8 RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
9 VS 32 This year, significantly less girls are enrolled in AP Calculus BC than boys, and girls in AB or Statistics. The difference in numbers is having an effect on the girls in the class
How much of a role can and should religion play in public schools?
MENTAL HEALTH IN SPORTS Athletes compete in a new age where pressures come from outside and within
TAMPON TUESDAY
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Students are working to provide access to menstrual products to City High.
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16 Three women of City High share their values for National Women’s History Month and female role models they personally have been inspired by
EARTH DAY CHALLENGES 15 challenges to complete during the month of April
QUEER STEREOTYPES For queer students, the increasing use of stereotypes can negatively impact on their day-to-day interactions
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CONTENTS
NATIONAL WOMENS HISTORY MONTH
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By Rachel Marsh This year, significantly less girls are enrolled in AP Calculus BC than boys, and girls in AB or Statistics. The difference in numbers is having an effect on the girls in the class, though guidance counselors, teachers, and students hope it won‘t discourage girls in the future.
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Walk in the main doors, and head down the hallway to first period - math. In the room, the majority of seats are filled with boys, with only one girl in the class. Before the bell, in walks a second girl. The teacher takes attendance and it sinks in. This is it. “Honestly, I wish we had equal representations of all subgroups in this class, including girls and boys. It seems like everyone has something to add in terms of the classroom environment,” Mr. Matt Miller, AP Calculus AB and BC teacher, said. “I sincerely hope there isn‘t a detrimental effect on the two of them who are in Period 1. I hope they feel comfortable and valued just like everyone else, but I totally get that it might feel odd to be the only two girls.” This year, AP Calc BC saw low numbers of people who identify as female. In two sections, there are 9 girls and 32 boys. In other math class options, there are more girls. There are 18 in AP Statistics, and 23 in AP Calc AB. That gives a ratio of 3.5 boys to one girl in BC and 2.5 girls in AB to one girl in BC. “The number of students, in general, ebbs and flows from year to year. From what I remember, there has been a good balance of
girls and boys in BC. I feel as though a few years ago we had more girls than boys in BC,” Miller said. Similar to Miller, Alex Marsh, a City High Alum remembers higher numbers of girls in her AP Calc class. “I don’t remember the specific numbers, but I know when I took AP Calc BC, there were more girls than 2 or 3,” Marsh said. “We might’ve had even numbers or more girls than guys.” This problem is not unique to City High either. In 2019, women made up 48% of the workforce, but only 27% of STEM workers, according to the United States Census Bureau. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It includes fields from engineers to information systems managers, to physical scientists, to mathematicians. “I think that our graduation requirements help promote all students equally to take math and science. To graduate, students need three years of all of these and I know the school counselors promote taking math and science all four years of high school,” Guidance Counselor Mary Peterson said. “It also is fortunate that City High offers a wide range of math and science classes to help
reach more students that are interested in math and science.” The top colleges in the country achieve a nearly equal ratio of men students to women students. Harvard and Stanford have 51% women to 49% men, MIT has 47% women to 53% men, and Yale has an even 50-50 ratio. However, in certain classes, those ratios might not hold true. According to Nathalie Nunez ‘22, going into a class with only two other girls is intimidating and affects the classroom experience. “I already don‘t participate much in math classes, but having been one out of three girls in my class was intimidating. I felt like I needed to know everything,” Nunez said. “It also falls right into the stigma of men dominating the STEM fields.” At the end of the previous year, students decided what classes they were going to take. Ms. Peterson hypothesizes that coming out of the year where many students were online, people might not have felt as confident in their learning, meaning more girls decided to start in AB or switched after a few days. Nunez ‘22 started in BC and switched during the first trimester to AB. “AB is great. I instantly felt the pressure that came with taking BC come off my shoulders
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“I already don‘t participate much in math classes, but having been one out of three girls in my class was intimidating. I felt like I needed to know everything. It also falls right into the stigma of men dominating the STEM fields.”
