As a school, we decided to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day by sharing the history and accomplishments of women from our past and present. Here, Eli and I decided to lead a magazine that would do just that. So, we are proud to present the product of the effort and hard work students of Nord Anglia have placed into bringing this issue to fruition.
Initially, there was a great temptation to use this issue to bring awareness to the many problems revolving around sexism and inequality. However, International Women’s Day is a day to empower women and celebrate our many accomplishments towards achieving gender equality.
One thing is for sure: we are still unequal. But that does not change the fact that we have come incredibly far from where we began. Because of this, we would like to dedicate this magazine to all women. Every woman has made her mark on today’s world, from the engineers and the writers to the mothers and the teachers. Regardless of how insignificant we are made to believe our actions can be, every step we take accelerates the path to action. So, thank you for guiding us forward.
Furthermore, we would like to thank the very readers of this magazine. You. By picking up this issue and reading about the fantastic stories of women, we can rest assured that there is still love and care towards empowering the future of equality.
We hope this magazine can act as a beacon to light up our pride for the women in our lives. Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Arianna Muggeri
International Women's Day, celebrated annually on March 8, is a significant global event that recognizes and honors the numerous achievements of women across various fields. This day serves not only as a celebration but also as a powerful platform for advocating for gender equality and women's rights.
The observance of International Women's Day highlights the vital contributions women make to society in social, economic, cultural, and political realms. It aims to raise awareness about the unique challenges women face, such as workplace inequality, gender-based violence, and underrepresentation in leadership roles.
International Women’s Day
By Ruby Young
Arianna Muggeri Editor’s
note
Each year, International Women's Day focuses on a specific theme that illuminates aspects of women's rights and gender equality. The theme for this year is "Accelerate Action," which encourages immediate and impactful efforts to advance gender equality and empower women. These themes are designed to inspire action, promote dialogue, and encourage collective efforts toward achieving a more equitable world for everyone.
To mark the day, various events—including rallies, discussions, and exhibitions— are organized globally, inviting individuals and communities to participate in activities that celebrate women's accomplishments and address ongoing issues related to gender inequality.
Eli Zilkha Women in STEM
Leonardo Pillot, Siya Vaidya, Natalie Kung Monday Women
Hugo Yip, Venus Leung Photography Competition
Jihoo Kim Women in Music
Nia Fall Women in Literature
International Women’s Day Photography Competition.
By Hugo Yip, Venus Leung.
Empowerment, identity, awareness… while it is true these qualities have gained increasing prevalence today. Primarily through the education and exploration of diverse perspectives. It may be difficult or rare for these genuine moments to be captured through photography in a specific manner. A method that reflects and amplifies the qualities we should truly strive for.
Here, we give an opportunity for students to demonstrate their proficiency and artistic vision behind a lens and a sensor if the challenge is accepted, whilst showcasing their advocacy towards a cause that makes a difference. Especially in portraying women striving in their communities no matter how small they are. By doing so we are accelerating action towards the cause. We hope the balance of technical skill and creativity will shed some light on social issues, hidden narratives, and the celebration of women in our society.
Colors Bland
A Cleaning Lady
Photo by Linus Ying
Eli Zilkha Women in STEM
By Eli Zilkha.
In the world of STEM, women have long been at the forefront of groundbreaking discoveries and innovations; however, their contributions are often overlooked. For generations, women have been pivotal in the advancement of STEM, breaking barriers while pushing forward our society as a whole. This feature will highlight on three incredible women—Ada Lovelace, Radia Perlman, and Fei-Fei Li—who have paved the way for the field of computer science.
Each woman revolutionized a different aspect of computer science. From Ada Lovelace’s visionary ideas about computing in the early 19th century, Radia Perlman’s invention of the vital internet protocols that act as the backbone of the internet, and Fei-Fei Li’s work on artificial intelligence, these women have significantly shaped the future of computing.
Though these women come from different periods, they are united by both the challenges they faced and the societal barriers they broke in order to achieve their dreams and revolutionize our world.
Ada Lovelace has no doubt been a transformative individual for the world of computers.
the way computers are now may never have existed
Ada Lovelace
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, better known as Ada Lovelace, was born on the 10th of December 1815 and passed away on November 27, 1852, at the young age of 36. She was a mathematician and writer.
Ada was originally taught mathematics as a means to ward off any potential ‘madness’ that she may have inherited
of private education from William Frend, William King, and Mary Sommerville.
Notably, Mary Sommerville was considered to be the greatest female scientist of the mid-19th century by some of her contemporaries and was the first female Honorary Member of the Royal
mathematics, by extension, were considered a non-threatening extension of the home that didn’t threaten men politically or expose women to public life. In fact, the word scientist was first termed when discussing one of Mary Sommerville’s works. During the 19th century as science was institutionalized women were expelled from the
machine that could deal with entirely distinct fields. Ada gave the example of music where it could be combined with computing and in many ways her dream has been achieved. This was all theorized nearly 100 years before these ideas were realized, acutely displaying her incredible capabilities as a visionary. Through this, she also
Byron, believed that mathematics and logic was the solution to Lord Byron’s perceived insanity and inadvertently cultured the founder of scientific computing. Her abilities became apparent as early as 1828 when she was 13 years old, where she produced the design for a flying machine. Her mathematical talents truly became prominent when she was 17 and her passion for mathematics would guide her through the rest of her life. Ada’s mathematical education was largely the result
Astronomical Society along with Caroline Herschell who were both elected in 1835. Through this education, Ada gained a comprehensive understanding of mathematics and the sciences.
The 19th century was a period in which, even though women were often not welcomed into the fields of the sciences, it was still arguably more welcoming than the classics. Between the 14th century and the mid-19th century, laboratories and
the undeniable benefit of being born during this period, while aristocratic women were the only ones afforded this opportunity, it was still a field open for women. Ada Lovelace vision set the groundworks for what the field of computers and computation would look in the future. Ada was the first person to theorize the use of computers or the analytical machine as it was then called, as more than a number cruncher but instead a
only been theorized it still remains the first one to be acknowledged as such. This program was written as to compute the Bernoulli numbers.
Ada Lovelace has no doubt been a transformative individual for the world of computers, perhaps without her, the way computers are now may never have existed, and with that, the many advancements that computers have brought to human society.
Radia Perlman
Eventuallyshegotsousedtothegender imbalance, it was only when other womenweresurroundedbyaseaofmen that “it kind of looked weird.”
Radia Perlman is a contemporary example of an amazing woman in STEM. She was born on the 18th of December 1951 and is currently 73 years old. She is known for her work in computer science, specifically internet protocols, and she has been instrumental in the creation of the internet.
Radia attended MIT for university where she graduated with a Ph.D. in computer science and a M.S. in 1988. As an undergraduate, she originally learned how to program in a physics class and in 1971 got her first paid job as a part-time programmer where she programmed system software, such as debuggers (a program used to error check other programs). While she was working, she developed a child friendly version of the programming language LOGO called TORTIS ("Toddler's Own
Recursive Turtle Interpreter System") aimed at children above 4. She later sought to create a system for even younger children, however she abandoned this in favor of pursuing more ‘professional’ research. Eventually, the abandoned remnants of her work created an entirely new field called Tangible User Interface. During her time at MIT, she was one of about 50 women attending in a class of around 1000 people. Eventually she got so used to the gender imbalance, it was only when other women were surrounded by a sea of men that “it kind of looked weird”.
