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Contents
4 EDITOR’S LETTER
FEBRUARY 2012
6 PACK PROFILE Insight explores the secret life of a beekeeper.
8 A ROOM WITH A BREW How brewing beer on your own can save you money and give you class.
12 HOME REMEDIES GOT ME LAID
Insight explores a few crazy, but potentially effective home remedies.
14 BATE & SWITCH
A male’s and female’s perspective on the taboo of self-pleasure.
18 CLOSE-KNIT OR CONSERVATIVE?
How the female crafters are influencing feminism, for better or for worse.
20 THE NEGLECTED PLEASURE OF EATING ALONE Why treating yourself to a meal alone can be the best date you ever had.
22 BREAKING OUT OF THE GARAGE Why the Internet is breaking new ground for artists in all mediums and crucial for creativity to spread.
26 THE RUNDOWN Uses for vodka that could make your life better for once.
2012 February | Insight | 3
LETTER {
FROM THE
} EDITOR
“If you want it done right, do it yourself ”
has been an adage that I’ve lived and died by. It might seem controlling, but it’s because no one does it quite like me. Most of the time, this ends with parts falling off my car and me getting sick from my own cooking, but at least I’ll die doing what I wanted. Most of the time, the method of doing it yourself is less lethal. In fact, the whole process can be extremely rewarding because you’re creating something from scratch with all your own input and making something that’s completely yours. To get any sort of positive feedback on something that organic feels really invigorating. Of course, the economy also lends itself to making DIY a necessary trend. If you can’t afford to go out, cook. If you can’t afford the doctor’s visit when that goes awry, make your own remedy, etc. This trend is making us more self-reliant, and thus giving way for us to hone in on our strengths, or develop new ones altogether. DIY, in the end, is for you. You might need it get by, but you always need something that’s purely yours. Maybe other people like it, too, but it doesn’t really matter. You’re satisfying a void you wanted filled and, hopefully, you’re doing it exactly how you want.
Sam DiSalvo Editor-in-Chief Sam DiSalvo - Editor-in-Chief editor@unrinsight.com Geoff McFarland - Print Managing Editor mcfarland@unrinsight.com
Jessie Gray - Office Manager jessie@unrinsight.com
Derek Jordan - Webmaster webmaster@unrinsight.com
Amy Vigen - Story Editor amy@unrinsight.com
Geoff Roseborough - Design Editor geoff@unrinsight.com
Vicki Tam - Story Editor vicki@unrinsight.com
Katherine Sawicki - Assistant Design Editor katherine@unrinsight.com
Evynn McFalls - Web Editor evynn@unrinsight.com
Sebastian Diaz - Photo Editor (Now Hiring) sebastian@unrinsight.com
Charlie Woodman - Web Editor charlie@unrinsight.com
Diamond Lambert - Assistant Photo Editor diamond@unrinsight.com
Lucas Combos - Staff Writer lucas@unrinsight.com
Cambria Roth - Staff Writer cambria@unrinsight.com Contributors: Chanelle Bessette Ariana Critchfield Raymond Eliot Mikko Henrik Kuch Leanne Howard Rachel Kaiser Nicholas Rattigan Jacob Rubeck Stephanie Self Will von Tagen
The opinions expressed in this publication and its associated Web site are not necessarily those of the University of Nevada, Reno or the student body.
COVER ILLUSTRATION BY GEOFF ROSEBOROUGH
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Feel free to email:2012 editor@unrinsight.com February | Insight | 5
PACK PROFILE
J oseph S tewart
BY CHARLIE WOODMAN ILLUSTRAION BY EVYNN MCFALLS
LIKE A BOUNTY HUNTER,
he drills the police for clues. If they don’t have any leads, he might ring up the fire department. “Any swarms lately?” Joseph Stewart is a graduate student of Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). As a hobby, he also tends to a pair of beehives in his spare time. But unlike most beekeepers, Stewart does absolutely everything himself: building the hives, raising the bees, and even tracking and capturing wild swarms. “I’ve never purchased bees,” says Stewart proudly. “I just mostly like bees.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF: UNIVERSITY OF RENO’S ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGY PH.D PROGRAM
“I
saw a swarm of beesthis cluster of bees, and I chased them!” 6 | Insight | February 2012
Instead of shelling out his hard-earned cash, Stewart calls police stations or fire departments, asking for reports of bee swarms or nests, then, armed only with a bee box, he sets out. The hunt is on. “I saw a swarm of bees –this cluster of bees, and I chased them,” he says. The way he tells it, beekeeping is an adventure: eyes light up as he weaves stories of running after elusive swarms across overgrown orchards, laughs ring when he recalls one incident where a box of bees broke open during a car trip and hundreds of buzzing insects danced to the windows, trying to follow the sun. His mouth curls into a smile as he talks about the hives he keeps back home. He seems dampened when he remembers the colonies he’s lost over the years. Stewart started catching and raising bees in 2006 after living with a few beekeepers. Fascinated with the insects and already interested in studying biology, it was only a matter of time before he picked up the bee trade from his dorm mates, who taught him to hunt, capture and raise a hive. He says that this informal training was fairly easy, but that he “got stung a good amount in the process.” Now, six years after first taking that initial interest, Stewart keeps two full hives at home and has raised many more. “It’s such an easy thing to do,” says Stewart, as he chuckles. And the way that he laughs, the excitement in his voice, makes it believable, conceivable that something as scary as hunting and transporting hundreds of poisonous insects could be a simple, fun and rewarding endeavor. Stewart explains his process nonchalantly, the same way someone else might give directions to a gas stop:
“Get a stool. Fit your bee box under there… give the branch a good shake and it falls into the box,” After he has the hive in the box, he closes the lid halfway. If he’s captured the queen inside the box with the hive, the remaining bees will follow, leaving Stewart free to safely take his new swarm home. If he didn’t manage to catch the queen, it probably isn’t a terrible time to start running. It’s a little more difficult to capture bees that have built hives into walls or buildings. To siphon the bees from a wall, Stewart builds what is called a “bee vacuum.” Using a bike tire, he seals the open ends of two bee boxes together, so that the only entrance is a rubber tube on one side of the vacuum. Armed with the vacuum and a little bit of suction, Stewart can waltz up to a hive, insert the vacuum tube and walk away with a brand new hive. It’s a bizarre process, but a surprisingly safe one; Stewart suffers an occasional sting, but hasn’t been badly stung in years. “For most people, the intensity of stings reduces over time,” he says. When he talks, Stewart clearly has a passion for bees, but when asked if he ever plans to keep bees professionally, he has some reservations. “I think it’s probably a really hard way to make a living,” says Stewart. Instead of trying to rack up a profit, Stewart chooses to give his honey away. “I give it away to friends and bosses and colleagues as presents,” he says. When asked why he goes through all the trouble – the sometimes arduous hunts, the risky captures, and the constant day-to-day hive maintenance just for a little free honey, Stewart smiles and answers confidently “Why do people climb mountains? Because they’re there,” Stewart says. “Besides, it is really fun.” 2012 February | Insight | 7
ROOM WITH A BREW BY CHANELLE BESSETTE PHOTOS BY SEBASTIAN DIAZ
Beer is the new wine. At least, that’s what many local homebrewers of craft beers have come to claim. Northern Nevada, along with its west coast neighbors of northern California, Oregon and Washington, has recently seen a burgeoning demand for and consumption of specialty brews. Local businesses such as the Great Basin Brewing Company, Silver Peak Brewery, Ole Bridge Pub and Sierra Tap House have propagated Reno brewing talent, bringing new flavors to the community at large. With the large variety of tastes being catered to in the craft beer community, it’s no wonder that connoisseurs are flocking to breweries to see what new creations have been brought to life. College students rarely need to be told twice about the virtues and resulting enjoyment of consuming the fermented beverage, but many have made it their mission to not only consume beer but produce it as well. With the help of such in-town suppliers as Reno Homebrewer, locals have been taking on the process of brewing, fermenting and packaging beer themselves. Those who have experimented with the craft have found that it has not only been a worthwhile personal hobby but one that also creates a shareable experience within the community at large.
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BEER IS THE NEW
WINE
2012 February | Insight | 9
University of Nevada, Reno senior Matt Bromley is one such person. “I think people who don’t brew that are into beer don’t really understand the process and what goes into it,” says Bromley. “So I think by brewing myself and knowing what I can produce and seeing what other craft brewers can produce, it makes it a lot easier to dissect it and figure out the components I really enjoy.” Bromley began homebrewing after spending time with friends who were into the hobby. “It’s a great communal experience, everybody’s kind of hanging around a big pot of beer that’s boiling,” says Bromley. As he advanced beyond the amateur stage of the pastime, however, Bromley’s skills and testing of recipes led to greater triumph. In the summer of 2011, he ended up taking home a second place award in a people’s choice homebrewing contest held at the Sierra Tap House, with an unconventional set of ingredients. “I was happy to put together a crowd pleaser,” says Bromley “For that one I brewed a mocha stout. I actually used cocoa and coffee and put together a nice creamy beer, which really shouldn’t have worked out because it was hot summer weather and not really the thing you’d want to drink, but people were going crazy about it. It was definitely a dessert beer. The great thing about homebrewing is if you can think it, you can probably find a way to implement it. You can throw in whatever you would like, you can play with the flavors, you can revise it.” When one thinks about a homebrewing set-up, images may come to mind of a madman’s science lab with tubes and beakers threatening to overwhelm whatever dingy basement the equipment is being held in. In actuality, getting started with homebrewing is as simple as buying a reasonably priced (around $125) starter kit and having enough room to store some plastic containers. “Usually I tell people, ‘If you can make a can of soup, you can brew a beer,’” says Bromley. “It’s really not that difficult.” Many homebrewers share the opinion that preparation is the most difficult and time-intensive part of the process. If unwanted bacteria remains in any brewing or fermentation containers, the beer can result in something that tastes, as Bromley claims, “like gym socks.” After sterilization and preparation of the supplies, however, the magic can begin. Depending on whether the individual is brewing a lager, mead, ale or bock, he or she will blend the extracts of choice into hot water, stir, sprinkle in yeast, and then leave the concoction to ferment for a least a few weeks. 10 | Insight | February 2012
Andrew Bochsler, also a Nevada senior, has begun to brew beer as a tribute to his German heritage and has even started his own brand called “Wolf Pack Ale.” “People are tired of drinking crap beer,” says Bochsler. “A lot of mainstream beer is just not that great, and it’s a lot cheaper (to brew your own). It costs about twenty to fifty bucks to make almost eight six-packs, and it’s good tasting beer and you know what’s in it and everything.” A major draw to the craft beer scene is the collaborative element it brings to a community. Ingredient suppliers and brewers all around the west coast are joining forces to create new, interesting flavors for their consumers, especially in Reno. “It’s a community thing,” says Bochsler. “Even if you’re not brewing beer, you’re always supporting local people. Local brewers. Your money is always staying in the community. It’s the nice thing about it.” Bochsler is part of a brewing society known as the Nevada Homebrewers Association and has found that much of the fun in the process of homebrewing is in keeping the experience collective. “Some of the beer brewers make mead,” says Bochsler, “which is basically made of honey that he gets from a local farmer in Reno which is good because he gets the producer’s name out there on the beer and all, so it’s pretty nice.” In addition to the community experience, the ease of access to affordable equipment, cheap ingredients and a thirsty public leave homebrewers with a market more primed for quality beers than ever before. “The craft beer scene here in Reno is going great,” says Bromley. “People are really looking out for better beers, different beers. It’s really artisanal. There’s definitely an art to it.”