Nathalie Nunez ‘22
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AB flows at a really steady pace that‘s easy to follow and maintain. I do miss my BC class though,” said Nunez ‘22. Both AB and BC are AP classes. AB corresponds to Calculus 1, and BC corresponds to Calculus 1 &2. At the end of the year, all of the students in both classes decide whether or not to take the AP test. Those who do take the test can put that score towards testing out of Calculus classes in college. Ana Laura Leyser ‘22 decided to take BC, and doesn’t regret her decision. “I’m enjoying the class even though it‘s hard. I feel like I’m finally learning new math
concepts for the first time in a while,” Leyser ‘22 said. “It makes me sad to see that so many smart girls who were in Precalculus last year didn’t think they could make it to BC. But it also makes me feel glad that I’ve continued with it and have shown everyone that girls can be in hard math classes.” Guidance and administration at City High have many programs to promote women getting involved in the stem field and classes. Women In STEM is an international organization, in 10 countries with over 40 chapters and over 1,000 members. They encourage women in high school to increase
female representation in STEM fields. On the smaller scale, Mr. Miller and other math teachers are promoting BC to anyone who thinks it might be for them. “I have a good number of girls in AB who could easily have chosen to do BC this year. Those that I am thinking of chose AB for a variety of very pragmatic reasons (scheduling, future needs, etc). I think it‘s important to also keep in mind that Calculus AB is a college level calculus class,” Mr. Miller said. “BC is a great class too. Basically, BC might be for you if you felt comfortable in Honors Precalculus. So, let that be your guide.”
“In 2019, women made up 48% of the workforce, but only 27% of STEM workers, according to the United States Census Bureau.“ 6 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
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ART BY ROSE FLORES RUBIO
ART BY ROSE FLORES RUBIO
Religion in Public Schools
How Much of a role can and should religion play in public schools?
By Matisse Arnone
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he number of people just talking about major in the United States religions, we mostly who identify as not talked about Christianity.” religious or with Ashley Kelly ‘23 thinks a non-Christian religion is that, especially once you increasing according to the get to high school, you learn Pew Research Center. Despite more about certain religions this, Christianity continues to over others depending on be the most practiced religion what classes you take. For with 70.6 percent of the US her, an example that comes population identifying as some to mind is choir where much denomination of Christian. For of the genre of music is based Ari Collins ‘23 who identifies on sacred themes or texts. as Jewish, he sees this strong “I started [choir] in leaning towards Christianity fourth grade. At city high reflected in school. [many of the] songs just have “I think most of the one religion,” Kelly said. “I‘ve stuff about religion we seen a few other spirituals talked about was that aren‘t of the Christian Christianity. We religion, but primarily what never really I‘ve been singing and looking talked about at is mostly Christian.” Judaism John Burkle, who is a in school t h a t government teacher at City m u c h , ” C o llin s High, is used to speaking said. “They weren‘t with students about the teaching [that] t h i s legality of discussing is theHawkright way b u t religion in public schools. 08 The Little - FEATURES
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“I discuss a lot about freedom of religion, that you have the right to worship in any way that you want to as long as it doesn‘t conflict with secular law,” Burkle said. “I talk about how the government can’t establish a religion so you have the ability to choose which [religion] you want.” Kelly thinks that religion should have a place in school in the form of clubs and extracurriculars such as those that City High has. In the 2021-22 school year, City High officially has two religion related clubs, Rosary Club and Jewish Youth Group. However, Kelly adds that she thinks there should still be limitations on how big of a role religion can play in schools. “I don‘t think religion in schools is bad. I just think that when it‘s part of your curriculum and it‘s part of everyone‘s school day, that
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is just kind of unacceptable,” Kelly said. “People are free to practice religion, of course, and I think that they can do that in schools by building a community with clubs.” The biggest issue, according to Kelly, is when one religion becomes overwhelmingly favored and talked about over others. “I think that learning about and hearing about the Christian religion happens every day, whether you‘re in an elective class or not,” Kelly said. “To really learn about a different religion, you have to take a whole other class. It‘s not something that‘s commonly brought up.” Burkle sees students often having a misconception that religion cannot be talked about at all in public schools which he says simply is not true. “I think that sometimes students feel that any discussion of religion should be off limits, which is a major misunderstanding,” Burkle said. “We can discuss religion, we can talk about the history of religion. We just can‘t endorse one religion over the other.” Despite this, Collins says that the deep rooted history that Christianity has in the United States, along with the fact that 77 percent of Iowans identify as Christian, still shows through in the education system. “The major religion in America is Christianity, so more students and teachers are going to be Christian,” Collins said. “[In addition], American history is often written by people who were Christian, so I feel like it comes up more often and it‘s seen as more important of a religion for American history.” Kelly thinks that the general favoritism towards Christianity can lead to some
