The 411

THE 411

MODELS EMILY ROGERS, LOLA TAGWERKER & EVE WALTER

PHOTOGRAPHED BY KATIE DUNN

EXECUTIVE TEAM

ALIGN MAGAZINE WINTER 2023 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON THE 411

PAYTON ALONZO

LEAH PRATLEY

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

EXECUTIVE PRINT EDITOR

AINSLEY MCRAE

ALI WATSON

SAMANTHA JOH

QUAYE MEADOW

ELLA NORTON

JORDYN CENTERWALL

WESLEY JOHNSON

CHARLIE VIGNE

KAITLYN CAFARELLI

SOPHIE SARGEANT

AMELIA KENNEDY

TILLIE MOORE

ALI BEDINGFIELD

FRANCESCA MILHIZER

SIDNEY STIPANOVICH

EXECUTIVE DIGITAL EDITOR

PRINT COPY EDITOR

BLOG COPY EDITOR

PHOTO EDITOR

PRINT COPY EDITOR

BLOG COPY EDITOR

PHOTO EDITOR

PRINT COPY EDITOR

PLAYLIST MANAGER

WRITING EDITOR

ILLUSTRATION EDITOR

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

PRINT COPY EDITOR

DESIGN EDITOR

FUNDRAISING COORDINATOR

LETTER FROM Hello everyone!

As you may know, “The 411” is a number that used to be dialed in order to find sought out information. As time went on this phrase became used to gossip, get the scoop, and speak your truth & opinions. This idea is relayed through this issue… with a twist.

As an executive team, we talked about a variety of ways to incorporate originality into this theme. After lengthy discussions, we realized: everyone talks. People have a lot to say, so let’s give them the platform to it So,. What is “The 411” to Align? What are the hot takes? What is tea? This theme is here to spark conversations, dive into the history of gossip itself and the perspectives of Align members. Everyone who contributed to this issue has worked hard to share their perspectives on “The 411” and how they interpret it. Whether it’s discussing technology, emotional connection, or maximalism we cover the bases. It’s always a thrill when we launch a new issue.

We hope all readers, viewers, browsers feel inspired to brew their own 411. Each section dives into something different creating an experience of exploration and integration into the minds behind the work. I am so thankful to be a part of such a creative team. Every step of the way I am even more inspired and better understand the evolution of Align and where it is headed. As we have become a multimedia platform, the publication is the spine of Align, enabling us to grow in so many ways.Thank you to everyone who contributed, and a special thank you to the executive team for being a part of the curation, revision, and assembly of this issue!

With love, Payton Alonzo

THE EDITOR

The Hot Take Discourse 7 Escaping Your Own Reality Intimacy in Platonic Love 11 AI and Sex: What Could Go Wrong?

In Solitude 19 AI and Art -- Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder?

Monochromatic Maximalism 27 The Secret to Happiness Dancer Dilemmas: Scores and Judges at Competion 33 The Harmful Implications of Many Mainstream Trends Individuality of Fashion 39 No Longer Anonymous: Why I read (and submitted) to Deux Moi Trashcan Veganism 43 You’ll Never Guess What I Heard Mother or Monster?

49 Yik Yakkin’ On the Cover of the Rolling Stone 55 Separating the Artist From the Art: Is it Possible?

The Latest Language - Girl Talk 59 Technostalgia Hot Girls Cry 65 A Living Legend: Lana Del Rey F*ck the Dress Code 73 A Walk Around the Block Nepo Baby 79 The 411 Playlist

9 15 23 31 37 41 45 53 57 61 69 77 83

PHOTOGRAPHED BY SAMANTHA JOH ART DIRECTOR RONAN BECKIUS MODELS EMILY ROGERS, LOLA TAGWERKER & EVE WALTER

PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR GABS SGRO

PHOTOGRAPHED BY FEDDY TORRES MODEL CAMILLE ANDREWS

ART DIRECTOR GEORGIA LOVE KARAM DESIGNER SOPHIE SARGEANT

PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR AVERY CLIFFORD

WRITTEN BY ADDIE JENSEN

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S

o, you walk into one of those funhouse halls of mirrors. Not only is the lighting atrocious, and the environment anxiety-inducing, but every way you look there are mirrors distorting what you see. Normally, mirrors tell us the truth in their reflection, but in this disorienting scenario, all the reflections twist it and tell a different story about what form we all take. All the while you are bumbling about, bumping clumsily into mirrors to make your way out of the chaotic kaleidoscope of a mediocre fair attraction. This, though, much more physical, is an apt description of how going down an opinionated media rabbit hole feels.

We start somewhere harmless, joining the crowd already ushered in, only to be driven down a sugarcoated version of hell, in which nothing makes sense, everyone is seeing something different, and all information that supposedly tells the “truth” seemingly lies in conflict with another. Social media culture as a whole is a much more complicated web of complexities that I cannot gracefully tackle, but a smaller part of the puzzle has taken hold of my fascination within the last year. I like to call it the hot take discourse.

‘Cinnamon Toast Crunch isn’t that good…The Office is overrated…The green M&M needs to be sexy again…

Cereal is soup… I don’t see the point of neopronouns…Don’t have kids till you are thirty…Get married young’ the list truly refuses to end, and gets increasingly striking as it goes. It feels like you’re drowning in opinion, after opinion, after opinion, but does this constant stream of opinion sharing hold a greater purpose for the creator and the consumer? As shallow as it feels on the surface, the need to express a hot take is something I believe has a deeper route among our generation and culture—the need to be heard, seen, related to, and cause a stir.

First, let’s break down the anatomy of a hot take. It starts with a flashy exterior like a ‘You won’t like to hear this,’ ‘the unpopular truth,’ or something along those lines that glues you into the screen before you can scroll much further.

From there comes the take. This is the part of the story where I quickly rush to the comments to see if my own opinion is reflected in what everybody else has to say or to look for the exact opposite: somebody to spark up a little controversy inside of me. And then I get bothered. But instead of cutting it off at the source and stopping my scroll, I continue down the trail and continue to immerse myself in the ocean of arguments. As much as the tiring influx of subjectivity may be, and as irritated as I may get, there is also an understanding in the back of my head as to why all these people feel the need to

add to the hot take discourse.

Social media both gives us both a platform to perform and be heard, and also a row in the audience to witness the production. By participating in hot take culture, we feed into both sides of this equation. In stating our opinion, we receive attention, confirming a feeling that our presence and ideas are important and deserving of the space we take up online. The stir we cause has brought people together, only to probably drive them apart in opinion, but nevertheless, it is a miraculous thing. We have removed the classroom debate from the classroom, all our guards are down and the floor is nice and open for all the educated students, devil’s advocates, and others to add to the noise. Unlike the classroom debate, there is a level of anonymity we take on, and despite that, we build ideabound communities based on strangers’ judgments. And from there, we are able to find how we identify. Like the mirrors at the messy fun house, we choose what mirror best aligns with our truth and choose to believe it. We build ourselves and our beliefs on how our world works around what the reflection says. Despite our best wishes, we all drown each other out. So many voices until they all blend together, leaving us confused and disheartened. So maybe it’s time to tell people how you feel about that.

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A

fter a long day, it’s safe to say a lot of Gen Zer’s like to relax on the couch and watch an entertaining TV show or movie. Often, I like to relax or watch my favorite TV show regardless of how my day went. During the pandemic, my weeks consisted of binge-watching Survivor on a daily basis. Something about being entertained without having to do anything but sit is addicting. Reality television is also something that brings individuals together. When people have seen the same shows, they immediately have something in common. Whether it’s something to gossip and talk about, or provide conflicts that aren’t your own, these forms of entertainment attract people from all over the world. Essentially, all of these reasons give society a common ground.

Reality television is extremely captivating. Something that makes us say, “just one more episode,” then another goes by, and before you know it, it’s been three hours. So, why is it that we are so fascinated, addicted even, to reality television?

Reality television provides us an escape from our own lives. It allows us to invest in the lives on our screens. The characters we see are real-life people, but to us, they just as easily could not be. They are simply “characters” in shows that we watch. This is partly due to the fact that the shows often showcase dramatized and unrealistic scenarios. Getting engaged to someone you never met? Dozens of women dating one man? Going to an island to groupdate? Living deserted while competing

in physically grueling challenges to win a million dollars? Are you kidding me? Yes please!

What specifically about these shows keeps us so invested in the false realities that the shows perpetuate? And yes – the realities are false as the overwhelming majority of the shows are extremely edited. But the answer to this question could be several things. All of these answers have a bigger common factor: entertainment. The things we do as people to become entertained is astonishing– it feels like the list of entertainment forms are infinite. Entertainment is so highly valued in our society. Some of the most high-paying jobs are those in the entertainment industry. On the other hand the non-entertainers (a.k.a us) will pay a lot of money to be entertained. The book Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial for Financial Analysis said, “Each year, Americans cumulatively spend at least 175 billion hours and more than $350 billion on legal forms of entertainment,” (Harold L. Vogel), this statistic shows the value of entertainment to us. To emphasize this even more, I know someone who spent $2,000 on Taylor Swift tickets recently. You never actually think people will pay that much for a concert, but really, people do it all the time. It doesn’t matter the price; it will be bought.

Why is it that we rely so heavily and pay so much money for entertainment?

Many people, including myself, use it as a pastime. But I think there is a deeper question behind all of this. What makes

us, as humans, so reliant on this style of entertainment? Is it to occupy us? Is it the fascination of a life that we are not living?

The unrealisticness of those realities in TV shows? The stardom of characters in television? The boredom in our own dayto-day lives? Personally, the more I have thought about this question the more I believe it is partially due to the societal need for drama and gossip. It brings us excitement; a form of adrenaline that is not directly affecting us individually. We can share the same feelings as the people on our screens without actually having to undergo them ourselves.

Our society seems more invested in the characters of reality television shows and the entertainment industry, rather than identifying what’s missing from our own lives that media and entertainment clearly fill. Instead of expecting something on a screen to provide adventure, love, and excitement, we need to search for these feelings within our own lives. It may seem harmless, but the truth is you may be less inclined to experience these feelings if you can watch other people do them. The 411 is that it’s time to get out of the reality binge and go live real life.

Resources: Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis

By Harold L. Vogel

ILLUSTRATED BY SIERRA BAKER DESIGNER ALLY WOODRING WRITTEN BY JOSIE WILLARD

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INTIMACY IN PL

R

omantic love: it’s intriguing, seemingly glamorous, and something we’re conditioned to yearn for. Throughout my adolescence, I’ve found myself plagued by the lure of romantic relationships. I often seduce myself into ravenous pursuits of love, idealizing different people and relationships to appease my romantic desires. Yet every time, without fail, this pattern left me disappointed. Whether it was failed relationships or situationships turned stale, criticism clouded my self perception. I would ask myself, “Am I the problem?” I’d scrutinize every conversation and situation, mourning over all of the “could have beens.”

The mistake I’ve persistently made is chasing the feeling of romantic love for myself. Instead of letting it transpire organically, I searched for love in places it didn’t exist and fabricated it out of nothing. This habit inevitably planted the seeds for many disillusionments and disappointments. Once reality exposed my fantasies, I realized that I had forged a mirage of intimacy. I was ALIGN 11

appealing to society’s construct that I need romantic attention to feel validated. One that I’d internalized without realizing.

It turns out, yes, I am the problem. Not because I’m inadequate, or unlovable, but because I was seeking to quench a desire for validation from a place of ingenuity. Mainstream consciousness is permeated with notions that frame romantic relationships as the end-all be-all of our existence. It insidiously equates being “single” to loneliness, downplaying all the love we experience elsewhere, and encouraging many to long for a romantic partner.

Even the language surrounding romance is discouraging– Why are we “single” if we’re not dating, when we’re surrounded by companionship in different forms? Love has many semblances– all of them stunningly unique and equally fulfilling.

Each time I am defeated by one of my idealized “romantic” affairs, I am met with the unwavering and overwhelming embrace of something that never leaves: platonic love. It’s the kind of love that remains constant amidst inconsistent and fleeting romance.

LATONIC LOVE Whether it’s maiming heartbreak or simply an unreciprocated crush, it’s friends that tell you they were never really that cute anyways. They remind you there was a you before them, and there’ll be a remarkable you after. Platonic love is fervently enduring: it is loyal, and honest, and waits for you with open arms no matter how far you stray away. It continuously finds you.

And once it does, it never leaves. It’s not a feeling you search for because you’re told you need it. It’s natural and surprising.

Platonic love is family turned into friends, and friends turned into family. It’s my beacon during life’s turbulent storms, guiding me out of the deep end and back to the surface.

Most people, including myself, view marriage as one of our paramount “end goals’’ in life. We wince in fear of falling short in finding our romantic partners by the time we reach “the dreaded 30.” But, why? We are made to believe that we are failing, or lost, if we don’t follow society’s blueprint: one that involves finding our for-life, romantic soulmate before we’ve entered our third

decade. It’s as if our lives take a dramatic detour at this age, and everything we revere about independence morphs into something that we are ashamed of. Why should bringing our best friend as a plus-one become a topic of concern once we reach a certain age?

While the source of our enduring love and validation can certainly be derived from a romantic relationship, it does not have to. Intimacy is not exclusive to romantic love. It turns out, intimacy lies in places where we don’t often look for it. Don’t get me wrong, romantic love is a beautiful thing. It can adorn your life, make you feel safe, and show you excitement in the mundane. Romantic love can save you from dark places, and hold your hand through new ones. It can lead you to feel more understood than you ever thought possible– but so can platonic love.

Intimacy saturates platonic love. Intimacy is a girls wine night on a boyfriend-less Valentine’s day. It’s sleepovers in ALIGN 12

my roommate’s bed when mine is just one room over. It’s secrets spilled deep into our couch, along with abandoned Juul pods and chocolate cake crumbs. It’s 4x6 memories plastered to our walls: postcards from our past because every moment we share is noteworthy. Intimacy is feeling more at home in my little college house than any home I’ve had before. It’s riends that don’t make me regret saying how I feel, but eager to let my emotions run freely. It’s morning debriefs, weeknight cigarettes, and my friends telling me it’s only embarrassing if I let it embarrass me. It’s the people that make Eugene, Oregon the best place on Earth.

Platonic love is an intimacy that surpasses bodily desire– it’s pure, it’s untouchable, and spiritual. It’s love in shared experiences, in relatability, in concurrent growth. It’s a raw intimacy: one that shatters apprehension of being physically undesirable, because our friends would never see us for anything short of our soul. In platonic love we dive head first into vulnerability, free of judgment and facades because we’re unafraid of impending heartbreak or romantic rejection. We don’t question if we’re enough for each other: we’re reminded through our enduring commitment to hold space for each other. Yet platonic love never feels like an obligation, however, it’s visceral. We don’t support each other because we’re obligated to; we do it because we live to. We don’t want, or need, anything in return. It’s unselfish love.