The 1970s saw a large uptick of women in engineering; numbers rose from less than 1% to 9% by 1979. However, while this was a time of progress, women in many ways were treated unequally. Women were treated as less capable,
so they did not receive the respect they deserved, and they often struggled to be taken seriously because of the stigmas surrounding women. Oftentimes, they had to prove themselves above and beyond their male colleagues simply because they were women. Bias was also heavily ingrained within the profession. Many young engineers only realized much later in their careers the subtle impact that this had on their careers, leaving them far behind their male colleagues, even if they were more capable. For many women in STEM at the time, the most important thing was to persevere and ignore the naysayers. Despite these many challenges, it was a period where women were finally being accepted into STEM roles. That in it of itself is something to be celebrated. Radia Perlman is indisputably one of the most
important pioneers in the early creation of the internet. Radia was involved in many of the foundational internet protocols that the internet as we know it relies on. The vast majority of her work was designing network protocols, specifically the spanning tree protocol (STP) which is a networking protocol that allows administrators to control how data is routed through their networks. This work made it much more efficient for different computers to talk to each other, as the most optimal route between two or more computers would be found and used when communicating. Radia’s solution to information routing is one of their many revolutionary works and her impact on the field as shown by her moniker is by no means small.
While it was undeniably to a lesser extent women still faced an unwelcome career environment
Fei-Fei Li (李飞飞) was born on the 3rd of July 1976, currently 48 and still actively involved in the field of computer science. The vast majority of her work is centered around artificial intelligence.
Li was born in Beijing, where she lived till she was sixteen. After, which she moved to New Jersey in the United States. Li first pursued her undergraduate studies at Princeton where she majored in physics and received a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton in 1999. During her time at Princeton, she also worked at her parents’ drycleaning business to help subsidize their family’s income. She then pursued her master’s in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) and finally a PhD in electrical engineering in 2005. Her dissertation was focused on computer vision (training computers to understand visual data) and was titled “Visual
Recognition: Computational Models and Human Psychophysics.”.
Fei-Fei Li only really began working in 2005, when she started as an assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign. By this point, strides had been made towards closing the gender gap of engineering majors, in which around 21% of the engineers were women. This number is shockingly low, considering that in over two decades (from 1979), women representation had only grown by 12%. However, it was still undeniable progress. Much of the challenges faced by women in the 1970s also faced women in the 2000s as while it was undeniably to a lesser extent women still faced an unwelcome career environment.
Women were (and still are) faced with hiring biases and promotion gaps hindering the careers of incredible women. Furthermore, the existence of an allboys club while not as overt as it was in the 70s, is still something that existed and still exists through “bro-culture”.
Fei-Fei Li has been a pivotal participant in many of AI’s recent advancements. In the 2010s she led the team behind ImageNet which is a dataset of over 14 million images all hand annotated for the training of computer vision models. This dataset has allowed many models to be developed as without a solid dataset it would never have been possible. In addition, a lot of her work centers around bringing humanity to AI, working to deal with the many ethical dilemmas that we must be asking ourselves as we dive deeper into the development of AI systems. One such project is AI4ALL which she co-founded in 2017 with the goal to increase inclusion and diversity in the field of artificial intelligence.
Though these women are all distinctly unique and innovative, their stories are connected through their shared determination to challenge the norm and follow their passion. These three women are just some of the many incredible women who have pushed forward our society as a whole, the field of STEM would be no where if not for the work done by amazing women. There are likely many tales where the work of women has gone unrecognized, published under pseudonyms or attributed to male colleagues but it is important to celebrate the work of women both known and unknown in STEM. Women should not
only be recognized in STEM but in every work and this is fundamentally what women’s day is about, to celebrate the work of women everywhere.
E: How were you able to balance your proffesional and personal life?
(She laughed)
E: Do you think it's unfair to ask this question about balancing your personal and professional life because we shouldn't be asking this question in the first place, or is it because this this question is never directed towards men as well
A: Well number one, I don't think it's unfair. I think it's a valid question, but indeed that is very much asked to women
INTERVIEW Ariane Zagury, the Woman behind Rue
Madame
more than men, and I do think that balancing personal and professional life is something important no matter your gender. I mean, basically the biggest difference is that the female is going to be pregnant, the female is going to be breastfeeding potentially and then is supposed to be in the house to take care more of the kids. And that's still a reality, but that's also a choice, especially in a city like Hong Kong. Everything you do is a choice, right? So, what are your priorities and what are your commitments? I think these are the two things that you need to ask yourself quite early in your life, and that you don't commit to things that you cannot deliver in your professional life, so that you keep your professional integrity for everything you do. That’s the way I think about it
E: How do you think female leadership influences the fashion industry, particularly in the diverse market of Hong Kong?
A: Well, I have a theory that Hong Kong is probably the best city in the world for a female to have a leadership role or to become an entrepreneur. It's a very unique business space in the way that it's a very developed country, where female and women enjoy equal treatment. But it also has the benefit that we have a lot of help, which gives the opportunity to women who want to be able to work, and that's already very unique if you only look at this the fact that we live in a country that has values to treat women and men the same and help. There are very few countries that have both and you add to that the fact that in Hong Kong as a as a foreigner if your spouse works here, you can actually work freely; this is even more unique. So, for me, Hong Kong is the best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur, And you have a lot of women in my industry. My industry, a lot of women go into my industry. The only thing is that not only women, but a lot of people get into my industry because they like the product. And some people get into the industry because they are interested of the business, But I think it's an industry where you really need to manage both the interest of the business and the interest of the product. People need to get educated in that, and to think with this mindset. But no matter men or women, it's a very good place—to summarize.
E: Who are the women in your life that have inspired you and how have they shaped your approach in business. This can be both mentors and it can be your children.
A: It cannot be my children. I love them, and they inspire me today, but not when I set up my business. I don't think I have
any role model to be honest. That's why I couldn't answer, because I am just someone who likes to find ways that nobody else has found. It's not because I am better than anyone else; a lot of people are much more talented than I am. But what I do is, I look at what other people have done for inspiration. But in the end, I always really try to find my own way.
E: So, you could argue from that point of view that you don't really need to have someone to inspire you. I think that's a really good idea to focus on, that you can strike out on your own and learn from other people's mistakes without deliberately focusing on men or women.
A: Yeah, for me, I cannot say there is a woman, like, “she's my absolute hero I get inspired” I mean I am inspired by many people but I'm not trying to follow there path or get inspiration from one main character. As an entrepreneur, curiosity is a very important aspect. Recently I’ve read a lot about the founder of Starbucks. Even though he is not a women, he is inspiring to me.
