Jerk June 2022

June 2022 Vol XIX Issue 4 Syracuse, New York Your student fee

THE JUNE ISSUE

Jerk is never late,

Everybody else is just too early.

@jerkmagazine

jerkmagazine.net

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Pearl Cadigan EDITOR IN CHIEF

Callen Moore & Lucinda Strol

Zoe Glasser

Kyra Surgent & Hayden Ginder

CREATIVE DIRECTORS

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

DIGITAL DIRECTORS

EDITORIAL FOB EDITOR: Isabel Bekele ASST. FOB EDITOR: Bella Young OPINION EDITOR: Julia Walker ASST. OPINION EDITOR: Noah Estling FEATURES EDITOR: Car Shapiro ASST. FEATURES EDITOR: Sydney Gold GAWK EDITOR: Liz Goldblatt ASST. GAWK EDITORS: Molly Scheuer,

Makenna John, Ava Lahijani

GAWK HEAD DESIGNER: Jacieon Williams GAWK MARKETING COORDINATORS: Rachel Price,

Noa Putman

GAWK STYLE TEAM: Zoë Boise, Libby Dy, Bailey Davis

GAWK PHOTOGRAPHER: Ben Piers GAWK MUA: Afton Serviss, August Fegley NOISE EDITOR: Margo Moran ASST. NOISE EDITORS: Katie Ferreira, Emane Haque

WRITERS

Russell Tom Sun, Julia Reedy, Lily Menk, Aryaan Anand, Kaelie Macaulay, Brooke Blackwell, Bryan Fletcher, Julia Fesser, Megan Adams FRESHMAN INTERNS

Sadiya Kherani, Naimah Rahman, Eva Balisteri, Nikia Williams, Ilhy Gomez del Campo

DIGITAL DIGITAL DIRECTORS: Lucy Stover, Kenneth Barrist,

Jillian LeVeille

DESIGN DIRECTORS: Tanner Hogan, Lucinda Strol DESIGNERS: Alexa Kroln, Catie Hangen, Sophie Beney,

Valerye Hidalgo Garcia, Natalie D’Alto, Lynn Fay, Kelly Kringen, Gisele Gosset, Liliana Smith, Lindsey Smiles, Megan Thompson, Emma Barbosa

VIDEO DIRECTORS: Ambre Winfrey, Jonah Sierra SOCIAL DIRECTORS: Katie Murray, Hayley Miller, Allie D’Angelo SOCIAL DESIGN DIRECTORS: Sophia Pappas,

Grace Denton

SOCIAL TEAM: Taylor Creel, Carley DellaRatta

CREATIVE DESIGN DIRECTOR: Lilly Chidlaw-Mayen DESIGNERS: Bridget Overby, Anika Dua, Olivia LaCour, Kasey O’Rourke ILLUSTRATORS: Emma Wachsmith, Lang Delapa, Sophie Sternkopf, Jenny Katz, Anika Dua, Ande Wittenmeier, Bailey Kretschmer PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR: Surya Vaidy PHOTOGRAPHERS: Bridget Overby, Jyonosuke (JJ) Tanaka, Lucy Messineo-Witt, Gabriella Nagy, Megan Townsend, Katelyn Hughes, Sophie Cohen

ADVERTISING PR MANAGER: Samiddha Singh PR STAFF: Nina Salvio, Giana DiTolla, Grace Guido

Melissa Chessher ADVISOR Through its content, Jerk is dedicated to enhancing insight through communication by providing an informal platform for the freedom of expression. The writing contained within this publication expresses the opinions of the individual writers. The opinions expressed herein are not those of Syracuse University, the Office of Student Activities, the Student Association, or the student body. Additionally, the ideas presented in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Jerk Editorial Board. Furthermore, Jerk will not be held responsible for the individual opinions expressed within. Submissions, suggestions, and opinions are welcomed and may be printed without contacting the writer. Jerk reserves the right to edit or refuse submissions at the discretion of its editors. Jerk Magazine is published monthly during the Syracuse University academic year. All contents of the publication are copyright 2021 by their respective creators. No content may be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the Jerk Editorial Board.

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JERK THIS JERK 3–21

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR At the risk of sounding too cliché, it’s really hard to accept that my time as an undergraduate is coming to a close. When I arrived at Syracuse University as a freshman, I was, like most first-years, shy and homesick and desperate to be accepted by my peers.

The year was mostly fine — a bit unmemorable — but the lack of connection that I still felt to campus by the end of my freshman year was unnerving. It wasn’t until the second semester of my sophomore year was cut short by a pandemic, though, that I really began to reflect on (what at least felt like) the very minimal mark I’d made at school. I had some close friends and was somewhat involved on campus, but I was still searching for that feeling of purpose that every single SU alumnus I’ve interacted with could go on and on about unprovoked.

The summer before junior year, I was accepted to be a head editor (shoutout, Noise) here at Jerk.

I still remember my very first head editors meeting (led by Viv and Mer — miss you both) and the excited nerves that I felt sitting in front of my computer camera during a break from unpacking. Throughout the year, I bonded with my roommates, who became my best friends during weeknights and weekends with nowhere to go, as well as my fellow Jerks, who laughed and virtually “cheersed” with me from their little rectangles on Zoom, in a way that I don’t think I’d ever be able to replicate.

Writing and editing for Jerk let me express myself as I’d never been able to do before, but the purpose that I discovered during that year, which has continued through this past one, does not lie in the stories I’ve written or edited, it lies in the relationships I’ve formed. I know, another cliché, but let me have it. The work we at Jerk do could not be done without human connection, and this connection is precisely what we try to express within this year’s final issue.

On pg. 23, we take a look at the pain that Ukrainian and Russian students struggle with as their loved ones struggle thousands of miles away.

Read about the complicated emotions that firstgeneration graduates (congratulations!) experience as they round out their undergraduate years on pg.

27. Mad Gal, a new student collective built around queerness, music, and creativity, is explored on pg.

53. We also worked with Abigail Tick from Callisto, a non-profit organization (not affiliated with SU) focused on providing resources to survivors of sexual assault. To hear more from Callisto, check out “Regaining Agency” on pg. 11 and “An Independent Answer” on pg. 39.

Being the editor in chief of Jerk has been my most stressful yet rewarding feat. Thank you to every single person who makes the content we produce possible — you are Jerk. Here’s to hoping I don’t become one of those annoying alumnus.

Congratulations to my fellow graduates!

I’ll be Jerkin’ with you from wherever I end up next year,

Pearl Cadigan Editor-In-Chief

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FRONT OF BOOK

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SMUT

FEATURES

OPINION

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JERK THIS JERK 3–21

GAWK

NOISE

FASHION

ARTS

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Listen to Jerk’s weekly podcast, where Zoë, Emma, and Kenny discuss the things you hate to love and love to hate — on Spotify today!

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Jerk Magazine is exploring new ways to compliment our print mag. Find additional content on social media and our website

JERK 3–21

Bringing you the latest and the littest @jerkmagazine

JERK THIS

JERK ON THE INTERNET

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HIT

Words by Emane Haque and Pearl Cadigan

What we love NATIONAL 7/11 DAY JULY 11 You already know that we will be claiming our free slurpees — did you even have to ask?

NOPE MOVIE RELEASE JULY 22 Yee Haw! A 21st Western Horror from the brilliant mind of Jordan Peele is exactly what the movie industry needed because post-pandemic Hollywood has been stale. Nope is bound to make viewers avoid cattle ranches for life.

LIZZO SPECIAL ALBUM RELEASE JULY 15 Don’t get us wrong, we loved “About Damn Time,” but TikTok is kind of ruining it for us — as TikTok tends to do. We are more than ready for some new Lizzo hits to dance to like fools for the entire internet to see.

ELVIS FILM RELEASE JUNE 24 To be completely honest, this movie could actually be great — it’s got a banger Doja Cat song on its soundtrack, which gives us hope — but we are just so sick of Austin Butler’s Elvis accent. It irks us to our absolute cores.

MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU RELEASE JULY 1 How many plots can revolve around unintelligible yellow bean-looking creatures? Apparently, an infinite amount. Fine, the first movie was pretty cute, but six entire 120-minute productions is concerning. Illumination Animations probably has enough movies planned out to send Jerk rolling in our grave.

NATIONAL NUDE DAY JULY 14 KID CUDI ENTERGALACTIC ALBUM RELEASE SUMMER 2022 Get ready to be launched out of this world with Cudi’s latest project. We’ll be listening to Cudi’s profound lyricism, trademark hums, and steller production all summer long.

Um, yeah, we’re gonna pass on this one. The subway’s seats have already touched too many bare butts, and we’ve seen enough random genitals on Euphoria’s most recent season to last us at least a couple of years. We know it’s hot, but how about cooling down with a nice ice bath in the privacy of your own home — you know, away from us.

What we hate

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TAURUS

GEMINI

In the immortal words of Abby Lee Miller: “Stop. Fighting.” Yes, Aries, you’re known for being stubborn, but why is every hill the one you want to die on this month? Take a deep breath, do some yoga, and eat a snack.

Taurus, make the most of this month by being the powerful leader you are. Your organizational skills and earthsign-groundedness are always an asset this time of year; use them to ace those finals!

Gemini, why does no one talk about the fact that you’re hilarious? People love to focus on the whole “two-faced” thing, but we think you’re also a natural-born performer. Try doing stand-up this month, even if it’s just in front of your roommates or your dog.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

It’s true that you have a reputation as a crybaby, Cancer, but this month is going to be all about tears of joy (especially if you graduated — congrats!).

We think good stuff is coming for you soon, but if it isn’t, please don’t blame us.

Summer is the perfect time for you to take up a new hobby, Leo. If we trust anyone to spend $150 on an embroidery kit they’ll never touch, it’s your passionate self.

Virgo, you feel misunderstood lately. You’ve stumbled onto Virgo Hate TikTok and it seems like some find your bluntness to be a little mean. Cut yourself and others some slack this month, for everyone’s sake. And no, a Virgo didn’t write this — why would you think that?

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

Libra, you’re the material girl of the astrological wheel. You love to dress to the nines and own tons of clothes, but it’s time to do some spring cleaning!

Donate those sweatshirts you’ve been holding onto since middle school — yes, the Dan and Phil merch, too.

You’re as loyal as they come, Scorpio, but beware of becoming a doormat. You’re a water sign, so you’re naturally sensitive, although people may not see that in you. Don’t bottle up those emotions.

Listen, Sag. No, seriously, listen.

You’re confident and outgoing (or at least you act like it) and while we love that for you, but sometimes it’s important to let others speak, too. As your mom used to say, close your mouth and open your ears.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

You’re a busy bee, Capricorn.

You love to keep occupied and you’re constantly on the move, but remember to get those 8 hours too. After all, you do your best work when you’re well-rested!

Lovely Aquarius, this month is the perfect time to put that summery optimism to use. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the snow has finally melted — take time to reconnect with nature this month and soak up some sunshine.

Dear Pisces, we know you love to compartmentalize, but that can make it hard for people to get to know you. If we have to be like Maddy from Euphoria banging on the door of your heart then so be it — we love you! Let us in!