2012 February | Insight | 11
HOME
BY GEOFF MCFARLAND PHOTO BY GEOFF ROSEBOROUGH
REMEDIES (ALMOST) GOT ME LAID A potential boyfriend had never asked to explore my bathroom cabinet. But The Hippie did, on our second date no less. He wasn’t pleased. Previously, men had only cared whether my hair gel stained their pillows, not whether it contained Polyquaternium-11. But The Hippie cared. He said he’d feel better “getting close” if I just took steps to detoxify my life. I read through the lines: Chuck the chemical cosmetics and he’d stick around for that third date.
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The afternoon of our next date, I arrive home with a bag of organic foodstuffs. Local Truckee Meadow Herbs and Whole Foods were eager to suggest natural homemade replacements for my routine bath products. Given the axiom “If edible, then wearable,” I now bear something resembling a salad spread. Moving toward the stove to prepare my first treatment, I feel more homemaker than homo on the make.
Hot and Wet Herbal Steam
Boil water in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and quickly drop in a handful of fresh mint. Immediately cover saucepan with a large towel. Duck your head (carefully!) under the towel, allowing the steaming botanical oils to brighten skin tone. Steam for 15 minutes, taking breaks for comfort. During a steam-break, I mash up a natural tooth whitening paste. I treat my teeth and duck back under the towel.
Strawberry Smile Brightener
Crush 1 hulled strawberry into 1 tbsp baking soda. With toothbrush, generously coat teeth. Rinse well after 5 minutes. Don’t overdo: acidic strawberries can damage tooth enamel if applied more than once weekly. Is it because I emerge from the steam so pinkly flushed that my teeth look so white? No, Cabernet, latte and social cigarette stains have indeed noticeably faded! Smiling, I step in the shower, taking two remedies to prepare me for the night ahead. For strong hair to weather impassioned hair-pulling, an avocado conditioner. And, assuming that no man likes getting rough with rough skin, I’ve made my own exfoliant.
Av-O-God-Oh-My-Hair-Now-Feels-Amazing Mask
Getting Down Brown Sugar Exfoliant
Stir ½ cup brown sugar into ¼ cup almond oil. Rub into skin, concentrating on rough areas like elbows. Lightly massage into face and neck: smooth skin makes closer shaves. Rinse. Toweling off, water beading off polished skin, I notice my coarse hair is uncharacteristically parting smoothly. I check the mirror as I dress. My teeth are whiter. My face seems clearer. How well these homemade cures hold up against their commercial counterparts! Better for the environment. Cheaper too: 8.5 ounces of Bumble and Bumble shampoo cost more than I spent today. And they might even get me laid. Over Pneumatic salads, The Hippie says my skin is glowing. “All natural” I boast. His hand envelops mine. “So soft” he exclaims! I imagine he thinks the same of my lips, when we kiss in the car, until he whispers in my ear… “Hot--your hair smells like guacamole!” Er. We didn’t work out. My Hippie desired more exotic fruit than I felt comfortable supplying. Too bad herbal remedies weren’t enough to keep the relationship going. But they’ll see me through now, as I draw a fresh bath.
Gingered Broke-Up Soak-Up
Grate 5 tbsp fresh ginger into ½ cup sea salt. Tie mixture into square of cheesecloth or old nylon and suspend beneath the hot water tap. Salted water draws out impurities. Heat soothes a bruised ego. Ginger invigorates for the hunt still ahead: there’s more than one Hippie in this town.
Mash 1 avocado into paste. Work into hair, applying sparingly to roots. Let set for 20 minutes. Rinse.
