Wynpress - Term 2, 2019

wynpress

WYNBERG GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOLÂ

POP CULTURE

TERM 2 2019 ISSUE

Contents

by Cheyenne Britten

01 Editor's Letter - Mu'minah Salie 02 the Politics of Social Media - Nicola van Tellingen 03 Media Representation - Amarachi Vazidule 04 Winter Fashion - Jenna Ryklief 05 Fake News: a 21st Century Epidemic - Ciara Birch 06 A Brief Inquiry Into "A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships" - Cheyenne Britten 07 Pop Culture vs. Body Image - Sage Seef 08 Media: Men vs. Women - Lieschen Natus 09 Sexualisation in the Media - Lois Flandorp 10 Peer Guides: the Big Sister Program - Kelly Blake 11 Limits to the Absurd Salaries of Pop Stars - Lieschen Natus 12 Celebrity Accountability - Lizaan Bosch 13 Technology Trap - Marine Bosch 14 9 Life Lessons I Learned From Being in a Musical - Lara Marais

the Editor's Letter Pop Culture. You hear the whispers in the passages; you see it while scrolling through social media;you talk about it in your friend groups. Pop Culture has grasped a lot of our attention - whether we want it to do so or not.

In an interview with Teen Vogue editors - people constantly in the know about Pop Culture - it was said: "to tell a teenager she should stick to lip gloss... is frankly irresponsible." It raised a question: are only some people allowed to state their opinions and explore different ideas (especially if said idea was political)?

These days, it is very easy for the opinions of teenagers to be disregarded because they "lack" experience, and it seems that young girls are more often than not told to "stick to the lipstick."

But every idea is valid because any idea can change the world. Popular culture and intellect do not cancel each other out nor do they exist on two separate plains.

Choosing to be political and a feminist does not mean that you are not allowed to like makeup, celebrities or fashion.

Likewise, wearing pink or being extremely "feminine" does not make you an airhead (or fake when you choose to say something).

In this Wynpress issue, we want to keep on challenging new ideas, opinions and creating a space for people to come together to share in knowledge. This time we are doing it on Pop Culture, ranging from reviews and fashion to politics and representation.

We hope you enjoy it!

- Mu'minah Salie

We all live in a world defined by social media and its effects. It’s inconceivable, therefore, that the politics of the world would not be influenced by it as well. The manner in which elections are won and lost, how politicians advertise and brand themselves, and even how they fund their campaigns has changed dramatically since the rise of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, amongst others.

The most prominent example of this is undoubtedly the United States and the politics which govern their institutions.

Let's all take a journey back in time. it's 2016. It's the US Presidential Election. Hillary Clinton is obviously going to win the Presidency. Trump?

Seriously? No way.

the Politics of Social Media Fast-forward a couple of months and much to the dismay of many, the swearing-in ceremony of the 46th president of the United States of America, Mr Donald J. Trump, has just concluded.

So how exactly did he do it? Yes, he appealed to long “ignored” rural voters. Yes, he indulged white supremacists. And, yes, he raised some big money, but all of this is overshadowed by his very effective usage of one thing in particular: TWITTER. During a time in which the world was moving against the political establishment and norms, Trump shunned the conventional methods in which presidential candidates engaged with the electorate. Gone were the standard press releases, the pre-written speeches and carefully planned rhetoric and in breezed fiery twitter rants that were multiple tweets long and that seemed to have little to no provocation.

So why was this so effective? Well, for starters, politics in America had long been portrayed as the profession of the elite and uber-educated. Trump threw the cat in amongst the pigeons with his rhetoric and in so doing became just an ordinary American to many. A person who loses his cool, who has a temper, but someone who is intensely passionate about his views. Someone who isn’t afraid to alienate some to get what he believes is right. Someone who didn’t belittle them. Someone who treated them as equals. Social media created a platform in which he could communicate directly with those who were considering voting for him. He didn’t need to deal with “bureaucratic red tape” of political communication, and that simple fact could not have reinforced his key message any better.

HE WAS “DRAINING THE SWAMP”.

Trump was, perhaps, the first major political candidate to make effective usage of social media, but almost as soon as he had won, strategists around the country were analysing his methods and applying them to their own candidates. Trump would certainly not be the last to rely on the influence of social media.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ WOULD BE THE NEXT SAVVY POLITICIAN TO USE A SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM TO GET HERSELF ELECTED. Her platform of choice, however, would not be Twitter, but rather…

INSTAGRAM. She surrounded herself with media experts and engaged with voters through Instagram live videos where she would talk about her plants or her parents or even her politics. She cooked bean stew following her grandmother’s recipe while explaining why the climate crisis was so damaging and assembled a plastic chair while criticizing Republican border policies. She, just like Trump, made herself human to her voters through her social media platforms.

She would go on to unseat a veteran Democrat contender, win the primary and at 29 become the youngest congresswoman in US history.

She also has 3.2 million Instagram followers from all over the US and the world.

Oh, and she was recently on the cover of Time magazine.

