Features

Illustration: Kimi Moana Whiting (she/her)

The Research TERFS Have Always Needed

Lily Petrovich (she/they)

You know, when pondering what are the biggest problems or concerns on planet Earth, the identity of trans children is always up there among ‘most pressing’.... yeah nah, not really, or at all. That shit’s weird. Unfortunately, that’s not the way a lot of people think, and people have long been particularly concerned about trans youth (transgender children).

We all remember when trans youth became a contested topic, stories started popping up in the media. I remember when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s child came out as trans, and they fully supported the transition: the media went crazy. Everyone was asking questions. Should children be allowed to transition? How young is too young to let children explore their identity? Is allowing trans youth to begin transitioning a way we can prevent transphobia in adulthood? Or are adults enabling silly kid behavior with long-lasting consequences? I’m here to help answer some of these questions for you.

Before we get into the science of things, I’m going to explain what children ‘transitioning’ looks like, because there’s a lot of misconceptions about it. People assume that a child transitioning looks the same as an adult, which leads to people passionately against processes that children don’t even go through! For starters, trans youth can’t and don’t get surgery. In Aotearoa, and pretty much any other country, you need to be over 18 to have any gender affirming surgery. Children can’t get this, even teenagers can't get this (unless they’re 18 or 19).

Trans youth do not get put on hormones. They can be prescribed puberty blockers which stop the process of puberty from beginning or advancing any further. These effects are completely reversable – if you stop taking the blockers, you will begin going through puberty as you would have before.

Hormones and surgery are considered physical transitioning, trans youth only transition socially. This means generally changing your name and pronouns, dressing in different clothes, and changing your hair – but it looks different for everyone. Regardless of how you might socially transition, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from reversing all of this down the line. What this means is that even IF youth detransitioning (the process where one transitions a second time back to their ‘original gender’) was a common phenomenon (which it’s not), the only thing holding someone back is social perceptions.

Detransitioning is only a problem because people make it a problem. What harm can a kid experimenting with their style, name and pronouns really do? Kids go through so many different phases when it comes to style, and so many teenagers and young adults change their sexuality through life. We don’t seem to have problems with this. So why is something as sensitive as children’s gender identity not embraced, wherever their journey takes them?

Alright, now that we’ve established all this, let’s get into what the studies say. For too long, there has been no formal research around trans youth. Today, there’s awesome work being done by the TransYouth Project, started at a Princeton lab, which they describe as their “largest project and is the first large-scale, national, longitudinal study of socially-transitioned transgender children to date”.

The study has over 300 trans children aged three to 12 and is aiming to follow them for 20 years: they’re really doing the work the world needs.

Just over a month ago, they published a study that broke through to the news and had a really significant finding that only 2 per cent of trans children in their study ended up detransitioning. Now it is important to note that this study has only been measured over a five-year timespan, but it’s because that is all the time they’ve had to study so far. It’s the first published piece that looks into trans youth detransitioning, which has forever been generally the biggest argument against trans youth. It’s always been made out as something that will happen, and we didn’t really have the research to argue whether this was true or not, regardless of anecdotal experiences.

Maybe, if you’re super extreme in your beliefs, you might think this is still a concerning number. Being generous we can account the further 4 per cent of trans youth which the study found didn’t detransition, but went on to come out as nonbinary. So, let’s pretend that the number of trans youth who detransition is 6 per cent, while we’re evaluating if this risk is worth it for the other 94 per cent of kids who remain aligned with their identity.

Car insurance companies (in America) found that drivers will file a claim every 17.9 years on average: over the span of a lifetime, the average person will get into a car crash three to four times in their life. But we don’t question driving, we do it because we need to get places, regardless of an essentially 200 per cent chance of crashing at some point in your life. A 6 per cent chance of detransitioning is really nothing when you look at other statistics in different contexts.

What are the repercussions of a car crash? Debt, injuries, even death. What about trans youth ‘detransitioning’ (again, remember nothing is irreversible)? Maybe a bit of money spent on new clothes, and dealing with social judgement. That’s it. Do we want to ban the other 94 per cent of children from allowing themselves to find their sense of self before growing into an adult over a 6 per cent chance of not keeping that identity? Detransitioning in children, again, is only an issue because people decide it’s an issue.

