The Corsair Spring 2017 issue 5 by Santa Monica College Corsair Newspaper

FREAKSHOW

VOLUME 113 ISSUE 05 •MAY 03, 2017 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

EDITORIAL STAFF ZIN CHIANG

.................................. Editor-in-Chief

corsair.editorinchief@gmail.com RYANNE MENA

............................ Managing Editor

corsair.managing@gmail.com DANIEL BOWYER

............................... Photo Editor

corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com MARISA VASQUEZ

.............................. Photo Editor

corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com

MAZYAR MAHDAVIFAR..................... Design Editor

corsair.designteam@gmail.com

.......................... News Editor

OSKAR ZINNEMANN

corsair.newspage@gmail.com

CHELSEY SANCHEZ

......................... Digital Editor

CHRISTINA KELLEY

........... A&E/Culture Co-Editor

corsair.webeditor@gmail.com corsair.culture@gmail.com

OSCAR CARRANZA .............. A&E/Culture Co-Editor

corsair.culture@gmail.com

LAZARO CARRANZA

.......................Opinion Editor

Illustration by Diana Garcia

corsair.opinionpage@gmail.com

RAMSES LEMUS.................. Social Media Co-Editor

socialmedia.corsair@gmail.com

JACKIE BONES................... Social Media Co-Editor

socialmedia.corsair@gmail.com

MICHELLE AYALA....................... Multimedia Editor

corsair.multimedia@gmail.com

Jose Aguila, Clyde Bates, Haoyu Chuang, Alejandro Hernandez, Cecilia Martin , Matthew Martin, Diana Parra Garcia, Essence Robateau, Frank Southard, Linda Aviles, Setareh Bakhtiyari, Adrianna Buenviaje, Kathleen Cullen, Juan Gomez Zane Thornton, Emeline Moquillon, Edward Lee, Michelle Ayala, Luis Valladares, Jazz Shademan, Abraham Barkhordar, Angelica Ramos, Sade Richardson, Trevor Schock, Maya Toolin, Vanessa Wyatt, Brian Vu, Miguel Gonzalez, Pedro Xavier Hernandez Garcia, Jade Lew, Angie Ramos, Sam Green, Daniel Lee, Jasmin Rogers

FACULTY ADVISORS ...... Journalism Advisor

gerard burkhart.........................Photo Advisor

AD INQUIRIES: corsair.admanager@gmail.com (310) 434-4033

FRONT COVER

Venice Freakshow performer known as Morgue performs a mind bending feat in which he shoves a meat hook through his nose and out of his mouth without any harm being done to himself at the Venice Beach Freakshow Farewell Party and Protest in Venice California on April 30, 2017 (Photo By: Zane Meyer-Thornton)

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RYANNE MENA

MANAGING EDITOR

CORSAIR STAFF

ASHANTI BLAIZE-HOPKINS

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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Hello Readers,

It rarely occurs that the managing editor of The Corsair has the privilege to write in this section of the newspaper. Let me just start with saying that I hope the amount of effort my fellow Corsair staff members and I put into The Corsair shows through our published pieces. There have been many important events occurring in our world and local community this semester, all of which we feel obligated to bring to you. The year 2017 has been filled with protests galore, which is a gold mine for journalists. I am proud to say that The Corsair has covered 3 protests in the past 2 weeks, which brings us as journalists excitement and the motivation to continue in the pursuit of knowledge. I think I can speak for all of my fellow staff members when I say that the purpose in our work goes beyond any of us as individuals. Journalism at its core is to serve the public through the spread of knowledge. This issue contains a story about a protest that was held down in Venice Beach which was organized because of Snapchat's decision to buy another piece of Venice’s culture: the building that homed the world famous Venice Freakshow. I don’t know when or if Snapchat will stop buying buildings and destroying the culture that many people value as priceless, but I know that people haven’t and won’t stop fighting to keep Venice from really becoming Silicon Beach. There is a certain kind of power that people united possess that no amount of money can overpower. On the topic of social media, The Corsair has utilized social media platforms, that aren’t Snapchat, to further communicate information to our fellow students here at Santa Monica College. Instagram is a very common application amongst college-aged people, so my news team and I figured we place a bigger priority on our social media accounts by increasing the amount of content we publish on a daily basis. In doing this, we also hope it helps our viewers connect to The Corsair. Another tool we have started to implement on US

