Rewind: December 2016 Mini

the mini: rewind

MODA the mini JENNIFER ANDERSON Editor-in-Chief

Deputy Editor Emma Leuman Art Director Alexandra Folino Photography Director Andrew Salewski Creative Directors Kelsey Daykin and Alexa Carlson Financial Director Reilly Koch Web Master Jameson Zaballos Fashion Editor Courtney Pelot Lifestyle Editor Meg Rotter Culture Editor Haley Nippert Arts Editor Margaret Duffey Fashion Editorial Assistant Maya Campbell Lifestyle Editorial Assistant Jessica Hamilton Staff Writers Alexa Carlson, Darby Hoffman, Ashley Mackens, Ashley Ng, Madelyn Sundquist, Taylor Palmby, Jameson Zaballos Contributing Writers Reid Kurkerewicz, Jourden Kaster Schultz, Sydney Weng Photographers Andrew Salewski, Halie Conyers, Marissa Haegele Models Giovanna Stern, Gabriela Adams, Haley Nippert, Sarah Friedland, Sydney Weng, Joey Kraker and Daria Modrzanska

on the COVER:

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Gabriela Adams photographed

by Marissa Haegele Design by Emma Wimberley

Jen’s Insta: @j3n_and3rson

letter from the editor: I

t’s the most wonderful time of the year. Coincidentally (or not), it’s also the most exhausting time of the year. For students, it’s time for finals and end of the year projects.

For businesses and consumers alike, it’s the time for endless holiday shopping.

For Starbucks: it’s the time for White Peppermint Mochas - I’m not complaining, but I can’t imagine how annoying it is to crank out hundreds of holiday drinks every day.

In this time of exhaustion, I feel like it’s hard to find time to take a second, pause and reflect on how far we’ve come over

the course of the year. We might think that our procrastination methods, be that of studying or holiday shopping, allow us some breathing time, but all that stress in the back of our minds has us going crazy. Honestly, I’m writing this letter in a sweatshirt and leggings with my hair pulled back in a greasy bun. It’s just that kind of day.

So let’s vow to take a real break. Let’s allow our minds to become nostalgic and wander deep into the past. In fact, this issue can help you do just that.

Revisit the regretful fashion trends of your past, discover the evolution of

Tom Ford from just another designer to a household name and catch up on what you may have missed about the 2016 presidential candidates. Finally, join us as we travel through film’s history in honor of 90 years of “The Great Gatsby”.

Happy holidays, all. May this issue help you find your calm in the middle of all the end of the year chaos.

Cheers,

December 2015 | 3

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT:

viiphoto.com

WHY IS GENDER EQUALITY REALLY BENEFICIAL FOR ALL?

By Maya Campbell, Culture Writer Photos by Ashley Gilbertson

If you have recently been sucked into the deep, dark abyss that is your Facebook newsfeed, you may have noticed a seemingly peculiar topic. I have seen it manifest in titles such as, “What’s Going on With White Men.” My typical, sarcastic, jumpthe-gun reaction was, of course, privilege. However, behind the mildly click-bait oriented title is a study from the United Kingdom showing that the suicide rate amongst white middleaged men has dramatically increased by 40% in the past ten years.1 That got me thinking, heck, what is going on with white men?

White men often fall into a group labeled “People Who are Not Allowed to Complain,” due to their privileged status in terms of economics, gender, race and any number of categories. Oh, 4 | December 2015

you have a hard time finding a job in the post-2008 recession? Well, if you find it hard, how do you think people of color feel? Oh, you feel burdened by the high standards of masculinity? Well, do you think femininity is all rainbows and butterflies?

In a world in which we are urged to be better about recognizing the consequences of socioeconomic and political inequity due to sexism, racism, biases against impoverished people and those with mental and physical disabilities, we tend to neglect the simple fact that these issues affect everyone. For example, women are not only affected by sexism, and people of color are not the only ones affected by racism. Each of these issues are intersectional in nature, and it is important to recognize how far-reaching their effects are.

The study, performed by psychologists in the UK, cites factors such as the 2008 economic crisis, general dissatisfaction with life (dubbed the midlife crisis) and increased accessibility to prescription medication, as contributors to this phenomenon.

This study predominantly hashes out the effect of economic crises on men. Through its data analysis, researchers posit that men specifically have a difficult time with crises of this nature because economic provision is at the center of masculinity.

With that, it is important to delve a little deeper to get a better look at what is really going on.

While the economic crisis was a difficult time for mostly everyone, researchers say that it hit men especially hard,

because not only did financial burdens grow, but the crisis also challenged men’s ability to perform their societally assigned duties. These duties, while not coming directly from a specific source, are placed on men as they develop, through media, examples in the home, and formal schooling. Phrases like, “man up” and “grow a pair,” tell boys, who eventually become men, that masculinity is equivalent to emotional toughness, that emotions are a sign of weakness.

These routine performances of stoicism by men, according to a report done by the Health and Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland, prove to be an unsuccessful coping mechanism for stress and the emotional wear of everyday life. Guarded against December 2015 | 5

the options of losing control of their lives and their emotions, they feel obliged to manage stress without necessary help. By way of this isolation, they fail to deal with negative emotions, and a loss of control can become mentally dangerous and fatal.

The constructs of masculinity are closely tied to the pillars of femininity. These pillars have been accepted by the great majority of people as the cause for the subordination of women in most countries and civilizations. Women, especially white women, are allowed and encouraged to be emotional, to tend to things in the sphere of the home, to be fragile, and to look for support from men. These tired, antiquated confinements have, among other things, led to few women in STEM professions, a history of violence against women that continues today, and the erasure of women’s contributions in our history books. This is, as the study shows, only half of the story.

We tend to draw attention to how equality will help those who are, by societal evaluation, most negatively affected by inequality.

However we do not give enough lip service to how all people are affected by it. It is not adverse to the cause of feminism to also acknowledge the fact that men, specifically white men, are suffering in the name of their gendered responsibilities. In fact, uncovering and exposing the ways in which gender constructs harm both men and women is one of the main initiatives of feminism, as it attempts to disrupt conventional gendered frames.

This is undoubtedly difficult, and it takes time. But, with a little blood, sweat, and tears—meaning making efforts to avoid early gendering of children, encouraging men to be “emotional” in public spaces and opening up a conversation about gender roles, etc.—it is doable.

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I have often heard people use a fairly utopian image in saying that equality and diversity are goals because they allow all people to work together towards progress and happiness. While this response is mildly appropriate, it seems to suggest that the end goal is to bask in the luxuries of a Kumbaya circle. The reality here is that we need equality because the negative effects of inequality are harmful to everyone. We are not talking about a society where a woman’s biggest burden is to be waited on, and a man’s most taxing obligation is to open doors for dainty ladies. This is life and according to the study, death. We must emphasize that gender discrimination and inequality negatively affects all in order to improve quality of life for everyone.

When we productively break down the normative constructs of masculinity, men may no longer have to put great pressure on their mental wellness in order to legitimize themselves. This includes taking into account not only how gender constructs affect men, but also how these considerations will look a little different for men and women of color. As mentioned previously, these issues are largely intersectional, and taking on one issue involves taking on the other. It is only then that we will truly achieve an equal society.

Through this, perhaps we can live in a society in which we can facilitate well-rounded discussions with people unafraid to bare their souls, failures and concerns at the table. And then maybe we can have that Kumbaya circle; that does not sound too bad either.

1. Case, A., & Deaton, A. (2015). Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1073/pnas.1518393112

Photo from: Vogue UK

TOM FORD:

a look back at one of fashion’s greatest success stories

By Jameson Zaballos, Mens Writer The idea of a perfectionist is, in and of itself, a competition and exercise in almost needless attention to detail. Few designers embody the perfectionist as aptly as Tom Ford. While the brands he resurrected are probably bigger household names than his own, both are a testament to his vision. His image puts forth an overbearing sense of suggestiveness and seduction - an erotic experience of pure, unfettered lust and sexiness, and ultimately of complete and total admiration for the human body. Bodies are not merely vessels and displays for his clothes, they are essential for his clothes to even be considered as his art.

meant calling American sportswear designer Cathy Hardwick once a day for a month in hopes of securing an interview. This persistence grew to be a common theme in Ford’s life.

Tom Ford’s eponymous label has a storied origin. Ford attended The New School for Design and graduated, surprisingly, with a degree in architecture. Before graduating, however, he discovered his love for fashion, and quickly entered the fashion sphere. This

While a harsh statement, it led him to his major success story: Gucci. Yeah, that Gucci. While it’s pretty much everywhere now (and absolutely a household name) it was floundering when he entered the company. Ford overtook women’s ready-to-wear and

He later stepped up the fashion ladder from sportswear to menswear, moving to Perry Ellis, but quickly grew bored of American fashion, stating “If I was ever going to become a good designer, I had to leave America. My own culture was inhibiting me. Too much style in America is tacky. It’s looked down upon to be too stylish. Europeans, however, appreciate style.”