Words by Zoe Glasser | Art by Emma Wachsmith

JERK 3–21

ARIES

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JUNE HOROSCOPES

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SEX:

REGAINING AGENCY Callisto representative Abigail Tick explains the importance of survivor agency in healing after sexual assault.* Words by Sydney Gold Art by Lang Delapa

While everyone’s relationship with sex is different — morphed by their body image, gender identity, sexual orientation, and preferences, to name only a few variables — the human relationship to sex is a fundamental aspect of identity. This is not to say that sex must be a central force or desire in your life (or even a desire at all) but even for those on the asexuality spectrum, understanding one’s relationship to sexuality and the importance of that relationship is crucial.

When a person is sexually assaulted, it is not only their physical safety and bodily autonomy that is violated, but also their relationship with sexuality.

A 2018 Journal of Sexual Research study noted that after an assault, “changes in sexuality include loss of interest in sex, increase or change in sexual partners, engaging in sex work, and increased sexual behavior.” While these behaviors range wildly and vary for every survivor, they all connote a change in sexual behaviors before and after the assault.

Don’t get us wrong, there isn’t anything inherently negative about any of these behaviors, however, they may be misaligned with the survivor’s desires for their personal sex life. Robbed of the ability to choose the who, when, where, and why of sex, survivors may feel what Abigail Tick (she/her), Syracuse University’s student and campus champion for webbased assault recording service Callisto, describes as “a tethered relationship to their sexuality.”

Tick has dedicated much of her time at SU advocating for survivors of sexual assault, which includes working with Callisto. Callisto is an online sexual assault recording service designed specifically for college students that places emphasis on survivor agency and autonomy, which is a notable change from standard university reporting methods such as the Title IX reporting

process. Callisto allows users to enter an encrypted, time-stamped record of their assault without automatically initiating any reporting process, as a Title IX investigation would typically require. While survivors have access to legal resources if they choose that path, Callisto doesn’t require the user to file a formal complaint or pursue their assailant.

Survivors remain in control at every step of the process and can stop the investigation at any time.

Callisto’s recording process differs drastically from legal and institutional forms of reporting, which often force survivors through a gauntlet of relentless and re-traumatizing exams and testimonies. Additionally, once you start the process of reporting assault through traditional methods, continuing the process is typically required — you can not simply choose to stop the investigation, as you can with Callisto.

“The three biggest things that make us different are survivor agency, accessibility, and safety,” said Tick. “I think that’s really unique because what we know about a lot of survivor processes is that once the survivor takes that first step, the whole process leaves their control, and it kind of gets swallowed by the system.”

When it comes to reconnecting with their sexuality after an assault, regaining that feeling of autonomy and agency is crucial, and the traditional reporting process typically does not give it to survivors.

“Oftentimes when we talk about survivor aftermath, we talk about justice. Is there justice for the survivor? Does the perpetrator get held accountable? But that healing piece really gets left behind,” said Tick. “I think when we center survivor healing in our work and in the ways that we work with survivors and work on sexual violence issues at large, that’s when we can help and assist people to sort of regain that agency.”

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* CW: Sexual Assault JERK 3–21

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FRAMED:

EM BURRIS Em Burris (they/them) is a junior from Orlando, FL studying photography and art history with a concentration in fashion and beauty communications.

Words by Julia Fesser | Photos by Surya Vaidy Jerk Magazine: What made you go into photography?

Em Burris: I originally came to Syracuse as a Public Relations major with an interest in film and the idea of becoming a cinematographer. I talked to one of my professors and told them I really wanted to do something creative and that I was thinking about film. He recommended I check out the photography major because it shows you how to work a camera, the frame, and how to see things visually. I took the first opening for a photography course and ended up falling in love. I’m a very in-my-head person and I have all of these concepts and ideas, and I found I was able to vocalize them through a camera, which I had never done before. It was magical and it truly just clicked for me.

JM: How would you describe your photography style?

EB: I’m still finding it, but I definitely would describe my style as conceptual portraiture. That’s what I’m working on now with my current project.

I really like to know the inner workings of a person and express that through the pictures that I take.

JM: What’s the project you’re working on now?

EB: I’m working on queer portraiture, capturing how queer people express themselves and validate their identity through articles of clothing. I’m tying in how people express themselves with the clothing that they’re wearing in the picture and how that relates to their inner being and soul, and I’ve found that it meshes quite well. Basically what I do is sit down and interview the subject for a period of time, ask them about their background, ask them about their clothing and how their fashion has evolved through coming out. Then I take their portrait and try to factor in all the aspects of their character, their personality, and the clothing that they’re wearing into the image and kind of visually barf it out and put it into a portrait. Then I pair it with a conceptual image that expresses their inner being, who they are, and really shows the soul of the person rather than the outer articles of clothing that they’re wearing.

I did a self-portrait for myself and I talked about how all human beings are the same. We’re all made of the same chemical composition, the same bones, the same grit. I like to express myself through clothing, through accessories, through hats, through shoes, to kind of vocalize what my inner soul is telling me that day.

JM: Do you think the photography program could be improved in any way?

EB: I really think the museum on campus has such potential to be a cultural hub and act as a collaborative space for student artists. I think that could bring a lot of people and awareness to the museum itself because the word will spread and people will come together to see it. Plus having your art shared as a student artist makes you feel so good.

JM: Can you tell us a little bit about the student advocacy group for the museum?

EB: The student advocacy group would encourage student artists to collaborate with the museum to refine and increase its space to become more of a cultural hub. So, for example, we could host culture nights, slam poetry nights, and film screenings at the museum. Really making it where the student and museum can collaborate and we can hear what students want to see from the museum. We could do student-led tours and give people experience if they want to get into the art history field and really allow it to be a space where there’s most importantly student input on the museum. What do the students want to see from it? I think that’s really important to any organization.

What about your art history major?

EB: It’s been lovely. It’s really helped me contextualize my photography degree. Studying composition, color, and medium has allowed me to replicate that into the photography world of how I compose my own photos. Plus, I love learning about art. It’s so much fun to be able to study a body of work and analyze it in a way where you can fully understand the breadth of the work and also the intention behind the work in itself. I’m having a blast.

**Julia and Em are founding the student advocacy group together, in collaboration with the SU museum staff and professor Romita Ray.

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BOOZY POPSICLES Learn how to elevate this classic summer treat with your favorite alcohol.

Words by Katie Ferreira | Photo by Lucinda Strol

Although the weather has yet to convince us that summer is truly on its way, we are already eagerly anticipating sunny days by the beach.

Nothing is quite as refreshing as an ice-cold popsicle to combat the heat, but we decided to take it up a notch. Introducing: boozy popsicles.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED • • •

Whether you were a fan of the childhood staple Spongebob ice pop or preferred a classic cherry flavor, any of your favorites can be adult-ified with a dash of liquor. Use lemonade if you desire maximum refreshment or pineapple juice for a little tropical flair.

RECIPE 1.

2.

Our recipe leaves a lot of room for you to be creative with what you’d like to add, so use this guide to get started and add your own spin!

4 cups of lemonade or your favorite fruit juice 1 cup of liquor (we recommend flavored vodka or rum!)

Popsicle mold OR small paper cups with popsicle sticks

3.

4.

Pour the alcohol and juice into a large bowl or pitcher and mix them together.

Fill the popsicle mold or cups with the mixture. Place sticks in the mixture.

Place the popsicles-to-be in the freezer until fully frozen (preferably overnight to avoid slushiness).

Remove the next day and enjoy your refreshing creation!

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IF YOU STAND WITH UKRIANE, YOU SHOULD STAND EVERYWHERE ELSE, TOO Why does the West care more about Ukraine than conflicts in the Global South?

Words by Noah Estling Art by Baily Kretschmer

By now we are all well aware of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Social media is flooded with infographic posts about death counts and political approval ratings. People are painting their nails and dying their hair blue and yellow, and let’s not forget the woman who recited her poem about how the entire war could have been prevented if she was Putin’s mom — real “I can fix him” energy.

On top of all the social upheaval, companies are pulling out of Russia left and right, and a number of powerful nations have placed so many sanctions on Russia that some economists project a complete collapse of their economy. This is a call to action that we have not seen in our lifetime, and now that we’ve had time to settle from the clusterfuck that was the end of February 2022, let’s look back and reflect on why we’ve acted the way we have. Why do we care so much about Ukraine, an international tragedy for sure, when we have never shown the same passion and empathy in the cases of the Rohyngia genocide or the Sudanese Civil War? The international community often turns a blind eye to the ongoing atrocities seen in the Global South. Yes, what is going on in Ukraine is horrendous; but so are the 25,000 Rohingya deaths that have occurred in Myanmar since 2017. So are the seven million Palestinian refugee displacements since the war in 1948. So are the conditions of the 1.3 million refugees who fled violence from the Middle East into Europe in 2015

for a chance at a better life. The list of conflicts given blind ambivalence by the western world goes on and on, but why is that?

There is a theme that keeps repeating when discussing the Ukraine conflict; the phrase “this should not be happening here” is tossed around a lot on social media and in everyday conversations.

The statement comes with the presupposition that Ukraine, and Europe as a whole, are far too “civilized” for a conflict like this, at this scale, to be happening. It is expected and normalized for us to assume conflicts like this for countries in the Global South. Decades of Western efforts of racism, propaganda, and dehumanization of these regions have caused us to be slightly more than ambivalent towards these conflicts. The treatment of the Japanese population, and effectively all Asian people, during WWII is a clear example of this.

We cannot forget the treatment of the American Muslim population and the fact that we practically invaded the entire Middle East and treated it as our playground since the attacks on September 11, 2001. An important side note: the first person killed in an Islamophobic attack after 9/11 in the U.S. was Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh man; which just goes to show how people in this country have been made to feel about anyone from the Global South. The way we discuss any predominantly non-white country in the world is always as lesser.

We have been indoctrinated to believe that there

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state. According to the United Nations, nearly 80% of Yemen’s population needs humanitarian aid, the most of any nation in the world. More than 14,000 civilians have died from the conflict, and an additional 85,000 have died from famine caused by the war. Why have we rarely talked about arguably the greatest humanitarian crisis in our world at the moment? There’s a pretty clear answer: Saudi Arabia. The Middle Eastern nation has been leading a bombing campaign in their neighboring state, where the bulk of the destruction has occured, and this campaign has been backed by the United States. But why support the atrocities? That one is also easy — it’s oil. The U.S. has maintained close ties to the nation in spite of their multiple war crimes in order to preserve their economic partnership. Hence, we see Biden call for the removal of Putin as the leader of Russia, while Mohamed Bin Salman, the de-facto leader of Saudi Arabia, is welcomed to the White House.

So, what are we getting at here? To put it plainly, it is important to point these discrepancies out so we can at least acknowledge the inherent unfairness of the way we treat issues abroad. We cannot, as a nation, treat the conflict in Ukraine with so much care and then ignore conflicts in other places that are just as egregious. We cannot treat a conflict in a white, European nation as the worst tragedy we’ve seen in recent years then turn a blind eye to the post-colonial Global South.

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is an inherent problem with these regions, which drastically differs from what we’re taught about to the rest of the world We must also discuss the role of the United States in these situations. The U.S., whether we like it or not, has its hands in everything happening in the world at all times. Since Teddy Roosevelt was president, the U.S. has played a major role in destabilizing governments, killing foreign leaders, and committing war crimes in order to protect their foreign interests. It is no surprise that in the U.S.’s interactions with North Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and so many other places, American civilians have been lied to by their government so our war crimes abroad would be supported.