students who don’t identify with that religion feeling left out. “ T h e y always say that you should always have a place to fit in at school. I feel like when you go to class, and you‘re constantly learning about a different religion and you‘re not getting any representation for your own, that would make you feel out of place and like you shouldn‘t be there,” Kelly said. “When I have not felt like I fit in, it‘s not a good feeling. I think that most people don‘t think about how other people feel when they speak about religion because it‘s a topic that has been so lightly thrown around.” Burkle believes that when talking about the role religion plays in school, it is impossible not to bring up the holidays that public schools get off, and more importantly, the holidays that we don’t get off. “I think the entirety of my teaching career, our school calendar has usually revolved around Christian holidays,” Burkle said. “The district has been doing a better job of including other religious holidays in the calendar and major holidays having those off. I think predominantly you see a lot more of Christianity influence schools than other [religions].” Starting in the 2021-22 school year, ICCSD no longer holds classes on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr
off. The c ale n d ar change o n l y happened after a threeyear push f r o m students. Collins supports the changes the district made to the calendar and thinks that it is only fair to give major holidays off to all religions. “I think it‘s okay to have days off for major holidays of any religion as long as it‘s for all the religions and you‘re not just like, ‘Okay, we‘re going to have Christmas off, but that‘s it. Everybody else you‘re going to have to get those absences or you‘re gonna have to skip out on school,’” Collins said. Burkle concludes that although there will still be debate on whether or not religion is too prominent in school, he thinks there has continued to be improvement by the school board of making ICCSD a more inclusive place for people of all religions. “I‘ve been teaching in Iowa City for 17 years. I don‘t think religion plays a huge influence on decision making and classes and things along those lines, it‘s more of a peripheral issue,” Burkle said. “It probably doesn‘t affect the majority of students, but it might affect a few students, and those people still need to be considered when these decisions are being made.”
TAMPON TUESDAY
ART BY GRETA STANIER
TAMPON TUESDAY: Students are working to provide access to menstrual products to City High.
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BY GRETA STANIER
ast the hustle and bustle of students getting to school on a Tuesday morning, a table can be found in the main foyer. This table holds an array of cookies, muffins, and other baked goods, alongside tampons, pads, and other menstrual products. It’s Tampon Tuesday. “Tampon Tuesday is a mix of a fundraiser and a bake sale to collect and get money for menstrual products,” Mae Barron ‘22 said. [The menstrual products] are distributed across school for students to use for free.” This year, Tampon Tuesday is run through student senate, and has been primarily led by Barron, Nathalie Nunez ‘22, and others. Nearly every Tuesday, students can grab a baked good in exchange for a menstrual product or a dollar. These fundraisers have been successful, as menstrual products can be found continuously stocked in restrooms across City High. “Right now we‘ve been having Tampon Tuesday bake sales less frequently because we have some money saved up from past fundraisers,” Barron said. “We‘re just continuing to distribute the products that Student Senate has gotten with that money.”
ABOVE: Nathalie Nunez ‘22 collects Tampon Tuesday donations from Nina K uhlmann ‘25 City High’s students have emergency, that‘s just so helpful.” been benefiting from Tampon Student Senate and Tuesday for many years. In previous Tampon Tuesday’s leaders years, Interact Club ran the program. are planning to continue the “Various clubs have done program next year, with hopes of [Tampon Tuesday] throughout the maintaining a consistent schedule. years and it‘s always been super “I hope that in the future, helpful for me when I need a period [Tampon Tuesday] can get up and product,” Barron said. “I just thought running even sooner in the year that [it] was a really cool thing that and really [become] a regular thing we could continue for our community at City High, not something that and bring back for this year.” has to be restarted every year.” According to the University of Michigan school of public health, 1 and 5 women miss school due to a lack of menstrual products. “I think that Tampon Tuesdays are super important because having stress free and cost free access to menstrual products helps make students feel safe and more secure at school,” Barron said. Along with providing free access to menstrual products around the school, Tampon Tuesday also helps normalize menstruation. “[Tampon Tuesday] also reduces the stigma around menstruation. Because if people don‘t have to feel the embarrassment or stress of having to find a menstrual product when they need one in an