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social media is live streaming. It is a way for our viewers to immediately connect to the events going on in their very own community by replicating the feeling of being there themselves. But, there are some events where being physically present is necessary if the entirety of the event's message is to be fully comprehended. Last week, from April 24 to April 30, was Consent Week at SMC. Three events were organized in that week, each offering insight and knowledge about the issue that is sexual harassment. Sexual assault survivors were given a platform to speak their truth about their experience at the first consent day event Break The Silence. Sexual harassment is not a subject that is comfortable to talk about, as it shouldn’t; nothing of a horrible matter is ever easy to talk about. April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a reminder that the issue is a reality for many people. May is also a month of bringing awareness to a subject that is left in the shadows. May is Mental Health Awareness month. Personally, this month resonates with me on a deeper level as I have struggled with maintaining my own mental well being. The stigmas attached to mental illnesses are those of disbelief and dismissal. Many people

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think mental illnesses aren’t real illnesses or aren’t as significant as physical illnesses. Mental illnesses are not visible to the naked eye, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t as important as a physical illness that can be seen. Luckily, SMC has a Center for Wellness and Wellbeing, where students can receive a variety of psychological services. No matter what you may be struggling with, just know that there is help and support available here on campus. Every person here at SMC comes from different backgrounds with different stories to tell. We have each gone through varying hardships and experiences in our lives, and we all have goals, dreams, and aspirations to achieve. It does no one any good to dismiss the human within each person, for we each have something to offer the world, the campus, and others. Though we are all different, we are all human. In this current time especially, it is important to remember to respect each others humanity, because I think that is really lacking in the world right now. Journalism also has the power to revive the humanity of the voiceless, which is what I hope you will see in this issue of The Corsair.

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VOLUME 113 ISSUE 05 • MAY 03, 2017 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

NEWS

CONSENT WEEK AT SMC Chelsey Sanchez

DIGITAL EDITOR

EDWARD LEE

STAFF WRITER

Adrianna Buenviaje

STAFF WRITER

Shoulder to shoulder, red and blue t-shirts hung from a clothesline stretching across the line of palm trees down Santa Monica College’s main quad. It looked cluttered. Craft paint carelessly embellished the shirts, with words branded onto them that were indiscernible until you could get close enough to read them. One, in bright orange glue, read "I was 11 years old, you fucking bastard." These decorations served as a backdrop to performing poets on Tuesday April 25, 2017, where the AS hosted “Break the Silence,” an open mic event honoring Consent Week on campus. A minuscule crowd gathered around to listen as poets perform in front of the clothesline, which featured shirts designed by SMC students who survived incidents of sexual assault. "Don't you know that your rapist is more likely to be a familiar face in the household rather than a bearded man living in the middle of the woods?" Justine Ramos, one of the poets, asked the crowd of people that circled around her. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, less than half of rape or sexual assaults were reported in 2015. The lack of reporting one's own sexual assault stems from the victim either intimately knowing the one who assaulted them or the fear of law enforcement not believing them. Events like Consent Week at SMC serve to break the stigma that survivors of sexual abuse may face. However, as students rushed down the quad overlooking most of the Break the Silence event, one can

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It's Saturday April 29th, at 10:30 a.m.; on the corner of Florence and Normandie, a big crowd of people gathered on a very hot, sunny morning. A loud crowd of families, adults, kids of all ethnicities walk together in commemoration. Exactly 25 years ago, this same corner was probably a lot quieter. But later that evening, it became the site of the LA Uprising's spring of fury after a Simi Valley jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers, charged with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force, seen in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. For the many Santa Monica College students not born before April 29,1992, let’s go back to the situation 25 years ago. At that time, the media repeatedly circulated, for over a month, the video of officers beating and arresting King. With the existence of the video, many people did not understand the officers' acquittal, especially amongst the black community. People from both inside and outside the neighborhood attended Saturday's gathering, including Mark Craig, a 48-year-old man from Monrovia, California. Twentyfive years ago, 23-year-old Craig drove all the way to LAPD headquarters, Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles, with a couple of friends. A photograph of him published on the front page of Newsweek turned him into an icon of the LA Riots. “After serving in the United States Navy and serving in war, and coming back after less than a year to see the verdict, and being treated as a second class citizen, I needed to go down and protest. African-Americans have always gone to war for this country and they have come home to be treated as EXTENDED

