RushMagazine Final Final

R(US)H Teen Lifestyle and Fashion Magazine

AIRBRUSHING:

WHY EVEN PERFECTION HAS ITS FLAWS

pg 12

LIFESTYLE:

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MUSLIM GIRL pg 8

SCHOOLS:

SHOULD STUDENTS BE FORCED TO WEAR UNIFORMS? pg 28

FASHION:

HOW IT’S EVOLVED

pg 14

Issue 1* Fall/Winter 2010

to the readers...

Dear R(US)H readers,

Welcome to our first and only Austin teenage lifestyle and fashion magazine. In the past, we’ve read many fashion magazines that are shallow and don’t interest us. Our mission is to create a magazine that is relatable to teenage girls, but isn’t like the typical teenage magazine. There are many different topics that are touched in this magazine, and we hope you enjoy each and every article. Just flip the page to find a world about Austin lifestyle and fashion.

With love, The R(US)H staff

About the Abby B.

Abby B., a native of San Fransisco, is a 9th grader at LASA High School. She has one brother, three dogs, and one cat. Abby is also part of the LBJ swim team. Abby enjoys traveling and listening to music. She enjoys listening to Taylor Swift. Abby’s got a passion for reading. Her favorite series is The Hunger Games. In her free time, she enjoys watching television. Her favorite show is Glee.

Cathy W.

Cathy W. is a native of Peru, who is a freshman at LASA High School. She enjoys playing music, and finds a positive side in every situation. Cathy loves sleeping in her free time. Her hobbies include rowing, tennis, and playing the cello. She has a sister, a brother, and a dog. Her favorite food is mac and cheese. She wants to own a restaurant in the future.

Writers :) Lisa H.

Lisa H. is a native of Austin. She has 2 brothers, and a dog. Lisa’s been dancing since she was 3 years old, and dances in her free time. She’s also is on the LASA debate team.

Lisa enjoys watching movies and listening to music. Summer’s her favorite season. She loves sleeping, and enjoys eating Mexican food. Her favorite color is blue, and enjoys watching Grey’s anatomy in her free time.

Lorena G.

Lorena G. has lived most of her life at Austin, but sometimes she gets sick of living inside her house doing everyday homework. She loves being active, and playing soccer with her friends. She loves listening to music, and often dancing to it. One of her favorite artists is Shakira. She enjoys fashion, and has a great fashion sense. Her favorite color is pink, and she loves Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

“

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.

“

- Coco Chanel

Table Of Contents 12 18 23 28 08 14 20 26 10 17 22 30

The Problem with Perfection Fight For Life A Colorful World With Racism Unified or Individual The ArabAmerican An Apparel Cycle Converse: The Fashionable Shoe The Red-Head Ecuadorian Many Gagas Stalking the LASA Halls Fashion for a Cause Holiday Yummies

} } }

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The Arab-America

By Cathy W.

n

I

“I’m not a freak. I’m just a normal person, ya know?”, exclaims a tall, brown-eyed girl with fair skin and tousled hair. She doesn’t have an illness nor anything her hometown of Algeria would consider strange. Surprisingly, it’s because she’s a Muslim.

There are a handful of current events that deal with Muslim terrorism that effect more than just stereotypes. Amira Omar, the interviewee, puts a face to the conflict: Whether it’s her talking about her passion for drawing or her dreams for ending misperceptions about Muslims. While she is able to balance her traditional Arab culture and Americanization perfectly, she still sees a problem in the relationship between Arab-Americans and American society To specifically pin-point the problem, Amira O. talks about her journey starting with the struggles her family faced in their migration to America and the compromises they made.

Amira’s parents came to America because of a lottery they won in Algeria, where the prize was a trip to America; the land of opportunity. As a result, her parents had to make compromise with their culture.

“My mom, before she came to America she used to wear the veil and ... you’re not supposed to take it off once you put it on but once she got to America she had to”. Her former employer that Amira’s mother worked for enforced a dress code that didn’t allow for veils in the workplace. In the early ninedies and their first few years after their migration, her family needed money to support two children so her mother had no choice but to remove her veil. Amira says the United States is more accepting about Muslim veils nowadays and that her mother could put her veil back on “but that’s her choice” she clarifies.

This was before 9/11.

A couple years later, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. Amira explains that the terrorism was caused by a group of Muslims were misinterpreted the Koran. Since the Koran is written in “Old time Arabic” there are many ways to interpret, or misinterpret it. This misunderstanding is caused by a word that has different meanings in different Arabic dialects. The terrorists translated the word into beat, even though the same word is used to describe what a word that is supposed to describe what women should do with their chests and obviously, the Koran wouldn’t support or even mention women beating their chests. People are still interpreting the Koran and trying to find a universal translation of it.

It was clear that something called, as Amira put, “Islamophobia” was accumulating after 9/11. Amira doesn’t remember much about September 11th, since she was only in Kindergarten at the time but now that she’s older she says that “I’m really glad I was young during that time or I would’ve have problems during school.”.

During Amira’s early elementary years she gradually gained an interest in art. She started with tracing pictures she found around her house and gradually started drawing free-style and many started to realize the talent she had. Currently, her mother has slowly drifted away from just complementing her pieces, to actually giving supportive criticism.