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“I think that Tampon Tuesdays are super important because having stress free and cost free access to menstrual products helps make students feel safe and more secure at school,”
Mae Barron ‘22 4.15.22
Performance Pressure in Sports
A dive into the mental health of student athletes facing high expectations
By Ben Horwitz, Aala Basheir, Max Berry-Stoelzle, and Aaron Stalkfleet
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iving into the water, Heidi Stalkfleet ‘22 swam lap after lap. At the age of eight years old, she began participating in tough competitions, becoming accustomed to the twice-daily practices. Eventually these practices became routine, a normal part of her everyday life. However at some point she would have to make a decision, a decision that could make or break her future, what college she would attend to continue s w i m m i n g “ [ T h e pressure] is kind of
indescribable if you haven‘t [already] gone through [the college selection process]. It‘s really hard to describe how stressful and how much pressure it is,” Heidi Stalkfleet ‘22 said. “And no one wants to transfer, you want to make the right decision [the first time].” According to Swimcloud, Stalkfleet ‘22 is the second ranked Women‘s swimmer among current high school seniors in the state of Iowa. During the 2022 IASI Short Course Championships Stalkfleet came away with multiple first places. Stalkfleet started the college recruiting process during junior year and had made her decision to go to Georgia by winter of that year. Almost two years before she will first step on campus to go to college in the fall of 2022 to swim with four time Olympic coach Jack Bauerle. Coach
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Bauerle has seen 87 of his swimmers from the University of Georgia participate in Olympic Games. According to the NCSA power rankings, Georgia is currently ranked as the 14th best Division 1 college for womens swimming. “When you‘re going through the recruiting process, there‘s usually websites or teams that will post ‘2022 recruit plus one’ or, they‘ll post when someone commits and it would stress me out seeing [those] spots fill up on teams,” Stalkfleet ‘22 said. “There‘s limited scholarship money. So that was adding more pressure. Just seeing people post that they had committed I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to hurry up and make my decision.’” The decision of what college to go to determines so much about an athlete‘s future. It determines their coaches,
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teammates, and what resources they will have available to them during their time in college. “In a sense your future is on the line, you have to decide where you want your future to be, is it going to work out? Stuff like that” Jacob Williamson ‘22 a member of the City High Football team said. Jacob Williamson plays as a tight end and Defensive end for the City High football team which ended the season ranked 13th in the state of Iowa. He plans to continue to play at Central College starting in the fall of 2022. Pictured: Jacob Williamson ‘22
“You have to keep up the performance that you showed [in the past] season, all the work you‘ve put in and you have to keep improving,” Williamson ‘22 said. “That definitely increases pressure.” One of the reasons for this pressure is that athletes feel they need to make an impact on the team that they have been recruited to. “[After the decision] I feel more pressure to keep up with my times and keep swimming fast, because when I get there, I want to make an
impact on the team.” Stalkfleet ‘22 said. “I don‘t want to just say I swam at Georgia, I want to say that I helped Georgia win a national title. So I definitely think all the work that you do to get there is more just saying that you achieved this huge goal and then after you commit, it‘s more like showing them why they recruited you.” This internal pressure of wanting to show why they are recruited is one of the main pressures athletes face. “A lot of the pressure that I have on myself is from myself,” Stalkfleet ‘22 said. “I have really high expectations.” High expectations can be frustrating for high performance athletes while a team is going through a transition period. The City High Football team ended their 2020-21 and 2019-20 seasons with records of 2-4 and 2-7 respectively. However in the 2021-22 season the work paid off, and the team finished with a record of 10-2 ending their season in the 5A State Semifinals against Southeast Polk. “I would say junior year was really tough because not only me, but a bunch of other guys feel like we put in a ton of work and effort and we just weren‘t seeing any results.” Williamson ‘22 said. “It got really frustrating for me. And it made me doubt myself a lot. ‘Hey, am I doing the right thing, am I gonna end up making the right decision?’ And then once senior year happened, I was just blessed to be able to get a bunch of offers from schools.”