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quickly rose up the ranks to design director, and in 1994 creative director. He did so by creating a brand that celebrities wanted to wear; that was Gucci’s success in the past, but they needed a complete overhaul of image to achieve that. Gucci had to “reek of glamour, of provocation, and of commercial appeal.” When Tom Ford designed for them, Madonna wore Gucci, Gwenyth Paltrow wore Gucci, and the brand was lifted out of its stagnant ‘70s rut. That complete overhaul (led by Ford working at times 18-hour work days) led to Gucci being valued at almost $5 billion by 1999 (it had, by contrast, been near bankruptcy when he entered). He had pulled the classic into the mainstream.

How is this business success defining his success as a fashion designer? Sometimes, an icon in menswear isn’t an icon just because of his designs, but because his philosophy and approach to menswear extends elsewhere in life. Ford’s adamant stance on his vision (which created a fair amount of tension between him and Gucci’s owner) showed his commitment to the direction he had chosen. His “black and square” versus the owner’s “brown and round” ideals butted heads, but black and square won Gucci recognition. He loves designing in black because there’s no color, nothing distracting from the body; it is completely and totally how the material works with the human physique, and how he can manipulate that to be something sexy, and stunning.

Was it different? Sure. Was it successful? Gucci is thriving today, in large part because of him. It still exists because of him. Ford’s

transformations of Gucci and later, Yves Saint Laurent, are a testament to his clear vision of aesthetic and success at branding not just the clothes, but the public image of the clothes: the experience everyone should have when they don Gucci loafers, or a Saint Laurent dress. The real turnaround at Gucci happened not because they focused simply forward, or only focused on what had worked in the past; Ford’s combination of both led to celebrities endorsing his products because they were sexy, and people buying them because celebrities were wearing them. They saw Gucci at the Oscars, in the fast-paced lifestyles of celebrities, and anywhere a desirable life was to be had. He doesn’t view his aesthetic as design oriented; rather, it’s a lifestyle aesthetic.

He wants people to do the same thing he does. People should aspire to the life his company is about. They should aspire to the lifestyle his clothing projects. He will be the first to admit that “no one needs another pair of $400 shoes”, but he creates the feeling that something isn’t right with what people currently have in their wardrobe. That is how he implements his vision.

The image Tom Ford conjures, ultimately, completely speaks for itself, but while that’s my personal favorite aspect, that isn’t the complete reason he’s a style icon. His conviction to his vision and his aesthetic is what drove him to the success he has experienced.

Conviction drove Tom Ford to be the best in the world at what he does, and he will be the first to tell you he can’t understand striving to be anything but the best.

Photo from: Vogue UK

“HE DOESN’T VIEW HIS AESTHETIC AS DESIGN ORIENTED; RATHER, IT’S A LIFESTYLE AESTHETIC. HE WANTS PEOPLE TO DO THE SAME THING HE DOES.”

AGE OF Styled and Written by Maya Campbell and Ashley Ng Daria Modrzanska photographed by Halie Conyers

OVERALLS // C/O AMERICAN APPAREL SWEATER // C/O AMERICAN APPAREL SHOES // CHIARA FERRIGRINI X STEVE MADDEN

hat was it about youth that made us so unequivocally optimistic? The warm embrace of summer seemed to never cease, and our backyard was our kingdom, our bathtubs, a vast ocean. There was a freedom of mind, imagination and spirit that seems to now be quickly slipping away between our jaded fingers. We approached every situation as a mystery, every trip as an adventure and every change of clothes as a new way to express the multitude of emotions spilling out of and over our small frames.

A step back into our childhood provokes an eerily relevant age when we sought to have control over a part of our lives, often our outward appearance. As sartorial beginners, we fearlessly mixed incompatible prints and insisted on wearing ball gowns as we tagged along during errands. We disobeyed the rules of fashion. Be it out of ignorance or a bubbling, defiant spirit, in our hands, fashion equipped us to draw lines around me and explore our individuality.

In youth, the stages Autonomy vs. Doubt and Initiative vs. Guilt that propelled our everyday decisions are defined by their overarching goals of achieving self-adequacy and initiative attitude by renowned psychologist Erik Erikson. It seems that wearing an overwhelming sequined dress, bold eye shadow and sneaking some of Mom’s red lipstick was our way of making our very first imperative decisions.

Today, in a sea of black North Face coats and white Converse, have we lost our sense of self-assured initiation?

Handed the choice to wear those daring sunflower leggings, we don’t immediately grasp them but opt for the safe, yet dull, black leggings in fear of what others might think. But beneath the comfort, we sense a small itch lingering in the depths of our souls. It’s quietly reminding us that maybe it’s ok to wear those white overalls to lecture and, better yet, top them off with that fuzzy sweater that has been collecting dust in your closet.

Perhaps it’s time to rewind to the age when we approached fashion with optimism, excitement and most importantly, an air of innocence…

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STRIPPED BODYSUIT: C/O AMERICAN APPAREL LEGGINGS: C/O AMERISCAN APPAREL SHOES: CHIARA FERRAGNI X STEVE MADDEN

TOP // C/O AMERICAN APPAREL SKIRT // C/O AMERICAN APPAREL 12 | December 2015 BOOTS // ZARA

SWEATER // BDG DRESS // VINTAGE SHOES // NIKE

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SEQUINED DRESS // VINTAGE HAT // MERCEDES BENZ MERCHANDISE 14 | December 2015 SHOES // TIMBERLAND

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THE DIGITAL DILEMMA

Why Social Media Is The Best & Worst Thing to Happen to Our Generation

By Darby Hoffman, Lifestyle Writer Photograph by Andrew Salewski I would say that social media has been both the best and the worst development in my lifetime. I am simultaneously in the know and on the outside at nearly every moment of my day, and only one word can accurately describe that experience: exhausting. Between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and YouTube, what time or energy do I have left to live my non-virtual life? The stress of balancing one’s physical and online presences can be overwhelming and, oftentimes, the conveniences of social media can be trumped by its negative side effects.

The revised and pristine shots we strategically chose to publish advance our personal brand while simultaneously creating an unattainable reality that our followers see as truth. Scrolling through one’s feed can result in a feeling of discontent at how little our lives truly mimic the picturesque moments conveyed

on our friends’ sites. The quote “comparison is the thief of joy,” becomes increasingly relevant in this sphere as we look to others’ “real lives” to find our happiness. With every free moment, we refresh pages in hopes of finding some new sort of pleasure at seeing a staged scene with the perfect lighting and “candid” smiles. This proves that the benefits of social media come only at the expense of our lived reality.

Therefore, taking time to focus on life offline may be just what we need in order to preserve our everyday happiness. This sort of electronic cleanse, otherwise known as a “digital detox,” has recently picked up speed with a wide audience of social media users, from the everyday Twitter bosses, to online celebrities, such as YouTube’s Estee Lalonde.

Although a bit paradoxical in her profession and the filmed

coverage of her detox, a recently published video of Estee Lalonde’s shows how dependent we have become on our electronics to entertain ourselves. Each time we check in with Estee (youtube.com/essiebutton), we hear the same old remarks of boredom and subtle shock at just how little she and her boyfriend know how to function without access to their phones, laptops or TVs. As a solution, the couple attempts to fill their free time with activities such as day trips to the market, walks outside with their adorable pup Reggie, homemade meals and plain old human conversation. Early in the video, the idea of “skills lost due to the internet,” is sarcastically mentioned. Although brought up in passing and as a joke, the concept holds some validity.

In my own experience, seemingly simple tasks, such as walking to class or having conversation with friends, have become nearly impossible to complete without the frequent glance at my phone or shuffle of a Spotify playlist. It’s almost as if sneaking a peek at my screen serves as an escape, filling any time that may otherwise be allotted to awkward silences or uncomfortable stares with meaningless scrolling and clicks.

Although I am happy to avoid these unpleasant situations, I can’t help but wonder what else we are missing out on as the world around us keeps moving. Prioritizing our screen time means missing out on the many things we may want to do, places we want to go and people we wish to see. We mindlessly go through our day without physically experiencing much of anything. So long as we are able to live vicariously through the online presence of those we follow we remain content and believe our lives are fulfilled. However, upon developing this digital consciousness, I’d much rather attempt to spend my time creating memories beyond the mundane cup of coffee I choose to Instagram.

Although falling into the trap of endless scrolling can happen at any moment, I hope that I will be able to catch myself in the act and redirect my energy towards an experience of a little more substance. Enjoying all that Madison, and the world, has to offer should provide me with more worthwhile memories than I could ever digitally record.

90 YEARS OF GATSBY

By Sydney Weng, Contributing Writer Haley Nippert, Sarah Friedland, Sydney Weng, Margaret Duffey and Joey Kraker photographed by Andrew Salewski

In honor of 90 years of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, I decided to compare several film adaptions of the iconic novel. Since publishing in 1925, many filmmakers decided to celebrate the piece of art by showing viewers the distasteful truth behind the American Dream. For the past 90 years, Hollywood has struggled to address the hollowness of 1920s America while paying tribute to the rise and fall of Jay Gatsby, a selfmade American man. Following a climb to the top in terms of his material wealth, his grand pursuit for love brings forth his doom and his legacy.