Amira recently visited her home country, Algeria and saw the dramatic change of culture in just six years. Before, it was rare to find a girl without her veil on or wearing anything above her knee but on her trip, Amira even saw girls walking on the beach wearing daisy-dukes and miniskirts. She believes the main reason for this change is the American TV that is being broad casted in Algeria “On TV, they tend to copy American talk show hosts a lot except they dress up way more so now they have a different idolized version of what they should look up to.” But Algerian culture hasn’t been ignored completely.

Many girls still dress modestly but, they aren’t stuck in the past. They don’t wear the black Saudi-Arabian blanket, the first Arab outfit that comes to mind.

Instead they wear things similar to American girls like skinny jeans and a blouse. The only difference is that they wear their veils which are typically youthful, floral colors, pinned together by a jeweled pin.

Traditional Algerian culture also involves women, especially teenage girls, who are responsible for cleaning the entire house, every day. This is a challenge because most of the houses don’t have a large sink or a dishwasher. In fact many houses in Algeria over flow with water from the poor plumbing system which lead to Algerians adding a drain to the floor of each room. The house in drained regularly and in the words of Amira Oman, “It would probably suck if I liked there because doing chores like that, cleaning the entire house every day” . Amira is grateful for migrating to America, so she could be in an education-hungry mindset instead of worrying about whether the house is clean enough.

Amira’s parents want her to be a lawyer or a doctor; but she wants to follow her own passion.

She plans on starting a movement disproving all stereotypes of Islam so that Muslim children and teenagers don’t have to deal with the name calling she faced in her childhood. Amira wants to accomplish this by writing journal posts in a newspaper, send fliers, making an organization online and anything else that comes to her mind.

Her parents believe that her dream of starting a movement is a waste of time and is impossible since she is just a normal girl. Amira just chuckles and aknowledges, “Yes I am a normal girl and I want every other Muslim child to feel like one too”.

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Many

Gaga How Many More???

By Lorena G.

Lady Gaga is the one of those people who has worn many outfits that almost no one would wear in public.

Everywhere she goes, she has a new outfit to show to the world. She would go through anything to entertain, and show her fans something new. With her popular songs, and her dressing styles,

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she has become one of the greatest pop artists in the world. By the public, she would be considered original, wierd, crazy, and talented.

Outfits,

La

Lady Gaga is a very hard working woman, mostly creating outfits and new songs, most of which would later become popular, and critizized by the public.

Lady Gaga has worn Alexander McQueen, Jeremy Scott, Craig Lawrence, and many others. Almost everywhere she goes, people want to know what she is weraing. Because almost everyehere, she wears something different.

dy

Ga th

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Are you going GAGA?

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The Problem With

PERFECTION

Perfection is something we’re always trying to achieve, often by airbrushing.

Learn why modified photos can be fatal.

O

Our perfection obsessed world has acquired the trend of airbrushing, and the British government wants to put a stop to it. Currently, British officials are discussing how to curb the negative affects of airbrushing, and promote self confidence in girls. Following the law already enacted by the French in 2009, this discussion may result in the requirement of labeling of photos modified to perfection, in order to warn readers of the false reality. Airbrushing photos negatively impact its readers, and therefore need a label to remind the readers of the false perfection they see.

Airbrushing photos negatively influences a girl’s self esteem, as it gives them the idea that their body isn’t okay the way it is, and therefore must be changed.

According to Amelia Jones, as expressed in her 2003 book The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, our society grows up in a culture that tells them they can never be thin enough, and being fat is the “worst thing you can be”. This conception is promoted by the artificially flawless bodies found in almost every magazine, as they provide a false reality of what one’s body should look like. These ideas become problematic because they create various other problems for women in our society. In a 2010 survey, research conducted by Girlguiding UK, the largest girl only youth organization in the UK, found that 42% of girls ages 11-21 had been on strict diets. 75% of these girls admitted to going on a diet to try to look attractive to others, and 66% of these girls claimed their diets were due to the media’s portrayal of women in magazines, books, and on television. Earlier this year, the Royal College of Psychiatrists even blamed the unblemished photos for the prevalence of eating

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By Lisa H.

disorders, as they believe they promote unhealthy and unachievable body images. They also claimed the photos glamorize eating disorders, since they show unrealistically skinny women living a perfect life. Girls feel unnecessary pressure to change who they are based off of the media’s portrayal of women, which is heavily created by modified photos.

Fashion magazine editors often try to defend their use of airbrushed photos, using the timeless argument of the purpose of fashion. Josie Natori, designer of Harper’s Bazaar Magazine, stated the argument in 1993, saying that fashion isn’t supposed to portray reality. Instead, it’s supposed to provide ideas, visions, and things of a fantasy world. Editors of fashion magazines use this idea to defend airbrushed photos, saying modified photos are okay in their magazines, as fashion is supposed to represent an unattainable fantasy. The flaw this argument is that fashion magazines are perceived by the audience as a reality.