2012 February | Insight | 13
&
BATE DOING
(it)
SWITCH YOURSELF
The original “doing it yourself” is the art of self-lovin’. Though everybody does it, few people like to acknowledge as anything beyond a punchline. Though the act clearly lends itself to a plethora of one-liners, there’s more stigma to the deed than one usually admits for both females and males. PHOTOS BY SEBASTIAN DIAZ
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The Male: by RAYMOND ELIOT Stop me if you’ve heard this story before: Masturbation. It starts out simple. It took something small at first. A swiped women’s lingerie catalog or a late night skin flick. The arousal comes from the appeal of the forbidden. As time passes, the pimping hand gets strong. Simulated sex and bad dialogue don’t really cut the mustard anymore. Shit gets complicated. Your body aches for that first high, and you start chasing that dragon. Next thing you know, you’ve got a fetish. You’re writing Invader Zim Slashfic with a hand down your pants, and drawing art for communities that would make the collective dead grandmothers of the world spin in their graves. The thought of it makes you even hornier. The erection in your pants might as well be the Tower of Babel and you’re God and you’re gonna cast it down yourself, because all dick analogies are something to do with power. You know that at some point your life took a turn for the worse and you should try try to dig yourself out of this hole. It would probably take all the king’s horses and one Mr. Hands to get yourself back out again, but you’ve already seen that video and now you need something with more of a bite to it. It takes something serious to really get your rocks off. Suddenly, you’re wasting away. You’ve got hairy palms and bad vision. That cough has been getting worse. You feel weak all the time and your whole life is like a Jack Chick comic. I haven’t reached that point though; I just know a guy who has. I do like to masturbate though. No denial there. I don’t believe that verkakte idea that masturbation should be something shameful. It is a healthy, natural process that nobody wants to talk about. Probably because it seems ooky and the
media depiction is less than stellar. Who masturbates on TV and in movies? The lonely, the nerdy, and the homeless. There is no better way to characterize a male lead as someone lame than having him masturbate. At least men have it better than women. Women getting the short end of the stick. What a surprise. Girls who masturbate are sluts, and we all know there is nothing worse than being a slut. So, I’m going to say that male masturbation is more publicly accepted (I’m going off of the media and hyperbole here) than its female counterpart, but it is still a verboten subject. I’ll also wager that essentially everybody masturbates, and anybody else is either a liar or just not masturbating in a way that would be considered conventional. It is completely ridiculous that more people aren’t talking about this, or are so ashamed by it. Of course, what I write here won’t apply to everybody. There are some people what are entirely comfortable with talking about themselves and their bodies, and good for them. For the people who aren’t, welcome to the party. When Stephanie and I got together to work this out, we both decided on a few things. She wanted to talk about how she felt like an outsider when she started masturbating young, and how I felt like an outsider when I wasn’t masturbating at all. We also decided that we should give our backgrounds. I was, in many ways, a late bloomer. I didn’t have my first kiss until I was a freshman in high school. I didn’t bate regularly until sophomore year. I didn’t have sex until college. I remember being in the fourth grade, and the other boys at the Boys & Girls Club talking about whacking off. I was shown pornography while there and it was uncomfortable as hell. Those other guys, who I desperately yearned to fit in with, 2012 February | Insight | 15
I felt like everybody was at this great party, and I didn’t know how to get there and nobody was going to give me a ride. talked about sex like they were experts. I thought they were going to hell for it. I was raised Mormon. I remember there being a lot of implicit shame toward human bodies and desires in LDS dogma. Even after my family had left the church, I believed that my body’s needs were shameful. My life reflected this. When my peers were learning about their bodies and getting into relationships and inside one another, I was getting Cloud, Tifa and Cid to level ninetynine. It seemed like in eighth grade, everybody was fingering everybody else, and talking about it as loudly as they could. I read the entirety of the Redwall series and tons of Star Wars books when I was in the eighth grade. I do appreciate the irony that reading Star Wars books and playing Japanese RPGs are hobbies typically associated with people who spend all the rest of their free time masturbating furiously. I felt like everybody was at this great party, and I didn’t know how to get there and nobody was going to give me a ride. Stephanie was one of the people who threw the party. I felt left out, because people were talking about masturbating, and I had nothing to say. I’ve moved past that though. I’m an adult now, and I masturbate as such. Which is weird. For all those people that remember Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Funny how masturbation seems to work like that. At first, the word “boobs” was enough to set me off. Then my body went and got complicated. For that reason, I almost feel jealous of people that can get off to demure stuff, like feet. Fetishes, in their crippling overspecialization, are astoundingly simple. They don’t even need to be pornographic. If you’re into feet you can grab any shoe catalogue or watch any Tarantino film and you’re set. It can be hard… er, difficult to beat my boomstick and not feel guilty, but for different reasons now. For the most part, my fap fodder is traditional pornography. I use a loose
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definition for pornography, one that I found on Internet: “porn is any form of media that you immediately lose interest in after you’re done masturbating.” It is an industry that thrives on the exploitation of people, in particular reducing women to mere sexual objects, something that I oppose. I could easily rationalize it. By pirating everything, I wouldn’t be giving any revenue to the industry, but those women are still being exploited. I’d also be running the gambit of being sued for illegally downloading pornography, and the only way to recover the lost shame is to commit seppuku. As another alternative, I could support women who choose to view the industry as a positive place for self-expression, something that is surprisingly easy to find on Internet. However, this sex-positive “alternative” porn typically means chicks with tacky tattoos, and I have a strict policy against shitty ink. So, what do I do? Swallow my pride and watch mainstream porn? Or do I ease up my standards and beat my meat to some girl with poorly drawn pink revolvers tattooed next to her tits? Besides, underneath all of the dressing, it doesn’t seem like either option is really that different. No matter what I’m doing, I would still feel like I’m masturbating to the idea that women are essentially walking sex objects. It also puts forward the hope that girls in cheerleader outfits are just waiting to hop into a stranger’s van and dole out the free sex. Or that being a pizza delivery guy actually has benefits other than free pizza. So, I chose a third option. I stopped watching pornography altogether. It seemed way too hypocritical to watch, no matter how I spun it. It was also unexpectedly difficult. What do I do when I’m bored now? How did people 20 years ago deal with all of the free time? It is kind of cool too. I suddenly freed up like 20 gigs on my hard drive, and I have, like, five extra free minutes in between classes now. How cool is it that I won’t have to be late for German anymore?
