The Lowell Newsmagazine March 2023

March 2023

ADDRESSING ANTISEMITISM

ONLINE

BSU holds assembly to celebrate Black History Month

By Clarabelle Fields

Under the cap: Getting to know security guard AJ Frazier

By Alina Mei

Fighting financial illiteracy

By Tatum Himelstein

FRONT COVER GRAPHICS:

PHOTO BY KYLIE CHAU ILLUSTRATION BY ELISE MUCHOWSKI

CONTENTS

2 4 8 10 12 16 18 21

EDITORIAL MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS NEED TO BE MORE ACCESSIBLE COVER

ADDRESSING ANTISEMITISM

COLUMN

UNFAIR AND OUTDATED: SEXIST DRESS

CODES DON’T BELONG IN SPORTS

MULTIMEDIA

THE DIVINE FEMININE

NEWS FEATURE

A NEW WAY TO CHEAT

OPINION

DECONSTRUCTING THE FEMININE MOLD

MEDIA REVIEWS

Multimedia Editors

Libby Bowie

Marlena Rohde

Yeshi-Wangmu Sherpa

Columns Editors

Aaliyah Español-Rivas

Dylan Twyman

Opinions Editor

Chloe Chon

Sports Editor

Roman Fong

Art Managers

Darixa Varela Medrano

Elise Muchowski

Photographers

Kahlo Friel-Asay

Samir Azmi

Malena Cardona

Kylie Chau

Katharine Kasperski

Lauren Kim

Reina Lee

Ava Rosoff

Business Managers

Yi Luo

Adrienne Nguyen

Primo Pelczynski

Social Media Managers

Juliane Dabi

Erin Guo

Gianna Ou

Aaliyah Español-Rivas

Miyabi Yoshida

Web Managers

Roan Rafter

Researcher

Editors-in-Chief

Chloe Chon

Kelcie Lee

Marlena Rohde

News Editors

Angela Chen

Kelcie Lee

Reporters

Ahmed Afenzal

Charlotte Ackerman

Isadore Diamond

Parker Dion

Clarabelle Fields

Thomas Harrison

Tatum Himelstein

Ramona Jacobson

Alisa Kozmin

Brooke Laur

Maya Law

Stephanie Li

Kai Lyddan

Niyati Mandhani

Alina Mei

Hayden Miller

Indigo Morgenstern

Marshall Muscat

Victoria Pan

Evan Powers

Laura Reyes

Aafiya Shaikh

Mehreen Shaikh

Sierra Sun

Sia Terplan

Connor Walsh

Ben Will Illustrators

Joey He

Charon Kong

Katey Lau

Hugh Macdonald

Danica Yee

Emily Yee Advisor

CHAINSAW MAN, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES & JEAN

DIELMAN, 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES

HOT TAKE

GIRLS GO “GOBLIN MODE” TOO

Saw Nwe

Maren Brooks

Anita Luo

Eric Gustafson

MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS NEED TO BE MORE ACCESSIBLE

Between racing to class and finishing homework, the last thing students need to worry about is finding menstrual products on campus. California Assembly Bill 367 was designed to address just that need, requiring middle and high schools to “stock school’s restrooms with an adequate supply of free menstrual products…available and accessible, free of cost.” Yet in most of the bathrooms at Lowell, the menstrual product dispensers aren’t stocked with pads and tampons, but display a little yellow label reading “EMPTY.”

Coming off this new legislation, which requires California to reimburse local agencies and school districts for resulting costs, Lowell no longer has an excuse to not supply readily available menstrual products in restrooms for students that need them. Period poverty, or the lack of access to menstrual products because of the absence of products provided in school, can cause emotional distress and educational inequity that should be prevented.

Menstrual products are essential hygiene products that should be readily available in all restrooms for the privacy and comfort of students. The Menstrual Equity For All Act requires menstrual products to be stocked in all women’s restrooms and all-gender restrooms, and in at least one men’s restroom. Having products in all restrooms would give individuals, including non-female-identifying menstruating students, more privacy compared to going to the supply of menstrual products provided by the Wellness Center outside their office in the hallways. If students were ever unprepared for their menstrual cycle and had easy access to products, they wouldn’t have to ask friends for products or go to the Wellness Center, an experience that students can find daunting and embarrassing, as well as disruptive when missing class time.

Free and available menstrual products in all restrooms will allow for more educational equity. A study by Harries Insights & Analytics, funded by Thinx and PERIOD, a company and a nonprofit involved in advancing menstruation equity in the U.S., found that more than four in five menstruating teenage students in the U.S. report they have “either missed class time or know someone who missed class time because they did not have access to period products.” Walking to and from the Wellness Center consumes a significant amount of class time. Not only does the lack of easy access to menstrual products cause students to miss more classes, it impedes students’ ability to concentrate in class, and reduces classroom engagement and participation. Providing readily available menstrual products in all restrooms will allow students to easily access products and prevent students from missing class.

The Wellness Center also provides a supply of pads and tampons in the hallways outside of their office, but the small supply is far from enough for students who menstruate. Having a single source of menstrual products isn’t enough for all individuals who menstruate and experience inequalities resulting from a lack of access to them. The stock of menstrual products outside of the Wellness Center can also sometimes be found empty, leaving students frantic.

Lowell needs to provide adequate free menstrual products in restrooms where students can easily and conveniently access menstrual products. Menstrual cycles should not impact a student’s performance or well-being at school. Period poverty should not be a worry for students. Properly provided menstrual products in the restrooms would prevent students from anxiously having to ask friends or staff for a hygiene product and missing out on their education.

The Lowell is published by the journalism classes of Lowell High School. All contents copyright Lowell High School journalism classes. All rights reserved. The Lowell strives to inform the public and to use its opinion sections as open forums for debate. All unsigned editorials are opinions of the staff. The Lowell welcomes comments on school-related issues from students, faculty and community members. Send letters to the editors to thelowellnews@gmail.com. Names will be withheld upon request. We reserve the right to edit letters before publication.

The Lowell is a student-run publication distributed to thousands of readers including students, parents, teachers, and alumni. All advertisement profits fund our newsmagazine issues. To advertise online or in print, email thelowellmanagement@gmail.com. Contact us: Lowell High School 1101 Eucalyptus Drive San Francisco, CA 94132, 415-759-2730, or at thelowellnews@gmail.com.