Having people to help in their lives is important for athletes, especially since, “The professional consensus is that the incidence of anxiety and depression among scholastic athletes has increased over the past 10 to 15 years” Marshall Mintz, a New Jersey–based sports psychologist said in an article for the magazine The Atlantic
However, there are also advantages for all students to participate in sports at school. An article published by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) cited advantages of playing in high school sports such as 1) a stronger sense of self-confidence in building relationships with others and having an expanded capacity
for empathy; 2) developing a better understanding of self and in so doing understanding how their actions affect others; and 3) building foundations for lifelong fitness habits. Even with these advantages to playing sports both scholarship and nonscholarship athletes are affected by pressure to perform. “There‘s the pressure to contribute to your team and provide something of value. A lot of times this feels like it has to be in the form of some sort of direct contribution to the outcome, like ‘I scored a certain number of points or I swam so fast and got X’,” Aubrette Kinne, a psychologist at the University of Iowa said. “There‘s a lot of different ways to provide value to a team, but I think it often gets this tunnel vision. Like you‘ve got to win or You‘ve got to contribute to the win directly. And that‘s not the case, everybody on the team contributes to what a team does” Most City High sports teams embrace such an inclusive team perspective. “I think some of our sports teams do a really good job of [showing] everybody‘s part of the family. Everybody‘s traveling to this cross country meet, having people ABOVE: Truman Bright ‘21 pairs corduroy Pictured left: Heidi Stalkfleet ‘22
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feel valued and appreciated. And I think that‘s really important,” City High swim coach Mandi Kowal said. “What‘s more important [than winning] is to focus on are they enjoying themselves? Are they having fun? Most likely you‘re going to get the best performance that way anyway,” Kinne said. “But also what are you learning? How are you growing? What are you learning about yourself as a person as an athlete as a competitor? What are you gaining from the sport? You know, those are the life lessons that are going to be important long beyond when the athlete retires, whether it‘s after high school, after college, after the Olympics, whatever it might be.” Besides focusing on the joys of sports and the life lessons you can learn, there are other tools that can help student athletes deal with mental pressures. Creating a balance between sports and downtime is a tool that allows athletes to focus on other aspects of their life. Outside of soccer, Aaron Rutherford ‘22, captain of the varsity City High boys soccer team, is also a member of the City High Concert Choir and 4th Avenue Show Choir. “Soccer is not everything for me,” Rutherford ‘22 said. “So even though somebody might say something about a game [I didn’t play well in], it‘s like, oh, yeah, I didn‘t play great. But now I‘m a student, or, now I‘m in choir. So now I‘m focused on singing or I‘m focusing on learning this new concept. So I think there‘s just different aspects [of life]
and I think a lot of us are able to just do the thing that you‘re supposed to do at that time.” “I think I‘m able to separate my soccer life from my other life,” Rutherford ‘22 said. “I don‘t think if I had a bad game, that I become a bad person.” Coach Kowal agrees with Aaron’s perspective: “Sometimes I hear individuals get really frustrated, you know, at races or something doesn‘t happen and [at the end of the day] it‘s [just] high school [sports]. We’re not fighting cancer, this is a sport. We want to learn skills and [how to] work together.” Another tool that helps athletes deal with pressure is to openly discuss their situation with teammates. “It’s so great when athletes can talk to each other and realize they‘re not the only one struggling with [pressure]. It‘s probably a lot more common than people realize, including athletes. There‘s a lot of times when our athletes sit here and feel like they‘re the only ones going through it and I‘m like you‘re not the only one today that I talked to let alone at all, and I wish more people knew that so they didn‘t feel so alone in their struggles,” Kinne said. And students find support from many sources. “In the moment it feels like it‘s the worst thing you could be going through, but it does get better, and using most people around you like your teammates, your coaches, your friends, your parents, even your teachers can be really helpful,” Williamson
‘22 said. “Just staying grounded and understanding that if you just put your best performance out there and you try your best at that moment in time.” In addition, at City High there already is a program to help students who are having difficulty with this balance. The NESTT (Navigating Emotions and Stress Through Training) was founded by City High staff members Doug Lestina, Amy Kahle, Thos Trefz, and Mary Peterson to promote student mental health. It is a space for students to go to get mental health help from trained professionals, whether that be immediate help or as a resource in
finding adequate long term assistance. Another option is for students to just talk to their guidance counselor. In a statement from the NFHS about sportsmanship, by Dr. Karissa Niehoff. Neihoff says “sports are meant to lift people
Q&A: Students and Staff Talk About their Female Idols for National Women’s History Month Three women of City High share their values for National Women’s History Month and female role models they personally have been inspired by