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address when she organized Denim Day at SMC. According to Castillo, nearly 1 in 10 women are sexually assaulted in college campuses. As a sexual assault survivor, she wanted these events to "put a face to the myriad of statistics about sexual assault. Because when you read about sexual assault, it’s hard to realize it’s a person.” Excitement became palpable throughout the crowd when SMC President Jeffery joined the event to take photos with the students. When asked about her thoughts on raising awareness of sexual assault, President Jeffery emphasized that these events resonate far beyond the confines of the campus. “We have to work on big issues like sexual assault because we have students… not just from Santa Monica, they’re from all over the world, so they can take this awareness from here in the college into their own communities,” she says. Consent Week events came to a close on Thursday, April 27 with an event titled “Take Back the Night,” where students gathered in the Cayton Center, transforming it into a space to break the silence on sexual assault. The final event began with an open screening of “Through the Hunting Ground,” a documentary focusing on the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses and how two women fought to share the stories of survivors around the nation, as well as their own. The evening closed with a small group discussion lead by Isabella Castillo, where students voiced their thoughts and opinions surrounding the issues of sexual assault.

José Aguila President Terrence Ware Jr. and Sgt. Romano pose for a picture during Consent week at Santa Monica College on April 26th, 2017.

providing shirts on display for students to compose their messages on, high heels for men to walk around in, and a photo op with SMC President Kathryn Jeffery at the quad on Wednesday, April 28. Women wore denim jackets and jeans while men balanced themselves on high heels to commemorate the annual event held all around the world. Denim Day originated from protests that sparked in 1992 when the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction with the justification that the victim, wearing tight jeans, could not have taken them off without giving consent. The controversial rape case from 1992 was an example of the issues that AS Commissioner Isabella Castillo wanted to

So what exactly should students take away from this week of events? Lisa Winters is SMC’s Title IX Coordinator, a position that aims to both educate the community on how to deal with sexual assault through workshops and investigate claims of gender discrimination and sexual assault. It is also a position that made SMC the first of all community colleges in the state, and probably the nation, to have a dedicated Title IX administrator, as noted by Winters. Winters tells students although eliminating sexual assault altogether would be a great goal, that it is not realistic. But she says that if more people are aware of “where to go and who to talk to” when a sexual assault occurs, the school can better tackle these issues. For students who wish to learn more about the resources the school offers towards sexual assault victims, Winters recommends asking professors - who receive bulletins about the workshops - and to visit the Santa Monica Title IX page, which provides the time and location of these workshops, as well as online training on how to do their part in preventing sexual assault. Yet President Jeffery hopes in the long run that this knowledge can be spread to all faculty and staff. She believes this information should not “feel like you can only have access to if you walk into the Health and Wellness Center. It’s the kind of information that faculty should all have in their offices, staff that all have in their offices… because the information then becomes something that you can spread and share to anyone who comes in and asks for help.”

LA RIOTS - 25TH ANNIVERSARY

EMELINE MOQUILLON

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see why many seem to stay silent about their experiences - why the makers of the t-shirt display may choose to stay anonymous. The AS also hosted “Denim Day,” an event raising sexual assault awareness, by