Lowell needs to provide adequate free menstrual products in restrooms where students can easily and conveniently access menstrual products.

THE PRICE OF WOMANHOOD

From the editor

Dear readers of The Lowell,

With the release of our March magazine corresponding with women’s history month, we wanted to produce an issue completely surrounding women, from the cover story to the crossword puzzle. Our initial vision never fully materialized, but pieces including our opinion piece and column serve as important reminders of the often overlooked struggles and accomplishments of women.

Many students have noticed a rise in antisemitic comments and attitudes, especially following Kanye’s recent statements. We wanted to give a voice to these students because antisemitism is a problem that often goes undiscussed at Lowell. In our cover story “Addressing antisemitism,” we explore how students are affected by events like 2021’s Padlet incident, which involved the use of antisemitic slurs but nothing done following the incident to educate students about antisemitism. Incorporating a theme was a new concept that we wanted to test, and we are excited to announce the release of an entirely multimedia-themed magazine next month. We’ve shared art from staff members through our Instagram, website, and magazine issues, but this is an opportunity for us to publish it in the form of a larger project.

Hope all the girls go “goblin mode” this month!

Editors-in-Chief, Chloe Chon, Kelcie Lee, and Marlena Rohde

ILLUSTRATION BY DARIXA VARELA MEDRANO

GRAPHICS BY ELISE MUCHOWSKI, AVA ROSOFF, AND KYLIE CHAU

ADDRESSING ANTISEMITISM

As antisemitism rises across the nation, some Jewish students find themselves on the receiving end of hatred — at school and online.

BY KELCIE LEE AND TATUM HIMELSTEIN

Senior Sophia Paris rushes down the hallway, flustered as she heads to her next class. From the blurred body of students maneuvering to get to their classrooms, something is yelled out at her. Taken aback, Paris freezes before turning to look. In disbelief, she realizes she has just been called an antisemitic slur. Paris’s feet suddenly feel stuck to the ground as shock rings out in her ears.

Incidents like these are not isolated among the Lowell community.

Antisemitism — prejudice or hate directed at Jewish people — has been an issue for centuries. Yet in the past few years, a visible rise in antisemitism has been making its way through the United States, with antisemitic comments made by high-profile figures and conflict overseas influencing how Jewish people are treated and perceived. At Lowell, these influences often take the form of antisemitic comments or microaggressions on campus and online, leaving many Jewish students feeling scared and isolated. As a result, some students are turning to the Jewish community for support. Others believe combating the spread of antisemitism

dents is directly linked to the visible antisemitism displayed by politicians and high-profile figures, as stated by Dov Waxman, professor and Chair of Israel Studies at UCLA, in an interview with PBS NewsHour’s John Yang. Throughout 2022, rapper and designer Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — used his Twitter platform to praise the Nazi party and amplify antisemitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories. Prior to his account’s suspension, Ye had over 31 million Twitter followers, more than double the global Jewish population. In November 2022, former president

sure to antisemitism has been more visibly heightened by the events of the past year. Compared to the Padlet incident, senior Lexi Klionsky believes external factors, including Ye’s actions and the conflict in Israel, are having a greater influence on how Jewish people are treated on the Lowell campus.

calls for action on behalf of the school, specifically in expanding curriculum surrounding topics such as the Holocaust.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) received 2,717 reports of assault, harassment, and vandalism targeted at Jewish people in 2021, an all-time high in the United States. This was a 34 percent increase from 2020. According to the ADL, the coming years are expected to follow this trend.

This rise in antisemitic inci-

The Lowell March 2023

Donald Trump dined with Ye, as well as Holocaust-denier and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Other politicians have added to this pattern of antisemitism, with U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene comparing COVID-19 related vaccine and mask mandates to the treatment of Jewish people during the Holocaust. Although public displays of antisemitism are not new, these incidents have allowed antisemitism to become increasingly acceptable in public discourse, according to Professor Waxman. Modern-day antisemitism has also been shaped by the current problems in the Middle East. As reported by the ADL, the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict has increased anti-Israel sentiment. Because of the close association between Israel and Judaism, many have automatically associated pro-Israel figures with the entire Jewish community, leading to a subsequent rise in anti-Jewish tropes.

At Lowell, antisemitic incidents are not a new occurrence. In January 2021, anonymous users posted antisemitic and racist slurs, pornographic images, and other derogatory comments to an online Padlet discussion forum, sparking public backlash. Yet for many Jewish students, their expo-

For some students, the most visible antisemitism at Lowell comes in the form of microaggressions. As described in professor Derald Wing Sue’s book Microaggressions in Everyday Life, microaggressions — slights, insults, and other offensive behaviors directed at people of marginalized groups — are often reflections of implicit bias, not intentional acts of discrimination. In turn, Jewish students are faced with coded language and imagery that others may not know is antisemitic. “I’ve definitely gotten offhanded comments [about being Jewish] at Lowell and it’s not out of a place of aggression, but because people aren’t educated,” Paris said.

Fear of facing antisemitism at school has prevented some students from expressing their Jewish culture. Senior Julian Rapaport feels apprehensive about wearing a yarmulke — a headcover commonly worn by Jewish men — at school due to concerns about antisemitic microaggressions. “I have not worn a yarmulke in school… and I probably wouldn’t,” Rapaport said. “Because on Saturdays, when I walk to synagogue, that’s when I get little comments that I don’t want to get at school. Forget it.”

For other students, social media has fueled their increased exposure to antisemitism. Junior Dahlia Kelly continues to see antisemitic posts uploaded to TikTok and Instagram, despite these media outlets committing to a crackdown on hate speech. “It’s not rare to be scrolling down and then see somebody say something antisemitic, or repost something Kanye said,” Kelly said. They also believe that this influx in antisemitic content is having an influence on students’ behaviors. “We’re all impressionable teenagers, and we see [antisemitic] stuff on social media which we absorb — consciously or sub-

“I think part of [the issue] is that we want recognition for existing, and that just doesn’t happen.”

consciously,” Kelly said. “So our behaviors become reflective of these posts or tweets or videos, and then there’s more chance for antisemitism.”