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MRS. WATSON Q: For National Women’s History Month, what women do you find inspirational to you? A: I am inspired by women who are able to break through barriers because it takes a lot of courage. They‘re often met with a lot of resistance by those who have power. So, when I think of people who have done that, I think it’s even more of a burden sometimes for women to take those leadership positions because of double standards. I look up to two women: we tend to look at people who do famous things, but I also think we forget about the everyday woman. Q: Are there any women in particular that stand out to you during National Women’s History Month? A: Ida B Wells inspires me because here is a woman of color born into slavery, who was powerless, but who gained power through knowledge and education, and then used that power to enact change. She used her knowledge and her position not to just inform others, but to promote social justice. I think anybody who puts their life on the line for something like that is pretty incredible. On the flip side, my great
grandmother wrote three books. The first one of them is called Life of an Ordinary Woman. It is her tale of being a poor woman from Missouri and moving with her family to Colorado for the mining Bonanza. She was published in magazines, and she was a treasurer of a county with a fourth grade education. Every single day she struggled to put food on the table for her children. Sometimes I think we forget to honor the everyday actions of women and how they contribute to their communities. Q: Are there any women in our present-day society that you aspire to be more like? A: Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, and Hillary Clinton are three females who were secretary of state. All three of them are wicked smart and tough. So, I look at those three and I realize they had to be smarter and tougher than everybody else in the room to be able to do their position. I honor them because I sometimes feel like I don’t have that courage. Q: What are ways you think it is important to recognize women and have this month be dedicated to empowering them? A: [In terms of work], women get interrupted more often, women get talked over more…
oftentimes even in meetings I’ve had times when a person won’t even look at me but look at my husband. I’m really in awe of women who can push up against that. Q: In your opinion, what is most important to think about during National Women’s History Month? A: Every single person on this planet had a mother. Every single person on this planet came from a woman who sacrificed physically for that and probably economically for that. We all have ties to understanding the importance of women in society and the world. I just wish our behaviors would follow that. Q: How do you think addresses on gender inequalities are impacting younger generations? A: I hope they allow people more perspective. I’m hoping they allow people to be more empathetic with others. You know, I identify as a woman. I don’t understand in the sense of how it feels to not be my assigned gender, but I should be empathetic to people who do. So I hope that more discussions and more norms changing, like by having [gender neutral] bathrooms, help people develop and think [about others] a little bit more.
ABI LOCKHART ‘23 Q: Who is a woman that you find inspirational and why so? A: The Somali supermodel and philanthropist, Iman, is my personal idol. When she was born, she actually came from a place of rather privilege, as her father was an ambassador to Saudi Arabia from Somalia. But, there was political unrest and there was a coup on the government. She became a refugee, just like that, in an instant. As a refugee, she decided to go to the university, and when she got discovered for being very beautiful and also very smart. She’s very trailblazing, she was one of the first black models for Vogue, preceded by Beverly Johnson as the second black woman to [model for them]. She was being paid less than her white colleagues, so she actually quit modeling for a good couple of months until she was getting a pay raise. She always fights for justice in regards to women and children of color. She also has a cosmetic company because none of the makeup she had would ever have a shade in her color, even though she’s a black woman. And she decided from then on that she was going to make shades for her and people like her. So, she definitely has always strived to help others. She knows what it’s like to be knocked
down and she’s just very beautiful, in my opinion, inside and out. Q: Are there aspects of her that you feel have influenced your own life? A: I try to volunteer a lot more, especially at places like the Crowded Closet and I work with children a lot. I’m constantly trying to better myself as a person in the sense of being more aware of what’s going on around me. Especially in regards to political changes in the atmosphere or country. I’ve definitely try to become more introspective and try to help others. Q: How did you first learn about Iman? A: I first knew her as the famous rocker David Bowie’s wife. I kind of ignored [learning about her], but then I was like, ‘I’m bored, let’s read her Wikipedia page’. I read into
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it and I found out how she’s beautiful and also just a fantastic person. I would just love to sit down and have a conversation with her. That just led me to her being my inspiration. Q: What about Iman made you think about her particularly as a role model for National Women’s History Month? A: I think that she is a woman who isn’t necessarily in a position that we would consider powerful. She is a woman of color, and most definitely, she is an immigrant. She actually reminds a lot of my mom. My mother is a woman of color and she also is an immigrant. I see that these strong women are usually built by other strong women. So I know to have more strong women in society, we must be strong ourselves as women.
