrastructure. His work truly embodies the lightness, earthiness and ecological protection of the African architecture style while incorporating modern day physics. For example, his award-winning roof design caters to areas with little electricity and air-conditioning.
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Dr. Cho Mbogo She is a Doctor in Computer Science at the Kemu Methodist University who has been a pioneer in computer science education by creating an augmented classroom able to provide workshops, learnerships and mentorships for students wishing to learn coding skills but lacking the teachers and lecturers to access that knowledge.
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Ernstina Appiah As another Futurist crusader, Ernstina has began to jumpstart the next generation in frontlining the digital revolution. She created Ghana Code Club, teaching primary school kids to make animations, websites and programming apps.
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Mathebe Molise Mathebe is featured on this list because her business is a perfect example of how Africans can turn platform monopoly on its head to benefit African lives and help people get out of a cycle of poverty. Mathebe invented an app called Beauty OnTapp. The app provides a location directory of nearby small black female owned businesses, providing a competitive advantage over colonial beauty enterprises.
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Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, Faleke Oluwaboyin, & Bello Eniola These high school girls live in a country plagued by no electricity and power outages. They rely on a generator to provide electricity for their school. However, the generator fuel costs more money than what is affordable. They found a way to extract hydrogen from human waste and are using this hydrogen to power generators, which goes a long way in providing a capital-free innovative solution to create bio-friendly fuel consumption for the future.
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The Rise of The by Andrina Voeg e
le
L
anguage is a wonderful thing and it is ever changing to include terms that we were previously missing, terms that describe a phenomenon particular to new generations. It is flexible and evolving and now includes glorious words such as ‘broflake’. You know that guy who talks about how vital social justice is and yet seems to counter any sort of movement towards progressiveness? He’s a broflake.
race, sexual identity, and any of those other topics that broflakes would rather die than acknowledge, let alone have an open-minded dialogue about. Thanks to social media, many of these societal struggles and the conversations about them have been moved into the spotlight more than ever before. Social media provides an unprecedented platform for instantaneous news and the sharing thereof, which lends itself to movements gaining traction and attention at a faster rate than was previously possible. On the flip-side, though, social media is also the reason we are currently experiencing the rise of the broflakes.
The term ‘snowflake’ has been around for a while and is usually reserved to describe a millennial. Not any millennial though, but the thin-skinned, often narcissistic kind who seem to either be more outspoken about their sensitivities or simply less resilient than others. There is a subcategory of that though, one that expands to generations beyond millennials; it’s a special kind of snowflake that is often also the most infuriating kind due to their dominance in society. Enter the ‘Broflake’.
Through Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, they now have a platform to share their own opinions and publicly refute anything that goes against their conservative views. We live in a world where a single 280-character tweet can reach millions of people within minutes. Freedom of speech is an important right and censorship on social media comes with its whole own set of issues. However, by retweeting and sharing their posts, and by continuing conversation with and about them, we give broflakes the power in the argument, rather than shifting all our energy back to the important issues at hand instead.
A broflake, as defined by the Urban Dictionary, is a “straight male offended by any feminist or ethnic activity which is not directly designed for him." We all know one, we’ve all heard of one and one is even president of one of the most powerful countries in the world. Broflakes have a hard time with the idea that not every social justice movement is a direct attack on them and that there are indeed some prevalent problems in our society that have to do with gender, HER CULTURE MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 26
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Just as the hypersensitivity of some millennials puts an entire generation into a poor light as “snowflakes,” the fragile egos of broflakes generate a similarly hostile attitude against straight white men across the board. Of course, it isn’t fair to paint an entire group with one brush, but too often, those with the most extreme views are also those with the loudest voices, and the ones most willing to shout over others. The media, and public opinion as well, for that matter, love to focus on the controversial, so a news story about a misogynistic comment or tweet will reach much further than one about a person who does good things and who treats everyone fairly and equally. When men try to defend themselves against accusations of being “broflakes,” they can end up sounding aggressive and can come off as being insensitive (or they
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can inadvertently end up being insensitive, which is an entirely different issue). Social media is a double-edged sword and someone will always be offended, either by the difficult-yet-overdue conversations some people are trying to start or by the responses of others. To say that broflakes are a byproduct of the world we live in would be inaccurate; they have always been around, but now there is increased attention on them due to the fast paced, oversharing times we live in. Telling broflakes to stop being so offended would not change anything, as broflakes are rarely self identified. So all we can do is focus on the societal issues at hand and drown out the negativity, and hopefully soon we will be talking about the fall of injustice instead.