A study performed by the University of Toronto and published in The Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, The Processing of Thin Ideals in Magazines: A Source of Social Comparison or Fantasy? proved this idea, as their participants viewed fashion magazines as a reality and experienced the negative feelings that came with it. People see the women in these magazines as normal people, and believe the magazine is showing reality. reality. This dogma is promoted by he content of these magazines, as they provide a vast amount of articles addressing dieting and weight loss, in order to obtain that “model look”. This therefore suggests the actuality of the magazines, as the articles themselves

claim they are attainable. Another argument provided by the fashion industry is provided by Jill Wanless, when interviewed in 2010. Wanless stated that the reason fashion magazines have a hyperreality, is because their readers want to be taken out of their situation, and put into a temporary world of a glamorous life. While women may want to experience something that isn’t their own situation, they don’t want to be completely alienated from the hyper-reality, by being presented with something completely unattainable. Nobody wants to feel dissatisfied with their own body, as the fashion industry is making them feel Magazines need to solve the issues of modified photos, as neglecting the issue creates devastating results. According to Sylvia Hui in her 2010 article Airbrush alert: UK wants to keep fashion ads real published in The Associated Press, most people don’t realize what they see is neither real nor achievable, and if they do, they don’t understand the extent of the manipulation to the photo. While the best remedy to these problems would be banning airbrushed photos altogether, we need to respect the fact that magazines still have the

right to freedom of speech and press. However, the problem of fake perfection cannot be neglected, and something must be done in order to correct these negative ideas caused by perception.

During an interview this year with the London Evening Standard, The Royal College of Psychiatrists suggested we rectify the situation by requiring labels on all on digitally manipulated photos. They justified this action, as labelling will remind the readers that what they see isn’t real, and will help shape a generation of self-confident girls. Labelling serves as a good solution, as it acts as a compromise between what the magazines want to do, and what we need to do for the health of the people.

The British government is wise in trying to address the issue of airbrushing, for it prevails as a serious predicament in our society. Other countries should follow the example that France and Britain are setting, as airbrushed photos are problematic all around the world. We need to work towards a self confident world, a world that isn’t debased by eating disorders or concerned thoughts over appearance. Our society deserves to be confident.

An

Apparel

Is fashion really an evolution?

I

In the last century, people have dressed somewhat, or a lot more different than in modern times, like the use of curls and puffy long hair has changed to straight short hair. Some of us can notice this change by stories told by our parents, or by pictures that we’ve seen from the past. In the recent past, socks were long, hair was different, and there wasn’t a large variety of shoes and clothes as in recent time. The evolution of clothes has been taking place, but have they really “evolved”? Many teenagers wear clothes that are advertised to them, shown and worn almost everywhere around, but are the clothes that the people sell to them really unique?

The way teenagers dress has changed somewhat over time, but not really by much. Not all teenagers have realized that the clothes they wear are similar to what their parents and older family members used to wear. We can see this similarity by pictures shown about old-fashioned teenagers, or by what the people around say about the fashion that used to be popular around. Since fashion can be considered a repetition, what future teenagers will wear, depends on what modern teenagers now wear. This can be identified as something that has evolved, or a “fashion cycle.”

Many people from the 1980s to the 1990s have worn skirts, and skinny jeans. Though, many teenage girls from the 70s and 80s would not usually wear jeans. A woman named Victoria Rangel that lived in Mexico as a teenage girl during the late 80s, and early 90s says “I would get embarrassed because I got used to dressing in skirts, or dresses, because where I lived, nobody used pants.”

Victoria also says that her mom, who was a teenager during the 70s, would wear skirts to her knees and blouses for doing chores and cleaning the house.

Victoria remembers her grandpa wearing Converse until he died. She also remembers wearing skirts, transparent tights, closed high heels, skirts to the waist and knees, “I didn’t dress weirdly, the high heels were like the ones from now a days.”

Almost always, Victoria would do her hair with a pin, and with curls in front, or just sometimes braid her hair. Victoria remembers that most of the actresses at her time would wear mini leather skirts all the way to the belly button, with curly hair like her, and shiny blouses. Also, she remembers that most people would wear skinny jeans, but with elastic fabric on top. According to Victoria, skinny jeans, platform shoes, and bell-bottom pants have, and will return. She says, “All dressing customs are going to return because everything is used again, like the pants and the t-shirts. Also the same short skirts, and loose skirts all the way to your knees.”

During the 80s and 90s, many teenage boys would usually wear denim skinny jeans, long sleeve dress shirts, and t-shirts.

Some guys used leather jackets, like Felipe, who was a teenager during the 80s and 90s. He also says,“I would wear shirts that had buttons, opened from my chest to my belly button, but not everybody dressed like that. I also used glasses as a teenager, those glasses with the large plastic frame; they were very popular at the time, but what almost everybody

By Lorena G. used was skinny jeans, those were very popular.”

Bernardo, another teenager during the late 80s and early 90s, says, “I used to wear skinny jeans, and pants that were baggy from the top, and skinny from the bottom. Skinny jeans were very popular at that time period, as in recent time.

Today, many teenagers use skinny jeans, as we used to in the past, but really, mostly everything used before has returned.”

Bernardo thinks he dressed well because it was the fashion trend at that the moment. He says that he tried to imitate some of the artists at the time, because almost everybody dressed like that. Also, Bernardo and Felipe say that many people wore bell-bottom jeans, dressing suits, “mostly everybody would use them during the 80s,”semi-closed black flat shoes, and do their hair done backwards. They both agree that bell-bottom jeans and skinny jeans have returned, and have been worn by many people recently. According to Gabriel, a student that attends LASA, “the guys used to wear tight jeans, and now you see more loosely fit clothing.”

