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The Secret is Out: Someone IS Watching You When You’re Alone

May 11, 2022 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Featured, Nonfiction, Uncategorized

by Leio Koga //

This piece was originally published in Issue 1: Secret Edition (Spring 2022). To see past print publications, click here.

Another swipe of mascara and her lashes look voluminous and flirty. Another flick of black eyeliner and her eyes look bigger and more striking. Another line of light gloss and her lips look full and alluring. She’s beautiful to look at but as she tilts her head, a flash of contemplation and dissatisfaction crossing her face. Does she look good enough? Pretty enough? Should she add more eyeliner to make her eyes look bigger; wear a red lip to look sexier? What will people think of her—what will the guys think of her?

I consider myself an unapologetic, passionate, capable feminist. How can these thoughts be mine?

Wait – back up. Who is she? And who is describing her? Well, that girl is me. I am the one imaging myself this way, viewing myself from another perspective, and having an inner debate about the “looked-at-ness” factor—does she look good enough to be looked at? Admired? To be found attractive? It is a misogynistic, objectifying, male perspective, and to be honest, this feels like a dirty confession. I mean, I consider myself an unapologetic, passionate, capable feminist. How can these thoughts be mine? How can I think like this?

For a long time, I felt embarrassed, disgusted, and alone. It was just me and this unwanted male voice inside my head. And then, I stumbled across Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” an essay that first introduced the world to the concept of the male gaze in cinema. According to Mulvey, in terms of traditional narrative film, we identify the active protagonist (male actors) and desire the passive objects (female actors). Consequently, this puts viewers “in the position of men looking at women, identifying as male and desiring the female.” Unfortunately, this holds true for perspectives outside of film as well. The reality is that many girls are subconsciously performing for an audience that does not exist.

Self-Commodification and Social Media Under the Patriarchy

According to Mulvey, the male gaze enables the commodification of womens’ bodies. Our external and internal value weighs in the amount of our “looked-at-ness,” and we view each part of our body through a value system assembled by men. Another similar concept is “thingification,” which is the making of ourselves into “things”: commodities for others’ consumption. In a famous quote by Margaret Atwood, she explains how we not only are subject to the male gaze around us, but also an internalized form of the male gaze. In other words, we unconsciously objectify ourselves based on a male’s perspective.

Male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? Up
on a pedestal or down on your knees, it’s all a male fantasy: that you’re strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it. Even pretending you aren’t catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you’re unseen, pretending you have a life of your own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur. (Margaret Atwood)

When we grow up with the harsh influence of social media and society, it is nearly impossible to escape self-commodification and objectification of our bodies.

Social media is a prime example of self-commodification. For example, when we post selfies or pictures of ourselves, we desire all the likes we can get, because we associate the amount of likes with our desirability. Here, there is a transaction between women and the price they are willing to pay for attention. When we are wired from a young age to engage in social media and this type of toxic transaction, we find it hard not to find validity from others. The constant societal conditioning of looking pleasing to others, and being likable and desirable, largely induces these attitudes. When we grow up with the harsh influence of social media and society, it is nearly impossible to escape self-commodification and objectification of our bodies. According to objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) many users choose to construct their online personas through photo selection of their profiles. These photos are not chosen at random; female users “wish to present themselves as ‘affiliate and attractive’ and have been shown to regard presenting aesthetically pleasing photographs as more important than male users.” As a result of these predominantly image-based apps, “our society has been given a new arena in which appearance evaluation, appearance comparison, and sexual objectification have the potential to occur,” thus endorsing the
idea that one’s value is placed in their outward appearance.

The Male Gaze in Cinema

We consume, learn, and form the perspectives of white men, practically eliminating the facets of gender, race, economic, social, cultural and political rights of all people and the agency of people of color in the film industry.

White men have created the majority of films we have ever seen in American mainstream cinema, which means that they have made all the decisions related to the shots, framing, lighting, sound design, the intended audience—all of it—including the way characters are written and perceived. This means that we consume, learn, and form the perspectives of white men, practically eliminating the facets of gender, race, economic, social, cultural and political rights of all people and the agency of people of color in the film industry. Ultimately, this means
that we have all been conditioned to adopt the male gaze because that is the way we were raised by traditional cinema.

Considering that almost all films are written and directed by white men, there are countless examples of the male gaze in films. Let’s look at Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). It follows the life of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) as he secures a high-powered job on Wall Street and transforms into a sex, drug-fueled, and money obsessed stockbroker. From the beginning, we can see the objectification of women and the misogyny that carries out throughout the rest of the movie: Belfort passionately says, “Money doesn’t just buy you a better life, better food, better car, better pussy, it also makes you a better person.” Besides the derogatory commentary, the cinematography of this film reinforces the normalization of demeaning women; the camera angles capture women in a way that is pleasurable to the viewers. The exact scene introduces us to Naomi by showing us the back of her head as she performs oral sex on her husband, followed by a montage of her in lingerie, posing on the bed as Belfort brags about her. While the montage shows her face, she looks seductively at the camera while Belfort says, “she was the one with my cock in her mouth in the Ferrari so put your dick back in your pants.” This is the gaze.

What to Do When Feminism Fails Us?

So, how do we cope with our deep-set hypocritical desires? Is it possible to stop commodifying ourselves and live through our own eyes and not a man’s? I am not going to lie, sometimes I still have thoughts like “do I look pretty enough today?” or “Should I wear something more feminine, something that looks better?” and I struggle with feelings of guilt and shame because of it. However, as Atwood made clear—we are all victims.

Women grow up and are conditioned to view themselves as a man might. Women grow up and are taught to be looked at and exist as if we are always on display.

Women grow up and are conditioned to view themselves as a man might. Women grow up and are taught to be looked at and exist as if we are always on display. Thus, it does not make sense to blame young girls and women for being absorbed into this sexualized economy. It is not abnormal to want attention or to be desired. And yet when it comes to the commodification of girls’ bodies in particular, we find that there is a restrictive framework surrounding the idea of “my body, my choice.” From an outside perspective, it can be argued that women want to be a part of this transaction, that it is empowering to post a selfie where you feel confident. This framework, centered around the language of “choice,” holds that young women “can and should be able to project themselves across a variety of social media platforms in whatever way they please—their body, their selfie.” However, as Nancy Jo Sales describes in “American Girls,” our agency is “circumscribed by a patriarchal power structure that equates women’s value with sex appeal.”

Perhaps empowerment has been overused and turned into an empty phrase—one that does not give power to women, but distracts from the real lack of power held by women and girls around the world. In this sense, empowerment is “apparently not about the equitable allocation of resources, or influence in politics or policy, or really power at all. It is shorthand for ‘I wanted to do this and it made me feel good.’”