Platonic love isn’t a placeholder for our awaited romantic relationships. It’s intentional and it’s relentless. It reminds us that we’re not really single when we’re “single.” The love that my friends have shown me has taught me to bypass society’s traditional idea of romance. They’ve shown me that romance is everywhere and that no form of love is more fulfilling than the other. They’ve shown me that how my life feels is more important than how it looks, and they make my life feel like one worth living.

WRITTEN BY RILEY KENNON ART DIRECTOR & DESIGNER PAYTON ALONZO PHOTOGRAPHED BY FRANCESCA MILHIZER MODELS MADDY YEN & ALLISON GORDON

AI and Sex:

What Could Go Wrong?

WRITTEN BY BOOCHIE POST

I

n 1739, Jacques de Vaucanson unveiled his digesting duck to the world. His duck could eat kernels of grain, metabolize them, and excrete the waste. But what set his duck apart from the rest of the animal species was its entire mechanical interior, making it one of the first automatons ever made. Vaucanson’s invention marked a new trajectory for technology, and established the existence of what we would call robots today.

brought to your attention that someone had a sex doll made to your likeness, would you feel your bodily rights were being violated? Moreover, in Doctor P’s words, how is the “power of speech,” or in my words, consent, muddled with the invention and use of sex dolls? Sex dolls do more harm than good for the sex industry. They trivialize the human body and the boundaries and agency that are inherent to each and every one.

Inspired by Vaucanson’s duck, other French inventors began exploring the untouched world of robotic devices.

Some found a prosperous market in the realm of sex. It didn’t take long before human bodies were being mechanically mimicked, and “designed to provide substitutes for human genitalia,” to act as surrogate sex partners (Levy). In a conversation with 19th century French author Rene Schwaeblé and one of these inventors called Doctor P, we get insight into how some of the first sex dolls were fashioned.

While sex robots were invented hundreds of years ago, they didn’t become mainstream until technology and the internet became commonplace.

Now, people have an intense attachment with their smart screen, whether that be a phone, tablet, or laptop. Norman Holland, a former literary critic, pointed out this intimate relationship many people have with a computer. He said that humans form bonds with computers more easily than other objects because a computer displays intelligent behavior like another human. Advertently or inadvertently, we project fantasies onto the computer: “phallic fantasies of power and oral fantasies… that the computer is between human and thing.” Holland lists various types of quasi-human relationships that arise with our computer: a helpmate, a genuine friend, a permissive parent, a sex object, or a sex partner. Ultimately, the one in charge of the creation and continuation of the relationship is the only real human: you.

“Every one of them takes at least three months of my work!... there’s the hair on the head, the body hair, the teeth, the nails… The only thing these haven’t got is the power of speech!” (Levy, 179) Doctor P’s enthusiastic pride is almost tangible through these written words.

His customers undoubtedly shared his enthusiasm. Some would even go as far as requesting dolls that replicated an actual person they desired.

Rene Schwaeblé’s interview with Doctor P raises a number of questions and concerns. Most notably, who has ownership over a particular body? If it was

As Holland points out, power is an inherent aspect of these partial-human relationships. The consumer has the power to dictate what the relationship entails, while the computer remains in a passive, compliant state. With this in

mind, it is apparent how this relationship is mirrored in the sex industry, most notably with sex robots and their consumers.

David Levy, chess master and artificial intelligence connoisseur, believes that the interest in sex robots stems from the control the consumer has in all aspects. In a typical sex worker-client encounter, the sex worker charges an hourly rate, as well as an increased pay depending on the client’s special preferences. In the case of a robot-client interaction, the monetary association dissipates in the client’s mind.

They pay once, and the client can live out their most heinous fantasies without having to pay anything extra. The intrigue in the robot experience also stems from the fact that they are programmed to express affection and other emotions that are entirely convincing. There is no deliberation whether the robot desires to leave, or is second guessing the blowjob they’re giving, because that’s what they’re quite literally made to do.

As we continue to program more and more advanced computers and artificial intelligence, what will happen to the advancement of sex robots? Will manufacturers grant them consciousness? How will this complicate our conceptions of agency and consent?

My hope is the market for sex robots will drop and disappear. Consumers of this market possess an inordinate amount of control and power over another body once they’ve made their purchase.

While the doll’s complete composition is mechanical, they are made to appear entirely real. This poses a sincere danger: buyers will assume that non consensual sex is permissible, with an authentic or artificial body.

ILLUSTRATED BY KAITLYN CAFARELLI ALIGN 16

DESIGNER SOPHIE SARGEANT ALIGN 17

It’s Just Not Sexy Enough W

hen I was 18 and a virgin, I wanted people to look at me a certain way. I wanted to be sexy, powerful, and to reclaim my body. I associated power with sex, but that isn’t how power works...at least not for most women. All of the young women around me who I associated with having power were hooking up with strangers, posting provocative photos, and constantly talking about their sex lives in public. I believed I could reclaim my sexuality in the same way they had. When I finally tried swimming in those waters, it wasn’t as empowering and luxurious as I had once been told it would be. No other person or outfit made me feel powerful or in control of my body. In fact, I felt like shit sleeping with strangers and wearing tight clothes. I fell for the illusion.

Women have been manipulated into thinking we can “reclaim our power” through actions that inherently serve men’s needs and gazes. It’s your body, so it’s your choice, but how often are we actually making the choice to objectify ourselves? Is it normal to pawn off my body for an inkling of power? Perhaps it’s normal, but it shouldn’t be.

We have streamlined far too many problematic and abusive behaviors in heterosexual relationships because of pornography, and a general fear to “kink shame” certain actions. Shame is a scary feeling, yet shame is what holds us accountable. You should feel shame if hurting someone gets you off; and no, shame shouldn’t turn you on. BDSM relationships have been marketed through books like 50 Shades of Gray,

and the media’s push to normalize aggression and shame in sex. Some may say,“but it’s just a kink! They don’t act that way outside the bedroom.” Maybe, but why does slapping or other forms of aggression towards you turn them on?

Where does that kink stem from? Our society needs to be critical when talking about kinks, rather than just being afraid of offending or shaming someone. Does him slapping you turn you on? Or are you just expected to enjoy whatever he does to you so he feels good? Him feeling pleasure is not enough of a reason for you to give up your bodily autonomy. If he needs to hurt you to feel present during sex, maybe he should go to therapy.

The largest media platform that is defining our sex lives is pornography.

It is free and easily accessible, one of the many reasons why it is terrifying. In most pornography, women are removed from the narrative. They are depicted as “young” or “freshly 18,” and then they “act” in a way that feels, in so few words, dumb and naive. Women are being portrayed as sexual and clueless dolls whose sole purpose is to sexually satisfy a man. Boys and girls are exposed to this media at such a young age where they are raised to assume this is normal. When children stumble upon these websites, they are afraid to discuss it with their parents. We have so much shame around discussing healthy and empowering sex that we deny young adults the right to have safe and satisfying sex.

that is the ideal scenario, many people won’t stop watching porn. But, we can promote more queer and womencentered porn. Making porn more inaccessible by requiring consumers to pay for access could also minimize the amount of damage done by having porn available. Children won’t stumble on random pornographic websites and the women who are featured in those films would be compensated more, hopefully.

Reframing how we view sex allows each person to rewrite their narrative. What turns you on? What feels safe? Who am I choosing to share my pleasure with? Sex isn’t about giving and taking, it’s about meeting in the middle and connecting with someone. Or, connecting with yourself. When you effectively articulate your needs and desires, sex can be more than just a physical connection, it’s an opportunity to foster true intimacy and confidence. This isn’t to say you can’t have casual sex, you most definitely can.

It just means that casual sex shouldn’t feel threatening or performative. Casual sex should mean that both parties, or everyone included in that party, should leave satisfied.

Sex should feel empowering, but not in the way that we have often been told it would be, whether by our partners, parents, educators, media, or big brands.

We should each take a step back and think about how we engage with sex, kinks, and pornography. Once we reflect on those issues, then we can each feel empowered before, during, and after sex.

So, how can we change this phenomenon? Well, we can start with refusing to watch pornography. Though WRITTEN BY QUAYE MEADOW

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PHOTOGRAPHED BY GUSTAVO DEL REAL

ART DIRECTOR LINDSAY ROGERS ALIGN 20

MODEL SISI HUSING ALIGN 21

* Trigger Warning: Discussion of Mental Health *

W

hether you’re in your room or surrounded by your favorite people, loneliness manifests in a multitude of ways and in a variety of places.

At parties, movie nights with friends, or hanging out with roommates, thoughts and anxiety can creep up and diminish your own perception of yourself. These “tentacles,” coined by the brilliant author Ned Vizzini, twist themselves around you to the point where your mind is consumed by these anxieties: the last thing you said was stupid, you’re sitting weird, stop talking! Losing yourself in the whirlpool of anxious thoughts, you retreat into yourself and spiral while those around you have no idea. Omnipresent and ceaseless, tentacles can ruin your night just as it gets started.

This is your brain’s way of playing tricks on you. It’s anxiety being at the forefront of all you can feel or think about. The onset of knowing that once these feelings happen, there’s no place you would rather be than alone in your room wallowing or journaling in your bed.

Sometimes there’s a premonition that it will happen, other times, tentacles slink up without warning.

The pounding in your ears, slight nausea, racing heart, heaving chest, trembling hands, and silent tears, all coalescing into a perfect storm of polarizing and isolating thoughts. Your mind and body fixating and sweating over the worst conceivable scenarios that, feasibly, would never happen. Except you can’t talk yourself down from these projected trepidations, it almost always requires an external force.

Tentacles, like an animal stalking its prey, are always lurking. They hit their target regardless of time or place.

They predate sleep, keeping one up for hours at a time, squeezing tighter and tighter until it envelopes its victim.

For some, it’s easier to imagine these anxieties as some external force, hence the symbolism of tentacles.

This compartmentalization simplifies the relationship between an individual and their emotions, allowing one

to view these anxieties as outside of themselves. Despite an inextricable relationship, this dissociation can make these overwhelming emotions easier to decipher.

In these moments, life can feel surreal and removed from the world around you. Coping mechanisms come in many forms depending on the environment or company you find yourself in when blindsided by these anxieties. In social settings, you completely detach and withdraw from conversation, and internalize these social stimulations. These are arguably the worst: you are not always able to completely isolate yourself and are at the mercy of the tentacles. You then have to fight an internal battle between feeding into the anxious illusions and disengaging, or forcing yourself to remain involved in social interactions, both of which are crushing and depleting. Compelling yourself to then interact with those around you results in a heightened sense of awareness and self critique, worrying that everything you are saying will come across as bizarre, the worst trip in the world.

The other option is to flee, to isolate, and give in to the delusions that your body is feeding you. Wallowing in these ensnaring thoughts can bring momentary relief.

But as the tentacles tighten their grasp, one can find themselves spiraling to the seeming point of no return.

With no other distractions around, these moments can seemingly last forever with no end in sight.

When given the choice, many choose to withdraw into themselves completely. This perpetuates a dangerous cycle. Check in on your friends who stop talking at the hangout, who stop responding to texts all together, who no longer participate in the things that make them happy. Wallowing in these worries is sometimes the only thing that can bring a shred of relief. However, sitting alone with these thoughts and anxieties can allow one to become all too familiar with them, drowning with no lifeline, tentacles pulling you down into an abyss.

WRITTEN BY WESLEY JOHNSON DESIGNERS SOPHIE SARGEANT & ZACH SCHACHERER

PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR NATALIE ROBINSON ALIGN 22

AI AND ART is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

B

y now, most students have heard or taken advantage of artificial intelligence, otherwise referred as AI, to assist in homework, cover letters, email drafts etc.

Resumes or even love letters have seen added fluff thanks to the new technology. What once seemed like light years away has made its way onto everyday computers, and is definitely here to stay. It’s something out of a sci-fi movie, a cautionary tale to humanity about the dangers of relying on technology.

A.I. generated art has been around for years. But tools and programs released this year — with notable contributions from DALL-E 2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion — have made it possible for amateurs and newbies to create complex, abstract or photorealistic works simply by typing a few words into a text box. Thoughts are translated into visuals without requiring an artistic hand.

With such staggering advancements and results, a question of principle is raised. Is a career as a traditional artist dead?

Does AI-generated art hold less value than human crafted art, if any? Is resistance to the technology stemming from fear of the unknown? Is an idea worth more than how it is produced? Ultimately how does AI change art and culture?

For starters, it makes art far more accessible for those unable to purchase supplies, have access to a studio, or simply lack the experience and talent to physically create.

This barrier to entry has been broken down for anyone with access to the internet. Historically, art has been perceived as a reflection of extremely talented people’s skills and thoughts -- spoken about and admired as though it is beyond the capabilities of the average person lacking seemingly supernatural gifts. This mentality has persisted despite those who have said otherwise. Maya Angelou once wrote, “Find some beautiful art and admire it, and realize that that was created by human beings just like you, no more human, no less.”

To be fair, there are folks in the art community that want art to be accessible. Their efforts are seen in places like community craft centers and art classes in public schools, but often are not taken seriously or funded appropriately because there is not much revenue in casual art. But the truth remains: art is for everyone. It just only becomes publicized when it holds monetary value or acts as a nuanced statement.

Art can exist for the sake of art, but does the art created by artificial intelligence put those who rely on creating it as a source of income at risk? The romanticized struggling artist trope may get a whole lot harder, but only if we as humans place value in the AI art. Capitalism depends on people placing value in ideas, items, and each other. I believe in the value of human art, and see it as more valuable than anything AI can produce. If there is a fear of losing

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“It’s something out of a sci-fi movie, a cautionary tale to humanity about the dangers of relying on technology.”

“Is a career as a traditional artist dead?”

“I believe in the value of human art...”

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jobs and appreciation for art, then it’s important for people to actively combat it or at least withstand the temptation, especially fiscally.

It’s clear that with AI, anyone can generate a piece of art. Ornate patterns, expressions of human emotion, and entire buildings can be generated in less than a minute. Even more controversial, AI can mimic exact artists’ styles, arguably diminishing the value of a signature style if reproduction is accessible to the public at no cost.

But before we chalk up everything produced with AI as robotic, underhanded art, let’s take a closer look at the process behind the finished product.

considered art—folks argued a machine was doing much of the work, and they weren’t wrong. Eventually the resistant crowd relented, and now over a century later, photography has established itself as a fine art genre. Today, photographs are exhibited in museums and auctioned off at astronomical prices.

