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Foreword Airin Ri
s my last semester as the Editor in Chief of Uprizine closed in this summer, I ruminated over what the themes for Fall 2021 Zine could be. While there are a plethora of issues that deserve to be put under the limelight to spur meaningful discourses within academia, I wanted this Zine to reflect my and many club members’ fervent passion to promote equality and equity within our society. After weeks of introspective contemplation and a series of discussions with some of the leadership team members, I have made a final decision that the zine themes should be two of the most imperative issues closely related to the students of our generation – “body positivity” and “sexual consent”. To cover such sensitive issues that could evoke gut-wrenching emotions and indelible memories for many is a challenging task. Yet, I wanted our club to take on this challenge based on my own conviction that raising our voices and standing up against the social tide that is detrimental to our mental and physical health vis-à-vis human rights, is my and many other students’ duty. Indeed, we wanted to fully utilize our platform given to Uprizine where its zine readership is large and diverse. That is, I along with many club members believe that tackling these issues head-on would allow us to set much-needed discussion in motion for the betterment of the TUJ community and beyond. The absence of a positive outlook on our physique and the knowledge of consent to engage in sexual acts is glaring in the world but especially in Japan. The fact that many dialogues that flow from these themes could become achingly personal to many students, I believe, is a testament to the pervasive-