In particular, Ye’s social media comments have sparked conversation among Lowellites. Paris has heard her classmates laughing about Ye’s antisemitic comments, and others defending him. “I heard someone say, ‘Yeah, but he wrote this good song.’ And I was like, ‘Shut the f*ck up right now,’” Paris said. Klionsky agrees that Ye’s large influence is extremely detrimental, and was scared for herself and Lowell’s Jewish community after seeing these comments.

Many Lowellites feel that the issue is minimized by both students and the administration. Some Jewish students feel that they aren’t recognized as a minority group at Lowell, causing their reports of discrimination to be invalidated. “I think part of [the issue] is that we want recognition for existing, and that just doesn’t happen,” Paris said. A similar sentiment was shared by Jewish students after the Padlet incident, with many students feeling that the antisemitic language cast against them was ignored by the administration. “I never officially saw the Padlet but I heard there was a ton of antisemitic stuff that was completely brushed to the side,” Paris added. “Nobody brought it up.”

Some Jewish students have turned to communities including Jew Crew — Lowell’s Jewish club — to find support amidst these acts of antisemitism. “[Jew Crew] is a place where a bunch of kids who may have gone through the same experiences can feel safe,” Klionsky, co-president of Jew Crew, said. “We want to encourage people to come to us if they are a victim of antisemitism.”

To combat this issue, some students believe that they should be educating themselves about antisemitism and the Holocaust. Klionsky said that a lot of microaggressions or comments made about Jewish people come from a lack of understanding. As a result, she believes a solution is for people to educate themselves. “If you’re not sure if

what you’re saying is rude to Jews, or the Jewish community, look into it. It probably is,” Klionsky said. “I think in general, everyone needs to be careful with what they say, how they phrase things.”

Some students believe self-education is not enough. Rapaport believes that learning about antisemitism and the Holocaust without structured guidance can lead to further confusion and misconceptions. “When you research [the Holocaust] and when you just skim Wikipedia articles, it’s just the scope of it. It’s almost impossible to understand,” Rapaport said. “And that can lead to well, ‘Was it really that bad?’”

For that reason, some students think required education is needed to combat the spread of antisemitism. Specifically in regard to the Holocaust, Paris feels that the current history curriculum lacks the depth and nuance the subject warrants. “Millions of people were killed and that includes people who weren’t Jewish,” she said. “That has to be acknowledged.”

Other students believe that Lowell’s curriculum could expand to cover more than just the Holocaust. Klionsky wishes that the enduring conflict in Israel and Palestine could be taught so that students can better understand antisemitism and Zionism — the movement for the establishment and protection of a Jewish state. Kilonsky believes that having a safe space to explore these controversial topics in school would be more productive than uneducated discourse outside of the classroom.

Although ef forts are being made to improve Califor nia’s standardized curriculum sur rounding topics such as these, many teachers still find themselves utiliz ing outside material in their lessons. In October 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom launched the Governor’s Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education, tasked with identifying resources to teach students about the Holocaust and other acts of genocide. However, according to History Department Chair Rebecca Johnson, much of the education students receive surrounding the Holocaust is provided through supplemental material, rather than being standardized by the school or the state. “[The curriculum] is regulated in that teachers should teach about the Holocaust, but not in how they go about that,” Johnson said. Similarly, Lowell’s English Department does not have a selection of required books or lessons that incorporate material surrounding the Holocaust or antisemitism, according to English Department co-chair Staci Carney. Some teachers at Lowell choose to teach books such as The Chosen or Maus, which have led to discussions in the classroom about World War II, antisemitism, and the Holocaust. Some students feel very fortunate to learn about these topics through literature. “I was very lucky to have read Maus in class,” Paris said. “I think it was pretty great and it brought up a lot of things that aren’t talked about, like the ghettos and the things leading up to the Holocaust.”

Whether at Lowell or across the nation, acts of antisemitism are bringing about fear and stress for Jewish students. Experiences with microaggressions on campus and on social media have led to several being uncomfortable expressing their culture. Paris, like many others, hopes that Jewish students at Lowell will be recognized for the struggles they face in light of these events. “I think being acknowledged is one of the biggest things,” she said. “I’d just like to be acknowledged.”

“[Jew Crew] is a place where a bunch of kids who may have gone through the same experiences can feel safe.”

DECONSTRUCTING THE FEMININE MOLD

By Brooke Laur

It was the first day of third grade at my new school. I got dressed and decided to sport my usual attire: basketball shorts and a t-shirt. My mom examined me, and then asked me to change into something a little “girlier.” I reluctantly agreed; the first day of school was a special occasion after all. I decided to put on a bright violet blouse, but kept the basketball shorts on the bottom. My mom eyed my fashion choices, but didn’t protest further.

Beginning in childhood we are given certain roles, certain molds, that we must fit into. Boys are generally expected to be strong, aggressive, and bold, while girls are expected to be polite, feminine, and neutral. But as a kid, it was clear I fit neither mold. I was a girl who always wore “boy clothes,” and played lots of sports. Since childhood, I have realized the persistent notion of an ideal girl, a “feminine mold,” that I needed to fit into in order to gain others’ validation and respect. The truth is, the feminine mold is nothing more than a changing, impossible construct.

When I entered my third grade classroom and looked at the girls around me, I realized just how different I looked. The only girl who seemed to dress similar to me was named Maddie. She flaunted a half-shaved haircut and basketball shorts down to the knees. She approached me in art class that day and actually spat on her hand, extending it out to me. Was this some sort of bond I was forced to have, since Maddie thought we were equal? I didn’t dare to be as much of an outcast, yet few people

were coming up to me and introducing themselves. It appeared as though making friends would be challenging. I hated the painfully awkward question of, “So, are you a boy or a girl?’’ I decided I had to change, and that first day of third grade would kick-start my assimilation into the girl world. Slowly, my wardrobe became more and more feminine. No more were the baggy dinosaur t-shirts; that wasn’t what girls should wear. Instead, I now proudly wore leggings and tank tops and sparkly tennis shoes. As my wardrobe changed, so did my social life — just as I’d hoped. By the end of third grade, I had made new friends, and the basketball shorts I once loved sulked deep down somewhere in my closet, swapped out for skorts and glitter, forgotten.

