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Kate Gleason College of Engineering Celebrates National Engineers Week Feb. 23-27 Monday Hawaiian Shirt Day Pick up your raffle ticket, your orange ribbons and stickers in these places: KGCOE Dean’s Office KGCOE Electrical & MicroE Dept. KGCOE Computer Engineering Dept. KGCOE Student Services KGCOE Mechanical Engineering Dept. WE@RIT Microsystems PhD Office KGCOE Industrial & Systems Biomedical Engineering Dept. Chemical Engineering Dept. Tuesday Student Club Day 1-4 PM Popcorn, 2-3 PM
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Club Shirt Day Erdle Commons
Engineers Rock the World
Wednesday Ugly Sweater Day A Taste of Engineering Fireside 11 AM – 2 PM Co-op Partners in the food and beverage industry display how engineers work in their field Thursday Co-op Employer Shirt Day Co-op Day, 11 AM-2 PM Erdle Commons Coffee Hour, 3-5 PM
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REPORTER EDITOR IN CHIEF Alyssa Jackson PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Joan McDonough
ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Nathaniel Mathews COPY EDITOR Amanda Moon NEWS EDITOR Taylor Derrisaw TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Natasha Amadasun LEISURE EDITOR Gino Fanelli FEATURES EDITOR Nicole Howley SPORTS EDITOR Alexander Jones VIEWS EDITOR William Hirsh WRITERS Taylor Derrisaw, Ty Claus, Gino Fanelli, Billy Gerken, Nathaniel Matthews, Nicole Howley, Jake Krajewsk, Alexander Jones, Kevin Zampieron
ART ART DIRECTOR Rachel Fox ONLINE ART DIRECTOR Jordyn Carias SENIOR DESIGNER Teysia Parks STAFF DESIGNERS Liz McGrail, Rachel Fox, Teysia Parks, Alexandria Bates, Annie Wong, Halli Rosin, Morgan Reid
CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS Jordyn Carias, Teysia Parks, Jenny Kyong Ah Lee, Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, Maliya Travers-Crumb
PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO EDITOR Kim Bubello CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
DO THESE LEGGINGS MAKE MY BUTT LOOK NAKED? Several days ago a Buzzfeed article was circulating throughout my Facebook newsfeed with the title “A Christian Blogger Stopped Wearing Yoga Pants for Her Husband so She Wouldn’t “Entice” Men.” Aside from the incredibly long, horrible title and the fact that it irks me that some people consider Buzzfeed to be a credible news source, this article really bothered me. Veronica Partridge, the subject of this article, explained that she was chatting with some friends about leggings and “… how when women wear them it creates a stronger attraction for a man to look at a woman’s body …” thus increasing the amount of objectification that they may feel. She then talked with her husband, who admitted that leggings make it more difficult for him not to stare at women. After these two chats, Partridge decided to only wear leggings at home and not in public so that she wouldn’t cause anyone else to have impure thoughts. My issue with this is not the decision itself, but the reasons behind it. Nobody should have to make decisions about their body to appease others, and they certainly shouldn’t do it under the pretenses that other human beings are incapable of controlling themselves. You are human and thus have the power of self-control. You are able to make conscious decisions about how you act and react in public. Partridge, in her decision, is perpetuating the idea that my body is responsible for someone else’s actions, and it is not. Men and women can control where their eyes fall, where they stay and where their minds wander. Your body is yours to do with what you wish. You can choose to dress it or not dress it (see pages 7, 22 and 26). You can choose to cover it in tattoos and piercings, to fill it with glitter (page 23), to adapt it to become superhuman (page 12) or to beat it up in a roller derby (page 24). If Partridge decided to give up wearing leggings because they made her uncomfortable then I would have no issue with her choice. The part that bothers me is that people, primarily women, are still making clothing related and other personal decisions based on what others might do or think, and that is just mind boggling to me. Everyone should be able to wear whatever pants they want without worrying that a large population will begin to picture them in a sexualized manner. Shouldn’t that just be common decency? The solution? Maybe we should all just respect each other’s rights and space. If you wouldn’t want someone staring at you picturing you naked and having sex with you, then maybe you shouldn’t do that to others. If you wouldn’t enjoy being whistled at, shouted at or harassed on the street, then maybe you shouldn’t do that either (page 14). I can’t fathom why it’s 2015 and we’re still having trouble with this. We’re all fellow human beings, if you want to act like a dog drooling after a piece of meat because of some leggings, go to the pound.
Michael Murtaugh, Rachel Fox, Liz McGrail, Lloyd McCullough, Kristen McNicholas
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Reporter Magazine is published monthly during the academic year by a staff comprised of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. Business, Editorial and Design facilities are located in Room A-730, in the lower level of the Campus Center. Our phone number is 1.585.475.2212. The Advertising Department can be reached at 1.585.475.2213. “I just want to have enough variety so that it’s not all about sex or poop.” -N.H. The opinions expressed in Reporter do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute. Reporter is not responsible for materials presented in advertising areas. Reporter takes pride in its membership in the Associated Collegiate Press and American Civil Liberties Union. Copyright © 2014 Reporter Magazine. All rights reserved. No portion of this Magazine may be reproduced without prior written permission.
TA B L E O F cover photography by Michael Murtaugh table of contents photography by Rachel Fox
6
THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION AND EXERCISE
7
FIGURING IT OUT A glance at figure modeling
10
A HAIRY WORLD Hair and perception of others
Breaking bad habbits. Take care of your body now
9
AYL The body
12
14
BIOHACKING Technology and the human body
HEY CUTIE, COME HERE, WHATS YOUR NUMBER? Cat calling and street harassment
4 THE BODY ISSUE
CONTENTS 16
20
22
PROSTITUTION: THE NEW AND OLD Prostitution in an internet-ruled world
PROSOPAGNOSIA A faceless disorder
A NUDIST GUIDE TO WINTER Staying warm but stil true nude
23
I TOOK GLITTER PILLS TO MAKE MY FECES SPARKLE
26
RIGHTS WITHOUT FREEDOM Female toplessness
Glitter Pills: everything is a lie
24
ROLLER DERBY: GIRLS RULE A look inside to roller derby community
27
28
31
FAT ACCEPTANCE: ACCEPTING WHAT? Seeing obesity differently
WORD ON THE STREET What do you think is the first thing people notice about you?
RINGS “My whole life is a mid-life crisis”
THE BODY ISSUE 5
IMPORTANCE OF
NUTRITION EXERCISE
&
by Taylor Derrisaw | photography by Liz McGrail | design by Liz McGrail
C
ollege-aged youth often forget how important it is to stay healthy; we feel invincible, untouchable and in control of every aspect of our lives. However, when it comes to exercising and staying healthy, this may not always be the case, especially as time goes on. Seann McArdle, the Fitness Lab coordinator at the Student Life Center (SLC), said he believes that exercise and nutrition can play a pivotal role in students’ lives.
quences, according to McArdle. “[When you’re younger], you don’t tend to notice the little things that might creep up: aches and pains, maybe a little excess body fat. As we age, our capacity diminishes,” he said. McArdle, as well as the other members of the Fitness Lab staff, advises students to make healthier choices now, before their abilities erode. Bill Brewer, director of the Exercise Science program, reinforced this point. “The decade of one’s 20s is when your metab-
cate and encourage students on topics within the exercise and nutrition fields are available. Nicole LeGault, a second year Mechanical Engineering Technology major, said she considers exercise to be an incredibly crucial part of her life. “I try to work out five days a week. It’s a stress reliever for me. You can’t be consumed [by] books all the time.” Her motivation comes from self-improvement. “I just want to get stronger,” she said. LeGault is just one of the many students
“A STUDENT WHO SEES THE WELLNESS REQUIREMENTS AS AN OBSTACLE IS REALLY CUTTING THEMSELVES SHORT” “In my mind, [exercise] is equally as important as academics,” McArdle said. “My hope is that students make the connection between maintaining what we define as ‘good overall wellness.’” He said he believes that if students maintain a healthy sense of wellness across multiple dimensions such as academic, physical and social, they’ll have a more successful career and life ahead of them. McArdle acknowledged a certain pitfall that students might encounter when trying to factor healthy habits into their daily lives: convenience. “In most instances, the nearest source of food is not high quality food,” he said. “Students have to make decisions to find healthier choices to eat.” Exercise, nutrition and a healthier diet can help to bolster a student’s physical wellness. Unhealthy life choices will catch up with those who choose to ignore their conse6 THE BODY ISSUE
olism is most adaptable to producing a change from an activity … This is why we try to encourage students to develop these habits now.” Both Brewer and McArdle recognize and stress the benefits that students can reap from the Wellness Program. “A student who sees the wellness requirements as an obstacle is really cutting themselves short,” Brewer said. “[They are] losing a big opportunity to have physical fitness be a huge part of their daily activities.” There are multiple services that the university offers to students to help them stay healthy. McArdle coordinates the multitude of personal trainers and fitness staff that help students set goals and work toward a healthier lifestyle, known as the Wellness Instructional Program. Individual and team intramural and club sports are also available for those who wish to pursue an athletic program, and numerous events and courses designed to edu-
who work at the SLC. As a supervisor, her job is to make sure students use the equipment properly and to complete tasks needed around the facility. LeGault said she feels as though working at the SLC has helped foster her interest in and knowledge of exercise. She said she incorporates many strategies in order to stay healthy, including getting enough sleep and eating healthy; she mentioned that making a protein shake is a huge part of her exercise and nutrition habits. At a young age, it’s very hard to imagine the consequences a sedentary lifestyle can have, so it is important to develop and maintain healthy lifestyle choices now before the aging process really starts to catch up with us.