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second-class citizens,” said Craig. Yet he found it ironic that this location at the intersection of Florence and Normandie was also where the tragic beating of truck driver Reginald Denny took place. News channels broadcasted the almost fatal attack all throughout the city. Media helicopters filmed scenes depicting areas completely deserted by police officers. Last week on Thursday, April 28, Santa Monica College welcomed Bart Bartholomew, the photographer who took the first photos of the enraged crowd at Florence and Normandie that day. Bartholomew's photos made the front page of the New York Times days later. When students asked him how he got there before everyone else, Bartholomew explained that he was with the police for another case that day. He was working on a gang story about MS 13 when he heard on the radio that the Rodney King verdict would be announced in a few hours. Bartholomew called his photo desk at the New York Times and said he would not leave South Los Angeles for Simi Valley, where the trial was held. His intuition was that if the accused officers were found not guilty, chaos would strike where he was. On that day, Bartholomew got lucky on different levels; he shot the photos that made him a Pulitzer Prize nominee and survived a deadly situation while surrounded by an angry crowd. Bartholomew says he heard a voice over his shoulder warning, “We need to get you out of here.” Bartholomew never properly saw his face and only met Tim Goldman, his savior, for the first time during a reunion for the A&E documentary "L.A. Burning in 2016." The riots were a historical moment for both Los Angeles and the United States -- the community pulled the trigger in deUS

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Emeline Moquillon Tim Goldman (left), whose videos from the inside of the LA Riots have been used over the years by media and police, shakes hands with Mark Craig (right). Tim and Mark were both important figures in media during the LA Riots 25 years ago. Hundreds gather at the historic intersection of Florence & Normandie where the 1992 Uprising of the riots ignited 25 years ago. Saturday April 29th, 2017, in South Los Angeles, California.

manding for change. When asked about the possibility of future LA riots as tensions rise all over the country due to the current political climate, Bartholomew remains optimistic, saying, "I don’t think so. Things are different now.” He believes things changed with the LAPD. Now, he believes the police train their recruits and deploys a greater variety of officers. On the other hand, Craig gives the warning, "Absolutely. It’s still possible.” Craig feels that there is still a lot of work to do for different communities to be treated equally -- both in L.A. and all over the country. At the South Los Angeles rally on Saturday, young adults and kids focused on the present and the future, while still re•

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membering the past. Megan McClaire, a participant of Advance Project California, said, “After the uprising in 1992, there were several community-based organizations that developed as a result.” A lot of people wore T-shirts and held boards with the slogan, “South Los Angeles is the future.” A coalition of these South Los Angeles community organizations made their message clear in the event. “We are here today to celebrate the resilience that these organizations and residents have been able to maintain over the course of generations,” says McClaire. In the crowd, people danced, sang and walked towards a better future, in sharp contrast to the fury that exploded here 25 years ago.

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VOLUME 113 ISSUE 05 •MAY 03, 2017 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

PHOTOSTORY

S N A P C H AT F I LTE R S V E N I C E CU LTU R E

RYANNE MENA MANAGING EDITOR

n April 30, 2017, the world-famous Venice Freakshow had to say goodbye to the community it has known for the past 11 years. Todd Ray, the owner and founder of The Venice Freakshow, had a childhood dream that became his reality when he opened the boardwalk side-show attraction in 2006. When the Freakshow was first established, Tod Ray found performers from near and far, including a man known as ‘Morgue’, "I was originally a street performer on the boardwalk. I performed a lot of acts that were very rare, like regurgitation. There are only a handful of people, like two people in the world, who do that, so Todd heard about me and I came in as a guest performer, then I ended

up staying full-time as the host of the show”. Snapchat, a social media giant, has been expanding their headquarters in Venice Beach, which meant the closing down of many culture heavy buildings. The latest building to have been bought by the company was the very building The Venice Freakshow called home. As the news got out to the public, a protest was organized and the Freakshow performers got on stage for the Venice community one last time. Todd Ray stood on the balcony of the Freakshow addressing the frustration he and the crowd both felt, “They can buy the buildings, but they can't buy the spirit of Venice Beach."

He was very transparent about what was happening to his beloved shop, “[Snapchat’s Lawyers] told me they were going to sue me if I'm not out by midnight tonight”. Members of the crowd held up countless amounts of signs protesting Snapchat. The Venice Freakshow may have closed its doors for good, but the message at the core of its existence will be forever remembered by its Venice locals and the tourists that once came to see the oddities of the Freakshow. “Just always remember what the Freakshow is all about and that's being who you are and being your individual self,” said Morgue.

Cecilia Martin Protesters support the Venice Beach Freakshow during its goodbye celebration on Sunday April 30,2017, in Venice, CA.