These two politicians, poles apart and arguably amongst the most successful of the last few years, have shown exactly how to win a campaign in the 21st century. And now everyone is watching. The 2020 US presidential elections are just around the corner and social media is already playing a major role.

ELIZABETH WARREN’S VIDEO OF HER GOLDEN RETRIEVER IS HOW MANY PEOPLE KNOW HER. BETO O’ROURKE POSTS DAILY. JOE BIDEN “SPINNED” HIS FIRST CAMPAIGN MISHAP WITH A VIDEO OF HIS APOLOGY. AND TRUMP IS (UNFORTUNATELY) STILL TWEETING. The elections of 2020 are no doubt going to be some of the most crucial and critical in US history. These elections will, however, also be significant for another reason:the world will see a multitude of campaigns dominated by Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

This is going to get interesting - Nicola van Telliingen

by Lula de Rose

Medi a Represen t at i o n Quick question: When you think of media representations of black women what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Angry black woman? Criminal?

A single mother with 3 kids?

Gold digger? Ratchet? Or maybe even the common case of the loud baby momma who seems to have an endless supply of gum in her gold encrusted handbag, and nails that could kill? For years on end I grew up watching these common misconceptions, and never did I question the stereotypical way in which back females are represented in pop culture-most probably because it was normalised.

The truth is, while black women seem to be more visible in the media, they are still majorly underrepresented-and even when they are, they are always linked to stereotypes as old as time. This all comes down to one big fact: that the entertainment industry either treats black women as though they are invisible, or they downright devalue them in media culture as performers, directors and even producers. The percentage of black women in movies is also quite disappointing and discouraging, with only 18% of major female characters being black according to Women and Hollywood’s 2018 statistics.

Younger black women are more exposed to the extremes and are most likely to see beyond the “silver lining” which Hollywood seems to present. As a result, they find themselves unable to identify with the small line of female roles acquired by black women, showing the lack of diversity in characters, and no representation of black girls who do not necessarily fit into a stereotype because they are expressive in their own right.

Yes, we are grateful for our Viola Davis’S and Lupita Nyongos’ who defy the numbers. However, they are not the only 2 black women in Hollywood. The media needs to be a reflection of which kinds of people we meet on a daily basis, and this includes Asian, Indian, Latinas and many other women of colour.

- Amarachi Vazidule

by Jo Roodt

by Akhona Nolokwe

by Mikaela Meyer

by Chéyenne Britten

by Jo Roodt

WYNBERG

PH OTOGRAP HY

Fashion Trends Winter 2019

1

- Jenna Ryklief

It’s layer szn! Time to bring out your favourite turtlenecks and throw on a teddy bear fur coat. These up and coming trends are sure to keep you ahead of the fashion game and have you turning heads.

Dramatic Layering Not only does this popular street-style give your outfit the edge, but it will also help you fight the chills that come with the Winter season.

(Talk about killing two birds with one stone!)

2

Purples Lavender, plum, magenta and grape. Spice up your wardrobe with the various shades of purple for a refreshing, unique burst of colour to break the monotony of the dull, neutrals that plague most closets year round.

This wardrobeessential has littered runways everywhere and understandably so!

This look can be found in local stores such as Cotton On and H&M.

3 4

Teddy Bear Fur Coat

Turtle Necks Turtlenecks. Cousin of the polar neck and enemy of the scarf. This item will have you looking sharp while keeping you toasty! Lose that bulky, out-ofseason scarf and get your hands on a turtleneck ASAP.

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Long Coats The long-coat-look is always in style when the Winter season does its yearly rounds and we are here for it!

Thrift stores are your best friends when it comes to choosing your long coat.

Make the world your runway this Winter with these stylish fashion trends and don’t forget to stay cosy!

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Matching Suits Get that 90s, Â Alicia Silverstone from Clueless look with a charming matching jacket and bottom set.

6

seek what sets your

by Cheyenne Britten

your soul on fire

FAKE NEWS a 21st Century Pandemic

by Lula de Rose

amusing, far-fetched story that stems from a ludicrous conspiracy theory, or, perhaps Donald Trump’s favourite phrase to describe anything commenting on his misdemeanours. I wish! We are living through a fake news pandemic. And fake news can be the cause of harm, be that to manipulate the public or to delegitimize real news.

We are living in a ‘post-truth era’, which is so filled with ‘alternative facts’ that fake news has become an integral part of our lives. A group of legal experts, scientists, journalists, fact- checkers and psychologists published a paper in the journal Science last year which concluded that: “It took the truth about six times as long as falsehood to reach 1500 people”.

People battle to distinguish between falsehood and the truth, which is exacerbated by how people often share news stories after reading a headline, and before reading the entire article.

You may consider fake news to be an

For example, in 2014, when the terrorist organisation Boko Haram kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria, the government deemed the event a hoax, because of all the fake news that it had received prior to the event. In this instance, fake news delegitimised the real news, and rescue efforts were delayed. This narrative of the kidnappings being a hoax persists in many parts of Nigeria, and it was only two years after the kidnappings that the Nigerian government entered into negotiations with Boko Haram for the release of the Chibok girls, after having received footage of the girls filmed by the terrorist organisation.