by Ty Claus | illustration by Jordyn Carias | design by Rachel Fox
FIGURING IT
OUT T
here’s a room in the Hungerford Building that is filled with images of nude women and men hanging from the walls. Although this may give it some similarity to an adult store, it is anything but. It’s the studio of the Group in the Loop, an organization of artists who have maintained the tradition of figure drawing and painting for three decades now, where they often create images based on models posing in the nude. It is a tradition that is the opposite of conventional, because here, the nude form, which is so easily sexualized and reacted to with unease, is looked at quite differently. Michelle, who works as one of the groups’ models, talked about why she started modeling. “I was trying to think of myself as not just a sexual being,” she said. Citing the media’s portrayal of women as the cause. “As a young woman, it’s hard not to do that.” The experience of being “naked in front of strangers” for art rather than for a sexual encounter helped give Michelle a new perspective on her own body, she explained. Artists and members of the Group in the Loop Axel Kairies, Irv Pudetti, Todd Ryan and Enrique Viturro commented on what got them interested in the art form. “Figure painting is the most difficult and elevated part of the arts,” Viturro said. “You have to capture the soul of the person,” he explained. “Something that is hidden for other people.” Drawing the human figure is one of the most difficult and intimate aspects of the arts. The artist’s search to blend his or her own style with the essence of the subject only makes the art more challenging. “You may succeed, or not,” Viturro said. The artists at the Group in the Loop share the experience of progressing, finding their style and reaching new milestones through the ups and downs along the way. “Not every week is the same,” Ryan said. “Some of them
are terrible, and other days things are happening.” While some people find the human form beautiful and relish the challenge of recreating it, many are put off by it. The artists mentioned some of the apprehension facing the art of figure drawing and painting. “A lot of people won’t look at it,” Pudetti said. Why people are made uncomfortable by the human body is difficult to say. Whatever the reason, though, there are certainly some benefits to getting comfortable with the human figure.
“IT STRENGTHENS YOUR ABILITY TO SEE,” KAIRIES SAID. Pudetti shared a similar opinion, “I can see things in other people that other people don’t see,” she said. Figure drawing sessions usually last for hours, during which at some point the artists begin to “see” more than what they are looking at. They pick up the facial expressions of their subject, the faintest movements, the tiniest aspects of a person, what makes them tick, and through their studies they understand a little more about human nature. Ryan put the concept into perspective. “We’re looking at people more than just like when you walk down the street and see a thousand people, but you actually see nobody ... You
study somebody and you look at them in ways you don’t look at normal people.” This study of the human form is accompanied by an appreciation of the human body that is completely different from what is exposed to us on a day-to-day basis. In figure drawing, the body is no longer a sexual object or a vessel meant to carry us around, but rather a window into a person’s character. It is this appreciation of the human body that has helped Michelle conquer the portrayal of women by the media and look at her body from a different perspective. Figure drawing is about more than the beauty of the human body, it’s about seeing the human form in a new light and trying to understand what makes us who we are.
THE BODY ISSUE 7
8 THE BODY ISSUE
AYL
THE BODY STREAM OF FACTS THE AVERAGE HEALTHY ADULT PRODUCES UP TO HALF A GALLON OF SALIVA PER DAY
by Gino Fanelli | illustration by Teysia Parks | design by Teysia Parks
IN THE CHINESE TAOIST BELIEF SYSTEM, SALIVA IS CONSIDERED TO BE A SACRED, LIFE-GIVING FLUID.
WHEN TRADITIONAL INTRAVENOUS HYDRATION FLUIDS ARE UNAVAILABLE, COCONUT WATER INJECTIONS CAN WORK IN A PINCH.
IN RECENTLY UNCOVERED MEDICAL RECORDS, HITLER IS REVEALED TO HAVE TAKEN INJECTIONS OF BULL SEMEN IN ORDER TO INCREASE HIS STRENGTH AND VITALITY.
IN A SHOCKING DISPLAY OF OVERLY-ZEALOUS PICKUP LINES REFLECTING REALITY, SOME STUDIES SUGGEST INGESTING SEMEN HAS A VARIETY OF HEALTH BENEFITS, INCLUDING CURBING MORNING SICKNESS AND AIDING DEPRESSION. THE BODY ISSUE 9
A HAIRY WORLD by Gino Fanelli | photography by Gino Fanelli and Rachel Fox | design by Rachel Fox
Hair is insanely weird. That may seem like a rambling, nonsensical high school stoner remark sandwiched between “Do we have any ice cream?” and “Family Guy is the greatest show of all time”; however, consider that hair may be the foremost physical characteristic that we take into account when evaluating the social standing of a person. Everything, from the amount of hair on a person’s head to its color, can indicate age, ethnicity, affiliation with subcultures or traditional gender roles. In fact, a recent Harvard study has shown that the human brain is wired to recognize a person’s race and sex before any other characteristic. In fact, the brain creates information of what gender and race a person might be so quickly that it takes a moment for meaning to even be applied to these recognitions. In other words, before we’re even able to process a person’s face, we’re pre-wired to recognize the social implications of what a person is immediately—and hair is a key indicator of these factors. However, it’s 2015. Hair, like most things, has grown to eschew typical roles of gender and race, leaning more toward unique self-expression. No longer is there a social expectation for women to hold medium to long hair styled in a professional manner, just as men are not expected to have short, cleancut locks. Much like tattoos and piercings, hair that deviates from the social norm is becoming more and more accepted in modern culture. To paint the picture of the nature of contemporary hair, we spoke to some people who are rocking the craziest of styles. Jason Bragg, 21, donned a neon-green-dyed mohawk for many of his teen years. After 10 THE BODY ISSUE
taking a job at Bill Gray’s restaurant in Rochester’s Seabreeze area, Bragg was ordered to shave the mohawk in order to fit a more professional image. In defiance, Bragg chose to
allow his hair to grow naturally without so much as a trim. Three years later, Bragg wears a massive crop of of black locks that hang between his shoulder blades, sometimes tied back into a ponytail and other times thrown wildly from shoulder to shoulder. “I mean, I wanted to get it done into dreadlocks at some point,” Bragg said. “I still kinda want to, but for now I’m just letting my hair be hair.” While Bragg has considered going back to his signature mohawk, for now he’s staying with the long-haired style. “Right now, I’m pretty much just letting it grow to as long as it can get.” Matt Aurand, 19, has grown his hair for the past four months without any sort of styling or maintenance. Aurand’s head displays a disheveled cataclysm of wild blonde hairs growing out in all directions. “I just kinda let it grow,” Aurand said. “I don’t like getting my hair cut or anything like that, so I just let it do what it wants. I’m really not a big fan of brushing or styling or anything.” Alexis Clemens, a fourth year Industrial Design major, currently rocks a crop of ne-
Jason Bragg by Gino Fanelli
Alexis Clemens by Rachel Fox on-green hair atop her head. “I like to switch it up a lot,” Clemens said. “I’ve had it pink, other shades of green, blue, red, rainbow. Pretty much everything at one point or another. I really don’t like how my normal hair looks, because I’m mixed race and because my complexion doesn’t really match it.” Clemens, like many who go the route of dyeing their hair eccentric colors, takes a DIY approach to the process. “I’ve had it done professionally a couple times. One of the times, the girl made it way too dark and emo-looking,” Clemens said. “So
I usually just do it myself. I really like this stuff called RAW.” However, with the process of DIY hair treatment comes a certain set of dangers. “I’d like to give a quick PSA to anyone who’s planning on dyeing their hair in a dorm for Clorox Clean-Up Gel with Bleach. It’s the best cleaner ever, because you will dye on the walls, in the sink, around the tub drain,” Clemens said. “I like to read and take baths a lot, and at the end the tub where my head was just ends up covered with whatever color I had the time.” The general question people have when
they encounter hair along the lines of Clemens’ is the resounding question of “Why?” to which Clemens has a clear response: “Besides not liking the natural colors of my hair, it’s just fun,” Clemens said. “It’s usually the first thing people notice about me, and it’s just a way to be unique and express myself. When I was younger, I always had people wanting to touch my hair because it looked curly and soft. Everyone who doesn’t have curly hair thinks they want curly hair. They don’t. I’m growing it out right now, but it’s always such a hassle to have curly hair that knots up.” Consider, just for a second, that all of your social interactions may be predicated by someone evaluating who you are based on the keratin follicles hanging off of your scalp. That’s pretty mind-blowing, isn’t it? It’s not something we can exactly avoid, as it’s mostly just a knee-jerk reaction, much like how people immediately make assumptions about who a person is based off of the clothes they wear or the company they keep. However, making assumptions by looks is becoming an increasingly dated concept, if it was ever a valid one—which leads us to the physical embodiments of the break from the traditional ideas of how a person should look. Yes, that may sound melodramatic, as these are simply unique hairdos, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an inherent value when someone uses their hairstyles to defy the ordain. Traditional ideas of professional looks, gender roles and racial representation are weird. And hair is fucking weird.