A different study by TYP had really interesting results. Participants were sorted into three groups. There were trans youth, cisgender youth and the (also cisgender) siblings of trans youth. While there’s a whole network of noteworthy findings, the ones that stuck out to me the most were:

1. Throughout different locations, trans youth across the study showed signs of being trans before age three. 2. Trans kids would generally answer questionnaires the exact same as cisgender kids of their identity (i.e., trans girls answered questions the same as cis girls, and vice versa). 3. When it came to gender stereotypes however, trans youth and their siblings answered differently to the cisgender group, showing less support for gender stereotypes.

Another crucial finding from a different study found that parents’ views on gender stereotypes correlated with their children’s. This brings us to another key point. All research by TYP has been done with voluntary parents and their children.

TYP of course acknowledges this in all of their studies, because there isn’t really any other way to get participants. If they aren’t accepting, they’re probably not going to want their kid to join a 20year study on trans youth. What this means is that the effects of trans youth raised in transphobic households isn’t being measured, and really can’t be measured until they leave home. But I think it also reflects how crucial having accepting guardians are to a smooth transition.

We can assume that parents accepting of a trans child would likely raise them without forcing them into gender roles. They let their kids choose the toys they want. We can assume that transphobic parents police their children's identity to an extent, leading to far more confusion in gender identity, and a lower chance of realising their identity at a young age. This of course is me coming to conclusions based on ‘common sense’, but I really doubt that I’m wrong here.

Now some will argue that this is good and transphobic parents are doing their children right by letting them come to their own conclusions when they’re adults. Aside from the social trauma this brings, it also brings irreversible changes to their children. We argue about making irreversible changes to our trans youth, but, one more, hormone blockers are completely reversable: puberty, not so much. Whatever your thoughts are about ‘passing’ (when someone trans passes as the gender they identify with without ‘evidence’ or being trans), it is every trans person’s right to not feel dysphoric (unease felt as a result of body not ‘matching’ their gender) and a completed puberty cycle can make dysphoria far worse.

At the end of the day, trans youth are just children, and usually children at risk of bullying and mental illness, which means we need to be far more careful in debating these issues than we have been. To my dear conservatives, if you don’t support abortion in the name of saving children's lives, why are you so passionately against something harmless to the point where you’re fucking over the mental health of these children? Over 75 per cent of trans youth have some form of anxiety disorder, and 50 per cent have considered suicide. These are our children, and your transphobic views are the reason this statistic is so high.

The evidence we have so far proves that there is absolutely no reason to be transphobic and yet somehow there’s still a shit ton of transphobia in the world. Just a couple of weeks ago, Florida’s Medical Board voted to begin the process of completely banning all gender-affirming healthcare for minors (hormone blockers, for example, which we’ve established is entirely harmless and reversible) and have entirely banned Medicaid from covering any gender-affirming care for any trans patient. How are we still running in circles?

We need to all actively work together to destigmatize trans youth.

NO CHILD SHOULD EVER WANT TO KILL THEMSELVES

While yes; it’s an issue of social justice and identity, it’s beyond that. This is about the safety of our kids. Until we all learn to love those who might look or be different from ourselves, we will continue hurting children. So, this parting line is for any transphobe who thinks they’re concerned with their children's safety: You are the most dangerous thing in their lives.

Why Can’t We Stop Watching Reality TV?

Like many other children of the 2000s, reality television was a forbidden treat growing up, barred from my viewing whenever my mother was in the house. In the precious moments where I had the lounge to myself, I would steal the remote and turn the channel to MTV – eyes glued to the likes of Pimp My Ride or Parental Control.

Despite our parents’ constant warnings that reality shows will turn our brains to mush, these shows have simply become ingrained in modern culture and consequently our own consciousness.

This week, as my friends and I unpack the final episodes of Love Island UK, we discussed what draws us to continue watching reality television.

Is it really the mindless, thought-dulling content that

keeps us returning? Or is it the commentary on social and romantic relationships that allows viewers to find a sense of relatability and comfortability in the content?

