Edition 1 OCTOBER 2016
Kyran
Christian
Leila
Adam
Lelo
The #FeesMustFall protests in 2015 filled the University Currently Know as Rhodes (UCKAR) with discourse surrounding protest, race and poverty.
that engage with the concept of masculinity but most importantly creating spaces where discourse can happen and people can learn. One such movement is that of the #WeBelieveYou program that has organised talks with internal and external speakers on topics such as sexual violence, reclaiming one’s body after both assault and implications/outcomes of toxic masculinity.
protests, often conversation surrounding gender and sexuality is skipped or brushed aside on the basis of it being less urgent.
awareness on issues of gender and sexuality, and have gained popularity in creating communities wherein people feel safe to explore their sexualities, and feel comfortable in their own skin. It is in these spaces that the discourse is intersectional, yet often still occurring outside of the realm of interest of many students at the university who would benefit greatly from involvement in such discussion.
both the popular conversation on gender and sexual identity that follows the binary norm of male versus female, or homosexual versus heterosexual, as well as discussion on non-binary gender and sexuality, so that the discussion pays particular attention to those that may consider themselves in the minority.
This year, the #RUReferenceList protests furthered that discourse into the areas of rape culture, feminism and toxic masculinity. Since then, movements have started on campus making spaces safer for womxn, encouraging discussions
Unfortunately, in amongst all of the discourse surrounding
Although discourse on gender and sexuality is often prominent in group conversations in social settings, it is most often than not those that are already engaging in the topic matter that pay attention to the discussion. University societies such as OUTRhodes and the Gender Action Project seek to raise
As the XY tabloid, we hope to bring you
From us, study hard, broaden your minds, and keep up the gender and sexual identity discourse.
homophobia // transphobia // sexism // bullying
TW 3
WHAT MAKES HIM MORE MANLY THAT I? /manli/
WHY BIG BOYS SHOULD CRY /bɔɪ/
4 MOFFIE, FAGGOT, STABANE /ˈfaɡət/
THE KIDS ARE DOING ALRIGHT /kɪd/
5 THE DIVISION OF GENDER /ˈdʒɛndə/
6 I AM A WOMAN FIRST, AND A TRANSGENDER PERSON SECOND /ˈpəːs(ə)n/
7 ACING ASEXUALITY /eɪˈsɛksjʊəl,-ʃʊəl/
BEING FEMALE AT UCKAR /ˈfiːmeɪl/
t is difficult, as a man, to speak about patriarchy. Men are born with inherent privileges, and the world is undeniably catered to the male experience. Because of this, the natural female experience is hindered, with things like menstruation and breast feeding made public taboos and made horribly inconvenient in public and personal spaces. Yet, in contrast to this, the government will fund massive campaigns for flavoured condoms, to make the male sexual experience a bit more convenient. I am not denying the importance of safe sex, but why does the government put this before easy access to wom-
#Feminism
xn’s sanitary products?
“With that in mind, let us, from my male point of view, discuss patriarchy.” What the common discourse surrounding patriarchy does not discuss is that men suffer under patriarchy as well as womxn. The term toxic masculinity is used to define one of the main ways men suffer under patriarchy. Toxic masculinity refers to the notion that there is a masculine ideal and that all men need to strive toward this ideal. As has been discussed in feminist theory recently and frequently, ideals are problematic regardless of what this ideal may be. In a recent conversation with a friend of mine, we dis-
cussed “manliness” and what makes a man “manly”. Much to my dismay, my friend was insistent that he was manlier than me. Why? Well quite frankly from a societal stand point, I can see why. Society has deemed my friend, the 6’4” hunter with a 6 pack, a fast car, and a gun collection manlier than me, a 5’8”, vegan, pacifist, nerd. In the nicest way he could, my friend tried to explain to me that it was not my fault, I’m just not as manly. This perplexed me and made me question, what is manliness? What makes him more manly than I? It weighed on me and in a way, it still does. Is it a physical attribute that I lack? Or is it a mental attribute? Is it because I’m short, or is it because I’m unwilling to kill
something? This crisis of gender identity led me to realise that just as the feminist movement has promoted the idea that there is no ideal womxn, and there is no right way to be a womxn, there is in fact, no ideal man, and no ideal “manliness”.
way to identify as a man, we will become a more openly diverse society.