NO LONGER IS THERE A SOCIAL EXPECTATION FOR WOMEN TO HOLD MEDIUM TO LONG HAIR STYLED IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER, JUST AS MEN ARE NOT EXPECTED TO HAVE SHORT, CLEAN-CUT LOCKS. THE BODY ISSUE 11
BIOHACKING
TECHNOLOGY AND THE HUMAN BODY
by Billy Gerken and Nathaniel Matthews| illustration by Jenny Kyong Ah Lee | design by Alexandria Bates
N
“GAIN CONTROL OF SYSTEMS IN YOUR BODY THAT YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE ACCESS TO.”
ew cybernetic technology has put us in a position that allows us to interact with the digital world without having to open our laptops or unlock our phones. Transhumanism seeks to provide information and physical technology to create a human race that supersedes our current state. The Transhumanist Declaration, which was written in 1998, sought to place limits and rules on technology that had not even been developed yet. Though this manifesto consists of personal choices by individuals for when the technology is available and theoretical information available at the time, a subset of this philosophy has already begun to take root. “Biohacking,” the self-initiated technological altering of one’s own body through experimental technology to provide oneself with varying levels of new sensory awareness, could be the predecessor to regulated or practical transhumanism.
THE HACKS Strides in biohacking have already allowed us to push the limits of modern microtechnology. Dave Asprey follows a career in computer security and is the founder and CEO of an influential force in both the biohacking and health fields, The Bulletproof Executive, Asprey described the movement to PBS as being able to “hack your own biology” and “Gain control of systems in your body that you would never have access to.” Asprey identifies himself as a biohacker, and claims to have the hacks to prove it. He employs the use of electricity in an attempt at improving the functions of his body and mind. He has already performed hacks that have helped him lose significant amounts of weight, decreased his biological age by altering his sleep and allegedly increased his IQ by more than 12 THE BODY ISSUE
20 points. His hope is that applying electricity will aid in further increasing his memory and cognitive functions. In a more physical understanding of biohacking, blogger Adi Robertson of the website “The Verge” has surgically altered herself to combine technology with the human body. Robertson can lift a beer bottle cap with the tip of her finger and pick up small metal objects in a way that, to the common person, would appear to be a psychic power. In 2012, Robertson had a neodymium disc magnet implanted in her ring finger at a tattoo parlor in Brooklyn. Since then, she has had the ability to perform cool “party tricks” that surprise and confuse those around her, such as levitating bottle caps. Prominent genderless biohacker Lepht
Anonym began to develop some new hacks. Anonym is not a doctor, and therefore has no access to anesthetics. As a result, its hacks are done with anything from a 5-millimeter injection needle to a scalpel, and even sometimes a vegetable peeler. Anonym is famous in Berlin for self-injecting radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips, surgically implanting magnets in its fingers and arms and using a vegetable peeler to cut a hole in its index finger – all without the comfort of anesthesia. Biohacking has produced a new niche for technological enthusiasts who are willing to risk it all to become the next step in human evolution.
THE BUSINESS Amal Graafstra, who is featured on Simon Fraser University’s TED Talk, founded a site which helps self-identifying biohackers hack their own body. The site, appropriately named “Dangerous Things,” sells do-it-yourself kits that the average person can purchase to perform a biohack. The site sells injectable RFID tags and NFC chips. These chips have the capacity of up to a kilobyte of data – whether it’s your name, credit card information or website hyperlink. With an NFC chip in your hand, you could unlock your cell phone, laptop or car with a touch. It creates a unique profile that only you can access, thus increas-
ing security on personal items. Just about anything can be found and bought on the internet. Sure, you can buy yourself a whole Beginning Biohacking 101 kit that would start you off as the next generation of “Terminator”-style humans. But, as the common saying goes, if someone jumps off a bridge, would you do it too? Avoid performing experiments that may threaten your health – the risks associated with these “selfhacks” are far too prominent to ignore. There are a plethora of problems associated with biohacking. Anything from the needle to the physical object being implanted has a chance of being unsanitary, which could lead to infection. Not knowing your own body could cause you to accidentally graze an artery with a scalpel or cut a nerve in your hand. Even going to a professional, such as Robertson’s tattoo artist, can pose a risk, as they may not be a certified surgeon. The benefits of biohacking have the possibility to be spectacular; biohacking could prove to be the next step in eliminating diseases and health problems, but the threats may
outweigh the benefits at this point. Even Anonym has warned biohacking enthusiasts of the risks. After attempting to perform its first ever biohack (inserting a neodymium implant), Anonym landed in a hospital with septicemia for two weeks. Nobody knows where biohacking will take us, or whether Transhumanism is here to stay. The possibilities, however, are staggering, and a movement with this much promise can’t just be ignored.
THE BODY ISSUE 13
HEY CUTIE, COME HERE, WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER? by Nicole Howley | illustration by Kaitlyn Fitzgerald | design by Teysia Parks
“S
ometimes I feel scared. I like to walk by myself, but I just worry that someday one of those guys I’m just walking past and ignoring is going to start chasing me or something,” said Laura Lee Jones, a Fine Arts Studio major who just graduated this winter. Jones is not the only woman to experience this dilemma. A 2014 survey commissioned by Stop Street Harassment found that 65 percent of women had experienced street harassment. Of those, 20 percent of those reported that they had been followed by their harasser, although other studies have found higher numbers. This harassment can be a once in a lifetime instance, or it could happen more frequently. “I’ve been catcalled basically every time I leave my house, because I live in the middle of the city and I walk a lot. It’s infuriating,” Jones said. Harassment occurs beyond the city, too, whether in the Wegmans parking lot or on campus. Donna Rubin, assistant vice president for Student Wellness and the previous director of the Center for Women and Gender, recalled one incident during her time as director in which boys within a residence hall were holding up cards with numerical ratings of the appearance of the women walking by. Although she didn’t hear many more reports, Rubin said she doesn’t doubt that it happens frequently. “I’m sure there are many more that didn’t report, because there are some people who aren’t offended by it and some who are offended that don’t report,” she said. The differing interpretations of catcalling between those doing the calling and their subjects, and among the subjects themselves, is one reason that some still view it as a nonissue or even as something complimentary. Darci Lane-Williams, the current director of the Center for Women and Gender, explained, “You should be able to take the same compliment and give it to anyone and 14 THE BODY ISSUE
have it have the same impact.” She gave the example of telling someone she liked their boots. “I can say that to a guy, I can say that to a girl, I can say that to a child, I can say that to an elderly person, I can say that to anyone.” Catcalling is very different. A sexual tone is often implied, and it is often an evaluation of the subject’s body. The comment, whistle or other verbal expression is usually made specifically because the subject was female, gay, or because of their gender expression. Those who experience street harassment are disproportionately women and LGBT individuals and, no matter who is being harassed, the harassers are overwhelmingly male. When it happens to a straight man, however, it also can have a very different impact, explained Ian Scott, a fourth year
and Development major, said she has heard catcalls both on and off campus, ranging from someone telling her they wanted to “rape her in the ass” to telling her that they liked some stockings she was wearing. She describes the latter as threatening, not because of what was said, but because it was said to her when there was no one else present but her and three guys and because the one making the statement deliberately encroached on her personal space. “Sometimes it’s not even what you say, sometimes it’s how it’s said, the eye contact or the lack of eye contact, because they are looking somewhere else on your body” Lance Williams explained. These are creepy situations to say the least, but many who engage in street harassment and catcalling choose to stick with the classics.
