Category Archives: Culture

Society in Chains: Gender Promotes Male Toxicity

by Sage Marmet Thomas Page McBee’s article Amateur: How Do I Reconcile My Masculinity With The Toxicity of Men unpacks the ever-prevalent toxic male culture in today’s society, provoking men to question their role–or lack thereof–in deconstructing their pedestal. Toxic masculinity is constantly perpetuated, and even normalized today: dress codes in schools teach young menContinue reading “Society in Chains: Gender Promotes Male Toxicity”

#FreeThe███

by Lily Liu The Star Tribune‘s “A stand for dignity on public beaches” focuses on the ordinance of the Minneapolis Park Board preventing women from going topless in local parks. The editorial’s criticisms pose the question of what differentiates breasts on a woman to those of a man- so much so that the ordinance neededContinue reading “#FreeThe███”

To Boob or Not to Boob: Social Commentary Cartoon Criticizes Minnesota Laws and Social Norms 

by Frederick Loew Steve Sack’s cartoon: Police lineup, toplessness edition, provokes much discussion about how we police people’s bodies. Personally, the only thing I feel particularly provoked by is the atrocious show of toes, however, l recognize that it’s very difficult to unlearn cultural norms. In Minnesota, we don’t often see female-presenting people topless outsideContinue reading “To Boob or Not to Boob: Social Commentary Cartoon Criticizes Minnesota Laws and Social Norms “

Lysistrata and Fighting For Our Voices

By Samrat Pradhan Today in class, our reading circle group read the play Lysistrata out loud. Written in 411 BCE, the play follows Greek women who are fed up with the senseless destruction caused by the Peloponnesian War. To get the Greek men to end the war, the women stage a strike to stop havingContinue reading “Lysistrata and Fighting For Our Voices”

Using Indigenous Voices and Changing the Historical Narrative

By Samrat Pradhan When I think about my school education on Native Americans, they generally followed a very similar narrative. There is first a quick and broad generalization on how indigenous communities lived post-Columbus and then a general timeline of specific trade agreements, treaties, and battles with Western colonizers. This oversimplification is problematic in manyContinue reading “Using Indigenous Voices and Changing the Historical Narrative”

Educate Yourself

While speaking at the San Francisco Public Library, Tommy Pico reads a poem commissioned by his father. He recites from the poem “I See the Fire that Burns Within You”: “[A]ll [Native Americans] ever are a metaphor, or a cautionary tale, or a spirit guide. Nothing contemporary. Nothing breathing. Nothing alive” speaks to the ideaContinue reading “Educate Yourself”

In The Shadow of The Castle: the Legacy of Ghanaian Slave Trade and What “homegoing” Means to African Americans Today

Above: Steve Harvey explores Ghana as part of the “Year of Return” for African descendants in the diaspora.1 By Taggert Smith In 2019, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo announced a “Year of Return,” inviting descendants of Ghanian people spread out across the world to return to the motherland. Though we didn’t read this far in class,Continue reading “In The Shadow of The Castle: the Legacy of Ghanaian Slave Trade and What “homegoing” Means to African Americans Today”

A Loss of Connection: How Being Alone Can Actually Be Helpful

The ball drops, and a new year is upon us. Everything is great, seeing friends, going to school, going out and getting food with everyone, seeing random people, and going to sporting events. Everything is NORMAL … until it is not … and there is just nothing. You are sitting in your bedroom alone, wonderingContinue reading “A Loss of Connection: How Being Alone Can Actually Be Helpful”