He says he dresses up the way he does because people

around him dress that way, so he dresses the way other people do to “fit in.”

LASA e-zine teacher, Brandi Richey, says that when she was a teenager, which was during the late 90s, she would usually wear Arizona pants; like recent ones, Nike shoes, vests, sweatshirts, and black flat shoes. Brandi says, “everybody loved Hilfiger, I didn’t really like them. In the late 90s, there were ugly, basic high heels, I didn’t really wear them. If I wore shoes, I wore black shoes, flat ones.” Brandi says that her hair, and most of the other teenage girls’ hair, would be done with curvy bangs, covering her forehead, all the way to her eyebrows. Girls would do their hair back with curls.

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“I wore my Letterman jacket throughout my whole high school years. Our shirts came to our waists; they didn’t really fit my body shape.” Even though Brandi didn’t love the clothes as a teenager, she says, “I think I didn’t have a sense of fashion.”

“really, most everything used before has returned.”

Brandi thinks that if kids went to thrift stores, they would usually dress with that type of clothes. Since many kids dress differently, she thinks that “fashion is a cycle,” like how those skirts going up to a little above the belly button, worn by many people in the 80s have

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returned, according to her, the way people dress hasn’t really changed in a big difference.

For Brandi, it’s hard to see what is coming back, because according to her, there are so many kids in modern time that dress in different styles, not really the “high fashion.”

Not everyone dressed or the same as the people around. However, since people have worn certain kinds of clothes more frequently, it has caused people to wear similar brands like Jordan, making them more popular in the society.

Because of what people have been seeing in the past years compared to present time, many people can say that fashion, or the style of dressing of many people has just been a cycle. That the dressing customs have somewhat returned, and so will present customs. Many styles and types of clothing may not completely evolve, but just change a little.

“Dressing customs are going to return because everything is used again,” says Victoria.

“Fashion is a cycle.”

Stalking the LASA Halls

By: Abby B.

2

1. Neutral jackets, such as this one, work because it is very warm, but is not bulky.

3 1

3. In this school, people tend to wear suede boots over skinny jeans when it ‘s chilly outside.

5 4

5. Skinny scarves such as his one are warm, but are easy to take off, which is good for the crazy Texas weather.

2. Verticle stripes elongate your torso, so wearing a shirt such as this one makes you seem taller.

This type of shirt in a vibrant color makes your clothing interesting, yet familiar.

4. During this cool weather, most people opt to wear their summer clothes. To keep warm, they pair the outfit with leggings, which helps them keep warm as well.

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Fight for Life.

Leather in the Fashion Industry.

By Cathy W.

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A

A hormone riddled cow is lifted by a cold metal crane and is sliced from chin to gut.

Organs splatter, and squeals of pain are heard from the animal. After this process, they cowhide is left, laying limp and lifeless. Question is; is it right to take those remains of the animal and use it to our advantage? My answer, yes.

Leather is a byproduct that doesn’t unnecessarily kill animals and uses less energy than cotton and is the result of people using their resources. Cotton only has one use, while a cow has various uses. Leather is produced by treating suitably prepared animal hides or skins taken from the cowhides from cows that had already been used for meat. Cows usually feed on grass, so little energy is needed to feed and take the leather from the cow. But, cotton needs to be picked and only has one main usage; for clothes.

Leather uses less energy and is more resourceful than cotton; a cow has more use than one.

Yes, leather does give run off, but some cotton and paper factories are more pollutant and have more run off. Essentially trying to say that the “leather dye is so pollutant” is an invalid argument against leather. Just recently, on September 22nd in Tejgaon, the capital of Bangladesh, toxic fumes from a dye factory caused fifty people to fall sick. The was reported in The Daily Star; a popular Indian newpaper.

Ironically, this dye factory was on the last floor of a residential structure, which still makes me question the actual difference between cotton and leather. Our big clothing companies such as Gap, Target and Wal-Mart dumped 22,000 tons worth of dark red dye into rivers. There have been serious consequences with this, such as fish dying and the river turning into “lifeless... sludge” according to The Wallstreet Journal. With synthetic dyes being toxic to humans, there is little difference between leather dye and synthetic dyes; they both have the same consequences.

Leather is a significant part of industrializing a county’s economy. To elaborate on that, lets take Turkey for example. Their economy relies 2.2% on leather, with 1.5% of that being manufacturing labor and 1.6% of that being Turkish total export earnings. 95% of leather is genuine, and of excellent quality. In 2003, Turkey exported a total amount 738 million dollars in “composed” leather garments and accessories.

All of this information came from The National Secretariat of Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Association. These countries are on a thin economic line between being industralizing and under industrialized/ under developed, If we

don’t buy leather products, we could have the potential to put people in industrializing countries in unemployment and deep poverty.

Leather doesn’t use as much energy as cotton to make it clothing, it helps developing countries industrialize, and has the same amount of pollutants as cotton dyes. So, with this in mind I question; why don’t people use more leather? I spring back to reality and realize; it’s still a dead animal and we are creeped out. And this is when I realize, the perception of leather needs to be radicalized within our society.

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CONVERSE

The fashionable shoe from 1908.

By: Abigail B.