Reality television is considered across scholarship to intrigue viewers through their voyeuristic desires to observe other people’s lives and personal moments. It is also considered that reality shows gain appeal through As we watch contestants engage in fights or drama, we observe and compare these to our own lives. Viewers are therefore able to debate with their friends how they would have handled the situation if placed in it themselves and critique the actions of contestants they don’t agree with.

This gives reality television a sense of analysis, whereby flatmates will sit around their lounge debating the latest questionable antics of their least favourite Love Island contestants.

While not only bringing forth a sense of critical thinking and analysis to reality television, this also provides bonding opportunities for friends, flatmates and families.

It is true that many will find themselves divided on favourite contestants and who should win, but this is overshadowed by the sense of comradery that is fulfilled through sitting down together every night to listen to the angelic voice of Iain Stirling protruding through your speakers.

appearing as an extension of fictional drama, driving positive feelings such as empathy and compassion in viewers.

We all acknowledged in our kōrero that we are drawn to this genre based on a sense of relatability; finding comfort in the shared experiences of ourselves and the contestants.

While mostly functioning as an distraction from our personal lives, reality shows also function to connect with our own experiences, pulling us in through the ability to observe and critique situations that many of us have experienced in our own lives. To be perfectly frank, though, it is apparent that a large sense of the appeal of reality television is the way we critique contestants’ actions, believing we would never act in the same manner ourselves. In this sense, reality

television makes us feel better about our own lives through the knowledge that there are people out there making even stupider decisions than we’ve made

ourselves, not only in the privacy of our own lives but broadcast to the entire world.

It was also acknowledged within our kōrero that reality television also offers often needed representation to marginalised groups – such as the LGBTQIA+ community that has very much found space within this genre.

The representation that these shows, such as Queer Eye or RuPaul’s Drag Race, offers is pivotal in a world that pigeonholes individuals into certain categories or identities.

It is noted across research that marginalised groups are more drawn to reality television because of the low intensity content shown within this genre. Where marginalised groups are constantly barraged with media onslaughts depicting their people or other minority groups in negative ways, reality television offers an escape from these real issues, letting viewers mindfully and positively engage in content.

In situations such as this, reality television is meeting the media needs of marginalised communities and offering positive representation for specific groups

or individuals. As mainstream media or news outlets so often depict minority groups based on problematic prejudice and bias, it becomes increasingly important for minority groups to define their representation for themselves.

With a range of reality television out there, individuals have the opportunity to play out a range of personalities or characters. This gives marginalised groups and individuals the ability to present themselves on their own terms and give representation to their communities in ways that they see fit. Reality television also affords viewers to become invested in characters and drama, with the knowledge that the outcomes of the character’s development on the show will not materialise in knock-on impacts for the viewer themselves. This therefore offers a unique opportunity for marginalised viewers to engage without sacrificing their emotional energy that is so often required from other media content.

In this sense, reality television can be an accessible way for many to cope with the stress of everyday life, and relax the mind after a long day or week of dealing with real issues. It’s therefore time to break the notion that

reality TV is a ‘guilty pleasure’ reserved only for those of low-intelligence and lack of taste.

Realistically, it serves a much needed function that supports the mental health and livelihoods of marginalised groups as well as providing entertaining content that has the potential to facilitate critical discussions and analysis.

Mason Tangatatai (he/him) and Jamie MacTaggart (she/her)

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But when life gives you four assignments, countless readings, flatting drama, and an insurmountable student loan, you take a step back from the chaos and crack open an ice-cold energy drink.

This age-old method has been helping tauira across Aotearoa find the motivation, the energy to power through a hard days mahi. And while the health effects may catch up to you later in life, no one can dispute the sheer beautiful feeling of caffeine coursing through your veins, giving you a midafternoon energy boost, or a sustained burn through the early hours of the morning. But when you approach that vending machine and are faced with a sea of energy filled options…. WHICH ONE DO YOU CHOSE.

Massive’s expert tasting panel (me and Jamie lol) bought six of the most popular energy drinks and did a blind taste test, ranking each energy drink on a scale from 1-10 in the taste and energy criteria. The results may shock you.

