August 21, 2022, Crawford County Arkansas: 27 year old Randal Worcester is pinned to the ground by three deputy sheriffs, facing a barrage of punches and knees while immobilized. Each movement he makes due to the inevitable panic of the situation is met with fists, and tasers as he “resists arrest” (Tabachnik 2023). All over […]
Television distorts, mocks and marginalizes fat people. Fat characters are reduced to caricatures whose stories and identities aren’t developed and don’t matter. TV audiences look down on fat characters because they are made fun of on the shows they are shown in (Himes 2007:713). Not only is the representation of fat people overwhelmingly negative, but […]
An immense amount of work goes into a song’s final product. Record labels and talented artists depend on producers to help them develop and make their music sounds its best (George, 2016). Without them, listeners wouldn’t be able to experience the emotionally engaging songs that are loved and praised so much. However, nearly every song […]
When I asked to get my nose pierced for my 17th birthday, I shouldn’t have been surprised when my mom said no. My dad took me instead. My mom wasn’t terribly opposed but went on to explain that I shouldn’t get any more obvious piercings if I want to look employable. Now, with 13 piercings and […]
“Republicans are constantly fighting like a boxer with his hands tied behind his back…You will have an illegitimate president. That’s what you’ll have. And we can’t let that happen. These are the facts that you won’t hear from the fake news media. It’s all part of the suppression effort. They don’t want to talk about […]
Many parents feel as though they are in a constant battle with their children over television. From screen time and content restriction to who has authority over the remote, these rules on restriction often vary by households. Growing up, I was not allowed to watch reality television, but my best friend was. Interestingly enough, she […]
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA, 2013) was established to protect minorities in the workforce. Transgender employees, however, continue to report job loss due to their gender identity. Within the last five years, many trans people have described the many ways their employers have forced them out of employment while avoiding the consequences of the Employment […]
Swimmer Lia Thomas made waves after placing first in the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming Championships, becoming the first transgender woman to win a national championship (Shermer, 2022). Lia competed on the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s swim team from 2017 to 2020 and its women’s swim team from 2021 to 2022 […]
Art is an often overlooked medium for social activism. Historically, women have used music to raise awareness of sexual violence. The seemingly personal troubles of sexual assault, expressed in song, expose and publicize the societal issue of sexual brutality. Attempts to address this threat eventually led to the creation of the #MeToo Movement. Tarana Burke, […]
The opening line of Langston Hughes’ poem Harlem asks, “What happens to a Dream Deferred?” The poem speaks about the pain of not realizing one’s dreams amid the racial inequalities Black Americans faced in the 1960s. Likewise, people impacted by the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAMers) currently face the pain of […]