To argue otherwise would be to argue for a world filled with generic body builders with no emotional intelligence to speak of, the inability to cry, and absolutely no queer men.
by Ad am Jinn ah
I
by Christian Stroud
What makes him more manly than I?
This is not a world I would like to live in, as a diverse community is a strong community. By embracing multiple masculinities rather than pretending that there is only one right
Mas
#QUeer #Homophobia #Patriarchy #violence #LGBTQ
#RUreferencelist
Why big boys should cry...
by Leila Kidson
I
n an age where sexual assault statistics are rising, especially across college and university campuses worldwide, the question remains as to the cause. Many have speculated as to the increase of alcohol consumption. The most prominent of argument highlights the sociallyconstructed attitude of toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity, as described by Harris O’Malley, is a “narrow and repressive description of manhood, designating manhood as defined by violence, sex, status and aggression.” Unfortunately, although toxic masculinity is not necessarily something parents teach to their children by name, many societies, families and patriarchal structures, it is embedded in the culture of homes.
Most commonly societies perpetuate toxic masculinity by normalising male violence as can be seen as early as primary school where it is acceptable for young boys to get into fist fights, yet not so for girls. Even more problematic is the teaching of boys that they should not cry, as ‘crying is for girls’, and boys should not do things girls do. It is this separation in a binary form of femininity and masculinity, where should a man portray ‘feminine’ traits such as a lack of constant lust or the showing of emotion, he is a named a ‘pussy’ and embarrassed in his social setting. Here I want to focus on why this toxic masculinity perpetuates rape culture. Firstly, the presumption that men should be hyper sexual forces the ideal onto men that they should be having copious amounts of sex. Should one then consider, in a heterosex-
ual context, the lack of hyper sexuality noted in womxn, this would make the acting of that hyper sexuality slightly problematic. Coupled with this lust, the way men are taught to respond to opposition with aggression throughout their lives can easily be correlated with the forceful way womxn are treated when opposing having sex. As men are infrequently taught how to express emotion constructively, as that is a ‘feminine’ trait, their only way of dealing with such opposition is aggression.
that future generations of men are taught boundaries, consent and respect, rather than domination, aggression and violence.
This then often results in sexual assault as instead of dealing with the rejection constructively, men often become aggressive and dismiss the lack of consent from the womxn. Therefore in order to curb statistic on rape and sexual assault, masculinity needs to be deconstructed, studied and remedied so as to ensure
. rced u o s Image
y nit i l cu
Moffie, faggot, stabane The most recent hate crime happened during this year’s National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, where a young man and his friends were allegedly harassed and assaulted by a group of men on their way home from a night out. This begs the question– are homosexual bodies free, safe and equal? Tevin Tobias, a popular fourth year design student in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at UCKAR shares one experience with homophobia, “I’ve experienced a fair amount of gay-bash-
ing as well, and the reason is that people think that they can miraculously beat the ‘man’ out of you.” It is every fathers dream to see that his son grows to the man that he can see himself in. Although his mother was completely accepting of his sexual identity, his father was not. “My father on the other hand, being the cis-heterosexual, patriarchal male that he was, was not happy with the fact that his son, that played first-team hockey, is now dating other men and decides to wear dresses.” According to OUT Magazine, South Africans are becoming increasingly homophobic. Participants when asked, “should homosexuals enjoy the same rights as heterosexuals?”. The response has dropped from a 71% 2013 to a shocking 56% in 2016.
“Many black people are accused of being un-African and are victimised when it is found out they are gay. Life has not changed much for them in the past decade”, says Evert Knoesen from the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project. Tobias is well aware of the reality that people like himself live through on a daily basis. Yet he maintains hope by asserting that “homosexual men are the most hardworking men ever (not taking away from other minorities in the LGBT community), we work tirelessly to set ourselves apart and be the best that we can be.”
“
ag eb yK yra n Bla auw.