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O

One of the most popular shoes today was invented in 1908. These shoes were first invented to be used in games such as tennis and basketball, but most people that wear them don’t know this. The shoes have a lot of history, but people now don’t know or care about the company or shoes past because they weren’t around when the shoes originated. These shoes are Converse.

Converse have evolved since they were first created.

People now a days think that their main use is just for fashion because they do not have as much of a structured support system. Some teenagers, like Allyson Shutt and Gabriella Petterson wear the shoes almost every day, while austinites Evan Daniel and Jeff Brinker wore them when they were kids. The times have changed, as have the shoes and the company. Converse were used specifically as shoes for exercising, and now are thought of as just for fashion.

The shoes have always started to be more prominent as students enter middle school. “I started wearing them in sixth grade because everyone else did and I thought I’d be cooler if I wore them too,” Allyson said.

Evan says, “Converse became really popular in the mid2000’s. It started with kids who were really into Indie Rock and now has spread a little further than that.” Evan and many other people were involved in the transition from when the shoes were mainly used for sports up until the 1950s into the age where they were seen as fashionable.

“I started wearing them in sixth grade because everyone else did and I thought I’d be cooler if I wore them too.”

Converse first started off by producing over 4,000 shoes a day, and were a very strong and well built company.

Because they started off with a very sturdy background, the company was getting stronger as there was a greater demand for these rubber souled, canvas shoes. They started off as being used for tennis, then in 1917, the shoes were also introduced to the sport of basketball. Slowly, Converse became thought of as a synonym for basketball, and became well known as basketball shoes. Then the shoes went into the hall of fame in basketball and created

many other designs for these shoes. Converse was actually one of the first shoes to do a bio-molecules lab to make the shoes have a more cushioned and structured support system in the early 1980’s. Then due to the transformation of the company, there was a thrive in business and was producing 7.5 million shoes a day. In 2001, the company announced that they were going bankrupt and owed $117 million. In 2003, Nike bought the company Converse for $305 million dollars which relieved them from their debt.

Gabriella knows nothing about the struggles that the company has faced, and says that she knows, “absolutely nothing,” about the history in general. People that wear the shoes now know little to nothing about the shoe’s past while people like Evan know more about it because they were around when the shoes were first becoming popular.

Jeff says, “[Converse] were used for basketball, and I’m pretty sure that I wore them when I went skateboarding. I know that when I started high school, I had to get running shoes because there was no support structure within the converse, or a very poor support structure.”

“My feet have hurt from converse. They hurt my feet sometimes when I exercise just because the shoes aren’t made to be exercised in. One of the consequences have been really bad ankle pains for a week or more, but I love the shoes anyways so I suffer through the pain for a few days,” says Alllyson, and that is an agreement between she and Jeff. The company was trying to develop a better support structure, but now, compared to the even more advanced structure, it can not be recognized.

With the new market, companies are folding regularly, and items like Converse have had an increase in price.

Jeff says that “Converse were $5 shoes, or maybe $10 or something like that, they were pretty cheap,” and now the shoes cost $40 or more.

Most people hold the opinion that they are overpriced because Converse is thought of as a brand name. “I don’t think they are [expensive] compared to other shoes,” says Allyson, while Jeff thinks “I heard that they were $40 now, I think that is ridiculous.” The different ideas are caused by the age difference.

Converse have been around for a long time, and have never really gone out of style. This may be because the shoes are very versatile, and seem to go with almost any outfit. “I don’t think they’ll ever go out of style because they have such a classic look. I think converse will be around for a long, long time,” Alllyson said. This view is held by many, and that is why the shoes have been so popular.

With all of the history of the company,it’s no doubt that they are popular shoes.

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n o i h s Fa

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nable io h s a f k o Lo others. g in lp e h while

By Lisa Hsi

$38.00

$19.99 From GAP.

For all (RED) products, 50% of profits are donated to the Global Fund to help combat HIV/AIDS in Africa.

From buildanest.com.

All profits are used to help artists in developing nations, to help bring them out of poverty.

$14.99

$65.00

$48.00 From thehungersite.com.

Every purchase helps provide food to the world’s hungry.

$30.00

$21.56 $36.95

$69.00 $79.00

From toms.com.

For every pair of shoes purchased, a pair is donated to a child in need.

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$24.00

$54.00

From shop.stjude.org.

All profits are donated to the St. Jude Children’s Research hostiptal for cancer.

$20.00

A Colorful World With Racism Something we should eliminate.

By Lorena G.

F

For many years, image is something that many people have cared about, mainly women and teenage girls. Every day different people are shown on magazines and on TV, many of the models being showned for fashion purposes are white skinned, and this has been the idea created in the audience as the perfect body for the woman. Considering race in the fashion industry has created competition between models, which could result in hatred between people, like the previous case between models Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell. Sometimes magazines would try to relate to a specific target audience, but for some people what the magazines show could be misinterpreted. For this reason magazines should be more careful in what they say or illustrate, because what they say can affect the audience’s behavior and feelings, resulting in competition, hatred, jealousy, and anger.

Competition can build up jealousy which can later result as a form racism or anger between people. Comparisons made between people can create competition and hatred, and it should stop.