In 2016, 21 girls were freed, yet nearly 200 are still unaccounted for.

Another example of how fake news can affect the world at large: in January 2018 a fabricated news website reported that Jacob Zuma had resigned. This article briefly caused the rand to spike, and then (because it was fake news) inevitably drop.

The crux of the matter is to think critically about the information that you take in or share. We live in a time where information is at our fingertips: for better or for worse.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------While we cannot change the world at large for the spreading of fake news due to its sensational and often tantalising stories, we can be accountable for what we choose to believe, as well as, be responsible for the information we share. If it seems too good, or too crazy to be true, it probably is. And if reputable newspapers (online or offline) are not reporting on it,it is also probably not true.

In ending, as people involved in mainstream society, it is our responsibility to change the culture of sharing before you read, of thinking, before you post, and of questioning the information that you are fed.

- Ciara Birch

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The author, Mark Twain, is famous, amongst other things, for saying: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” As apt as those words are Twain never actually uttered them - this quotation is one of the lesser known most misquoted of quotes. The quote should be credited to a Charles Haddon Spurgeon - a preacher from Victorian England - who said: “A lie travels around the world while Truth is putting on her boots”. Yet, it was Jonathan Swift who originally wrote that “Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it” in 1710. No matter where this line comes from, both its wording and origin aptly convey that lies travel far faster than truth.

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A Brief Inquiry into A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships

by The 1975

- Chéyenne Britten

“I wasn’t making a record about the internet. I just wanted to make a record about life and about the human experience, and because the internet is so total within that, I kind of couldn’t avoid making a record about the internet”- Matty Healy

‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’(ABIIOR) is the much anticipated third album from the indie-pop, alternative rock band The 1975. It is completely different from the band's well-known tracks of ‘Girls’ and ‘Chocolate’. Instead of their typical emo-rock theme from their first self-titled album, The 1975 dive into the world of relationships and politics while further exploring the synth, electronic and jazzy sounds from their second album.

The lengthy title of the album comes as no surprise, as The 1975’s second studio album was titled ‘I Like it When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet so Unaware of It’. The bold titles foreshadow the thoughtprovoking content of their tracks. Frontman Healy stated that his inspiration for the third album’s title came about after seeing the title of a Gene McHugh essay in a book, someone was reading on a train. He states that it was not necessarily the content of the essay, but the idea of the title he liked,

which led to the band examining the effect of technology on interaction and relationships.

The track that fully embodies their title of online relationships is not even a song, but a spoken word. It is recited by a male version of Siri, titled “The Man who Married a Robot/Love Theme”. This poem deals with the themes of loneliness that come with social media and being addicted to the internet. It recognizes what the future could be like, but also emphasizes the current reality people experience with technology and the internet.

Like each The 1975 album, this one starts off with a track titled ‘The 1975’. This acts as a tester of sounds for the tracks to come, therefore, each version is different. The ABIIOR version has a delicate, piano background accompanied and contrasted by the harsh, autotuned voice of lead singer Matty Healy. This sets the scene for the overall album and comments on the internet through the modified voice of Healy. This is something we’ve heard before: in their cover of Sade’s ‘By Your Side’, which was released between the second and latest album.

Unbeknown to their fans, The 1975 actually foreshadowed the release of ABIIOR, in ‘By Your Side’s’ cover art. This was discovered after Healy tweeted that “No one ever notices me sat on the phone texting in the artwork (foreshadowing ABIIOR, omg. Clever)”. If we take a closer look at the cover, we see Healy seated in the corner amongst a table covered in flowers and candles. This is just one of the many reasons why The 1975 is so admired. They strategically plan and put effort into the small things, and don’t get me started on the quality of their live performance sets!

A few of the tracks, such as ‘Be my mistake’ and ‘It’s not Living if it’s Not With You’ contain the band’s recurring rock-and-roll themes of drugs and sex.

However, it is a more emotional and personal take, as Healy himself suffered from addiction.

The first track to be released as a single was ‘Give Yourself a Try’, which deals with the life of Healy till now, as well as the suicide of a fan. It is something very different from their previous work and starts off with a repetitive guitar riff that can easily and annoyingly become a part of your thoughts.

This was definitely something that needed a few listenings to

before one could understand where they were trying to go, but once heard with the other tracks of the album, it is a song that will make you want to get up and dance.

A song that stands out from this album is definitely ‘Love it if We Made it’. This track is an observation of the current state of society with the lyrics “Modernity has failed us’ but also offers a hopeful tone. The inclusion of controversial topics and headlines make this something that The 1975 has never dealt with before, including a quote from Donald Trump, Kanye and Lil Peep’s death.

My personal favourite is “I Couldn't Be More in Love”. It is a raw, vulnerable and, emotional power ballad, that has vague similarities to their old work.