S
outh Africa’s gay community are enjoying a new era of freedom across the country 20 years after the end of apartheid. But black and coloured homosexuals in townships and villages are still victims of gross discrimination.
by Kyran Blaauw
Tevin
Im s. a i Tob
SOUTH AFRICANS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY MORE HOMOPHOBIC #Rapeculture
#Sex #Feminism#Masculinity #Rapeculture #LGBTQ
#Transgender
The kids are DOING alright by Lelo Macheke
I
t is the Queer Social, an event that is reserved for the attendance of those who identify as queer. This event is a first of its kind and it is decisively intuitive to some people would have a problem with this. Inclusivity has often been the basis of critique for events held for the specific attendance of a certain crowd. It is also how non-queer respond to the Queer Social. Yet, the questions remain: would they come, even if the invitation was extended to them? Would they respect the space created for people who identify as queer? What value would their attendance add? I am sitting on a lonely beer-stained couch located in centre of the dance floor of 37 on New. The stage is frequented with queer performing artists and deejays. The dance floor of 37 on New is a wave of dancing bodies, loud claps of appreciation and shrieks expressing bliss. A queer space has been created for queer people to feel safe and free. “This is really cute set”, says a voice. A deep voice with a booming bass that permeates even through the music and the sound of people dancing. I look around
and find nobody.
physical theatre pour out from his body.
“I’m behind you”, the voice almost whispers as a hot breeze of breathe glides across my earlobes. I look behind me to find him easing back into his comfortable position on the couch. Kamo. Kamogelo Molobye is a student of the drama department at the University Currently Known as UCKAR. He is doing his Master’s degree which focuses on the performativity of maleness within South African queer politics and spaces.
The song ends. It is time for the last performance of the night. The lights become bright again. Kamo is gone. He disappeared as swiftly as he appeared.
“It’s nice to see our industry flourishing the way it is. It seems like being queer at UCKAR is slowly becoming worth it” he says with an incredulous smile. I want to laugh at his use of the term “industry”, which is lingo that refers to a community of non-queer beings. “I Support These Strippers” by Nicki Minaj shoots out from the speakers. Kamo leaps from his chair with possessed enthusiasm. His body marries the music, moving in a call-and-response with the rhythm. He mixes a fusion of rumba and contemporary movement, giving an interesting twist to Nicki’s twerk song. I can see his unfinished master’s thesis on
“Perhaps he just wanted to see if the kids are alright. They are”, I whisper with gratitude. ke he c a lo M e L by Kamogelo Molobye
“ IT SEEMS LIKE BEING
QUEER AT RHODES IS SLOWLY BECOMING WORTH IT”, HE SAYS...
The division
M
by Adam Jinnah
illions of babies are born around the world daily into a world where gender has become such a main component of life. When a baby is born the main focus is whether it is a baby boy or girl, when at the end of the day the main focus should be on the health of the baby. Today’s world has created such a divide in gender. Through this a great sense of pressure has been placed, therefore, parents feel an urge of disappointment when they do not get the baby boy or girl they desired before birth.This is most commonly felt due to predisposed family ideals and values which create a certain urgency over a particular gender. Yet, there are no differences besides their biological differences. This gender division all starts from the early
of gender
stages of a child’s life, if the baby is a girl she should have a pink room with Barbie dolls in her play area and a mini cooking toy set.
is in the traditional Islamic culture, a girl is thought that they cannot go and strive for an education; as that is the man’s job; but rather she needs to learn how to cook well and be ‘domesticated’ as that is what is important for them instead of studying and setting goals towards getting a job.
This however just indirectly indoctrinates the child into her assumed roles for her future in society; these include being able to cook, clean and please a man. These assumed roles are something I do not believe in, yes a girl should know how to cook, but it shouldn’t be the first thing they learn. Life needs to be lived according to how that individual seems fit.
Come the day the young womxn is old enough to get married, she has no education or independency, but all she has are qualities why she would be a good wife, thus in turn making her parents and her future in-laws proud.
Certain religions and cultures create gender roles for womxn in their life time in terms of what they should aspire to become and how they should do so. An example of this
With regards to boys; when they are born they are taught that their rooms should be blue, as it is a boys colour, and their toys consist of cars,
guns, toy soldiers and whatever else is seen as masculine in society. The boy is expected to be tough and able to make it through life without a tear shed, yet this is not the reality of life. Men and womxn, even young boys and girls, are put in particular categories as to how their lives should be depending on their gender. This is unrealistic because in the world today, men and womxn are slowly redefining what it means to be a man and what it means to be a womxn, along with identifying with non-binary identities. Pink is not just limited to girls and cars are not just limited to boys, go down to the legal drag races in South Africa and watch a womxn in one of the fastest Skyline Gran Turismo Racersrace men and still win. It is a known fact, that pink is the new black.
