Unspoke Magazine: Issue Six

U N S P O K E M A G A Z I N E

ISSUE SIX

AUGUST 2017

G E N D E R / S E X U A L I T Y

OUR MAGAZINE: In today’s world, we are faced with conflict and constantly changing social, political, and economic issues. These issues are commonly suppressed and are “taboo” subjects of conversation. Our mission is to expose these topics and get people talking. We want to release the unspoken and shine a light on it.

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THIS ISSUE:

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Gender and sexuality are among the most revolutionized social constructs of the past ten years. People today openly and proudly identify as lesbian, transgender, bisexual, genderqueer/nonbinary, asexual, demigirl…the list goes on. Yet oppression, discrimination, and outright xenophobia consistently pervade the LGBTQ+ community, silencing the voices of thousands. This issue stands against that. Queer voices—fellow human voices—deserve to be heard.

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VOCABULARY VOCABULARY VOCABULARY VOCABULARY

ASEXUAL!

BISEXUAL!

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CLOSET!

adj. doesn’t dig the do and that’s dandy

CISGENDER!

adj. identifying with assigned gender at birth, whoop-de-doo

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DRAG!

n. performatively donning a gender apart from your own and having a ball

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GAY!

adj. happy

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INTERSEX!

adj. a little bit of both

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LGBTQIA+!

n. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual + everything else

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NONBINARY!

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adj. not a slut! not greedy! stfu!!

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n. sexuality’s mortal enemy

FEMME!

adj. self-identified goddess, selfie whores approved

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HOMOPHOIBA!

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n. afraid of today’s world

LESBIAN!

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adj. lady lovin’

MAN!

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n. see: woman

PANSEXUAL!

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adj. GIVE ‘EM ALL THE GENDERS!

QUEER!

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adj. ya ain’t str8

adj. boys and girls, it’s a spectrum

SEXUAL ORIENTATION!

PRONOUNS!

TRANSGENDER!

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n. important denotations of one’s gender identity (please use correctly)

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QUESTIONING!

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adj. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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n. none of your damn business

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adj. the doctors did not concur

WOMAN!

n. anybody who identifies as such, regardless of your bullshit

The

Bold Type

Crazy.

Bad girl.

Knows what she wants.

Forward.

Sex positive.

Decisive.

Bossy.

Confident.

by NATALIE DAY

Powerful.

There’s something to be said about a powerful woman. Not someone who necessarily has the power over other people in her hands, though she’s included. What I’m referring to is a woman who goes through life with drive and confidence. She doesn’t take no for an answer. She knows what she wants and won’t stop until she gets there.

A woman who creates her own power, whether it be by creating her own opportunities or it’s product of her hard work. Women are in the position where opportunities are rarely handed out. A woman must use her skills to get her where she wants in life.

What are her skills? Compared to a man’s they’re nothing, right? They’re fragile, pretty, graceful, a source of stability and comfort, emotion and vulnerability. At least, that’s what society says. I say fuck that. When a woman is aware of this societal standard, she has two choices. She can be exactly what’s she’s expected to be or she can be bold.

What is a bold woman?

She isn’t bossy.

She isn’t cold-hearted.

She isn’t a bad girl.

She’s not a slut.

She is someone who makes decisions for herself, knows what she wants, and has drive within both her professional and personal life. If you look at the strong, bold women around you, you’d think after everything that a woman like this would be normal. Somehow men are surprised when a woman moves above them in the workplace or when a woman rejects being catcalled on the street. We’re supposed to be in this changing society where strong women are accepted, so why is it still such a shock when people actually come face to face with one?

We aren’t a rare species. We’re here, right in front of you in your daily lives.

Ladies, I’m not saying this is the ideal woman. Women come in all shapes and sizes, personalities and “types,” but why is it that we play into this idea that bold women are different from the rest of us?

I think that’s on us, ladies. We have to stand together as a diverse group of women, all strong in our own ways. We should have a society where this type of woman is normalized, and it no longer is a “nice surprise” to see a woman making her own way.

I’m a bold woman and speaking on behalf of the rest of the bold bitches out there, we aren’t going anywhere.

Artwork by Avery Blanton

by Natalie Be

I’ve had a lot of time alone this year. A lot of time to think and sit and decide to be happy. Somewh

Being a woman in a patriarchal society is a constant battle of balance. There will always be contrad “Wear makeup, but not too much” “Smile, but don’t lead them on” “Be smart, but not smarter than men” “Don’t be aggressive” “Don’t look too sad” “Laugh at their jokes, you don’t want to seem rude.”

“Don’t come on to them first, it’s unattractive.”