The Female: by STEPHANIE SELF
I
have been batin’ for a long time. And I mean a long time. We’ll call it about 10 or 11 years. Either by my own hand or with the help of another human-made instrument, I’ve been pleasuring myself for about half of my life--much longer than I’ve been having sex with other people, which has only been a couple years. At the time I started, however, I perceived myself as being too “innocent” and “young” for that kind of behavior, and often punished myself for it. . I mentally scolded myself afterward and sometimes even physically hurt myself. But to make myself clear, I wasn’t hurting myself in hopes that I would die from it; it was more to compensate for all the pleasurable feelings I didn’t think I deserved. At such a young age, I already had an understanding of guilty pleasure before I knew what it felt like to want to listen to Avril Lavigne all the time.I wanted to do it all the time, but subsequently felt incredibly guilty for it when I did. Without any sort of direct influence from my parents or the adults around me, I was already under the impression that girls just did not touch their “privates,” or “hoo-ha’s,” or “down there.” (The euphemisms for my body parts didn’t help me feel any more in touch, so to speak.) My body was too precious and delicate for such treatment, even by my own hand--especially by my own hand. And how unfortunate is it that I, a female with something as glorious as a clitoris--whose sole purpose is to do nothing but give me pleasure--would feel ashamed of such actions? Honestly, if something this “wrong” feels that good, do you want to be right? I don’t. The crude, outspoken boys by whom I was surrounded at school were not ashamed to talk about anything they did with their respective penises and, yet, I could never take part in this dialogue. Perhaps this was a unique experience, but, boy, if I wasn’t so ashamed of my own sexual desires, you better believe I would have had a lot to say. But, no, I was different. I was a girl. And I was horny. And if I wanted to do anything about that, then I was probably already a slut or would turn into one. So why did I feel this way? What was it about my culture and society that made me think that loving myself wasn’t okay? Why did I have to wait around for other people to figure out how to pleasure me when I could just do it myself? And how could I expect them to know how to do those things to me if I didn’t know how to do it myself? Oh, wait, isn’t it because they innately understand how to pleasure bodies with which
they’ve had no experience? Psych! I’m certain that many sexual interactions have gone awry because of this very philosophy. “It is more taboo and dirty for women (than men) to touch themselves ‘down there,’” says Dr. Tory Clark, a clinical sexologist and the human sexuality professor at University of Nevada, Reno. “And a lot of this stuff comes right out of the Bible. There’s Eve vs. Virgin Mary where you have these two extremes that are pretty unattainable.” Despite these influences, I feel as though I should mention that I did not have a religious upbringing. I had no feelings of shame that stemmed from a group of people from any type of religious organization telling me that what I was doing was wrong and that I would be eternally chastised for it. Religion aside, I still felt like I should be ashamed for what I was doing and had done. “Receiving no messages can be just as negative as those negative messages,” Clark says. “It’s like the fear of the unknown, and it’s what most kids get.” And it’s definitely what I got. When I think about the sexual and emotional turmoil I endured as a youngster for simply making myself feel good, I wish that I was given the chance to enjoy myself instead. Living in the society that we do, I should have felt lucky for being the one to unlock such desires that are so much a part of who we are. Granted, I wouldn’t have understood this at a young age, but I would have at least liked to know that it wasn’t anything to be ashamed about. We all have the opportunity to learn about our sexualities firsthand without feeling remorseful, but we hide them, conceal them, and suppress them. But even when I was the one in power, I had to feel shameful. All I needed was for someone to tell me it was okay to put a pillow between my legs and fantasize about Hayden Christensen! Of course, I have since learned not to feel embarrassed. However, I would be lying like a rug if I said that I feel completely comfortable discussing it in great detail with just anyone. I am internally satisfied with my sexuality and how I treat it, but I am not immune to the pressures and stigmas that existed then and do now. Thankfully, there are women like Cyndi Lauper who cheerfully remind me: “She bop, he bop, a-we bop / I bop, you bop, a-they bop / Be bop, be bop, a-lu bop / I hope He will understand.” 2012 February | Insight | 17
Close-Knit or Conservative? 2012 Marks a New Feminine Phenomenon By Leanne Howard Illustrations by Ariana Critchfield
T
HIRD-WAVE FEMINISM means changes to our mothers’ Second Wave philosophy of rejecting domesticity and choosing a life outside the home. In fact, it means different things to a lot of different women – and men – and such a lack of definition has given it the most controversial of plural forms, “feminisms.” Women everywhere are finding themselves freed by parts of female life that used to be oppressive such as makeup, high heels, strip clubs, and cooking. Crafting, perhaps one of the most ubiquitous new hobbies in America, is no exception. Political demonstration or activism through crafting – also known as “craftivism” – has been around since the days of the Industrial Revolution when artisan crafters made their products expressly to combat the everincreasing market domination of cheaper, factory-made goods. But even in the craftivism of those times, women were left behind. For each exquisite and costly handmade artisanal creation, there were thousands of women making 18 | Insight | February 2012