E: I think that's a pretty important thing that we should highlight in it in the magazine. Going forward is this idea that it doesn't necessarily need to be a woman role model or a male role model in the end, we should all treat everyone kind of equally in this sense and that it should be about learning from other people, not just learning from other people in similar situations as you.
A: I learned from them how to do it. I recently read something about a GI doing something inside a combat zone and, while I am obviously not in one, you can learn stress management from that. You need to learn from every aspect of life. So, this is kind of taking a step back.
E: How would you describe the transition between investment banking and entrepreneurship? What pushed you to make this change?
A: Well, the fact is that I didn't like to do be an investment banker. You have very young readers. One advice I would give to younger people is to do a different job. I think it's great to do something where you are not the strongest. Because then you learn skills that are not natural to you and that will be complementary to your own skills and would probably will help you one day if you want to operate a business. Because when you operate a business you cannot say “oh I am sorry I don't understand marketing” or “oh I don't need to know about finance or accounting.” You really need to be able to tackle a minimum level of everything. For me, doing investment banking was literally like doing
a business school except I was getting paid. The benefits were probably even better but I didn't like it. So, I think I was lucky that I got the chance to do something I like more. The underlying products of the financial market are not interesting to me, while it may be to other people, and so the opportunity to switch was a godsend.
I really saw an opportunity. I've been extremely opportunistic and I took it. And how did I do it? By starting from the bottom and doing everything myself. Again, I've tried, I've been the cleaner, the salesperson, the accountant, the HR, the buyer, I've done everything in my business at the beginning to understand what I was doing, and also because I didn't know I was going to build something bigger. But I think, for me, that's the key. But I really got to do a lot of different things, especially a lot of clientfacing things, which gave me a much better understanding of what was my industry. If you don't understand your client, you cannot run the business. Okay.
E: So then looking more into the growth of your business over the years, how has it grown in shape and how have you been involved in that? And then as well, kind of as a separate question, how has your husband supported you in that?
A: I'm extremely instrumental in the growth of the business even today and I think that's what the leader does. We have now 250 people and the operation can nearly be done without me, but the next the next stage and the growth of the business is on me. When building a business you go one step at a time. If had I thought about what I was going to do ten years later I probably would not have done anything, I would have been scared but it's one step at a time. To answer your second question, my husband is extremely instrumental. I mean there would be no business without him we're very complimentary, I focus on the growth of the business, I'm working on the the next step. My husband makes sure things are working.
E: This seems to work into what feminism and celebrating International Women Day is about, this idea that men can support women in achieving equality and it's not just them getting control and stuff, men are able to be complementary.
A: Yeah, I don't think there is one person supporting each other, I think we have just a different skills sets and we recognize it. And I do believe in women and men being complementary more than anything else and accepting it. So we just accept deeply that we're very complementary. I mean, yeah, I wouldn't say one
support or other. I would just say we're very complementary in the way we work as individuals.
E: What makes someone successful?
A: Well I think the key of success for women and men alike is hard work. I mean, there is no free lunch. It's really, no matter what you do, you need to work for it, nothing is going to happen by itself. And all the people who have been successful have had to work like hell. So hard work is number one. And then curiosity, especially in these days where everything is changing so fast. If you don't keep learning, if you don't keep being curious, if you don't keep challenging what others tell you and what you think, you're going to fail in the longer term. So I do think that curiosity is a very important point. Finally, and maybe the most important one is to keep a very good set of value because you're going to work a very long time in your life. Your integrity, your values and your reputation are extremely important so making sure that your integrity and your values are of the highest standards will serve you well in the long run.
E: I think I’m going to twist that question a bit and I’m going to ask what you think success is like just in general for a woman is it the same as a man?
A: I think this is actually very personal, there is no single definition of success, you could argue that i'm successful while other people might see me as a loser. For me, success is not really about other people saying you're successful it's about you believing that you are successful in the way that you have pursued your professional career, pursued your own family whatever it is that makes you feel like you succeeded in life.
E: I think this is a good point to end off on is this idea that success is not what other people define it to be but what you truly believe you've achieved. I think especially in the days where social media has taken such a firm grasp of our minds, we must always remember that what we define as being successful is up to us.
A: I believe it's a very important for your generation to keep in mind is that not everybody's success is going to be milliondollar mansions and the most expensive cars. It is going to be about having a fulfilling life in the end right? Again it's up to different people but for me, someone who has been an incredible teacher and has changed the course of the lives of even 10 kids is probably is more successful to me than someone who has a million dollar McLaren for me.
E: Thank you very much! this has been a very insightful interview.
Night Time Picture in the Busy streets of Hong Kong
Photo by Preston Wang
My Mother on her birthday, talking to her close friends
by
Photo
Sasha Parsons
Jihoo Kim Women in Music
By Jihoo Kim.
From classical composers, jazz singers, to pop stars, women were always a prominent part of music. Thus, it’s more frustrating to see their achievements being constantly undermined by the social construct. Music is all about diversity! Here are two female artists that I adore, Björk and Patti Smith, and I believe that everyone else should listen to their music, too. In my attempt to persuade, I will recommend you two of their most well-received albums.
It seems that as of today, alternative pop is going through a sort of reconstruction
It seems that as of today, alternative pop is going through a sort of reconstruction. No one can deny Brat’s contribution to today’s pop culture; regardless of the quality of the album itself, we now see that the music scene is flooded with scents of indifference—frequently only a devaluation of Charli XCX’s brilliant sunglasses. There has always been a thread of alternative pop right next to the fancy waiting line of mainstream pop music. Sometimes lucky sub-genres occasionally merge with the mainstream, creating a weird overlap between the two groups. But often they’re completely one-sided; fans of The Residents would’ve known The Beatles but not the other way around; we all know Taylor Swift, but I doubt that a Swiftie would listen to Richard Dawson.
being the least appreciated pop musician. As a matter of fact, she, at most points of her career, had a considerable size of audience. However, she chose to stay on the left field, experimenting and initiating a style by herself. And as time went by, some of her albums posed such an impact, clashing with the listeners of different sectors of music. Post is a good example of this. Despite its consistent dabbling in such avant-garde combinations, the album still secures a considerable position in most publication’s retrospective lists. It’s indeed one of the best outcomes that a work of such creative freedom can possess.
Post’s success was not a lucky bet. Despite it only being Björk’s second attempt at studio albums, her musical venture encompasses a greater period.
and Björk’s mom—in an interview with Thomas Rinnan. As much of an intended exaggeration her judgement must be, there is indeed some convincing evidence behind it; Björk was very gifted in music. Even at an early age, she was able to make notable musical achievements. Having enrolled in Barnamúsíkskóli— Reykjavik’s local music school—she was able to receive extensive music education from the age of 5, learning how to play flute and piano. Her rendition of Tina Charles’ hit “I Love to Love” in a school open house was broadcasted in Iceland’s only radio station. At the age of 11, she already released her debut album with the help of Saevar Arnason— Björk’s stepfather and a guitarist—offered by the label Fálkkin.