Let’s take two conflicts, the Ukraine conflict and the Yemeni Civil War, as examples. Both conflicts have tremendous importance in the U.S. but in different ways. Ukraine is located in an important geopolitical area to the U.S. — next to Poland, which is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). If the conflict spills over, the U.S. has to join in retaliation against Russia according to the charter. Russia is trying to upset the global hegemony of the U.S. being the only superpower, which is an overall geopolitical pressure on us. So we can see why there has been such an outcry from our own government.

Now, let’s look at Yemen, where a civil war that began in 2014 has turned the nation into a failed

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WHY DON’T YOU WANT TO BE LIKE OTHER GIRLS? How the “not like other girls” trope reinforces mysogony.

Words by Julia Walker Art by Sophie Sternkopf

I grew up wearing tutus to kindergarten. My favorite color is pink, and I like to get my nails done.

I wore ribbons in my hair during cross country races.

someone may jump to say they’re “not like other girls.”

This phrase, which we see and hear all over mainstream media nowadays, creates distance between

I joined the girls’ cross country team in high school

girls who are (supposedly) less smart, less capable,

because they needed one more member to qualify

and less deserving of respect — the other girls — from

for meets; one of my teammates was recovering from

everybody else. Separating oneself from “other girls” can

cancer in her leg. Our top runner had asthma and was

be an attempt at gaining respect from others (typically

anemic, and after every race she would collapse at

boys and men), but this polarization is damaging. It

the finish line until someone brought her an inhaler. I

divorces femininity from positive qualities, downplays

tripped during practice a day before our region meet

the efforts women have gone through to gain respect

and my hip hit a rock, leaving bruises all up my leg.

and rights, and oversimplifies what it means to be a girl.

Since there were seven girls on the team and three

When someone says they “aren’t like other girls,”

of us had injuries of some sort, we had to persevere

they distance themselves from femininity in order to be

through a lot to compete in the regional race. Before

taken seriously. It is ingrained in us that girlhood and

the race, we tied maroon and white ribbons in our

womanhood aren’t associated with being successful,

ponytails to represent our school. That year, we placed

and femininity is not associated with intelligence,

first in all of Eastern Connecticut.

determination, and strength. This distance may give

Weeks later, a lacrosse coach congratulated me on

girls and women more power than they would have if

my team’s win, and in the same breath told me that our

they associated themselves with feminine qualities and

team wasn’t taken seriously because of the ribbons in our

interests, but what does this mean for everyone else?

hair. He went on about how girls look “ridiculous” wearing

In the 1950s, 27% of workers were women, a

ribbons to sporting events and how athletic competitions

number that rose to 32% by the end of the 1960s,

are not the “right time” to wear hair accessories.

according to the United States census. During this

The coach didn’t mention how impressive it

jump in women’s employment, pantsuits, many of

was that one girl recovered from cancer and was

which included shoulder pads to artificially mimic

competing in races. He didn’t mention how hard it

broad shoulders typically associated with men,

must be to run with a lung condition. He really only

trended for the first time since the 1930s. When

cared about the bows. It felt like everything each girl

women wore clothing similar to that which men to

had worked for was discredited, all because we chose

work, they were seen as more equal and deserving

to put ribbons in our hair.

of respect (that was the hope, anyway). On a national

Interactions like this taught me that I was to blame for being seen as less capable, less qualified, and less

level, American culture has been unable to accept the idea of feminine women in professional careers.

worthy of respect. Any hint of femininity, even something

A specific example of this is Kim Kardashian.

as small as a ribbon, can determine whether someone

Kardashian is a controversial figure for many (justified)

sees you as respectable or not, so I understand why

reasons, but one thing that shouldn’t be controversial

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surrounding Kardashian as an excuse to tell her to “stay

important. There are so many types of women that

in her lane” or “stick to makeup” when she decided to

exist, and that is what makes women so powerful.

study law. Some people question whether she is doing

There is room for a woman to not align herself with

“real” law or doubt she’s studying law at all. Many

classically feminine interests and qualities and still be

people can’t process a woman advocating for death

“like other girls.” The “not like other girls” trope tries

row defendants while posting bikini pictures online

to strip women of their complexity and power when

— many people can’t process a woman showing her

it would be more beneficial to emphasize it instead.

femininity while also chasing her goals and contributing

Being “like other girls” is something to be proud

to change. Saying “I’m not like other girls” reinforces

of. Women are determined enough to fight for human

these ideas because the trope is an attempt at being

rights. They are intelligent enough to study law when

respected — boys and men don’t trust women who post

the world tells them to “stick to makeup.” And they are

pictures of themselves in bathing suits to hold positions

strong enough to recover from cancer and compete in

of power. Agreeing with this notion in an attempt to

cross country races. Nothing, especially something as

gain men’s respect undermines all women, including

small as a ribbon, can undermine that.

the ones who “aren’t like other girls.”

It’s strange that to be considered a “woman,” many girls feel pressured to dress and act in feminine ways, but to be considered an “equal,” they have to behave the opposite. If a woman dresses in stereotypically masculine clothes, she may not feel accepted by other women. If she dresses in stereotypically feminine clothes, she may not feel accepted by everyone else.

Maybe the phrase “not like other girls” just comes from a place of desperation to be accepted by anyone at all.

Women could not have credit cards under their names until 1974. White women could not vote until 1920, and women of color still faced a number of barriers in voting for decades after. Women could not legally take birth control until 1960. Health benefits, education, and civic participation were never simply handed to women in the same way that they were to men. Women had to fight for each milestone they’ve earned, and although it is unfortunate and unfair, it is something to be proud of. Women should be proud to be a part of a community willing to stand up for each other’s rights and to work together to get fair treatment.

Any woman’s accomplishment is something for every woman to be proud of, not something to downplay and undermine in hopes of gaining men’s respect.

Saying you’re “not like other girls” seems like a shortcut. Instead of embracing womanhood and demanding respect like many women who fought for equal rights (Sojourner Truth, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Malala Yousafzai — to name a few), people who say they “aren’t like other girls” separate themselves from other women to gain respect more easily.

Saying “I’m not like other girls” also puts “girls” into a singular category. This continues the narrative

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that women are not complex, diverse, or individually

BITCH BITCH

about her is her law career. Critics used controversies

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BREAKING DOWN CELEB BREAKDOWNS For those in the limelight, mental health breakdowns often receive a gendered bias.

Words by Megan Adams Art by Ande Wittenmeier

Britney Spears and Ye West (formerly Kanye) are both famous for being musical and cultural icons, and equally famous for hitting their absolute breaking point in the most public ways possible.

The big difference? One of them gained a platform to run an (albeit brief) presidential campaign and the other was stripped of custody of her children, bodily autonomy, and basic legal and human rights.

West’s recent behavior has walked the line between personal expression and harassment, to say the least. After West and Kim Kardashian’s relationship suffered from a highly public split, West

bought a house next to Kardashian’s, showed up uninvited to his daughter’s birthday party, and sent a truckload of flowers to her house on Valentine’s Day, despite her having a new beau, comedian Pete Davidson. He included imagery of himself holding a decapitated head of Davidson and Davidson in a grave in his music video for “Eazy” featuring The Game. Despite the very troubling and abusive nature of his behavior, West’s loyal (maybe too loyal) fans are going nuts. Why? Because his clearly struggling mental health-turned-harassment is apparently the world’s greatest joke and another “iconic” chapter in the self-proclaimed genius’s life story. Not only is nothing particularly funny or iconic about a very public mental health crisis, but nothing is funny about a woman being harassed publicly by her ex-husband.

Spears, on the other hand, was, up until very recently, under lock and key since her public breakdown in 2008. What brought this on?

The media called it a “year of erratic behavior,” although we could safely say the Spears slander largely began around 2004 following her surprise marriage to Kevin Federline. Their divorce in 2006 really kickstarted the discourse, though. Spears filed for sole custody of their children, and when it was said that Federline found out over text, people went wild. He filed for sole custody against her. Spears understandably needed to blow off steam, so she and Paris Hilton went clubbing. The paparazzi caught everything, including extremely private areas of her body, and published it all just to show everyone how “off the rails” she had

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was being put on the strong prescription drug nor of the potential side effects. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, never mind how she did not receive full payment for her performances and had to suffer through villainizing media portrayals (“Britney Shears,” “Inside Britney’s Meltdown,” “Britney Out of Control,” to name a few).

This is not to say West hasn’t had a hard time with the media – he definitely has. Journalists demonize him for his mental health problems and behaviors too, especially as it relates to his identity as a Black man. However, men are consistently treated more like whole people with mental health problems whereas women are often characterized as “crazy bitch” or “crazy girlfriend” and have their careers and work discredited. This narrative surrounding mental health is not only idiotic but damaging to everyone involved. Men are overlooked and not taken seriously when they show concerning behavior, and women are villainized and considered too “emotional” to hold any position of power, and in Spears’ case, a position of power meant being in charge of her own life.

BITCH

supposedly gone. Shortly after, Spears shaved her head and beat a paparazzi car with her umbrella.

But back to Ye. West, despite all of his questionable choices and behaviors over the last few years, has been relentlessly revered and put on a pedestal, especially by his fans. Rather than acknowledging any danger to himself or the people he is harassing, fans seem to see his struggles as jokes. The number of people who reposted a certain now-archived Avengers-themed Instagram post on their story because it was funny was honestly jarring to see. There is no denying that West is talented and deserves the praise he receives, but with that should come empathy and encouragement to get help rather than stand-up material.

For years, West has been very open about his struggle with bipolar disorder and objections to treating it with medication, citing that they make him a different person and he can’t make the music he wants to when he’s on them. However, to quote Pete Davidson (sorry), “take ‘em!” Mens’ mental health has been overlooked and discredited for years, and while Kanye may be a musical genius in the eyes of fans (and himself), it does not excuse his behavior nor does it exempt him from getting the proper treatment for his mental health — because he certainly has the means. It’s wonderful that people still see Kanye West as not just a human being with flaws, but also as one of the most profound music artists of our time. People should be sympathetic to mental health problems.

The issue comes not only in the harm that West is inflicting upon his family but also in the way that mental health issues between men and women are held to very different standards.

Spears was put under an oppressive conservatorship after her “year of erratic behavior,” Her children were taken from her custody, her money was seized, and her autonomy was stolen.

Financial, medical, professional, and even personal decisions were no longer up to a fully grown Spears — they were, instead, handed off to her father, Jamie. Spears was, up until very recently, legally not her own person. She was her father’s property in every single sense. She couldn’t remove her IUD and she was medicated with lithium against her will. Conservatees are forced to give up their right to informed consent before receiving medical treatment, so Spears had no knowledge of why she

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OBITCHUARY: The problematic nature of ‘Alpha Male Podcasts’ Words by Ilhy Gomez Del Campo Rojas Art by Callen Moore

Break an Alpha Mic Alpha Man’s Mic If you think alpha male TikTok is problematic, we have horrible news for you: the self-proclaimed “alphas” have discovered microphones, and they’re making it everyone’s problem. Once a week, these men strut to their living rooms in their Adidas slides and backward baseball hats, flick on their microphones, and share all of their generic advice and “revelations” with listeners.