much of their families’ clothing, food, and household items – for no pay whatsoever. That’s where today’s craftivism comes in. Where domesticity in the past meant hours of labor for no pay and little recognition, today, it can mean raking in the cash from websites such as Etsy, where sellers from across the world market their handmade goods. Etsy user “pinupchick,” also known as Sherilyn Williams, writes in her “Call for Feminist Crafters” article that women are “embracing this new domesticity as a form of feminist resistance and subversion.” “Ultimately, the handmade movement can help create positive social change,” says Williams. Organizations such as the Reno Bike Project have started offering weekly classes expressly aimed at women who want to learn how to fix or build their own bikes. The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) hosts Stitch N’ Bitch meetings, which consist of a circle of female knitters who get together and share tips about needle sizes as well as life as a female crafter.
“Knitting itself teaches a lot of things: problem In a time when the old significance of “retro” and solving, patience and persistence, math, creativity,” says “vintage” items or hobbies can get lost in their new Jennifer Hoffman , Bitch N’ Stich group leader, in an trendiness, that skepticism is not unwarranted. email. “We all learn from each other knitting,and life “There’s a point where new crafting becomes not a lessons.” reworking of a conservative gender politics, but actually, While the women might not meet with feminist just a kind of nostalgia for the old ways,” says Hill. craftivism as their main goal, they end up achieving just Even Etsy, which has done so much in furthering what craftivism set out to do: learning from each other the recognition and value of female labor, remains 90 to put value into what they create. percent women and sorts its products into “I think my favorite part is the mostly domestic labels from “Children” diversity,” says Hoffman. “Everyone to “Needlecraft” to “Weddings” – and “We all brings something different that they including the ambiguous “Everything learn from excel at, and they are always willing Else.” The limitations surrounding an to share their expertise. I’m always organization of craftivism that puts each other, learning something new... and isn’t that women in the same old categories show knitting what life is about?” that, despite our era’s advances, there are and life However, despite what craftivism always some who get left behind. can and has done for some feminists, Despite its setbacks, however, craftivism lessons.” it garners its fair share of criticism. has undeniably furthered the economic Like all systems, it has its flaws in positions and the voices – of many practice that don’t show up in the women while simultaneously existing as design. a counterweight to the capitalism that confined women “There’s a progressive politics to ‘new crafting,’” says to the home to begin with. As with all feminisms – and Dr. Jen Hill, head of the Gender, Race, and Identity not unlike the crafts themselves – craftivism is a work in Office. “However, though there are many more male progress, always growing and changing and full of the knitters now than there used to be, it’s interesting that potential to be great. this sort of craft movement for men is about agriculture, brewing, viticulture, bicycles, and carpentry, while for women it’s still a gendered movement: it’s about food, knitting and making clothes, and I view that with a little bit of skepticism.”
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THE NEGLECTED PLEASURE OF
BY SAM DISALVO PHOTOS BY SEBASTIAN DIAZ
EATING ALONE I enjoy being alone and I enjoy eating, but it took a lot of time for me to combine the two. It’s not that I hadn’t considered it. In fact, it seemed like the dream date to me. I’m not implying that I’m the dream date here, but rather food and drinks are, because food and drinks pass no judgment. 20 | Insight | February 2012
Unfortunately, judgment is why I waited so long to eat alone. One of my friends told me he’d rather die than be seen eating alone, which proves the stigma attached to the lone eater. They are said to live a lonely life, in which no human contact exists except that of the inquiring waiter. Their parents never loved them, or tragically died in a plane accident in which this lone eater was the only survivor. They are broken. And I am not. I can’t be among the lone eaters; I’m not old, nor jaded enough. But I thought that perhaps these lone eaters weren’t hopeless, but seeking a satisfaction that hadn’t been garnered from the day at hand. Or perhaps they simply wanted to order a meal whose selection had no influence from the person sitting across from them. A meal that suited exactly what they were in the mood for, complemented by a beer or three they greatly deserved. I considered lone eaters human, and I secretly envied them. They had courage, but more importantly, they had a respect for themselves that I hadn’t developed. I still deemed it necessary to eat with people no matter what, even those who made the meal silent because neither of us truly desired the other’s company. We’d casually ask about the other’s love life while sneaking glances of the kitchen, hoping to see our order sliding out so we’d have an excuse to stop forcing conversation. So, I made it a goal to eat alone. I wouldn’t tell anyone until afterward. It’d be like going out with someone really sketchy, but having an awesome time and then getting to brag to everyone about it. I wondered if that’s how people felt about going out with me, and if they ever got to brag, or if they simply said, “Sam’s got okay goals, but talks way too much about cereal. Also, I think she might have a tail. No, not like a story of her heritage. Like, a growth.” I hoped I’d return to my friends with different stories of my date. There are a couple of methods of eating alone. One is to arm yourself with something to make yourself look busy. Maybe
this is the only chance you get to check your emails alone, or you needed to grab a drink while you read “As I Lay Dying” so you could better enjoy it. (Note: no further enjoyment is actually brought). Either way, you look like you have a purpose, and that you’re eating alone simply because you needed to for nourishment and productivity’s sake.