1926- SCRAPES OF THE SILENT NOIR

Directed by: Herbert Brenon. || Black and White; Silent.

This 1929 film only offers scrapes of existing footage compiled into a one minute online trailer for us to watch today.The Gatsby Brenon creates includes a collage of vignette frames, documenting the hustle and bustle of 1920s glamour. Warner Lois Wilson is the only brunette film portrayal of Daisy Buchanan.

Her voluptuous figure is significantly different from other film depictions of Daisy. Despite the different appearance, Wilson pulled off a luscious and alluring charm. Brenon’s Jay Gatsby, on the other hand, possesses a begrudging attitude.

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1949- THE ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND GATSBY

Directed by: Elliot Nugent. || Black and White.

Nugent did not bother to stick to the novel when he shot his version of “The Great Gatsby”. Unlike later contemporaries who try to closely follow Fitzgerald’s intended plot line, Nugent exhibited his personal interpretation of the story behind Jay Gatsby. By introducing Gatsby before he becomes the most recognizable party host of the West Egg, Nugent follows Gatsby’s climb to the top, providing an intriguing psychoanalysis along the way.

Nugent shed light on the controversial motives of the character and reasoning for his emotional baggage. By showing it to the audience, he actually restrained the audience from developing their own interpretations. Nugent’s intense, dramatic style pushes the audience to see the tension that lies beneath the shimmery glamour of post-war America. The film serves as a candid attempt to translate Gatsby through contrasting shadow and light.

1974- THE PERFECT ILLUSION OF THE ROARING TWENTIES

Directed by: Jack Clayton. || Technicolor.

With Robert Redford playing Jay Gatsby, the cinematic experience was sure to impress, and it did just that. Clayton illustrates a candid version of the Gatsby universe. Rather than tying the film to a single interpretation of the novel, it provides a direct translation of Fitzgerald’s epic piece from words to film. Screen time is evenly split between Nick Carraway’s perception of the story and Gatsby’s heroic actions. A tone of the blurred 1920s glamour resonates throughout it. Clayton crafts a drunken illusion of the Roaring Twenties, relying solely on Nick Carraway’s narrative to reveal the fiasco within.

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2000- GATSBY THE TV STAR

Directed by: Robert Markowitz. || Technicolor; TV-Movie.

This TV-Movie adaptation is probably the most unpopular version of the bunch. Markowitz and his talented cast attempt to restore the meaning behind the soulless glamour during post-war America. What really stands out in this film is the amount of depth given to Mira Sorvino’s Daisy. Unlike Mia Farrow as the 1974 Daisy, Sorvino captures Daisy’s airhead-like demeanor while also entangling a muted hint of deeper emotion and hesitation in her performance. The problem with this version is that the lack of originality or creativity makes the production blatantly rough causing the audience to lose interest in the film. This film lacked detailed planning, and in terms of scale and cast, Markowitz’s film lacks the essential grandeur and intensity for a successful Gatsby.

2013- THE SEQUEL TO MOULIN ROUGE

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann. || Technicolor.

People either love or hate this spectacle starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Based on the fact that Baz Luhrmann directed “Moulin Rouge” prior to “The Great Gatsby”, it appears to be almost a sequel to the blockbuster. With old-school layovers and dissolving pictures between frames, it is indeed reminiscent of “Moulin Rouge”. For those who value film adaptions that stay true to the text, Luhrmann will drive you crazy. Readers who enjoy Fitzgerald’s humor though will love the Luhrmann portrayal.

Most of the cast fit the book’s description’s seamlessly. DiCaprio surpasses the image of Redford’s flawlessness and brings back the roughness in Gatsby’s character. Toby Maguire’s unapologetic innocence as Nick serves as the perfect choice for a nosy observer of the story. Unfortunately though, Carrie Mulligan fails to bring a new characterization or complexity to Daisy.

Overall, with Jay Z’s voice booming in the background and a pinch of all-too-obvious humor, Fitzgerald’s brilliant portrayal of love, dreams and their relationship with sanity reverberate in the hearts of the audience.

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YOU’RE HERE, NOT QUEER, I’M DONE WITH IT:

A QUEER PERSEPCTIVE ON THE COMMODIFICATION OF QUEER SPACES

By Jourden Kaster Schultz, Contributing Writer

While preparing to go out to one of the few gay bars Madison has to offer, one of the things I have to consider (aside from what bra I will be wearing in place of an actual shirt) is how cis/ straight the crowd there will be. Now I am sure to those among us who fall into that category, reading a statement like this would leave you with some questions and comments, including but not limited to: “Why would that matter?”, “I don’t care when gay people come to straight bars, so why should you care if I come to yours?”, and “if we made a bar for only straight people, that would be homophobic.” And while I understand that from that point of view such arguments would seem valid, I am here to give you the reason why they are misguided from a straightforward, queer perspective (sugar coating not included).

The reason it matters whether or not non-queer people are in spaces designed and intended for queer people is just that: these

spaces were not designed or intended for people outside of the queer community. Gay bars and other queer spaces were made out of necessity, not with the intention to separate ourselves from straight/cis people because we do not like them. We had to create these spaces in the first place because historically it was not safe (and still to this day is not) for us to enter into spaces dominated by non-queer people, while attempting to conduct ourselves how we would like to (e.g. women pursuing women, men pursuing men, trans people expressing their gender identity, etc). Spaces like these were fought for and created so that our community could have a place in a straight/cis dominated society, where we could feel safe being ourselves. A place where we have an easy way to meet other queer people, without (ideally) having to suffer any physical, emotional, or social consequences for doing so.

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For those non-queers among us who seem to have an undying affection for Plan B’s Thursday night drag shows and wonder, “well, what about me?”, the answer is, it is not about you. You already have every other bar, along with the privilege of not having to call it a “straight bar,” because you are the majority, not the minority. You are not oppressed due to your gender identity or sexuality, which is why, in the hypothetical situation of you creating a bar for only straight people, it would be homophobic and prejudiced. This is because you would not be creating a space to feel genuinely safe and accepted, your intention would be to discriminate and keep certain people out. Our spaces were not created for you, they were created to keep us safe, and your presence is saying that the tiny bit of comfort we have fought to achieve in a society that oppresses us, is not as important as your good time.

Which brings me to my next point against the common argument that gay bars/clubs in particular are a safe haven for cis/straight women to escape harassment from men when they want a night out. And while I can deeply sympathize with these women, having experienced sexual harassment in and outside of club/bar settings just as they have, I will also say that this practice is not a good solution for a number of reasons.

“There needs to be retaliation against an oppressive system that says women in public spaces, especially bars and clubs, are essentially the property of any men that want them.”

The truth is that when these women come into our space, they bring unwanted traffic along with them. The traffic to which I am referring is the straight/cis men hoping to prey on these women in a space where there is presumably far less competition, due to the majority of men being gay. The crowd of men that these women bring in with them, whether intentionally brought into the space or not, are harassing the queer women to which the space belongs. We have to deal with these men trying to proposition and grope us, whether or not we are alone. They do not respect or see validity in a relationship or identity that does not involve a man, let alone a woman’s right to say no, regardless of sexual orientation.

While I completely understand that it is not the fault of these women that cis/straight men follow them into our space, the fact still remains that it is happening. This makes what is supposed to be a safe space for queer women/femme presenting queers, no longer safe. And along with making it unsafe for these individuals, it also makes it unsafe for male/masculine presenting queers. The presence of these cis/straight men can make their queer counterparts feel unsafe pursuing men in the bar, or even like they have to “act straight,” as many are forced to do in non-queer settings for fear of physical violence or ridicule.

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Similar fears exist for female/femme presenting queers when cis/ straight women are in the space. While cis/straight men are the most intrusive and aggressive of the two, cis/straight women can often carry a lot of entitlement and prejudice into the space as well. And while I understand and can attest to the fact that a lot of cis/straight women aren’t blatantly disrespectful when entering our space, the fact remains that there are still ones who are.

These are the women who come into our spaces flaunting the title of “ally” because they love gay men, but do not afford that same respect to queer women. Thus, you will find these women entering into our space and making queer women feel uncomfortable for things such as pursuing women or dressing in gender non-conforming ways, in a space where these are considered normal. The solution to straight women finding a safe/harassment-free night out does not lie in corralling all of them into queer spaces. Doing this only changes a safe queer space into another unsafe space dominated by cis/straight people, especially when the “outsiders” (so to speak) who enter our spaces do not understand and respect our culture or our people.

This in turn brings homophobia and transphobia into a space that should ideally be free of such prejudices.

If a safe space for straight/cis women is needed, then there needs to be a movement to create such a space first. Women must fight a place like this, just like queer people had to fight for the spaces we have created.

There needs to be retaliation against an oppressive system that says women in public spaces, especially bars and clubs, are essentially the property of any men that want them. A woman’s body, time, space, and attention is never owed to any man, but invading spaces that others have worked hard to create for themselves is not the way to achieve a said space. It is a half-fallen-off band-aid of a solution at best.