The gender binary and heteronormative culture has created constant harassment for any person wh Women are expected to conform to impossible standards just for the benefit of men.

Society has locked women into categories and labels. Intelligent or pretty. Careful or fun. Assertive There is never a good time to disagree or have an opinion. In every social media platform, I see gir Posting pictures of yourself makes you vain. Posting about beauty products makes you superficial. emotions you’re an attention whore. You can’t even post a picture of a salad without people compl complimented on, someone comes along and berates you for it. Apparently, there is no good way to

I’ve spent many years subconsciously considering these countless expectations. To some extent I’v I’ve thought that pleasing others was important, at times even more important than pleasing myself fortable was just a part of life. I’m not sure when the switch flipped. When I decided that traditiona nal--truthfully there wasn’t a distinct moment but a slow transition into internal freedom. I started t focused on every stretch mark, scar and hair, knowing these were simple signs of being. I started n ality. I’ve let myself be weird, loud and right. I’ve changed because I wanted to. I have never felt th tent.

I’m still faced with harassment and derogatory statements. My apathy hasn’t made the world an ea I’ve become more resistant to the jagged words. I love myself as a form of defense. I found that ev be a source of power. I have transformed. My body is my own to love and live in. I breathe into ev person I need to please is myself. Now I see tenderness in front of a mirror and under sheets. Light and the sweetness of grazing fingertips on smooth skin. I let aggression in when necessary. Heavy pierce and my muscles tighten. I take up space and exist in the complexities without apprehension. and a deafening confidence, I have rebuilt myself and found a home.

enson-Greer

here between the late nights and early mornings I chose to care for myself.

dictory standards bouncing off walls.

ho is not a cis straight male.

e or kind. If you change at all; you are flippant. rls constantly called out for liking things. . If you post anything about negative laining. For every thing you are o be a woman.

ve let them make decisions for me. f. I thought maybe being uncomal standards of females were irratiotaking time to compliment myself. I noticing the good parts of my personhis confident, self-assured and con-

asy place for me as a woman. But verything a woman is scorned for, can very moment, knowing that the only t bouncing off hair, tears on cheeks words drip from my mouth, my eyes . With a fresh sense of personhood

BLACK AND PINK Black & Pink is an open family of LGBTQ prisoners and “free world� allies who support each other. Our work toward the abolition of the prison industrial complex is rooted in the experience of currently and formerly incarcerated people. We are outraged by the specific violence of the prison industrial complex against LGBTQ people, and respond through advocacy, education, direct service, and organizing.

Artwork is by members of the Black and Pink community.

Look At Urself, First, & Then We Can Fuck

by Skylar-Dunn Lubin

Fingers encircled in smoke appear out from within fuzzy technicolor motion I always imagine they grip a cigarette dangling over the edge Of a sheet tossed bed floating amongst an ocean Of depression tossed shirts, crumpled papers, monochrome sneakers, unknown tissue, gadgets, mugs dangling four tea tags to the cup, zebra printed packages holding mysteries, objects that remind me of you as basic as a dry rose sat in that old wine we knew so well, Well that’s my room now, Love life going alright, Love life gets me to sweat, Love life gets me to love again, And how I wish I could lay my heavy day to rest at night Feeling if not you Them Or feeling the ones we are allowed to touch A fantasy A thick kick drum notion reaches down into my hand Reaches down past the apprehension of feeling our own curves Our own underwear or nah And I’ll snap this story for you And I’ll show you my teeth And I’ll I And oh if only sex was just as simple as all the zines and grams make it seem Perfect bodies glowing Moans levitating above the sauna night Reality shrouded and muted Can’t you hear the waves of dominance Knocking on the cliffsteep doors of patriarchal cishet men unborn Humans to be like I am now Who may dream of cigarettes between sessions of sex Who may not know Sex aside from marriage And marriage aside from ownership And ownership aside from the 8 inch tip of our fragile mirror They told me to sharpen my steel When they shoved a blue shovel in my soft hands They wore on my muscles to equip a plastic spear named fear And slapped me after I cried With a destiny encrusted on a shield entitled superiority Brittle as the glass heart we’re told to maintain on the battlefield of vulnerability Where men have killed the boys they once were Silent secrets spilled over the ashes of history Hell is a place Where men can just be men And men can own womxn Because my body isn’t mine