Craig Burlingame, left, and Jessa The Bear

Venice Beach Freakshow, by Todd Ray, right, ow

Los Angeles, Calif. The Venice Beach Freaksho

Alfonso Castaneda Jr. Richie The Barber applauds along with the crowd after Jessa The Bearded Lady gets married on the front steps of The Venice Beach Freakshow, by Todd Ray, owner of the Freakshow on Sunday, April 30, 2017 in the Venice Neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif. The Venice Beach Freakshow held the wedding as part of its last event, a Farewell Party and Protest, as it closes its doors for the last time.

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VOLUME 113 ISSUE 05 • MAY 03, 2017 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

PHOTOSTORY

Matthew Martin Venice Freakshow performer Asia Ray, resident Sword swallower and fire-eater, shows off her skill of sword swallowing during the Venice Freakshow Farwell Protest and Party on the Venice Boardwalk in Venice, Calif., on Sunday, April 30 2017. Ray has been with the freak show since her father Todd Ray opened this house of wonders in 2006 and “made the most of [her] final performance for the Venice Freakshow enthusiasts.”

Zane Meyer-Thornton Venice Freakshow performer Gabriel, the smallest man in America, takes his car for a ride around the boardwalk at the Venice Beach Freakshow Farewell Party and Protest in Venice California on April 30, 2017.

Alfonso Castaneda Jr.

rded Lady, center, face the crowd after getting married on the front steps of The

wner of the Freakshow on Sunday, April 30, 2017 in the Venice Neighborhood of

ow held the wedding as part of its last event, a Farewell Party and Protest, as it closes its doors for the last time.

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“They can buy the buildings, but they can't buy the spirit of Venice Beach." AT

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VOLUME 113 ISSUE 05 •MAY 03, 2017 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

CULTURE/OPINION

FILM REVIEW: THE PROMISE “Our Revenge Will be to Survive”

DANIEL BOWYER PHOTO EDITOR

The Promise deserves a place in film history despite its negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and by opposition from the Turkish and Azerbaijani governments that still deny that The Armenian Genocide ever happened. The film intends to shine a light on the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians during the fall of the Ottoman Empire as World War I unfolded. The U.S. and Israel don't officially recognize the genocide either, so as not to damage relations with Turkey, a crucial geopolitical ally for the West. Director Terry George’s film stars Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac in an epic romance set against the backdrop of the Armenian Genocide. It was first unveiled September 11, 2016, at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was then released strategically on April 21, 2017, to the general public to coincide with Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, April 24. Around the time The Promise was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, Professor Tanam Akcam of Clark University announced the recent discovery of an important document. Buried within the personal archives of a deceased Armenian Catholic priest named Krikor Guerguerian was a telegram dated July 4, 1915, and affixed with the official Ottoman letterhead. On it was a single question. It asked the recipient of the telegram to verify whether or not the Armenians listed as being deported from the country had been killed. Most of the film's $100 million budget was financed by Kirk Kerkorian who was

born in 1917 and was an Armenian-American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. Kirkorian passed in 2015, at the age of 98, before he could see the completion of the film. Kerkorian founded Survival Pictures, a production company now managed by Eric Esrailian and Anthony Mandekic, who were dedicated to fulfilling Kerkorian’s wishes for the film. Survival Pictures state on their website that they are dedicated to telling stories of perseverance, endurance and the inextinguishable fire of the human spirit.

Press Release. SURVIVAL PICTURE

This isn’t the first attempt at a movie about the Armenian Genocide. In the 1930s, MGM planned to adapt The Forty Days

of Musa Dagh, a Franz Werfel novel about the massacres and deportations of Armenians, and the studio cast Clark Gable in the project. That production was abandoned after the Turkish government threatened to launch a worldwide campaign against the film. The Promise is about a love triangle that develops between its main character, an Armenian medical student named Mikael (Oscar Isaac), an American Associated Press journalist based in Paris named Chris (Christian Bale), and an Armenian-born woman raised in France named Ana (Charlotte Le Bon). The story is set during the final years of the Ottoman Empire and during the Armenian genocide. Mikael is a struggling pharmacist who lives in the small Armenian village of Sirun, in the southeast part of the Ottoman Empire. In order to help pay the expenses of medical school, he promises to marry the daughter of an affluent neighbor and receives a dowry that allows him to travel to Constantinople (now Istanbul) and attend the Imperial Medical Academy. The film starts off very light-hearted as the main characters form friendships, but it quickly takes a turn for the worse when survival becomes the objective as the plot thickens. At times during the film, romance takes a back seat once the focus is on the outbreak of war. Chris is compelled by his duties as a war correspondent to cover the carnage. Ana desperately tries to protect more than a dozen orphaned children. Mikael’s attempt to save his own family results in him landing in a prison work camp. While there, he is almost overworked to the brink of death.