With all that being said, I hope the reason for the existence of these types of spaces is clearer than before. These spaces were never designed with discrimination in mind, and their purpose was not to keep people out. They are created to be a haven to those oppressed groups that do not have the privilege of feeling safe in the majority of places they go. So perhaps the next time you are looking to frequent your local gay club or pride festival for something fun to do, you will consider first who that fun and celebration is for.

WHY DID I WEAR THAT?!

By Ashley Mackens, Fashion Writer Photo by Courtney Pelot The end of the calendar year often causes us to take a look back and reflect. Recently, I thought back to some fashion fads and iffy wardrobe choices I made throughout the years. Based on my fashion faux pas, I compiled a list of the 10 trends I will never (and you shouldn’t ever) rock again.

Silly Bandz

For the life of me, I don’t recall why colorful plastic outlines of random objects that doubled as bracelets were a hot item, but they were! Stacked high from wrist to elbow, the more you accumulated the more popular you got. Everyone wanted a piece of the Silly Bandz wealth, and some people would have stopped at nothing to get it, as if they were valuable or something.

Platform Flip Flops

They’re perhaps the most impractical shoe there ever could be.

Flip flops are hard enough to walk in and keep on your feet as it is. Add a platform, and you’re done for. Not only was it a hideous trend, but it was also a dangerous one!

Gaucho Pants

Everyone can appreciate a good stretchy pant, but no one can appreciate the gaucho. As comfortable as gauchos might have been, not a single person pulled them off. I don’t care who you are, no one looks good in extra-wide leg pants that end just below the knee.

Scarf Belts

Some accessories complete an outfit; the scarf belt ruined every outfit it touched. What exactly was the point of taking a useless piece of patterned fabric and pulling it through our belt loops? It usually didn’t match what we were wearing, and it certainly didn’t hold up our pants.

screamed to the world. Maybe instead of trying to impress people with where we were shopping, we should have been focusing on choosing clothes that reflected our personal style.

Unnecessary Tank Tops

And what was sticking out the bottom of all those horrendous brand logo T-shirts we loved so much? Oh, right: the plain tank top. Why exactly this was a trend, I’m not sure. But I am sure that it looked terrible.

Shrugs

If you had cold arms, the shrug was for you (because it only covered your arms). Really though, we could have easily worn long sleeves instead of tying a ¼ sweater over our boobs and looking rather ridiculous.

Leg Warmers

If you had cold calves, leg warmers were for you! Seriously, no one gets cold calves. And leg warmers, contrary to 80s workout videos, did not make you look better while exercising.

Side Bangs and Chunky Highlights

We didn’t only make poor clothing choices. Our hairstyle decisions of the past were also questionable. I’m talking about you Mr. Side Bang and Mrs. Chunky Highlights. Neither of you look at all natural, and the two together make for one bad haircut.

Bump-Its

If our hair wasn’t bad enough, we decided to turn up the volume (not in a good way) with the infamous Bump-It. The only thing more annoying than Bump-It commercials were people wearing Bump-Its and thinking they looked good.

Brand Logo T-Shirts

“Look at me! I got my shirt at (insert generic store here) and overpaid for it! I’m so cool.” That is what every branded shirt

23 | December 2015

ADVICE FROM ALUMNI

By Taylor Palmby, Lifestyle Writer The University of Wisconsin-Madison prides itself in excellent academics, a variety of extracurriculars and a pool of talented alumni.

I was lucky enough to interview two very distinguished Madison alum.

Both of these alumni are using their education from UW-Madison to leave a mark on the fashion world.

During my short time with these two, John Soper, a production employee for Vanity Fair and web designer for Women’s Wear Daily, and Sammy Walsh, brand marketing director for College Fashionista, discussed the ins and outs of the fashion world, shared personal experiences and gave some amazing advice for aspiring fashion journalists.

Soper told me stories of the amazing people he has met, and A-list fashion shows he has sat front row at.

“I met Lindsay Lohan the first day I was working at People, and I

24 | December 2015

wanted to tell her her dress was fetch, but I didn’t want her to slap me,” Soper said.

The moment those words left his mouth, I knew this interview would be one I would remember. John Soper graduated from UW-Madison in 2013. He started his career as a fashion closet intern for Popsugar.

He currently works as a freelance web designer for WWD, and he recently received a job in production for Vanity Fair.

Soper always saw himself working in print, but his time in New York quickly made him realize he is better suited for the digital sector.

Walsh also works with digital media. She dreamed of working for CollegeFashionista since she was a Style Guru for the company in college, and she loves that her days are always filled with new adventures.

“I might have phone meetings with content partners, photo shoots all over the city, meetings with co-workers in the office,” Walsh said.

“Sometimes we travel to various campuses for panels or events.”

Soper, who spent the first few months of his time teaching people to surf in the big apple, likes that there is more financial security in the digital realm. At WWD, Soper is an online producer, and he mainly works on managing their website and social media presence. Soper loves WWD because of the amazing people he works with.

“I get to work with some of the industry’s most knowledgeable and connected people, and unlike other publications, they don’t have big egos,” Soper said. “Also the prestige that comes with working for the title. Everyone in the industry knows WWD and reads it religiously it’s pretty much the bible for some fashion folk.”

According to Soper, networking is an extremely important step in order to become a part of the industry. Networking can become a skill even more valuable than those learned in class.

“Ninety-nine percent of the jobs and internships I have gotten so far have been through personal connections,” Soper said. “Sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know.”

Walsh also believes that networking is extremely important. It was her dedication to networking with CollegeFashionista that landed her an amazing career in New York. Walsh interned for Brava Magazine and a Milwaukee fashion designer during her time at UW-Madison, but she believes her time interning for CollegeFashionista was the most valuable experience.

Walsh is one of five full-time employees for CollegeFashionista and said she has had some truly amazing experiences working for the company. From filming a video with Rebecca Minkoff, to working with prominent publications such as Allure and Vogue, it is clear that Walsh lives the life that many aspiring fashion journalists dream of,

but Walsh warns that having an amazing career will be a lot of work.

“No one is going to hand you a career- you have to work really hard to get one,” Walsh said. “You need to be educated on the industry you want to work in. Do some research, know who’s who, reach out to people for informational interviews.”

Both Walsh and Soper’s professional time in the fashion world have contributed to their own personal style.

“I love a good Chelsea boot; they’re easy to throw on and can be dressed up or down. I’m also loving suede jackets this season,” Soper said. “Also, who can say no to a good poncho for the fall?”

Some of his favorite designers are Tom Ford and Thom Browne, but he loves shopping the sale rack too.

“I always like to mix-and-match high and low pieces. I may wear a designer pant, but I’ll pair it with a sweatshirt from Zara. There’s nothing wrong with shopping low-end retailers,” Soper said.

Walsh’s fashion icons are Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, but she also finds inspiration from Style Gurus and everyone in the CollegeFashionista office.

“I really love everyone’s unique styles. New York is crawling with cool women,” Walsh said.

Although these successful alumni seem to have it all figured out, Walsh wants to remind aspiring fashion industry workers that everything will all work out..

“Take time to enjoy college. Relax a little,” Walsh said. “Don’t rush it, because you have the rest of your life to work.”

December 2015 | 25

JAY KATELANSKY’S

PHANTOM

By Madelyn Sundquist, Arts Writer As a black UW-Madison Master of Fine Arts student, Jay Katelansky uses her personal experience living on a white-dominant campus to explore the intersections between gender and race through her art. Katelansky’s work focuses on a national climate that devalues black lives.

Katelansky works with multimedia, using striking and direct visuals to communicate the weightlessness of black bodies in the United States. In “only if Eric was Phantom” (pictured), she takes an image of Eric Garner confronting a police officer, and edits lasers to shoot out of his eyes before the officer has a chance to become violent with him. In other works, Katelansky creates subjects and objects that have the opportunity to represent Phantom in a tale of black crime and police confrontation.

As Katelansky will explain, Phantom is an ambiguous figure representing the forces at play in narratives involving black death, crime, and representation, as well as a mythical force that the artist uses to imagine different outcomes in these stories.

I recently sat down with Katelansky to discuss her work. Darting from photography manipulation, to narrative paintings, to installation work, Katelansky creates an ever-shifting narrative of blackness in this country mediated by her concept of Phantom.

Moda Magazine: When did you decide to start managing your voice through visual art?

JK: I think the moment was my third year in undergrad when Trayvon Martin was killed and no one in my classes knew who Emmett Till was. I went to a small women’s college in Pennsylvania, only 500 women, so even if we didn’t know each other we saw each other every day and added each other on Facebook. No one was posting then about Trayvon and what had happened, and it just felt like I was the only one who knew what was happening at all.

So I thought, well, you know the only way I can talk about this, since we didn’t have classes geared towards this stuff, is [through] art...I was like, okay, well, I guess I’m going to be the one who talks about it, because no one else is!

MM: How did you get from Philadelphia to UW-Madison, as an MFA student?

JK: I was applying to grad school in my last year in undergrad... because I didn’t know what else I was going to do afterwards...

UW gave me full funding, which is how I ended up here. One of my best professors in undergrad was straight out of grad school at UW and he was the one who told me I could probably get a fellowship.