Time went on and the basketball shorts became a quirky memento of who I once was. I was now in middle school, yet the feelings I once had of inadequacy, of not meeting a certain requirement of this feminine mold, had begun to stir inside me once more. Alas, I still felt insecure in my girlhood, despite the fact that I was conforming more to societal standards than I ever had before. I fit the mold I had in my head maybe five years prior, but now, that mold had changed. The issue stemmed from my friend’s and I’s discovery of boys. The boys we were having crushes on, the ones we thought were cute, all seemed to eat up more and more brain space. Naturally, the girls around me began to wear more makeup and shop at stores like Brandy Melville. They shared lip gloss and swapped stories of their new boyfriends. However, I personally felt like I wasn’t “allowed” or “worthy”

PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY MALENA CARDONA AND JOEY HE

enough to do those girly things that my friends participated in, due to the fact that for so much of my life I had been considered a tomboy and continued to display those traits with the sports I played, or the large number of guy friends I continued to have. I looked the part, but in no way did I feel the part. In my head, I still didn’t fit the feminine mold. I wasn’t like Olivia, for example. She wore crop tops before all the other girls in my grade. Most importantly, in my eyes, she fit the mold. She never said much when boys were around, but we all knew, the boys loved Olivia. Maybe I even loved her a little too. I would compare myself to Olivia and realize just how different we were. She was more “girl” than I could ever be. She was not smeared with the dirt of masculinity, like how I felt I was.

Time passed by, and I was a freshman nervously getting ready for my first day of school. The feelings of flaming inadequacy I had in regards to my femininity had now died down, but now shifted to an all-encompassing dilemma: I now hated the way I looked. Yes, I had subscribed to the feminine ideals that seemed to be hammered to the walls of my brain like a poster, but despite the fact that I was conforming to societal standards, I still felt imperfect within the mold. Specifically, that I wasn’t pretty enough or fitting the physical ideals of what a teenage girl should look like. My insecurity only worsened when the expectations of what I should be doing started coming into play. Around sophomore year, my friends had slowly started losing their virginity. I was aghast, and started to wonder why the hell I was still a virgin. What do my friends have that I don’t? Are they better looking than I am? It must be. Well what’s wrong with me? The only logical explantation I could come to was that my friends fit the feminine mold in ways that I could not — and in ways I had been trying to accomplish for years.

With perfect timing, I had just started going to my first parties. I wanted a taste so badly of whatever sex KoolAid everyone seemed to be drinking from. If I could get a taste, would that mean that I was pretty enough? I would be at these parties and observe the girls who were obviously attracting attention, while silently comparing myself to these girls. How was she talking? What was she wearing? Each difference between her and I seemed to stab me and leave scars for me to grimly note in the morning. I worried my sexual curiosity would never get alleviated if I wasn’t fitting the same mold as these girls were. They all seemed to fit this idea of the feminine mold I had in my head, and they only enforced that notion within me further: I wasn’t pretty

enough. I had to laugh at every stupid joke. I had to be hot, but not intimidatingly so. I had to be feminine but not to the point that it was pathetic. I now began to live my life in hopes of being just as pretty, skinny, funny, and cool. I believed I had to fit this feminine mold to be desirable, the same way I had aimed to do in elementary and middle school.

It feels like throughout most of my life, the idea of the feminine mold has followed me. It has morphed with age into different constructs, all concerning the way I present myself to the world, and the ways in which I receive validation from others. There has been a persistent notion of the ideal woman I have needed to be and look like, in order to first gain respect from my peers, and as I got older, the people I was attracted to.

The truth is, the feminine mold is nothing more than a construct I have built in my head. The ideals we think we need to meet in order to gain another’s adoration or respect, are really just just made up. My self-esteem has suffered, and I’ve spent so many nights regretting things I should’ve done or should’ve said, but didn’t because in my head, I wasn’t attractive enough — I wasn’t fitting the feminine mold enough — to be worthy of that sort of validation. When I was younger, I was consumed with embarrassment to be anything other than the “ideal girl”, and would be ashamed of the parts of me that didn’t fit that mold. As I got older, I suffered from how deeply I lacked the confidence to go for the people I really wanted, as I convinced myself that no one could reciprocate my feelings.

Now, the feminine mold still follows me and continues to inflict a feeling of self-doubt, yet I am able to recognize that the feminine mold is merely an idea, a concept in my head. I’ve truly grown tired of the way an impossible, forever changing ideal, one that I will never be able to achieve, has controlled and inhibited me from feeling secure and confident in myself. My perspective shifts when I pause and actually examine my life and the people around me: There are people who find me attractive. The mold is just a construct in my head. There is no “ideal” woman or girl. And whenever I try to be that, an “ideal”, it only prevents me from achieving the things I truly want out of life — confidence, understanding, and love. Eventually, I must come to the realization that just because I don’t fit the impossible ideals I have established in my head, it doesn’t make me any less of a woman. It doesn’t make me any worse of a woman, either.

The feminine mold is nothing more than a changing, impossible construct.

I looked the part, but in no way did I feel the part. In my head, I still didn’t fit the feminine mold.

DIVINE FEMININE BY SAMIR

AZMI

When photographing the piece “Divine Feminine,” I aimed to capture the essence of feminine beauty and spirituality. Each photograph features a different woman, adorned with symbolic clothing and jewelry. Each photo showcases the power and grace of each subject’s feminine spirit. The collection celebrates the beauty and strength of the women around us. I feel privileged to be able to showcase the qualities in a way that I hope inspires others to embrace their own beauty and strength.

A NEW WAY TO CHEAT

BY MARSHALL MUSCAT

ChatGPT can write essays for students.

What happens now?

ILLUSTRATION BY DARIXA VARELA MEDRANO

Looking at the clock, it’s half an hour until the paper is due. Timothy, a sophomore under a pseudonym, sweats profusely as the deadline approaches. Staring at the blank screen, his stomach ties into a knot; in addition to the stress of being a slow typer pressed for time, the topic is complicated and requires deep planning that he no longer has time for. Remembering a conversation with his friends about a software program called ChatGPT, Timothy logs in and asks the chatbot to write him an essay on the topic. Watching the essay form on his screen, he wonders why he didn’t do this sooner. Having a finished product in a matter of seconds, the tension releases from his body.

Timothy is not the only student at Lowell who has used artificial intelligence writing software to complete schoolwork.

The rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to write essays has concerned teachers across the country. Certain AI programs are able to generate answers to any question or prompt that users input, leading to some cases of students attempting to use it for completing writing assignments. However, it has arrived at Lowell with mixed feedback. Some students use it due to family pressure, stress, or as a useful learning tool, while others do not see it as necessary or are directly against its use.