1st - Blue V

Although this was a blind taste test, as soon as that sweet sweet smell of Blue V hit our nostrils, we all knew we were in for a lifealtering experience. Blue V is nostalgic, Blue V is fun times with your whānau, Blue V is the friend that hypes you up before going out. There isn’t a waking moment Blue V isn’t at the forefront of our minds. If you disagree with this, you are wrong.

Taste: 10/10 Energy: 10/10

2nd - Rockstar

When I was in the supermarket buying energy drinks, I was ashamed to be seen in public with Rockstar. But, to my surprise, the drink that I wouldn’t dare to touch my teenage years held a simple, yet pleasant fruity taste. Rockstar transported me to the Hawkes Bay vineyards. Its delicate flavour, matched with the subtle aroma had me questioning whether an energy drink, or a fine pinot gris was in my cup. Big ups Rockstar, I’ll never doubt you again

Taste: 8/10 Energy: 6/10

3rd - Red Bull

The smooth tasting notes of pine and oak wood, mixed with the aroma of your favourite nightclub at 2am. Red Bull is a student classic that has lasted the test of time. Red Bull is reliable. It isn’t the best tasting, it isn’t the best smelling, but boy, does it give you wings. Red bull is a no-nonsense drink that gets the job done.

Taste: 6.5/10 Energy: 8/10

4th - Monster

Similar to its trashy looking counterpart, Monster was a pleasant surprise. It felt fresh, a new exciting flavour that piqued our curiosity. But, after approximately two sips' our mouths were lined with a sugar content enough to make a diabetic faint. Monster is your loud friend. A good time at the start of the night, but soon enough a sour taste is left in your mouth. Brush your teeth kids.

Taste: 6/10 Energy: 8/10

5th - Mother

Unlike its namesake, Mother has zero paternal qualities. Mother is brutal. The iron fist of energy drinks. Mother has no time for your problems and will put you on your ass quicker than you can get any mahi done. Its taste doesn’t do much for the sophisticated palates of the world either, its tasting notes of blood, sweat and tears left us all wishing we included Musashi in this energy drink review instead.

Taste: 4/10 Energy: 9/10

6th - Live +

Possibly the biggest disappointment of the list, Live + finds itself in dead last. This was a shock. For generations Live + has found itself in Red Bull’s shadows, but little did we know it would end up behind all the other energy drinks in the field. I don’t want to bag on this drink too much as I know it holds a place in the hearts of kiwi kids. Instead, I ask you all to pour one out for Live +. Taste: 2/10 Energy: 3/10

That concludes Massive Magazines’ LUCRATIVE energy drink review.

We sincerely hope this list gives you all the knowledge to make an informed decision when you’re hunting for a burst of energy. An honourable mention to those that didn’t make our list.

Especially the sugar free versions, god speed to you.

How the Cost of Living Crisis is Impacting Students

Elena McIntrye-Reet (she/her)

The cost of living crisis is one that’s been brought up constantly in the post-lockdown world. Inflation is at an all-time high, with the UK expected to go into fullon recession within the next year. The solution to this crisis has been debated heavily, with the Opposition suggesting tax cuts that would do nothing to help poor people and instead help out the people at the top. Part of the Government's solution was to put money directly into the pockets of those that need it. Over the course of three months, most people that earn under $70,000 a year will be paid $350 to help ease the pressure caused by rising costs.

The rising costs countries all over the world are seeing are from a perfect storm of economic issues. Inflation globally is high as a result of Covid-19, supply chain issues, and, of course, the invasion of Ukraine.

“There is no easy fix for the cost of living, as we cannot control global inflation, but we do see it as our job to provide targeted and meaningful support to help take the hard edges off for Kiwis feeling the pressure through the worst of it,” Jacinda Ardern said in her press release about the payments.

$350 could be used effectively in lots of places. It could get you one week of rent in Mount Victoria, three and a half full tanks of petrol, or one head of lettuce at New World. I put my first payment straight into my savings account, which I immediately transferred to spend on getting drunk. I’m aware of my privilege, and I know the cost of living payment will be a relief for many people who are struggling to keep up with rising costs.