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RUTH MEEHAN ‘22 Q: What woman inspires you and why? A: Her name is Carrie Hope Fletcher. She is an actress who stars in shows, and she’s also an author. She does a lot on social media through Youtube and Instagram. I’ve been following her for four or five years. What first drew me to her was just her realness. She has this way of speaking where she’s very articulate
with her words. She knows what she’s talking about, she’s very, very smart. So that really drew me to her. She plays very cool, powerful female roles on Broadway and is really passionate about educating other people and being a strong female role model. Q: What about her stands out to you? A: I had always known about her, and I had really started watching her during the pandemic and how she handled it. The way she would talk
about what she was going through and what she was feeling was exactly what I was going through. So, she has been someone who I definitely look up to. She is very strong, she knows what she wants, and I think she would be a really good person to celebrate Women‘s History Month. Q: What are ways she has inspired or impacted you, personally? A: She practices a lot of mindfulness and selfcare. That’s something she definitely prioritizes like when I see her talk and watch her videos. That’s definitely something I’ve tried to incorporate. Like, I’m a busy person; so is she. And she is an author, she reads a lot, and I’ve read a lot of the books that she’s recommended. Q: What challenges has she had to overcome? A: In her role, she’s definitely not a size 2, size 0 actress. Her body I think is very representative of not exactly what you might [typically] see in the media and in starring roles. I think that she’s definitely had to overcome some of that. Right now, she’s playing Cinderella. She played Veronica, and Heathers, Fontina in Les Mis… I’m sure she’s talked about some of the challenges she’s had with that. That’s something I can relate to, being an actress who is plus size. There are definitely challenges with that. Q: For you personally, what is your biggest takeaway from National Women’s History Month? A: I really like to look back on 100 years ago and where women were then. And how far we have come through fighting for our rights. And then also that there are still some prejudices and issues that people have towards women. Really just celebrating women, like, we’re kick-ass women, we’re doing great things and are supporting each other.
Queer Stereotypes: The Harmful Impact By Matisse Arnone
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trolling through the hallway, Braeden Marker ‘23 can be spotted sporting long hair and earrings. In men, both of these things can be associated with being queer in some way. Marker says he has experience being associated with queer stereotypes just because of the way he chooses to
For queer students, the increasing use of stereotypes can negatively impact on their day-to-day interactions
express himself even though he identifies as straight. “I don‘t really care a whole lot. However, it does make me kind of sad, because I do see the harm in those stereotypes, and how they can restrict people from behaving how they want to behave naturally,” Marker said. “Even though none of
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those things actually have anything to do with sexuality, it often gets associated.” Marker thinks that regardless of the type of stereotype, almost all stereotypes that are out there do not have a positive impact on the people who they are about. “Honestly, I feel like generalizations really just end
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up as restrictions on people in every single application, even if those restrictions aren‘t super negative,” Marker said. Stereotypes about queer people extent far wider than just earrings though, according to Maya Bennett ‘23. She sees numerous stereotypes related to each label which range from how people dress to aspects of their personalities. “There are a lot of stereotypes that circulate around the internet that fit specific labels and I think that each label has a stereotype attached to it,” Bennett said. “[For example] more masculine clothing for gay women [and] more feminine for gay men.” Even though the number of adults in the United States who identify as LGBTQ+ has risen to 7.1% up from 5.6% in 2020 according to a Gallup
poll, the use of generalizations about queer people still persists. Reyna Roach ‘24 has heard many negative stereotypes about trans and queer people in general. “[There’s] a stereotype like trans people have to dress in the way that says people will perceive their gender which really sucks when you don‘t do that,” Roach said. “So many people view queerness as like a illness, just like straight up, and they view queer people as trying to infect their children and encroach on their spaces.” Regardless of the kind of stereotype, they almost always have a harmful impact on the people that they are about, according to Kenji Radley ‘25. “I‘ve had lots of sort of friends tell me I should be doing this or that because I‘m gay or something which [can] impact relationships a lot,” Radley
said. “I think that it can affect people‘s mental health and the way they feel like they need to be to get validation from others.” Similar to Radley, Bennett agrees that the use of stereotypes can have a harmful effect on people in the queer community. “I think [stereotypes] can make you feel kind of trapped within a certain way of expressing yourself for identifying. It‘s not always true, and when it‘s not true, it doesn‘t feel good,” Bennett said. In the same way that many stereotypes are based on some type of truth, Roach believes that queer stereotypes often are based on something that is commonly done by some queer people. They think that queer people will often play into stereotypes because they want do be identified in the queer community.