Differentiating between a human writer and AI is becoming more difficult, raising concerns about undetected academic dishonesty. The release of ChatGTP this past fall was a turning point. The ease and speed with which a ChatGPT user can generate writing blows minds, as does the quality of the text. Within seconds, it is able to write an essay, complete with a thesis statement and such teacher-pleasing qualities as varied sentence structure and analysis that ties back to the original claim. According to a research paper by the Stanford Center for Research on Foundation Models (Stanford CRFM), AI writing chatbots such as ChatGPT are trained through foundation models, a feedback system to refine responses

generated from a vast quantity of documents it has access to. As a result, an AI chatbot can generate human-like writing.

The use of AI writing software for assignments is against district rules. According to the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Student and Family Handbook, “Any type of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, submitting work done by another as your own, or using unauthorized technology is prohibited.” Despite this rule being in place, Lowellites use AI for their written assignments. In a survey conducted by The Lowell, 19 percent of students reported using AI-powered writing software to complete classwork, essays, or tests.

Some educators at Lowell are less anxious about the plagiarism associated with AI and are instead worried about the loss of critical thinking skills. Social studies teacher Erin Hanlon-Young is one of them. “I’m asking them to write papers because I’m asking them to figure out what they’re interested in, how to find information, and how to make connections,” Hanlon-Young said. Lowell English teacher Jennifer Moffit also expressed worry over students having an easy way to avoid writing. “Writing is not just about having the correct answer; it’s also about developing that answer, developing your thoughts, through the process of

writing,” she said. “Having AI write for them means that they will lose the opportunity to develop both writing and thinking skills.”

Some students at Lowell are also apprehensive about the use of AI at school. “The whole point of getting an education is to learn and improve. And I almost feel like you’re doing yourself a disservice by using AI to get through that,” senior Ivy Mahncke said. The essays that high schoolers are writing emphasize the importance of drawing connections, and Mahncke feels like the loss of those critical thinking skills could leave students unprepared for the

“The main reason I used it was because my parents had put all this pressure on me to do better and to be a straight-A student,” he said. “I couldn’t take it anymore and started cheating with ChatGPT.”

DATA FROM A RANDOM SAMPLE OF 261 STUDENTS WHO RESPONDED TO A SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE LOWELL IN MARCH 2023

real world. “I am sure there are positive aspects to AI, but I think that the risk right now is so overwhelming that I almost wonder if the discussion is even worth it,” she said.

For some students, relying on ChatGPT is necessary to juggle what they consider to be overwhelming amounts of work. James, a senior under a pseudonym, resorted to ChatGPT for both school and scholarship essays due to time pressure. “Our society made it so that students have to take a lot of AP classes, have jobs, have clubs to be considered for admission in these really good colleges. Obviously, that can cause students to put a lot of work on their backs,” he said. “I feel like I can’t just be myself and be happy and be free, have time for myself because [of] all these assignments.”

with subjects that require technical expertise or up-to-date knowledge. Senior Wallace Tang has attempted to use ChatGPT for class assignments such as poems or essays but found that it struggles to follow requests like writing in iambic pentameter or using up-to-date information, rendering ChatGPT’s answers unusable. In two articles from OpenAI, the publisher of ChatGPT detailed the limitations of the program: “ChatGPT’s training data cuts off in 2021. This means that it is completely unaware of current events, trends, or anything that happened after its training,” or even “ChatGPT will occasionally make up facts or ‘hallucinate’ outputs.”

Hanlon-Young sees the usefulness of ChatGPT in her classroom. After experimenting with the software herself, she found that it works best for her when generating essay questions. She had her class brainstorm topics related to U.S. history, then open ChatGPT and ask it to generate writing prompts for students to respond to in an argumentative essay. The program ended up helping some of her students find some direction for their interests.

algorithmic data that it is fed. Since language AI only has access to certain information, it forms a view that is informed by patterns it sees in that data.

For other students, ChatGPT has turned into an essential resource due to parental pressure. Timothy started using AI because all of his grades began dropping and he didn’t know how to maintain them. “The main reason I used it was because my parents had put all this pressure on me to do better and to be a straight-A student,” he said. “I couldn’t take it anymore and started cheating with ChatGPT.” Timothy’s mom would compare him to his brothers and other family members, and using ChatGPT for writing assignments offered a quick solution and allowed him to spend more time on other work to raise his grades. “She would say stuff like, ‘You embarrass me. Why can’t you be more like your cousins?’” As a solution, Timothy felt like he had no choice but to use text software.

Despite the apparent power of the writing programs, they have their flaws. ChatGPT, for example, struggles

According to Hanlon-Young, when one of her students was struggling to think of how he was going to write about human experiences during the Great Depression, ChatGPT provided a prompt asking him to compare urban life versus rural life during the time period.

A major concern about using AI is the biases that stem from the

According to Stanford CRFM, “Foundation models can compound existing inequities by producing unfair outcomes, entrenching systems of power, and disproportionately distributing negative consequences of technology to those already marginalized.” It found that intrinsic biases that were present in the data fed to the programs surfaced in responses that it generated. This fact troubles Hanlon-Young: “What is this going to do to perpetuate systemic inequality, whether it be racism, sexism, xenophobia, classism?”

The biases ChatGPT reinforces also have the potential to work disinformation into the classroom. “It’s going to be a pretty major issue, especially when less technologically inclined people are using this more and more often, and they’re taking some of the stuff generated as fact, but it’s not,” Mahncke said. “There’s almost too much trust in the reliability of the AI and what people really have to realize is that it makes stuff up and it picks up biases from its sources.”

The use of text-based AI for school remains controversial. AI’s writing will continue to improve, to the point where it may become indistinguishable from human writers. Since it could be used to cheat, questions of ethics and how to regulate it are brought up, as well as how it will impact the students using it. “I think it is like drug addiction,” Mahncke said. “It’s a little bit like pressing the dopamine button and like getting content for free and so I worry a bit what it’s doing for our own motivation to create, as opposed to just getting endless streams of content.”

*Alina Mei contributed reporting

“The whole point of getting an education is to learn and improve. And I almost feel like you’re doing yourself a disservice by using AI to get through that.”