America. T The decline of early rock 'n' roll spirit roamed the streets of New York t, producing rebellious movements and a new generation of rockstars such as The Clash and Patti Smith. Both Iceland and Björk weren’t too late to hop on this trend. From 1979 and onwards, Björk began to grow fond of the more contemporary style of music. She played in a multitude of bands—Spit and Snot, EXODUS, Tappi Tíkarrass, Rokka Rokka Drum, Kukl, and The Elgar Sisters...— some being strictly punk, while some leaning towards other contemporary genres such as jazz-fusion. In June 1986, her former bandmates gathered up to form The Sugarcubes, reportedly a more unserious and fun rendition to punk, with Björk and Einar Örn Benediktsson both contributing to the vocals. To everyone’s surprise, their new project turned out to be a huge success. 1.
The same applies often to Björk. Similar to Kate Bush or Peter Gabriel, she was far from
“She was born musical,” once said Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir—former activist
Early 1970s saw an emergence of punk in areas such as United Kingdoms and
“She
b
was
“Birthday” became UK’s top selling independent single at its release, and interestingly, foresaw the later soundscape of Björk’s solo works. Moreover, the band’s psychedelic depictions seem not too far off from Fossora and her mushrooms. But it wasn’t so long until Björk left for a journey of her own.
Her most sudden shift in music was presented in one of her most well-known albums, Debut. Escaping from the confinements of punk, the hiatus of The Sugarcubes gave her a space to try out other styles of music. Thus, Debut was full of trip-hop and drum samples inspired by Massive Attack and Warp Records. It was a certain sign of a rearrangement in her music, considering that her previous works heavily depended on live instrumentation. Although, partially due to it being her first proper solo attempt, or due to the other restrictions she had to
oRn Musical”
face while recreating her favorite electronic songs, Debut feels almost too settled compared to her earlier (and later) works. In a perspective, the album might have been the most approachable exhibition of Björk’s vocal extravaganza. However, the album may not have become a legacy as impactful and notorious as its successor.
The creation of Post and Debut were seemingly alike. From 808 State to Massive Attack, the major contributors of Post’s production have also contributed to Debut in one way or another. Audiences are greeted with a few strong resemblances between those. Trip-hop bleaches the rhythms of Possibly Maybe; the jaunty melodies are amplified in Army of Me; the lyrics are full of absurdity, silliness, and sly political references. But viewing Post as solely a continuation of Debut leads to severe misconception. Album is usually
a reflection of an artist’s interest, but it’s perfected by the environment and the craftsmanship. Despite being equipped with similar intents from a similar era of Björk, the presentation of those albums differs significantly.
The Guardian once defined Post as a “Hotchpotch of styles and noises.” The inspiration for this beauty of an expression isn’t far away from our eyes. Rather, it’s scattered across the iconic album cover, a blend of both orange and purple, with Björk herself standing confidently in the middle.
Graphic designer Paul White and his studio Me Company both hold its responsibility, as well as the monochrome cover for Debut. It fascinates me that both covers were done by the same artist, while holding such a dissimilar tone. Debut’s unsaturated, defined colors depict the opposite of Post’s hazy vibrancy. It portrays the contents very well. Debut has
But it wasn’t too long until Björk left for a journey of her own.
some noticeable overlaps between its tracks, creating a sustained atmosphere throughout the work. However, Post throws its consistency out of the window; each songs’ idiosyncrasy is able to being a new color to its palette, and in hindsight, a new trope to the table for future pop artists. “Post was about her state of mind – remote communication and a sense of awe and surprise at the changes in her life after the success of her first album,” said Paul White on the variety and its drive.
Army of Me perfectly fits the album’s unpredictability. Her narration sounds fierce and invulnerable, posing an electronic aggression beyond any songs from Debut. Punches, sound effects, and percussion cooperate to create a predatory layer on top of Björk’s voice. Thus, it’s mesmerizing and convincing at the same time, when finding out that the song was written about
polar bears. “I’m a polar bear and I’m with five hundred polar bears, just tramping over a city,” she said. This energy is completely transferred to Hyperballad. It’s a sensical, futuristic and melodramatic interpretation of the traditional ballad structure. Lyrically, it’s a retaliation to the conventional love stories, being too immersed in love that one feels their repression of energy. Its subtle and grainy production gives a marine texture; whilst the album’s industrial setting may be devoid of any oceans, water was one of her most prominent inspirations for solidifying Post. It’s chronicled that Björk extended her audio
equipment, so that she was able to sing to the sea. “A sense of well-being, like I’m home,” she describes. If The Anchor Song was a steady tide, Hyperballad represents a monstrous wave full of impatient water.
A more stable intimacy comes by when she shares a few bits of her extraordinary foresight. The calmness and the stagnancy of Headphones reminisces of Vespertine and Medulla. It’s a noticeably quiet song, recoiling at the idea of having to wear headphones. In hindsight, after all the petty loudness wars between major record labels, it’s relaxing to see tracks retaining most of their dynamic content. However, it’s
ironic to see that her latest album, Fossora was not much of an exception to this industrial nonsense. Moreover, You've Been Flirting Again serves as a foresight to her string-dominant arrangements of Homogeny and Vulnicura. And the atmospherics of Possibly Maybe can be interpreted as the predecessors of Vespertine’s eerie synthesizer pads. It’s So Quiet introduces a more theatrical end to jazz, a possible connection to the jazzy spices of Mount Wittenberg Orca.
Post is Björk’s offering of pure intricacy, of being able to experience multiple branches of ideas in a sitting. Lots of people complain that pop is elementary;
I beg to differ. Pop has always been a dynamic benchmark of musical and cultural relevancies of the time. Rather than genredefined music, which often has a strict code to protect its intent, the fluidity of pop makes it easier for artists to express, even the simplicities that we countlessly encounter in our lives. As with Debut, the impact was tremendous, but perhaps more importantly, it was longlasting. Its whimsicality helped to culminate a large demand for art-pop, creating a foundation for contemporary artists such as Rosalía and FKA Twigs. Therefore, it was no one’s surprise that Björk quickly became a household name.
Patti Smith’s extravag anza may not be the most approach able
Maybe she was just another rock star of her time. The Chicago-born artist/poet entered the music scene with a pure passion, and during the time of instability of musicianship, such arrival can be seen revolutionary.
Indeed, Patti Smith defied many musical expectations, expectations that were set by the greater societal dysfunctions.
Unfortunately, those are still relevant in today’s music industry. Thus, her status as a punk icon remains iconic.
“Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine,” Gloria starts jauntily, introducing the core concept of Horses to its bewildered listeners. The emphasis and the relinquishment in her diction defines her poetic roots. When the song
reaches its climax Smith lets it go, soon to be replaced by the backing vocalists shouting “gloria,”
The Beach Boys style. It’s a rendition of a homonymous well-known Van Morrison tune; the lyrics are completely reworked, but the ethics and the exclamation still remains. On the other hand, the lyrics follow the narrative of her poem, Oath, which builds upon Gloria’s first two lines, to fabricate a thread of connection between the Bible and her spirit of defiance.