Students are being hit especially hard by the cost of living, supermarket prices are hitting the roof and are making huge profits as a result. Earlier this year, Countdown announced that they were freezing the prices of ‘essential items’ to help with rising costs. However, the essential items are not things you’d expect a struggling household to include on their shopping lists. Toilet paper isn’t included, but fresh salmon is. This bit of performative assistance doesn’t do much to help people that are trying to find ways to put food on the table for themselves and their families. Food prices rose nearly 7 per cent in a year, and freezing the price of desserts does nothing to help.

Sam, a third-year student at Massey, says that managing limited student loan funds is becoming harder as prices continue to rise.

“Budgeting for food shopping, transport costs and rent is a challenge, even if you’re doing all the right things. I try to buy in bulk, keep the freezer stocked and plan out my meals; but if anything unexpected comes up that week you’re basically fucked. I’ve had to ask my parents for money a few times, and saving for anything is completely out of the question.”

Sam says he knows people who are choosing to skip meals, or not turn on the heater in order to save money.

“It’s dehumanising, even though we’re exhausting ourselves to work and study it’s still not enough to be comfortable. I sometimes skip lectures so I can go to work because I don’t have a choice.”

StudyLink has increased their living cost loan to $281.96 a week to reflect how expensive it is to be alive. During my last year of uni it was $242. This extra amount will be helpful in the short term, but it means students will have an even heavier student loan to work through when they graduate. First-years who take maximum living costs out and are doing a three-year degree will have roughly $4,500 more loan to pay off than people who graduated in 2021. Obviously, the cost of living crisis is not going to be solved by me furiously doing inaccurate maths equations. However, it’s also pretty obvious that more needs to be done to help the people who are really struggling.

On a lighter note, I have some examples of what some people spent their first cost of living payments on.

Mason, Massive Editor, doesn't remember what it went towards.

“I haven’t spent mine on anything specific. I imagine it probably covered the four nights I got Uber Eats last week.”

Fourth year student Eloise decided to spend hers on Wellington on a Plate burgers.

Ash, a recent graduate, used hers to pay off her Afterpay.

First-year Daniel used his payment to buy two 50 bags and a double cheeseburger.

Inflation supposedly peaked in June, so fingers crossed prices start to fall shortly and we can all take a breath and be able to afford a block of cheese again.

The next cost of living payment will arrive on 1 September, and should hopefully provide some more relief for those that need it, and buy Mason some more Uber Eats.

THE END IS NEAR!

Oh God. We’re almost there, third-years.

Here’s a hot take – us mad-lads who started in 2020, be it in person or distance learners, have not had an easy run as the “Covid class” or whatever they’re calling us at the moment. Surprisingly, viruses running amok and causing us to adapt every few weeks is NOT an ideal situation for starting university! Go figure!

I feel like if we could roll back the clock, many of us would’ve chosen to start either the year prior or post when we actually began, but at the same time I think we all know we wouldn’t change a damn thing. Sure, it’s been stressful, but it’s also been… unique? And now we’re reaching the end.

We be running up that road, be running up that hill, be running up that building (ye-yo).

And now that we are so close to the end, it just feels wrong. Like, three years have flown by, we’re more in debt than we were but also have a shit tonne more knowledge and life experience? Overall, it can be very easy to look back on the last three years and just feel jaded about it all. It’s hard not to feel a sense of doubt, or wonder if we did the right thing by even attending uni in the first place.

It’s like being in a constant state of “what did I forget this morning?”, except the thing you forgot was to go to class almost six months ago and now you’re wondering if that one class you missed is going to be the one to cost you your job or postgrad down the line.

And let’s not forget that the motivation is just gone. We’re all worn out by three years of this. Gone are the bright-eyed youngsters who signed into the portal all those moons ago, they’ve all been replaced by red-eyed, sleep deprived devils who have caffeine for blood and noodles for organs.