“THESE GROSS COMMENTS AND THE MORE NEUTRAL ONES ALIKE HAVE AN IMPACT ON THEIR SUBJECTS — BOTH ON THE WAY THEY FEEL WITHIN THEMSELVES AND WITHIN THE PUBLIC SPACES THEY OCCUPY.” Civil Engineering and Technology major. Scott experienced street harassment once in a Wegmans parking lot when a man shouted “Nice ass!” at him from a car. “I felt fine... It just made it apparent that other dudes check me out … That was just an isolated incident for me.” For most that have experienced street harassment, the survey commissioned by Stop Street Harassment found that the impacts were wider and affected how the individuals behaved in the location of the harassment and beyond in the future. According to Rubin, catcalling itself is defined as an uninvited public evaluation of someone based singularly on their appearance. This is part of the reason she and others find it disrespectful and unnerving even if the comment is intended to be positive. Naomi Kimmy, a fifth year Game Design
“It’s really often that people are just like ‘Hey cutie!’ ‘Hey sweetie!’ ‘Hey come here, hey come here!’ There’s a lot of ‘Hey come here,’ ‘Hey what’s your name’ … If I don’t say anything there’s a ‘Fuck you’ or something like that,” recalls Jones. “‘Can I get a ride?’ That’s a common one, especially when I’m riding my bike. Or ‘I wish I was that bicycle seat.’ Really gross stuff.” These comments and the more neutral ones alike have an impact on their subjects — both on the way they feel about themselves and within the public spaces they occupy. “It makes me feel physically sick when I get catcalled,” said Jones. It’s definitely violating, and I have a physical response to that. It makes me angry, and I don’t like being angry, but I’m trying to see it as an opportunity to find Zen.” Zen, however, can be difficult to achieve in the situation, especially when the harassment
affects the way the subject views the space they are in. “It leaves you sometimes feeling the need to check behind you to make sure you aren’t followed on campus,” said Kimmy. Lane-Williams said she believes that no one should have to experience this feeling, especially on campus. “Every college and university has a responsibility to create a safe environment for all students … you should be able to walk to class without fear or concern for your safety. You should be able to sit in your class and fully concentrate and learn, because you’re here to learn, and if there is something in your environment keeping that from happening, it’s our responsibility to address that,” she said. An issue arises in how exactly to address catcalling and street harassment. The university can play some role if and when cases are reported, but its jurisdiction doesn’t extend far beyond the green lawns surrounding campus. When determining how to react as an individual, choosing the appropriate course of action can be even more difficult. “I’ve tried all different types of responses! I’ve tried ignoring people, which seems to be the best thing, even though it feels like you’re not accomplishing anything by ignoring them,” said Jones. “But I’ve yelled back or just started flailing my arms around like a crazy person, and I don’t know, that stuff just leads to more verbal abuse. I just try to ignore it now. I’ve tried having conversations.” In her experience, though, attempted conversations about the harassment that just occurred were usually ignored by the other party. This has left Jones feeling most comfortable ignoring the people who harass her. Kimmy, and many other subjects of catcalling, also follow this strategy. “Unfortunately, in the situations you don’t always know if you are going to be physically or verbally attacked,” said Kimmy. Kimmy usually tries to be nice and go on her way in order to avoid such conflict. Lane-Williams agreed that in situations where there are higher probabilities of confrontation leading to a more dangerous situation, such as when you don’t know the area or the person or if that person is far from sober, ignoring the affronts and leaving the area may be the best approach. However, she also believes that the communication that can be spurred by these interactions is very important, especially when on campus. “[RIT] is the environment where it should be safe—should be, ideally—to say, ‘I don’t like that,’ because there’s a very good chance
you are going to see this person again. You may be sharing space in the same building for classes,” said Lane-Williams. Responding can help educate the person catcalling on campus—a person who, after all, is supposed to be here to learn— and can help establish boundaries for what acceptable behavior should be within the campus community. “We have to create a culture in which people understand this is a problem, that it’s not complimentary, that it is an issue, but any time you are dealing with people and boundary-setting, you are always going to have difficulty—always,” Lane-Williams said. Rubin said she imagines that it is often easier for a person to step in when they are not the subject of the harassment, and the help would be much appreciated. “Could you imagine if all the people and all the bystanders and everyone within
earshot [of the harassment] said, ‘Hey, that’s not cool’?” asked Lane-Williams. She guesses that the person catcalling might be less interested in that activity in the future. Although her perspective differs slightly from Lane-Williams, Jones also advised that subjects of street harassment continue to express empathy. “I would say just ignore it and try to have empathy. That’s what I try so hard to do!” said Jones. “Have empathy for that person, because they are obviously lacking something in their experience, too. I don’t know. It’s really hard to do.” If she could say one thing to the individuals who catcall, without risk, Jones said “I would just say ‘I see you, I recognize that you are a human being. Can you do me that solid, too?’”
“I SEE YOU, I RECOGNIZE THAT YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING. CAN YOU DO ME THAT SOLID TOO?”
THE BODY ISSUE 15
S
omewhere outside the fringes of the bright lights of entertainment districts and neon-illuminated bars where college kids gather to share pitchers of Bud Light, where the lines of safety break into poorly-illuminated avenues that suburban children are warned not to tread, where men in hooded sweatshirts that stand circled strategically around garbage cans loiter and occasionally make rapid, underhanded passes to other men in hooded sweatshirts before heading off in a separate direction or adjusting the fronts of their pants where concealed weapons lie secured in the waistbands — this is where you’ll find women dressed in skin-tight apparel, prowling along corners and down streets, avoiding the approaching drone of police sirens before inevitably being scooped up in a ‘90s model Buick with black-out tinted windows. This is the traditional image of prostitution. However, with the internet comes an evolution of how the oldest profession in the world flies under the radar of police intervention, a profession which already faces a high degree of difficulty in effective curbing through legal means. “In Rochester, we have Lyell [Avenue], Hudson [Avenue], Bay Street and Monroe [Avenue] as the big hotspots for prostitution,” said an officer, who chose to remain anonymous, that has served in the Rochester Police Department (RPD) for 15 years. “It’s
“DRUGS ARE A MAGNET FOR PROSTITUTES, AND VICE VERSA”
generally the kind of thing that an officer in uniform has difficulty dealing with. The guy and the girl are not going to tell you the truth, and unless you catch someone in the act, there’s usually very little to go on, in which case we can’t do anything.” The officer went on to explain methods to effectively curb prostitution and the difficulties that online prostitution presents. “What we need to really combat it is
“IT’S DIFFICULT ENOUGH TO REALLY MAKE ARRESTS WHEN YOU HAVE STREET WALKING PROSTITUTES, BUT WHEN IT BECOMES DECENTRALIZED THE WAY THE INTERNET HAS MADE IT, IT MAKES IT A LOT HARDER” 16 THE BODY ISSUE
undercover officers, which we’ve done before, but probably don’t do enough,” the officer said. “That becomes even more difficult when you have websites like Backpage or Craigslist.” “It’s difficult enough to really make arrests when you have street walking prostitutes, but when it becomes decentralized the way the internet has made it, it makes it a lot harder” he said. The advent of the internet caused both positive and negative effects in the realms of prostitution. On the positive end of the spectrum, there is an increased element of safety. While, of course, a woman must physically meet with the client, there is a much smaller opportunity for police intervention and much less risk brought upon the prostitute in comparison to wandering crime-ridden streets at late hours of the night. A parallel can be made to the online drug trafficking site “Silk Road,” which has made recent news with the ongoing trial of founder Ross Ulbricht. The service represented a positive to the drug user of not having to prowl dark avenues or deal with fearsome drug dealers. The internet, in a sense, provides a level of accessibility to the user or purveyor of illegal services or substances by providing an often false sense of security and anonymity. The officer went on to explain that this traditional interpretation of prostitution, the street walker, attracts a specific type of person. “I don’t want to say 100 percent, I can’t say that, but I’d say pretty close to that are
by Gino Fanelli | illustration by Teysia Parks | design by Teysia Parks
drug addicts,” the officer said. “In Rochester, most are crack users. That’s really the root of all of the problems when it comes to almost all crime. Drugs are a magnet for prostitutes, and vice versa.” From this understanding of the traditional prostitute comes the negative end of the spectrum of internet prostitution. Before that issue is completely delved into, however, it is necessary to give an analysis of what a pimp is. There are many different interpretations of this term, which is shrouded in ignorance by much of the general public. The most common interpretation of a pimp is a man who provides protection to prostitutes in exchange for a cut for their money. While, fundamentally, this may be a portion of the pimp’s role, the truth of matter is the entirety of his role is effectively to create the prostitute as a form of his own property.
$186 BILLION
THE NEW AND OLD
OUT OF 55 WOMEN WHO HAD SOUGHT HELP FROM THE COUNCIL, 78 PERCENT REPORTED BEING RAPED BY THEIR PIMPS There is a simple way of understanding this, which comes down to the monetary component. Prostitution worldwide, at a rough estimate, is a $186 billion industry annually. To put that number into perspective, the gross domestic product of the Ukraine, according to the UN, is $183 billion annually. With the average age of entrance into prostitution being 12, according to the
>
U.S. Department of Justice, there is a sad reality found in the world of prostitution that the prostitute is often treated like less of a human being and more akin to a commodity. The pimp’s role—most notably in street prostitution in areas where the act is a felony—is essentially to convince the prostitute that she is simply meant for his financial benefit. Thus, a strategy of dehumanization is performed upon the often underage women. To drive this point home, a 1991 study by the Council for Prostitution Alternatives found that, out of 55 women who had sought help from the council, 78 percent reported being raped by their pimps an average of 16 times per year. With the idea in mind that the pimp’s role is to dehumanize the women they manage and exploit them for financial gain, we’re drawn back to the world of the internet. The
$183 BILLION
THE BODY ISSUE 17
internet provides an easy, anonymous format for pimps to recruit potential prostitutes. A report by Mark Latonero, Ph. D. for USC Annenberg entitled “Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Media and Online Classifieds,” makes the case that pimps experience several advantages from the use of the internet as a means of recruiting girls for their own control, as well as dealing with potential clients. In the past, in order for a pimp to gain access to an underage girl, he would be required to kidnap her outright, or, more likely, be related to her or close to the relatives of the girl. The internet provides the means for pimps to coerce girls across state lines, creating distance between the girl and the pimp, both physically and relatively, since it would be nearly impossible to trace the pimp to the girl if there is no prior connection between the two. What’s then created is a system where a pimp can gain access to underage girls with the sort of anonymity provided by the very nature of the internet. Clientele is also impacted by the internet. Once relegated to the local area, the pimp is no longer limited to city streets, but rather can barter with Johns from around the world to gain the highest price for the girls. This creates a new form of prostitution, perpetrated through everywhere from Backpage to Facebook, created around manipulation of young girls and veiled under a thick fog of disjointed connections that create a world with almost complete discretion and anonymity. All of this feeds into a deviation from what is traditionally accepted as prostitution into the growing issue of modern slavery, or human trafficking. With the National Human Trafficking 18 THE BODY ISSUE
Resource Center reporting 3,609 sex trafficking cases in the U.S. in 2013, human trafficking no longer seems like an isolated issue. The estimate from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that one in seven children who were reported as runaways were recruited into sex slavery reinforces the idea that the issue of human trafficking is growing in influence. In Rochester, the enforcement policies epitomize the overall difficulty in curbing the issue as a whole when it hits such a grand scale as the global human trafficking network. Brandon Ince has been an officer in RPD’s
Tactical Unit since 2006. “We get a lot of calls for violent crimes, drug crimes, stuff of that nature,” Ince said. “And we’ve done a few prostitution busts before, but I would say they’re few and far between. We go where we’re needed, and if no one is calling in and reporting it, we have other things we need to be taking care of.” The RPD Special Operations Division consists of several different subdivisions, including Ince’s, which focus on different categories of cases that involve everything from prostitution to the mentally ill. However, these divisions often do not reflect the different versions of “Law and Order”; there is not a special division that is solely dedicated to sex crimes, let alone one solely dedicated to monitoring prostitution. “If there was a unit that was specifically meant to deal with prostitution, I have no doubt they’d make arrests,” Ince said. “But when comparing it to the violent crimes and the drugs, there just isn’t enough there to dedicate a whole division to. Plus, with the new stuff like Craigslist and Backpage, it becomes harder and harder to really get a hold on. It comes down to what the
SHOULD IT BE A CRIME? WOULD SIMPLY LEGALIZING IT, AS NEVADA OR AMSTERDAM HAVE DONE, HELP STOP A LOT OF THE PROBLEMS?
THERE IS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT UNDER-AGED SEX TRAFFICKING WOULD CEASE JUST ON THE VIRTUE OF REGULAR PROSTITUTION BEING LEGAL, AND TO THE CONTRARY, THERE ARE A FEW REASONS TO BELIEVE THAT IT WOULD ONLY EXACERBATE THE ISSUE. community wants. We hold community meetings where members of local businesses or just citizens can come and say what they want done. And most of them are worried about the violent crime, or the drugs, or the guys hanging around in front of their shops. The problem is, when you have the drugs and the crime there, the prostitution follows. It’s a crime, and we can’t turn a blind eye to it, but we also have to go where we’re needed first and foremost.” This is not to say that the police are apathetic to the issue of prostitution. In fact, a Jan. 12 arrest in Gates which resulted from a sting operation played out through an online classified ad concluded in six men and two women being put behind bars. This raises another simple question about the nature of prostitution: should it be a crime? Would simply legalizing it, as Nevada and Amsterdam have done, help stop a lot of the problems? It’s a tough question. The Netherlands, while seeming like a success story for legalized prostitution, serve as a final destination for much of the human trafficking from around the world. Then comes the issue of underage
prostitution, which becomes an even more difficult subject to successfully halt, as any evaluation of the issue must begin with making the horrific conclusion that there is, always has been and always will be a very large demand. Acceptance of that is difficult for most people, but it hinges on the same logic that though pornography is legal, child pornography has not halted just on that basis. There is no reason to believe that under-aged sex trafficking would cease just on the virtue of regular prostitution being legal, and to the contrary, there are a few reasons to believe that it would only exacerbate the issue. And thus comes a true conclusion, albeit a bleak one: prostitutes are humans, and for the overwhelming majority of cases and regardless of legality, there is a degree of exploitation being utilized to put them in these positions. It comes down to a dark
side of human nature that creeps around the back of the mind of man, the kind of specter that fuels kidnappings and assault. The kind that funds rapes and addiction in exchange for bestial pleasure. The kind that is innate, endless and timeless, continuing on unhindered for millennia, taking new forms and expressing new outlets. It is a darkness that civilized society shuns, puts aside, blames and mocks to lessen the blow of its true nature. It is a spark of depravity and despair, only snuffed out when man takes its last breaths before stumbling and falling.
IT COMES DOWN TO A DARK SIDE OF HUMAN NATURE THAT CREEPS AROUND THE BACK OF THE MIND OF MAN, THE KIND OF SPECTER THAT FUELS KIDNAPPINGS AND ASSAULT. THE BODY ISSUE 19
PROSO P A G NOSIA by Jake Krajewsk photography by Lloyd McCullough design by Annie Wong
I
magine if the next time you saw your best friend, you didn’t recognize her. How would you react if you couldn’t tell your siblings apart, or if that really nice guy or girl you met in chemistry looked like a stranger to you the next time you saw them? For people with prosopagnosia, that’s everyday life.