Podcasts have been around for nearly two decades, but they only really became popular in 2014 when Peabody Award recipient Serial was first published. Since then, one too many sports management majors, film buffs, and one-time LSD users have decided that their inner thoughts not only need but also deserve an audience.

Alpha male podcasts have recently begun showing up on TikTok, where podcasts made up of entirely men post highlight clips of their new shows dedicated to critiquing every single thing that women do; something we find strange, considering that the hosts of these shows have clearly never spoken to a woman before in their lives. Take Jack Denmo as an example, a host of the podcast Good Bro Bad Bro, where he asks his audience, “What kind of a woman in 2022 doesn’t enjoy baking? That is the least feminine thing you can do. Not cooking?

I mean, are you even a woman?” Another really valuable take is found in the Fresh & Fit Podcast, in which co-host Myron Gaines states, “I think if you’re in a serious relationship with a girl, she should not have an Instagram — that’s cheating.”

Unfortunately for us, there are hundreds of

podcasts just like Good Bro Bad Bro and Fresh & Fit where a bunch of guys share their “hot takes” on women that in any other setting would get them curb-stomped.

On extremely rare occasions, these podcasts have women on as guests. One would hope these women could spark productive conversations with the hosts, maybe show them why their beliefs are outdated and problematic; alas, this is but a dream, as these women are rarely allowed to speak, despite being guests on the show. Take No Filter, a podcast hosted by Anthony Casasanta, Nick Casasanta, and Jason Girratano. The three invited Taniana, apparently a personal friend, on as a guest for their third episode and genuinely would not let this poor woman speak. Whenever she moved to disagree with something one of the three hosts said, they would physically yell over her, telling her to “hold on” and let them speak. Fresh & Fit has multiple women sitting with them throughout their podcasts, but they are either disregarded or given minimal attention whenever they speak. They treat these women like props, clearly not wanting their input but, rather, the ability to say that they tried talking to a woman.

As enjoyable as it can be to make fun of these shows, we’ve had our laughs and these podcasts have got to go. To any alpha males who wish to invest in a microphone, believe us when we say that money would be better used for therapy or some Jane Austen novels. Trust us, your “original” thoughts really don’t need to be spotlighted — we’re good.

In Smut, we deep-dive into aspects of on- and off-campus life that affect you (yes, YOU!).

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Russian international students face conflicts after the Ukraine invasion.

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As grad season approaches, first gen. students reflect on their experiences at SU.

­ ­ As performed intimacy rises, another forgotten industry is rising alongside it.

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­ Photoessay

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l rna e t x de n la na r e nt ei c fa . nts sion e d a stu e inv l na in tio Ukra a rn e nte er th i n t sia ts af s Ru flic n co

Violetta Soboleva did not sleep well for two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. She picks at her fingers and has lost interest in her assignments.

Her eyes well up with tears when talking about her family, and she “shakes with anger” when writing blog posts protesting the war in Ukraine. She refreshes death rates and approval rating statistics on her phone, observing a global conflict while facing an internal one.

Soboleva was born in Russia, but she does not consider herself to be Russian. She feels more connected to Ukraine — both of her parents were born there, and her extended family still lives there. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine confirms how “ashamed” she feels to have grown up in Russia.

“I don’t want to think I was born in that country,” Soboleva said. “I love the places I lived, but I feel so much rejection. It feels like I love Russia, but I hate it.”

Soboleva has watched the Ukraine invasion take place through text messages from her friends and family. She reads in detail how loud the bombs are near her cousins’ houses, how her friends have had to evacuate their cities, and how scared her

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cousins are to attend work. One of her friends from Khariv texted her that Putin tried to “erase the city from the world,” when they were bombed.

Receiving updates via Telegram keeps Soboleva up at night, but she panics most when her phone becomes silent. One of Soboleva’s friends was unresponsive for a week, and Soboleva assumed she died. After a week passed by, the friend messaged Soboleva saying she lost electricity for a week and had been unable to contact anyone.

“There is guilt that I live a normal life now in America when other people can’t,” said Soboleva.

“I see the blue sky when other people can’t. I’m eating the food I want when other people can’t.

There are people dying, and all I can do is just sit here and wait.”

As a “coping mechanism” for her restlessness, Soboleva protests. On March 1, Soboleva printed out a picture of Putin’s head and glued it to a posterboard. She wrote in black marker: “Stop the war. Putin is Hitler.” With the sign in hand, Soboleva stood in front of the Hall of Languages all day with her parka, checkered pants, and headphones on.

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25 As students walked to and from their classes, Soboleva continued to stare forward, tears running down her face at times.

Since moving to America, Soboleva has appreciated her ability to safely protest — something she couldn’t always do in Russia.

On March 4, Putin signed a law addressing an “information war” in Russia. The law, which was created to regulate Russian media outlets and civilian protests, allows any Russian citizen who spreads “false information” about Russia’s military to be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Russians have been detained for holding signs that say “stop war,” signs that say “**** ***” instead of actually saying “stop war,” and blank signs with no words printed on them at all. In April, someone was detained for standing on the street with no sign but positioning their hands in the air as though they were holding one.

Soboleva says her friends and family in Russia are “brainwashed” by Russia’s strict laws and propaganda. She described how Russians aren’t allowed to call the Ukraine invasion a war, and instead call it a “special military operation.”

There is a common Russian conception that Ukranians are the equivalent to “Nazis.”

According to Brian Taylor, a Russian politics professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at SU, this propaganda is reminiscent of the old Soviet Union. “[The Russian government] is trying to play on these well-established feelings and historical memories of Russian identity,” said Taylor. “There are two pieces of Soviet identity they’ve brought back. One is that Russia is an exceptional country and unique in this world.

The second is that they are a besieged fortress, surrounded by enemies.”

Past Russian propaganda attempted to convince citizens to be apathetic toward politics as an effort to limit civilian involvement in politics. Since the invasion of Ukraine, propaganda has shifted in an effort to mobilize Russia’s population and have them “show their love for the state,” according to Taylor.

Taylor mentioned that these shifts increase

the likelihood of Russia transitioning from an authoritarian state to a totalitarian one.

“People’s ignorance led to this,” said Soboleva. “Putin made Russians think that if they don’t talk about politics and let him do whatever he wants, people at least won’t die from hunger, and that’s okay.”

Taylor said that although 50 to 70 percent of Russians support the invasion of Ukraine, more than 200,000 have left Russia since February. Soboleva said that 10 of her friends have evacuated Russia already, and the rest are planning to leave within the next three years. An SU student who has chosen to remain anonymous witnessed this surge of evacuation firsthand when their parents decided to move out of Russia permanently.

“When my parents told me with real words that they don’t want to go back to Russia, that they are looking for a place to live in America now, that they are planning to say goodbye to our home in Moscow, my first reaction was crying,” the student said. “It scares me because everything is so uncertain and unsettled, I don’t even know what will happen next.”

According to Taylor, most of the people leaving Russia are young, educated, and from urban settings. These groups have the resources to seek out the information Russia blocks from the rest of the population by using VPNs to access Instagram, Twitter, and illegal websites. However, a large rural population in Russia never had those media resources to begin with. The anonymous student said that less-developed areas have never used Instagram and don’t even know Facebook exists. Those who can access these resources and protest the Ukrainian war are labeled as “internal traitors.”

“In most parts of Russia, people live in villages and small towns, and people don’t even use credit cards there,” said the anonymous source. “Most of the population doesn’t use Instagram, they don’t watch Netflix, they don’t know what Facebook is.”

This isolation, oppression, and confusion has left Russian families displaced and people

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that I tried to prevent such conversations from happening, and this doesn’t compare to what Ukrainian people are experiencing.”

While the Ukrainian war is socially and internally conflicting for Russians, it also has caused conflict in families. According to the New York Times, 11 millian Russians, including Soboleva, have Ukrainian relatives. During the war in Ukraine, Soboleva said that families are torn between supporting their government and wanting family members to survive.

Soboleva wishes for all of these conflicts to come to an end soon and has hope that Ukraine will be able to restore themselves after the war.

“Ukranians were taught [to fight] for eight years, since Ukraine’s last invasion,” said Soboleva.

“They knew what to be prepared for. I think all the chances are with Ukraine.”

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like Soboleva distraught. An anonymous student feels guilt for expressing their own heartache when they know Ukranians are being killed. Soboleva feels partly responsible for the violence in Ukraine, and she’s even considered going to Ukraine to join their armed forces.

“Russians are struggling with how responsible they might feel for this war,” said Taylor. “They feel helpless, shamed, disconnected, and powerless to do anything about it. ... They feel stuck.”

Another anonymous international student from Moscow also feels guilt about the war and claims that parts of them are “ashamed” of being Russian.

Since they have mostly Armenian roots, the anonymous student has recently told people they meet that they are Armenian instead of Russian.

“I had this feeling that I’m also the one who is guilty,” said the student. “When people asked me questions about it, I got so emotionally unstable

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Words by Naimah Rahman Photos by Surya Vaidy

Spring has sprung and that can only mean one thing on campuses nationwide: graduation season is upon us. As the bookstore becomes littered with Class of 2022 merchandise and the tents on the quad are reassembled, excitement fills the air for those who are experiencing what will be their last freakishly chilly Syracuse spring. For many, graduation is simply another box to check off on the “to-do” list of life, or perhaps it may be fulfilling an expectation from family to continue a legacy of higher education. But there is a whole demographic of students whose time at SU has been defined by firsts: the first member of their family to go to college, the first member of their family to graduate from a four-year university, the first to navigate the post-grad job search, the first to create a legacy in higher education.

At a private institution like Syracuse University, there are a minority of students who are the first in their families to receive higher education: we call them first-generation students. Students like Melaica Delgado have dedicated their undergrad years to helping those who share her identity while

making the most out of their time. Delgado served as a mentor for the Kessler Presidential Scholars Program, where she was able to guide and help first-generation students acclimate to campus.

During her time at SU, Delgado has also been an active member of the Puerto Rican Student Association, as well as the Rebecca Lee prehealth society and the society of African American Students. Delgado wrote the Daily Orange article entitled “First-generation college students are left in the dark on loans.’’ In the article, she criticizes the systems in place to educate first-generation students on loan payments, saying, “For the first time in my life, I’m afraid to open my email. As a first-generation college student, I knew next to nothing about the student loan repayment system or how I’d ever manage to cover my tuition bill.”

“The lack of education on how to repay loans is even worse because students then go straight into grad school- and grad school is even more expensive than undergraduate,” she said.

The cycle of misinformation and further debt is one many first-gen students catch themselves

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As grad season approaches, first generation students reflect on their experiences at SU.

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CREATING A LEGACY

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“ [GRADUATING] MEANS EVE PROUD OF THE PROGRESS EXPECTED OF ME... BUT I C

in. Delgado has decided to take a gap year before looking into entering graduate school in order to better educate herself on post-grad options.

First-gen students are navigating education and the workforce without the guidance of family and that can mean a lack of examples regarding career paths. Delgado said, “Coming to college made me see that there are a lot more career paths than what they tell you. They tell you that being a doctor, being a lawyer, and having those astute jobs are what are going to make you the most money.