Yet, outside of its cultural impact, Gloria isn’t the best indication of The Horses’ intricacy. Of all the musical devices, her blaze of creativity is predominantly carried by the lyrics. However, the catchiness of Gloria fogs
her greatness of writing; it turns out that in most cases, music is not the best place to chronicle. It’s because people don’t put their minds in the music, rather, they put the music in their minds. That leads to Birdland. Spanning through 9 minutes, the song contradicts Gloria in many ways. Leonard Cohen better describes its style than Van Morrison; she sings, and she sings more; the accompaniments are just a blank palette for her brush to gently and wittingly glide on. She sings a twisted folklore, feeding the listeners with a detail followed by another. The surrounding noise and the spoken words seek a deep resemblance with Spiderland by Slint, a post-rock masterpiece (which is interesting
because Spiderland is more instrument-oriented). But the ending sequence, popularized by its addictive “sha da do wops” and its theatrical use of chords, brings in the progressive-rock wave. I just cannot hide my obsession with long Patti Smith songs, prominently due to its striking resemblance to 70s post rock. The title track Horses elevates its listener level by level. It’s a grimier version Jimi Hendrix’s 1983, a more down-toearth version of Genesis’ Firth Of Fifth, and a stabler version of Porcupine Tree’s Fear of a Blank Planet. Her gore depiction of bleeding fingers may disgust, but all the surrealism that builds up makes it seem conceivable; horses is a piece of novella.
Girls at a Big Birthday
Photo by Jane TurnerFall
Photo by Nikki Parton
3. Flossie Wong-Staal
By Natalie Kung
This
is the story of
Valentina Tereshkova
, the first female cosmonaut to orbit the Earth.
It isn’t a heroic tale of defiance, nor does it hold any more weight than the stories of her fellow trainees in the Vostok Programme. It’s a very ordinary story; a story of an ordinary Russian woman—with an avid passion for skydiving—who became an internationally recognized symbol of female emancipation for her accomplishments, and more importantly, what those accomplishments meant to women in the 1960s.
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born on the 6th of March 1937 in a small rural village 270 kilometers northeast of Moscow named Bolshoye Maslennikovo. When I tell you that this village is small, I mean it’s Really Small (To give you a rough idea, in 2010, the town had a total population of nine people—nine!). Her parents had recently migrated from Belarus, so the vast Russian landscape was a novelty to both a newborn Tereshkova and her young parents.
Her father, Vladimir Tereshkov, was a sergeant and tank commander in the Soviet Red Army. Due to the frequent activity of the Soviet Army during the highly tense periods of the Cold War, he wasn’t home very often, so Fyodorovna Tereshkova —Valentina’s Mother— was tasked with caring for Valentina and her three siblings. In an unfortunate and unpredictable turn of events, Vladimir was killed on the frontlines of the Finnish Winter War in 1939, when Tereshkova was only two years of age.
Soon after receiving this harrowing news, a freshly widowed Fyodorovna packed her belongings and relocated her family to Yaroslav, seeking better employment opportunities in hopes of being able to provide a comfortable life for her children. She soon became employed at the Krasny Cotton Mill, earning a stable wage.
The cluttered cityscape of Yaroslav stood in stark contrast to the vast fields and hills that accompanied Valentina’s first years on this Earth. But a young girl brimming with curiosity, she adapted quickly to her new surroundings. Fyodorovna was keen on ensuring that her children were given an education, and since its establishment as a constitutional right in 1922, the Soviet Union provided it for free to all citizens through state schools and universities. Another advantage of moving to Yaroslav. At eight years old Valentina
enrolled in her local Soviet state school, achieving excellent grades in math and science throughout her entire education, finally graduating in 1953.
Valentina then immediately began working at a tire factory, trying her best to provide financial support for her mother, who had been working tirelessly for a decade to support her and her siblings. She soon relocated to a more lucrative position at a nearby textile mill. Continuing her studies through correspondence courses provided by the government at the Light Industry Technical School, Valentina was well on her way to becoming a successful engineer, an accomplishment that would’ve been astounding for the time. But she had ambition, and lots of it too.
On the 22nd of May 1959, Valentina would fulfill a lifelong dream of hers. After completing what she described as an ‘easy’ training programme, Tereshkova would make her first jump as a skydiver, subsequently falling in love with the discipline and going on to train competitively for several years. To her mother, however, she was continuing to excel at her studies, graduating in 1960 and working a stable job at the textile mill —all things she was still doing— but Valentina hadn’t told her mother about the skydiving, for fear that she might worry for her. Instead, she wrote her a letter, stuffing it in her bedside cabinet with the intent of sending it later.
This is where our story gets interesting. Valentina had lived a remarkable life up to this point, but it was about to be propelled into uncharted grounds with all the force of the Vostok 6’s thruster engines. After the success of Yuri Gagarin (The first man in space) and the Vostok 1 launch, director of cosmonaut training Nikolai Kamanin was anxious to leverage the situation to gain as much ground as possible on the United States in the infamous space race. Early one morning, sipping a piping hot cup of black tea, Nikolai read that NASA planned to train female astronauts for their upcoming Mercury 13 mission. Appalled, he wrote that the prospect of the first woman in space being American would be “an insult to the patriotic feelings of Soviet women” and aimed to do something about it promptly.
Nikolai was quick to act, gaining direct approval from Nikita Khruschev to train five women for the looming Vostok 5 & 6 launches. The Soviet Space Programme was incredibly selective, with strict parameters put in place to assess physical and intellectual capabilities, and out of 400 scouted candidates, only five would be chosen for training. One of those five selected candidates was, of course, Valentina Tereshkova. She met all the physical requirements, had experience dealing with
1. From the Stable to the Stars: Valentina Tereshkova: The First Woman in Space by Leonardo Pillot
2. Women In India by Siya Vaidya
parachutes—which was important As the Vostok 6 predicted the cosmonaut parachuting their way back to land upon re-entry—and was well-practiced in engineering, making her an ideal candidate. So, on the 16th of February 1962, Tereshkova was selected (along with Tatyana Kuznetsova, Valentina Ponomaryova, Irina Solovyova and Zhanna Yorkina) to join the female cosmonaut corps.
And thus began the training, and it was brutal. The corps would work their way through the ranks of the Soviet Air Force, learning to fly fighter jets and enduring exhausting tests of physical durability to prepare them for the rough and unforgiving conditions of space travel. Meanwhile, Tereshkova continued her engineering studies at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. By December of 1962, all five women were promoted to the title of junior lieutenant in the Soviet Air Force. As their basic training continued however, some of the now lieutenants were struggling to keep up. Tatyana contracted an illness and was unable to continue training, while Zhanna struggled to match with the other three women in performance. So, when it came to the Soviet State Commission meeting on the 21st of May 1963, Nikolai Kamamin nominated Valentina Tereshkova to pilot the Vostok 6 mission.