The pros: The film's leading men are none other than Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale -- two of the best actors of their generation. The film makes you want to learn about a troubled time in world history. The film does leave you feeling very emotional about the atrocities of war. There aren't many scenes in the film that leave you hanging or nodding off. The cons: The Promise is a very predictable film. Overacting is an understatement, and the moments of romance depicted can get very corny. Survival Pictures' main goal is not earning back The Promise's budget, the producers say, but ensuring that all proceeds from the historical drama go to nonprofit organizations. They include the Elton John AIDS Foundation and other human rights and humanitarian groups. Kerkorian set the example by being a generous philanthropist, who donated more than $1 billion to charity, according to Esrailian. The cast was informed of this plan before signing on for the movie, and Survival Pictures are financially backing the film's marketing efforts along with Open Road. Overall Critic Review: Good for a one time watch. The film is a tragically beautiful, fictional love triangle with breathtakingly scenic views. The story is drenched in the violent nature of man, and the war crimes committed during the non-fictional Armenian Genocide. The Promise, starring Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale, Charlotte Le Bon, rated PG-13, running time 2hours 13minutes, now playing.

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH FASHION I CHOOSE WHAT I WANT TO WEAR

RYANNE MENA MANAGING EDITOR

What influences what you wear on a daily basis? Whether it's the latest trend, the weather, or what's not in your laundry pile, the fear of being seen as a mere sexual object used to be my deciding factor in my daily dilemma of outfit picking. That old fear of mine can be traced back to my grade school days where dress code rules were enforced. Those rules were put into place because it was believed that certain clothing would distract boys. From a young age, I was taught that my body was not something that I should be comfortable being in, but something I should hide. As a developing young impressionable girl, the belief that my body could do so much harm simply by wearing a spaghetti strap shirt was quickly ingrained in my mind. In high school, people judged you based on what you wore. If I were to wear a shirt that accentuated my maturing body and a short skirt, that meant two things. To the boys, it meant that I was ‘easy’ and/or ‘promiscuous’ and to the girls, it meant that I was a ‘slut’. If that wasn’t bad enough, my father also put a big emphasis on what it was acceptable for me to wear. Knee-length shorts were the only form of shorts my father deemed as acceptable as he thought a girl shouldn’t wear short shorts. The messages I was receiving as a young girl about what was acceptable to wear only made me overly conscious about how people would perceive me solely based on what I chose to wear. Like many other young girls, I was taught that I should be uncomfortable in my body. The way boys talked to me and other girls in high school perpetuated the belief that our bodies were the only important thing we females possessed, and that if we didn’t hide them then we shouldn’t expect any less. It was really difficult to see past all the vulgar comments to realize that I had the option of embracing my body by dressing in whatever I please. FOR

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because I feel good in it and like the clothing. I also don’t wear anything in particular to prove a point, because I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. I already know and have accepted that I should enjoy the healthy body I am blessed to have. My body is mine and I love feeling good in it.

It took me a while to come to the realization that, not only should I be comfortable in my body, but the choice I make every day on what to wear should be based on one simple thing: what I want to wear. I now refuse to not wear a certain clothing article just because I’m afraid it will draw too much unwanted attention or that someone will look at me as a sexual object. By doing the opposite, I feed into rape culture. I would feed into the belief that what I wear could directly lead a man to sexually assault me.