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Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is a disorder that significantly decreases a person’s ability to recognize and remember human faces. While many people may have occasional difficulty recognizing a face or may mistake a stranger for a friend, people with prosopagnosia have severe difficulties remembering and distinguishing the faces of even those closest to them. This disorder can also affect a person’s ability to recognize things such as objects, cars and animals. There are two types of prosopagnosia — acquired and developmental. Acquired prosopagnosia normally results from some form of brain damage, such as a stroke or head injury. Developmental prosopagnosia is something a person is born with. It is estimated that one out of 50 people has developmental prosopagnosia. Despite this, many people have never heard of prosopagnosia, and some people who have it are unaware that they have an actual disorder. One RIT student with prosopagnosia, who has asked to remain anonymous, said “I’ve al-
PROSO PAGNOSIA2% LARGELY UNKNOWN AFFECTS R O U G H LY
DIS ORDER
OF ALL PEOPLE, YET IT IS A
ways known [prosopagnosia] was a problem. I didn’t know they had a name for it.” This student has developmental prosopagnosia, meaning that he has been face-blind his entire life. He was willing to share how this disorder has affected him, how he deals with it and a few previous experiences. He explained that face blindness affects his memory, stating that when he stops looking at a face, he can no longer remember what it looks like. Additionally, he sometimes cannot recognize that a face is a face. As an example, he described a sculpture near his house of a very irregularly shaped wall. His friends saw a mass of faces in it, but when he looked at it he was unable to recognize the faces in the sculpture. Of course, the effect on his everyday life extends beyond that. Because he cannot distinguish people by their faces, he has a hard time learning people’s names. He told me
A P P R O X I M AT E LY
360 STUDENTS AT RIT MAY BE
FA C E - B L I ND
that he is still learning the names of the people who live on his floor, and that he does not know his more distant aunts and uncles. Since he cannot recognize people based on their faces, he relies on compensatory mechanisms to pick out friends and family. He commonly uses a person’s hairstyle, clothing or voice to recognize them. For example, he once sat by a friend of his for 15 minutes without recognizing them because he was used to doing so by their hair, and his friend had recently gotten a haircut. Context also helps him to recognize friends. He told me about an instance when one of his friends came up and said hello, and he didn’t recognize the friend. He always recognized this particular friend because they sat next to him in one of his classes. When they were out of that context, he had nothing to associate his friend with to recognize them. In fact, when he was a kid, he would memorize what his friends were wearing so he could tell them apart for the rest of the day. Additionally, as a child, he had to be taught to look people in the eye. Because he “would have no reason to look at their face,” he would normally look at a wall or piece of furniture when he talked to someone. He says that to this day he still has to consciously make eye contact with people. In addition to difficulties looking people in the eye, he also has trouble recognizing some social cues. If someone is, say, angry or upset, he may not be able to pick up on it unless it is evident in their voice, as he has difficulty recognizing some facial expressions. When asked if he could tell different faces apart when they are placed side-by-side, he said that he would have to look at each individual feature and compare them. However, if they had similar features, he would not be able to see a difference. “So, let’s say they had the same nose, but one nose was slightly lower than the other. I wouldn’t be able to tell the
difference between those two,” he told me. He can also attest to how scarcely-known his disorder is. He only found out that his difficulty remembering faces was due to something that was actually diagnosable about two years ago. He learned about it by chance through an online article with an image designed to test for prosopagnosia. He said he believes that he has met others with face blindness, though he has never directly talked about it with anyone who has it. He believes that they are unaware that they have an identifiable disorder, much like he was just two years ago. If it holds true that about two percent of people have prosopagnosia, approximately 360 students at RIT may be face-blind. If you know someone who never seems acknowledges you when you pass by, don’t be so quick to assume they’re just some jerk; they may not be able to help it. If you would like to learn more about prosopagnosia, you can visit The Centre for Face Processing Disorders’ website at prosopagnosiaresearch.org or the webpage of the Prosopagnosia Research Centers at Dartmouth College, Harvard University and University College London at faceblind.org.
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A NUDIST
GUIDE TO WINTER by Nicole Howley | photography by Rachel Fox | design by Rachel Fox
A
s I sat across from a nude Rich Hauver, I wondered if the rest of the people I interviewed over the phone had been completely unclothed at the time, too. We were on the first floor of an inconspicuous two-story house on Vassar Street with an in-ground pool, hot tub and sauna in the basement right below us. This house serves as the main meeting place for Naturist Rochester. Hauver serves as the treasurer, swim host, scheduler and “benevolent despot” of this group. Naturists like Hauver prioritize a connection with nature a little more than their nudist counterparts, although the terms ‘naturist’ and ‘nudist’ can be interchangeable depending on with whom you speak. Hauver first started exploring nudist lifestyle in the early 1980s. “It was for the sunshine,” he said. “It’s gone now. I don’t care. I’ll go sit in the shade all day just to be comfortable, but I have a very high rate of metabolism so I’m always warm. That helps.” For those with slower metabolisms, however, the colder weather can pose more of an issue when it comes to disrobing and connecting with nature. Nonetheless, Hauver and others were very clear that there are opportunities to enjoy a nudist lifestyle even during these colder months. One option some nudists take is traveling to nudist resorts in the warmer southern states. Cyndi Saber works with her mother in the office of their family owned and operated, clothing-optional Shangri La Ranch in New River, Arizona, just north of Phoenix. Since
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many people travel there from Canada and below, they are usually completely booked in the winter months. “We take reservations in January for the following year,” Saber said. The resort hosts a variety of activities including hiking, pickleball, tennis, water volleyball, swimming in the outdoor heated pool, DJs and dancing every Saturday, karaoke, potlucks and line dancing lessons. The variety of outdoor and indoor activities gives the resort some flexibility when the weather is too cold or too hot, even though the concern for dramatic weather fluctuation is minimal. “We get pretty good weather year-round,” Saber said. Even so, it can be difficult for all nudists to travel to better weather for the entire season. “There are a lot of older nudists that do the winter migration,” explained Felicity Jones, co-founder of Young Naturists America (YNA). “A lot of people can’t do that because of their jobs.” For those who stick around, there are still plenty of opportunities to go nude, even if an outdoor swim is out of the question. For instance, YNA, based in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, still hosts events during the season, even though weather puts a limit on what activities are involved. “In New York, we are basically confined to indoor spaces,” said Jones. Past events include parties at bars, body painting parties, naked bowling and holiday parties, including those for Saint Patrick’s Day and Halloween. “People will drive hours and hours to attend our
events,” Jones said. Although YNA meet ups tend to happen year-round, the two Rochester-based groups, Naturist Rochester and Rochester Male Naturists (ROMANS) — a group for gay naturists — are actually most active during the winter months, when finding warm locations to disrobe is the most difficult. Ron Cook, a member of ROMANS and a past president of the group, explained that their most active months are October through April when they meet up once a month for a meal and a meeting at someone’s home. Sometimes these meetings have themes ranging from an approaching holiday to neckties only. The group also hosts nude swims in collaboration with Naturist Rochester, sometimes at the Vassar Street location and sometimes at another Rochester athletic facility. This high rate of events does not continue into the summer months, when people tend to scatter out to a variety of different nudist venues, although some trips to different parks are organized. “We do very little during the summer. Why be indoors to go swimming when you can be outdoors and go swimming?” Hauver asked. “During the summer, we close the club down. Come September, we open back up.” Although getting naked inside may not come with the same feelings of liberation and as being outside in the warm months, the naturists of the north still make the best of the colder months by finding groups, locations and events that are warm and welcoming, where they can still connect with their nude selves even if they can’t connect with the nature outside.