So most first-generation [students] go into poli-sci and pre-med to gain access to those careers they think are their only options.”

There is an underlying pressure that is placed on first-generation students to pursue traditional career paths. This pressure comes from the idea placed upon them that it is their job to prove to their families that the education they are receiving is worth it. Rachelly Buzzi is a POSSE Scholar graduating this May, with the next seven years of her life planned out. She is set to complete the Pickering Fellowship in Washington, D.C., where she will be attending graduate school for two years to then

work in foreign service for five years. With these post-grad plans, you wouldn’t think just four years ago Buzzi was in her freshman year dorm hearing her roommate talk about her father’s connections in the media industry, thinking about how Buzzi herself had no networking opportunities coming into college. Buzzi was met with the realization that her parents’ lack of college education was going to give her a different experience than students like her roommate. As a member of Alpha Kappa Psi, Model UN, and OMA, Buzzi has not let the hurdles that come with being a first-generation student stop her from succeeding on campus.

The identity that comes with being a firstgeneration student does not just play a role in campus dynamics. It shifts the family dynamics of those receiving the education. Buzzi is the eldest of four girls and discusses the guilt of leaving to go to college and how her actions shape the future of her sisters. Buzzi wants to act as a role model for her sisters and pave the way for them as they decide on their future. “[Graduating] means everything to me,” Buzzi said. “I’m so proud of the progress I’ve made... Yes,

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it is expected of me to graduate, but I can still be proud of that.”

Emily Ali describes her family’s role in inspiring her to make the most of her undergrad experience.

Ali dedicated her past four years at SU to making the most out of the resources provided. Her passion for technology started in high school when she went on the IT Girl retreat, during which she fell in love with Syracuse and never looked back.

Ali was able to take advantage of the program with the help of her family. Support from her mother meant making the long drive to campus to ensure that Ali could participate. Ali recognizes this as a privilege, since some students weren’t able to participate in the program due to things as simple as not having access to transportation. It was Ali’s family who encouraged her to look into programs that would help her adjust to college, this is when she discovered the Summer Start program. Having those few weeks to adjust to the college lifestyle aided in her adjustment to campus. Ali is looking forward to working for EY after graduation.

Karter Kuler is another first-generation student graduating this spring. Kuler’s time on campus can

be defined by trying new things and stepping out of his comfort zone. He transferred to VPA from a college in D.C., design was an unfamiliar industry to Kuler, but as he grew during his time in the program, he was able to connect with his peers and professors. His proudest moments on campus were those when he connected with professors and had the opportunity to showcase his designs in competitions amongst other talented students. For Kuler, graduation is a reflection of all the work and faith his family has put into him and his education.

Kuler plans on returning home to search for jobs in the design field after graduating.

Being a first-generation student and accomplishing everything these students have is no easy feat. At a school that cherishes its legacy students and with what seems like families that have bled orange for generations, students like Delgado, Buzzi, Ali, and Kuler remind us of what higher education should truly mean. It is not just another box to check off on the “to-do” list of life; it is creating your own legacy.

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-Rachelly Buzzi, First Generation Student

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ERYTHING TO ME. I’M SO S I’VE MADE... YES, IT IS CAN STILL BE PROUD.”

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THE PEOPL COCK S

As performed intimacy rises, ano alongs

Words by M Art by Cal

Nudity and sex in mainstream media have become increasingly common in recent years, as is exemplified in television shows from Euphoria to Normal People.

Many of us have watched an especially steamy scene between characters and wondered how actors don’t fall in love with their co-stars, or how this person’s spouse felt about watching them have an eight-episode slow-burn arc leading up to a long, graphic, toe-curling sex scene (Anthony Bridgerton, if you’re reading this, call us). Although jealousy and romance are real things that can arise in these situations, an ethically managed set can be just as professional and, frankly, unsexy as any other office space. If this kind of content is approached responsibly, actors’ feelings can be held at a little distance from their work, and their wellbeings will be protected while being physically and emotionally vulnerable with their audiences. Despite this, even the best intimacy director cannot squash

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LE BEHIND SOCKS

other forgotten industry is rising side it.

Margo Moran llen Moore

feelings between actors, only manage them. Co-stars date with the same regularity with which people who work together in other settings date; when you spend all day with someone, these situations absolutely pop up, certainly not at any fault of the intimacy director.

Intimacy directors, also known as intimacy coordinators or coaches, oversee the making of a scene containing intimate content to give it the highest level of authenticity while also ensuring the comfort of the actors. They undergo rigorous training and certification before being trusted with a project, which can be anything from TV shows, movies, live theatre, or performance art — essentially anything containing simulated intimacy or intimate acts. Performed sex, when done correctly, is choreographed through each movement, just like a dance or onstage fight. Actors are often emoting pleasure and spontaneity while moving

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through predetermined, pleasureless motions.

This is not to diminish these performances; these scenes can be raw and beautiful in the hands of great actors and intimacy directors, but they are a completely different animal from porn. In this medium, the director is hoping to draw out as much “real” pleasure as possible while people have sex the way that they have sex, not in the way that someone has meticulously coached them to.

Even in simulated intimacy, consent is necessary at each stage from all involved parties. Just like nonperformative consent, intimacy directors ensure that the actors’ consent is always reversible when engaging in these acts, even if a contract has been signed. For Netflix’s popular series Sex Education, the intimacy director was brought on to maintain the balance between humorous awkwardness in sex scenes between high school students and raw authenticity. The show focused heavily on women’s pleasure in its second season, and it was important to bring someone onto the team who would make sure that the female orgasm did not become a punchline, while also acknowledging the (sometimes hilarious) intricacies of navigating sex without much experience.

The rise of performed intimacy has been led

by HBO, specifically Euphoria: a show that runs on prosthetic penises and Sydney Sweeney’s unparalleled breasts. They certainly didn’t create the performed intimacy industry or the practice, but they have started an abundance of conversations about

the intricacies of on-screen intimacy among nonperformers who hadn’t considered the topic before.

When a cast of adults plays high schoolers having violent, graphic sex with each other, there must be someone in the room to regulate the performance to ensure that harm is not being done to the actors or to the audience. Sydney Sweeney spoke on her experience with the show’s intimacy team, saying that they set boundaries for the actors and creatives as well as serving as a liaison between the comfort level and needs of the actors and the artistic vision of the creatives. However, intimacy directors are not just a luxury afforded to professionals, they are essential for intimate projects at any level, including over at Syracuse Stage.

One student walked us through what the involvement of the intimacy director looked like on a student project. Before staging intimate scenes, the cast engaged in exercises emphasizing the importance of intimacy direction and getting comfortable with making physical contact with each other. Truly performing the acts of intimacy was slowly worked up to, staging scenes containing nudity and intimate contact while masked and fully clothed, eventually removing the masks to stage scenes where characters kissed. In the words of this performer, “the purpose of the intimacy director is to help us tell the story while also making sure we are comfortable.” When scenes are staged with great intentionality, the actors can anticipate each move of those around them and stay in the

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moment, giving the best performance possible without the hindrance of discomfort. Not only can unpredictability be unsafe, but it can also cause an actor’s performance to suffer and distract them from their character. Removing the unknowns from intimate work allows an actor to focus on acting, instead of being swept away by the uncertainties attached to real-life intimacy, wondering where you should put your hand and if your counterpart is going to use tongue, and should you use tongue?

By the time you’ve asked all of these questions, you have forgotten half of your lines and your character has altogether left the building.

Performance majors in the drama department have work with intimacy directors woven into their curriculum, including professors who are certified in the field. This is essential to their education because of how unique the dynamic of being a student actor is. Imagine walking into your political analytics lecture at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday and being told to take off your clothes and passionately make out with the girl sitting next to you — it would be really weird. This analogy makes it clear how necessary it is to have an intimacy director in the loop when asking students to simulate intimacy in an academic setting. It is not a luxury, but a right, and companies should not select work with intimate components if they cannot afford to hire a certified intimacy director for the rehearsal process.

It is not a guarantee in every BFA program, which is not in the best interest of the student actors and is,

frankly, exploitative. Syracuse University’s drama department has been a remarkable leader in this field (not to brag).

Understanding how necessary these individuals are to healthy simulated intimacy makes the realization of how relatively new this job is that much more shocking. The first show to publicly use an intimacy director was HBO’s The Deuce, which started utilizing a certified intimacy director in 2018. Intimacy Directors International, now known as Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (or IDC), was founded by Alicia Rotis and Tonia Sinia in 2015, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The rise of this industry has largely been a byproduct of the #MeToo movement, which brought to the outside world’s attention how often power dynamics were driving intimate harm, specifically in Hollywood. Although more and more showrunners are realizing how indispensable these professionals are, there are simply not enough certified IDs to go around. The training can cost up to $15,000, making this profession exclusive and underpopulated. With that being said, proper training is absolutely essential; this is not a job you can do with a psychology degree and a few good guesses. This industry may be new compared to some of its counterparts, but intimacy directing is here to stay, for the sake of performers and audiences everywhere.

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PHOTOESSAY:

AN EXPLORATION OF FEMININITY Words by Surya Vaidy Cyanotypes by Zoë McCreary Photos by Surya Vaidy

There is stereotypical vision of sexuality for femme people and women: a hyper-feminine vision that is often fetishizhed by society. This photo essay sought to circumvent stereotypes, and aims to capture the people whom these stereotypes are imposed on in a creative yet honest way. There is no one definition of being a femme-person or a woman. Femininity was different for every person who sat for their portraits. Whether it’s expressed through external factors, like their clothing or makeup, or by internal factors, like coming to terms with what they are and aren’t confident

about, their various social identities, their vision, or even the things they are passionate about, the femme people and women pictured here are not a stereotype. They are not a singular conception — they go by different pronouns; they have different sexual orientations; they come from different social, geographic, ethnic/racial backgrounds.

They cannot be forced into one, shallow category.

Femininity and feminine sexuality is transient and hard to pin down, and that’s reflected in the blur of their portraits, set and developed as cyanotypes.

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Grace D’Souza

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Amanda Byrnee

Ava Salazar

Michela Martin

Tamia Parsons

Maddi Brown

Maria Antonia Villegas

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SPEAKEASY:

AN INDEPENDENT ANSWER Callisto representative Abigail Tick discusses the non-profit’s unique take on sexual assault,* survivor advocacy, and its complicated relationship with Syracuse University.

Words by Lily Menk Art provided

* CW: Sexual Assault When Callisto came to Syracuse University, Abigail Tick made it her priority to make sure sexual assault survivors knew they had options.

As a non-profit sexual assault resource, Callisto makes it easy for survivors to not only record their experiences, but also to decide where and when that information is shared.

Tick, who is now a senior at SU, took on the responsibility last year when former SA president Justine Hastings made Callisto’s introduction to campus a key aspect of her campaign. As part of her work, Tick makes sure students know that they can find help in Callisto. “I really just support campus engagement and awareness-building initiatives here at SU,” she said. “So that looks like a lot of things; that looks like teaching workshops on consent and healthy relationships, planning traumainformed events that promote survivor healing, and also raising money for our organization.”

Callisto is also independent, meaning it is completely separate from the SU administration.