The date is the 16th of June 1963, The Vostok 5 had successfully launched just two
days before, carrying cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky, and is now orbiting the Earth at a speed of 30,600 kilometers per hour. Meanwhile, Tereshkova is being brought to the Vostok 6 launch pad via shuttle bus. It was time to make history. Armed with the heart of a lion, she steps off the vehicle, takes a wee on its rear wheel (a tradition set by Yuri Gagarin in 1961) and heads towards the spacecraft. Life support? Check. Radio Communications? Check. Everything was in place, and so the countdown began. It was a dreadful two hours, she reports, with each moment feeling like an eternity. In particular, the final ten seconds. At the SSP headquarters back in Moscow, back-up and reserve pilots Solovyova and Ponomaryova have their eyes glued to the
The thrusters ignite, and Tereshkova is pressed into her seat with tremendous force. The cosmonaut’s seat is shaking violently as the spacecraft accelerates to escape velocity. The next dozen or so minutes seem to pass by in a haze, then suddenly… a blue horizon dawns in the distance. On this day, a 26-year-old Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
Meanwhile, back in Yaroslav, a little bundle of ten letters is being delivered to the doorstep of Fyodorovna Tereshkova. Curious, she brings them back to the kitchen, grabs a steak knife from the top drawer and cuts open the most recent one. The letter reads
On
this day,
a 26-year-old Valentina Tereshkova became
the first woman in space
“Dear Mother, when you receive this letter, turn on the television.” It turns out that Valentina had never actually told her mother about her selection for the Soviet Space Programme, nor her passion for skydiving, for that matter. Instead, she had been writing her letters over the course of her training, and she sent them all home the day that the Vostok 6 would launch. In an interview with The Space Museum, Tereshkova recounts her mother’s shock upon finding out, repeating over and over that her daughter had “deceived her.”
And this was the story of how Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to orbit the Earth. But despite this amazing achievement, she wasn’t done yet. In 1977, Tereshkova would go on to complete her PhD in aeronautical engineering. Later, she would become a member of the communist party and play an active role in politics until the present day. Tereshkova was also bestowed an innumerable number of awards for her accomplishments, including both Soviet and Russian awards for merit. Valentina’s space flight served as a giant leap towards a more genderbalanced Soviet society, not only proving that women’s bodies could withstand the same harsh space conditions as men’s, but also proving that a woman could possess the same grit, courage and dedication that it takes to venture beyond the skies and into the vast canvas of stars.
Historically, during the British Rule, women were treated as the inferior gender.
Although there were many protests, women still never got the same treatment as men. In recent times, this treatment remains quite a bit where, even though the dynamic has shifted, many people in India are still part of the patriarchal society wherein women are not treated equally to men.
Recently, there are still many Indians who say that men should have more prominent roles than women. Most women continue to agree to the fact that the wife must always obey her husband.
Nowadays, many adults agree with the fact that taking care of the house and the children should be both the wife's and the husband’s job, which proves to be an improvement in gender roles. But there are still many who believe that it should primarily be the wife’s job.
Similarly, today, many also think that going to work and earning money should be a role of both genders. But many still have the expectation that this role should mainly be the obligation of men. In fact, many believe that if jobs are in short supply, men should have a higher priority compared to women. They should have greater rights to be employed. This emphasizes the continued unbalanced power dynamic in the cultural expectations in India.
The cultural expectations and imbalance in the power dynamic are also illustrated when it comes to Indian rituals and practices. For instance, many families prefer their sons rather than daughters to perform their parents’ last rites. Performing certain rituals for funerals of loved ones is quite important in India. In fact, it is more important for these funeral rituals and practices to be performed by the sons. At the same time, when men and women get married, the woman’s father must pay dowry. Dowry is a practice that occurs in India despite it being illegal. After the wedding, the men must stay with their families to provide financial support, while the woman must live with her husband and his family.
Culturally, a woman wears either a sari or a salwar kameez in India. This is the traditional costume of Indian women. As part of traditional makeup, a bindi is worn on a woman’s forehead. Unlike a Sindhoor, a bindi does not have much resemblance or significance.
Although women are still often discriminated against in India, women have come a long way to being treated as equals. For instance, if the husband gets mad at his wife for refusing to wear a sari and instead wears a kurta, there would be some consequences for men for not permitting their wife to wear what they want, and they can be liable for a divorce. A kurta and a sari are examples of traditional Indian clothing.
However, there are still many crimes against women in India, including rape, acid attacks, dowry killings, honor killings, and forced prostitution of young girls, which are significant concerns. India has been ranked as a dangerous place for women by various surveys. Historically, many such crimes went unreported due to social stigma. However, there is now an increase in reported cases as more victims come forward and reporting mechanisms improve. Despite these efforts, the issue remains
prevalent across the country.
What is worse is the fact that although there is a huge shift in dynamics, many people in India generally dismiss these issues and complaints regarding these issues and complaints that are filed by the people in India. This is quite concerning as it ensures reduced safety for young girls and women.
Although discrimination and offensive stereotypes are still quite prominent against women even in modern-day society, there are a few of these women who have successfully managed to break the societal norms in India.
Indra Nooyi celebrated Indian American business leader who served as CEO of PepsiCo. Born in Chennai, India, she was the first woman to lead the company and is recognized for her strategic vision and commitment to sustainability. Nooyi's leadership earned her a place
Although we live in the 21st Century—a century currently so marked with economic, commercial successes and exciting scientific discoveries—the world is still marred by diseases, such as threats of new coronavirus strains and AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). When the first case of AIDS was reported back on June 8, 1982, scientists around the world were already working on a similar form of virus called HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). This article will focus on a fantastic doctor named Flossie WongStaal, the virologist who discovered HIV cloning, and
how she proved HIV was a reagent to AIDS.
Fact zone: What is HIV cloning? HIV cloning, as hinted by the term means to clone out the structure and genes of the HIV virus, so that virologists such as Flossie Wong-Staal can see through and determine the genetic sequence and function of the HIV virus as a whole. By comparing HIV genes to AIDS genes, Dr. Wong-Staal and her team discovered the relationship between both cells.
Born as Wong Yee Ching, Flossie was a curious child. She was interested in science, literature in both Chinese and English, but ultimately chose to pursue the Sciences when she came to pick her subjects during her high-school years in Maryknoll Convent School, Hong Kong. Although she is the third child amongst four children, her family, who had never been to college, wholeheartedly supported her studies and enthusiastically encouraged her to pursue her studies in the United States.
At the turn of adulthood, 18-year-old Wong Yee Ching formally anglicized her name into Flossie, named after a recent typhoon that had hit
Hong Kong. Then, she travelled to America, enrolling in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In three years, Flossie earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Bacteriology, cum laude (the Latin word for ‘honorary distinction’). Without a second thought, Flossie went straight into a Ph. D. program in molecular biology and completed it in 1972. In later interviews, Dr. Wong-Staal was grateful for her parents’ openminded support, and for never forcing her to follow a ‘traditional’ lifestyle. During her Ph. D. journey, Dr. Wong met and married Stephen Staal, a fellow M.D. in Oncology[2], tying his surname to hers. Now, she was Dr. Wong-Staal, married, but still an individual microbiologist with a lot more to expand and explore.