Healy mentions that he “sang it better when I got out (of rehab), but there was just something in those vocals. It was kind of guttural. I was really upset and scared. I feel like there’s a hopelessness in the vocal performance.” This beautiful song is not about a female partner, it is about his fans and Healy's love for fans of The 1975. One would expect this song to be about a female partner with the mentioning of the word “she”, but their manager, Jamie Oborne, revealed that this song is actually about the fans of The 1975. That, along with the emotion and passion in his voice, makes this track even more beautiful.

For newcomers of The 1975, I suggest listening to their previous albums ‘The 1975’ and ‘I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet so Unaware of It’. It will allow you to understand their growth as a band as well as the mind and experiences of lead singer,Matty Healy.

Ultimately, this album is something fresh and different. After listening to ABIIOR, we are made to think about our relationships, not only with one other, but also with the internet.

Earn trophies at practice, pick them up at competitions

WORKOUT: Abs: - 15 crunches - 10 leg lifts - 30 sec front plank - 30 sec side plank (both sides) - 15 sec russian twists - 15 bicycle crunches (X3 repeat)

Legs: - 60 sec jumping jacks - 10 squat jumps - 10 pulsing squats - 60 sec high knees - 10 jumping lunges - 10 side lunges (each leg) (X3 repeat)

Pop Culture vs. Body Image

- Sage Seef

It's safe to say that pop culture has such a big influence in our lives, especially during our vulnerable teenage years. It’s impossible to ignore it as our media is saturated with celebrities and their lives.

The influence of these people in the media affects what we choose to wear, the things we watch, what we listen to, what beauty trends we follow, and what we choose to eat.

Tabloid magazines name and shame celebrities all the time for “gaining a few pounds” or “exposing their cellulite”. Kim Kardashian was shamed by countless tabloids on the amount of weight she gained during her pregnancy with North. Many other celebs- Tyra Banks, Emma Stone, Amy Schumer, and Demi Lovato, to name a few, have received backlash about their body.

Whether being too skinny, too fat or having a “disproportionate” body, these celebs have heard it all. Gabourey Sidibe clapped back to criticism she received about her appearance at the Golden Globes by tweeting: “To people making mean comments about my GG pics, I [most definitely] cried about it on that private jet on my way to my dream job last night. #JK.” , so it's assumed these celebs don’t take it to heart, in case you were wondering. A more important question one should be asking, however, is what expectation does that put on the reader in terms of how their body should look?

Many celebrities are unfortunately part of the problem, as many

support an unrealistic body image through means of plastic surgery, and showing their audience how a body “should look.” Celebrities use their platform to advertise unhealthy weight loss through the use of appetite suppressants, ‘thinning’ teas and other diet products. The Keto diet has heavily saturated the media and Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian and Rihanna are said to have endorsed this diet. After the Keto diet trend blew up, nutritionists debunked this diet by exposing people to the harmful long-term effects this may have on your health. Meal replacement shakes have also been endorsed by many celebs. Beyonce also came clean in admitting to how she lost 30 pounds for her role in “Dreamgirls” by allowing herself only liquids and no food. You can imagine that this is not good for your health at all, and only makes you gain weight again after significantly slowing your metabolism.

Let us not dwell on negativity! There are celebs that have got it right! Ashley Graham (poster girl of Sports Illustrated) is a proud face of the body positivity movement. She started her own swimsuit line which claims to have “swimsuits for everyone” and pushes for the normalisation of all body types. Demi Lovato also promotes a positive body image as she herself struggled with eating disorders growing up and starved herself after being bullied about her weight.

“Too skinny, too fat, too blonde -- so much blah. This is who I am and I'm happy.

Happy looks different on everyone." This is a quote made famous by Kelly Clarkson who came under fire after her weight gain. She spoke out about the pressure she feels as a woman in the music industry to conform to a certain image, and how she let that impact her for so many years. Lastly, the words of Adele are truly golden “I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that.”

Restricting yourself to what you can and can’t eat to have a “healthy looking body” is not healthy at all. In order to achieve a healthy diet, you need to consume the right amount of the 5 food groups (that’s right, your teachers aren’t making that up.) The most important thing before weight loss or gain, is selfacceptance and giving your body the nutrients it needs to function and be healthy.

Media: Women vs Men

- Christan Gonsalves

The media is a powerful persuasive tool that has more influence over our thoughts and views than we know. When we discuss the media, we often talk about social media, television, newspapers and magazines and many more platforms. Many people, over time, have begun to use these platforms to create initiatives and awareness to promote gender equality and women's rights-just to name a few- and along with the increase of strong female characters on the big screen, the gender inequality in society has begun to decrease just slightly. Â However, many forms of media still portray the different sexualities in unrealistic and stereotypical ways, thus misrepresenting them.

Media is seen as representing sexualities in 3 ways: the first is the underrepresentation of women in the media, which, according to Professor Julia T. Wood, is a symbol of male dominance in society and that women are invisible.