But that’s why we all just gotta keep on pushing. Being so close to the end makes us question if anything was worth it and if we should just stop before the finish line. It would be so easy to just pack up now, say “I’m done”, reintegrate into a semi natural routine, and actually sleep in without feeling guilty for once. But if we did, then those bright-eyed youngsters were worn down for nothing. We gotta keep pushing. For them.

Oh, the Exhaustion!

I don’t think many of us are going to miss those Monday 9ams, be it distance or on campus. Even when you have the option to stay in bed and watch your class on Zoom, it’s just so damn difficult bringing yourself to pull out the laptop and watch along.

I guess there’s the whole “it’s hard because it’s worth it” argument, but honestly, fuck that noise! Who cares if it’s worth it, it’s painful at times! Especially when we find ourselves in the penultimate moments of the semester, it’s a mission to just do the work. Almost feels like as soon as our breaks start, they end, and then we’re just more tired than when they began. By the time we get to here, I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re sapped of all motivation. And despite not wanting to, having absolutely zero desire to keep going, we just keep marching on as if we’re all doing just fine. The only issue is, by this point doing “just fine” is not really fine at all.

Mental Health Tingz

Without sleep and motivation comes the depresso espressos, and (despite how cracker that name is) the depresso espressos are not fun at all. Everything just feels fucking shit, we don’t wanna be at uni anymore. First-years, look forward to feeling like this 24/7 once you reach the point us third-years are at.

Of course, I’m joking.

But still, it gets rough. And sometimes the roughness just kinda gets rougher and rougher, without seeming to end. And the only thing we can do is take time away from our work. And when you reach the point where your body is screaming at you to lie the fuck down and not do anything, just listen to it. Our lecturers would rather we sit about playing God of War 3 (or whatever you do when you’re not feeling great) than suffer through exhaustion while we try to complete endless amounts of assignments.

I gotta be honest, I’ve forgotten what I set out to say in this segment. I just hope whoever is reading this knows they’re doing so well despite all the BS the past few years have thrown at us. If you’re still here doing your degree amongst what is basically the apocalypse, you’re killing it and I will buy you a cookie if I meet you.

SWEET MOTHER MERCY! IT’S THE REAL WORLD!

And what comes next for those of us finishing degrees in the next few weeks? That’s right! Actually having to go out into the world and… I don’t know… pay taxes?

What the heck even is being a functioning adult?

Anyway, this point in uni life brings out some bad feelings. I want to look at one in particular however – the whole idea of “what am I if not a student?”.

For the past three to four years, so many of us have been doing uni. Like, that’s our thing. We might have the odd job here and there, maybe we play in a band, perform in a theatre group, or play sports; but at the center of it all is our studies. The past years have seen us slowly and steadily becoming who we want to be, building our identities around the study we do and the fields we aim to go into. The idea of doing anything other than uni is just plain scary. Like, how do we go from this to doing a nine to five, or a placement, or just a job to bide time till we figure out how we’re going to use the degree and skills we’ve learnt?

Real world shit! It’s awful to think about!

But I guess it’ll all be worth it?

Very much probably?

Honestly, it’s so hard to be hopeful when everything is so uncertain. Who would’ve known that we’d be at this point when the decade started? We don’t even know where we’re going to be in the next week, let alone next year. Ultimately, the future is shrouded in fog, but at least we know we’ve made it through three to four years of study, grown the fuck up along the way, and become new versions of ourselves that those youngins would be absolutely stoked with.

So, to end this rant or whatever you want to call it –

You’re doing well, we ain’t got long left.

It’s all going to be so worth it.

Only a few more weeks, and then we can finally get that well deserved sleep in.

But let’s be honest, we’re not sleeping in. When this is done it’s just gonna be pissups without the consequence of Stream telling us we have overdue work in the middle of a party.

worst of the worst movie reviews

Every week I’ll be watching the worst rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes so you don’t have to. I’ll be doing one every week until the final issue where I’ll review the worst movie ever made (according to a random article I found). What are my qualifications you ask? I took Introduction to Media Studies in my first year and got a B average, so I think I know what I’m talking about. I’m going to watch each of these movies and decide whether it is rightfully on the worst movies of all-time list, based on my expert opinion.

Elena McIntyre-Reet (she/her)

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