If history repeats itself (and it often does), AI’s capability to generate art will also have great implications for the art market. It could create new categories of art, similar to NFTs. Already, AIgenerated art is being sold both like physical paintings in exhibitions and in the crypto market as NFTs. So will human art be replaced?

To create AI art, programmers write algorithms not to follow a set of rules, but to “learn” a specific aesthetic by analyzing thousands of images. The algorithm then tries to generate new images in adherence to the aesthetics it has learned upon the user’s request. Throughout this process, the person maintains an active hand: they’re involved in both the pre- and post-curation, and change the algorithm as needed to generate the desired outputs. Undeniably, there’s a human process behind the art that is produced and there is always an element of intent.

Perhaps AI will simply become another tool in the artist’s toolbox, no different than the thousands of other innovations once considered new and threatening tech. But human beings have always viewed the capability and potential of machines with suspicion at first. Ahmed Elgammal, a professor at the Department of Computer Science at Rutgers University compares this subject matter to that of photography over a century ago.

That seems unlikely -- because human emotions, feelings, thoughts and ideas are still unique and intangible things that computers can’t replicate.

Instead, I believe we can look forward to a world that sees collaboration between humans and AI to produce high-quality and complex art in various forms. Because it’s not just about the final image, and art never really has been. It’s about the creative process—one that involves an artist, an idea, and tools to explore new visual forms in revolutionary ways. It’s worth reminding ourselves that the value of art is only what we want it to be, so it’s up to us as consumers what we find value in. For me, it will always be art created with the human hand.

He explains that when photography was first invented in the early 19th century, it wasn’t

What is art if not simply defined by the eye of the beholder? Beauty and art has been and always will be subjected, which is what makes it so different from other disciplines and what unites people across all cultures and connects us to the past, helps us understand the present, and look forward to the future.

WRITTEN BY LEAH PRATLEY

ILLUSTRATOR & DESIGNER ELLA NOTDURFT

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MODELS SIMONE BAEZA, MADDIE MIDGHALL & AIDAN NICO GRATTON

MONOCHROMATIC MAXIMALISM O

n March 6th, 2022, Valentino debuted their Autumn/ Winter 22’ collection, but it wasn’t just any typical fashion show. Every aspect, from the clothes to the venue, focused on one specific shade of pink. Enter Valentino’s Pink PP (inspired by the creator Pierpaolo Piccioli) Collection, which followed an experimental urge of radical gesture and took maximalism to a whole new level.

It all started with one of the best clothing line campaigns in fashion history. Zendaya, Hollywood’s sweetheart, was the star muse for this grand announcement. Seeing the actress in a monochromatic blouse and floral crepe couture pants paired with platform heels and topped off with an elongated trenchcoat somehow gave her more power than she already had to begin with. This stunt alone kick-started one of the biggest fashion trends of this year: monochromatic maximalism. To give it even more exposure, Valentino displayed advertisements across social media and throughout fashion capitals of the world drawing attention to this specific shade of hot pink. To top it all off, the brand officially partnered with Pantone in order to familiarize society with this color. This sparked a new type of aesthetic: one that has to do exclusively with the term monochrome. When the monochromatic Pink PP fashion show occurred, a revolution began.

be boxy and oversized, and it can be leather or feathery. The idea of it may appear simple, but in actuality, it says a lot. Basically, Pink PP is a blank canvas of opportunity in the world of maximalism. It may seem like people scrambled to snatch the first clothing item/ texture they could find, but it works and looks incredibly expensive.

In fact, layering, aka the romanticization of dripping in riches, is the key to pulling this off. There is no doubt that this shade of hot pink is an attention-seeker, it screams power-hungry and it makes an amazing statement piece. Because corporate brands recognize this, they have incorporated hot pink pieces into their repertoires.

Clearly, this is the beginning of an electric new trend called monochromatic maximalism.

Although maximalism has been deemed “in,” there was a recent obsession with minimalism across corporate America. Throughout the last decade, we’ve all been taught “less is more.” Maximalism’s predecessor minimalism consisted of pretty pastels and neutrals; a

This idyllic statement of beauty has taken over the fashion world because of its star power. Adopting a ‘campy’ spin on gilded glamor, Glenn Close, Sebastian Stan, and more decided to step out from head-to-toe in full-fledged Valentino Pink PP outfits for the 2022 Met Gala. It got them more attention than some of the on-theme gilded glamor outfits themselves. A-list celebrities soon started wearing the shade to more events as evidence of their star status, and to inspire their audiences.

Eventually, the color made its way to the cover of notorious fashion magazines. In the case of Emma Chamberlain for Vogue Australia, Chamberlain wore a Valentino Pink PP custom piece to remind the world that she is a powerful figure in the industry despite her young age.

Pink PP isn’t just a way to play with color, it’s a way to experiment with material and pattern. It can be mesh, it can be sequins, it can

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way to express innocence and cleanliness through clothing. Sure it’s chic and put together, but it’s basic, it’s meant for blending in with society. This results in the loss of true self-expression, you can’t truly express yourself as a minimalist. Once maximalism came into play, all bets were off the table. People began experimenting with layering and texture as a way to express themselves through clothing. No outfit is identical to the next. This is the best part about maximalism, the individual aspect where people can really embody a “you-do-you” look. There is so much room for variety involving colors, patterns, and even materials which allows them to find a fine line between what is comfortable for them and what can get them out of their comfort zone. People gravitate towards certain colors depending on their moods, but Valentino’s Pink PP campaign was designed in order for people to realize bright colors exude both confidence and success.​This color allows anyone to transform into the most dominant person in the room.

If minimalism is considered neutral and pastels, then maximalism is all about bringing extravagant colors back to clothing. Anything eye-catching and bold is deemed irresistible.

How is “monochromatic’’ the new form of maximalism when maximalism is all about creative self-expression? That’s the thing, head-to-toe monochrome outfits challenge the minds of fashionistas. They must play with this specific idea of duality, aka, shapes and textures. This allows people to delve into what they appreciate about their identity, whether that is through something as small as materials or as big as outfit structure. People, regardless of gender, race or class, can use monochromatic maximalism to feel seen in the world. Taking one specific color and building on it through layering varieties of clothing creates this grand twist to the term “maximalism.”

Take Rihanna’s iconic Super Bowl LVII outfit. The superstar entered and exited on a 60ft raised platform— a bright red firecracker in a Loewe jumpsuit with a custom molded breastplate blanketed in a leather maxi puffer coat by Alaïa. From head to toe, Riri sported an electric shade of red, proving that she is not a force to be reckoned with.

This is the whole idea: it forces people to pay attention to you.

It may just be one specific color, but it has many materials, a collaboration of styles, textures, heritages, and versatility. This is just the beginning of the monochromatic maximalism movement.

DESIGNER EMMA MCGONIGLE PHOTOGRAPHED BY SALLY FINNIN ART DIRECTOR MIRA EAGAN WRITTEN BY SYLVIA DAVIDOW PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR ANNA CARRILLO

bling! bling! bling!

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THE

E

SECRET TO

HAPPINESS

ver since I was young, I’ve always wondered if there was a book that described the secret of how to get through life. It’s something I think we all have questioned throughout our time on earth: how can we be content with the life we live? Many of us have tried ways to find bliss in our lives. We constantly feel we have to revamp our methods to keep up with the trend cycle. However, I feel like I’ve garnered life experience after 20 years on earth(and a lot of social media research). I think I’ve found the real secret to ALIGN 31

true happiness: romanticizing the little things in life.

Romanticizing involves finding joy in simplicity while also making the mundane aspects of life attractive. It’s turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. According to Christina Caron for The New York Times, the term ‘romanticize your life’ longs for us to “appreciate what we have right in front of us and to live with intention, no matter how mundane our daily rituals might be — a

reminder to look for moments of beauty and embrace minimalism.”

How do we pursue this piece of happiness? One way involves writing down the small things we take for granted to gain an appreciation for them which is called the gratitude method. We can also find ways to spice up certain tasks in life. This is called the main character method.

The gratitude method fosters aspects of mindfulness— something I have personal experience with. One summer in high school, I had a mental health scare and there was a moment when I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, I learned how to incorporate mindfulness into my life during that time.

Mindfulness is the idea of being fully present within a moment.

Through the act of mindfulness, we can use the gratitude method to incorporate romanticization within our own lives. I made it a habit to journal about small content moments throughout the month. They included smallthings like a sunset, a good song, the scent of flowers, and, the taste of comfort food.

I never knew how powerful writing down small moments could be. The experience changed my outlook on life in the best way. I realized that it’s not big moments like vacations, graduation, and getting a dream job/partner that make us happy. Instead, simple things like the smell of the ocean, the taste of a good meal, and the warmth of a hug bring out our true happiness.

Take a moment in a peaceful and comfortable environment that makes you happy. Close your eyes, breathe in the moment, and be truly present during a special experience. Aubrey Jane, a sophomore, uses relaxing walks as a way to stay present.

“I try to remember to pause my brain and take a deep breath of the fresh air and remember how grateful being outside is and how grateful I am to be where I am,” said Jane.

As her fashion and music taste evolves, she feels like she evolves as a person. Through romanticizing the art of music and fashion, Torres learned how to feel comfortable in her skin.

The main character method teaches people to romanticize their dream lives through the act of believing their goals can be achieved. Lanie Weingarten, a senior, has a dream of living in Paris and becoming a singer. She uses the drive for her dream to fuel her passion for achieving it.

“I think who you surround yourself with also has a huge impact on the level of the drive you have. So surround yourself with people who are energy suppliers and not energy vipers” said Weingarten.

Meanwhile, Zoe Holguin, a junior, has a dream of living in a beautiful house. She creates a ‘mood board for her future,’ by browzing the cities she’d love to live in on Zillow.

“I say to myself (out loud) that I’m going to live like this,” said Hoguin. This act reaffirms the success of my dream life “Small things like that reaffirm that I will be successful and have the life of my dreams if I continue to believe it.” It’s the idea of romanticizing the future through the acts of selfaffirmations and using visuals to imagine as if you are already living it that is the key to success.

So have a candlelight dinner for yourself, go try on wedding dresses for fun, and finger paint in a park. Whatever sparks joy is the key. But remember to embrace the sad days too by learning a sad song on an instrument, writing furiously in your journal, or going for a run in the rain. And if you have dreams,do whatever you can to bring them into existence, but also remember to live in the present as well.Because the real secret to happiness… don’t remember living through the giant milestones, but rather live vicariously through the everyday small moments.

The main character method is a different approach to romanticizing life. It’s creating a new point of view on certain tasks by offering ideas on how to diversify daily routines. Regarding romanticization, Maysee Russel, a sophomore, uses peoplewatching in coffee shops to live vicariously through others. She spends her time “making up stories for the couple laughing in the corner, or the old man reading his book on the couch.”

This method can also be a space where people are allowed to feel the feelings they long toembrace. This doesn’t just involve the positive feelings but also feeling out the negative or ‘blue’ moments. For example, Isabela Torres, a junior, uses music and fashion as a form of expression. For her, there are no rules on how to interpret these forms of art.

“I get into ‘moods’ where I want to listen to blues or funk, and I’ll make a little playlist,” said Torres. “I’ll then use that playlist to get ready and inspire/dictate my fashion for the day.”

ILLUSTRATED BY EMMA BALLMAN WRITTEN BY SYLVIA DAVIDOW PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR SARAH CAMPBELL DESIGNER SUNNY ANDERSON ALIGN 32

DA N C E R

DILEMMAS:

Scores and judges at competition

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I

was a competitive dancer for five years.

While I enjoyed the performance aspect of competitions, I didn’t like the cutthroat and dramatic atmosphere. Above all else, I hated being judged and scored for my dancing. I felt that all my hard work and dedication couldn’t be determined in a three-minute routine, but nonetheless scored. The way dance competitions are currently scored does nothing but promote subjectivity and encourage interchangeable routines filled with tricks.

Typically dance competitions are scored by a panel of three to five judges. Each routine is broken into specific divisions determined by age, level, and dance style to make scoring as fair as possible.

Scoring is usually based on a set of criteria: technique, choreography, performance, and appearance, with point values denominated to each of these categories. Each dancer’s score places them within a scoring category such as platinum or gold. If a dancer’s score is high enough they may even place in the top ten of their division. This all varies from competition to competition.

While discussing dance competitions with freshman Kirsten Heidinger, she shared her

experience as a competitive dancer for eight years and criticized the way competitions are judged. According to Heidinger, dances “shouldn’t be based around tricks.”

When Heidenger mentions tricks, she is referring to movements that are flashy and provide a picturesque moment. Whether it’s a turn, leap, leg, or flip, tricks rule the dance competition world. Moves such as an aerial or advanced turn sequences are guaranteed to be seen at every competition.

It seems that most dances, especially solos, are filled with trick after trick in order to showcase the dancer. However, it doesn’t necessarily showcase their dancing, rather it showcases their flexibility and ability to execute a challenging move. Despite this, routines with many well-executed tricks tend to score the highest.

Furthermore, Heidinger said, “I know if I were a judge at a competition… I would get so bored because most of the solos are so copy and paste.” She explained that many of the routines, especially solos, all look the same.

Everyone tries to score well, so they try to create a routine that follows this pattern of tricks. The pattern typically includes at least one acrobatic trick, one turning sequence, and one jump or leg extension.

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The more advanced the trick is, the better one will score. The few dances that have little to no tricks do well some of the time, but they are few and far between because no one wants to take the risk of not doing as well. While tricks catch people’s attention and provide a certain quality to a dance, it doesn’t make sense that the amount of tricks in a dance determines how well it does at a dance competition.

Heidinger also talked about how judges play a significant role in the scoring process.“Competitions [and the judges] have a lot of bias in them,” Heidinger said. She continued to say that her dance studio owner would remind her and her teammates: “different person, different perspective.” Regardless of whether or not a judge realizes, they aren’t objective in their scoring process. It’s hard to take away one’s personal perspective and

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professional opinion. A judge could know a studio owner, they could dislike a dancer’s costume, they could have choreographed the routine that’s competing— there is so much clouding their perspective that it’s impossible for them to remain neutral when it comes to scoring.

Dance competitions are a world of their own. The dances choreographed for competitions are created with the intention to score well and appeal to the judges.

Unfortunately, the idea of scores and placing in the top ten are more important to competitors than doing something creative and outside of the box. It will be interesting to see if in the next few years, anything has changed about the way dance competitions are scored because with the way it’s going, I wouldn’t expect anything that hasn’t already been done.

WRITTEN BY LILLY FOX PHOTOGRAPHED BY JACK WHAYLAND ART DIRECTOR EVA ROSE BRAZFIELD DESIGNER MEGAN LEE MODELS AMANDA CHANG & DANA SYLVESTER ALIGN 36

There was a surge of “women talking about the

epiphany of ‘’spa ‘’spa water,” water,” which in short terms is agua fresca

”

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The Harmful Implications of Many Mainstream Trends

W

hen rummaging history, we see endless trends rooted in Black and Brown communities utilized as a method to express themselves. We have seen these trends become a part of their culture and larger community. But we have also seen them shamed, bullied and victimized for trends that are seemingly back in and being relabeled as “cool” or “different”.

trends.” This Latina inspired, “clean girl aesthetic,” came shortly after the content of creators mocking Latina women. These videos often portray them as “loud,” “obnoxious,” and “ghetto” through “hot cheeto girl” videos. This further emphasizes not only white women’s inability, but refusal, to give women of color credit for their positive attributions to mainstream media.

Through the rise of TikTok we have seen the return of many fads from the 90s to the 2000s. But with that, I notice people neglect the fact that a lot of these trends originated in Black and Brown communities. For example, over the past few years we have seen street fashion find its way into communities that once isolated the pioneers of this style. Street wear originated from the Bronx in the 1970s . This style was a mix of inventiveness and accessibility. Baggy clothes quickly came into trend because of the ill-fitting hand-me-downs they often had to style. They would dress it up and explore new ways to wear it. For a long time streetwear was looked down upon and labeled as a trend for kids who wanted to be “rebels”. This approach to fashion and its correlation to hip hop quickly gained negative attraction. However, with the rise of social media we have seen communities that once condemned this fashion, tailor it to be “cool” and hit mainstream media.

Throughout history, normalities in different cultures like hoops, slick hair, different slang and clothing were shamed, labeled as “ghetto” and even used to victimize these communities. White people diving head first into these trends feels like a paradox.

We see this with other trends as well. We saw the rise of the “clean girl aesthetic,” displayed often as a tall, skinny, evidently rich white woman with slick ponytails, hoops and little to no makeup. From this one trend emerged many others. There was a surge of women talking about the epiphany of ‘’spa water,” which in short terms is agua fresca. Not only did the original trend just push their agenda of the Eurocentric beauty standard of tall, slim white women. But the other content that came from it continues to ignore their hypocrisy of demeaning trends just to recycle and claim them years later.

There are many ways cultural appropriation presents itself in the media, often we see people wearing an Indian headdress for Halloween or Black face. But there are more layers to it. I have seen endless creators indulge themselves in Black aesthetics, AAVE (African American Vernacular Language), or the imitation and mockery of Latinas. It is easy to ignore something you may see as harmless but indulging in this content and making it “viral” encourages stereotypes and fetishization often without realizing it.

No one is trying to say people may not emerge themselves in these smaller aspects of these cultures, nor does anyone control what you can or can not do. When done respectfully, it can be viewed as appreciation. But ignoring the fact that people of color established your “new trend” years ago is important. I think many people of color could agree they do not want a scripture protecting and acknowledging every trend you choose to partake in, but not stealing and refurbishing trends and pushing harmful stereotypes is the bare minimum. In simple terms, be more socially aware, and do not underplay the role you play in an ongoing problem.

WRITTEN BY NICOLETTE CRUZ

Many Latina women came forward, not opposing the start of these fads, but castigating the white creators inability to acknowledge the true roots of these “new

ILLUSTRATED BY KAITLYN CAFARELLI DESIGNER SOPHIE SARGEANT

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WRITTEN BY MIA MICKELSON PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANNA WALTERS & AINSLEY MCRAE ART DIRECTOR & DESIGNER AINSLEY MCRAE MODELS JOEY RYAN & SACHIKO NISHIKAWA PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR SARAH CAMPBELL

Y T I L A U D I V I D IN N O I H S A F OF ALIGN 39

N

I

love to see people with unique, personal styles. When passing by outfits that look the same every day, seeing a unique coat or cool pair of shoes, like a pair of vintage cowboy boots, or an old suede coat really inspires me.

A few days ago, in the dining hall, I saw a man wearing the highest-waisted pants I had ever seen. The ensemble was complete with a button-down shirt and colorful suspenders. When looking at his outfit, all I could wonder about was how he developed his personal style and what inspired his outfit.

So, in order to discover what inspires people’s personal style, I started to ask questions. I asked my roommates, my friends, and even the people next to me in lectures: “What is your biggest style inspiration?” After hearing everyone’s response I was able to pinpoint some personal style inspiration down to celebs, content, and ultimately confidence.

When asking Emma Nazerno, 19, about what inspires her, she said, “I’m inspired by Princess Diana!”

One of the most common sources of inspiration for people seemed to be celebrities such as Bella Hadid, Alexa Demi, and LilyRose Depp. From casual paparazzi pics to red-carpet glam, celebrities have the ability to inspire people with their luxurious wardrobes and personal stylists.

Another huge source of people’s inspiration and personal style comes from the “aesthetics” they relate with the most. An aesthetic is a label put on to a specific style or pieces of clothing to summarize the feelings that the aesthetic invokes. These aesthetics are commonly found on content creation platforms such as Pinterest. On this application, people can create “boards” centered around certain aesthetics. People will gravitate toward a specific aesthetic to provide inspiration for their daily outfits.

Some of the most common aesthetics mentioned were coquette, dark academia, and coastal grandmother.

But arguably, confidence is the most important factor when finding something that suits one’s personal style.

When talking to my classmate Sonya Godfrey, 19, she told me that when picking out an outfit she makes sure to choose something that makes her feel “confident

and comfortable.” Personally, a pair of low-rise jeans and tons of accessories are the key to making me feel confident in an outfit.

To find out more on the topic, I talked to the models that are working on this piece with us to gather some information on what inspires their personal style. First I talked to Sachiko Nishikawa, 19, and asked her to describe her aesthetic. What inspires you the most?

“That’s such a good question and not a simple answer.

But I think I would have to say my aesthetic is colorful, fairy-esque, boho chic, and giving Cancer energy,” she said. “As for what inspires me, I’d say my style is inspired by many different things and people, and honestly whatever I’m feeling that day, I attribute a lot of my style inspiration to Kali Uchis, Alexa Demie, Angel Moret, and Bella Hadid’s clean, colorful, and individual & personal styles.”

Another model working for Align had the same/ other thoughts on this subject. “If I had to put my aesthetic into words I think I’d have to say dressed-up alternative. My biggest style inspiration is definitely @UniformsofDaryl on Instagram. He’s an Australian fashion model and makes really clean outfit combinations that are usually centered around being versatile and practical which I appreciate. When I’m getting dressed, I usually start with whatever shirt I’m resonating with… and build the rest of the outfit around that,” Joey’s Ryan, 22, said. “I’ve been really into layering lately. I don’t love dropping huge amounts of money on clothes so I thrift most of the clothes I own to stay within my college-student budget. There’s no interaction I love more than someone complimenting a shirt of mine and being able to answer something along the lines of, “Thank you, I found it for $5!”

Personal style is ultimately… personal. The ideas, inspirations, and thoughts that go into an outfit varies from individual to individual. Whether you find inspiration from celebs, content, or confidence, your style is ultimately going to be an amalgamation of things important to you.

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No Longer Anonymous: Why I Read (and Submitted to)

Deux Moi

ILLUSTRATED BY AUBREY JAYNE WRITTEN BY BEATRICE KAHN DESIGNER MEGAN LEE

I

n mid-January 2023, Pete Davidson was less than a mile away from my high school in Beaverton, Oregon. How do I know this? The information was posted by the illustrious Deux Moi, an Instagram account that currently has 1.3 million followers.

Multiple times a week, DeuxMoi’s Instagram stories are proliferated with screenshots of anonymous submissions about celebrities, athletes, and public figures. People want to see where public figures are, what they are eating, who they are with and even what they are wearing – like Pete Davidson “making out with someone in the Nike Employee store in Beaverton, Oregon.” I am not here to describe the function of DeuxMoi. There are plenty of articles from the Atlantic and the New York Times that will outline Deux Moi’s notoriety, specifically their anonymity. I am here to share a secret – that I partake in DeuxMoi’s complex gossip world. And I went against my own code of ethics to do so.

I learned that two of my dorm neighbors are also ardent followers of DeuxMoi. Cami Kohnke and Kate Houston are first year students at UO. The first time I met Cami and Kate at our residence hall meeting, they each were sporting DeuxMoi’s eye-catching merchandise. Cami was wearing the DeuxMoi sweatpants with the saying “Anon Pls” printed on. “Anon Pls” is short for anonymous please, a request made by most submitters to DeuxMoi. Kate wore a DeuxMoi hoodie with a slogan for the restaurant Nobu, a frequent celebrity venue. Kate began following DeuxMoi in 2020 because during the pandemic, “life was boring.”

My personal involvement in Deux Moi-centered gossip began when I visited New York this summer. I had to be in the epicenter of DeuxMoi’s world to encounter a celebrity. I was outside of Cha Cha Matcha in SoHo admiring my green drink when I saw influencer Devon Lee Carlson and her sister Sydney enter the store. Subconsciously, I whipped out my phone and took a picture of the influencers, and in the back of my mind, I knew that it was my opportunity to send a submission to DeuxMoi. I was so excited to be a part of the “community” that I invaded a stranger’s privacy.

Some of Cami and Kate’s favorite people to look for in DeuxMoi’s stories were the Real Housewives, the Kardashians and actors from various Netflix series. Cami mentioned the second season of Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia; a follower asked DeuxMoi if there was any gossip about the show’s star Felix Mallard. Followers delivered, providing first hand accounts of Brianne Howey and Felix Mallard. By nature, DeuxMoi is interactive. The account depends on followers to share sightings and stories and ask questions. DeuxMoi has expanded their portfolio from a single Instagram account to merchandise, a book and additional Instagram accounts that reveal blind items. Blind items are submissions where no celebrity is named – the identity is determined through subtle clues. Kate said she follows both DeuxMoi and RevealMoi, an account that “reposts the blinds and people discuss it in the comments.”

I never saw my submission.

What motivated me to try so hard to make it onto DeuxMoi’s Instagram stories? Virtually all of the DeuxMoi submissions state the now infamous “anon pls,” a phrase requesting anonymity.

I wanted to be part of the community – a community centered around gossip.

DeuxMoi says it best in a New York Times article: “this information is not proven to be based in fact.” Before every outpour of gossip or celebrity sightings, DeuxMoi makes it clear through written form and video that some submissions may not be truthful. Truthfulness is the paradox of gossip.

Why am I so enamored with gossip and why do I spend my time tapping through possibly false statements about people I will never meet or know? DeuxMoi allows me to indulge in gossip with the choice of reciprocating. Rather than a face-to-face gossip session, I can choose to engage with DeuxMoi, as I did with my New York sighting. At the end of each week, on Sunday Spotted postings, celebrities will appear in grocery stores, malls, restaurants or even the Nike Employee store in my hometown. I read the gossip knowing that none of it has been verified – that is part of DeuxMoi’s allure.

For Cami, DeuxMoi is a platform to learn interesting stories about people who are so often ‘in character’ or incognito. She said, “over the weekends my mom and I would scroll through and gossip.”

Deux Moi has become more than an Instagram account for people to anonymously submit celebrity anecdotes. DeuxMoi has transformed into a brand for people to buy into. Just as I bought into the allure of submitting a “spotted” when I saw Devon Lee Carlson at a matcha store, the gossip community of more than 1 million people is special. Partly because DeuxMoi remains a private Instagram account, fewer people are in the know. Celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Madeline Cline follow DeuxMoi, demonstrating that public figures want to know if they appear in “Sunday Spotted” submissions. Cami and Kate said that at UO, DeuxMoi is “underground, maybe not as well known” as it may be on the East Coast or bigger cities. Cami expressed that her hometown in Arizona was never relevant for celebrity sightings. DeuxMoi may be lesser known in Eugene, but gossip will always be ready to be shared – online or in person.

The addition of attention-grabbing sweatshirts and attentionholding novels increases DeuxMoi’s grasp on the gossip world.

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WRITTEN BY CLAIRE CONGER PHOTOGRAPHED BY FRANCESCA MILHIZER ART DIRECTOR & DESIGNER PAYTON ALONZO

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trashcan

veganism!

I

t often feels like there’s no winning when it comes to food and the environment. Beef contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Almond milk uses a lot of water to create. PETA has accused Thai coconut milk to be a product of animal labor picking coconuts and deeming it “fair trade”[1]. Rather than rifling through your fridge and tossing every animal product and nare-do-well item, consider the mortal enemy of the environment: food waste.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, 30-40% of the food supply in the United States is wasted.[2] This equates to 1.4 billion tons of food every year. Food is the single most significant component taking up space in US landfills. One of the biggest reasons for this food waste is misinterpreting expiration labels. Attributing to 80% of food waste, this food is still consumable.[3] Meanwhile, new food philosophies and lifestyles such as veganism are becoming more popular. Some people become vegan for animal protection, nutritional goals, or the environment. Products from the meat, eggs, and dairy industries, contribute to more than half of carbon emissions.

In the US, where we consume three times more meat than the global average, veganism can help to reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by up to 73% says Food Unfolded in a 2020 article.[4] I acknowledge that’s a lot of statistics. But, with a lot of statistics comes an innovative solution: Trashcan veganism.

Alex Frankel, a friend of mine from high school, coined the term “trashcan vegan” as his contribution to caring for the environment through eliminating animal products while being conscious of food waste. Frankel’s philosophy to trashcan veganism is that he only purchases vegan groceries, but if a friend made something with an animal product or if it was going to be thrown away he’d eat it. “I started with a stricter veganism but found I was passing up offers on food from friends that had milk or dairy. If the food was already made, like a batch of cookies, I just accepted that it’s ok for me to eat it,” Frankel said.

As someone who would be vegan for environmental purposes, this got me thinking: Is veganism beneficial to the environment

if I am also contributing to food waste issues? At the same time, I’m a foodie at heart who will experience overwhelming FOMO by passing up an opportunity to taste a friend’s food rather than watch it go into the trash. To me, being a trashcan vegan sounds like a holistic approach to being environmentally conscious while also having moments to enjoy some non-vegan foods.

Food and how it’s enjoyed is different for everyone, but the joy in lifestyles such as trashcan veganism is that it can be tuned to however you see fit. Frankel keeps trashcan veganism true to his food philosophy by enjoying flexibility while steering clear of meat to honor his veganism. Similar mindsets can be found in “flexitarianism” where there is an emphasis on giving leeway for needs, desires, and fun.

One of the worries that many face when transitioning to veganism or vegetarianism is losing some of the fun in food.

However, in the age of TikTok and the growing vegan population, there is an ample supply of recipes and meal ideas to inspire vegan alternatives to everyday favorites. Overall, the most important thing is that being (or not being) a trashcan vegan, a vegan, or any other dietary preference, should be beneficial to what your body needs as nourishment, as well as finding enjoyment in food. Your well-being, the parameters of your religious practices, your lifestyle, and your happiness should all be prioritized. Trashcan veganism is not an effort to shut down any food practices but to suggest a flexible, environmentally friendly, and perhaps fun way to enjoy food. Listen to your body and what it needs. If you find true joy in being a vegan then pursue it. If it works out, you know you’re doing good for the environment while still being kind to yourself and your body.

[1] Gibson, Kate. “Hellofresh Accused of Using Coconut Milk Obtained from Monkey Labor.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 15 Nov. 2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/tampa/news/hellofresh-monkeys-coconut-milk-peta-animal-abuse/.

[2] Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Food Loss and Waste.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/food-loss-and-waste.

[3] “Food Waste in America in 2023: Statistics & Facts: RTS.” Recycle Track Systems, https://www. rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/.

[4]“What Is the Real Environmental Impact of Beef Production?” FoodUnfolded, https://www. foodunfolded.com/article/can-beef-really-be-low-impact#:~:text=Beef%20production%20carries%20an%20enormous%20environmental%20footprint%2C%20contributing,loss%2C%20 and%20even%20the%20degeneration%20of%20coral%20reef

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You’ll Never Guess What I Heard !

ILLUSTRATED BY AUBREY JAYNE WRITTEN BY AMELIA KENNEDY & TILLIE MOORE PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR MARDI PFEIFER DESIGNER PEYTON MCQUAIN

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‘‘

The countryside breeze sends a gust of wind through the hair of five noblewomen as they head to the market. Upon arrival, they are met with dismissal from the townsmen— they assume the women are talking senselessly.

Brushing it off, the women continue to share knowledge and intimate stories; they give each other advice and provide support.

These routine meet-ups outside the home release them from everyday silence.

The women find strength in their gossips, opposing the conventional dynamic between man and wife.

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he term ‘gossip’ is innately tied to women. In Greek mythology, Pheme personified fame, and her wrath caused scandalous rumors. She worked her way into the affairs of gods and humans, and with a whisper at first, she’d spread the information louder each time. Homer believed her to be the messenger of Zeus.

Her Roman counterpart, Fama, had multiple tongues, eyes and ears.

Virgil, a Roman poet, described her as having, “her feet on the ground, and her head in the clouds, making the small seem great and the great seem greater.”

the French term ‘commère’ now means “a person who listens to and passes on gossip.” Originally, the name was designated to a godmother or godfather.

During the 1500s, the word ‘gossip’ described a person, usually a woman, who enjoyed idle talk or tattling. During the Salem Witch Trials, female friendships were targeted during witch hunts.

A proclamation issued in 1547 “[forbade] women to meet together

is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men.” This dialogue follows seven Venetian women of varying ages freely discussing their opinions. What is so striking about this reading, is the complexity and relatability of the emotions and conversations portrayed. The women described are wealthy and educated, therefore more well off than those unlike them, yet they lack power.

Intelligence is power and in a society where women lacked power, they found a form of it through uninterrupted, meaningful discussion.

When looking at a group of women interested in conversation, it is easy to assume they are gossiping when they are spreading necessary information.

The activity may be gender-neutral, but the connotations are not. In the Middle Ages, some women, including Noblewoman and nuns, were literate, but this was largely restricted to the upper class.

Women of lower classes completed work that was genreded such as weaving, cooking and maintaining livestock. When completing these actions together, close friendships developed and were thus looked down upon. “The Worth of Women” exemplifies why female friendship is threatening to the patriarchy:

Intelligence is power and in a society where women lacked power, they found a form of it through uninterrupted, meaningful discussion.

Through t h e s e thousands of years, people told lies, laughed, misconstrued information and spread knowledge.

Women’s circles in 800 CE helped women understand spirituality and sexuality, while the Bible denounced tattlers and busy bodies. Yet, it was not until 12th century medieval Europe, the word ‘gossip’ took shape. Around 1014, an Old English phrase, godsibb, meant god parent. This role belonged typically to women who were present during childbirth.

These women partook in lengthy conversations while aiding the woman in labor, forming cherished and confidential bonds. Similarly,

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to babble and talk.” Husbands were ordered to keep their wives in the house, and if the woman left, she would be at risk of being accused of being a witch. Shakespeare first used the word as a verb in Midsummer Night’s Dream, which premiered in 1605. The term remained applied to a person until the 1800s when it transitioned to a type of conversation.

In 1600, Moderata Fonte published ‘’Il merito delle donne’’ or “The Worth of Women: Wherein

unhindered conversation fosters opinions and questions that directly oppose societal standards.

Gossiping can be seen as a way of bonding for women, signifying close female friendship and understanding. For example, during the Middle Ages in Europe, In tight-knit groups, women would perform collective tasks, such as making clothes and other artisan objects. Men were not a part of these specific activities, which threatened the idea that they are all-knowing. Reactionary responses took place with inventions to forcefully silence women. First reported in Scotland in 1567, women were forced to wear the Scold’s Bridle, or the Gossip’s Bridle. This was a metal device that sat over a woman’s head like a birdcage and tore their tongues if she tried to speak. The Ducking Stool was another form of torture used both in the Middle Ages and in the 1800s in the West.

While troubled couples sometimes participated, the device almost exclusively dunked women into the water to shame them for their conversations. Under torture, women were forced to denounce each other; mothers turned in daughters, and friends turned in friends. If men could make women feel failed by their matriarchy, they could hold power, while creating

mistrust among women. This created the perception today that women dislike one another and use gossiping as a way to spew jealousy or resentment.

Nowadays, gossip has taken a new role in celebrity culture.

No publicity is bad publicity.

Celebrities need to be discussed to maintain relevance. Instead of letting parasocial relationships create their narrative, celebrities use the attention to their advantage, reinstating gossip’s purpose: to serve oneself. Gossip has been used to culminate and fester, ruin lives, but this shift has proven that women can still use it to further themselves so long as they reclaim it.

Overall, the negative perception of gossiping persists, but its original function of cultivating close relationships has reappeared.

Casual gossiping exists simply between close friends—you wouldn’t share personal information with just anyone.

Within tight-knit social circles, gossiping is necessary to stay relevant and connected. At a bar, party or even in class people enjoy sharing tidbits of information on others. Whether it be as a funny story, praise or spoken with malicious intent, this action keeps someone in-the-know. The concept

that women use gossip to take down someone they are jealous of has not completely disappeared, but it’s not just women. It’s not the act of gossiping itself that is harmful, but the way we choose to share gossip that ultimately determines how damaging narratives get spun.

If people don’t talk, then nobody knows where to go, what to do and who to follow.

Works cited: https://resources.unbabel.com/blog/origins-gossip https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/howpatriarchy-redefined-gossip-to-be-a-womens-thing3aac0dcbdc14 https://apsnews.org/1089/entertainment/thehistory-of-gossip/ How did “the Gossip” Become a Woman? | Psychology Today https://www.jstor.org/stable/651105 https://www.neatorama.com/2011/02/07/scoldsbridle-medieval-punishment-for-gossiping-andquarrelsome-women/ https://www.thesaurus.com/e/ways-to-say/s/weirdwords-gossip-came/#origin-story https://academic.oup.com/restud/ article/86/6/2453/5345571

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Mother or Monster ?

?

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epicted in ancient Greek art there are ordinary men, heroes, gods, and goddesses— not ordinary women. Instead, ordinary women were turned into monsters or mothers; the two perceptions they acquired due to the patriarchy and mythology. They were depicted as either the enemy of humans or a vessel for fertility and child-bearing, and hardly anything in between.

Like so many other civilizations, Ancient Greek men declared themselves as all-powerful and superior.

However, Ancient Greece’s patriarchy was particularly hard on the common women of the society. It oppressed and secluded them in many aspects of life. Women were only to marry, bear children (preferably males), and maintain the home. At the age of 14 or 15, their fathers choose who they were to marry and then they were transferred from the protection of their fathers to the protection of their husbands. Women were instructed to listen to and obey their husbands.

Women were not permitted to attend many social events, school, or participate in social functions like politics and the military. The events that women were permitted to attend mostly revolved around the established roles of women in ancient Greece. For example, one religious event women were allowed to participate in was to serve the goddess Artemis at her sanctuary at Brauron. Young girls were instructed to act as untamed animals and would ultimately be domesticated through the act of marriage.

Certain publications like Xenophon’s, Oeconomicus, stated a desire to exclude women for benefit of the male members of a household. He suggested impersonal treatment to the women in order to mold a perfect wife for the specifications demanded by the man of the house.

Simply put, women were seen as obstacles and invaluable, and the men in charge of them must shape and mold them to be someone who is seen and not heard. Someone who knows their role and does not push back against it. Someone who exists solely for men’s convenience.

The role women were forced to play in ancient Greece was harmful due to their forced limited involvement in society, being handled as property of either their father or husband, and knowing their only true calling was to obey their husbands, bear children, and maintain the house. As if the role destined for women was not harmful enough to their lives and portrayals in art, Ancient Greek mythology blamed women for the downfall of men. The stories painted them as distracting and conniving to men’s great journeys.

Ordinary greek women like Pandora and Helen are depicted as evils in the ancient greek world.

The story of Pandora paints her as responsible for releasing all the evils that exist in the world today.

The story of Helen of Troy blames her for the Trojan War and all the deaths that occurred in it. In other cases, women were simply left out of the mythology stories despite their sacrifices and commitments to the men’s journey.

WRITTEN BY MICHAELA HAGEL PHOTOGRAPHED BY SNEHA CHOPRA MODELS CHI-AN LU, MELODY MOSES & SHALOM YEMANE ALIGN 50

Because the people of ancient Greece relied on these myths to dictate and rule their lives, women were either seen as evil or full-out ignored in artistic portrayals of Greek life.

Due to the simplistic greek caste system of gods first, goddesses second, men third, and women last, goddesses were depicted more positively in mythology and were afforded the same freedom that ordinary men were.

Accordingly, goddesses were not confined to the roles that the ordinary women of Greece were. They were allowed to give advice to powerful men, visit the underworld, and were not required to bear children.

However, although goddesses like Aphrodite were awarded some freedom, they were still commonly painted as deceiving and manipulative.

The Greek poetess Sappho described Aphrodite as “fancy-throned and deathless, the deceitful child of Zeus.”

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Ancient greek women were forced into a role that was enslaving and detrimental to their reputation. Because they were practically brainwashed into suppressing their voices, the men of ancient Greece were rewarded the freedom to paint them in any light they decided. We see this reputation carry on to women of the future, such as Anne Boleyn of England. Despite King Henry VIII cheating on her multiple times and being caught, she was beheaded because he claimed she was unfaithful to him.

Women in ancient Greece and women today must work twice or even three times as hard as men do to be believed, be listened to, and even be trusted.

The word of men is taken as fact, while the word of women is suppressed and taken as myth. This is true for ancient Greece as much as it is for today, we see tens of women claiming to be sexually assaulted by a single man, but because of the lack of tangible evidence, it is his word against the multiple women. Despite the numbers giving an advantage to the women, most of the time, the man’s story is believed.

DESIGNER PEYTON MCQUAIN ART DIRECTOR CAMILLE ANDREWS

Sources Met Museum Worcester Art Museum American Journal of Archeology Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

the role women play the role women play the role women play obey evil

goddesses goddesses goddesses

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Yik Yakkin’ DISCLAIMER While YikYak can be seen as a harmless entertainment app, meeting up with anyone from an app is dangerous and can have serious consequences.

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s I sat in the food court of the EMU, the smell of Chipotle wafting towards me, and my heart beating out of my chest, I couldn’t help thinking that maybe meeting up with an anonymous stranger wasn’t my brightest idea.

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In today’s world, meeting up with someone from the internet isn’t shocking.

Most people have through dating apps like Tinder, or social media like Instagram.

I had done that before. But as I fidgeted anxiously with my rings and scanned the crowd nervously, I realized this was a

completely unique experience.

I didn’t even know who I was looking for.

I was meeting up with someone from YikYak, a social media app that allows people to post anonymous comments

within a five-mile radius. Recently, they added a direct messaging feature, which allowed me to set up this interview. I had wanted to talk to an active YikYak user, but I was now wondering if it was worth it.

With YikYak, it’s not just used by college students. Anyone in a 5 mile radius could be on there, so that art major you’re talking to could be a 38-year-old creep.

Catfishing becomes a million times easier on anonymous apps, and predators might take advantage of YikYak, since they know it’s widely used by college students.

I still remember the first time I heard about YikYak, shortly after it had returned to UO’s campus in fall 2021. After being removed due to racism and cyberbullying, the app was reinstated with “Community Guardrails” to try and keep the platform clean of inflammatory language. Plus, the app is controlled by “upvotes” and “downvotes.” If a post receives more than five downvotes, it is automatically removed.

I avoided the app at first because, as I told my friends, it seemed like “a disaster waiting to happen.” Anyone can post anything, and there’s almost no consequences. But as more and more of my friends began using the app, I wanted to be in the loop, and frankly, I was curious.

A quick perusal of the app will show you a variety of content. From my experience, most comments revolve around things happening on campus, party locations, jokes, sexual content, and people trying to meet up. Before this interview, I had never met up with anyone from the app, nor did I ever have any intention to.

I knew nothing about this person, other than their emoticon. They told me they were a student at UO, but for all I know that could have been a complete lie. Doing an interview with a stranger is always nerve wracking, but at least I normally know their name. What if they’re a murderer?

Someone I know? A past lover? This is true investigative journalism right here, all in the name of Align Magazine.

My interviewee shows up and to my relief, they’re not a murderer, but a freshman, who wished to remain anonymous. For the sake of clarity, I will refer to him as John. After downloading YikYak in mid-September, he has now become a pretty consistent user of the app, mainly due to its concept.

“There’s a different kind of draw for everybody,” John said. “For example, this [interview] is part of why I think it’s cool.

There are cool opportunities to be found.”

John said sometimes they will go weeks forgetting about the app, but find themselves sucked in when they do return.

“The times I’ve come back to it after long breaks are out of boredom,” John said. “I will say, it is easy to scroll through and have a laugh at some of the stupid shit that is on there.”

John said there is a lot of bad content, but if you filter through, there’s useful information.

“I’ve gotten advice on there, tips about campus, and sometimes people ask about date spots,” John said. “There are gems, you have to dig for them, but there’s cool stuff in there.”

insecurity,” John said. “I know for a lot of people YikYak is an outlet where they can feel anonymous and disguised so they can say whatever they want.”

While John himself uses the app, he wouldn’t advise anyone else to.

“Most of the times that I tell people about YikYak, I tell them don’t use it, it’s not something I think anybody should use,” John said with a laugh.

I couldn’t help but agree, there’s a lot of negativity on the app. While it does provide mind numbing entertainment, for me, the constant stream of negative emotion ruins the fun, and the complete anonymity of the app adds an extra layer of danger. Still, John tells me I should stay on the app.

And with that, my anonymous meetup concludes.

While my experience meeting up with someone anonymously via YikYak went somewhat well, I also took precautions to ensure my safety. I met up with them during the day, at a busy location, and let my friends know what was going on and where I was. Whenever taking something from online to in-person, it’s important to take the same steps, as safety is the number one priority.

While this was my first time meeting someone off of YikYak, it wasn’t John’s.

He had once watched “Everything Everywhere All at Once” with some people from YikYak. “It was spontaneous so that was sick,” John said. “We watched a movie and got some snacks.”

John said that he doesn’t use YikYak to get things off his chest, more so to make jokes, but he could understand that many people use it to vent.

“From a psychological perspective, I could see how some could continue using something and then start making fun of it, because they know it’s taboo and out of

WRITTEN BY ELLA NORTON ILLUSTRATED BY KY MYERS DESIGNERS PAYTON ALONZO &ZACH SCHACHERER PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR ZACHARY JONES NEURAY

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PHOTOGRAPHED BY MAGGIE TROXELL

ALIGN 55 MODEL JOSE CARRILLO

ART DIRECTOR TATUM MUNDY

DESIGNER ZACH SCHACHERER

On the Cover of the Rolling Stone

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laying with both femininity and masculinity in fashion is nothing new, in particular, to the men of Rolling Stone. The biggest pioneers of feminity in men’s fashion include David Bowie and Prince. Recently, Harry Styles has become a more modern feminine men’s fashion icon after wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue in December 2020 and making headlines. Harry Styles also appears several times in Rolling Stone in feminine fashion. In 2022, he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone as the “king of pop,” wearing a white fur coat and sparkly pink shorts.

Rolling Stone holds the top position for consumer music magazines and has over 16 million readers (Hay, 2004). Rolling Stone is very progressive and has always targeted the youth as its audience; “We cover rock music and if that’s your beat, you stay young by definition,” said the managing editor of Rolling Stone, Robert Wallace. When discussing the change of audience for the magazine, Wallace states, “If we decided to age with our initial reader, we’d be covering the music they liked 20 years ago.”

Jann Wenner started Rolling Stone during the “Summer of Love”, a.k.a the summer of 1967.

At the time, Wenner was living in his mother’s basement with his girlfriend, Jane. Wenner felt most music magazines used their platforms to gawk at musicians rather than truly explore and cover the music. In Wenner’s words, “Rolling Stone is not just about music, but also about the things and attitudes that the music embraces.”

Magazines, such as Rolling Stone, have greatly affected the media’s representation of gender. Often, the media portrays masculinity and feminity in a rigid manner. However, the fashion in Rolling Stone portrays masculinity and femininity in a more flexible way. Playing with femininity in men’s fashion allows for more creativity because it goes beyond the stereotypical masculine standards. The representation of masculinity in media is an athletic, financially successful, and powerful

man. Beauty and fashion are a choice rather than something that is expected of the archetypal man. Therefore, a man in feminine clothes may feel beautiful and sensual in a way that he can’t achieve in masculine clothes. When a magazine with such a widespread platform, such as Rolling Stone, includes feminine men’s fashion, it defies typical gender representation.

Male musicians who have stepped out in feminine style in recent years have been highly celebrated. In the Rolling Stone article “The 25 Most Stylish Musicians of 2022”, Lil Nas X was named #1 on the list. Lil Nas X is known for rocking neon colors, mixed prints, and flashy accessories. One of his best outfits includes his VMA look in September 2021, in which he wore a lavender Versace suit-gown hybrid, paired with sparkly butterfly jewelry. Lil Nas X also had three stunning outfit changes at the Met Gala in 2022, during which he pushed fashion boundaries and turned heads. His three outfits included a long golden cape, a suit of armor, and finally a glittery catsuit. There is no doubt that Lil Nas X is dedicated to his fashion and was one of the most original celebrities at the Met Gala.

Another artist featured on the list was Tyler the Creator. Tyler’s “Le Fleur” fashion has inspired countless street style trends by merging preppiness with California skater style. Nothing is off limits for Tyler’s “cool guy image”. Often found wearing cropped pieces and pastel colors, Tyler sometimes appears in a bleach-blonde wig for fun. His style is laidback and trendy, with the ability to pull off bold pieces effortlessly.

Despite the impact of feminine men’s fashion and its presence in Rolling Stone, there is a very limited market when it comes to buying these pieces. Some sellers on Depop, a website where people can buy and sell trendy clothes, specifically market their pieces as androgynous.

Musicians like Bowie, Prince, and Styles have been wearing feminine fashion and now we’re seeing it beyond the stage. Although there is a lack of androgynous brands, Rolling Stone is one of the most influential magazines in the world— and their impact has been inspiring men to express their feminine side in the ways that are available.

WRITTEN BY FIONA ENGLISH PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR ALI BEDINGFIELD ALIGN 56

Align Magazine @align_mag

Separating The Artist From The Art: Is It Possible? #cancelculture 8:30 PM

March 7, 2023 WRITTEN BY EVAN HUNTINGTON DESIGNER STELLA RANELLETTI

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was quite the rebel in elementary school. Well, that is if “rebellious” behavior meant sneaking in a second generation iPod Nano in my pocket to listen to a couple songs during silent reading time, in which case, I was often guilty. As I hid in the back corner of the classroom, swallowed inside a large bean bag trying my best to conceal my wire earbuds, I always resorted to the same song — “Stronger” by Kanye West. Even with the novelty of having 1,000 songs in my pocket, the 2007 smash hit was always my first click.

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In the following years, my fascination with the groundbreaking Chicago rapper and producer never halted. His consistent experimental and forwardthinking sound felt lightyears ahead of its time, enthralling millions of fans like me and inspiring a generation of new artists to blaze their own creative trail. Throughout his career, it hasn’t been uncommon to hear his name and the word “genius” uttered in the same sentence.

But within the past few years, West’s so-called “genius” status became forever tainted when he crossed a line. Well, many lines.

West has never been a stranger to public controversy. Since his infamous interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, his impulsive and reckless behavior has been amplified through many alarming instances — calling slavery a “choice,” targeting the Jewish community with inflammatory hate speech, questioning the real cause of George Floyd’s death, and even endorsing Adolf Hitler. His reputation took the shape of an extreme duality — ingenious musician and problematic egomaniac all in one.

West is far from the only globally revered artist in the public eye to expose the controversial facets of who they truly are. These issues go all the way back to Pablo Picasso, who is widely considered one of the most celebrated painters of the 20th century. His distinct style is internationally acclaimed, yet many are unaware of his misogynist and sadist behaviors, as well as his emotionally abusive treatment of women. Picasso took pleasure in physically and mentally torturing the women who loved him and used it as part of his creative process, according to his granddaughter, Marina Picasso. He even stated in an interview that women are “machines for suffering.”

Despite these appalling remarks and actions, many artists who have a history of problematic behavior are still highly esteemed and glorified for their work.

Even if people are aware of their wrongdoings and the harm they cause, some still choose to overlook or completely ignore these harsh truths about the people they admire. We inherently know their actions are wrong, yet it can be hard to dismiss our love for their work and contributions to the craft. In these scenarios, the critical moral dilemma reveals itself — can we really separate the art from the artist? Or in other words, is it possible to distinguish our appreciation for one’s work from our condemnation of their actions?

This question in itself can be hard to approach, but no form of art can come without the artist. Art ultimately reflects the creator’s identity and is often an extension of who they are. Experiences, emotions, and personal stories all come together to influence

creative expression, so taking the artist away from the equation removes any sense of meaning and context.

Removing Picasso from his art means ignoring the fact that many of his pieces depicted underage women, whom he often had relationships with and would exploit to make a profit. In cases like these, making a distinction between the creator and their work is nearly impossible.

It can be hard for someone to suddenly push away a piece of art they loved, even when the artist remains controversial. Many attempt to justify their continued consumption of one’s art by claiming their work doesn’t explicitly reflect or state the problematic actions and contentious values they hold in reality. One could argue that West’s 2008 hit song “Heartless” does not directly depict any harmful or questionable lyrics that coincide with any real inflammatory behavior. Thus, differentiating West and his personal values from the seemingly harmless song can be achieved. Whatever the case, showing support for an artist can come in many forms, and all consumers have a responsibility to acknowledge and understand the weight of one’s actions before proceeding with a moral decision.

Everybody absorbs art differently, and everybody has their own moral codes by which they lead their life. At the end of the day, there are no clear-cut answers for how to approach moral dilemmas as they pertain to art and its innovators, but we must confront these uncomfortable situations head on. At the very least, these questions should not serve to provide people with the “right” answer with binary justifications, but rather they should ignite discussion and provoke conscious reflection. It’s up to the individual to decide how to deal with these predicaments, but regardless of which side one leans, they must hold artists accountable for their actions. It is only when we recognize and address the weight of an artist’s behaviors that we can make a decision about how, or if, we want to further consume their art.

It’s hard to bring myself to listen to West like I used to in the iPod era of my elementary days. Admittedly, it’s been difficult to deal with one of my favorite artists going down such a deplorable path, forever affecting how I hear the music I loved for years. But perspectives change just as people do. So as tragic as it may be, his music will never sound the same anymore, and my days of blasting “Stronger” in my earbuds will have to take a long hiatus.

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ART DIRECTOR KAELIN ACKEN PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARY GROSSWENDT DESIGNER ALLY WOODRING WRITTEN BY EMILY ROGERS MODELS LANIE WEINGARTEN & LILY POAT

The Latest Language o exist in girl world you must adhere to a set of unspoken rules of female friendships known to be the sacred acts of girl code. One of the crucial requirements is the ability to talk “girl talk”. Girl talk involves a set of ethics that focuses on banding together under the commonality of the female experience. Coming with its own forms of morphology, syntax, and semantics, girl talk is its own language. However to understand the covert language of girl talk, one must first understand the way in which female friendships themselves are formed.

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Linguist and New York Times bestseller Debroah Tannen has dedicated her research to how everyday language affects relationships. In a podcast with American linguist John McWhorter, Tanner is interviewed about her research in which she describes the baseline for female and male friendships.

“Men tend to try and one up each other in conversation where women will try and find similarities,” Tannen said.

For example, a sample conversation between two young girls: One says “you know my babysitter called Amber has to wear contacts?” And the other says “My mom and dad have to wear contacts” and they get so excited and exclaim “The same?!”

After this conversation the two girls have created a bond between them.

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This bond based on similarity can also be seen in adult women’s lives. For example, if you go into the women’s at any party you will find copious amounts of girls and their friends drunkenly complimenting each other and committing the sacred acts of “girl code”.

This bond under the commonality of the female experience, which is one of constantly fighting misogyny and proving yourself worthy beyond appearance, lends itself to a girl code that is mainly focused on raising each other’s confidence and staying together.

Due to this, common phrases in the girl talk language are eye and hand signals of warning or excitement, always telling a girl if her hair is out of place or if she has something in her teeth, and raising each other’s confidence with phrases like “You’re gorgeous, you can do so much better.” While these signals and phrases may seem trivial to others who do not actively participate in girl talk they are vital to female friendships.

Girl talk is a constantly evolving language in the age of Tiktok and Twitter.

Slang phrases like “slay”, used often in girl talk today lend themself to the idea - this is for the girls, gays, and theys. Which means it is a term commonly used by women and the LGBTQ+ community. Previously meaning to kill someone in Old English or to make someone laugh in the 1920s, slay has taken on a new meaning: to do something particularly well especially in relation to fashion, artistic performance, or self-confidence, given by the queer ball culture. Queer ball culture

is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture that originated in New York during the postCivil War era, creating a space for trans and queer people of color. Words like slay represent the intersectional relationship between gay culture, fashion, and the drag scene. What all of these words have in common is the understanding or the attempt of understanding girl code. Gay culture and the feminine experience can be related to the same form of bonding Tannen discussed in her interview. Both women and the LGBTQ+ community can understand the perspective of being seen as “the other ‘’ and the fight to prove themselves worthy in a cis gendered heterosexual male dominated society.

This commonality creates a bond between them allowing both communities to be fluent in girl talk. As the phrases used in girl talk are for the purpose of evaluating someone’s confidence in a world that is perpetually against them.

Even complimentary phrases like slay are under sexist policing for being too feminine or ditzy. In retaliation to this grammar expert Emmy J. Favilla, who wrote a guide to internet language, A World Without “Whom”, stated, “(The fact is) language has been going to hell in a handbasket for centuries,The policing of women’s language is misguided and harmful because it says to women you’re doing something wrong. (…) It is simply a form of sexism.... It is actually young women who are leading language change. So if a woman is saying something and you want to get upset at her for it, turn around and high-five her because she’s in

the vanguard.”

Girl world is open to all who aim to actively participate in the uplifiting of women while forming friendships in the process. However, like travelling to any new country to get around you must really know the language.

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Technostalgia Technostalgia

WRITTEN BY CALE CRUEGER ALIGN 61

ILLUSTRATED BY MICA DELGADO

DESIGNER WILLOW MILCHMAN

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arly 2000’s tech is trending today. Our Instagram feeds are full of digitals. Over-theear headphones are everywhere. I saw someone on campus playing on their Nintendo DS last month.

These headphones are the best example of how nostalgia is trending today. Amid an Apple and Beats’ popularity contest, these headphones claimed the ears and Pinterest boards of Gen Z. They exude vintage, old-school vibes. They make users appear disconnected, even resistant, to modern technology.

Except, this is not necessarily true. Most of them connecttophonesascordlessly and easily as AirPods.

A time of iPod nanos and illegally downloaded music; a time of portable CD-players and radios.

My very first CD was the High School Musical 2 soundtrack (the consequence of giving a six-year-old a Walkman). While my baby pink Sony CD-player may be long gone, my ever-expanding vinyl and CD collections are here to stay, because they’re cool, and I love them.

So, what is it exactly that makes early tech so cool and memorable? It’s not for quality, ease, or convenience. We are not buying 2000’s point-and-shoot digital cameras because they are easy to use and have objectively better quality than a smartphone.

We are buying them because they take pictures that are unique, fun, and nostalgic.

We are buying them because no matter how many camera lenses the iPhone adds, they will never be able to create something that looks different.

At its core, nostalgia is a performative trend.

Nostalgic trends can be heard as well as seen, music being a key player here. Vinyl records, CDs, and cassette tapes have all seen a resurgence in recent years. Their allure transcends aesthetics — music’s quality is lost in digital format. There is an undeniably warmer and higher quality sound to a vinyl record in comparison to the tin speakers of a laptop or JBL Flip.

An exception is if you’re listening to the record on one of those Urban Outfitters Crosley briefcases.

Speaking as a Crosley product owner, there is no reason to prefer the sound of records spun on something that also offers Bluetooth. Let’s call it what it is: a performative excuse to appreciate the zeitgeist of a time none of us were alive to remember.

Nostalgic tech trends reveal a desire to be different: to make a statement. To experience something that we choose to hold on to, rather than merely use because it’s the sensical, trendy option.

Honestly, that’s kind of awesome. Why should we miss out on the joys of record-shopping just because we have Spotify and Apple Music?

In addition to the physical devices we’re bringing back, there are also the stylistic choices our generation picks in the tech-world. Airbrushed cursive 90’s floral prints color Wildflower phone cases, Y2K grids and futuristic fonts cover Canva layouts. Half of the computers and HydroFlasks on campus look like a Bratz doll pasted the stickers on them. The Lisa Frank-ificiation of current design poses the possibility that if we’re still into everything we were into at ten years old, doesn’t that just mean we’ve always had, like, really good taste?

Of course, some of Gen Z remembers a time before phones could play any and every song imaginable.

I say, yes. The most defining and lasting trends of the 2000’s are fun and fairly

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feminine. They remind us of simpler times, and remove us from the dominion of the Internet.

That’s perhaps what I admire most about the early aughts revival —the implication that we are mourning simplicity. Technology is supposed to simplify things, and in many ways it has. But to those of us with the hazy, happy memories before tech’s sudden and exponential growth, technology marks the end as much as it does the beginning.

We glamorize simpler tech and styles of our youth because we recognize how complicated our lives have become, and how much technology is to blame for that. We have become overexposed and desensitized to tragedy, alienated from more meaningful communication, and addicted to instant gratification.

We are just as unhappy about our reliance on technology as the generations that criticize us for it, as the generations that created it for us.

We were given the toy of all toys and then punished for playing with it. How is someone supposed to resist when everything at their fingertips? It’s like

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Pandora’s box; the forbidden fruit. They reimagined Eve’s Apple into an iPhone and let us take a bite. Now all we know is the taste of technology.

No wonder our tech is sold to us in trending waves, as central to our existence and as profitable as our clothes, shoes, and bodies. No wonder we long for simplicity – for tools with less than five functions, for the colors, songs, comfort of our youth before the world became so gray.

The tech-sphere has become hellishly complex.

The updates and upgrades are ceaseless and needless. The algorithms have an uncanny ability to advertise my most recent conversation topics to me. Every day I read something about advancing artificial intelligence or machinery threatening the livelihoods of working people. Every day violence springs from some dark internet corner.

As one of the brightest voices of our generation once sang, “The things that seem so simple, suddenly so far out of reach.” Just a hunch, but Hannah Montana probably wasn’t talking about the phone you keep glued to you at all times. Simplicity is in and nostalgia is selling, except no matter how hard we try, we can’t quite reach it.

Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia Technostalgia ALIGN 64

Hot Girls Cry

WHY TEARS ARE TABOO, AND THE 411 ON WHY WE SHOULD SQUASH THAT STEREOTYPE

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s the next winter term comes and goes, many University of Oregon students suffer from the winter term blues. Whether it’s due to the gray skies, or lack of football Saturdays, students are feeling the ramifications of the Oregon winter months for their individual reasons.

Let’s face it, winter term can suck sometimes.

Whether it’s winter term, or just purely feelings that need to be let go, that weird feeling stuck in the throat and that pinch in the nose are indicators that feelings need to be RELEASED. Crying might just help with that release.

mood-improving effects. The cathartic aftereffects explain the feeling of relief after a good cry.

Therefore, keeping in pent up urges to cry may be detrimental to your physical well being (Vingerhoets & Bylsma, 2015 p.4). All these theorists are proving that my theory is correct: hot girls should cry.

Have you ever had a really good cry and instantly felt better? Whether the waterworks were because Harry professed his love to Sally, or your upcoming midterm is seemingly impossible to pass, there are numerous benefits to crying that actually benefit your health.

So, what’s stopping us from embracing these theories and letting the tears flow? It’s not breaking news that sentimentalism is regarded in our society as having negative connotations of being “weak” or “vulnerable” (unpacking that requires another rant or two). Despite expelling emotions by crying having been proven numerous times as being healthy and purifying for the mind and body, preexisting dispositions are working against crying becoming the status quo. These stereotypes, particularly directed towards men, are stopping us from accepting and embracing our natural and primal abilities to cry.

So, even though Fergie’s ballad is an absolute go-to heartbreak tune, her lyrics don’t need to feel so relatable; big girls DO cry and SHOULD cry. PEOPLE CRY. Choosing to look at tears in a healthy way can present numerous benefits not only for the emotional well-being, but for physical ones too.

I’ve always considered myself an emotional person, but have never been proud of that part of myself.

Many people throughout my life have made me feel as though crying was childish or immature. It’s been a part of me that I have tried not to identify with. As I’ve struggled with that part of myself, I’ve found solace in researching all these benefits of showing emotions.

Here’s the science behind human tears: we have three kinds; reflex, basal, and emotional. The first two are merely protectors of the physical eye itself. They aid in lubrication, nourishment, and protection of the eye, so yes they’re pretty cool, but our main focus is on the third category. Emotional tears have been studied for centuries on their purpose in our society, both their indicators and benefits. Charles Darwin, as prominent as he is, was a theorist who really undermined the purpose of emotional tears, calling them “purposeless” (not really supportive…but okay). Since Darwin, numerous theories have attempted to squash that reality. Emotional tears are linked to many different benefits. Across multiple theories, crying stimulates the release of the chemical substance oxytocin, which is linked to having well-described

So, if it has proven difficult to embrace your recognition of needing a good cry, I would suggest looking at tears this way: crying makes us authentic.

We are truly marvelous for having the ability to utilize tears in emotional contexts. In fact, we’re the only species on Planet Earth (as of now) that have been proven to cry as an emotional release. It shows that we have feelings, and that should be normalized and embraced.

Despite whatever life is throwing your way, cut yourself a little slack and ignore what society has taught us for generations. Crying is not just reserved for the darkness of a movie theater, or the solidarity of our bedrooms. It can be an excellent way to release all your pent up emotions… and you’ll look super hot too!

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The Best Places to Cry On Campus “THE PIONEER CEMETERY”

“CONDON HALL”

-MEGAN, AGE 23 AND ALEXA, AGE 21

-ADAM, AGE 22

“OH YES, THE KNIGHT LIBRARY. HAD SOME OF MY BEST AND WORST TIMES THERE”

“THE DARK ROOM OF THE CRAFT CENTER” -MIA, AGE 21

“LLC BATHROOMS”

“THE 2-PERSON STUDY ROOMS IN KNIGHT LIBRARY”

-NINA, AGE 21

-JOSIE, AGE 21

-KENDALL, AGE 22

“THE 4TH FLOOR BATHROOM IN FRIENDLY HALL - ITS SOUNDPROOF!”

“WILLAMETTE HALL- WHERE ALL MY CHEM AND PHYSICS CLASSES ARE”

-GABBY, AGE 23

-KAT, AGE 21

“A SHOWER STALL IN HAMILTON”

“A WALK TO AUTZEN STADIUM” -SOPHIE, AGE 22

“THE BENCH THAT LOOKS TOWARD THE SUN AT LILLIS”

-GIGI, AGE 22

-SOPHIE, AGE 21

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WRITTEN BY LILLY GAVEN PHOTOGRAPHED BY MADDIE STELLINGWERF ART DIRECTOR ALI WATSON MODELS AMELIA KENNEDY & MALAIKA WATSON DESIGNER STELLA RANELLETTI PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR JADE MERVAR

HOT OR NOT: SONGS ABOUT CRYING HOT:

NOT:

“WHEN DOVES CRY” PRINCE

“LAUGH NOW, CRY LATER” DRAKE AND LIL DURK

“CRY ME A RIVER” JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

“DON’T CRY OUT LOUD” MELISSA MANCHESTER

“PRETTY WHEN YOU CRY” LANA DEL REY

“NO WOMAN NO CRY” BOB MARELY

WRITTEN BY CHARLIE VIGNE ILLUSTRATED BY WALLIE BUTLER DESIGNER EMMA MCGONIGLE PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR CALLIOPE MEADOW-HILLS

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A Living Legend: I

Lana Del Rey

somebody could tell me how — but I found discovered the singer through social media in seventh “ thought nobody could.” This is the quote in the biography grade. It was common for people to use her song quotes section of Lana Del Rey’s Tiktok account. For fans of the “Video Games” singer, its message feels like something she would place on a pedestal. It’s deeply evocative and profound, much like her music. Del Rey’s TikTok account has only one video and a mere 2.1 million followers, yet her influence in the music industry, coupled with her vintage aesthetics, hasn’t gone unnoticed. This begs the question: how has Lana Del Rey accomplished the fame she has achieved today?

In 2012, the song “Video Games” and its self-produced music video went viral on YouTube. Her emotive, melancholy music paired with metaphorical lyrics set her apart from other music artists at the debut of her career.

Maria McAllister, 21, a student at San José State University, began listening to Del Rey when she was just 10 or 11 years old.

“Video Games was one of her first music videos I saw,” McAllister said. “It kind of made me feel like I was in a movie.”

Del Rey’s music utilizes many references to “Old Hollywood” with a contemporary twist. The cinematic quality of her music draws in music listeners, similar to McAllister’s experience. This is one of the many factors that makes her music so alluring and mesmerizing.

Nowadays, this uniqueness also allows social media users to discover her on platforms.

Social media’s algorithms, which TikTok utilizes, allow many users to discover new artists quickly. Evidently, this allows many more people to hear Del Rey’s music through TikTok’s video audios and hashtags like #LanaDelRey or #A&W (her newest song).

Allie Horne, 21, a student at Johns Hopkins University,

for aesthetic posts on Instagram or Tumblr, she said. This was around the year 2013 when the Tumblr landscape was filled with flower crowns and inspirational, and sometimes sad, quotes— Del Rey’s song lyrics included.

Before Lana Del Rey became the Grammy-nominated musician she’s known as today, she had gone through several ‘personas’ early on in her career. These ‘personas’ included Sparkle Jump Rope Queen and May Jailer. This was back when Del Rey performed at dive bars and clubs in Brooklyn, New York. Now she’s known as Lana Del Rey, a name she landed on because she believed it sounded pretty, but also associated with some of the controversies she had been involved in.

“I think with her Lana Del Rey ‘persona’ she settled on, there’s just a mysterious quality to it,” Horne said.

“A lot of people admire older stuff and I find it cool she incorporates that into her music.”

Del Rey’s pop music combined with Americana-style influences has shifted the music industry due to its original sound and content. The pop-landscape has not been the same since. She was different from Taylor Swift and One Direction and fans noticed. Gone were the upbeat, popstyle songs about your ex-partner. Del Rey ushered in an appreciation for melancholy, indie music about the world, politics, and deeper subjects like family and trauma. Now, since her debut in 2012, her career has influenced other modern-day artists such as Billie Eilish, Kali Uchis, and Halsey.

Not only that, but her music has also greatly affected individual listeners: “She is one of my favorite artists [so] I grew up listening to her music,” McAllister said. “I think when you listen to an artist that long they shape who you become.”

And: “I think, for me, she has always been an artist who has made music how she wanted it to be versus trying to angle on trends,” Horne said. “I know she was criticized for lovesick representations, but I always thought it was cool that it was honest and showed her experience. It just expressed her art more.”

Del Rey’s fanbase is strong and continuously growing. Nowadays, this is partially due to TikTok. Unlike how long-time fans have discovered Del Rey’s music, TikTok has changed the game. Many of Lana Del Rey’s songs, even including some unreleased ones, have been a part of viral TikTok audios.

“I think TikTok now is the bigger platform…back then it used to be YouTube,” McAllister said. “I think TikTok would help Lana’s career because it seems like everyone is watching TikTok.” For example, an audio for her song “Young and Beautiful,” written for “The Great Gatsby” in

2013, has 269.4k posts. The top video of this audio has a whooping 10.7 million likes! The outreach TikTok has when it comes to music is vast and highly effective when it comes to bolstering Del Rey’s music to the mainstream.

But it wasn’t primarily TikTok that got Del Rey discovered. It was her ability to write songs and direct music videos that inspired others. It was her dedicated fans that loved to hear what she had to offer.

“I hope she keeps making music.

I’m really interested to see what is next and how she will be when she is even older,” McAllister said.

“She is maturing well and her music is maturing.”

Looking back, it feels impossible to imagine the music industry without Lana Del Rey. Her ability to capture the essence of emotion in her music with poetic prose has impacted listeners around the world. Luckily, this legacy is now being recognized by TikTok users too. Still, fans are always looking forward to what Del Rey will give them next: music.

“Looking back,

it feels impossible

to imagine the music industry without

Lana del Rey” ALIGN 72

the

*CK

dress CODE ART DIRECTOR RHEMY CRAWFORD PHOTOGRAPHED BY AVERY JANTZER DESIGNER ALLY WOODRING WRITTEN BY SYDNEY SEYMOUR MODELS FRANKIE CORTES & LIAM MEARS

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s the most stylish league in America, the National Basketball Association (NBA) ushered in an era of self-expression while embracing streetwear mixed with athleisure. NBA superstars sit in the front row of fashion shows, design clothing lines, and have their own brand associations. They use pregame, postgame, and sideline photo opportunities to express themselves and the latest trends.

Despite a racist dress code enforced in 2005, the league created its own complex and sleek streetwear style.

The league’s current recognizable faces like Russell Westbrook, Jordan Clarkson, PJ Tucker, James Harden, Wand others are at the forefront of marrying fashion and the NBA. The worlds of high fashion and basketball intersect between the parking lot and the locker room: the tunnel. The tunnel walk evolved into the NBA athletes’ concrete fashion runway for pregame outfits. Players flaunt their makeshift red carpet in brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Prada, and Tom Ford. Paparazzi flash pictures to post on social media accounts like Instagram’s @ LeagueFits with 885,000 followers and @NBAFashionFits with 199,000 followers. These accounts archive what players wear to events to showcase their style. The tunnel is the space where basketball players

are style icons, and accounts like @ LeagueFits offer a platform for lesserknown NBA players to explore fashion.

The best-dressed in the NBA remain consistent, experiment, and have advanced, boundary-pushing taste.

NBA tunnel fashion is defined by the players who consistently take risks: cut-and-sew pieces, matching sets, crochet tops, flashy sneakers, designer headwear, vintage tees, bold printed pants, and varsity letterman jackets.

Christos New York luxe sweatpants, Balenciaga hoodies, and Off-White garb are some of the most popular pieces in the NBA, with every player expressing their own style. Westbrook, the godfather of @LeagueFits and leader of the NBA fashion wave, wears barechested looks, crazy color combinations, funky silhouettes, and monochrome ensembles. Jordan Clarkson, king of the NBA tunnel, is known for Thom Browne skirts, baggy and grunge-inspired Louis Vuitton looks, as well as funky, expressive outfits. A sneakerhead with a refined sense of style, PJ Tucker owns a 5,000pair collection of shoes and walks the tunnel in overalls, velvet suits, balaclavas, double-breasted blazers, bucket hats, and turtlenecks. More staple brands in the tunnel are Alexander Wang, Fear of God, Westbrook’s Honor The Gift, True Religion, Supreme, Nick Young’s line, and Moncler. An essential part of NBA fashion is the goal to be as fashionable as possible while still being comfortable.

Decades ago, NBA players were forced to wear “business casual” to all of their events, but now they can express themselves while being comfortable in luxurious athletic streetwear.

On Oct. 17, 2005, commissioner David Stern enforced a dress code targeting Allen Iverson’s popular hiphop style at the time: baggy clothes, cornrows, diamond earrings, durags, and chains. The dress code declared no chains, pendants, or medallions were to be worn over clothes. Players could not wear headphones, sunglasses, or headgear of any kind. Jerseys needed to be approved, and players also couldn’t wear sleeveless shirts, shorts, or t-shirts.

Rather, players were to wear “business casual” attire to all league events from press conferences to charity events.

Many thought the dress code was a result of the infamous brawl in November of 2004, Malice at the Palace, in which the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers engaged in a 10-minutelong fight involving fans. To cover up the fight-fights, assault charges, and bad publicity, the league needed to change its image. However, critics of the policy were certain it was an attack on Black fashion, hip-hop culture, and the trend of self-expression popularized

by Iverson. The public viewed the policy as the NBA’s attempt to dissociate from “Blackness” and Black male bodies in a league of mostly Black players. People ALIGN 74

believed Stern created this dress code to profit from and reinforce white supremacy as Black players were forced to change their appearance to appeal to white consumers.

Initially, most Black NBA players opposed the policy, with Iverson, Stephen Jackson, Paul Pierce, Dwayne Wade, and LeBron James voicing their

concerns through the media. In a TV interview in 2005, Iverson said, “They’re targeting my generation — the hip-hop generation.”

According to the Associated Press, before a 2005 preseason game, Jason Richardson said, “One thing to me that was kind of racist was you can’t wear chains outside your clothing. I don’t understand what that has to do with being business approachable. You wear a suit, you still could be a crook. Just because you dress a certain way doesn’t mean you’re that way. Hey, a guy could come in with baggy jeans, a

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“For Black players, however, the dress code ultimately paved the way for them to bend the rules, establish a new style, and set in place a league-wide evolution of creativity, individuality, and self-expression.” durag, and have a Ph.D. and a person who comes in with a suit could be a three-time felon.” Some Black players wore chains for religious meanings and personal messages, yet the dress code directly targeted this aspect of Black culture. Some players express their identity through fashion, and the dress code hindered their ability to express themselves.

At first, the dress code was formatted to make the league more marketable and appropriate for the white audience. For Black players, however, the dress code ultimately paved the way for them to bend the rules, establish a new style, and set in place a leaguewide evolution of creativity, individuality, and self-expression. Black athletes rebuilt the league’s brand by gradually breaking the mold and incorporating their own culture and fashion sense into their outfits. Although the NBA never formally abandoned the dress code, the organization relaxed its rules when Westbrook was the first to experiment with fashion in the tunnel. The Wade, James, Young, and Harden eras followed, and the NBA became a platform for fashion. A platform that is no longer dissociating itself from Blackness, but embracing and expressing it.

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A WALK AROUND THE BLOCK

G

ood morning Eugene. It’s Sunday, and there’s a slight chance of rain. If you listen closely, you can hear coffee machines begin to stir awake. From 13th Ave to Hillyard, Barnhart to Bean, streets and sidewalks are lined with people who have just spent a night at another’s. Cue lights. Cue music.

The walkers on this runway wear a collection of clothes that some may describe as “avant-garde” or “camp,” but looks like these do not come about by control or design. Instead, they’re born from spontaneity, fervor, and seeing where the road takes you.

On their walk back in the morning, one is often wearing an amalgamation of clothes from the night before and some they picked up along the way. These items include, but are not limited to: skirts, stilettos, sweatshirts that hit the knees, cowboy boots, cowboy hats, totes, plaid pajama pants. Glitter is often still smudged in the crease or inner corners of one’s eyes. Hair might look windblown. This catwalk is bursting with new and exciting looks that have never been seen before. An intersection of chaos and beauty.

But as groups of people descend on the streets, walking home after an exciting night, they are met with stern looks. Dogwalkers and bathrobed-men picking up their newspapers may throw judgment towards the walker’s way. A shame settles over, causing one to want to curl up in a ball and hide: face, body, and self. walk of shame, phrase of walk [informal]: “an instance of walking back home on the day after an unplanned casual sexual encounter, typically dressed in the same clothes as the previous evening.” Oxford Languages has a black and white definition of ALIGN 77

what a walk of shame is. Yes, in simple terms, a walk of shame is the walk after hooking up with someone. But in a culture that looks down upon anonymous sex, there is more nuance to it. When talking about the walk of shame—about perception, judgment and mornings after—we have to talk about shame itself.

Shame is a messy feeling. When trapped in it, one may feel like they’re moving through slow, sticky molasses. Shame stifles; it

“Really, what the walk of shame is, is just another walk around the block.” silences. It’s difficult to work through. Women often fall on the receiving end of feeling shame. Men are taught and encouraged to express their anger outwardly. They don’t have to bottle it in.

But women are taught to direct their anger inwards. To quiet it and sit with it, to let it change face and name. This is how a girl becomes friends with shame. In its first form, it was anger, but kept out of the light, it transforms into a turning against the self.

Helen Block Lewis, a psychologist specializing in shame,

found in her research that women tend to center their feelings of self worth around the level of shame they feel. In a culture that promotes acceptance as the most valuable form of social currency, when a girl feels valued, she feels “good.” But when she goes against societal norms, she may feel shamed, which results in a lower view of self, which leads to more shame. It’s a cycle, and one that is difficult to escape.

A narrative repeats itself: Women should not indulge in random, anonymous sex. Women should save their intimacy for someone they know and have been in a relationship with for a long time. Women should give, not take. Women should, should, should, should— A walk of shame is direct proof that a woman went against the social norm of abstaining from hookup culture. Notice how I did not say man. Do men really have walks of shame? Or can they just roll out of bed and wear what they wore the night before, hands in their pockets, thinking about what they’ll tell their friends later? For women, it’s more obvious when they’re walking after a night spent at someone else’s. To go out, it’s expected of women to be seen as beautiful. Memorable. The most exciting

part of going out is often getting ready. Swiping on mascara, picking out the outfit you feel most you in. But the standard to be seen as attractive for the night leads to jokes being made and judgments being hurled the morning after.

Shame is a heavy thing to both give and receive. It ruins the relationships we have with others and also ourselves. It builds up walls, breaks people down, and is not a productive use of our mental energy. I suggest we set shame down on the curb and keep it there.

The walk of shame doesn’t have to be a shameful thing.

Instead, it’s sidewalks stained from rain and autonomy. It’s a cool breeze and feeling empowered in the choices we make. It’s being around while the world is waking up and not caring who sees you. Really, what the walk of shame is, is just another walk around the block.

DESIGNER PAYTON ALONZO WRITTEN BY MAYA MCLEROY ILLUSTRATED BY GRETTA GLEESON ALIGN 78

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Nepo Nepo Baby G

racie Abrams. Lily Allen. Maya Hawke. Ben Platt. Maude Apatow. Chances are, you’ve heard these names floating around the entertainment industry recently. What might they all have in common? They’re nepotism babies.

For those unfamiliar with the term, nepotism babies, or nepo babies, are people that have achieved success in their profession with the privilege of either one or both parents who are famous, usually in the same or an adjacent industry.

The buzzworthy term has taken the internet by storm and has influenced many of these nepo babies to make a public statement. Their reactions?

Typically, celebrities accused of being a nepo baby defend themselves, sometimes even taking offense to being called out as someone with privilege in their industry.

Lily Allen, the daughter of film producer Alison Owen and actor Keith Allen, took to Twitter to respond to the allegations. “The nepo babies y’all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms, the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics, if we’re talking about real world consequences and robbing people of opportunity.

BUT that’s none of my business,” she tweeted.

The replies are flooded with users like @the_mod_ woman, who, with 30.5k likes, simply states “we can multitask.” Allen’s initial response to the nepo babies drama seems to shift the focus from talent in the entertainment industry to typical office jobs.

Privilege in fields like banking and law exist, but there

seems to be a greater priority and emphasis on calling out nepo babies in the entertainment industry.

Self-described, “OG nepo baby” Jamie Lee Curtis took somewhat of a different approach to the conversation. The 64-year-old actor is the daughter of Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot), and Janet Leigh (Psycho). Curtis took to Instagram to write that, “The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.

For the record, I have navigated 44 years with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me, I don’t pretend there aren’t any, that try to tell me that I have no value on my own.”

The original nepo baby discourse has also sparked a Tiktok trend — users are making one video after another about how they’re nepotism babies. Of course, most of these are curated in a sardonic tone, ranging from health conditions that run in the family, to getting free haircuts because a family member is a hairdresser.

Cultural awareness of the nepo baby has led to discussions about the validity and talent of such entertainers. Perhaps the argument isn’t that they are talentless, but that they’ve been able to build their careers with the privilege of having rich and famous parents.

So, does the general public hate nepotism babies?

The tension may be there, but at least as of now, their reactions to the accusations have been the source of more strife than anything. At the end of the day, there are so many talented nepo babies who deserve recognition, but calling them out for their privilege and them acknowledging that it got them in the door is just as important.

WRITTEN BY PEYTON HALL PHOTOGRAPHED BY ELIJAH RUSSELL ART DIRECTOR KATERINA TRIANTAFILLOU MODEL SALLY FINNIN DESIGNER MEGAN LEE

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The 411 Playlist

The 411 is all about staying in the know, which is why the Spotify Team has created a playlist that captures some of the most significant events and topics of the past year. This 411 Issue Playlist features a variety of songs that reflect the current and relevant events of the past year, ranging from social justice issues to technological advancements.

411 isinallthis about stayingare in the know, which is why Spotify Team has created a playlist captures of the most TheThe tracks playlist carefully curated to the encompass a wide range of themesthat and events,some including the significant events and topics(songs of the past year.

411 Issue Playlist features a variety of songs that6-10), reflectclimate the current and important issue of femicide 1-5), theThis growing acceptance of mental health (songs change relevant events of the past year, ranging from social justice issues to technological advancements. (songs 11-15), the Covid-19 pandemic (songs 16-20), police brutality (songs 21-25), women's reproductive rights (songs 26-30), the ongoing conflict in Ukraine (songs 31-35), the positive impact of technology in music (songs The tracks in this aremusic carefully curated to encompass 36-40), and the art playlist of global fusion (songs 41-45). a wide range of themes and events, including the important issue of femicide (songs 1-5), the growing acceptance of mental health (songs 6-10), climate change (songs 11-15), the Covid-19 pandemic (songs 16-20), police brutality (songs 21-25), women’s reproductive rights (songs 26-30), the ongoing Ourconflict goal with this playlist is to provide a musical representation of the past year's most significant events, with in Ukraine (songs 31-35), the positive impact of technology in music (songs 36-40), and the art of global music eachfusion track(songs selected to capture the essence of the issue it represents. Whether you're looking to reflect on the year 41-45).

that was or stay up to date on current events, this playlist is meant to keep you informed and inspired.

Tracklist

This Is America .......................................Childish Gambino

Cancion Sin Miedo ..............Vivir Quintana, Mon Laferte

Freedom........................................Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar

Fight for Our Lives..................Petrol Girls, Janey Starling

Keep Ya Head Up ..........................................................2Pac

Si Me Matan....................................................Silvana Estrada

Alright ..............................................................Kendrick Lamar

小娟 (化名) ...........................................................Tan Weiwei

Rebel Girl .....................................................The Linda Lindas

36 Horas ...............................................................Sin Lenceria

You Don’t Own Me ............................................Lesly Gore

1-800-273-8255 ....................Logic, Alessia Cara, Khalid

Sullen Girl ............................................................Fiona Apple

Stressed Out ............................................Twenty One Pilots

Radio Silence ...........................................................Zella Day

Scars to Your Beautiful .................................Alessia Cara

Body of My Own .............................................Charlie XCX

Numb .........................................................................Linkin Park

He6o .................................................................................SadSvit

Unsteady .......................................................X Ambassadors

заратустра.........................................................Renie Cares

Big Yellow Taxi ...........Counting Crows, Vanessa Carlton

Спірічуал ........................................................Blooms Corda

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) .............Marvin Gaye

99..........................................................................................krutь

Where Do the Children Play? .........Yung/Cat Stevens

Crimewave ......................................................Crystal Castles

The 1975 .....................................................................The 1975

The Perfect Girl .........................................................Mareux

Green Light ....................................................................Lorde

Судно (Борис Рижий)............................Molchat Doma

Living In A Ghost Town ......................The Rolling Stones

Little Dark Age ..........................................................MGMT

The Great Divide ...................................................The Shins

Diarabi ..................................Vieux Farka Toure, Khruangbin

If the World Was Ending ............SP Saxe, Julia Michaels

Lost in the Moment ...................Darius, WAYNE SNOW

N95 ...................................................................Kendrick Lamar

Etran ...............................................Disclosure, Etran Finatawa

PDLIF .............................................................................Bon Iver

Movin’ ................................................................Tender Games

Lockdown .......................................................Anderson .Paak

Graceland ...............................................................Paul Simon

Our goal with this playlist is to provide a musical representation of the past year’s most significant events, with each track selected to capture the essence of the issue it represents. Whether you’re looking to reflect on the year that was or stay up to date on current events, this playlist is meant to keep you informed and inspired.