MM: Can you briefly explain Phantom as a concept?

JK: Phantom is a shape-shifting, gender-shifting, time-traveling being that exists in the past, present and future. It is such a broad concept that it’s hard to pin down – Phantom is not just one thing. Phantom is a book, Phantom is, you know, an AriZona Iced Tea can; Phantom is a whole, but it is also me and the people in my community.

MM: When did Phantom start becoming a vehicle for your work, beyond just a concept?

JK: I was introduced to a concept called “Phantom Negro Weapons”1 in undergrad, and someone who had been following me on the Internet, who knows my art sent me the link thinking it would be interesting for my work. It sat with me, this idea of the Phantom Negro Weapon, which is based off of the idea of a Phantom Negro Assailant, so then I thought about what if there was an actual being – a superhero or a villain or someone who could inhabit this space.

I didn’t start making this work specifically on Phantom until last year, so my first year here I was just making all this anxious work about being here. I was making portraits of people who had passed away, which just became too much, especially in this space. In Philly, I got to leave academia and my small school, which was just one building, and go into a city. I could be in any part of the city; I didn’t have to stay where it was predominantly white. But here, there’s really no option, I mean, there are other parts of Madison that I could leave to, but it doesn’t make much sense considering the kind of community I’m trying to build, and having my studio and apartment here in downtown. Not being able to leave the very whiteness of the space made me need

Jay Katelansky, Artist

Installation by Jay Katelansky and Alex Jackson, tape and hoodie, George L. Mosse Humanities Building

“PREJUDICE EXISTS HERE, BUT PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO BE OPEN TO IT.” something to have something that didn’t make me depressed all the time. Phantom became this form of therapy for me, to use it as a way to have some sort of control living in the Midwest.

MM: How do you see gender and sexuality at play in your work with Phantom, as in your lecture on campus you focused on your work that displayed a lot of hyper-masculinity?

JK: For my first show here that I did using Phantom, I wanted to play off how media plays...usually focus on black males when it comes to this movement, and then also black death. The thing is, it’s not only black males. Black women, trans women; they get murdered as well, and it’s important to be focused on that too.

Especially as a queer woman of color, I don’t want the focus to be just on black masculinity. For that specific show, it felt very appropriate for it to be that way.

In the future, I’m hoping to shift the idea of Phantom as a being to also thinking of Phantom as an object, also not focusing on

them solely as masculine-based but as non-binary. I want to make Phantom ambiguous so it’s hard to pin down.

MM: What are some the struggles that come with this campus that has driven your work, specifically relating to Phantom?

JK: Some of the challenges come from people wanting to dismiss this place as being so liberal, so that what I’m talking about doesn’t matter, but that’s the thing: prejudice exists here, but people don’t want to be open to it. Things like the Spiderman on Langdon Street2 show this, knowing that it wasn’t reprimanded the way it should have been, but also just me being a brown body on campus does too. I have been pushed off the sidewalk, stopped by police officers and have been called the n-word. An installation that Alex Jackson, another art student, and I did [pictured] was taken down immediately [and] sparked people on the Internet calling us names... Those little things and also Tony Robinson’s killing on Willy Street...sparked Phantom.

MM: Who are some of your biggest inspirations for your work that MODA readers could check out?

JK: I’ve always been a fan but right now, constantly, I’m looking at Trenton Doyle Hancock, because he has created this imaginary world in which characters like Phantom can exist. But then I look at some of my artist friends’ work, like Alexandria Smith or Sam Vernon, and sometimes I’m not even quite sure what they’re exploring, but I can see the imaginary world they’re creating, and it’s always really beautiful.

I also look at Kerry James Marshall and others, but Trenton Doyle Hancock is the main source right now that I’m checking up on like every five seconds and trying to see how I can make my work as good as his.

Look out for Katelansky’s MFA show coming to the Chazen Museum of Art in April 2016.

1. Phantom Negro Weapons: are those weapons which White Americans report black people having but which are never found for some strange reason. Even trained police officers report them. They are greatly feared by the white community, probably due to their magical properties, including cloaking (the idea that police “rediscover” weapons at a crime scene involving a person of color) and shapeshifting (the idea that a perceived weapon is really a simple object like a wallet).

Source: https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/phantom-negro-weapons/

“only if Eric Garner was Phantom,” animation still.

Untitled, paint.

2. A 2011 incident in which a spiderman doll was hung from the balcony of the Badger House on Langdon St, mimicking the position of a lynching, and hung at night, thus making the doll appear to be a dark figure.

Source: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/university/spider-man-doll-hanging-from-balcony-disturbs-uw-officials/ article_fc60cb12-935e-11e0-8cfc-001cc4c002e0.html

Untitled, installation, 7th Floor, George L. Mosse Humanities Building.

ROMANCE & TECH N O L O GY

By Linh Nguyen, Lifestyle Writer All hail the Internet

Living in the digital generation, we can see that technology has clearly transformed our lives, particularly our means of communication. Gone are the days of carrier pigeons, letters that took what seemed like forever to arrive in the mail and expensive phone calls across continents.

Apart from helping us to keep in touch with friends and families regardless of our location, technology, specifically the Internet, has significantly impacted romantic relationships in several ways. Let’s travel back in time and see how advanced technology has changed relationships.

Letter Writing

Entering the United States around 1775, the postal system allowed people to send letters to each other across the country. Mail was transported primarily by train, and deliveries often took weeks or even months to arrive.

Letter writing still remains as a great symbol of “true” romance. Some people consider it too cheesy and emotional, but most would have their heart melted if given a handwritten letter from their significant other.

It does not merely show affection, but also the time and thoughts invested into writing a perfect letter. Compared to the casual text messages we send nowadays, which take us less than 30 seconds to type up, letters still prove the most romantic form of displaying affection that will make even the coldest-hearted people swoon.

Telephone & Cellphone

Today we take the telephone for granted. No one actually uses their landline anymore. Remember the nervousness that consumed you every time you dialed your friend’s home number and wished they picked up the phone instead of their parents? Yup, those are the good times of the early 2000’s. Had a significant other back then? You probably drove your parents nuts with the telephone bills each month because you sneakily called each other every night.

Then the cellphone came. These cellphones were not like the current smartphone. They were very basic.. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Sidekick – you know what I’m talking about. This is when texting began to rise in popularity. For the first time, couples had a means of instant and private communication. Messages became shorter, people started to create texting languages and the basic rules of grammar and spelling went out the window.

The Internet

Yahoo, Myspace, MSN. Enough said.

Smartphone, Video Call & Social Media

Moving to the present, we live in a society with all the benefits social media and smartphones have brought us.

What we are doing on a daily basis, such as talking and seeing long distance friends and lovers across the globe through a screen, was considered a far-fetched daydream just a few decades ago. Here we are, blessed with the everevolving technology that helps us to connect with everyone on the planet, despite the physical distances. However, there are some downsides to that. We’ve become addicted to texting, and we spend more time online than having real-life interactions. Social media has made its way into personal relationships, causing us to feel like we need to publicize our relationships online. Online dating websites and apps have become the norm, ranging from Match. com to Tinder. What is romance anymore when it has come down to a single text: “Netflix & chill?”

Regardless of how the current dating scene is, I believe we all need to appreciate every piece of advanced technology we’re given. Individually, we must take the initiative and discover how we can integrate romance into technology.

pause With finals coming up faster than we’d like to admit, the stress can become overwhelming. We decided to visit the Graduate Hotel on Langdon to take a breather, indulge in croissants and coffee, read the newspaper and stay in bed for just a little longer.

Gabriela Adams photographed by Marissa Haegele Directed by: Kayla Cooke, Reilly Koch, Madalyn Manzeck, Clarke Smith and Moriah Ziman Creative Directors: Alexa Carlson and Kelsey Daykin

BRALETTE // FREE PEOPLE WHITE BUTTON DOWN // NASTY GAL

32 | December 2015

PINK SLIP // DESIGN BY EMMA WIMBERLEY

ROBE // DESIGN BY EMMA WIMBERLEY NUDE BRA // GILLIGAN & O’MALLEY

34 | December 2015

2016 PRESIDENTIAL

“CANDIDATE CANDID”

By Darby Hoffman, Culture Writer With the hype of the upcoming presidential election gaining traction, televisions and Internet browsers alike are becoming flooded with campaign commercials and other propaganda. In an effort to educate our readers and provide some political clarity, Moda has provided a summarized look at the top candidates of

Gage Skidmore

each party and what they are promising. Although this may give you a glimpse at the key issues, we encourage you to research further before deciding whom you will be voting for in 2016.

BEN CARSON (R) Carson wishes to give educational control to local communities, repealing federal guidelines provided by Common Core standards. He says he would give curriculum and funding management to parents, teachers, and principals in individual districts.In regards to immigration, Carson has stated support for “[building] a border wall.” However, he has also voiced his concerns regarding cheap labor and deportation of undocumented immigrants. In the past, he has advocated for creating a “guest worker program.”

Foreign Affairs/National Security: Subduing Russia, standing by Israel, increasing national border protection Social: Pro-life (20-week abortion ban, where abortions only occur in occasions of rape, incest, or other extenuating circumstances), preserving “traditional marriage”, limiting gun control Financial: Adding a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, reform tax code (flat rate tax), repealing Obamacare, allowing free-market to run economy Energy/ The Environment: Denies climate change, declaring energy independence from the Middle East

Karen Murphy

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D) Hillary Clinton seeks to combat campus sexual assault. 1 in 5 women (1 in 4 at UW) will be sexually assaulted in college, and Clinton says she plans to fight for comprehensive support, a fair reporting process, and increased prevention. Clinton also addresses immigration reform, hoping to create comprehensive immigration reform legislation with a path to full and equal citizenship. She has also stated that she will “do everything possible… to protect families.”

Foreign Affairs/National Security: Reforming immigration system, combatting ISIS using Special Operations, supporting refugee placement in U.S. Social: Fighting campus sexual assault, working for disability, LGBT, and women’s rights (pro-choice, supports funding for Planned Parenthood) Financial: Making college affordable and accessible, providing affordable health care, reforming campaign finance Energy/Environment: Against Keystone XL pipeline, North American Climate Compact (would set common limits to emissions)

Gage Skidmore

TED CRUZ (R) Cruz believes in preserving “traditional marriage”. Despite the Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage, Cruz says he will push to overturn this decision, citing that it infringes upon “religious liberty.” He has expressed hopes of implementing an “anti-gay marriage Amendment.” In the Middle East, Cruz supports arming various groups overseas (Kurds, Ukraine), to fight their adversaries. Cruz would “label [Islamic terrorists [sic]]” America’s enemy and bomb communities overseas where terrorist organizations are believed to be.

Foreign Affairs/ National Security: Supports tripling border patrol and allowing police to freely question immigration status of individuals Social: Limiting gun control, preserving “traditional marriage”, opposes reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, pro-life (end funding for Planned Parenthood), advocating for veterans, pro-Death Penalty, supports local control of education Financial: Abolishing the IRS, regulating government spending, repealing Obamacare Energy/ Environment: Supports “traditional” energy (support of crude oil & Keystone XL pipeline, voted NO on protecting oceans, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystem [Water Resources Development Act of 2013])

Gage Skidmore

MARCO RUBIO (R) Rubio says he would repeal Obamacare, replacing it with a “21st century, market-driven alternative.” He will cut back the government’s role, and market competition will keep health care prices low. A citizen tax credit would go to purchase insurance in hope it will expand access to quality, affordable coverage. He seeks to make college more affordable and accessible by simplifying the FAFSA and reforming the student-loan payment system. He endorses vocational education, apprenticeships, and online education.

Foreign Affairs/National Security: Repealing Cuba policy, building U.S. military, pro-Israel, combatting ISIS, supports merit-based immigration policy and increasing border security Social: Pro-life (supports contraceptive exemptions for religious organizations, prohibiting embryonic stem cell research, anti-abortion, regardless of rape/incest), advocating for veterans, limiting gun-control, local control of education Financial: Repealing Obamacare, reforming Entitlement programs(Protect Medicare & Social Security while improving financial security of retirees) Energy/ Environment: Supports “traditional” energy development (crude oil, Keystone XL pipeline), believes environment can be fixed with free-trade system

MARTIN O’MALLEY (D)

Karen Murphy

On gun control, O’Malley supports restrictions on gun ownership, and says he would ban assault weapons, limit clip size, and require fingerprinting for identification. He has also discussed hopes to address the problem of unauthorized firearms. O’Malley supports ObamaCare, saying the program “will get past the scare tactics and will work.” More recently, he suggested an all-payer system which caps medical costs and hospital fees.

Foreign Affairs/National Security: Implementing gun control policy, supports Syrian refugee placement in U.S., combatting ISIS Social: Advocating for veterans & military family, supports LGBT equality, pro-choice (supports stem cell research, access to contraceptives and reproductive rights) Financial: Making health care comprehensive, supports debt-free college, expanding social security, reforming campaign finance and immigration systems Energy/Environment: Supports clean energy (Creation of Clean Energy Job Corps and Clean Energy Financing Authority, updating electric grid, ), against Keystone XL pipeline

Gage Skidmore

DONALD TRUMP (R) Trump has largely focused his campaign on finances. He wishes to reform America’s tax system by cutting tax rates, creating four tax brackets, and enforcing a one-time, 14% tax on the wealthy to pay off national debt. He is notable for his stance on immigration. Trump opposes birthright citizenship (which is currently guaranteed under the 14th Amendment), and supports building a wall on the Mexican border.

Foreign Affairs/National Security: Strengthen American power in international negotiations Social: Limiting gun control, advocating for veterans, banning late-term abortions (except for cases of rape, incest, or health), preserving “traditional marriage” (same-sex marriage is state issue), local control of education over Common Core Financial: Reforming tax code & promoting self-reliance, repealing ObamaCare Energy/Environment: Does not believe in climate change, supports Keystone XL pipeline and fossil fuels

Marc Nozell

BERNIE SANDERS (D) Sanders’ campaign focuses on making college more affordable. His goal is to make public higher education tuition free and debt free. He wants to cut and refinance loans, as well as prevent the government from making a profit on them.

Sanders says he supports the advancement of LGBT rights. He says he would sign into law the Equality Act, the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, and other bills prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people.

Foreign Affairs/National Security: Supports Iran Deal, diplomatic relations with Cuba, supports gun control measures Social: Combatting racial injustice, women’s rights (life-time pro-choice record, funding for family planning), LGBT equality, advocating for veterans Financial: Reforming campaign finance, increasing the minimum wage, expanding Social Security, addressing income & wealth inequality (Increase federal healthcare spending to save on administrative waste, lower pharmaceutical & device prices, lower rate of medical inflation.)

Energy/Environment: Supports clean energy to fight climate change (solar, thermal initiatives, Green Jobs Act, taxing carbon emissions), against Keystone XL pipeline Sources: www.hillaryclinton.com, secure.berniesanders.com, martinomalley.com, www.bencarson.com, www.tedcruz.org, www.donaldjtrump.com, marcorubio.com, ontheissues.org, huffingtonpost.com “An Open Letter to the Wall Street Journal on Its Bernie Sanders Hit Piece,” Professor Gerald Friedman, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Creative Commons photos via Flickr

A LOOK BACK AT COSMO

By Jessica Hamilton, Lifestyle Editorial Assistant Giovanna Stern photographed

by Halie Conyers

40 | December 2015

“THE TWO WEEK PLAN…FOR WINNING A MAN: MOST SUCH ARTICLES DO NOT LIVE UP TO THEIR PROMISE. THIS ONE, WE HASTEN TO TELL YOU, IS WORKABLE. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.” – A R T I C L E T I T L E F R O M J U LY C O S M O P O L I TA N 1 9 5 0

When a journalism course sent me to Memorial Library to discover old magazines, I never expected to find such discrepancies in Cosmopolitan from the middle of the 20th century and today.

To begin, the magazine cost a mere 35 cents in 1956, compared to a whopping $3.99 today. Another unfortunate comparison is the length of the stories then versus now. As you flip through older Cosmopolitans, most stories span five to six pages long.

In sharp contrast, the December 2015 Carrie Underwood cover story barely filled one and a half pages.

Similarities between the two time periods include a plethora of romance stories, however, today the stories are more sexually explicit. In March 1956, Cosmopolitan’s top romance story informed readers how to cope with a husband returning from a mental health hospital. Although not to the same degree, mental health problems remain a topic of discussion today.

Less severe than returning from a mental health center, Cosmopolitan 2015 includes a story about how to get into the right mindset during the holidays so that you can conquer work assignments and still have time to party. The tips comprise of turning your anxiety into excitement and keeping just two todo lists. To tackle your to-do lists: delete items, delay items, diminish them or delegate them.

Regarding finances, February 1956 shared a story of families fleeing the suburbs to the city rather than the opposite. The opportunity for the suburbs to provide “closer family life, the finer social life, the richer cultural life…” was outweighed by the commute time to and from the city and the upkeep of a suburban home and yard. The money section of the December 2015 Cosmo, however, is limited to a single page, the story advising how to go out with your girlfriends without going broke.

If you were trying to obtain a new figure by summer in March 1956, Cosmopolitan suggested such activities as playing bridge, horseback riding, brisk dancing (fox trot or waltz), playing table tennis, gardening, piano playing (moderately fast), singing or skating. An aerobic activity listed in both Cosmopolitans was swimming. Cosmopolitan 2015’s recommendation of rock climbing exemplifies our current trends of nontraditional exercises and pushing ourselves to improve strength.

In one feature from the past, entitled, “I Wish I’d Said That,” the reader is presented with a statement or question and then three choices as replies to say in conversation. The purpose of the article is to improve vocabulary and improve conversation. An example was “Who’s behind the lectern?”

A. The sentry, B. The teller, or C. The preacher; the answer being C, the preacher. These types of features don’t exist in the Cosmopolitan of today. Instead, Cosmopolitan has shifted largely to a focus on more lists and short blurb articles to meet the demands of the decreasing attention spans of readers.