I TOOK GLITTER PILLS TO MAKE MY
by Alexander Jones | photography by Rachel Fox | design by Teysia Parks
lot of people told me not to buy pills off of the internet. At the same time, nobody wanted their shit to glimmer as much as I wanted mine to. Some background might be necessary here. The idea was a simple one, and it was presented to me almost as a joke by a colleague who shall remain nameless so as to not formally tie her to such a sickening odyssey. Apparently, there are places online where you can purchase tiny digestible capsules filled with non-toxic glitter that turn your feces different sparkly colors. Considering that the body issue was coming up, wouldn’t it be funny if someone wrote an article about said pills? A modest chuckle sounded from those sitting around me. By the time it had subsided, I had already ordered three of the gold variety from an Etsy store fittingly titled “SparkleCaps.” I didn’t choose to write the piece because I thought it would be a fun, quirky article to publish in an issue bursting with hard information, but rather because it was something I felt that I had to do for the sake of journalism itself. I did, however, decide to do some research on these otherworldly pills before willingly ingesting them, and everything I found seemed to scream “This is a really terrible idea.” An article on Vocativ entitled “Are People Really Taking Glitter Pills to Make Their Shit Sparkle?” warned “No, they’re not actually intended to bedazzle your poop— even if that’s how plenty of customers are using them.” A similar article on Elite Daily entitled “There’s Actually A Pill For Sale That Will Make Your Poop Glitter” cautioned “... reviewers have conveniently left out any information suggesting they’ve tested the
SPARKLE
sparkles out on their digestive systems.” The pills are supposedly meant simply to be a decorative piece to put on a necklace, bracelet, confusing sculpture, etc. Despite this disturbing new information regarding the potential havoc I could be wreaking upon my digestive tract, I remembered that Elite Daily also publishes hard-hitting
articles such as “59 Reasons Why Pizza Is Literally 100% Better Than A Boyfriend,” and decided to stake my own claim in the wild journalistic frontier. The pills arrived about a week later, accompanied by a charming handwritten note thanking me for my purchase written in all-too-appropriate hot pink glitter and a special “bonus” pill of the “funky stripe” variety. I took one with the next morning’s coffee and awaited my total spiritual and physical demise, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. A couple of hours later, a newfound
excitement surged through my body with the realization that I really, really had to pass some feces. This excitement abruptly transitioned into crushing defeat after gazing hopefully into the toilet bowl and seeing nothing but an ordinary, pedestrian poop devoid of any shimmering splendor. Undeterred, I took two with a sizable lunch, but was still greeted with a disappointingly average but reassuringly healthy-looking piece of fecal matter later in the day. I was beginning to feel pangs of frustration wash over me, so I decided to up the ante a little bit, much to my body’s panicked dismay. I took four pills—three of the gold ones as well as the elusive “funky stripe”— with an enormous pancake dinner. Perhaps throwing my digestive system yet another curveball with the classic “breakfast-fordinner” play would throw it off enough to cause it to start actually shitting glitter. Despite all this, my pre-sleep fecal ejection, while uncharacteristically painful, remained a barren, glitter-less disappointment. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, and there are several that I’m sure I’ll uncover in therapy years down the road, it’s that humans are ugly, deceitful creatures who will build you up on promises of sparkling shit and will proceed to crush you with absolute betrayal. Or, more importantly, the lesson here might be to just not buy pills off the internet because someone told you they’d do wholly inhuman things to your feces. Regardless, the human body is a complex, often repulsive, but far more often beautiful anomaly that simply is not meant to perform such fairy-like feats. Yet. THE BODY ISSUE 23
by Gino Fanelli | illustration by Kaitlyn Fitzgerald | design by Halli Rosin
“
I’ve been doing it for about a year now, and I’ve had two sprained ankles, a sprained knee, my wrists, a black eye,” Lyndsey “Sweet Sexteen” Rae said, taking a pause to recall other injuries. “She went headfirst into a brick wall,” she said as she gestured to Sammy “Sammy Knockout” Martin. “Scariest experience ever,” Martin said. From these descriptions and nicknames, one would expect the pair to be referring to some sort of underground female fight club
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played out in seedy bar basements between intermittent bursts of police raids. Martin and Rae, however, are part of the Roc City Roller Derby, one of 302 leagues spread across the world under the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). The sport consists of two teams of up to 16 players each, set on four-wheel, roller-rink-style skates. The matches are separated into two 30-minute halves and further broken into two minute “jams.” Five players from each team are set
rolling in opposite directions on the track, four blockers and one jammer, whose goal it is to lap the other team. As the title suggests, the blockers’ job is to protect the jammer while stopping the opposing team’s jammer by any means necessary. Roller Derby, which was once relegated to the TV sports entertainment world along the lines of WWE, has reinvented its image in the past decade into a serious, competitive and often violent women’s sport on wheels.
“It’s not a question of if you’re going to get hurt, it’s a question of when,” Rae said. “We’ve seen broken legs, broken arms, tons of black eyes ...”
“Yeah, and we haven’t had exactly had sponsorship, but a lot of support from Dickies and a lot of local bars like the Angry Goat. Water Street Music Hall has also given us a
“And Skate Rape, which is when you go down and your crotch goes directly into the skate. It’s horrible,” Martin said with wide eyes. Despite these graphic descriptions of violence, neither Rae nor Martin fits the mental image that is conjured when picturing a woman involved in a full-contact sport. Martin and Rae each stand only a hair above 5 feet and combined just cracking the 200-pound mark combined; one would expect the pair to be involved in something more akin to softball than in a sport where broken legs are business as usual. This preconception is something the sport of Roller Derby, along with its players, aims to shatter with brute force. “It’s very intense. We come home from practice covered in sweat, cuts, bruises, breaks, sprains, bloody noses and split lips,” Rae said. “Derby girls have a sort of stigma that we’re just a bunch of big, loud lesbians always getting into trouble, and while that may be true for some, most of us are really dedicated to our jobs. We want to promote positivity amongst female athletes and in the community as well. We always have at least one charity benefit for each bout. We’re non-profit and our real goal is all about community involvement. We can get rowdy, though.”
lot of support. American Villa has also been extremely supportive, they helped design a lot of our merch.” This emphasis on community and a DIY aesthetic is a defining factor in what makes Roller Derby such a powerful sport alongside its carnage. Even with the opportunity to compete against players from around the world at the WFTDA championships, harsh
Alongside charity, the spirit of positivity, empowerment and local enrichment is the extremely important aesthetic of a grassroots sport like Roller Derby. Businesses that are unique to Rochester are chosen as the sponsors for Roc City Roller Derby, ensuring that a strong emphasis on community is always at the forefront for each bout. “We’re [Martin and Rae] actually heads of the sponsorship. And because we’re family-based, we try to stay with local businesses who we believe in. We currently have Record Archive, Voodoo Monkey Tattoo and a few other local names that we’re not going to throw until it’s all concrete,” Rae said. “We also have Salvatore’s as a sponsor and had a couple realtors in the past as sponsors,” Martin added.
kindest, most compassionate people I’ve met in my entire life. When you meet people and tell them ‘I’m a derby girl,’ they are always like ‘Oh, you must be a fucking badass.’ No, that’s just on the track. I think I’m the only person left on the league that still says sorry when I knock someone down,” Rae said. “I always hear her on the track saying sorry,
words being thrown around, the broken teeth, bloody noses, broken bones and internal bleeding, what shines through is a sport epitomized by its spirit of compassion and teamwork. “Despite everyone being loud, and they’re going to tell you exactly what’s on their mind and they’re not going to sugarcoat, the people I’ve met through Roller Derby are some of the
and I’m yelling ‘Stop fucking saying sorry!’” Martin laughed. Alongside this mentality of compassion and the utmost concern for the community comes the even greater message of what Roller Derby stands for, and that is women. Women who are strong, powerful and resilient, both physically and emotionally. What Roller Derby truly represents is breaking the preconceptions of what a female athlete is, represented in a sport created from the ground up with this sort of independence in mind. Though male and co-ed leagues are popping up, it cannot be forgotten that at its core, Roller Derby was birthed in defiance of the preconceived notion of how a woman should act. “I had a friend who I saw when I came home from practice complaining about how
sore I was, and he said ‘Oh, but you don’t actually hit each other, right?’ And I’m like, ‘What’re you talking about? What are these bruises? Am I throwing myself into a wall?’ It’s a real sport, it’s not staged,” Rae said. “People have this idea of what women are supposed to act like. We’re supposed to be dainty and reserved.” “Not tough,” Martin added. “Can’t take a hit.” “It’s a brutal sport, and it challenges the archetype that we’ve been expected to view ourselves as, and it’s a big push back,” Rea continued. “That idea of what a woman is is antiquated. We’re loud, we’re opinionated,we’re smart, we’re independent.”
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by Nicole Howley | photography by Rachel Fox | design by Rachel Fox
E
ver since I was a child, I have wanted to walk around topless. I remember sitting in my kiddie pool on a hot summer’s day wondering why it was okay for my male cousins to walk around in public without their shirts on, but not me. Why was it okay for the guys in Central Park to walk around topless, but not the women? It was only this past year that I learned female toplessness has been legal in New York state for my entire life. That’s right: a case prompted by the arrest of Ramona Santorelli, Mary Lou Schloss and five other women for baring their breasts in the City of Rochester lead to a 1992 New York State Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the women’s assertion that the state law governing public nudity was discriminatory. Ever since, female toplessness has been legal across the state, although not always to the attention of the NYPD, which has been sued multiple times for unwarranted arrests of topless women. However, although Santorelli, Schloss and their friends managed a great legal achievement, I feel that women and their breasts have experienced little to no additional freedom as a result of this law, and that is because the law is far more progressive than the society that it has been implemented within. Although women are free to go topless, very few choose to because of the harassment we believe we would receive if we did take advantage of the law, and because many others would believe that this harassment was justified. Women’s experiences of harassment and assault are already often considered to be justified by the way they dress or act; imagine the level of blame that would be placed on a victim who was taking advantage of her right to be topless.