BY EMILY YEE

UNFAIR AND OUTDATED:

Sexist dress codes don’t belong in sports

By Sierra Sun

Mounting onto the four-inch balance beam, I could already feel the thin leotard material tugging against my skin. Deep breath in, I hoped to breeze through the next one minute and thirty seconds of my routine without xating on receiving the most painfully embarrassing wedgie. A minute passes and I’m feeling hopeful I can ght o the unbearable feeling of performing in a revealing leotard. I con dently swing into a backhandspring. Arms in the air to nish the skill, I felt the squeezing elastic cut out of the leotard ride up my body and the judging eyes of middle aged parents in the stands. Forgetting to maintain decorum while performing, I was possessed by my self consciousness to pull down on the elastic that was causing me discomfort. Immediately, the sound

of judges jotting down this “behavioral violation” was heard, as I would later receive score deductions because of this. Whydidamid-routineadjustmentoftheoverlyrevealingattireprove moredetrimentaltomyscorethanany unpointed toes or awed execution of skills, I thought when I scored lower than my teammates.

To this day, I wonder how I may have actually felt at ease while performing if USA Women’s Gymnastics policies allowed me the freedom of donning shorts or even a unitard that stretched to my ankles and not at the hips. Having been a subject to unfair athletic rules, the sexist policing of women’s bodies have been ampli ed by rulebooks such as this.

Since Title IX revolutionized female participation in sports alongside

men, there is yet to be an equal playing eld regarding dress codes. Whether it be the skimpy leotards, short tennis skirts, or tight spandex shorts, uniform requirements have long displayed female athletes in a hypersexualized manner. Struggling to comfortably submit to these policies due to self image-related concerns is an experience many athletes face, professional or amateur. O en, constant hypersexualized judgment of their physique, perpetuated by the uniforms codes, takes attention away from their athleticism or achievements. For women to fully feel comfortable in their sport, sporting institutions must stop mandating strict uniform standards onto women.

Uniforms displaying female athletes’ bodies in a sexualized manner put girls at risk of body image issues.

As a result of outdated codes forcing women to expose more skin than their male counterparts, traditional gender stereotypes are reinforced in an attempt to have women appear more feminine. Putting on tighter tting uniforms in sports is especially di cult for young athletes barely surviving puberty — a rollercoaster of emotional and physical changes. A recent study showed that by the time girls reach their teen years, their participation in sports drop, with 45 percent of this pattern attributed to self-consciousness and body image-related concerns. Young female athletes are subject to feeling insecure when it feels like an audience can see right through them with embarrassingly large amounts of skin being exposed from uniforms.

e imbalanced dressing requirements are set out in great detail in the o cial rules for a variety of di erent sports. When we look over our shoulders at our male counterparts making use of looser tting and less sexualized performance gear, we wonder, Why not us? For example, according to the International Gymnastics Federation guidelines, male gymnasts are given the choice of “long trousers or shorts,” while female gymnasts are only allowed the choice of having sleeves or not in their high-cut leotards. ese discrepancies aren’t isolated only to gymnastics; In women’s beach handball, players must wear “midri ” baring tops and “bikini bottoms” that are “cut on the upward angle toward the top of the leg.” In contrast, men are held to “sleeveless shirts” and shorts as a standard.

e disparate rules have historically obliged femininity upon female athletes and further reinforced gender boundaries — as well as consumerism tendencies. Skirts, which have had a long history of sexualizing female athletes since the 19th century, are common in many sports like tennis, golf, or lacrosse today. In the 1970s, Ted Tinling, the host of the Wimbledon tennis tournament and fashion designer, took note of how women needed not only to play the part, but also look the part. Tinling capitalized o of glamorous tennis skirts and dresses as a tactic of reeling

in viewers, encouraging fans to view female players as objects of sexual desire. In the eyes of authority gures like Tinling, women continue to compete with men for TV coverage and endorsements through provocative attire. ese dress codes enforced by sports governing bodies, half of which have less than 25 percent female gures, display the patriarchal origins running through the veins of sports.

For so long, women in sports have struggled to gain recognition solely for their athletic excellence due to this issue. When audiences obsess over the curve of their hips to the width of their arms due to uniform rules, respect for these athletes fades away to objectifying comments. Even when female athletes hold dominance in their sports, insecurities triggered by the male gaze among audiences set athletes as a target for degradation, preventing them from receiving proper recognition. Professional tennis player Serena Williams, who won four Olympic gold medals and holds more Grand Slam titles than any athlete, has consistently faced public scrutiny through persistent body shaming and sexist attitudes.

Many athletes like Williams have protested the ongoing harm that sexualized uniforms perpetuate onto women. Wearing her full-body cat-suit

at the 2018 French Open tournament to help her menstruation, Williams was met with immediate backlash, with the Tennis Federation President Bernad Giudicelli describing this phenomenon as “no longer accepted”, and that “one must respect the game and place.” Giudicelli’s statement implies that in order for a woman to “respect” the game and be allowed on the tennis court, she must appear a certain way, which includes wearing a skirt. is response emphasizes the incessant desire to control how women can and cannot appear, especially since skirts don’t contribute to athletic performance. Similarly, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team was ned $1,700 by the European Handball Federation for competing their championship game in spandex shorts, instead of the required bikini bottoms. is penalty drew widespread criticism of the sexist uniforms that, again, do not enhance performance quality. Despite these controversies, we do see a slight positive trend in athletes being praised for pushing back against the sexism in female sports. For instance, German gymnasts at the Tokyo Olympic Games wore full body unitards as a protest against “sexualization in gymnastics,” according to the German Gymnastics Federation, aiming to “present aesthetically — without feeling uncomfortable.” Although their more modest uniform was permitted by the International Gymnastics Federation guidelines, it caught global media attention immediately, with many commending women’s sartorial freedom to cover up and prioritize comfortability in sports.

ough these examples have paved the way for more women in sports to combat dress codes based on archaic ideas of the male gaze, it’s hard to tell when this normalized sexualization of female body parts will end. From receiving a score deduction for xing the unbearable wedgie of my skimpy leotard to professional athletes being ned for wearing shorts, these rules need to go. For as long as patriarchal systems and beauty standards roam, women have few spaces to dictate their own bodily autonomy.

These dress codes enforced by sports governing bodies, half of which have less than 25 percent female figures, display the patriarchal origins running through the veins of sports.

REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES

By Aaliyah Español-Rivas

The first time I watched “Real Women Have Curves,” I was practically bawling my eyes out when it concluded. I assumed the 2002 film would solely focus on body positivity and womanhood, and felt prepared to handle such topics. However, I wasn’t prepared for it to hit so close to home. Like the protagonist, I am a Latina that will be a first-generation college student. I too have had a difficult relationship with my mother and family, with issues of cultural tradition often being at the center of our disagreements. However, filmmaker Patricia Cardadosa raises the stakes even further; the mother in this film does not want her daughter to go to college. The film is a painfully raw depiction of a mother-daughter relationship strained by the traditional ideals deeply rooted in Latin culture.

The film follows Ana Guzman (America Ferrera), as she navigates womanhood. On the cusp of graduating high school, Ana slowly disconnects from her family due to the clashing views about a woman’s role in life she and her mother have. Ana is the opposite of the daughter her mother wants. Ana is independent, intelligent, outspoken, and ambitious.

inforced the idea that family is the most important value, and it should be put above all else, even if it means giving up her dreams. As a result, Ana’s mother uses this traditional ideal as a guilt trip tactic to force Ana to stay, constantly making her feel bad about leaving her family behind for college. She goes as far as to try to convince Ana that she’s pregnant, soon finding out that she’s experiencing menopause. Her mother becomes depressed, as child-making was the most sacred experience a woman can have. With her mother’s womanhood taken away, Ana attempts to find meaning in hers.

After being complimented by a boy in her class, Ana begins a romantic relationship with him, seeking only pleasure and not marriage. With her mother constantly pushing the idea of marriage in her head, Ana decides to defy this and just fall in love. From this relationship, Ana realizes that she must actually become independent to live the life she wants. Already, the relationship helped her gain a sense of confidence in herself, and hope for the future. Soon after their relationship starts, Ana and the boy become sexual, which is discovered by Ana’s mother. Her final decision to defy her mother’s views becomes the nail in the coffin of her relationship with her mother.

She has dreams of leaving her neighborhood in Los Angeles and wants to attend college. Throughout the film her mother constantly silences Ana and imposes the ideals she was raised with on her, resulting in a feud between the two. Ana’s mother does not want her to attend college; rather, she works in the dress factory to help their family make money. However, Ana defies her wishes and applies to Columbia University behind her back to get as far away from her as she can. This proves to be the main conflict of the movie, as Ana gets accepted with a full ride, but her mother does not allow her to accept because she wants her to stay and contribute to their family.

Ana’s mother wants Ana to stay with her and take care of her until she’s old, just like she had to do with her parents, who they all live with. Throughout Ana’s life, she re-

Ana realizes soon after that even despite her mother’s disapproval, she must go to New York and find herself. On the day Ana leaves, she attempts to reconcile with her mother before she goes, begging her at her door to come out and say goodbye. But her mother never comes out, deciding to break the relationship between the two. Ana leaves, leaving her old life behind, and becoming independent. In the film’s final minute, we see Ana walking in the streets of New York, confidently strutting down, ready to take on the world.

“Real Women Have Curves” is a painful depiction of the effects of upholding tradition can have on a family. Ana as a woman was expected to submit to her mother and almost had to give up her dreams at the cost of her expected role to provide for her family. However, this was not Ana’s definition of a woman, and she knew she had to break the generational cycle her family had imposed on her to find her own womanhood. While I was attracted to this film with the assumption that I would feel more empowered about my body and emerging journey of womanhood, I received a greater understanding of the decisions I must make in the future. I realized that eventually, someone has to break the cycle of tradition no matter how hard it is. As I prepare to leave for college, I know I must choose the path that’s right for me, even if it means leaving my family, no matter how much it hurts them.

While I was attracted to this film on the assumption that I would feel more empowered about my body and emerging journey of womanhood, I received a greater understanding of the decisions I must make in the future.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HBO FILMS

JEANNE DIELMAN,23 QUAI DU COMMERCE,1080 BRUXELLES

By Marlena Rohde

“Jean Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles,” released in 1973, is an agonizingly boring film. That’s why it’s still highly relevant today in both the way we view women and the way women view themselves. Throughout its three and a half hour runtime, I was restlessly switching positions in my uncomfortable theater seat, forcing myself to focus on the plot. The audience spends two days with a woman as she cleans her house, goes about her errands, and takes a bath, all in real time. No cuts, no montages. Despite the tedious storyline, it instantly became one of my favorite movies. It was the first film I had seen in which women’s daily lives are given importance and portrayed in a non-sexualized way. It made me reconsider the way the male gaze in the media I consume affected the way I view myself, and provided a solution to my internalized voyeurism.

The male gaze is pervasive, it bleeds into every part of women’s lives. Coined in Laura Mulvey’s essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975), the male gaze is the lens through which male fantasy is projected onto female characters. Narrative and cinematography techniques sexualize women, reducing them into a sexual object instead of a character. You’ve seen it: a woman walks out of the ocean dripping with water while the camera pans up and down her body. This isn’t a character, it’s an inserted fantasy.

Voyeurism is the sense of watching someone who is unaware that they are being watched. When the male gaze is applied to voyeurism, the subject is unaware of a male watcher, and yet she looks perfect, attractive. That’s the appeal, that’s the expectation. The idea forms in her mind that a man could look in at any time, so she needs to look flawless all the time, just in case. The male gaze and the idea of the internal voyeur intersect. Margaret Atwood describes the pervasiveness of the male gaze and the inescapability of voyeurism in her 1993 book, “The Robber Bride,” saying “even pretending you aren’t catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you’re unseen…that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher…You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.”

The sense of constantly being watched and having to appeal to the voyeur who only exists in my own mind has followed me since I began consuming popular media: Edward

Cullen in “Twilight” watches Bella while she sleeps; Jonathan from “Stranger Things” takes photos of Nancy from the bushes; “Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle” opens with a scene of Cameron Diaz waking up in boy shorts and dancing around her bedroom. Female characters’ mundane, daily lives and routines are constantly sexualized, turned into male fantasies. The lack of media in which women’s daily lives are shown in an honest, realistic way makes it feel as though unsexualized daily routines either don’t exist or aren’t valuable enough to be shown because they lack sex appeal. If I go about my daily routines without looking perfect, do I matter?