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Corazon Aquino
Corazon Aquino
death sparked a nationwide period of mourning and protest, with Aquino as the face of what became the People Power Movement. The People Power Movement quickly gathered a following through Aquino’s speeches and leadership. The movement directly challenged Marcos’ authoritarian reign, but was not taken seriously since a woman was the face of the movement. Marcos allowed a new presidential election, in which Aquino was his opponent because he didn’t believe he could be defeated by “just a woman.” Unsurprisingly, the Marcoscontrolled parliament declared Marcos the winner, which sparked massive protests, defections from top military leaders, and increased support for Aquino.
the first female President of the Philippines, is known as the “mother of Philippine Democracy” and the “housewife who led a revolution.” Aquino was born into one of the wealthiest families in central Luzon in the Philippines, which allowed her to receive a private school education in Manila and the United States. Although she grew up shy and privileged, Aquino would later become the face of the People Power Movement, toppling the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. Aquino’s entrance in politics was, like many female politicians in history, facilitated by her husband. Aquino was married to Ninoy Aquino, who was Marcos’ most outspoken critic and expected to win the 1973 presidential elections. Marcos was limited to oneterm and did not want to relinquish power, so he instituted marital law in September 1972 and abolished the Philippine Constitution. Aquino and her family were exiled tothe United States, where Aquino’s husband began preparing for his return to challenge Marcos. Upon returning to the Philippines , Aquino’s husband was assassinated on Marcos’ orders. His
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Finally, Marcos had been toppled and Aquino was declared president. Aquino served her full six-year term from 1986 to 1992. During her administration, she got the United States to withdraw from its military bases and, more significantly, led the creation of a new constitution. Afterwards, Aquino would continue to oppose future constitutional amendments to give presidents extra terms in office. Through her leadership of a populist movement during and after the rule of a dictator, Aquino was able to revitalize Philippine democracy.
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Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
By 2010, the military government had turned into a quasi-civilian government led by former military leaders. Suu Kyi continued a political career and eventually became President of Myanmar in 2016. Despite her rightsbased rise to power, Suu Kyi is criticized for doing little about Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in Myanmar, which is dominated by Suu Kyi’s ethnicity of the Bamar. For years, the Rohingya have been attacked by military-led campaigns that have driven out 700,000 Rohingya’s from fear of murder, rape, and arson. When faced with questions about this, Suu Kyi has responded by saying she does not want to pick sides.
is the Nobel Peace Prize winner turned President of a violent regime. Raised during the rule of Myanmar’s military government by her father, the country’s hero for independence, Suu Kyi was imbued with a passion for fighting for what is right. From a young age, she participated in protests against the military government that led to her being placed on house arrest. Her house arrest lasted for over a decade. While confined, she was able to help lead a non-violent protest for human rights through her essays and letters. She was a beacon of hope that raised her to the level of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. She advocated for a just government rule that respected the rights of its people, writing that the “fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it.”
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This has upset leaders and human rights activists across the world who once saw Suu Kyi as the country’s moral beacon. “Her moral authority is what people follow,” says activist Khin Ohmar. “That’s where her real power lies. She has forgotten it or lost it.”
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Ching Shih
Ching Shih
pirates. After Zheng Yi’s death, Ching Shih consolidated power, married the son of her husband’s lover, and ruled the Red Flag Fleet with a moral code that was not only rooted in her experience as a woman, but also made the fleet incredibly efficient.
was a Chinese woman who was a former prostitute turned powerful pirate. Before she was 35, Ching Shih was in charge of the Red Flag Fleet, which at its prime had hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of pirates. Little is known about Ching Shih’s childhood, but it is known she served as a prostitute before marrying the captain of the Red Flag Fleet, Zheng Yi. When accepting Zheng Yi’s proposal, Ching Shih demanded two things: 1) she would have power over the fleet and 2) Zheng Yi would split the fleet’s riches with her.
Cheng Shih’s code included but were not limited to the following: riches belong to the fleet and not the individual, do not rape women, marry a woman before having sex with her to prove you value her, and that Cheng Shih’s leadership was absolute. This code not only protected the integrity of women captives, but also allowed her fleet to function effectively. They became one of the most powerful fleets to sail the seas.
Under their rule, the Red Flag Fleet grew from 200 ships to 600 and formed important alliances with fellow powerful
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Patsy Mink
Patsy Mink
dedicated her life to eradicating gender and racial discrimination. Seeing gender discrimination in the workplace after no law firm in Honolulu would her her, Mink became active in local and then federal politics.
While not geographically located in Asia, Patsy Mink’s success marks the potential of the Asian diaspora around our globalized world. Mink became the first woman of color to serve in the United States’ Congress in 1964 and the first Asian woman in the House of Representatives. Her firsts don’t stop there. Mink was also the first AsianAmerican to run for President.
Her most influential anti-discriminatory policy came with Title IX in 1972, which prohibited federally-funded institutions to discriminate on the basis of gender. By co-writing, sponsoring, and passing Title IX, Mink has left behind a policy that promotes equality, protections against harassment, and more in employers and universities around the United States.
Mink was inspired by the discrimination she faced as a Japanese woman in the United States after World War II and
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THANK YOU! Thanks so much for reading Her Culture's 26th magazine issue. Without a community of dedicated, sophisticated, cultureenthusiastic women, we would not be where we are today. To keep up with all the latest news and culture stories, please visit www.herculture.org.
Special thanks to: the Mulloy family, the Miller family, issuu.com, Alexis Neuville, Katie Collins, Sareana Kimia, Cameron Oakes, World Reader, The Prospect, MissHeard Magazine, Luna Luna Magazine, Humans of Vietnam, The Wannabe Scientist, Hello Perfect, New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Molly and Fox Magazine, The Fem Lit Magazine, H.E.R, and Same Sky.
HER CULTURE MAGAZINE WWW.HERCULTURE.ORG @HERCULTURE NEW YORK, NY SUMMER 2019 ISSUE NO. 26