If students are sick of dealing with uninvolved blanket policies that leave them feeling vulnerable, Callisto provides a space separate from the university. “Any steps they decide to take are never communicated to the university, it’s an alternative path that students can take when they don’t want to use campus resources,” Tick said. The website provides survivors and communities with unique resources, including a recording and matching

service that allows survivors to heal on their own terms. “The first service is a record feature, where survivors can detail what happened to them in an encrypted and time stamped document as they decide what steps, if any, they would like to take next,” Tick said. “Additionally, our matching system allows the survivor to enter the unique identifiers of their perpetrators such as their name, social media handle, or phone number. In the event of a match, meaning two or more survivors name the same perpetrator, both survivors are connected with their own Callisto legal options counselor if and when they would like to take action.”

Tick explains that Callisto is meant to help fill the sometimes devastating gaps that university administrations can create for survivors. Advocacy and survivor agency, as Tick said, is at the center of what they do. “That looks like creating conditions where dialogue can happen, It looks like creating conditions where a lot of different kinds of survivors — meaning survivors of different sexual orientations, gender identities, and races – can have the resources that they need available to them.”

As a resource made for survivors, by survivors, Callisto is reflective of its users. “We’re constantly changing, we’re constantly going through product testing and working with students to make sure that our resource is exactly what survivors on college campuses want and need,” Tick said.

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UPLIFTING THE WOMEN OF CNY WISE Women’s Business Center is putting in the work to assist female entrepreneurs with small businesses in Syracuse.

Words by Car Shapiro | Photo provided

It may be surprising to students who don’t often venture off-campus, but Syracuse has a lively entrepreneurial community, and WISE Women’s Business Center is part of the reason why. WISE stands for Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship, and it serves small business owners in all stages of business, especially women and members of other underrepresented communities. It was founded in 2006, but before that, WISE was known for its WISE Symposium hosted by Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management, which is now a partner of the nonprofit. WISE is funded through the Small Business Association with the mission of bringing women together in business. Since COVID-19, it has operated mostly online, but their physical office space is located in the AXA building downtown and is open to those who need a place to work on their businesses.

The Director of WISE, Meghan Florkowski, explained that the nonprofit exists to serve women entrepreneurs, both current and aspiring. “We have a responsibility to meet [female entrepreneurs] where they are. Starting a business isn’t easy, on top of being a caregiver or working a full-time job. We understand that and prepare programs and services to ensure that clients have support and structure,” she said.

WISE aims to help navigating access to capital and marketing, which are some of the major obstacles women face in business ownership.

Oftentimes, entrepreneurs aren’t prepared to qualify

for bank loans, which require strong credit scores and fully realized business plans. WISE helps these entrepreneurs find alternative sources of financial capital and/or the education necessary to build a plan to gain access to traditional routes of capital.

Not only does WISE employ SU students interns looking for opportunities to expand their professional experiences), but they also have clients from SU who have started businesses through their services. “We are a resource for SU students,” said Florkowski. “Of course, students have the Blackstone Launchpad, but we partner with them, so feel free to tap in!”

Kelly Davis, a SU student and previous intern for WISE, founded her company Woman.ly — an online platform of communities built by women for women — with the help of WISE’s business counselors and resources.

Popular Syracuse businesses such as Golden Bee Bookshop, OrangeHousing.com, 210 Teas, Pantheon Books, and Earl Grey Vintages are all clients of WISE, which has positively impacted all their businesses through exposure, education, and access to resources. The Women’s Business Center provides programming such as one-on-one support from expert business counselors, business advising, and power hours that cover different topics like small business financing. Through these different programs and resources, WISE provides the tools for entrepreneurs to flourish in CNY.

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DISCOVERY SYR:

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O R T RE N T I F Photos by Libby Dy and Jace Williams Modeling by Amber Barbell, John Calder, Alyssa Archie, Noa Putman, Zach Ginkel, Mason Kim, Jace Williams Hair and Makeup by Claudia Varona and Camila Paez Art Assistance by Liz Goldblatt

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STRIPPED:

JORTS ON YOU Reimagining jorts.

Words by Julia Reedy Art by Sophie Sternkopf

Say it with us: jorts.

Yes, that’s right — the once widely-criticized culmination of the jean and shorts are making a comeback as we transition into our spring and summer wardrobes — and here at Jerk, we jort.

Jorts are heavily reminiscent of ‘80s and ‘90s fashion. More specifically, they pay homage to a bygone era of New Balance sneakers, yuppie polos and infamous mullets — mostly menswear, to be frank.

But today, jorts are not limited to just men — they have shown up in women’s fashion, and we’ve seen fashion-forward figureheads like Kendall Jenner, Emma Chamberlain, and Bella Hadid sport the androgynous look. Because of their indisputable practicality, it was only a matter of time before jorts made their resurgence.

To settle the debate: jorts differ from the typical women’s jean short in terms of length. Daisy Dukes and capris are not categorized as jorts in the same way jorts are, even though they are denim shorts.

(We know, it can be tricky).

Jorts usually end at or just above or at the knee and have a baggier, boxier look, — and although they are considerably more conservative than the aforementioned Daisy Dukes, they are not any less sexy or cool.

In fact, the whole appeal of jorts is in the coverage, not the lack thereof. For women, there is something uniquely empowering about wearing

men’s clothes and putting their own feminine twist on it, as if to say, Who’s really wearing the pants?

Of course, this attitude is nothing new. Brands like Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent have prided themselves in taking a masculine approach to women’s fashion for years.

A more modern embodiment of this attitude can be seen through the magazine/brand Hommegirls.

It cites Katharine Hepburn as its “patron saint,” referencing a story in which the actress made — what was then — the radical decision to enter through the staff door of a hotel when she was denied the guest entrance for wearing trousers. On the topic of using masculinity as the driving force of style, Hommegirls says it best: “There is a boy in every girl, an homme in every woman. Dressing like a man doesn’t disguise a woman’s femininity — it ignites it.”

We would argue that jorts are just one of the many pieces that have the power to ignite femininity, and although it may seem silly to assign so much meaning to an article of clothing, (especially a piece that has been ridiculed for so long), jorts are deserving of that description.

Now, you can purchase a pair of jorts from any given brand that’s known for their denim collection — Levi’s, Dickies, Urban Outfitters’ BDG, AGOLDE and Abercrombie just to name a few — but we would suggest taking the DIY route. Let’s face it, jorts are best when they’re distressed.

Go to your trusted thrift store and scout the men’s section for your preferred pair of jeans

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(they’re best with a baggier fit, but to each their own). Once you’ve found them, the procedure is fairly self-explanatory: snip away the legs to where the knees should meet, and you’ve got your very own pair of jorts.

Of course, you may style your jorts however you please, but in order to achieve that gender-neutral silhouette that has taken the fashion world by storm, we suggest styling them as follows: Your favorite boyfriend or oversized tee, paired with a denim jacket (we love a good Canadian Tuxedo moment), white crew socks, sneakers (we recommend New Balance’s or any vintage-esque pair of tennis shoes), and for an added bonus,: classic aviator sunglasses and a baseball cap.

And for our more masc readers, here is our take on how you should style your jorts, which is fairly similar to the example above: A crisp, linen button-down shirt (see Madewell or H&M for our picks), crew socks, Newbalance sneakers, and, for an added bonus, a mullet.

In a perfect world, warmer weather will return to Syracuse in due time and students will be frolicking along the quad in their favorite pair of jorts, whether they’re bought, borrowed, or DIY’d.

So don’t be surprised — or even appalled, if you feel so strongly about the style — when jorts make their long-awaited re-debut. The general rule of thumb that we follow is don’t knock it ‘til you try it, and we hope you follow suit.

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FORM AND FUNCTION: How to dress...

GORPCORE Words by Liz Goldblatt Photo by Liz Goldblatt Assistance by Noa Putman, Ava Lahijani Modeling by Zoë Medina, Aidan Hedrick

LOGOS: Logos are essential to being a natureprone douche bag. You need to flash that brand somewhere visible if you want to even come close to achieving this style.

Gorpcore, named after the term for trail mix “Good Ol’ Raisins and Peanuts,” is a style based on expensive, utilitarian, functional clothing. Also known as “granola-wear,” or “camping-chic,” it refers to the cross between a hiking trip and fashion week.

Gorpcore embraces boxy silhouettes, layering, logos, and breathability. Real hikers scoff at frivolous collaborations such as “Gucci x The North Face,” with items costing upwards of $3500. Often this premier version of gear is not meant for nature at all. It is better suited for that ass-hole guy in Brooklyn who needs to look interesting on his walk to get bagels.

In reality, he would never dare go camping because it’s “humid and buggy.”

GRANDIOSE SENSE OF SELF (FACE): If you don’t own your gorpcore, you’ll just look like an idiot. Make sure you keep a straight face while rocking this aesthetic — maybe even be a little rude to really set the superiority complex vibe.

LAYERING: If you’re not layering your expensive outdoor clothing, then, unfortunately, you look poor.

COLORS: Gorpcore is all about coloring. Your outfit should look like you let a color blind baby style you before you summit Everest.

WATER: Arc’teryx is not only waterproof, but it is actually water repellent. Just in case your sparkling water spills a little.

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CLOSET CASE:

US IN BED

JERK 3–21 3–21 JERK

Words by Liz Goldblatt Photos by Liz Goldblatt

Lingerie is the maximum expression of selfhood. It is a deeply intimate form of clothing. We wanted to mix personal garments with personal spaces. Thus, the models are photographed wearing lingerie in a homey environment, being their authentic, beautiful selves.

CHIARA RUGGIERO: “Lingerie

KHALIL HAMROUNI: “Lingerie is

TESSA MEEHAN: “Lingerie

means femininity to me; an

expressive. It allows us to display

to me like is loungewear that

intimate object that allows

our sexuality through pieces,

makes me feel comfortable by

everyone to unlock their own

creating confidence and comfort

highlighting my body and making

divine feminine.”

internally. Subtle or intense,

me feel confident and sexy

lingerie strengthens our ability to

instead of hiding it.”

bring fantasies to life.”

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BERLIN HAS NOTHING ON THE QUEER DJ SCENE OF SYRACUSE The women-led queer DJ collective that’s shaking up SU’s nightlife scene.

Words by Car Shapiro Photos by Bridget Overby

It’s Friday night and you’re looking for something to do, but you’ve already been to Blue Room, the Garden, the Harrington, Ski House, Thon, and some random Euclid locations; you want something new. Enter MadGal: a queer and woman-led collective of DJs looking to bring that something to the Syracuse scene. The cofounders, seniors Berri Wilmore and Zora Willett, explained that MadGal was created to fill the need for an authentic, safe, queer space in SU nightlife. Its mission is to put on events that encourage people to be authentic and challenge themselves to get weird and step outside their comfort zones. They also have the goal of collaborating with and supporting friends to explore new creative endeavors; they want to inspire growth and compassion among people in the MadGal community.

Willett said that over the past year, she and Wilmore have been dreaming of creating a space to inspire and unite their friends, as well as other creatives in Syracuse. This idea led to what is now MadGal, in which the two collaborate on ideation and plans for the collective. Wilmore usually manages the MadGal photoshoots and editing while Willett distorts the images to create designs for clothing and digital media. Willett has been a printmaker for over four years and has been working with the PrintHub in Downtown Syracuse to screen print two MadGal clothing lines.