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Many women’s hesitation to take advantage of the option to be shirtless stems from the awareness of a culture that is guilty of both victim blaming and sexualizing women’s bodies. Clearly, women’s breasts and nipples are more sexualized than men’s. After all, men’s nipples are allowed on Facebook and Instagram, whereas women’s nipples are considered to violate their policies that guard
that the encouragement women receive to go topless is less positive and more manipulative. It’s time to change that. Topless equality is legally in place and has been for over two decades, but clearly the number of people who feel comfortable going topless is not going to change unless we see a cultural shift, too. We need to bring about a culture in which women’s bodies are not shamed,
TOPLESS EQUALITY IS NOT JUST ABOUT BOOBS; IT IS ABOUT WOMEN FEELING SAFE IN PUBLIC FROM VERBAL, PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ATTACKS NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE OR ARE NOT WEARING. against nudity. In addition, there are regularly news stories about women being shamed for breastfeeding in public, because boobs have been so sexualized in our culture that you are supposed to be ashamed to show them even in this context. And if people are not telling women to cover up for the sake of public decency, they are telling women to expose themselves for the benefit of the viewer rather than for themselves. Over the warmer months I’ve spent in this state, I’ve heard many men try to encourage their female friends to take advantage of their topless rights with the tone and persistence of horny teenagers. And this, my friends, is the problem. Although encouraging our female friends to be comfortable in their own skin, take advantage of their rights and wear the level of clothing that is most comfortable for hot weather is wonderful, it is often clear
where they are allowed to breast feed in public in peace, they can feel comfortable wearing whatever they want because they aren’t afraid of being called “sluts” and other offensive names and victims of sexual assault are not blamed for the attack because of their outfit or their actions. Topless equality is not just about boobs; it is about women feeling safe in public from verbal, physical and social attacks no matter what they are or are not wearing. Everyone can contribute to creating a safer space by not sexualizing each other’s bodies out of context or blaming victims for the actions of their attackers and by treating everyone with respect and encouraging others to do the same. When we stop blaming women for having the bodies that our culture has sexualized to a fault, maybe more women will feel comfortable in their own skin — and in showing more of it.
FAT
ACCEPTANCE: ACCEPTING OF WHAT?
by Kevin Zampieron | illustration by Maliya Travers-Crumb | design by Teysia Parks
A
n obesity crisis of epidemic proportions has gripped our nation for decades. Many people, however, don’t see it that way. According to the CDC, over a third of American adults are clinically obese; it’s no controversy that this is a serious problem. But the growing “fat acceptance movement” contends that health can exist at any size, and that the obese should accept the state of their bodies with society naturally following suit. The basic idea of this movement is commendable—our weight-obsessed culture’s preoccupation with being skinny is hurting far more than it’s helping. 30 million Americans have suffered from an eating disorder at some point, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. The danger of these attitudes is self-evident. As someone who has struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember, I have been on the receiving end of a lot of society’s stigmas about body image. I firmly believe that our society needs a healthier way to deal with how we look. The rhetoric of the fat acceptance movement, however, is not a healthy or productive way of dealing with this societal angst. What is considered healthy depends on the definition of health, said RIT Health Center Nurse Cheryl Augustyn. All kinds of well-being must be considered, not just the obvious physical kind; mental, spiritual and emotional health must also accounted for in the multifaceted concept of personal wellness. Even physically, what constitutes health is complicated. “There’s bloodwork, screening lab work, blood pressure, waist circumference: you can’t use one measure,” Augustyn said. Although health is much more complicated than the number that shows up on your scale, there is no denying the demonstrable negative effects of obesity. “From a medical point of view, we see the major issues are hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease. We have a massive obesity epidemic in this country,” said RIT Health Center physician Dr. Sanford Mayer. Mayer highlighted the damage obesity does to the organs, comparing the fatty liver
of someone who is obese to the liver of an alcoholic. He also described the stress that an overweight body puts on its joints.
IT SEEMS THAT THERE’S NO DENYING THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF OBESITY, YET MANY IN THE FAT ACCEPTANCE MOVEMENT INSIST THAT THEIR WEIGHT IS NOT DETRIMENTAL TO THEIR HEALTH. What would cause someone to believe something so contrarian? “I wonder if it’s not a collective defense mechanism that they’re going through with this movement,” Mayer said. After reading many of these fat acceptance blogs and articles, it appeared to me that frustration was the underlying motivator of the movement’s zeal. According to researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles, more than 80 percent of people gain back lost weight after diets, so this frustration isn’t surprising. Much of it also comes from medical establishments. “The worst thing for a healthcare clinician to be is judgmental. I think too many of us are judg-
mental. That’s what turns these folks off,” Mayer said. Augustyn added that balanced eating and exercise are the only effective and healthy ways to lose weight. She encourages any student to come in to the Health Center to talk about their health, however he or she may define it. One of the biggest problems with the fat acceptance movement is in the name: acceptance. After all of the diets, difficulty and judgment, it can be attractive to someone to just internalize their obesity and accept it as a part of their identity. Although there are predispositions to it, obesity is not akin to ethnicity or sexual orientation. Although it’s not strictly a choice—considering all of the possible contributing factors to obesity—it’s not destiny either. Regardless of body shape, we all need to stop treating obesity like a punchline or a failure of moral character. However, we also need to stop treating obesity as anything but a widespread and devastating health crisis.
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WOTS
What do you think is the first thing people notice about you?
WORD ON THE STREET
photography by Kristen McNicholas | design by Morgan Reid
Melissa Young Third year Game Design & Development
Kristen Mills Fifth year Software Engineering
Isaac Perez First year Microsystems Engineering
“My height is usually the first thing people point out and I guess it’s because most girls don’t get this height.”
“I’m talkative, because I talk a lot.”
“If I have to be honest, they might think I’m a serious person even though I don’t think I am. I don’t like to talk too much. I just prefer to be quiet, and if I’ve got to say something I say it but if it’s a topic I’m not an expert at I don’t say much.”
Elexus Buntley Second year Packaging Science Lani Tran First year Biomedical Engineering “In most cases people think I’m quiet because I don’t talk much. Depends on the people, but most of the time I’m quiet.”
“I think the first thing people usually notice about me is that my eyes are really small, and when I’m laughing [they] look like they’re closed. I definitely think that’s the first thing that people notice.”
Taylor Kaiser Fourth year Graphic Design “Probably my hair, because it’s curly and obnoxious.”
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Bezankeng Njinju First year Applied Mathematics
Derek Cabone Fifth year Applied & Computational Mathematics
Lauren Brockbank Fifth year Marketing
“I would say people think I’m serious because I like humor, but appropriate humor. ”
“I get that I’m too skinny, but I hate that. I played soccer in high school.”
“I’ve always heard that it’s my smile probably because it’s so obnoxious. It takes up so much of my face.”
Duwayne Harding Second year Management Information Systems “I’m fairly large, because I’m tall and I walk with my head up with a confident demeanor. ”
Akanksha Umrani Sixth year Industrial Engineering “I think that [what] I’ve heard about is my eyes, because they talk more than my speech.”
Pratik Mehta Sixth year Computer Science “I think my eyebrows, because they’re huge and connected to each other.”
The opinions expressed are solely those of the students and do not reflect the views of REPORTER. THE BODY ISSUE 29
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The opinions expressed are solely those of the students and do not reflect the views of REPORTER.
Monday, Dec. 1
8:05 p.m. [Text] I’m not gonna have a mid-life crisis. My whole life is a midlife crisis.
Friday, Dec. 5
6:29 p.m. [Text] I’m starting to see a lot more men wearing hair buns around campus and I’m loving it! Please, let this be the mullet of our generation!
Tuesday, Dec. 9
5:34 p.m. [Text] Dear guy playing The Office theme song in the Fireside Lounge, you made finals week so much better. Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica.
Wednesday, Dec. 10
4:16 p.m. [Text] Children are addicted to Easy Mac. It’s in the Bible.
Sunday, Dec. 14
12:42 a.m. [Text] Friday nights are pretty much designed for [Taylor Swifting].
THE BODY ISSUE 31