Dr. Wong never stopped her passion for learning. Even after getting a Ph.D. at age 24, she swiftly entered the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda (NIH) in 1973 to do some postdoctoral work. In NIH, she was accepted into Dr. Bob Gallo’s (M.D. in Virology) lab that primarily researched a cure for leukemia. Back in the mid 70’s,
it was believed that retroviruses[3] would cause leukemia[4] to only animals. 1973 marked the year where many brilliant technological advancements were discovered, particularly how cloning was made possible to restricted enzymes. To Dr. Wong-Staal, this meant that anything, ranging from reverse transcriptase and oncogenes could be cloned and possible.
As Dr. Wong-Staal honed her skills in molecular hybridization[5], it dawned to her that human retroviruses may truly exist. This is because of how some systems inside the human body function similarly to avian animals. To prove that retroviruses do exist, she worked intensively with Dr. Gallo’s team on Human T-cell Lymphotropic Viruses Type-1 (HTLV-1), which they soon discovered was able to cause cancer. Together, they coauthored a little more than 100 article-journals on their research progress.
Contemporary readers and biologists noted that Dr. WongStaal was very meticulous in the way she explained how each technique worked on parts of a virus, ensuring that her readers
understood their intentions. Despite this astonishing find, Dr. Wong-Staal never cited this as her first huge discovery; rather, it was only a leading step to the mysterious HIV.
Between 1974-1980s, Dr. Wong-Staal continued to work in the National Cancer Institute (NCI, a part of the NIH) with Dr. Gallo and his team, researching and testing out different leukemic virus strains. Combining interest and intellect, they learnt that:
1. There were up to three types of HTLV; each type being a new strain.
2. HIV was not homologous to HTLV. While HIV traversed the human body via cell-cell transmission OR cell-free transmission, HTLV could only travel via cell-cell transmission.
3. HIV just happened to be a newly discovered cluster of unknown cell types.
It was now June 5, 1981. The first case of a rare type of pneumonia had just been reported between two gay men in California. Gradually, this strange, unknown disease began to spread around America, negatively impacting the gay community and causing widespread panic in people.
Simultaneously, Dr. Wong-Staal, who had just proven that HTLV1 can cause cancer, was aroused with curiosity. Flossie knew she had to explore this virus, and she was well determined to be the first one to understand and define it.
To simplify the process of how Dr. Wong-Staal’s team and Dr. Gallo discovered the relationship between HIV and AIDS, here’s how it worked, in steps.
1. The NCI discovered that HIV was actively targeting T-cells, a type of white-blood cell that fights against diseases.
2. Dr. Wong-Staal isolated the HIV retrovirus from individuals infected with AIDS.
3. Her team of researchers found out that the genetic sequence inside HIV has the potential to code for a protein. This meant that once infected, the HIV could alter the proteins inside of you, slowly weakening the multiple systems inside your body.
4. By examining individuals infected with AIDS, Dr. WongStaal learnt that HIV strains showed variations inside individuals, and that they were constantly replicating and mutating. Reports were sent to two other teams (San Francisco Group and Luc Montagnier’s French Group) to check if each others’ observation were similar.
5. While research was being done over the HIV, Dr. Wong-Staal knew it would be easier to clone the HIV virus so that they could disect it with the help of a molecular knife, which is a type of enzyme that extracts specific gene sequences from RNA/ DNA.
6. 2 years later (1984), HIV cloning became possible, and Dr.
Wong-Staal & Dr. Gallo was able to submit the first paper detailing how HIV had the ability to escape detection from the immune system. An individual would have AIDS if all their CT4 cells (a type of white blood cell) were reduced to merely 300 CT-4 cells, weakening the body’s defence against HIV/AIDS.
It is worth noting that finding the relationship between HIV and AIDS was no easy task. In an interview, Dr. Wong-Staal mentioned that the most difficult part of researching AIDS was when news of it became public. Media outlets and people kept pushing on with, “when will there be a vaccine? Why can’t the NIH work faster??”
Furthermore, many different labs began to do ‘AIDS research’, in attempts to obtain grant money (money given by a government to a non-profit-organization in recognition of their research), abusing the system.
Despite public pressure and increasing competition from other research groups, Dr. Wong-Staal's mindset remained steadfast. For after all, she knew that people are humans, and that despair, fear and frenzy were completely normal reactions. In fact, peoples’ responses to the AIDS pandemic was motivational for her, since “it adds to the joy of discovery to know that your work may make a difference in peoples’ lives.”
Now that HIV was proven to lead to AIDS, Dr. WongStaal's next steps were to find a cure. She knew it would be difficult (it still is), but thanks to her team and Dr. Gallo, they have laid the certain groundwork over how on which a vaccine could be developed. Around the same time, Dr. Wong-Staal was named “top 50 female scientists” from the National Science Institution. In fact, she was the most cited female-scientist of the 1980s, with almost 7800 citations. This shows that in times of crises, scientists (who were mostly men) did not let gender bias or pride get the better of them; what mattered more was that Dr. Wong-Staal's discovery was crucial to many others’ research.
After a staggering 17 years of work, Dr. Wong-Staal left the NIH and moved on to UCSD (University of California, San Diego). She decided that even though people acknowledged her molecular biology skills, Dr. Gallo was still the one with more publicity and it began to overshadow her. On a more personal level, Dr. Wong-Staal decided that it was time to move on to a less stressful environment, where she doesn’t have to lead a team of 60 highlyskilled researchers.
“Working with this virus is like putting your hands in a treasure chest. Every time you put your hand in, you pull out a new gem.” – Dr. Flossie WongStaal, 1982.
A
Photo by Tiana Lui
by
Photo
Winston Wang
Nia Fall Women in Literature
in Literature. By
Nia Fall.
Literature takes form in various ways: achingly raw poetry, collections of essays, memoirs, biographies, fiction, non-fiction, short stories and drama texts, to name a few. All of such depict ideas, thoughts and recollections, characters, events and motifs that someone, no matter their gender, has spent hours, backbent over a worn-out desk, editing to the extreme. Now, to unpick the line “no matter their gender,” employ a pun or two as we accelerate the march towards International Women's Day 2025, and as an homage to the great women of every generation, this segment centers on the historical rise of female writers and the huge successes borne out of women’s achievements in literature.
Nowadays women's writing is highly praised and acknowledged, with honors and awards bestowed for both their efforts and their subsequent triumphs. Around the globe, cities, towns, sidewalks, and streets are home to bookshops lined with female authors. Romance, classics, sciencefiction, thrillers, horror, they all crowd toppling bookshelves, or, in my house, even on the floor, so much they are loved. As of now, strong female voices are relatively well-received and valued amidst global crises,
book bans, and censorship, yet it still remains necessary to note the hard work and many years that supplied this rise, as it really has been a long time coming. Specifically, we must mention the writers who stand as catalysts and publishers themselves, whether those names be up-and-coming, recent and established, or already written in the history books.