Although this option does mean you could accomplish something while in your perfect state of solitude and satiation, it also means that you’re a coward. Sure, we’ve all had to eat and work at the same time, but you don’t do it in public unless you’d secretly like to enjoy it. This method is the equivalent to going to a bar to pick up on people and pretending to talk on the phone the whole time. You’re looking for something more, but you’re afraid to let yourself experience it for fear what others might think. The thing is, these “others” don’t really exist, which is why thinking you’ll be judged is rather improbable. I’ve never once been out with friends while eating or drinking and said, “Excuse me, what you’re saying is really great and I’m almost peeing my pants from laughing so much, but you know what’s really funny? That guy over there. He is eating alone! Sources of entertainment like this never come along! Let’s stone him! Oh, there goes my bladder!” Eating alone allows you to be completely selfish and think about and do the things you really want to do. I’m not saying you can’t read while you eat alone, but I’m saying it’s worthless unless you want to be doing it. There’s few other instances where everything you’re doing in a set period of time is simply for you, and no one’s making you apologize for it. Eating alone can be one of the most therapeutic circumstances; you can sort out the things you’d been neglecting to think about--or you don’t. Either way, the time is yours, and you deserve it.
Table for one: two drinks, something fatty and dessert. You earned it. 2012 February | Insight | 21
BREAKING OUT of the GARAGE
EMERGING INTERNET SITES MAY BE THE NEW WAY TO MAKE ARTISTIC PASSIONS R . E . A . L . I . T . Y Wr i t t e n a n d p h o t o g r a p h e d b y N I C K R AT T I G A N
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T
HE GARAGE OF OUR PARENTS’ HOUSE has always been seen as a place of understanding, comfort, and creation for many artists. Whether it is used as the setting of a craft bench, studio backlot, or band practice, the musky smell and abundance of storage bins creates the perfect studio to cram all of that energy into the masterful world of homemade art projects. Up until recently, these projects might have only met the eyes of unsuspecting family and friends who would receive the work with patience and cemented smiles. But, as of the late 2000s, there has been an increasing presence of online media outlet sites, which allows for financial and marketing opportunities for artists of different backgrounds to find and establish supporters of their work from right behind the computer screen. 2012 February | Insight | 23
Etsy saleswoman, RACHEL KAISER works on a printmaking project of hers.
Sites, such as Etsy, Bandcamp, and Kickstarter, allow anyone to create an account with as little as an email address and password to join the online community. Each site, however, focuses on a different aspect of establishing a virtual presence for one’s art. One of the most popular being Etsy, a site focusing on arts and crafts that many people have probably used to find cheap gifts for their friends. Each Etsy user is considered to be a shop owner, and their account serves as an online store selling homemade crafts for a set price. Etsy’s focus is to establish a community of artists and craftsmen who create a new marketplace for buying and selling their handmade products. Users do this by creating community Etsy groups for shop owners to join and work together in their crafts. “I am very lucky to be captain of the Etsy team, Indie Reno…”, says local Etsy shop owner Rachel Kaiser, “…the blogs and community lectures are good resources for me and I wouldn’t have connected with Indie Reno if not for the Etsy community.” Kaiser has been working with arts and crafts as long as she can remember. Since she was a child, there has always been a passion instilled in her to produce art. Kaiser is currently working to develop herself as an artist in the local community. Although her art does influence what goes into her Etsy crafts, most of her fine art - which is primarily printmaking - does not make it onto the virtual shelves of her shop, where she sells hand-bound books and seasonal greeting cards. “Fine art sells in a very different environment from some of the craft-oriented things I create,” Kaiser says. “There is a definite blurring of art and craft borders in some of my work and Etsy is a great fit.” 24 | Insight | February 2012
While Etsy accomplishes the “blurring of art” and commerce online, sites such as Bandcamp show a complete merge of the two. Bandcamp, focusing solely on musical artists, lets bands create a page in which they can upload original songs to eventually market and sell them. “It was like streaming Radiohead’s business model for everyone…” says Henry Van Dusen, Bandcamp user and member of the garage rock duo “The Doozies.” He is referring to when Radiohead released “In Rainbows” as a digital download in 2007, allowing buyers to name their own price for the album. This option to name your own price for these songs is what sets Bandcamp apart from previous music sharing sites. “We set up a MySpace…,” says Dave Van Dusen, the second member of the Doozies, “… and it just sucked.” Dave and Henry Van Dusen are two brothers who have been playing Local musician, JACOB music for most of their lives, but just started writing their RUBECK edits music he’s own songs about two years ago. Dave studies at the Tulane justOrleans recorded. University in New and Henry attends Colombia University in New York. At their respective colleges, they will each work on songs to collaborate on when they are together again at their home in Washington D.C. Once they record a song, they will add it to their discography on Bandcamp, which has essentially become their first full-length album. “We recorded the whole album in our parents’ basement,” Dave says. The Doozies themselves have only played three live shows, but they are set to record an EP with Windian Records this coming year. Bandcamp is great for marketing your music to get your name out into the world, but if you are looking to expand your project outside of the garage right away, Kickstarter is a viable option. Kickstarter allows people to present ideas for projects