Subversion and Understanding Power Dynamics

If movies, tv shows, and media in general teach us to live through the male gaze, then this is the type of industry we should challenge. In Duke Mwedzi’s piece The Critical Assessment of the Male Gaze in Contemporary Film and Video Games, he argues for subversion as a creative technique. Subversion is “a method of creating culture that critiques dominant norms and promotes radical ideas.” If we take this idea into the world of cinema, it means that first, filmmakers can choose not to use the male gaze and second, we should critique the male gaze at the cultural level. According to Mwedzi, by creating a film that resists the male gaze, they can also resist the dominant ideals that are reinforced by it, such as male activity and female passivity.

Recognizing this conflicting binary as the heart of the
internalized male gaze can help us better navigate relationships with ourselves in order to restructure our consciousness to stop surveying our own femininity and to stop turning ourselves into objects of vision.

Interpreting the male gaze from a cultural perspective requires an understanding of power dynamics between men and women. The male gaze portrays women as objects of vision. Put in other words, men act and women appear. For women, there is a constant struggle in forming our own identities. A woman’s self can be described as “split into two” because she must “consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman.” Recognizing this conflicting binary as the heart of the
internalized male gaze can help us better navigate relationships with ourselves in order to restructure our consciousness to stop surveying our own femininity and to stop turning ourselves into objects of vision.

Concluding Thoughts

While I have come a long way, I am still working on blinding my internalized male gaze. Sometimes I still catch myself objectifying my own body. The reality is that we live in a fucked up society that is sill largely dominated by the principles of the patriarchy. However, we are slowly but surely unlearning these principles and re-learning our value, finding our voice, and advocating for intersectional equality. As we continue to learn and internalize feminism, I believe it is possible to find ourselves in a state of awareness and empowerment. Understanding that our insecurities regarding the way we view ourselves is significantly influenced by the patriarchy is the first step in
learning how to reject the internalized male gaze. Once we can see how pervasive the gaze is and notice when we engage in it, we will be able to see how the male gaze exists everywhere outside of us. Sharing our experiences can be helpful in knowing that you are not alone in your insecurities. While it may take some time, subverting the internalized male gaze is possible. We do not exist for men’s pleasure, and we are not objects to be viewed like we are on display.

Works Cited

Austin , Andrew. “Understanding the Male Gaze and Hegemonic Masculinity in the Wolf of Wall Street.” RTF Gender and Media Culture, 2 July 2020.

Feltman, Chandra. “Instagram Use and Self-Objectification: The Roles of Internalization, Comparison, Appearance Commentary, and Feminism.” Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange, 2018.

“Feminism’s Greatest Obstacle in the Digital Age Is the Commodification of Women’s Bodies.” Quartz, Quartz, 17 Apr. 2016, https://qz.com/658036/feminisms-greatest-obstacle-in-the-digitalage/.

Imerai, Fiorela. “Leave Your Internalized Male Gaze in 2021.” Politically Global, 30 Dec. 2021, https://politicallyglobal.com/leave-your-internalised-male-gaze-in-2021/.

Jones, Naomi, and Naomi McDougall JonesView profile ». “Inside the Fight to Dismantle the (White) Gods of Hollywood.” Bitch Media, 20 Feb. 2019, https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/thewrong-kind-of-women-male-gaze-excerpt.

Lazar , Samantha. “The Prolongation of Work.” Williams Education, 2017, https://sites.williams.edu/f18-engl117-02/uncategorized/jordan-belforts-male-gaze-and-its-effect-onfilmgoers/.

Leonard, Kim. “How Does the ‘Male Gaze’ Work and How Is It Subverted?” StudioBinder, 25 June 2021, https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-the-male-gaze-definition/.

Mwedzi, Duke. “On Subversion: A Critical Assessment of the Male Gaze in Contemporary Film and Video Games.” Liberated Arts: A Journal for Undergraduate Research, 2021, https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/lajur/article/download/13515/11236/28959.

Oliver, Kelly. “The Male Gaze Is More Relevant, and More Dangerous, than Ever.” Taylor & Francis Online, 12 Oct. 2017, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17400309.2017.1377937?scroll=top&needAccess=true.

Qiu, Christina. “The Male Gaze.” The Harvard Crimson, 17 Feb. 2017, https://www.thecrimson.com/column/new-r

Sales, Nancy. “Social Media and Secret Lives of American Teenage Girls.” Time, Time, 2016, https://time.com/americangirls/.

Þóroddsdóttir, Valgerður. “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” Skemman, Sept. 2020, https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/36999/1/BA%20Thesis.pdf.omantix/article/2017/2/17/qiu-the-gaze/.

Pietá

May 11, 2022 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Creative, Poetry, Uncategorized

by Franchesca Alamo //

This piece was originally published in Issue 1: Secret Edition (Spring 2022). To see past print publications, click here.

The Sunday after it happened,
I walked seven blocks south
Where evening Mass was underway

And though I sat in the very back,
Something I never do,
I did not once remove my gaze
From the altar’s written icon

From Mary’s hands, soaked in Blood
Pouring from a diamond Wound
The Corpse, and the Cross
The Virgin shattered there

Who would not run away from that? I thought,
Who would not choose a bloodless love?

I returned to my apartment
Without my singing or my dreaming

And once there,
In the company of millions
I alone wept upon my feet.

Girls & Gossip

May 11, 2022 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Featured, Movies & TV, Uncategorized

by Isa Meyers //

This piece was originally published in Issue 1: Secret Edition (Spring 2022). To see past print publications, click here.

We are a generation raised on secrets. In an age where trends come and go as quickly as a few weeks on social media, millennials and Gen Z have become quick to distinguish themselves from one another. Gen Z wears mom jeans while millennials wear skinny jeans. Gen Z middle part their hair, millennials side part. Both generations, however, remain the same in the sense that technology has played pivotal roles in their adolescence. I’m not saying that technology has played the same role, but technology has been used by both cultivate and unleash secrets. And in this way, I turn millennials and Gen Z’ers into a “we.”

Oftentimes, what we think is private is actually public.

Technology and social media straddle a fine line between private and public. Oftentimes, what we think is private is actually public. Think: having a private account on Instagram with personalized ads (ie. having a private account that is still accessing all of the information on your phone to sell you something). This divide between private and public is meant to make the user feel as though they are in control of their personal information, when in reality, their technological footprint is accessible and permanently stored. Even Snapchat, which is marketed for its ephemerality, has ways for people to save chat messages or view stories for 24 hours. In other words, secrets exist in spite of (but also because of) social media.

The utilization of technology has drastically changed in the past two decades. I think of my older sister, a 2009 high school grad, who messaged on AIM with her friends: an account that required no authentication. I, on the other hand, texted. She was also a MySpace user before transitioning to FaceBook, whereas I have used neither. I have a Facebook that is checked maybe once a year.