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“Just because people will negatively attribute things to [queer stereotypes], it doesn‘t mean that we shouldn‘t do them. Sometimes you feel like you have to [fit into stereotypes], because otherwise people will not accept you for who you are,” Roach said. “It also [has to do with] identity. Being able to identify each other is good because then we can find people more easily that we are safe around.” Social pressures are another reason why people often fit i n t o
stereotypes. Marker thinks people often believe that if they don’t act in the way that stereotypes tell them
to, they won’t be thought of as a part of their own communit y, or their sexuality will be questioned. “ E v e n perceived social pressures can be enough to push you into trying to fit a certain category,” Marker said. “If it feels like this is the way you‘re supposed to be, because this is what you see, then you‘re going to try and act that way.” Roach believes that even if queer people do happen to fit into the stereotypes about them, that does not mean it is their fault for perpetuating use of the stereotypes. “I think that‘s a straight people narrative. Like, oh, the reason that you‘re getting harassed is because you look a certain way,” Roach said. “When you‘re outside of the queer community, you can use the stereotypes as an identifier for people to harm or to put impressions on people that you don‘t know.” Bennett says that part of the reason that we rely on stereotypes so often to determine sexuality, is because even today, there is a perceived fear of asking people what their sexuality is. “Homophobia is real, so you don‘t want to ask and then be made fun of in some cases, or you don‘t want to ask and then make the other person think that you [are interested in] them,” Bennett said. However, Bennett and
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Roach believe that relying on stereotypes is what often leads to the idea of the ‘gaydar’ which can be unreliable. The ‘gaydar’ is the idea of the ability to determine sexual orientation through subtle clues. According to Psychologist Today, the ‘gaydar’ is just a form of social intuition which can be accurate but is far from foolproof. “I think it‘s always best to ask the person and learn how they identify and express themselves instead of making assumptions about people,” Bennett said. “You have your right to ask and get to know the person, but I think that it‘s never your place to assume or to spread something [about] other people because it might not be true.” Marker thinks that the fear of breaking stereotypes can sometimes become something that both straight and queer people are afraid to confront. “These ideas about how you‘re supposed to behave, and more specifically how you‘re supposed to interact with other people, especially people of the perceived opposite sex, can
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absolutely change how gay men act, especially because they don‘t feel the need to fit toxic masculine stereotypes,”
Marker said. “A lot of it ties into toxic masculinity. For example, a lot of straight guys are afraid to grow their hair and things like that because it‘s so ingrained to them that this is a gay thing.” Recently, Roach has seen more non-queer people do things that are usually seen as queer. Even though it is usually just meant as a joke, they think that it can still be viewed as hurtful to people in the queer community. “Sometimes when straight guys kiss other guys, they‘re using it as a joke,” Roach said. “[They are implying], ‘I
would never actually be gay. likely going to fall into many So I‘m totally safe kissing stereotypes and perpetuate people and no one would think the issue,” Marker said. I‘m gay, because that‘s just Bennett thinks that it is
outrageous. That would never be me.’ That is homophobia.” The biggest thing that can be done to help eliminate the harmful effects of queer stereotypes, according to Marker, is to encourage all people to feel comfortable in expressing themselves however they want to. “Having an honest conversation with yourself and thinking about [why] I am acting this way? It sounds extremely cliche to say, oh, just be yourself, but be fully aware of why you‘re acting the way you are because if you‘re not, you‘re
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important to create a culture where jokes about queer people that could be offensive are unacceptable. She believes that means holding each other accountable for the things that you say, especially among friends. “I think recognizing the jokes that you‘re making and the assumptions that you‘re making, and reminding your friends or not making it into a joke, if any stereotypes or assumptions about people and their sexuality come up,” Bennett said.
15 EARTH MONTH CHALLENGES Bring a reusable bag Eat plant-based for a day Bike or walk instead of driving Attend an environmental club meeting Compost your food waste at lunch Bring a reusable water bottle Donate to a charity Turn off lights and electronics Attend the CHS earth day event Eat at a local Iowa City restaurant Set up a bird feeder Volunteer in the community Take a shorter shower Have a picnic Shop secondhand
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