In 2003, an article from Time by the author Michele Orecklin mentioned that a Somali supermodel named Iman had acknowledged that she had realized that she was set to fight against Beverly Johnsonin, American model, in 1975. The Bitch article cites Iman’s recollection of quickly acquiring knowledge “that magazines would only use one black girl at a time, and they were trying to create a competition between us.” From Iman’s modeling experience, models can start to recognize that competition should be disregarded in the modeling industry. That competition can create chaos between models, which can affect them by getting kicked out of their jobs, and loosing their positions. According to Tyra Banks, she came to conclusion that all women should unite and and stop acting competitive with one another, even though she recognizes that all women get jealous of each other at some point. Tyra Banks stated: “one of the reasons I wanted to do this show is because sisterhood is so important to me. I feel like women hate on each other... and it has to stop” Tyra Banks was also sick of hearing women talking about getting canceled for a modeling job, and tired of hearing comparisons between people. Tyra Banks was once, and is still a model, that has experience in the modeling industry. She knows that it’s impossible to avoid being jealous of other people, but instead of noticing other people, black and other models should try their hardest rather than criticize other models because of their race.

Sometimes it’s not competition, but that fashion directors choose models with the same race as them because they think there can be a greater

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media effect from the model’s body-image to be advertised. For many fashion organizations, the race of the models being used for advertisements depends on who the message is for. According to authors Prabu David, Glenda Morrison, Melissa A. Johnson, and Felecia Ross of a fashion modeling research article titled Body Image, Race, and Fashion Models Social Distance and Social Identification in ThirdPerson Effects, “when projecting perceived effects on others of the same or different race, both blacks and whites indicated that the media effects would be higher when the race of the model matched the race of the respondent.” However, when the fashion directors were rated by the apprehended media effects on themselves, black directors were found to be strongly considered to relate better with models of their same race. Whereas in white directors, there was no important difference in the way whites identified themselves with white or black fashion models. This research can demonstrate that some white fashion directors aren’t as racist as black, and other models think they are. It seems that people judge other people by the color of their skin, and because of that, they think they already know so much of how they actually are. For this reason, hatred is built up up towards fashion directors and other people in the world. Race shouldn’t be considered when working with someone, it should be disregarded. Maybe it might be considered that comparisons between people create better effects to the audience, because of the way people pick up the message, or the amount of effort that was put into the piece. During the 1970s, Caucasian models were mostly being used for advertising products.

According to Roger Talley, an experienced author in the modeling/fashion industry, plenty of fashion ads contain different ethnic models because they design the ads to “create an association between the brand and whatever people aspire to.” Several ad designers saw that the white women demonstrated the “higher class” person, therefore her success would encourage other ethnic models to be as successful. Many ad designers use a certain race for better communication of the message they are trying to show, regardless of the population each ethnic race represents. This shows that many fashion organization’s purpose isn’t to hurt the audience by showing a certain race to be considered the best, but by trying to communicate a point in a better way. The race demonstrated in ads shouldn’t offend certain races, but inspire them.

For magazines like Vogue, sometimes the race of the models being showned doesn’t inspire women to get involved in fashion activities, but actually create anger in women to believe that the normal,

beautiful woman is pretty, young, skinny and blond.

According to the magazine Vogue, “this magazine exists to inspire women,” but many fashion editors like André Leon Talley don’t agree. Talley stated: “I refuse to believe that vogue ‘exists to inspire,’ unless it’s designed to inspire us to anger.” “Several fashion editors think that instead of inspiring women, they create anger in women by showing that the pretty women isn’t old, that she is skinny, and white. While for the cases of designers, the color of black women is too strong for the color of the clothes. Designer Marc Jacobs says that it doesn’t matter what the models’ skin color is, that fashion “is a cycle,” a cycle where things “move on.” The idea of choosing a specific women for fashion, can be received by the audience as an insult, even if the organization’s purpose wasn’t to do that. If designers think that the color of the model’s skin doesn’t match with the product’s color, then just use the model for another product. Fashion is changing over the years, so it might be better to change from the customs to something different or new. According to a blog posted by the BBC, the L’Oréal company seemed to focus in choosing certain models because they were white, than because they were “worth it.” People think that they did this because french (white) women would most likely buy products from a white saleswomen. L’Oréal says that the “difference and diversity are a source of richness and creativity for all”, that they weren’t trying to discriminate, or be racist in any form.

“difference and diversity are a source of richness and creativity for all”

Because of what L’Oréal did, many women might of gotten offended.

Race should be disregarded, it should be considered for inspiration to create new things in the fashion industry.

Competition and hatred between models can be a cause of racism. Much of this competition and hatred built in women has been inspired by the types of models many organizations have shown, mostly interpreted by the audience as considering the blond

skinny woman as the perfect woman. All women are the same, there is just small unique aspects in each one that other people judge which creates competition. Race shouldn’t be an aspect to consider in modeling or in anything else, women should unite, respect each other, learn from each other, and have confidence in themselves because not everyone is the same, everyone is unique in a way.

The Red-Head Ecuadorian

By Lisa H.

A

As the New Year approached, Andrea Cañizares Fernandez Esguerra Muñoz prepared to crawl under the table. Twelve grapes in hand, her freckled face scrunched in thought, as she pondered the wishes she’d make when the New Year began. As soon as the clock struck midnight, her ginger hair disappeared under the table, and she began making her twelve wishes as quickly as possible. With each wish, she ate a grape, hoping the next year would bring her joy and prosperity. This yearly ritual is just one of many Ecuadorian traditions Andrea practices.