She laughs at me when I take so long to choose a picture to post on Instagram, and I laugh at her when she doesn’t understand the latest TikTok trend.

What remains the same, however, is the threat of privacy. Amidst my sister’s AIM messages and my texts/Snaps are secrets of all kinds. Gossip, fake rumors, swear words, boys, and booze. The secrets are endless. Why is it, though, that we feel safe to talk about these secrets in online spaces? Don’t we all have some awareness of their digital permanence? Maybe most importantly, how does digital space reinscribe binary notions of gender?

the current usage of technology and social media positions young women as inherently threatened by the digital world and the secrets they entrust it with. Technology, secrets, and girlhood become intertwined.

When technology becomes so entrenched in our lives, it makes sense that we come to trust it with our secrets, more so than our parents and their parents’ generations. In addition, the current usage of technology and social media positions young women as inherently threatened by the digital world and the secrets they entrust it with. Technology, secrets, and girlhood become intertwined. Because the traditional gendered expectations of girlhood include being emotive, non-confrontational, and physically weaker, girls and gossip become inseparable in media’s depiction of adolescence and female friendship. Technology and social media have become so prominent in the lives of Millennial and Gen-Z female teenagers that gossiping and rumor spreading have become second nature. Thus, secrets threaten the private and personal lives of girls, when in reality we all harbor secrets, regardless of gender identification.

Secrets, for young girls, have become poisonous; they can become a girl’s downfall. Adults will often look upon these secrets and their wreckage with no pity, if she didn’t want people to know, why text it? Why did she Snap that picture if she wasn’t okay with other people, besides the receiver, seeing it? When the privacy of girls is threatened, people wonder what precautions she could have taken. This assumes her to be inherently in the wrong, erasing the need for accountability from technology platforms and abusers alike. Girls, then, are not worthy of sympathy, rather they are the creators of their own destruction. These notions deny young girls the complexity they deserve in relation to their gender expressions and their intersections to adolescence. The secrets they contain are no different than the secrets of young boys, yet boyhood affords boys privacy.

These issues remain pertinent when looking to popular culture as a blueprint for policing girlhood and reinscribing gender norms.

You Know You Love Me…

We all can hear Kristen Bell’s iconic voice narrating the intro to The CW’s Gossip Girl (developed and produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage). The 2007-2012 teen drama is based off of Cecily von Ziegasar’s fictional series of the same name. It stars Blake Lively as the beautiful “It Girl” Serena van der Woodsen with Leighton Meester playing her best friend Blair Waldorf, the Queen Bee. The two attend the Constance Billard School for Girls, a wealthy prep school on the Upper East Side. What marks Gossip Girl as different from other teen dramas during the early 2000s is the omniscient narrator that goes by “Gossip Girl.” She runs a gossip blog that sends out regular “blasts” about Serena, Blair, Dan (played by Penn Badgely), Jenny (Taylor Momsen), Nate (Chace Crawford), Chuck (Ed Westwick), among others. Gossip Girl hears all, sees all, and publicly tells all. The series revolves primarily about the drama between Serena, her classmates, and their wealthy families while Gossip Girl remains a narrative device that often steps in to aid the progression of an episode’s plot. Her identity remains masked and irrelevant until the series’ end when it is revealed that Dan has been Gossip Girl the entire time.

While all characters have the spotlight shined on their secrets, these blasts primarily target Serena and Blair, and when coming from Dan, it’s impossible to view these targeted attacks without considering the roles femininity and masculinity play. Dan’s attacks on himself (as a way to divert attention from Gossip Girl’s true identity), then, become calculated, whereas his attacks on the show’s front running ladies often degrade and belittle in the name of their femininity.

Gossip Girl’s real identity as a man creates much more harmful implications for the show’s girls seeing as the show’s viewership is largely young female teenagers.

In Season 1, Episode 13, Gossip Girls posts: “Looks like the Virgin Queen isn’t as pure as she pretended to be. [If Blair Waldorf lied about that, what else might she be lying about?] Who’s your Daddy, B? Baby Daddy that is? Two guys in one week? Talk about doing the nasty, or should I say being nasty?” While Gossip Girl’s blasts about sex and other intimate secrets are not just contained to the show’s female characters (Chuck, Nate, and Dan’s sex lives are also publicized without their consent), Gossip Girl’s real identity as a man creates much more harmful implications for the show’s girls seeing as the show’s viewership is largely young female teenagers. In Season 1, Episode 16 Gossip Girl writes: “Breaking News: Asher Hornsby overheard bragging that Little J swiped her V card at his register. Didn’t anyone teach you, Little J? You shouldn’t give way the ending if you want him to pick up the book again.” And in Season 4, Episode 5, Gossip Girl blasts: “This just in. Looks like you can take the girl out of the party but not the party out of the girl. Rumor has it our favorite blonde could be spreading more than just good cheer. And if it’s true, then there’s a test out there a few of you might not be able to pass. Does SVW have an STD… !?”

The sex lives of Serena, Blair, and Jenny are used against them. If they didn’t want Gossip Girl to tell the entire Upper East Side, they shouldn’t have had sex (or even give off the appearance of having sex), they shouldn’t act promiscuously, and most importantly, they should stay virgins. The comedic relief paired with this drama seeks to satirize the show, its characters, and the role of Gossip Girl. However, this merely obscures the fact that Dan commits acts of sexual harassment
and violence throughout all six seasons. While he never physically is involved with this violence, his constant exposing of the series’ leading girls, true or not, threatens their reputations, mental health, and lives. Their secrets and rumors come to haunt them, as a result of Dan’s complex relationship with his masculinity and inability to fit in socially at St. Jude’s, the sister school to Constance. And he is able to achieve this policing of the female characters through his use of social media.

Gossip Girl and its portrayal of young girls, technology, and secrets remains pertinent as the series just got rebooted by HBO Max in 2021. Despite having all new characters, the show takes place in the original world. While receiving mixed reviews, this reboot indicates that girls can never escape their past, their secrets. Over a decade later, Gossip Girl still runs the show, pulling strings as though they are entitled to someone else’s secrets, someone else’s life.

XOXO.

Works Cited

Anderson, Felecia D. “A Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate.” Gossip Girl, season 1, episode 13, The CW, 9 Jan. 2009.

Hull, Robby. “Goodbye, Columbia.” Gossip Girl, season 4, episode 5, The CW, 11 Oct. 2010.

Sciarrotta, Paul. “All About My Brother.” Gossip Girl, season 1, episode 13, The CW, 5 May 2008.

A Tribute to Underground Abortion Clinics

May 11, 2022 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Featured, Health & Wellness, Uncategorized

by Hanna Carney //

This piece was originally published in Issue 1: Secret Edition (Spring 2022). To see past print publications, click here.