WORDS YOU SHOULD KNOW FEMINISM
QUEER
HOMOPHOBIA
LGBTQI+
patriarchy
A movement for equal rights regardless of gender.
Queer can refer to two things.
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify as being lesbian or gay. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, based on irrational fear, and is often related to religious beliefs.
Linguistically, “LGBTQ+” is an acronym for the following idenitities:
Homophobia is a social construction of fear, that is toxic and harmful to those who identify as lesbian or gay.
More importantly, LGBTQ+ represents a community of people that do not identify as heterosexual and/or reject gender binaries.
An unjust social system that consistently places men in positions of dominance over womxn. This has a profound effect on society as a whole, through constantly undermining womxn, as well as feminine traits in both genders, and contributing to a cycle of social and economic discrimination. The patriarchy is subtly manifested through the lack of female leaders and the pay-gap as well as the overriding violence and microaggressions directed at womxn in their daily lives.
Feminism is not about the superiority of womxn, but is rather about the promotion and struggle for equality between genders based on a history of oppression of people assigned female at birth. E.g. Feminism is necessary because womxn are still paid less for the same work in most Western economies.
1. An umbrella term used in the LGBTQI+ community to refer to the entire community. 2. An alternative used by people to replace labels and categories such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, etc. It is important to note that the word queer is an in-group term, and can be considered offensive to some people, depending on their generation, geographic location, and relationship with the word.
Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transsexual/Transgender and Queer. However the “+” part of the acronym is an acknowledgement that there are more identities qualify for inclusion in this list.
by Leila Kidson
At age 16, after having come out to her parents as gay only months before, Danica was finally able to find a term that resonated with her. Her parents, although supportive of her, were initially cautious of this identification, as although they respected their then son’s identification, they understood the difficulties of the life Danica had ahead of her. However, through many emotional conversations and counselling sessions, her parents came to understand that although her features may change, and she may
‘cry a little more’, what was inside would still be the same after the transition.
In the USA* alone near 20-40% of the 1.6 million homeless youth are of the LGBTQI+ community, of which a large portion are homeless due to rejection from their families on the basis of their identification. Statistically speaking, Danica was therefore in the minority in having parents that supported her decision to transition, and identify with her desired gender. As she puts it so bluntly: “I have had friends who have been kicked out of their homes for far less scary things!” After having gone through the difficult process of gender psychologists, psychiatrists and other recommended procedures, Danica was able to start with gender-altering hormones at age 17. In South Africa, there are only two places where one can obtain gender-reassignment surgery. Although such surgery is on the horizon for Danica, the cost, aftercare
and unnecessary threestage surgery in the hospitals here she considers to be “outrageous and sub-par”.
Despite the difficulty in being able to transition in South Africa, Danica could not have considered the alternative, stating with absolute certainty that should she have not transitioned, she would have been a psychological mess and most likely have committed suicide. Statistics of suicide in the transgender community are incredibly high, with near 43% of transgender people across Europe, Canada and the USA reporting a history of suicide attempts. It is this necessity for accessible gender-reassignment surgery and hormone treatment across the world that has inspired Danica to devote her life to activism. She hopes to follow in the footsteps of Laverne Cox, in positively repre-
senting and empowering transgender people worldwide. All whilst building clinics and providing free treatment so that no person has to feel unsafe and unhappy in the bodies they were born in. She hopes to show people that “we all have differences, and we are all just trying to live our best life.” Danica, born in Pretoria, now resides in Grahamstown, and as she puts it:
e on o fir d n an ve ty, y ha i un the
. asis b m
outh Africa is not ta sus in S can therefor ken for *Cen e not use the tr stat ans isti ge cs nd fro er m co he m re m as
ike many in the transgender community, a lack of education in her schooling resulted in Danica Davies having little ability to articulate what it was that had felt different since her early childhood. Born male by sex, and raised with the concurring gender, it took seeing an article in a YOU Magazine on the youngest person to undergo a sex change to finally find a term that she could relate to — transgender.