Unlike most other teenagers, Andrea’s life has been filled with a variety of cultures. She’s balanced two different lifestyles for her entire life. While born in America, her parents were both from Ecuador, meaning her home life consisted of Spanish and Ecuadorian traditions. Her family exchanged Spanish dialogue, consumed Fanesca soup at Easter, burned dolls on New Year’s, and stored pajamas under their pillows. Though some may find two cultures conflicting, Andrea’s thankful for the prevalence of Ecuadorian culture throughout her life.

“An Ecuador background has made me more cultured.

I like being able to speak two languages because it’s not as common and not something most people can do. I am more aware of the world around me and have had more learning experiences because of this.”

The sharing of two cultures remained one of few commonalities throughout Andrea’s life, as she moved regularly. In all, she’s lived in 8 states and 13 houses, a house for almost every year of her life. Andrea moved frequently because of her father, a historian, who continually received better job offers. Each offer came from a different university, and seemed far too good for the family to pass up.

“Every year we would pack our belongings into a U-Haul truck and drive away. We got really good at packing. It became a part of us, a part of our routine.” Eventually, the routine broke, when Andrea’s family moved to Austin. After climbing the ladder of promotions, her father achieved the highest position he could, and the family’s moving ceased.

Austin became the first place where Andrea really settled down. “It’s the largest amount of time we’ve ever stayed in one place. We decided we were going to stay here for a while, and finally got our dog.” Besides Austin, Andrea loved living in Buffalo, New York.

“We lived on this street where everybody was like a family. We would have block parties, and everybody on the street was the same age as us. After school we would always play outside on the front lawn. It really felt like a community.” Buffalo gave Andrea that “homey” feeling, something she often lacked since she moved frequently.

Even though moving had its disadvantages, Andrea believes “moving has made me stronger. I have gained experience that most people never have and I am thankful for that.” Moving has enabled her to see and be surrounded by people of different races, and be exposed to various cultures found in the U.S. Every city provided her with a different atmosphere, where she learned new things. Los Angeles contained worried thoughts of earthquakes and Chinese food. Heavy accents with elongated A’s and American patriotism comprised Boston. Austin subsumed a live music scene and barbecue. Being exposed to various environments has allowed Andrea to meet different people, and obtain a greater knowledge about cultures. But, even with its upsides, Andrea’s happy she’s not moving anymore.

“I’m happy to say that we’re not going anywhere.” She enjoyed the different environments as a young girl, but is glad she can attend one school for her high school years.

While no longer exposed to cultures through moving, Andrea’s void of different cultures has been fulfilled through traveling. Throughout her life, Andrea’s traveled to 11 countries, and stood on 4 continents. Andrea’s traveled so frequently because of her dad’s job as well, as he’s invited to a vast amount of conferences to speak at. On each trip, her dad will first give a lecture, analyzing Atlantic history and religious themes. After he speaks, they’ll spend the rest of their time sightseeing, learning about the culture of the city they’re visiting. Everywhere she goes, Andrea meets new people, and experiences different lifestyles.

Andrea’s favorite place to travel has been Sydney, Australia. Filled with great food and cute animals, Andrea loved the experiences she had.“I liked Australia because it was a great experience that I always wanted to do. I loved seeing the kangaroos, wombats, and koalas. And they had the yummiest food. The sausage rolls were so good. You should go there just for the sausage rolls.”

While Andrea’s enjoyed the places she’s traveled, she believes she’s “done with traveling for the most part”. Her dad continues to invite her on trips, but she’s started to decline, as she dislikes the process of traveling.

“When you get there, it’s fun, but ugh, it [traveling] just takes so much exhaustion out of you.” She enjoys staying home on holidays, rather than traveling to a foreign place.

But even though she may not enjoy traveling as much as she used to, she realizes the opportunities traveling, along with moving and growing up in a bilingual home has brought her. “I’ve been able to experience a lot of different cultures and I’ve had lots of experiences that I know a ton of people haven’t been able to go through.” Andrea treasures the opportunities and experiences her life has brought her. “I can’t imagine my life any other way.”

“I’ve been able to experience a lot of different cultures and I’ve had lots of experiences that I know a ton of people haven’t been able to go through.”

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Unified or

By: Abigail B.

W

When I was little, I always thought that uniforms were the coolest things. Of course, I was only six and loved to match someone whenever possible. I had a choice of what school I wanted to go to, so whenever I felt the need to wear a uniform one year, or needed a tougher education I could switch, but that wouldn’t be possible if they changed the rules. Instead of having the choice between uniform and non-uniform as I saw it, it would become a requirement to wear a uniform if they changed their policy. If the school boards pass this as a rule, then the choices I had as a first grader will become impossible for the children now entering grade school.

“Changing what people wear doesn’t solve violence issues, it just avoids the problem.”

It is not constitutional for a public school to force people to wear a uniform due to the First Amendment. The First Amendment says that the government is to make no rule “infringing on the freedom of speech”. Although this is not technically the government that is making the rules that the school is enforcing, the school board is the government for the school. An example of the school board limiting freedom of expression was the case of New Rider v Board where Native Americans were being forced to cut their hair. I In the end, the court refused to hear their case. This is another example of the school board trying to limit a student’s expression of who they are, and the government not listening to the students.