After a semester in Berlin where she was immersed in the techno/rave scene, Willett was drawn to the scene and shortly after became Wilmore’s first student. Under the name Rathaus, she has been learning how to mix and work on her skills at MadGal functions. Her music is inspired by provocative and “cunty” styles, including artists such as ShyGirl, SOPHIE, COBRAH, and UNIIQU3.

The collective’s first event was a “Freak Formal,” for which they directed attendees to wear “pink-tie” attire, featuring DJs Hesh2Death, Lazerbeams, Manuyo, Arthur Hustle, Uncle Berri, and J.A.Q. “The idea was actually inspired by Renegade Magazine’s ReneProm,” explained Wilmore. The collective was looking to throw a formal-type party, with the term “formal” interpreted in many different ways. Some people took a House of Gucci approach with lavish fur coats, while others went sexy with colored suits, chains, and no shirts —some even pulled up in actual business casual. MadGal saw it as a great opportunity to encourage people to express themselves, and Wilmore said it was “all [she] could ask for in a first event.”

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MadGal Collective had its second official event after University Union’s Bandersnatch concert on Friday, March 25, dubbed “A Pi’erre Bourne Afterparty For Gays” with a monochrome theme and music by Sabel, Ex Bisexual, Uncle Berri, and Rathaus. From 11 p.m. to the early morning hours, the party was full of vibrant people looking to have a good time. Fellow Jerk Sadiya Kherani partook in the evening by wearing all brown; she said she loves going to the MadGal functions because of the “very queer, artsy crowd,” and she’s obsessed with the fact that all the parties are themed. “They’ve never let me down with the themes,” she reflected. The monochrome theme was simple enough to dress for, but also allowed room for creativity for those who were looking to get detailed with their fits. Wilmore describes the night as “good vibes” and observed that it seemed like “everyone was on the same wavelength.”

Something unique about the MadGal events so far has been the crowd; everyone wants to get to know other partygoers. “It’s a great place to meet interesting new people,” Kherani explained, “Everyone loves mingling and talking to each other.”

“As we throw more events, more people hear about us, there’s bigger attendance and more mingling. It speaks to people, they just get it,” said Wilmore about the crowd. In general, SU’s social scene is known to be a bit cliquey, especially with COVID making small, lowkey parties the norm for so long. “It’s hard going to SU while being a minority, and it becomes important

to make spaces for people to meet each other and build community,” explains Wilmore.

Besides hosting parties with live DJs from the collective, MadGal had their first-ever Bizarre Bazaar on Saturday, April 9 with different vendors such as Ryan Dee selling upcycled furniture, jewelry, and dried flower bouquets; Asha Fuller selling vintage clothing; Thomas Harris selling prints of their digital art; and Zora Willett selling official MadGal screenprinted merch. Willett recently created a small studio in her bedroom, and each (sold-out) MadGal clothing line has been inspired by individuals in the community, with the first collection “ego” featuring several MadGals, and the second featuring Max Goodin, a close friend.

MadGal also holds weekly DJ workshops for students who want to learn the basics of mixing. The lessons are for complete beginners, and the people of MadGal encourage music lovers to give it a try. “If you have an ear for music and a willingness to learn, DM @ MadGalHQ on Instagram; there’s a great community waiting for you,” said Wilmore. Avani Singh, a senior in the MadGal collective and a friend of Wilmore and Willett, got involved with DJing for MadGal when she asked Wilmore for lessons.

The idea to organize a bazaar came naturally, since a major reason the collective was created in the first place was to enable friends to express their talents, try new things, and take risks. The MadGal house on Maryland St. was set up inside to be a

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walk-thru market experience, with DJs playing music all day and many different types of people pulling up to shop.

“I worked the door for most of it, and it was cool to see how long people stayed and what they left with. It was also awesome to see how many groups of people it reached; friends of friends were coming, some even showing up on the Veo electric scooters!” said Wilmore.

“I’ve always been interested in Djing, and I got a DJ board for Christmas sophomore year, but I wanted to find a community of DJs to help share skills,” explained Singh. She wants to see more queer and girl DJs on campus since the majority (of the ones getting booked) are white frat dudes. Singh was drawn to MadGal events because of the queer aspect, and the fact that it felt like a safe space since the events have been explicitly promoted as openly queer and women-led. “There’s a sense of pride going to MadGal events,” she said.

Singh’s music style when DJing is a lot of house and disco and is inspired by Paris is Burning and artists like Ty Sunderland, who’s a gay DJ basked in Brooklyn that hosts crazy, over-the-top events while simultaneously creating safe spaces for queer people. Singh wants her sets to be as authentic as possible, which means they must be super queer and involve house music; house music is super important to POC and queer communities since it was founded by queer people of color in

the 70s. Another big inspiration of hers is Studio 54, a legendary nightclub in NYC in the 70s, which was not only groundbreaking for queer people in nightlife, but was also founded by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who met at SU. Wilmore began DJing right before COVID after hanging out with “cool people” who introduced her to house music. There was a rave scene at SU at that time, and her friends helped her plan her first rave party where she performed her first set.

At her core, Wilmore’s music style has a heavy Black influence; she likes DNB (drums and bass), RNB, house, and EDM. She enjoys mixing house or electronic with popular rap on top, so it can be recognizable to listeners but also something new and thought-provoking. Her music is always Black and queer-centric, which isn’t what most of her audiences are, and she said it’s interesting to see how people react as she’s getting booked more.

Since the majority of MadGal are seniors who graduated this year, they have plans of taking the collective to another level post-grad. Wilmore and Willett are both moving to Philly, where they want to continue having shows and creating this type of space for people. As for the future of MadGal at SU, Wilmore hopes to pass the baton to younger students. “It’s something special; it’d be a shame for it to fizzle out.”

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-CARD Words by Margo Moran Art by Lilly Chidlaw-Mayen

Virginity is an intangible, ever-evolving concept that society has decided you can somehow “lose” and “take.” Having sex for the first time means different things for different people, and it is not right or wrong to either consider this experience to be sacred or to find yourself unmoved by the whole idea. Virginity has been historically taboo, shameful in some circles and a point of pride in others, but untouchable as a topic in any “polite” conversation.

There is a gendered expectation that women are most appealing when they are virgins (at their “purest”) while men should avoid virginity at all costs, born to be dominant and experienced. When you factor in the heteronormative idea that women should be having sex with men, and women should be virgins, and men shouldn’t be virgins, a clear question looms: what the fuck do you want from us?

The language around virginity is notoriously bizarre because its association with “losing” implies

that you are no longer your full self once you have had sex. The only shame greater than this is that of being a prude, also missing a piece of yourself because you have not fully experienced what some rulebook has decided is a landmark event.

This contradictory cycle goes around and around until people don’t feel comfortable acknowledging it at all; when there is no right thing to say, we fall silent and trap ourselves into going through scary moments all alone. We would call this a mindfuck, but we don’t want you to think we’re impure.

Keep reading for Jerk’s rundown on the sinister undertones of purity culture, the nuances of queer virginity, a dissection of what our virginity expectations are from sex symbols, and a summation of why and how we start to view ourselves as sexual beings. We hope you’ve been saving yourselves for us, because we’ve been waiting to pop your cherry.

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INVESTIGATING PURITY CULTURE If purity is right, we wanna be wrong!

Words by Julia Reedy Art by Lilly Chidlaw-Mayen of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death.

How do you hail Mary? Purity culture tells us to abstain from sex until marriage, and that in doing so, we are giving the most unadulterated, pure form of ourselves to another person (sounds simple enough).

If you haven’t heard of purity culture, it stems from a subculture of Evangelical Christianity that emerged in the 1990s as a response to the AIDS epidemic and sex-positive countercultural movements of the 1960s and ‘70s. It’s a culture that is deeply patriarchal and limited in its views concerning anything sexual — it is not uncommon for members of purity culture to know very little or nothing about sexuality and sex, because resources related to sex education are so few and far between.

Perhaps the most definitive practice of purity culture is the use of the purity ring: young girls promise their fathers that they will abstain from sex until marriage, providing proof of their chastity by wearing a ring.

Purity rings are given to young girls by their fathers — a practice which is inherently sexist. It is a practice which allows men to assign meaning to female virginity, stripping away the opportunity for women to explore their sexuality and ultimately assign the amount of importance to a completely individualistic experience — which, arguably, should not be as big of a deal as some make it out to be.

Where women are set up to “lose,” men only have something to gain: experience.

It is important to note that within purity culture, young boys are not given purity rings, nor is their virginity discussed within the same context. Rather, they are encouraged to do the taking — taking from a particular, untainted woman who meets all the requirements of purity. Boys are taught to suppress sexual thoughts, which are attributed to women,

their ultimate temptation and the object of their most unholy desires — which can have harmful psychological effects as they grow older and are expected to marry.

But looking beneath the image of this ideal, untainted woman, is something far more sinister: pedophilia. Since purity culture is obsessed with the virgin, children (both male and female), are often targets of pedophilic tendencies disguised as a dedication to upholding purity culture.

A study titled “Child Abuse in Protestant Christian Congregations” used data from 326 cases of alleged child sexual abuse that occurred at or through activities provided by the Protestant Christian congregations between 1982 and 2014.

The study found that the overwhelming majority of identified offenders were male; these male offenders were represented by 98.8 %. Additionally, the study found that the offender ages ranged from 18 to 88 years, and that the locations where the abuse occurred included the offender’s home, off-site, off-site churchsponsored activity, and the victim’s home.

These statistics alone reveal the dangerous implications of purity culture — a culture that is intended to be a harmless, even helpful tool to prevent children from having sex only turns them into the ideal victims of predators.

Words by Emane Haque Art by Lilly Chidlaw-Mayen Growing up is filled with firsts of all kinds: discovering your favorite Club Penguin server, tasting the culinary delicacy of Smucker’s Uncrustables, and getting god-awful metal braces that haunt every throwback picture. Typical components of a standard Gen Z American Adolescence™, But there is one particular moment of enlightenment that isn’t widely discussed. No, not when you decided Abercrombie & Fitch Kids was far superior to Justice, although we’re glad your fashion taste evolved. The epiphany we are referring to was a realization of a deeper desire — your sexual awakening.

Let us take you back. Perhaps you were watching your favorite cartoon movie or show, and all of a sudden a character starts looking good.

Like, really good. Like way better than the first 50 times you’d seen them. Maybe it was Prince Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender Airbender, Lola Bunny from Space Jam Jam, or even grown-up Simba from The Lion King. Something about that luscious mane and Hakuna Matata attitude was very sexy. Or maybe animations never did anything for you.

Megan Fox in Transformers? 2012 Justin Bieber?

Maybe you went through a mass sexual awakening along with every middle schooler ever as a result of watching The Outsiders for the first time? There are limitless initial sexual awakenings we could list: a first crush, hot celebrities, movie/televison/ book characters, steamy Wattpad fanfictions, certain exploratory internet searches, a somewhat conventionally attractive middle school teacher.

No matter who or what it may have been, that feeling of ““Oh, I want that” should have been more than apparent — even if you didn’t know exactly what that was.