Danica Davies by Leila Kidson
“I am a woman first, and a transgender person second” L
“I actually came out to my parents as gay first, because I assumed that this is probably how that felt, and I like guys and at that point I didn’t know the difference between sexual orientation and gender orientation.”
“This place really changed my life, to know that people can be a certain way and there are just so many freaky weird people here, and everyone is okay with it… but I still walk around in fear. It takes one fucked up person to look at you wrong and decide ‘I am not about what you’re about’ and then I can’t defend myself.”
As Danica points out, the transition period is incredibly difficult, and she urges those considering to transition to take the necessary steps in consulting psychiatrists and psychologists. As clearly stated by the Transgender Health Program in the USA, there are many side effects that may come with taking hormones such as blood clots, liver disease, along with the irreversible changes of breast growth and sterility. Gender psychologists across the world, as well as Danica’s own psychologist, therefore recommend a process called the Real-Life Test under the Standards of Care developed by the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association. This test requires that one lives a year as their desired gender without any gender reassignment surgery or gender-altering hormones. This year is considered to be by far the most difficult, as one has to embrace their desired gender internally, whilst still living in a body that is of the opposite sex. Should one be able to complete this year, psychologists then use the Standards of Care to provide flexible directions of treatment for the individual. This process is considered essential as it allows for decisions to be made with firm belief in the transition one desires, rather than unexpected, irreversible outcomes.
Transgender
GENDER
Often also simply ‘trans’, this refers to people who are assigned the wrong gender at birth. Cisgender people identify as the gender they are assigned at birth based on their sex, so a person with a vagina identifying as a womxn is cisgender.
Gender is a social condition, or construct. Gender is often informed by how you are socialised, such as your upbringing and the ‘norms’ of the society you inhabit. Often gender roles are forced on children by societies, that results in psychological trauma on the part of children in feeling as if they do not identify with the gender that has been assigned to them at birth. Gender is a construct of identification, and is not determined by the sex of a person.
A person with a vagina identifying as a man would be considered trans. Sometimes, but not always, a trans person may alter their body through medical procedures to reflect their true identity.
Gender binaries The misguided conception that there are only two genders, male and female. The gender binary excludes all other genders, or identifications. There are not only womxn and men, but many that exist in a continuum, such as being genderqueer. The assumption that there are only two genders can be psychologically harmful to those that feel that they can identify with neither of the binaries.
SEX
TRANSEXUAL
Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that have historically defined or categorised men and womxn.
Transexual refers to a person who has transitioned from one sex to another such as through the use of hormones and/or surgical procedure in transitioning from being born male, to being recognizably female.
It is this assumption that one’s sex defines their gender that can be problematic, and cause psychological trauma to those that may not identify with the gender they are assigned at birth based on their reproductive organs and the makeup of their chromosomes.
Gender reassignment surgery, as is the surgery mentioned above, can not allow for a person to acquire the reproductive abilities of the sex that they have chosen to transition to.
I
n the emerging era of selflove and most importantly, self-realisation, universities are the pinnacle of young adults finding both communities and identities that they can connect with. One such identity gaining prominence in recent identity discourse is that of asexuality. Chloé Osmond, a first year student studying Journalism and Media Studies at UCKAR, defines asexuality as: “a sexual orientation whereby a person does not experience sexual attraction to anyone of any gender.” Asexuality is not absolute or fixed, but exists on a spectrum and can be experienced in different ways as different people on the spectrum may hold different attitudes towards sex. Osmond is a sex-neutral asexual (abbreviated as Ace) with sex-positive attitudes. This translates as she has no strong feelings about sex or any desire to engage in the act, she respects others’ bodily sovereignty and decisions
by Adam Jinnah
I
regarding sex. Osmond also notes that being asexual does not mean that one is void of any attraction and that many asexuals still enter into relationships where they may or may not have sexual contact. Dr David Edwards, who runs a male sexual health clinic in England, has said that someone that is Ace or asexual “may have a libido, but no urge for sex.” Some asexuals however, may be sex-repulsed, or have negative feelings towards sex, and therefore do not partake at all. It is important to always be aware of another person’s stance on sex, so as to not cross boundaries that may make someone else uncomfortable. Pierre Durandt, also a student at UCKAR, dappled in identifying as asexual in his first year. Having come from high school with only two identifiers prevalent in his periphery, homosexual or heterosexual, coming to learn about other
ACING
A
identifiers drew him towards finding an identity he connected with. Durandt came to identify with asexuality in all of its complexity through spending time on the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, the largest online asexual community website. In considering his sexuality, and identifying with asexuality, Pierre explained it as: “There was no urgency in my attraction to people, finding people attractive for me was like the same way you would appraise art, it’s a very aesthetic and removed attraction.” A year down the line Pierre has a different stance on identifying with asexuality as he has come to change his philosophical stance on identification as a whole.