In fact, the feature “34 things to do this month” offers less than one sentence per idea, and recurring pieces like “Cosmo Reads” focus on the actresses who will play the protagonists on the big screen rather than about the actual novels.

I’m doubtful that current Cosmopolitan sections on scandalous confessions, embarrassing moments and worst dates ever would likely appear in the Cosmopolitans of the 50s. December 2015’s worst date ever, as ranked “literally deranged” on the douche-o-meter, revealed a girl getting cheered on by her date’s frat brothers after they hooked up in the shower.

Overtime, Cosmopolitan has undergone many changes. Many could argue that this magazine is not what it used to be entirely.

Cosmopolitan today encompasses shorter and more risqué articles, which is a reflection on readers’ short attention spans and the expectation to have stories that will catch attention among all of the other media outlets. When women pick up a glossy copy of Cosmopolitan, they want to be able to read something entertaining, but also relatable. Women want to know that their beauty, sex or financial problems are common among others.

However, not everything has changed about this magazine.

When we stop to think about it. Cosmopolitan has remained a young women’s magazine over time with consistent topics from books to beauty to sex. In an interview with NY Magazine, Cosmopolitan’s Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles discussed Cosmopolitan’s future. She said she wants to change the magazine’s image from “a monthly sex handbook” to equally addressing current events. I think Cosmopolitan will continue to develop as an all encompassing guide for young women.

This magazine has a bright future and there’s potential for Cosmopolitan to adapt to larger movements and societal changes.

FAISAL ABDU’ALLAH’S SQUAD

By Reid Kurkerewicz, Contributing Writer

Faisal Abdu’Allah’s show “Squad: The Calling of The Common Hero” has a startling immediacyin its visual politics that are uncommon in modern fine art. “The Last Supper I” and “TheLast Supper II” are both retellings of the familiar New Testament story, that is often visually depicted with exclusively white men. Both tapestries recast the subjects of the dinner as black, with both men and women, and in II, with automatic weaponry. This stark portrayal reminds the viewer that Jesus and his disciples were politically marginalized religious rebels in their times, who were never exclusively white, or men.

By injecting a modern narrative with the automatic weapons and realistic photo qualities, The artist exposes a physical connection between marginalized communities across centuries. Abdu’Allah simultaneously exposes white patriarchal misrepresentation of biblical stories. I believe that Abdu’Allah’s representation is closer to the truth than da Vinci’s masterpiece, which Abdu’Allah references. While Jesus’ race and com42 | December 2015

plexion are unknown to scholars today, he was almost certainly not white, as he is commonly depicted. Abdu’Allah masterfully reworks the viewer’s conception of The New Testament in a way that is initially surprising, but after reflection, shouldn’t be.

“Squad” also includes large photographs of people who may be familiar to local viewers as members of the UW-Madison community. The photographs are set up along the walls, almost like deities, with names like “Polaris,” and “Gilgamesh,” all leading to a central figure named “‘Mosgadaace,’ Lead Hummingbird from the Sky.” By redefining individuals as heroines and heroes from various traditional myths, the individuals become protectors of spirituality and communities in the ways they define themselves, and position themselves in relation to others.

Adjacent to this series are screen prints of individuals with ink made from the subject’s own human hair, which presents the embodiment

missgracieshouse.blogspot.com

of being in a person’s physicality, and creates an impression of individuality that will be nearly immortal.

I sat down with Faisal Abdu’Allah to talk about his process during Squad, as well as his creative trajectory that brought him to where he is today.

Moda Magazine:What was the biggest turning point in your art career?

Faisal Abdu’Allah: I was at the Massachusetts School of Art and one of my friends gave me a book on the Harlem Renaissance.

That was when I realized there was this huge community of black artists that I wasn’t aware of. I felt that I had been in a wonderland in London, like a hippie doing art about form. Then, later, I was at a Puerto Rican wedding, and while my buddy was looking for his shoes he kicked out the autobiography of Malcolm X from under his bed. He said, “English, you should read it.” (They called me English) I’ll never forget I said “nah” and kicked it back under.

My friend insisted, “No, I mean it, you’ve got to read it,” and I eventually did. I read it it probably about three days. I began to see similarities in my own life. I became intrigued in the trajectory of my identity as a young black person located in the world. I saw that I could utilize the art world as a device, to articulate some powerful moments.

The Last Suppers all come from the barber shop, and moments of conversations with clients. I became interested in the identity politics of hair, and the ways in which our roots express themselves through DNA in our hair. After cutting it for so long, and understanding it as a trace of who we are, I became curious in it as a material in Print making. Printmaking has a lot of waste, and I wanted to put properties into ink to give it meaning. There are all kinds of ways for people to conceal who they are with their hair, and this intrigued me enough to begin to understand hair politically and chemically. This connection is at the core of The Common Hero. We all have the same person running through us, and this idea has been eroded away from us by governance and ways we separate each other.

MM: That’s a really beautiful abstraction of what you were doing as a barber.

FA’A: Barbers and other lesser respected professionals are the oracles of our society. If you go someplace you don’t know and talk to a taxicab driver, they will help you navigate. By the nature of what they do, they are research institutions. Everyone goes into a barber and tells a story. This is the same way research institutions build research, with information. I was able to build an entire project out of the process of people coming into that barber shop space.

This is what gives the work credibility.

Barbering is an artform, and everyone has value.

“ IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT AS A YOUNG BLACK PERSON, BEING THE ONLY BLACK FACE, BEING DEEMED THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY.”

MM: How did this affect your return to London?

FA’A: I made a seminal work called “I Wanna Kill Sam”, and it was included in a show called “Presences”. It was five large screen prints onto steel. The subjects were five men, people would consider dressed like rappers, and they were all holding a different weapon. As you got closer the image was fragmented. That piece looked at issues of representation and misrepresentation of the black body. I received a lot of criticism, that I was making black men seem like urban gangsters. I asked my audience, what’s the problem? I grew up on a diet of 007. That man had a gun. We need to understand that in the historicization of different individuals, different cultures have been given licence to carry guns. When a black body holds it suddenly there’s an issue.

MM: Let’s talk about your installation “Squad.” When I began researching you I was surprised to learn that hair was incorporated in some of the photograph portraits.

I didn’t notice that. Is this connected to your past as a barber?

FA’A: Oh yeah. When I went to America in 1989 I started looking at hair. I worked in a barber shop so I wouldn’t have student debt. It was very difficult as a young black person, being the only black face, being deemed the voice of the black community. I had these two lives: the barber shop, listening to rap and reggae and seeing masculinity being played out in that space, and then at school reading all sorts of white men. I decided I would bring the narratives of the barber shop into the studio space. Ideas like

MM: How did the students become subjects for your work exactly?

FA’A: I wanted my students to be the core of Squad from the start, and they actually came up with the name Squad.

I asked them, “who is a person who is your equal in life? who is your advocate?” and they named those people and then we had 8 subjects. There a protest piece called Black Lives Matter that was a hoodie hung up, and I believed those artists were the next two subjects. Those students were advocates, so they’re perfect for Squad. And then the last person in Squad must be the portal into squad in other countries. I heard about this kid who was a spiritual genius named Mogadaace, he ends war, with his hand on his cap, and on either side are the students who did the protest, protecting him. Opposite on the wall are their advocates. In this way they are all heroes.

The names come from associations I made with their portraits, and they picked which manifestation of a mythological hero they would become. As you walk into the show, not only do you see my own squad, you begin to recognize your own saviorship. You’re in this sacrosanct moment, where you acknowledge the other, and begin to see the other as us.

Faisal Abdu’Allah is a faculty member in UW-Madison’s School of Education where he serves as an associate professor in the Art Department. His art was most recently featured in The Chazen Museum of Art, The Royal Gallery, and the Tate Museum in London. Discover more of his work on his website: www.faisalabduallah.com.

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By Alexa Carlson, Fashion Writer

Museo Gucci

I

n the fashion world, people constantly predict upcoming trends and discuss how last season is, of course, so last season. However, sometimes it’s important to take a look back on fashion’s past to see where it might be going next. Besides, there isn’t any history lesson that quite compares to seeing first-hand what people actually wore decades, if not centuries, ago. Clothing offers a unique perspective into the past because we all live our lives in it.

Here’s our list of the top five must-see fashion museums to revisit past fashion trends from all around the world.

MUSEO GUCCI

Located in Florence, Italy, the Museo Gucci is a must. Situated in the Piazza della Signoria, the building the museum is housed in is just as beautiful as the pieces displayed inside it.

The museum includes numerous leather goods, luxury sporting equipment, flowing Flora print dresses and even a Gucci logo covered Cadillac. At the end of your walk through the museum you can stop for a coffee in the café or browse through the bookstore of beautiful coffee table books of art and fashion design.