Typical sexual awakenings can be characterized as a glorious lust-struck moment when one

develops a vague awareness of sexuality or sexual attraction to others. Although sexual awakenings can happen at any age, they most commonly occur around the beginning of puberty or even earlier.

Getting turned on is natural, as is the curiosity that comes along with arousal. You were not perverted for searching up “two girls kissing” on YouTube, you were just trying to chase the euphoria of experiencing sexual excitement.

Awakenings can also occur even after you have an understanding of the technicalities and mechanics of sex. It is possible to have multiple awakenings as your sexual understanding grows.

You may find yourself leaning into new topics, scenarios, or play surrounding sex. The exploration of pleasure is limitless, and there’s a certain beauty in how individual desire is. Sexual awakenings can affect tastes in people, porn, kinks, and dynamics in the bedroom. Your inclinations are special, but honestly probably not as weird as you may think, which should be comforting. As long as they are ethical, legal, and safe, there is no need to feel any shame or justify them. So allow yourself to get comfortable in figuring out what gets you hot and bothered because what turns you on today, may not turn you on tomorrow.

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No, you weren’t weird for finding Danny Phantom hot.

NOISE

SEXUAL AWAKENINGS

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PURITY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER Is purity the key to being defined as a sex symbol?

Words by Megan Adams Art by Lilly Chidlaw-Mayen

Sex symbols! Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re huge pieces of culture and — even better — they’re (usually) super hot. But what makes a sex symbol a sex symbol? What makes one celebrity frumpy and another a godlike sex icon? Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s the patriarchy.

Let’s talk purity. Purity has been socially “desirable,” one could say, since the beginning of history. In the past, brides wore white to represent themselves still being virgins and saving themselves

for marriage, and men could essentially sell their daughters into marriage if they could “verify” their virginity (the vile history of which is worthy of a whole separate article). But there is something to be said about how a pure virginal front can advance or impede status as a sex symbol (think Britney Spears’s “Baby One More Time”).

Innocence has become a commodity, especially among celebrities. Maybe it’s because maintaining innocence is difficult and rare in Hollywood with all of the horrible shit that goes down there, but

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NOISE purity. Harry Styles for instance. His reputation is that of a hot, sexy masterpiece who has lots of sex and writes songs about how much of an asshole he is in relationships (an “arrogant son of a bitch,” one might say). Megan Thee Stallion, on the other hand, talks about sex in almost all of her songs (slay girlqueen) and even though it just makes her hotter to us, a lot of people have an issue with her sexuality being so public. Lil Nas X (where are his Grammy awards?) makes absolute bangers about queer sex, and while to us, that just makes him even sexier, others have an issue with it. Apparently sexuality in the music industry is only accepted when you’re white and straight.

Purity can work for or against sex symbols, but so can a lack thereof. Every aspect of having sex appeal is a double-edged sword, and celebrities who get sexualized so much that they become socalled “sex symbols” are prime examples of this.

We guess it is a curse to be too sexy.

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historically, innocence — or a display of innocence — has been a draw for women in specific. If you’re thinking it’s vile and sexist for purity culture to advance women’s sex appeal, you’d be right on the money. It’s just another ploy to villainize sexual pleasure for women and make women feel “dirty” for simply wanting to get off like everyone else in the world. That said, purity in sex symbols is a driving factor for public appeal to those slimy men who think they have a chance with Rihanna (as if her pregnancy was what’s hurting your chances, Brad).

A lack of purity, on the other hand, works for men. And by lack of purity, we mean raw sexiness (our specialty). Because purity culture is inherently racist and homophobic, rather than trying to fit a fucked-up mold, Black people, people of color, and queer people have been less traditionally seen as sex symbols. And because purity doesn’t exactly advance heterosexual male sex symbols as much as it does female, some men lean into a lack of

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VIRGINITY, BUT MAKE IT RAINBOW How purity culture negatively impacts the LGBTQ+ community.

Words by Bryan Fletcher Art by Lilly Chidlaw-Mayen

It should come as no surprise that young queer people routinely face struggles regarding how to navigate the mysterious world of romance and sexuality in society. But these struggles extend far beyond the typical “dating is really hard” stories that abound in queer media these days. Many issues that plague the queer community concerning sex and virginity have to do with the perpetuation of heteronormative dynamics, unrealistic beauty and body standards, and predatory hookup culture.

Just as our society emphasizes the value of virginity and purity culture for straight women, it also forces these same ideas into queer spaces — repackaged to fit a not-so-straight demographic while holding onto the same regressive ideas.

The influences of virginity and purity culture can be seen in many aspects of the queer community’s relationship with labels. Queer individuals frequently find themselves needing to sexually self-categorize as either a ‘top’ or ‘bottom’ (or sometimes even vers/switch). While such labels have been important in queer history

for decades, they have also been used to reinforce heteronormative gender dynamics within queer communities by emphasizing the roles that each position should take. Tops are often viewed as masculine, dominant figures who take control, while bottoms are expected to be more feminine and submissive. It’s not hard to see how these categories have been used to reestablish the roles of men and women in a queer context.

Similar to the need to create categories for preferences regarding sexual positions, virginity and purity culture within the queer community have created a seriously warped perception of our bodies. As previously mentioned, tops and bottoms are constantly used as fillers for male and female-specific gender roles, and, as such, they are also subject to the expectations of their respective beauty standards. Among queer men, tops are typically expected to be taller, muscular, and in possession of facial and body hair, while bottoms are seen as shorter, thin, and practically hairless.

However, this phenomenon goes even a step

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further, with there being various subcategories based entirely on one’s body type, including twinks, jocks, bears, etc. Failure to perfectly fit into any of these categories often results in body dysmorphia and confusion, more byproducts of purity culture. This strict categorization also works to further alienate transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming individuals in the queer dating scene, since they often place extra emphasis on the presence of cisgender bodies first. Yet again, these categories ultimately work to enforce heteronormative dynamics within society.

It goes without saying that hookup culture exists in both straight and queer communities, but many of the universal experiences that shape queer identity work to create an environment that is increasingly confusing and dangerous.

Many queer teenagers find themselves getting a later start exploring intimacy than their straight counterparts, and as a result they have less time to learn the intricacies of hooking up in a healthy way.

This leads to gay hookup apps like Grindr being

used carelessly, which allows young teenagers to be preyed upon by manipulative adults. Much of Grindr’s existence can be reflective of the pedophilic nature of virginity and purity culture, as younger individuals are frequently taken advantage of for their inexperience and desire to quickly learn more about their sexuality. Yes, that disturbing Euphoria scene unfortunately held some truth.

Unfortunately, the queer community is just as vulnerable to perpetuating the more problematic aspects of purity culture as any other, but the ways in which the queer community perpetuates it differ greatly from straight people as a result of cultural and historical differences. At the end of the day, the only people who are able to truly benefit from purity culture are straight men, with everyone else placed lower on the heteropatriarchal totem pole.

As more conversations open up regarding our society’s views of virginity and purity culture, it is our hope that similar discussions within the queer community also take place.

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FROGGIES Maria Nido, Sam Parrish, and Corey Chun’s all-girl rock band has taken the Syracuse music scene by storm.

Words by Bella Young | Photos by Surya Vaidy Jerk Magazine: Tell us about your band.

What’s your origin story?

Maria Nido: We started taking the band seriously towards the end of the fall semester.

We’ve always known we wanted to play together, since our freshman year. It’s felt very natural ever since we first jammed in DellPlain Hall.

JM: What’s the story behind your name?

MN: The name ‘Froggies’ came to us because we realized that during one of our first taped recordings there were frog noises coming out of a white noise sleep machine.

JM: You are a newer band, but you have already had a few shows. Tell us what it’s like to perform live.

Corey Chun: It was really exciting. Once I got on stage I could just tell that everyone was really supportive and that we had it in the bag. We were really prepared, and we had practiced as much as we possibly could. So it felt really good, and I feel like it can only get better as we grow more confident and start to have more synergy.

MN: The day of our first show we were all really anxious, yet very excited. Performing live feels electric, especially when we make eye contact with each other.

Sam Parrish: Our first performance meant so much to us. It was quite a feeling to see all of our hard work finally paying off. We all have pretty good chemistry on stage so I know we are just gonna keep getting better the more shows we play!

JM: Is there any message you want to share about being an all-girl band?

CC: I feel like we started this so that we could [inspire] other younger girls to start a girl band, as well. I mean, we literally have no girl band to look up to right now. I don’t remember the last one that came through Syracuse even, and so we knew we had to do it. It fell in our laps, we all played different instruments, we all complimented each other, so we knew we had to be doing something.

MN: For sure! One of our goals is to inspire other girls to perform as well. The ratio is definitely skewed in the current SU house show scene. That must change!

SOUNDS LIKE: HAIM, Heart, The Roche JERKS TO: Joni Mitchell, Universal Togetherness Band, Kool Blues, Q, Dreamer Isioma

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A deep dive into the show that taught us to fuck our teachers, quit the swim team, and trust absolute nobody.

Words by Sadiya Kherani

Flash back to 2010: the pilot of Pretty Little Liars just got released — we definitely should not have been watching at the ripe age of 10, but there we were. Within the first five minutes, we see a 16-yearold hook up with a 23-year-old in a bar, a girl goes missing and dies, and a stalker named “A” does stalker-like activities. We’re immediately hooked.

Although our love for Pretty Little Liars (also known as PLL) has withstood the test of time, the actual plotlines are contentious, and we have some questions. Did show creator Marlene King realize her audience was largely girls aged 14-16? She must have, but the content she was producing did not reflect that. Just like literally every 2010s show, rewatching it in the modern age of 2022 uncovers a ton of problematic shit that needs to be debriefed.

Here’s a quick recap: adults in positions of power repeatedly having sex with minors (enough said on that); there’s the ‘bury your gays’ trope, where LGBTQ+ characters are villianized and killed off; and Ezria (Ezra + Aria) — need we say more?

We don’t know about you, but our earliest perceptions of love were strongly influenced by the teen dramas we lived off of in middle school. Which means Ezria, one of the most problematic couples in TV history, was the extent of our education for

what a relationship should look like. Mike’s Mic on YouTube calls Ezra “[the] crust lord of the millennial,” and we could not have put it better ourselves. Let’s not forget that the series ends with Ezra and Aria getting married! This is a whole new level of “high school sweethearts,” but in the worst possible way.

One of PLL’s most retrospectively questionable storylines (caution, spoilers ahead) was the reveal that the ultimate A was Cece/Charlotte Drake, a trans woman (played by a cis actor, of course) who Allison knew as Charles, her brother. Was the villainization of the series’s only trans character a coincidence? Unconfirmed, but when you have a young audience watching your show, it’s important to be extremely conscious of what messages you are displaying and how they are executed, which did not seem to be a concern for these showrunners.

If your Pretty Little Liars-filled heart needs a deeper dive into the extensive lives of our four badass leads, we are begging you to watch Mike’s Mic’s “An Appropriately Unhinged Recap of Pretty Little Liars” and enjoy the emotional rollercoaster that is PLL from the critical eye. Regardless, Pretty Little Liars will continue to inspire our fashion choices and forever be our favorite fictional true crime TV show. As for Ezra, you’re not going to jail, you’re going to prison.

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Our Pretty Little Problematic Liars

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