Besides being more than half of the world's population,only 26% of women are represented on daily media platforms. Â The representation of powerful female politicians and journalists are the least among all media platforms, because media would rather allow a male to represent the strong, wealthy and intelligent than a female. The lack of women in the media is also believed to link with the shortage of females in charge of the media. This has become a serious matter as more than half of the journalism graduates in America are female. However, fewer than 30% are able to become corporate managers in newspapers or leading reporters for news stations.

When women are so often represented in the media they are often stereotyped and sexualised on these platforms as the ideal modern woman. The idea of fit, young, thin and gorgeous women are shown on TV shows, magazine covers,

advertisements and fashion shows. In order for women to be seen as attractive or perfect, they are represented in the ways that conform to society’s ideas of what women should look like. This is seen especially in TV shows or movies when the female is the one who needs to change the way she dresses and acts in order to be truly noticed. In advertisements and celebrity endorsements women involved are those who are thin and fit. The women's physical attraction is used to transfer the brand image and is seen as the only way to sell magazine articles featuring women. For instance, on magazine covers, women often wear the least amount of clothing, are covered in the most makeup or oil and are surrounded only by the words, thin, pretty, gorgeous or fit which all lead to the objectification and sexualisation of women. Because media have such an impact on our lives, these images and ideas of what women are supposed to be like have indelibly printed themselves in the minds of both younger and older generations of women. This leads to the emotional and cyberbullying of females who are unable to conform to the idea of how a ‘normal’ woman should look. This wrecks a woman’s self-esteem when they cannot live up to these images of what ‘gorgeous’ should look like. This results in eating disorders, depression and anxiety.

Another stereotype for women on TV shows is the fact that domestication is portrayed as something more important to women than anything else. Women are still seen as housewives, cleaners and the Mother figure who always needs to look after the children while she takes charge of the household.Men, on the other hand,are still seen as the breadwinner and man of the house. In 1975, a study completed by Jean McNeil, showed that 75% of female interactions on screen consist of romantic or family problems as opposed to 18% for males.

While men are seen in the media more often than women, they are also stereotyped and judged by these sexist stereotypes. The idea of masculinity is spread across the media, not allowing males or females to truly be themselves.

Males are seen as the ones who need to be strong, show no emotion and handle the problem by resorting to violence. Although these encourage men to grow up confident, they also invite aggression and they can become dangerous to the opposite sex or any other male who does fit the profile. Sport is also used to construct the idea of masculinity, as men need to play sport, be active/ fit which leads to ‘superior strength’. The main representation for men are shown in advertisements such as alcohol, banking, cars and tool/ building warehouses which all conform to society's views of what men are meant to be: the unrealistic image.

The media is a powerful thing: it encourages these thoughts and ideas of what we need to be without us ever realising.Yes, over time the media has changed and continues to improve in its representation of men, women and non-binary, but that's only a small percent of the time. If media continue portraying these stereotypical images, actions and values, society will never change and the discrimination, violence and lack of self-love/ confidence will continue to increase, making this world a frightening place.

Sexualisation in the - Lois Flandorp Media It’s everywhere. Whether it be in adverts, celebrities’ social media posts, TV shows or simply pornography - sexualised images are being fed to our society through media and the internet. Sexualisation in the media is very vast and very very normalised.

Sexualisation, by definition, is the making of something sexual in nature or character. ‘Sex sells’ therefore companies and famous people are often willing to use sex appeal and shock factor to sell products, and draw a larger audience to the topic or the person.

This is all okay to some extent, but when it starts to affect society, this is where the line should be drawn- but it isn’t. These images are all over the internet, where teenagers spend a lot of time. Younger teenagers often see these things which will have a negative effect on their development.

After a content review was completed on female fashion and fitness magazines, researchers found that most models were young, thin and white. Only 6% of the models had curvier, softer bodily features, and 95% of the models in the fashion magazines were categorised as muscular or lean. (Wasylkiw, Emms, Meuse, & Poirier, 2009).

Both males and females are objectified through explicit imagery, and sex itself gets a new reputation. Expectations for each gender is set; many being unrealistic. This can lead to young teenagers, who are exposed to this type of media, believing that their bodies should look a certain way or that they should act in a particular manner. Body images are important in the sense that it affects the self-worth, and one’s self-worth is an extremely important part of their mental health.

Teenagers [generally, based on statistics] start comparing one another, competing for likes and feeling bad about not being “attractive enough”. Among the teenagers studied on their use of social networks, 35% reported having worried about people tagging them in unappealing or ‘ugly’ photos. 27% reported feeling relatively anxious about how they look when they post pictures and 22% reported feeling some form of self-pity when nobody or few people comment on or “like” the photos they post. Though girls and boys alike reported having these feelings, they were more common among girls (Common sense Media, 2012).

There is not much we can do about the media and what it decides to publish. What we can do, however, is practise and teach others to practise self-love irrespective of what the trends are and what society says is beautiful or ‘sexy’.