Many people imagine a person getting an abortion as a teenage girl. She is young, reckless, selfish, and not ready to have a child (think Cassie Howard from Euphoria, or Maeve Wiley in Sex Education). However, people of various ages and genders terminate their pregnancies for many reasons. Some of these reasons include:

Not financially prepared
Bad timing/unplanned
Don’t want to be a single parent
Their partner is abusive
Their partner isn’t “the one”
Interferes with career plans
Want to focus on their marriage
Health concerns
Already have children and do not want more

There will always be someone in need of an abortion, no matter
their gender, race, or financial status.

Before the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973, abortion was illegal almost
everywhere in the United States. People who wanted to terminate their pregnancies were hard-pressed to find safe means of doing so, but that didn’t necessarily deter them from seeking an abortion. As Nina Liss-Schultz writes in Mother Jones, “As long as women have had unwanted pregnancies, other women have helped them resolve the problem.”

Enter the underground abortion clinic.

What is an underground abortion clinic?

Since the mid 19th century, people, mainly women, have banded together to help others end their unwanted pregnancies. One of the more famous underground abortion networks dubbed “Jane” was founded about 50 years ago. The Jane Collective operated from 1969-1973 in Chicago, Illinois helping thousands of people terminate their pregnancies. They advertised their services in smaller newspapers—usually student or alternative papers. They kept their ads short and sweet:

‘Pregnant? Don’t Want to Be? Call Jane.’

Groups met discreetly, learning how to conduct pelvic exams, administer drugs, or any other medical practices necessary for an abortion. These groups provided underground healthcare to countless pregnant people, usually without the help of cis-men. Bingham in Vanity Fair helps paint a picture of the underground abortion clinic:

Martha Scott, a 30-year-old mother of four, was preparing for a procedure when she heard the doorbell ring. Moments later, five Chicago homicide detectives were barging into a living room full of startled, wide-eyed women. “It’s the cops!” someone shouted, as if on cue. Scott leapt into action. “You don’t have a search warrant,” she screamed. “You can’t come in!” One of them handcuffed her. After searching the apartment and finding it filled with women, the cops demanded: “Where is he? Where’s the doctor?” It turned out the police didn’t know exactly who Pildes and the other women were. Acting on a tip, they had expected to find a male doctor operating an illegal abortion clinic. Instead, they found women in surgical gloves.

Why are these women in surgical gloves necessary?

Underground abortion networks did not cease to exist in 1973 with the ruling of Roe v. Wade. They still pervade today around the globe. For example, Mexico has many underground networks that provide essential healthcare to people with unwanted pregnancies. And these networks cross borders. With the enactment of SB 8 in Texas, Mexican networks near the US border have been preparing for an influx of patients seeking treatment.

Since the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18th, 2020 and the nomination of conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett, pro-choice people have been anxious to see if Roe v. Wade will be called into question yet again. And it has.

Since the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18th, 2020 and the nomination of conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett, pro-choice people have been anxious to see if Roe v. Wade will be called into question yet again. And it has. Most notably in Texas and Mississippi, two consistently conservative states.

On May 19th, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that would prohibit abortions 6 weeks into pregnancy. This bill attempted to give private citizens the power of suing providers of banned abortions. SB 8 is unique from other abortion restrictions, because most abortion restrictions are normally enforced by states. Thus, the Texas government wanted to reduce protection for abortion providers, making it more difficult to defend themselves in court.

Then, on December 1st, 2021, the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Mississippi abortion law, one that challenged Roe v. Wade. This law makes abortion illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Roe v. Wade allows for an additional 2 months for any termination decisions to be made. The conservative-leaning Supreme Court agreed to review this law, reconsidering the 50 year precedent that Roe v. Wade has set. Will our country regress 50 years? We are likely to find out later this spring, when the Supreme Court is set to give their decision.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, what will that mean for the US?

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, people’s lives and well-being will be in danger. The safest way to have an abortion is with the help of a trained medical doctor. However, people are not always granted that option, but that does not stop them from seeking pregnancy termination. People may resort to self-managed abortions.

The history of unsafe abortion is marked by dangerous methods—including the use of sharp sticks inserted through the vagina and cervix into the uterus; ingestion of toxic substances such as bleach; herbal preparations inserted into the vagina; infliction of trauma, such as hitting the abdomen or falling. Many of these methods are not even effective in terminating the pregnancy, but can leave lasting damage. (Doctors Without Borders)

Criminalizing people seeking abortions or their healthcare provides protects no living person. In fact, restricting a person’s right to an abortion puts many lives at risk, including the fetus. The World Health Organization reports that “around 5 million women are admitted to hospital as a result of unsafe abortion every year,” and “almost every abortion death and disability could be prevented through sexuality education, use of effective contraception, provision of safe, legal induced abortion, and timely care for complications.” Restricting access to legal and safe abortions only adds to the number of people at risk to injury and death.

Overturning Roe v. Wade would disproportionately affect marginalized groups, such as BIPOC, the LGBTQ+, and low-income communities.

Additionally, overturning Roe v. Wade would disproportionately affect marginalized groups, such as BIPOC, the LGBTQ+, and low-income communities. Individuals within these groups may experience additional barriers to accessing reproductive health care. Black women have a higher maternity mortality rate than white women in the US; they are three to four times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth, according to Amnesty USA.

Additionally, “poverty rates on average are higher among lesbian and bisexual women, young people, and African Americans within our community,” as outlined by the National LGBTQ Task Force. Low-income individuals may have a harder time paying for proper health care or taking time off work to get the care they need.

A Tribute to Underground Networks

Underground abortion networks have provided necessary healthcare to countless women and pregnant people around the world. These volunteers step up when a government falls short in its support of reproductive rights. If the US government chooses to revoke our rights, millions will mourn the overturn of Roe v. Wade. But the Supreme Court should know that as long as people have had unwanted pregnancies, there will always be others to help them solve the problem.

Works Cited

“Abortion Access for LGBTQ People.” National LGBTQ Task Force, https://www.thetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/TF_FactSheet_Abortion-Final.pdf.

Bingham, Clara. “Code Names and Secret Lives: How A Radical Underground Network Helped Women Get Abortions before They Were Legal.” Vanity Fair, 17 Apr. 2019, https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/04/jane-network-abortion-feature.

“Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA.” Amnesty International USA, 12 Mar. 2010, https://www.amnestyusa.org/files/pdfs/deadlydelivery.pdf.

Haberman, Clyde. “Code Name Jane: The Women behind a Covert Abortion Network.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Oct. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/us/illegal-abortion-janes.html.

Liss-Schultz, Nina. “Inside the Top-Secret Abortion Underground.” Mother Jones, 1 Feb. 2018, https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/02/inside-the-top-secret-abortionunderground/

“Preventing Unsafe Abortion.” World Health Organization, 2014, https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/112321/WHO_RHR_14.09_eng.pdf?sequence=9.

“Unsafe Abortion: A Forgotten Emergency.” Doctors Without Borders – USA, 7 Mar. 2019, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/story/unsafe-abortionforgotten-emergency.

Capitalism in Crisis

November 15, 2021November 17, 2021 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Opinion, Uncategorized

by Leio Koga //

Capitalism is defined as “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.”

But do you know what capitalism also is? It is a global system of oppression. It is a system that is amplified by the patriarchy. It is a system that actively works to devalue the contributions of women, especially women of color, and under-represented communities.

Women are especially urged to be dressed up but not glammed up, sexy but not slutty, youthful but not plastic, whereas men are naturally allowed to just be.

Women are especially urged to be dressed up but not glammed up, sexy but not slutty, youthful but not plastic, whereas men are naturally allowed to just be. Social media and the marketing industry inevitably create these unrealistic and unattainable beauty standards but do so in a way that makes us feel inadequate and leads us to vie for the product that will magically change our appearance.

Many companies use our physical appearance as a source of identity, value, and power and market it under the guise of “women’s empowerment,” when in reality the message is focused on reaping profits. Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, Kellogg’s “What will you gain when you lose” campaign, Tesco’s razor blades costing twice as much for women as they do for men, Cover Girl’s “your personality needs layers, your face doesn’t” message are just some examples of problematic marketing strategies using “feminist buzz words” as a way to attract more customers. This perpetuates an exploitative cycle, passing down a harmful message to younger generations. Instead of targeting our physical insecurities, companies should be directing their resources to tackle systemic issues such as the gender pay gap, reproductive healthcare rights, access to higher education, workplace discrimination, and human trafficking.

In capitalist marketing, the easiest way to sell a product is to exploit the vulnerable: “This part of you is broken, but don’t worry, our product can fix it!” For example, companies target body hair as something that women should be ashamed of and get rid of immediately. In 1915, there were a burst of advertisements using the tagline, “an assault on the underarm” to spread the message that women with underarm hair were unfeminine and that the area must be shaved to look “as smooth as the face.” Following these, there was another explosion of advertisements claiming that women should shave their legs, calling women with leg hair “disturbing.”

Image Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beauty-industry-women_n_5127078

Intersectional feminism strives to always advocate for the well-being of everyone and champions the needs and rights of all: of the poor and working-class women, of racialized and migrant women, of queer, trans, and disabled women, of women encouraged to see themselves as women, of women encouraged to see themselves as middle class even as capital exploits them. But this feminism is not just limited to women’s issues. It also stands up for those who are exploited, dominated, and oppressed around the world. So, can we imagine a world where the liberation of all women exists under a capitalist system?

Patriarchy in the economic form may be summarized as “the collective exploitation of the female sex by the male sex, and the exploitation of the female sex by ruling-class men for the ruling class’s economic and social benefit”. Let’s break down this definition to further understand the relationship between capitalism and patriarchy. Under a capitalist system, women are overexploited in their household and in the workplace. While more women are entering the workforce, bearing fewer children than they were a century ago, and engaged in wage labour, they are still expected to carry out domestic responsibilities. With the increase in women in the workforce, people may think that this is a sign of a decline in patriarchal influence on our economic system. However, taking a closer look at the trends of societal expectation and women’s roles in the economy shows that there is simply a shift from a family-centered exploitation of women to an industrial-centered exploitation of women.

Capitalism depends on its system of structural oppression —racism, sexism, ableism, casteism— to uphold and normalize unequal power structures.

Thanks to feminism, there is a clear separation between household chores and family responsibilities in terms of a social order based on the distributive tasks of men and women, which holds that women are supposed to devote themselves to the domestic sphere of work. This distribution has wrongly established that there is a hierarchy of tasks where “masculine” ones are valued higher than the “feminine” ones. In reality, there has never been a sense of equality because women have almost always performed within the labor force as well as the household.

Another issue is that oppression is a necessary catalyst to the capitalist system. The truth is that capitalism is an inherently exploitative system which means that someone will always be exploited. Capitalism demands an aggressive mode of production that permeates into all aspects of society. It allows for the profiteering of cheap female labor, child labor, migrant labor, and the manipulation of marginalized groups. Since the beginning of capitalism, its quest for the maximization of profits has relied on undermining these marginalized groups.

This is not to say that not a single woman has benefited from capitalism. As established, capitalism works in a way where people benefit at the expense of others. Women who are positioned at the highest levels of the production and supply chain naturally bear greater bargaining power, higher wages, and overall economic freedom. However, the vast majority of women face barriers that relegate them to the bottom levels of the supply chain, where they hold the least power. Capitalism depends on its system of structural oppression —racism, sexism, ableism, casteism— to uphold and normalize unequal power structures.

The 2020 edition of the United Nations report commented on the current state of gender equality around the world: “women are disproportionately being affected by economic oppression through forced labour, meagre wages, triple burden of work, lack of access to resources and opportunities. As feminists, amidst this political turmoil, we cannot be naive to believe that capitalist institutions will reimagine their oppressive structures. Instead, they will only work to strengthen their means”. It has become clear that our economic system permeates into all areas of our life, from day-to-day work up to the national level, where governmental institutions continue to permit flagrant inequities.

Using an intersectionalist feminist lens, one can dissect many of the ways capitalism perpetuates an unequal society. This article is just a brief introduction to the complexities of feminist theory and for those who want to educate themselves more on the topic, there are dozens of scholarly articles published that discuss, in great detail, the intersection between capitalism and feminism. To start, here are some resources.

Books:

Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto by Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattachartya, and Nancy Fraser

Capitalism, For and Against: A Feminist Debate by Ann E. cudd and Nancy Holmstrom

Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism: Toward a New Theory of the Political Subject by Claudia Leeb

The Liberation of Women: A Study of Patriarchy and Capitalism by Roberta Hamilton

Scholarly Articles:

“Colonizing Black Female Bodies Within Patriarchal Capitalism: Feminist and Human Rights Perspectives” by Akeia A. F. Bernard

“Capitalism and Freedom– For Whom Feminist Legal Theory and Progressive Corporate Law” by Kellye Y. Testy

“Capitalism and the (il)Logics of Higher Education’s COVID-19 Response: A Black Feminist Critique” by Terah J. Stewart

“The Sexual Division of Labor, Sexuality, and Lesbian/Gay Liberation: Toward a Marxist-Feminist Analysis of Sexuality in US Capitalism” by Julie Mattaei

#LadyPower in Marie de France’s “Yonec”

June 1, 2021June 1, 2021 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Books, Uncategorized

In “Yonec,” one of the twelve poems included in The Lais of Marie de France, Marie crafts a short but fascinating narrative that includes characters from the otherworld and explores themes like jealousy, love, and rebellion. If you haven’t read “Yonec,” give it a try! It’s only a few pages long, but as I’m going to demonstrate in this article, there’s a lot you can unpack.

At the beginning of the poem, a lady makes a speech that expresses her frustration with her situation. And her emotions are completely valid—this lady lives with an oppressive husband who controls essentially every aspect of her life. She’s completely isolated.

While the poem was likely written in the late twelfth century, the inquiries that can be derived from the text are timeless. Here’s a more in-depth understanding of the lady’s lament and its implications in Marie’s narrative poem.

At the beginning of her speech, the lady expresses frustration and aggrievement. Her strong feelings of isolation are apparent as she verbalizes her distress:

‘Alas,’ she said, ‘that ever I was born! My destiny is hard indeed. I am a prisoner in this tower and death alone will free me. What is this jealous old man afraid of, to keep me so securely imprisoned? He is extremely stupid and foolish, always fearing that he will be betrayed. I can neither go to church nor hear God’s service. I could put on a friendly mien for him, even without any desire to do so, if I could talk to people and join them in amusement. (Marie 87)

Until the events that follow her speech, the lady’s actions were dictated by her controlling husband. Because of her husband’s jealousy and his abuse of patriarchal power, the lady was essentially separated from the rest of society. He had locked her in a tower for seven years, did not permit her to see her family and friends, and had his sister act like the lady’s prison guard. His mistreatment of his authority resulted in misery for the lady, a woman he supposedly loved.

The lady also seems to take agency over her isolation.

However, the lady also seems to take agency over her isolation. The lady’s husband secluded her from all company, but the lady is aware that he was not the only person involved in her predicament. She continues her speech by cursing her relatives. In imprecating her relations, the lady isolates herself from her social environment; while she is already physically separated from society, the lady creates space from others through her speech. Her words seem to be a retaliation to her relations, as they allowed her marriage to the jealous man to take place, and the match was likely made against her will.

The lady’s strong emotions of frustration and loneliness—feelings that arose from her unjust situation and her husband’s ill-treatment towards her—inspire rebellion. In the last part of her lament, the lady makes a wish:

I have often heard tell that in this country one used to encounter adventures which relieved those afflicted by care: knights discovered maidens to their liking, noble and fair, and ladies found handsome and courtly lovers, worthy and valiant men. There was no fear of reproach and they alone could see them. If this can be and ever was, if it ever did happen to anyone, may almighty God grant my wish! (Marie 87)

She hopes for a knight, with characteristics that differ greatly from her husband, to discover her and become her lover. Subsequently, a hawk arrives and transforms into a handsome knight who fulfills her wish. It is interesting to note that the hawk can be seen as a symbol of freedom, as the lady had claimed that death alone could free her; the knight provides a way for the lady to gain the freedom that she wished for, even though she did not think she could achieve it without death. The knight and the lady soon enter into an adulterous relationship and continue to see each other until their affair is discovered by the jealous man’s sister.

Marie illustrates the power of the lady’s conviction through the implications of the lady’s speech. It is through her imagination that the woman can call upon the knight to her tower. In “The Power of Feminine Anger in Marie de France’s ‘Yonec’ and ‘Guigemar,” Jennifer Willging writes about how Marie does not set apart reality and the imagination, which in turn demonstrates her refusal to support the idea that the mind and body are separated, a concept that twelfth-century theology promoted.

The woman is human, yet she can summon the knight. Furthermore, the knight has aspects of the otherworldly, but he is able to have a child with the lady. Marie’s story gives power and agency to the woman, as the consequences of the lady’s speech produce the remaining plot, and she contradicts the idea that femininity equals irrationality.

Furthermore, the adulterous relationship between the knight and the lady could be considered an act of rebellion in response to her husband’s abuse of patriarchal power. Rather than framing the woman in a negative light for her rebellious infidelity, the woman’s actions are seen as just. After their passing, the knight and the lady are honored and remembered for their love.

In the narrative, the lady is not depicted as illogical or hysterical, and her strong emotions are what allows her to escape from her controlling husband.

The story frames the lady and knight as the protagonists, while the lady’s husband is the evil and irrational character. Thus, the lady’s anger and her actions that result from her frustration are depicted as intuitive and acceptable responses to the unfortunate situation she was in. In the narrative, the lady is not depicted as illogical or hysterical, and her strong emotions are what allows her to escape from her controlling husband.

By analyzing how Marie included the concepts of isolation, rebellion, and imagination in “Yonec,” we can see how “Yonec” demonstrates the power of the woman’s speech and validates the actions that stem from feminine feelings. Thus, we can see “Yonec” as a celebration of individual agency and imagination that considers the significance of rebellion stemming as a response to abused power and legitimate emotions.

Works Cited

Marie, et al. The Lais of Marie De France. Penguin Books Ltd, 1999. Willging, Jennifer.

Plate By Numbers

June 1, 2021June 1, 2021 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Health & Wellness, Nonfiction, Uncategorized

Warning: This article contains talk of scales, weight loss, and dieting and may be triggering for those currently struggling with body dysmorphia and other related body image disorders.

Make a Wish

Throughout the majority of my twenty-one years, I’ve had a constant wish in the back of my head:

I want a flat stomach.

I’ve always been on the smaller side, and I’ve never been overweight. Yet to me, there has always been room to lose. Putting it plainly, I have incessantly wanted to drop weight, to shed those couple of extra pounds. Why? That’s a good question. If you asked me a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to give you a good answer with good reasons. I just knew I long dreamed of having a toned core and an overall lean body. But I’ve since realized that there is more to my explanation.

Diversity? Didn’t Know Her

I grew up in the South, in a predominantly white community, and I’m a woman of color, so I looked different than most of the people in my community. While I didn’t realize it at the time, this had a big impact on me. I grew up in a place where the standard of beauty didn’t include the physical features that made up my face. My flat nose, round face, and smaller eyes were traits that set me apart.

Suffice to say, my hometown lacked diversity. This, combined with my limited exposure to Asian American representation in the entertainment industry, largely led to a lack of confidence.

For me, it was difficult to love how I looked when I was surrounded by people whose physical traits looked nothing like mine. Suffice to say, my hometown lacked diversity. This, combined with my limited exposure to Asian American representation in the entertainment industry, largely led to a lack of confidence. So, I latched onto a physical aspect that I could control: my weight.

Taking Control… Or Trying To

Throughout high school, I was quite unsuccessful. I played on my high school’s varsity tennis team, and I was in good shape. But abs don’t allow for frequent stress eating or an unclean diet, and Chick-fil-A was my best friend. My weight stayed pretty constant and didn’t fluctuate much, but in the back of my head, I was never satisfied. I would pinch my midsection, stare in the mirror, and think if only I could weigh a little bit less.

At the beginning of college, those nagging thoughts still persisted, popping up every once in a while to remind me that I wasn’t thin enough. But they couldn’t stop me from eating ice cream at the dining halls or indulging in comfort food, and all of the walking from class to class and uphill both ways made my weight stay about the same.

When the pandemic started, my relationship with food started to take a further turn for the worse. I didn’t contract a severe eating disorder, but for a short period of time, my calorie intake dropped well below the recommended amount for my demographic. I would weigh myself every day and get a rush of excitement when I saw the numbers drop. However, I quickly realized that my restrictive diet was unsustainable, so I tried to find a balance. Once I allowed myself to eat more calories, the number on the scale started to rise, and this made me unreasonably upset. I took a break from weighing myself, and I tried to focus on my health, rather than reaching a certain weight.

Flash forward a couple of months, and I was again wrapped in the mindset that prioritized numbers over health. This time, I had calorie counting, or CICO (calories in, calories out). Now, I don’t think that calorie counting is a bad thing. If it is used with moderation and balance for improving overall health, I think it’s great. And using CICO was the first time I actually started approaching my weight goals while consuming an acceptable amount of calories that followed health guidelines. The problem, however, was constant thinking about losing weight.

When I woke up, I would think about my weight. I’d take a look in the mirror and see if I saw any difference from the day before. If I was hungry, I usually made myself wait until the next meal, and I would savor every bite of food since I knew I would restrain from eating until the next meal. If I ended up binging, I felt guilty beyond measure.

Finding a Descriptive Phrase

At this point, I was confused. I knew I didn’t have an eating disorder, but something about my mindset didn’t feel right. I took online quizzes to see how prone I was to developing an eating disorder, not out of sheer curiosity, but because I was genuinely scared of the direction my relationship with food was going. I was grateful to be aware of my unhealthy obsession with wanting to lose weight, but I was also at a loss for what to do about it and perplexed about what to label my not normal (but not as medically dangerous as an eating disorder) condition.

It was after research that I realized that, while I didn’t have an eating disorder, I did have disordered eating. According to Cleveland Clinic, “disordered eating covers a broad range of conditions, including anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. But there’s a much larger percentage of people (5 to 20%) who struggle with symptoms that do not meet the full criteria of a problematic eating pattern.” One of the emotional signs of disordered eating is “being preoccupied with body image, body size/shape, a specific part of the body and/or the number on the scale.” That sounded very familiar to me.

So… What About Now?

Unfortunately, this article does not have the magic answer of how I removed this toxic mindset from my life. Because the truth is, I know I’m still trying to manage it.

Unfortunately, this article does not have the magic answer of how I removed this toxic mindset from my life. Because the truth is, I know I’m still trying to manage it. I’ve definitely improved with being nicer to myself (talking to yourself like you’re talking to a friend works wonders), but I’m a work in progress. Like most other areas of my life, my mindset about weight is something I’m constantly wanting to balance out. I’m fortunate that my problems with body dysmorphia are not nearly as severe as they could be. But it’s sad that, at one point, I let the number on the scale dictate my mood and be the main thought throughout the rest of my day.

While my focus on my weight stems from wanting something I can control—something I can get concrete results from by self-discipline—it ultimately distracts me from things I actually want to focus on. If you’re reading this and can relate, I just want you to know that you’re not alone. This is a problem that’s much more common than I thought, and much less talked about than is needed. So, let’s start the conversation.

Resources

For urgent services, you may reach the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800)273-8255, the 24/7 National Crisis Text Line by texting “HELLO” to 741741, or the 24/7 National Lifeline Crisis Chat service here.

For support, resources, and treatment options for yourself or a loved one, you may contact the National Eating Disorders Association Helpline. You may call (800)931-2237, text (800)931-2237 from the hours of 3-6pm Monday through Thursday, or you can access the chat features here. For crisis situations, text “NEDA” to 741741 to be connected with a trained volunteer at Crisis Text Line.
If you are a member of Cornell University, Cornell Health Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is available to all students at Cornell University. If you feel you are in need of psychological services, you may call to set up an appointment with CAPS at (607)255-5155 or visit their website here. For urgent services, you may reach the Cornell Health 24/7 phone consultation line at (607)255-5155 and press 2.

Resources

May 28, 2021 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Health & Wellness, Uncategorized

by Hanna Carney //

It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the world–especially now, and especially as a full time student. Here is a list of compiled resources for readers to self-educate and support feminist issues and BIPOC communities.

Ways to Donate

Petitions to sign

Breonna Taylor Petitions

Ways to Self-Educate: Reading Material

Books

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph

As written in the book summary, “Joseph examines how Indigenous Peoples can return to self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance–and why doing so would result in a better country for every Canadian. He dissects the complex issues around the Indian Act, and demonstrates why learning about its cruel and irrevocable legacy is vital for the country to move toward true reconciliation.”

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall

In her book, Kendall examines intersectional feminism and the ways mainstream feminists have failed to account for issues such as food insecurity, access to quality education and medical care, etc.

Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

Based on the original workbook with the same title, Me and White Supremacy helps readers understand their white privilege and engagement in white supremacy.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Hong

As is written in Amazon’s summary, “Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative—and its relentless and riveting pursuit of vital questions around family and friendship, art and politics, identity and individuality, will change the way you think about our world.”

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Founder of the Antiracism Research and Policy Center. Explains why it is necessary to be actively against racism–neutrality only exacerbates problems in our racist society.

One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson

Touches on gerrymandering, voter suppression, and racial discrimination during elections .

Articles

Podcasts

The Stoop

A podcast that focuses on blackness, race, and American identity.

The Daily

Made by the New York Times. A good way to keep up with world events if you’re too busy to sit down and read or watch the news

Code Switch NPR

Journalists of color have conversations about race and how it impacts different parts of society

Black Girl in Om

Guided meditation for Black women to practice self-reflection and self-care.

Mental Health Resources

Black Girl in Om

See above description.

Asians Do Therapy

Yin Li is a licensed therapist that began Asians Do Therapy in the hopes of acknowledging Asian people’s experience in therapy and encouraging more Asians and Asian Americans to seek therapy if they need it.

One Sky Center

One Sky Center is a resource center for American Indian and Alaska Native education, research, and health. This organization hopes to qualify health care across Indian Country.

BEAM Collective

As stated on their website, “BEAM is a national training, movement building and grant making organization dedicated to the healing, wellness and liberation of Black and marginalized communities.”

Buddy Project

Founded by Gabby Frost, this non-profit works to prevent suicide by pairing people with a buddy to help them through loneliness and isolation.

The Obsession Over the “Perfect” Pregnancy

May 28, 2021 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Uncategorized

by Valentina Loaiza //

Earlier last month, I encountered a video of ¡Despierta América! host, Francisca Lachapel, responding to criticisms about her pregnancy. In a ten-minute video posted on her Instagram as an “IGTV,” teary-eyed Lachapel expressed her frustration and sadness after constantly seeing negative comments and messages about changes to her weight and

Lachapel has made it very clear that pregnancy has been the most beautiful phase of her life and acknowledges the existence of the “perfect” pregnancy label, a label she feels she’s far from.fashion style.

It’s a no-brainer that these aspects of her image have been impacted by her pregnancy, which she goes into further detail about in her video. Nonetheless, viewers and acquaintances have taken it upon themselves to claim that pregnancy doesn’t suit her because she’s “gained weight” and “dresses like an old lady.” She explained that her dressing style has changed, adapting to her changing body and making an effort to feel as comfortable as possible. Despite the insensitive comments, Lachapel has made it very clear that pregnancy has been the most beautiful phase of her life and acknowledges the existence of the “perfect” pregnancy label, a label she feels she’s far from. “Every woman carries their child differently” and with that, Lachapel reassures the public that she feels beautiful and wouldn’t change anything about her pregnancy.

With the pressure put forth on body image by the Spanish-speaking media, and the media in general, Lachapel is only one of many women publicly scrutinized during, or as a result of pregnancy. Alejandra Espinoza, another host on Univision, shared with Lachapel on an Instagram live that she had also been cyberbullied after giving birth to her first child. Espinoza’s experience was different in many ways. In 2015, Espinoza gave birth to her first child after going through three miscarriages in the past. Viewers have been accompanying Espinoza since 2007 after her coronation in Univision’s beauty pageant, Nuestra Belleza Latina. She shared her pregnancy with the public from beginning to end, but her newborn fell victim to many criticisms because of his appearance. Showering a new mother with harsh comments about her newborn is outright despicable.

It’s about time we all recognize that pregnancies are unique to each person. The harsh criticism towards pregnant public figures is uncalled for, insensitive, and illogical. For example, when I Google, “What to wear during pregnancy?” there are extensive results encouraging women to wear comfortable clothes including, maxi dresses, loose shirts, gowns, tunics, and wraparounds. Of course, for television hosts like Lachapel, maintaining an “attractive” physical appearance is an essential part of their jobs. I just hope that pregnant bodies continue to be empowered and addressed as something natural rather than something that needs to be scrutinized.

The Evil Witch Inside Us

May 28, 2021 by No Rules Cornell, posted in Health & Wellness, Nonfiction, Opinion, Uncategorized

by Helen Zhang //

Look around your room. How many mirrors do you see?

Now, if you did not include your phone, laptop, or other technology with screens, adjust your answer.

Did your number change?

Mine certainly did. Personally, I have five mirrors in my bedroom alone. That fact shocks me. After all, like many 18 year-olds in this day and age, I have a love-hate relationship with mirrors. As a child, my mirror fascinated me. I spent quite a bit of time in front of it, making faces and laughing as the person in front of me smiled and giggled with me. But as I grew older, those faces froze in the reflection. I stopped making them, but my appearance still seemed off. I didn’t like it anymore, but I couldn’t step away.

Mirror Mirror on the wall,

Tell me what are all my flaws.

I recall reading fairy tales as a child. I read them at home, and we talked about them in school too. Everyone remembers the magical mirror that the evil queen had and how it told her that Snow White was prettier than her. In elementary school, we were taught that each fairy tale comes with a lesson. The lesson in Snow White was that beauty is not what you look like, but who you are inside. But that’s not all that I took away. The portrayal of the evil queen suggested that caring about your appearance was abnormal, a bad thing.

It’s not.

We all have that magic-looking glass. That’s what mirrors are. And while it may not be speaking to us aloud, that inner voice critiquing ourselves when we look at the mirror is the same thing.

Technology had become a mirror itself, and though I resented it, I still couldn’t step away. I couldn’t step away, and I didn’t know why. I was becoming the evil queen from Snow White.

So what happens when there’s a voice inside you telling you that you are not enough? We begin to see ourselves as the evil queen, someone obsessed with our appearance. As we get older, our relationship with mirrors becomes more complicated—especially as a girl. And yet, the more insecure we get, the more mirrors pop up in our life. The bathroom mirror that I used to quickly check my appearance was transformed into a full-length mirror that rejected every clothing choice I showed in front of it. That mirror then transformed into my phone, a portable device that allowed me to not only critique myself but have my image shared and critiqued by other people. Technology had become a mirror itself, and though I resented it, I still couldn’t step away. I couldn’t step away, and I didn’t know why. I was becoming the evil queen from Snow White.

But why is that a bad thing?

The stepmother needed to hear exactly what she wanted and from the source that she wanted. After being told that she was the most beautiful person, “[the queen] was contented, for she knew that the looking-glass spoke the truth.” How is that so different from the way we use social media? Like the evil queen, we seek approval from others to be content with ourselves. And when we hear critiques, we try to change something to get a different outcome. Filters and photoshop transform our reality to mold into the approved societal standard. But that rarely takes the voice away.

Some of my friends have taken breaks from social media, deleting apps from their phones to get away from the toxic environment. They tell me how refreshing it is. But I could never do that. And neither could the evil queen. She wanted to be the most beautiful person in the world, but all she heard from her mirror was that she was not enough. So she tried to change that result the only way she could think of–by getting rid of Snow White. The huntsman. The lace. The comb. The apple. The queen was obsessed with becoming beautiful, and every failed attempt to kill Snow White brought more anger and disappointment upon herself. I have felt that anger and disappointment countless times when I look in the mirror.

She had an addiction—one that many of us can relate to. In addition to having insecurities about our image, we have to deal with the rest of society telling us that we shouldn’t have them. But those insecurities grow inside us like the “envy and pride like ill weeds” that made its home in the queen’s heart. Weeds grow uncontrollably, and you may think that you have gotten rid of all of them, but all it takes is one single sprout to have a full infestation.

I’m not trying to say that the queen was right in attempting to kill Snow White. She had an obsession; one that consumed her. But what we all need to know is that it is okay to care about your appearance.

I’m not trying to tell you how to deal with your insecurities. I’m not trying to say that the queen was right in attempting to kill Snow White. She had an obsession; one that consumed her. But what we all need to know is that it is okay to care about your appearance. Unlike the evil queen’s portrayal in Snow White, it is not villainous to want to be beautiful. It is what humanized her. There isn’t an easy solution to dealing with insecurities, and appearance is one of the most common ones out there.

But we all have a little evil queen inside of us, and that’s okay.