SEXUALITY by Leila Kidson
“As a first year trying to find your space in this new place of liberation, you tend to find your place in the over arching political narrative of the campus environment. It’s often so especially under
intersectional feminism that identifying with some sort of sexuality gives you political currency. With asexuality, there is this notion of being ‘woke’, but prudish.” Now when asked about his sexuality, he prefers to describe it as that he is merely attracted to very few womxn. His move away from identification came after having read theories on identification that acknowledge the redundancy in identity. It is the pressure people have in ‘woke’ spaces to find an identity that fits with them, that although creates a community for them to exist in, also restricts them within that identity. “Identifying with asexuality fits in well with this time of sexual liberation, because a lot of the time it’s difficult to be taken seriously when you say you are asexual but a lot of that sort of political agency relies on you being sexually liberal. I think if we can acknowledge how shaky the notion of identity is we can also accept that identity is performative and fluid in communities.”
BEING FEMALE AT UCKAR
n today’s world womxn face a lot of stereotypes and expectations. Being educated and seeking independence is something womxn have fought for, and yet in the modern day womxn still struggle in the patriarchal institutions in this male-dominated world. Dr Lindsay Kelland is a senior lecturer and feminist philosopher working in the Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics (AGCLE) at the University Currently Known as Rhodes. She completed her PhD entitled, ‘Understand the Harm of Rape’ in 2012 and has published numerous articles in this field in both South African and international journals. Her work focuses primarily on rape awareness, sexual violence and menstruation, on the one hand, and ethics, agency and leadership on the other. Kelland discusses the difficulties she faces being female in a male-dominated institution. Regarding sex and gender in institutions Kelland states that, “Sex and gender impact on the way in which female lecturers feel at university. I’ve heard of female lecturers spending time thinking about things like how they’re dressing, because they feel as though they need to put forward a
particular kind of appearance in order to be respected”. She continues to say that these accounts usually come from young female lecturers, whilst the narratives of young black female lecturers are even more devastating than those of their white colleagues. “I had a male lecturer at this university tell me that they think patriarchy is an empty concept”, says Kelland on her experience at UCKAR.
myths about females being in institutions. *Dr Lee, a black female lecturer at UCKAR, stated her difficulties as she feels as though females have to exert a sort of dominating character over male lecturers particularly in the way they dress so as to be taken seriously.
Many people have said that in getting to know and working with Dr Kelland, it is eviShe dent the further examount plains that of passion the person and drive doesn’t even she puts into believe that her work, esthere is such a pecially through thing as patriarchy. the #RUReferenceList protest this year Image sourced. For Kelland, that is rein the influence she had on ally frustrating because the womxn both staff and students. around her are experiencing this directly in their lives. The way forward A male’s perspective on the manin moving past this ignorant illusion ner in which females are treated around institutions is to break the at UCKAR, is Mlamuli Hlatshwayo,
a part time lecturer in politics. He states, “Just by being a young black male lecturer in a white male dominated institution is hard enough as the classroom becomes a deeply political space for me as I have to demonstrate I am valid and I am knowledgeable it what I am teaching”. Furthermore, he explains how one can imagine how difficult it is being a young womxn, especially if you talk about young black womxn, teaching at this institution. He continues to say, “I have never had to think about asserting my dominance in the lecture room but that is the sad reality for some of my female colleagues as they have to assert dominance in class and keep up to the expectations the dominant white male lecturers set.” Dr Kelland shares her wise words to serve as a reminder for womxn to be who they are even in a male dominated world. She goes on to share her advice that womxn are powerful and phenomenal and over the years will become even more so.