Or, is there more to breaking out of the garage? Although the Doozies attribute a great deal of successes to their Bandcamp account, they also say that public relations and networking are a huge part of making it. “Bands will always have to be just as present in real life as they are on the Internet,” Henry says. These sites may create a new way of commerce for the arts, but they have not taken them over completely yet. “It is the new American dream,” Kaiser says, “I must admit it’s idealistic to see someone else’s shop and think, ‘One day, I’ll be selling funky crocheted hats Local musician, JACOB for $150 apiece!’ But, there are people RUBECK edits music he’s who make it happen.” just recorded. Even with this new virtual marketplace becoming more popular, that do not exist fully yet. Whether it be a film, book series or there is still an entrepreneurial spirit album, Kickstarter gives people the opportunity to market it. that is needed to get these projects in motion. Local musician Users create a profile and set a pledge goal for their project, Jacob Rubeck says, “These sites are a way of finding people who which they hope to meet in a set period of time. Pledgers can are truly passionate about their work, and that is what makes then donate to the idea if they want to be a supporter of that the Internet so beautiful and addictive.” project. If the project does not meet its goal, however, no So, whether or not these sites really fulfill what their money is received. business models entail, Kaiser still makes art, the Doozies Robert Miller, has been making films since he was in middle still make music, and Miller still makes films. These sites school. Using whatever resources he could get from friends allow artists to be part of the process of a new and interesting and family, Miller has made multiple documentaries and short world of commerce, adding an element of authenticity to the films. Now, in need of help in producing his thesis film for the industry that has not been seen before. Covered in paint, deaf Los Angeles Film Academy, he turns to Kickstarter to secure the in both ears, and maddened with writer’s block, artists are necessary budget. The short is called “crusiFICTION” and his emerging from out of the musky, damp garage and into the crew is asking for $25,000 to produce the project. depths of our hearts. Yet, Kickstarter was not his first stop in finding the funding for the short film. Miller has already been talking to Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes (“Jay ROBERT MILLER shoots and Silent Bob”) and Penn and Teller in hopes to have a starting fan base to market video, and is a user of the site through. Kickstarter to help gain “Kickstarter usually doesn’t work funding for his projects. for people who don’t have fan bases… therefore, we found people who do have fan bases and market the film through them,” Miller says. These projects do not work as well if there is no media outlet for the site to be presented through in the first place. Therefore, users of Kickstarter must also market through big names or simply on their respective social networking sites. This begs the question of how useful these sites actually are in the climb to fame. Are these sites, alone, responsible for the popularity and financial successes of artists? 2012 February | Insight | 25
THE RUNDOWN Ways You Can Use Vodka to Actually Make Your Life Better (Legitimately) 1. To remove a bandage painlessly, saturate the bandage with vodka. The solvent dissolves adhesive. 2. To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers, fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking, let set five minutes and wash clean. The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew. 3. To clean your eyeglasses, simply wipe the lenses with a soft, clean cloth dampened with vodka. The alcohol in the vodka cleans the glass and kills germs. 4. Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka and letting your safety razor blade soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting. 5. Spray vodka on vomit stains, scrub with a brush, and then blot dry. 6. Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face as an astringent to cleanse the skin and tighten pores. 7. Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo. The alcohol cleanses the scalp, removes toxins from hair, and stimulates the growth of healthy hair.
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8. Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle and spray bees or wasps to kill them. 9. Pour one-half cup vodka and one-half cup water in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze for a slushy, refreshable ice pack for aches, pain or black eyes. 10. Fill a clean, used mayonnaise jar with freshly packed lavender flowers, fill the jar with vodka, seal the lid tightly and set in the sun for three days. Strain liquid through a coffee filter, then apply the tincture to aches and pains. 11. To relieve a fever, use a washcloth to rub vodka on your chest and back as a liniment. 12. To cure foot odor, wash your feet with vodka. 13 Vodka will disinfect and alleviate a jellyfish sting. 14. Pour vodka over an area affected with poison ivy to remove the urushiol oil from your skin. 15. Swish a shot of vodka over an aching tooth Allow your gums to absorb some of the alcohol to numb the pain.
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GEOFF ROSEBOROUGH
This publication is made possible by the Associated Students of the University of Nevada, Reno
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