Cutting a long story short, consider Virginia Woolf biting back against gender stereotypes in her essay of rebellion, “A Room of One's Own”, the
Brontë sisters revolutionizing the prospect of females writing females, their rage, love, emotions, opening mind and soul. Louisa May Alcott raising feminism sky-high in her familial relationships and outlook within “Little Women”, Harper Lee rightfully paving her way into classrooms worldwide with her portrayal of injustice in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, and Mary Shelley shipping off the morally and ethically complicated beauty that is “Frankenstein” aged 20 – women's literature
isn’t going anywhere but fast forward.
All the writers mentioned have been pivotal in the movement, acceptance, and indeed love, for female writing. As a sendoff to this year's Black History Month, an applaud to all the Black authors tired of being hushed and now either climbing the steps to success or whomever smiles down from above it, I want to leave a love letter to Black women writers.
Toni Morrison
To discuss female writers and Black representation while overlooking Maya Angelou would be, an egregious disservice to both modern-day and earlier readers, and to miss a figure whose words spark action today, even when taught within the busiest walls of high school classrooms.
Angelou grew up in Missouri, and later Stamps, Arkansas, shackled to the Jim Crow laws, her writing thereafter was influenced by adversities, racism and injustice. Relocating in her teens, Angelou landed in San Francisco and quickly joined the Harlem Writers Guild; with a push from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, her pen hit paper. The bitter tang of her experience puts a sour taste on
the tongue in her unapologetically honest autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” recounting her memories. These ranged from themes of sexual abuse, insecurity, familial abandonment and parental divorce, yet most of all, fragility—in her childhood, in her community, and in her identity.
In my opinion, what makes her work so powerful, so longlasting, is that it sticks. Whether her writing may fly over the common readers’ first look, whether her stanzas might lead to a few unwarranted tears, whether you find yourself hearing about her for the first or thousandth time, her narrative on black females have stuck for years and years, and it all comes down to her yell against racial and social injustice – or in other
words, ones much more beautiful and well-chosen, her poetry.
Beyond her autobiography lies her collection of treasures, the extension of her experiences, her poems. The collection “And Still I Rise” features most of her iconic works, most notably the titular poem "Still I Rise." Its lyrical nature has caused it to be seen as a sort of anthem, gaining a following, fans you could say, celebrating the strength of Black women in the face of oppression, discrimination, and marginalization. In her poem, "Phenomenal Woman" the message is driven home in more ways than the title. Angelou rejects typical stereotypes, instead she welcomes womanhood, empowerment, and what should be universally
accepted—her inherent femininity.
Like her poem, “I Shall Not Be Moved” Angelou stood resistant against oppressing societal expectations of the and her time. In the process, Angelou reinvented a form of resilience, a new ink, influenced by writers like James Baldwin and Langston Hughes, figures like Malcolm X and Luther King Jr, and her friendly and domestic relationships. Her influence is unspoken for, propped up by her involvement in activism and defiance, earning her three Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She’s become no less of a cultural icon, standing on a split stage across from civil rights figures and classic poets.
Whether her writing may fly over the common readers’ head,
Whether her stanzas might lead to a few unwarranted tears
Equally important is Toni Morrison. The orator for middle-class black life, identity, and cultural heritage was born February 18, 1931, in midwestern Lorain, Ohio. Morrison flipped her experience of black life into literary stories, aiming to write for her often dismissed “neighborhood.” Although commonly quietened, her upbringing was loud in comparison, muddled with her exploration of racism and character, leading to the first clutch of her pen at 39, during her 20-year span of working as an editor in New York.
At most points in her career, she had a large readership because of the release of
her first novel, “The Bluest Eye.” The story of Pecola Breedlove, focuses on a young black girl who dreams of having blue eyes as she believes the reward will be beauty and love. Morrison’s chapters evoke yearning and want, a familiar, constant, prickle of internalized racism and societal beauty standards punctuated throughout. Morrison gnawed-open gaps addressed issues such as self-perception and the need for acceptance from a feminine standpoint, mirroring the feeling of inadequacy, resonating with readers even today. Emerging from shadow, “Sula” was also brought forth, centering female friendships and showcasing the
severe squabble between forced conformity and freedom. "Song of Solomon” out the spotlight upon “Milkman Dead III”, the search for identity and found familial history, in a dug deep, hollowed, racist America. “Jazz” and “Beloved” were two of five more exceptional works of which helped her make a name for herself.
Devoted to her craft, her style and choices changed with the times, shifting across the scratchy, sometimes scrappy, powerful and evolving landscape that was African American history. In her earlier works, she confronted the blatant and deeper psychological impact of racism. As the
Whether you find yourself hearing about her for the first or thousandth time
Civil Rights Movement took hold, she wrote about themes of resistance, the reclamation of Black history and inherited culture. Through her writing, Morrison opened up discussion, widening the gateways for eager African American authors to display and kick-start their work.
As a woman of color, her work resonates far further than the coast of the United States, loading ammo into the female Literary Canon and scooping up the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “Beloved” and the Nobel Prize for Literature.
2. Women in Literature, Maya Angelou
1. Women in Literature,
Alice Walker
As the most contemporary writer upon this list, Alice Walker explores the lives of Black women, the issue of sexism, and personal strife related to her childhood, poverty and racism, in her wellacknowledged writing. Best known for her Pulitzer Prizewinning novel “The Color Purple” (Of which I think should be a strong contender for top of the pile on everyone's To Be Read list) Walker has made it obvious that she will not back down, nor turn away from
writing about hard-hitting topics whilst mentioning themes of sisterhood and female friendships. Within this intricate novel, Walker introduces us to Celie, subjected to the cruelty and violence of both her father and husband whilst being suppressed in a hierarchal society, but through her letters to God, she begins a path of self-discovery, identity, and agency.
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, she was awarded the National Book Award and the O. Henry
Award, garnering critical acclaim and worldwide love while The Color Purple achieved a movie adaptation in 2023. Apart from the shiny awards, Walker has been praised for her involvement in the feminism movement, such as her partaking in the Women’s March on Washington, or less clearly in her asking for a more inclusive wave in her collection, of 36 different pieces, “In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens”, and mentioning the need for intersectionality.
Walker’s work urges readers to engage and really, truly, listen to the quietened voices, whether it’s a race or sex, all the while tying it nicely in the gorgeous and rightfully shameless bow that is her stellar writing on the human life. Through her ink on paper, her character studies and storytelling, and her activism and voice, Walker is a direct teller of the future for both female and Black literature, and it's looking very, very bright.
by.
Design by. Jihoo Kim, Zoe Lam.
Writing
Jihoo Kim, Nia Fall, Leonardo Pillot, Siya Vaidya, Natalie Kung, Hugo Yip, Venus Leung, Arianna Muggeri, Ruby Young, Eli Zilkha.
Writing assistance by. Arianna Muggeri, Jade Scott, Eli Zilkha.
Photographs by. Venus Leung, Hugo Yip, Linus Ying, Preston Wang, Sasha Parsons, Jane TurnerFall, Nikki Parton, Tiana Lui, Winston Wang.