This I heard they would cry Out into plazas from the locker rooms of Rome Loitering tales of coerced bodies that pollute up into the star sickened night sky Gleaming brilliant above fair Vesuvius Towering above where he died masturbating, flash fried, chicken crispy artefact on the www Rome 2.0 brings the bread, circuses, and porn cheaper than a ceaser Salad of libido Gushing with blacker than black blackberries and whiter than white snow bunnies Quick turn on that netflix / I hear daddy coming Happy families cheer over and over and over and over cuz the wifi never runs dry Nor does she The ocean of shame we men so-called fathers will someday cry When all the cigarettes lit after throwing our spears are impotent And there are no more bodies to hunt Nowhere to hide our fear Of being discovered as needy for attention, needy for constantly validated sex appeal I await a time when violence no longer serves our ego standing in the shadow Of a father standing in the shadow of a father Standing in the shadow of a warrior Long ago gone astray The basic motivation I know you want to say When I asked why do all us sons struggle to pay back the sins of our unholy fathers Will we not be better than yesterday and just do it today?

May we twist our sunflower torsos bravely towards the sooth spoken sun Where she will part her lips to speak onto us the softly weighed answer; No one worships the sun who is made a slave of a violent star. .....

Will we transcend gender?

They argue it’s just a trend of neo-modernity.

Will they claim abomination?

Monstrosity?

We people Just People Can we leave it at that?

We all seeking My lovers got me thinking That after patriarchy we may finally enjoy sex covered in Equity sweeter than hon-ney Cuz we just want to burst We just want to moan out our tangles In thunder louder than real Har--mo--ny

MANLY HAIKUS

by Richard Powlick

Just chugged a bud light My balls are stuck to my thigh I cry in secret Sports are why I live I have to cry in secret My balls really itch Beer choice makes the man Testicles are a burden Oh shit. Hold my beer.

ORDER DRINKS WITH AN UMBRELLA

We all know those drinks are super tasty.

It’s at least better than the malt 40s you bought to impress your friends.

GET NAILS DONE

Don’t be ashamed to take care of yourself; it shows self-worth.

WEAR PERFUME

Something floral or fruity would be a nice change of pace from the gasoline stench of Axe.

WEAR YOGA PANTS & LEGGINGS

SIT CROSS-LEGGED

Throw back to your childhood and crisscross applesauce those legs.

10 “GIRLY” THINGS BABYSIT

Girls make a ton of money babysitting, so it’s only fair if men can as well.

MEN WISH THEY COULD DO (AND CAN)

WEAR MAKEUP

Women get to cover up blemishes without a thought and creatively express themselves to boot. Men should be so lucky.

Quit kidding yourself.

Leggings are comfortable as f@#k.

TALK ABOUT FEELINGS & MENTAL ILLNESS

It’s okay to be sad or depressed or anxious.

It simply means you’re human.

CARRY A PURSE

They aren’t just for show. Sometimes you really need somewhere to put all your crap.

CRY

Bruh, we all need to cry sometimes.

Sexpert is an upbeat, educational podcast meant to teach our generation how to lead healthier, sexier lives. Mia Renee, and her cohost, Madison, bring listeners a welcoming and exciting environment to learn about sex and sexuality. Topics covered include sex shame, pubic hair, birth control, polyamory, and more!

Check out over 30 different topics on iTunes, Google Play, and Podbean (just search “Sexpert” or “Sexpert Podcast” in the apps!).

You can also follow us on Twitter at @sexpert_podcast.

Stay sexy!

C R E D I T S Natalie Day Founder, Editor

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Natalie is currently a freshman at Columbia College Chicago where she is studying acting and journalism. She is originally from Omaha, Nebraska. She is so happy to be a part of providing a platform to discuss issues that aren’t always talked about in daily life and hopes that the words of this magazine affect at least someone.

Lili Mac DeSIGN EDITOR

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Lili Mac is proudly from New Orleans, LA and is currently a sophomore at Columbia College Chicago studying musical theatre and a bunch of other stuff. She’s not a real designer, but we’re not gonna talk about that. She loves exploring the uninhabited spaces of art, performance, and other people.

Shameful plug! @lilimac866

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Carsen Schroeder Founder, Editor

Carsen is from Overland Park, Kansas. She is currently a freshman at Columbia College Chicago as an acting major. Carsen has also been a dancer for many years and loves anything to do with the stage. She has always been a storyteller and has been writing as a hobby for many years. She is very happy to provide an outlet for people to tell their stories and discuss these important topics that we avoid so much.

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CONTRIBUTORS Natalie Benson-Greer Mia Renee Cole Jillian Danto Natalie Day Skylar Dunn-Lubin Lili Mac Richard Powlick Carsen Schroeder

OTHER

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CREDITS

Lili Mac Photography Black & Pink

NEXT ISSUE: EDUCATION!

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