With “Jean Dielman”, director Chantal Akerman made a film that purposefully subverts our ideas of voyeurism. Jean Dielman is middle aged, fully dressed, serious. She feels like a real person, not a sexual object. Akerman makes every part of Jean Dielman’s daily life important. So much care goes into showing each detail of Jean’s routines in the first day, so that when small changes occur in the second day, the audience notices them with a pang of anxiety.

Fifty years later, this film is still worth watching because it shows voyeurism in a way that is non-sexualized and does not appeal to the male gaze. The voyeurism in Jean Dielman serves as the story telling, as the audience feels as though they are a fly on Dielman’s wall as she begins to lose her routines. Internalized male gaze comes from consuming media in which female characters are reduced to objects, not allowed lives of their own outside of the male watcher. It follows that the way to reduce internalized male gaze is to begin consuming media in which the small, boring parts of women’s lives, or any parts of their lives, for that matter, are given value. If I had been exposed to characters like Dielman a little earlier, I would have been able to see value in my routines themselves, and not the way I look when I perform them. I would not be my own voyeur.

The male gaze is pervasive, it bleeds into every part of women’s lives.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CRITERION

BY HUGH MACDONALD

CHAINSAWMAN

By Connor Walsh

When I first read the shounen manga series Chainsaw Man, I was overwhelmed, but in a good way. While I expected, and enjoyed, the gratuitous violence and absurdity that was advertised, I found more than that. I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a relatable protagonist and well-written side characters that add an emotional flair to the story, especially in such a short and fastpaced narrative.

Chainsaw Man follows a lone 16-year-old boy named Denji who, after making a contract with a dog-like devil named Pochita, gains the ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws. He is rescued by a mysterious woman named Makima and joins the Public Safety division, an organization dedicated to protecting Japan from devils.

In the world of manga, Denji certainly stands out as a unique protagonist. In many popular manga and anime, the protagonist’s motivations are extremely ambitious, which has the effect of making them more distant from the reader. During an interview with French news channel BFMTV, author Tatsuki Fujimoto was asked about his inspiration for Denji. He said, “Observe the current younger generation…they don’t seek a large income… they want to live a simple life, day by day.” Denji is exactly that: a boy with an ordinary life and straightforward motivations. His only aspirations are to eat jam on his toast and have a girlfriend. While these ambitions change slightly and get a little bigger throughout the series, they remain relatively surface level. In a sense, Denji is an expression of the lowered ambitions of Generation Z compared to other generations, as it faces being forced into an unforgiving world without direction or hope for the future. This aspect makes him relatable in an almost working-class hero type of way, setting him apart from the overzealous protagonists of other anime and making him much more popular with Chainsaw

Man’s current audience. Chainsaw Man is able to shine with its supporting characters as well. Fujimoto wrote the story in a way that, while action-packed, makes sure not to sacrifice emotional weight to scenes. Fujimoto makes sure to never break from the complete sincerity of his story and at a certain point, you realize Chainsaw Man is more about its characters than its action. Space is made for the development of not only Denji, but the entire supporting cast. One of the best relationships in the series is the dynamic between Denji’s partner, Power, and Aki, their handler. While Power and Denji begin their journey with polar opposite mentalities in life, they learn over time to stop hating each other and instead become each other’s exception to their rules. Their awkward and messy relationship creates one of the best representations of

male-female platonic friendships in manga. Meanwhile, Aki is originally seen as a flat character, with his sole goal being to exact revenge on the devil that killed his family. He is unwillingly assigned to be Power and Denji’s handler, originally not being so enthused as he saw this as a distraction from his main goal. After living and fighting alongside them, however, he grows to realize his care for them, and that he has something to live for other than his self-destructive revenge quest. By the end of the series, I came to realize that these characters aren’t perfectly conventional “good guys” or characters with one-dimensional motives. They’re emotionally stunted individuals, forced to stick together in a cruel world and grow to better their attitude, which is something readers can relate to. You can imagine these characters, crazy as they can get sometimes, as real people with real-world problems.

While I expected ChainsawManto be your bog standard action-oriented anime with a little crude humor, I found more than I was looking for. I was pleasantly surprised with the more emotional elements of the story and the way characters’ feelings were prioritized, so much so that they somewhat overshadowed the also really cool action scenes. Overall, I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a breath of fresh air in the shounen genre.

ILLUSTRAION

Fujimoto makes sure to never break from the complete sincerity of his story and at a certain point, you realize Chainsaw Man is more about its characters than its action.

PANEL COURTESY OF TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

GIRLS GO “GOBLIN MODE” TOO

By Kahlo Friel-Asay

Many people label Clash Royale as an unfun, “loser” game, but it is undeserving of these titles. This mobile video game is oneversus-one player. It moves at a fast pace and requires strategizing with your pick of a deck of cards. While there are many great aspects of Clash Royale, the best part is that, by having no chat feature or communication method, it provides female players with a comfortable space to play. Most gaming commu-

nities are male-dominated and often very sexist. This is a big issue throughout many gaming commu nities, where girls cannot simply enjoy the game without getting harassed or being looked down upon. Not only is Clash Royale a breath of fresh air from sexism in the gaming industry, but the game itself is also engag ing. It is quick and easy to learn, and highly enjoyable almost to the point of being addictive. With each win or loss, there are trophies at stake which you can either gain or lose, creating a fun and competitive aspect to the game. Clash Royale is great for those who have a short attention span and just want a brief, fun game to play while relaxing or taking a break. Those who seek comfort in Clash Royale and similar games, especially female players, shouldn’t be judged for the labels on the game.

HERSTORY’S (S)HEROES

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3. Walk like an Egyptian (queen)

5. First woman to have United States presidential powers

8. When it came to alcoholism, she did not want to bury the hatchet

10. Assisted Meriwether and William on their famous expedition westward

13. Granted national women’s suffrage

14. She knows why the caged bird sings

15. This woman fly as h*ll

17. First woman to serve in congress

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2. “I Am _____” Author; Nobel Peace Prize winner (First Name)

4. Among US House of Representatives (abbr.)

6. Landmark Women’s rights convention

7. First Mexican woman to have art displayed in the Louvre

9. “Ain’t I a woman?”

11. ex-SCOTUS member of notoriety (abbr.)

12. The High Priestess of Soul

16. Author who told the tale of a handmaid

18. A riveting WWII Icon

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