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5 FA S H

MUSE bhandariplater.com

T O V IN YOUR L BATA SHOE MUSEUM

Hello lover! Any self-respecting shoe fanatic needs to pay a visit to the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada at some point. The five floor building contains over a thousand shoes, one semi-permanent gallery and three rotating exhibitions. 4,500 years of shoes are displayed—a much more intriguing history lesson than any lecture you might have had before. To kick off the museum’s 20th anniversary year, an exhibit featuring high heels that were exclusively worn by

The Victoria & Albert Musuem

Boasting the title of the world’s leading museum of art and design, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England holds over 14,000 items. With pieces ranging from the 14th to the 21st century and ever-changing exhibits, the V&A has much to offer. Current exhibits include “Shoes: Pleasure and Pain”, “The Fabric of India” and “Bejeweled Treasures”.

The V&A Shop within the building also offers diverse, quirky and original items for museum goers as well as a beautiful garden area out front.

HION

EUMS

I S I T LIFETIME

THE VICTORIA & ALBERT M U S E U M

therealdeal.com

The Palais Galliera, Museum of Fashion

THE PALAIS GALLIERA, MUSEUM OF FASHION

The Palais Galliera officially became a fashion museum in 1977. The Renaissance palace holds collections including costumes from the 18th and 19th centuries, haute couture gowns, a department just for accessories and even a section dedicated to undergarments. Much care goes into restoring and preserving each and every piece in the museum’s amazing collection. When planning a visit to the museum, keep in mind their exhibits are all temporary. Most exhibits have closed periods in order to allow for proper cleaning and care of garments.

T H E METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART’S COSTUME INSTITUTE Of course the Met has to be included on this list. The Museum of Costume Art merged with the Met back in 1946. The Costume Institute truly took off when Diana Vreeland created spectacular, opulent exhibits. With its famous past exhibits like “Savage Beauty”, dedicated to the work of Alexander McQueen, and “Rare Avis”, celebrating the vibrant outfits of elderly fashionista Iris Apfel, the Met knows just how to put together a show stopping exhibit.

December 2015 | 45

WHO LIVES, WHO DIES, WHO TELLS YOUR STORY? BROADWAY’S “HAMILTON” AT THE CROSSROADS OF HERE AND HISTORY

By Haley Nippert, Culture Editor In 2009, Lin-Manuel Miranda took the stage at the White House Poetry Jam to perform what should have been a number from his Broadway musical, “In the Heights”. Instead, taking a leap that would come to define the next six years of his life, he performed a working version of what became the opening number of “Hamilton”, the hip-hop inspired musical based on the life of Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton.

NON-STOP

Hamilton is a masterpiece of modern Broadway crafting. Fitting over 20,000 words into two and half hours, the show lays claim to the title of fastest-paced Broadway show, and also contains one of the fastest musical numbers of any Broadway show (“Guns and Ships,” performed by the talented Daveed Diggs). For comparison purposes, the classic “Phantom of the Opera” only has around 6,800 words in the entire show.1 This is due to the sheer ingenuity and creative skill of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Taking inspiration from the music of his childhood, Miranda showcases the story-telling capabilities and craft of modern hip-hop and rap music. As Miranda explains in an interview with 60 Minutes, “[rap] is uniquely suited to tell Hamilton’s story, because it has more words per measure than any other musical genre.”2 Hamilton, who wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist Papers and left behind 27 volumes of writing, was a prolific writer, and rap is the genre that would best express that.

But rap has even greater significance in terms of how it allows Hamilton’s story to be told. For Miranda, hip-hop and rap are about “writing your way out of your circumstances, writing the future you want to see for yourself,”3 and when it comes to the ambitious Alexander Hamilton, they are the only musical styles that fit the bill. At the age of 17, Hamilton penned an essay about the hurricane that had destroyed his home of St. Croix, which convinced his town to raise funds to send him to college in the United States (“Hurricane”).4 He would spend the rest of his life writing political treatises and essays, and eventually rise to become Secretary of the Treasury. He used his writing to propel himself to a better place, and as Miranda says, “that is part and parcel with the hip-hop narrative.”

BEST OF WIVES AND BEST OF WOMEN

BLOW US ALL AWAY

One of the show’s greatest strengths is in the relationship between its two main female characters, Elizabeth and Angelica Schuyler, played by the gifted Phillipa Soo and Renée Elise Goldsberry. Throughout the show, and history, these two sisters love and support each other, with Angelica even giving up her own love for Hamilton to sustain the happiness of her younger sister (“Satisfied”). The show could easily delve into cattiness between the sisters, especially given how little we know historically about these two women. Instead, Miranda offers us the narrative of two sisters, entirely devoted to each other, and both equally strong in their own right.

The show also works to make theater more accessible to younger audiences. While no one doubts the musical prowess of shows like “Les Misérables” and “Into the Woods”, they do not often feature contemporary musical genres that have widespread popularity. Hamilton, in its use of rap, hip-hop, and pop music, casts a new light on what it means to be a musical theater production. From the tea-spilling cabinet rap battles between Hamilton and Jefferson, to King George’s British pop number “You’ll Be Back,” Hamilton captures everyone’s attention, even those who might never have believed they would be interested in musical theater.

This strength, when manifested in Eliza, becomes one of the show’s greatest movements. In fact, it is because of Eliza and her devotion to her husband’s memory that we even have Hamilton’s story to tell. After his death, Hamilton’s political party, the Federalists, and his political enemies worked to suppress his memory.5 As we learn in “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?”, it was Eliza who worked through his writings and interviewed those who fell under his command, ensuring that his legacy lived on.

This is part of the goal of the production’s partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation as well. Through next year, 20,000 New York City public school students will be provided $10 tickets (A Hamilton, get it?) to see the show.8 Judith Rodin, the foundation’s president, says the initiative will combine the viewing of the performance with educational activities, in an effort to make both history and musical theater an accessible experience for students. The lengths to which Miranda and his production are going to reach and inspire younger generations in history and musical theater are truly remarkable, and they will have a lasting impact on anyone who experiences the show.

“THE SHOW REMINDS US THAT WE HAVE BEEN BUILT BY IMMIGRANTS, AND ABOLITIONISTS, MY SHOT AND WOMEN AND “Hamilton” gives us the story of young revDREAMERS, AND THAT olutionaries, like Hamilton, Lafayette, Burr Laurens, who stood up to fight for the THESE VOICES ARE NOT and very freedoms our country would come to TO BE COUNTED OUT.” represent. The show reminds us that we have

The twist that makes Eliza’s presence in the play even more significant, is that, despite her devotion to telling Hamilton’s story, we know very little about her own. After her husband’s affair, she burned the letters that were written between them, and so hardly any of her personal writings are left (“Burn”). Hamilton highlights the important role Eliza played throughout her husband’s life and in preserving history, and it gives her a voice when history does not. In sharing the stories of Eliza and Angelica, Miranda not only gives women the opportunity to see themselves as sharing in this chapter of American history, but also honors the memory of these amazing women by putting them back in the narrative.

HISTORY HAS ITS EYES ON YOU

Hamilton is a game-changer for several reasons, one of which being that the entire main cast consists of actors of color (with the exception of Jonathan Groff, who plays the role of King George). And in an industry like Broadway, that continues to have problems with diversity, this is incredibly important.

“This is a story about America then, told by America now,” said Miranda in an interview with the Atlantic.6 Where the historical narrative leaves people of color almost entirely out, Hamilton creates a space for both actors of color and audience members to engage in a story that includes them. Daveed Diggs (Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson), said that after the initial read-through “[he] walked out of the show with a sense of ownership over American history. Part of it is seeing brown bodies play these people.”7 The sad truth is that the histories of people of color are often erased from the curriculum, or relegated to elective coursework. This creates a disconnect for many people, who find it incredibly difficult to engage in history because they cannot see themselves being a part of it. In showcasing the talents of its amazing multicultural cast, Hamilton works to make American history more accessible and inclusive by giving people of color the chance to see themselves in historical roles.

been built by immigrants, and abolitionists, and women and dreamers, and that these voices are not to be counted out.

In a world where there are those who would tell us to talk less, and smile more, instead of listening when we call for change, “Hamilton” validates our voices. These are the voices of protesters fighting racial injustice, of the LGBT community as they seek equality, and of students who raise concern over sexual assault and other campus issues.

History is being made now, just as it was during the Revolution. We have recognized that now is the time to rise up and use our voices to create positive change in our country.

And we are not throwing away our shot.

Listen to the “Hamilton” Original Broadway Cast Recording for free on Spotify.

Sources: 1. ‘Hamilton’ Is The Very Model Of A Modern Fast-Paced Musical - fivethirtyeight.com 2. 60 Minutes: Hamilton [Television broadcast] CBS Interactive Inc. 3. Weinert-Kendt Rapping a Revolution www.nytimes.com 4. How a hurricane brought Alexander Hamilton to America - news.yahoo.com 5. “If I Had It in His Hand-Writing I Would Burn It”: Federalists and the Authorship Controversy over George Washington’s Farewell Address, Journal Of The Early Republic 6. How Lin-Manuel Miranda Shapes History - theatlantic.com 7. ‘Hamilton’ Roles Are This Rapper’s Delight - www.wsj.com 8. Students Will Get Tickets to ‘Hamilton,’ With Its Hip-Hop-Infused History - www. nytimes.com

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