It is so liberating to wear whatever I feel like wearing on any given day. I no longer let the fear of being looked at as a sexual object stop me from wearing exactly what I want. I am no longer afraid to wear certain shirts or shorts because my feeling of confidence and happiness with my body overpowers the fear of being looked at as a sexual object. And it feels so good to just allow yourself to be happy with your own self without giving a damn about what others might say or how they may react. My sense of self as a young woman is much more important and powerful than the creepy stares I get walking through my school campus. Men need to be stopped being treated as if they are some animals who lack the ability to control their own actions which thus renders them not responsible for their own actions. It is so liberating to wear whatever I feel like wearing on any given day. I no longer let the fear of being looked at as a sexual object stop me from wearing exactly what I want. I am happy that I am in a place in my life where I am even comfortable enough in my own body to wear whatever it is I’d like. I have grown a sense of empowerment and confidence that I realize no one can take away from me, and for me, it all starts with the outfit I decide to put on every morning. Loving the clothing I’m wearing on any given day has made it easier to allow myself to be comfortable in my own body and even be proud and confident in it as well.

Illustration by Diana Garcia and Ramses Lemus

The issue is not the clothing, it is anything but that. Just because I wear something that is revealing does not mean I want men to look up and down at me like I’m not the independent woman that I am. I wear what I wear THECORSAIRONLINE.COM

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VOLUME 113 ISSUE 05 • MAY 03, 2017 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

SPORTS

THE CORSAIRS WALK THE PLANK MEN'S VOLLEYBALL LOSES TO ORANGE COAST COLLEGE IN SEMI-FINALS

Brian Vu STAFF WRITER

Marisa Vasquez PHOTO EDITOR

Pierce College’s South Gym blasts with music and the sound of pounding warmup spikes as Orange Coast College and Santa Monica College prepare their teams for one of the most crucial games of the season: The California Community College Athletic Association’s Men’s Volleyball Semi-final Game. During their first match in February, the Orange Coast College Pirates had lost to the Santa Monica College Corsairs 3-1 making that the only loss of the season thus far. It was time for these two rivals to face each other one last time. Once the game commenced, both teams were ready to prove

they deserved a spot in the final championship game, but one team had to fall short in the semi-finals. The OCC Pirates started the set off with a server error, handing the SMC Corsairs their first point of the match. Two kills by the Pirates and two attack errors by the Corsairs gave the Pirates a momentous lead that the corsairs fought tirelessly to keep up. The match continued with two consecutive kills by Dane Pieper and Andrew Dalmada from the Corsairs which evened the scoreboard. There were a couple lead changes in the end, but the Pirates stood their ground and forced a 22-25 win.

Using the tail wind from the first set, OCC continued the barrage with a 19-9 run. Multiple bad serves, blocks, and passes lead the Corsairs into a deeper hole. Unable to swing back, the Corsairs ended the second set only scoring 14. The onslaught continued into the third set as the Pirates go on a 2-8 run. The Corsairs then put in their best effort to try and upset the pirates. Dalmada and Pieper put the team on their backs and forced multiple lead changes towards the end of the match. The set was neck and neck. At 25-24, the Corsairs fought off two match opportunities, but in the end, could

not hold off two clutch kills by the Pirates’ Jordan Hoppe and Justin Kam. Going up against a team with a 20-1 record is daunting but the Corsairs Coach Jackson Meticchechia had a plan. “Our strategy is always to make the other team uncomfortable,” said Coach Jackson Meticchechia, “but we didn’t do that well tonight. They looked like they were firing on all cylinders.” The OCC Pirates, on April 29, set their sights on their 20-game winning streak against the 7th seed El Camino Warriors for the state title and would be victorious winning all three sets.

Marisa Vasquez Santa Monica College Middle Hitter, Andrew Dalmada (5), takes a second to mentally prepare himself moments before the start of the California Community College Athletics Association playoff game against the Orange Coast College Pirates at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. on April 27, 2017.

Marisa Vasquez Santa Monica College Middle Hitter, Vecas Lewin (15) spikes the ball against Orange Coast College Setter, (5) Colby Edler during the California Community College Athletics Association playoff game against the Orange Coast College Pirates at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. on April 27, 2017.

Biology major Joselyn Yamamoto studies zebrafish stem cells for breakthrough treatments to human diseases.

I’m helping cure diseases with cutting-edge science. Learn how CSUDH Toros become innovators. CSUDH.EDU/Research

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VOLUME 113 ISSUE 05 •MAY 03, 2017 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE