Evil of My Evil: Interview with the Vampire and the Struggle for Agency

Written by: Athena Kalaganis Edited by: Anya Pan When Jacob Anderson was announced to star as Louis de Pointe du Lac, it was evident that AMC’s television adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire would diverge from the 1976 novel. The show would not depict Louis as a plantation owner, nor Claudia as a blonde child. Instead, Anderson portrays a Black vampire from Jim … Continue reading Evil of My Evil: Interview with the Vampire and the Struggle for Agency

The Gay Gene is a Myth, But is Homosexuality Still Biological?

Written by: Leylie Meh Edited by: Noa Doupe Despite decades of research there is still long standing disagreement as to how individuals understand sexuality amongst human beings. Due to societal prejudices, homosexuality was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders until 1973. Homosexuality had a relatively dynamic title, with its label changing approximately four times during its residence in the manual. The … Continue reading The Gay Gene is a Myth, But is Homosexuality Still Biological?

Now Hiring, The Ideal Objectifiable Woman: The Paradox of Autonomy in Digital Femininity

Written by: Hanna Yaghoubi Edited by: Laurence Desjardins If systematic exploitation of women and their bodies is inescapable under patriarchal rule, the commodification of the female body is the only seemingly rational response to maintain any remaining autonomy. In the curation of an exploitable self-image, there is a clear choice: Madonna or the Whore.  But if these options for women are pre-established, can this choice … Continue reading Now Hiring, The Ideal Objectifiable Woman: The Paradox of Autonomy in Digital Femininity

Family Politics & The Subversive Power of Lesbian Motherhood

Written by: Grace Plumpton-Hill Edited by: Laurence Desjardins I realized at a young age that my family–my two mothers, my twin brother, and I–did not fit the mould. I did not see my family in childhood movies, television shows, schoolbooks, or advertisements. The media I consumed insisted that romance and parenthood required a man’s presence. But it wasn’t only the media that marginalized my family. … Continue reading Family Politics & The Subversive Power of Lesbian Motherhood

On Feminist Retellings: Persephone in Hadestown

Written by: Célia Selzner Edited by: Anya Pan Of all mythologies from the Greek and Roman eras, the tale of Hades and Persephone is among the most widely known. The story has been a source of inspiration for writers across centuries, and has been kept alive and retold through a variety of adaptations, including video games, novels, comics, and even children’s books. Comparing the original … Continue reading On Feminist Retellings: Persephone in Hadestown

When did Men Stop Wearing Heels? The Great Masculine Renunciation and Fashion’s Reflections on Gender

Written by: Abigail Francis Edited by: Orli Adamski Fashion has never been apolitical. In fact, as with any art form, fashion often reflects and can enforce the political and social order of a given time. Dress codes, in and of themselves, have illuminated how social roles and hierarchies play into everyday dress. Take the civil rights movements in the 1960s: many African Americans wore their … Continue reading When did Men Stop Wearing Heels? The Great Masculine Renunciation and Fashion’s Reflections on Gender

Monopolizing Young Minds: The Politics Behind Hasbro’s Monopoly

Written By Leslie Carmelotes Edited By Carmen Faria As a child, my parents encouraged me to play the board game Monopoly by Hasbro, believing it was a game that would make me smarter. While it didn’t appeal to me back then, I’ve recently begun playing Monopoly with my partner, and realized how much the game embodies the American Dream and its capitalistic ideals. This further … Continue reading Monopolizing Young Minds: The Politics Behind Hasbro’s Monopoly

Decolonizing Desire: The Kamasutra and Its Mistranslations

Written By Giselle Gulik Edited By Carly Rabie You might’ve heard of the Kamasutra as a series of elaborate and near-impossible sex positions that will fill you and your partner with pleasure. However, this is not what the original author, Vatsayana, intended for the text. The original Sanskrit text, believed to be written around 3 C.E., explores not only sex but also lifestyles, class, power, … Continue reading Decolonizing Desire: The Kamasutra and Its Mistranslations

The Commodification and Crucifixion of Megan Fox: Sex Symbol or Tortured Lonely Soul

Written By Sam Rabie Edited By Carly Rabie The Artifice of Megan Fox Megan Fox: a “screensaver on a teenage boy’s laptop,” a “middle-aged lawyer’s shower fantasy,” a “sexual prop used to sell movies” (Cooper, 41:03). These crude descriptions, pulled from her interview on Call Her Daddy, encapsulate how the media has framed the famous actress not as a person with passions, interests, quirks, and … Continue reading The Commodification and Crucifixion of Megan Fox: Sex Symbol or Tortured Lonely Soul

10 Essential Films Directed by Black Women 

Written By Sean Martin Edited By Colin Parker Griffiths The first Nickelodeon theatre in the United States was established in 1905: forty years after the (official) abolition of chattel enslavement (1865), thirty-five years after (a limited number of) Black men were granted suffrage (1870), and fifteen years after women’s suffrage was officialized (1920). This also occurred sixty years before the Jim Crow period would end, … Continue reading 10 Essential Films Directed by Black Women