Wpodcasts YNBERG Some new ones to try: Caster Semenya - Mu'minah Salie Elections 2019 - Nicola van Tellingen Rape Culture - Kudzai Hove Abortion - Anonymous Islamophobia - Mu'minah Salie

@wynberg thank you for all your support #wynbergpride

by Mu'minah Salie

An Interview with Mrs Harding -Zarah Noordien

Peer Guides

- Kelly Blake Big Sister/Little Sister is an annual programme that allows a group of “little sisters” ( from Wynberg Girls’ Junior School) to be paired up with a “big sister” ( a Grade 11 or 12 peer guide from Wynberg Girls’ High School). The peer guides work closely with their little sisters by meeting every Tuesday for an hour after school in the first and second term. It is an hour filled with many giggles from both sides and relaxation but, most importantly, activities that teach the junior school girls valuable lessons and skills that they can use to grow as individuals not only at school, but also in life. Examples of what have been covered this past term include self-esteem and gender equality.

This is what a few peer guides had to say when asked what being a “big sister” means to them: “I feel happy that I get to be there for my little sister and that the two schools have a programme to help these girls because, for some of them there is no one, so I'm just glad that I get to be their someone.” - Zaghra Achmat “Being a big sister has made me feel as if I am making a difference in someone else's life. It has made me feel as if I matter in that person's life and have helped that person grow within themselves.”- Saarah Jeffery “Being a big sister makes me feel like I am making a positive difference by having the ability to help someone grow as an individual”- Laeeqah Cassim “The big sister little sister program is a great way to reach out to the junior school. It's really an honour to be able to help them by teaching them valuable life lessons in our sessions which build their selfconfidence so that they are comfortable with who they are. Being a big sister has made me aware that it's so important to reach out to young children as they also struggle with low self-esteem, confidence and insecurities”- Rebecca Espin

Limits to the Absurd Salaries of Pop Stars

In modern day society, pop culture plays a significant role in the lives of teenagers. At some stage we all become emotionally invested in some or other pop star, adoring their talent and praising the image they portray in the media. The continuous support that pop stars receive from their fans allows them to build a successful career and become increasingly rich. In some cases, ridiculously rich. But, is it really okay for them to be earning millions every minute while there are millions out there who are struggling to put food on their tables?

This is quite a controversial debate and there are numerous perspectives from which to approach the issue. Many people believe that there should be a limit to the salary of a pop star, mainly because they are not seen as doing actual work that benefits society in a constructive manner. “How can a singer be paid more than a doctor who studied for seven years and helps to save lives?” says a source I interviewed.

Although pop stars earn money legally and fairly, if they earn an absurd amount of money, there should at least be a law that obligates them to donate a certain percentage of their earnings to charity or organisations. This is important because there are individuals out there making lots of money but never really give back to the community that made them rich and famous in the first place. Perhaps a limit should be enforced to prevent famous people from taking advantage of the economy by boosting themselves up while doing no real work. It does seem rather unreasonable for someone to earn millions per minute for just singing or earning $30 per word on Twitter just because they are famous. However, the question remains whether we know exactly how much pop stars earn. Undoubtedly, more famous figures such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran earn enormous amounts of money, but, does this apply to all pop stars? If not, should limits to their salaries also be permitted?

The other sphere argues that pop stars should be allowed to earn as much as they are worth. It is certainly a generalisation to say that pop stars make money for doing nothing. The amount of effort that goes into producing good music and organising shows and tours is not always fully acknowledged by the public. If the person possesses the skill and talent then they should be allowed to take advantage of that and if people are willing to pay them a certain amount, then they should be allowed to accept it.

Personally, I feel that because we live in a capitalist society, the huge salary gap won’t ever change, so the focus should rather be shifted from trying to fix the imbalances to encouraging those earning excessive amounts of money to do as much charity and goodwill as possible. In that way, they will be contributing to the change that we need to make this world a better place, and, in doing so, they will have a positive effect on society while providing invaluable entertainment.

- Lieshcen Natus

Celebrity Accountability The first fact to understand when looking at this topic is that we can’t blame celebrities for our actions. Their actions shouldn’t affect us unless we allow them. Obsessing over celebrities is the same as obsessing over anything else. We give it the power to control us. If we don’t give it that power it can’t control us. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t hold celebrities accountable for what they do. They are still humans and still make mistakes. It just means that we shouldn't’ tell ourselves that because they are famous everything they do is suddenly acceptable. We still know what is right and what is wrong.

Therefore, we do not only need to hold celebrities accountable, but also ourselves for our actions.

- Liezaan Bosch

While we must hold celebrities accountable for their actions, we also shouldn’t believe everything the media says about them.

Unfortunately, the reality is that people tend to enjoy finding people’s weaknesses instead of finding their strengths. There are many reasons why this is the case. One of them is the fact that we want celebrities to be more relatable. Making them seem perfect isn’t good enough. We want our role models to be human and make mistakes.

This makes it easier for the media to publish the bad actions of celebrities instead of the good. The media also tend to take celebrities’ actions and blow them up making the celebrity seem worse than he/she actually is. Another problem with the media is that once something has been published it can’t be retrieved. That celebrity will always have that mark against him/her. The media tends to bring the worst out of every situation because no one wants to read about a celebrity who saved a dog. They would rather read the article about the scandalous celebrity and what they did.