According to another article written about students rights on usconstitution.net, the Constitution “applies equally to everyone, regardless”, this is the major problem because although that is the law, the major question is in which situations. This reinstates the fact that a school board should not be able to make rules that limit students to their Constitutional rights.

Changing what people wear doesn’t solve violence issues, just avoids the problem. Schools have tried many things to remove violence from schools: metal detectors, locker searches, and banning things from classrooms says a college paper. These are already extreme circumstances, and enforcing a uniform is just taking things to the extremes. Although people may think that things have gone to the most extreme, things can always get worse. The main consequence that violence in schools has resulted in punishment to the students.

A main point in society is that school uniforms are more expensive for the students. At Target, a regular shirt costs about $5 while the cheapest uniform shirt from lands’ end costs about $15.50. This is not that bad if you look at it compared to the quantity of clothes that a parent would have to buy if there was no uniform enforced. Although this seems bad, most parents would rather let their children express themselves. On buzzle.com, a website about many things that are of interest to people, they bring up the fact that there are no uniforms available to buy at second hand stores which may be the place that they usually buy their clothes. Also, the parents would still have to buy the students clothes for the weekends.

When I was younger I dreamed of wearing uniforms, but once I was in school wearing one, I wanted to be out of them. This same thing will happen if the school districts enforced a uniform. People would regret it, and in the long run, even Austin would be influenced.

In Fredericksburg, Texas, a town only 2 hours away from Austin, the school board is trying to pass a rule that would force all of the students in that school district to wear a uniform. Having that so close to Austin also threatens the AISD school district.

The students should try to stick within the dress code more and focus on trying to work with the school district.

Also, the students should try to give better ideas to the school districts on what they can do that would benefact the students’ learning.

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Holiday Yummies Desserts that will make you jolly, without a belly that jiggles like bowl full of jelly

GINGERBREAD PEOPLE You’ll need For the batter 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 6 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/4 cup butter or stick margarine, softened 1/2 cup molasses 1 large egg white

For decorating the cookie...

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Making the dough is pretty easy.

Mix the flour and the following 7 ingredients in a bowl and set that aside.

Combine the granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat at medium speed for about five minutes. Add molasses and egg white to the sugar and butter mix. Beat well.

Add the flour mix and beat at a low speed until well-blended.

Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a ball, and wrap in plastic wrap.

Place in the refrigerator and chill for about an hour.

2) Now it’s time for some baking

Preheat oven to 350°.

Roll each individual half of the dough with a rolling pin 1/8-inch thickness on a heavily floured surface and cut with a cookie cutter.

Place gingerbread cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheets that’s coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350° for 8 minutes.

Remove them from the pan and place them on a place or cooling rack to cool 3) Last but not least, the decorating.

Combine the last ingredients into a bowl. Spoon into a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag with a tiny hole snipped in 1 corner of bag, and decorate your cookies as desired.

These gingerbread cookies are only 59 calories per cookie which saves you a ton of calories compared to a typical gingebread cookie which is 290 calories A typical gingebread cookie has 45 g of carbohydrates but these only have 11.9g of carbohydrates To top it all off, this cookie only has 38 mg in Sodium per cookie compared to an ordinary gingerbread cookie which has 180mg of Sodium per cookie

PECAN TARTS You’ll need For the sugar mix 1 cup packed light brown sugar 3/4 cup dark corn syrup 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons bourbon 2 tablespoons molasses 1 tablespoon butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs

For the rest 2/3 cup pecan halves 1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough Cooking spray

Don’t forget to Preheat oven to 350°!

1) First, it’s time to make the sugar mix.

Mix everything together except the pecans, pie dough and cooking spray. Now add in pecans.

2) Now, preparing the dough Roll the dough in a 13-inch circle and fit in into a 9-inch pie pan, coated in cooking spray. Cut the excess off with a sharp knife. Spoon sugar the sugar mixture into the pan.

3) Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until center is set.

Then cool completely and enjoy!

TIRAMISU You’ll need For the expresso drizzle 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 tablespoons instant espresso granules 2 tablespoons Kahlúa (coffee-flavored liqueur)

For the filling 1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened 1 (3.5-ounce) carton mascarpone cheese 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons Kahlúa

1) Lets start with the espresso drizzle.

Mix the first three ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.

Keep cooking for one minute with the occasional stir.

Remove the head, add and stir 2 tablespoons of Kahlúa .

Then cool completely.

2) Time for the filling.

Combine both cheeses in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth and whipped.

Then add 1/3 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons liqueur.

Beat all of these ingredients together until blended 3) Finally, the actual cake part.

Separate each individual ladyfinger and dip them into espresso drizzle so they’re moist, but not too soggy.

Arrange the lady fingers into straight rows.

Then, completely cover with filling, then lady finger , then filling etc Combine 1 1/2 teaspoons cocoa and chocolate Sprinkle evenly over top of filling.

Cover and chill for 2 hours.

A typical pecan pie slice is 500 calories. This pecan pie is 277 calories per slice A typical wedge of tiramisu is 600-1440 calories but a wedge of this tiramisu is only 260 calories!

For the rest of the cake 24 cakelike ladyfingers (2 [3-ounce] packages) 1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa 1/2 ounce bittersweet chocolate, grated