We need to realise that the media makes celebrities look bad and that the paparazzi never give them time off. We must also see that they are only human and make mistakes. We should hold them accountable for their actions, but just because they did something doesn’t mean that it is acceptable for everyone else to do it. We must also use our brains and know that we can’t measure whether something is right or wrong on the person who did it.

Technology Trap - Mariné Bosch Something that forms a large part of today’s Popular Culture is technology and social media. Social media is the main way in which news and popular ideas are spread.

It is quick, easy, affordable and requires little effort to influence millions of people at once. People merely have to log onto a social media account, and scroll through the latest posts to see a common trend, which they would want to try as well, because ‘everyone is doing it’.

Technology provides us with so much information every day that our brain cannot possibly sort through everything. It can be overwhelming and causes us much stress and anxiety just to think about what is supposedly expected of us. Being ‘busy’ has become the norm. When someone spends a calm day at home, they call it unproductive as they feel bad for not being physically busy.

This guilt about not being busy all the time, partly comes from watching the lives of others by scrolling through social media. Even if we were happy about our lives only moments before, our brains now constantly compare ourselves to others and the lives they are leading. What our brain forgets is that the lives people display as posts to others on media is not always their reality. They are not actually living, but rather only posting for the affirmation that comes from the likes and comments people give them.

If we continue to believe that the lives people post are better than our own, we do end up without life. Instead of realising that we have the ability to stand on our own two feet and meet interesting people outside the walls our homes, we watch peoples’ pretence at living. Stop following the virtual lives that people ‘live’ and start living your own life for yourself.

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Here are some three tips that you can use to gain control of your technological usage:

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Limit your time spent on social media: If you find that you are constantly checking social media and that this prevents you from doing anything in your own life, consider decreasing your access to your social media accounts and your time spent on them. You can pick a set time that you may check your accounts, and only for a certain amount of time, e.g. 30 minutes. Once that time is finished, log off from your accounts and switch off your device. Do not allow yourself a few more minutes to finish scrolling. This will certainly result in an extra half an hour spent online.

Do not carry your cellphone in your hand all the time: When you carry your cellphone in your hand, you are prone to ‘checking the time’ more than once every minute. You will also allow yourself to be distracted from anything you are focusing on every time your phone beeps or vibrates. This means that you will never truly be able to place all your attention on a single task.

You may think that you can multi-task, but the truth is that your brain will not retain as much information from different tasks if you focus on them simultaneously compared to when you focus on them individually. Carrying your cellphone in your hand will also make it more difficult for you to hold proper conversations with people. By holding your phone, you are telling the other person that your phone and what is happening on it is more important to you than the person to whom you are talking. You would be taking it one step further if you engage with your phone during a conversation, as you cannot listen to an individual properly if you split your attention.

Disconnect from the internet: It is more tempting and much easier to be pulled into the grasp of the internet if your Wifi or data is always connected.

By disconnecting, you give yourself time to think before allowing yourself to compulsively use the internet as an escape route from life. By disconnecting from the internet, you give yourself the chance to explore hobbies and to take a mindful walk that will bring you back to the present.

Stop following other people virtually and start living your reality.

9 Life Lessons I Learnt Through Being in a Musical

- Lara Marais

Towards the end of October last year, I found myself attending a late audition for my favourite musical of all time: Hairspray. Long story short, Hairspray gave me the most funfilled, special and meaningful four months of my life. Being a part of this production was something that I never expected to come across my path but Lo and behold, it happened. I landed up meeting some of the best people, growing out of my comfort zone, expanding my horizons and learning so much that I so needed to know, especially seeing that the senior years of high school change you so much as a person. This reflection was inspired after a discussion I had with my dad when he asked me if I had to list five things I’ve learnt so far through this experience, what they would be. A few weeks later, after our show run came to an end, I sat down to reflect and my list of five grew to nine.

1. Family is forever I was fortunate enough to truly become a family with the people I met and engaged with (the cast). Through this process of being in each other’s presence nearly every day over the past few months, we were able to learn about one another, grow with one another and form a beautiful family. Never have I grown so close to a group of people in such a short amount of time. Once you truly learn about one another and grow close, you form a bond like no other. And deep inside, I know that in some shape or form, we’ll always have these special ties. When you eventually find that special

group of people, never let go of them.These bonds can last a lifetime.

2. True friends and genuineness This was an extremely insightful lesson to learn. After this whole process, I’m confident in saying that the friends I’ve gained are true ones. The cast members were some of the most genuine people I have ever met; what you see is what you get.

Because we all had the same goals and passion, no matter how different we were as people, we could connect on a level like no other. I think it’s extremely important at this age to start differentiating who is toxic in your life and who truly will stay with you after school; who is bringing you down and who is bringing out the best in you. Realizing this is so vital at this point. At the end of the day, you pick whom you surround yourself with and ultimately this will bring out either something positive or negative. Your attitude and surroundings are dependent on those with whom you choose to spend time.

3. Step out of your comfort zone As cliched as this sounds, trust me on this. I would never have gained the experience of a lifetime if I had not taken that small step to try something I hadn’t done before and attend an audition that gave me sleepless nights. Trying new things, scaring yourself and putting yourself out there is the best way to go about life. I can’t express enough how thankful I now am for not letting my fear of rejection get

in the way. Apply this positive attitude to anything you find yourself doing; the important thing isn’t always the outcome; success is also determined by the fact that you tried and took that extra step regardless of what might happen. Life is short, go for it! Challenge yourself constantly! Defy the odds! Don’t be afraid of rejection; the worst case scenario is that someone says “No”. Don’t let fear of the outcome be a factor. You’ll never know unless you try and I’m sure you’d rather move on with an “Oh, well, at least I tried my best” than a “What if that had happened?” because uncertainty will do nothing but cause regret and overthinking.

4. Be yourself A close friend from the cast reminds me so often of the importance of this lesson. We hear this from day one, but I never truly understood what being yourself meant until now. I was able to come out of my insecure comfort zone and learn to work more and more at being myself every day. To put it bluntly, at the end of the day, people are either going to like you or not like you. By remaining true to yourself, your values and your beliefs, the right people will love you for who you are. Life is truly so short, so you do you! You’ll find that breaking down the walls that you put up between yourself and other people will make you so much more carefree and happy. Lately, because I’ve gone about with a completely new attitude, I’ve started caring much less about others’ opinions and am truly starting to become a happier individual. Why let someone who knows nothing about you cause you to act differently and feel insecure when you are the person who knows yourself better than anyone else in the world?

5. Enjoy what you are doing The simple truth is that if you’re in love what with you’re doing, the space around you becomes so much more enjoyable and positive. The best way to make the best out of everything is to enjoy what you are doing. If something isn’t making you happy, stop. Doing things you love is so important in helping you discover who you are as a person and in helping you grow whilst giving you the balance that you need in life.

6. Perform and give it your all no matter what I think this statement speaks for itself. Giving it your all is not only a necessity in theatre but also in your daily life. Despite whatever baggage you may be carrying, persevering is vital. Nothing in theatre or in life should be done half-heartedly.

Some of our shows required us to keep going whilst giving it our all despite having missing, injured and ill cast members or backstage and technical issues.

But the show goes on, in all areas of life.

7. Remember where you started On the night of our second performance, our director motivated us backstage with some wise words,”Remember where you started.” Often we forget the long hours of hard work that each and every person puts in along the way. Often, after a lengthy process, we become boastful and think that we can go about as we please and perform to how we’re feeling on that day. Remembering where you started means to humble yourself, to look back, be appreciative of the process and continue to do the best you possibly can each night. Just because opening night was over, didn’t mean we could drop our energy level, enthusiasm and character.

8. Growth is a process We always hear “The caterpillar doesn’t become the butterfly overnight” and despite how many times we just nod our heads when told this, there is so much truth in this. It took months of hard work, dedication, commitment, pain, tears, frustration, late nights, exhaustion, enthusiasm, energy, laughter and enjoyment to come out with our end product: the show. We would never have achieved the standing ovations we did or the positive feedback and overall loved performance if it had not been for the blood, sweat and tears shed. Nothing happens or changes overnight. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try or that you shouldn’t make changes in your life where necessary. Whether you’re trying out a new exercise routine, spending hours on practising your sport, working tirelessly to improve your maths mark or anything of the sorts, growth and development takes time.

9. You simply cannot stop the beat “You can’t stop the beat” is one of the hit tracks in Hairspray. This is the final musical number that brings people together and showcases the beauty of working and coming together in unity. It’s difficult to put into words what I mean when I say why these words are a life lesson but the best way I can explain it is this: if you truly love what you’re doing you’ll never stop at it; you’ll keep going and going because it’ll never be enough. Work at what you love doing as often as you can. Performing on stage is what set my soul on fire and gave me the most enjoyment I’ve ever experienced in my life, and the beat I cannot stop.Never stop doing what brings out the best in you; never stop your inner beat. If you are truly engaged in what you’re doing, you just can’t stop. There were so many moments on stage where I just thought to myself: I don’t want this to stop, I just want to keep going. I didn’t want to leave the stage, I didn’t want the beat to stop!

While many of these lessons are what we’ve been taught for years, often we forget what they really mean; the importance and value that they hold. The best advice I could give to anyone is to never let fear be a factor; never let fear govern you. Turn every negative “what if” into a positive “what if”. Instead of saying “What if my audition goes terribly or they don’t like me or I don’t make it in?” say “What if they love my approach, I do get in and end up gaining the most incredible experience?”

Try every day to work at being yourself or the best version of yourself.

by Mu'minah SalieÂ

Thank you to our writers for the amazing articles, to Wynberg's photography society for the inspiring images, to our editors for the tremendous efforts, and to you for all of your support Love, the Wynpress Team