Summer 2022 by The Boomerang

The

Boomerang Summer 2022

A Critique of the “Born This Way” Argument and a Defence of Queer Nature by C. Marín Morcillo Are sexuality and gender something you’re born with? Is being LGBTQ+ “natural”? From the perspective of the “Born This Way” argument (BTWA), everyone is beautiful in their own way ‘cause God makes no mistakes. In other words: “you’re on the right track, baby, for you were born this way.” As a queer person, I have much longed for the safety of the naturalistic argument that tells you “if being queer is natural, then it’s tolerable.” And I’m not the only one.

Illustration © Jana Fragoulis

For decades, the BTWA has been a recurrent trope in public discourse, even permeating the natural sciences, where scientists have looked for the "gay gene" and for evidence of homosexual behaviour in animals. But why would sexual DQG JHQGHU GLYHUVLW\ HYHU QHHG MXVWL¿FDWLRQ on behalf of nature? There seems to be a pragmatic reason for it.

Second, the inclusion of some queer subjects (mainly white gay men) into a still cisheteronormative society gives the false impression that there’s veritable respect for diversity. Respecting a few weirdos because they were born that way is one thing. It’s not ideal, but manageable. Their inclusion doesn’t threaten the very system of sexual and gender norms. But respecting the myriad of non-normative ways RI EHLQJ LQ WKH ZRUOG" 7KDW¶V TXLWH GL̆HUHQW And that’s how, by naturalising a small island in the incommensurable ocean of (queer) diversity, the rest of the ocean was doomed to invisibility.

In order for nature to ground morality (including sexual and gender norms), it has to be govHUQHG E\ ¿[HG XQFKDQJLQJ SULQFLSOHV $QG« surprise! It isn’t. Against queer theorists’ generalised rejection of the concept of nature, I defend its reappropriation and UHVLJQL¿FDWLRQ. If concepts are battleJURXQGV ZKHUH PXOWLSOH DQG FRQÀLFWLQJ SROLWLFDO DFWRUV ¿JKW IRU VLJQL¿FDWLRQ WKHQ , ZDQW WR VWD\ and dispute meanings. On this occasion, for a queer concept of nature.

By following Charles Darwin, we will VWDUW WR VHH QDWXUH GL̆HUHQWO\ )LUVW WKH RQH WKLQJ WKDW GH¿QHV QDWXUH is its complete inability to stay the same. And because variation (though limited by natural selection) is not driven toward any particular goal, nature cannot be used to justify any particular norm. Darwin may be considered to be a queer theorist insofar as he conceptualizes nature as a non-norPDWLYH QRQ HVVHQWLDO LQ¿QLWHO\ KHWerogeneous composite of mutating laws and principles. But also nature itself, freed of teleological norms and governed by variation, can be regarded as queer.

But the BTWA doesn’t come without problems. Depoliticisation by means of naturalisation

First, by rendering sexuality innate, queer people are deprived of their agency. As homosexuality is naturalised and co-opted in a still cisheteronormative society, the game of tolerance is played solely under normative terms. Through this process of naturalisation—a form of domestication?—a former “deviation” became depoliticised. That is, it's deprived of its political character and power—especially the power that comes from subversion and resistance.

An implicit misconception of nature

In defence of Queer Nature

For many years, the Lady-Gagaian BTWA has been used to promote LGBTQ+ tolerance with some success. Surveys have found that people who view sexual orientation as an innate trait are more supportive of queer rights. And, at least in some spaces, homosexuality has become something socially acceptable, for it’s nobody’s fault.

By choosing the strategic path of naturalisation, the BTWA leaves two corpses behind: that of gay and trans people as self-constituted political subjects, and that of the invisibilised queer Others.

anti-essentialism, I believe it is biased against materiality and nature.

Everything is constructed (?) I would assume that, against the naturalisation path, queer theory would say that the strategy is not to naturalise that which deviates from the norm (as the BTWA defends), but to denaturalise the very system which sustains such a norm. :H VKRXOG VKRZ WKH DUWL¿FLDO DUFKLWHFWXUH RI FLVheteronormativity and realise that sexual and gender norms are not part of nature, but yet another piece of cultural technology. We should reveal the plurality that precedes categorisation to then build new, more diverse categories which (temporarily) escape current systems of oppression. But as much as I agree with queer theory’s

This Darwinian turn allows for a celebration of diversity not because it is “good”, but because it opens up the possibility of greater adaptability to changing environments. The problems with the BTWA should remind us that delegating morality to God or Nature is not a good idea. Instead of taking logical shortcuts, we should focus on our moral responsibility, on an ethics of care—on how our beliefs and political convictions harm others. Without the BTWA, we may have a harder time promoting LGBTQ+ tolerance. But this relinquishment may be the only way to stop sustaining a cisheteronormative system that hides the thriving diversity of human nature.

Not Fine, But Fined

Yes, Committees Should Be Political

The Worst Mistake

Don't Look Back in Anger

Pride Not Prejudice

Jane's Ice Cream

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The Boomerang | Summer 2022

Not Fine, But Fined by Nina Alberti TW UDFLVP UDFLDO SUR¿OLQJ VH[LVP PHQtions of sexual harrassment and sexual assault/rape, violence Two feet on the ground. Someone is grabbing onto my shoulder. I’m holding my friend’s wrist with one hand, keeping the other free to balance myself. They push us forward. Now I’m on my toes. One foot danJOLQJ LQ WKH DLU ,¶P VWDQGLQJ OLNH D ÀDPLQJR yet I’m not stately, nor elegant, and I’m GH¿nitely not calm. I’m having a full-on panic attack in the middle of the Thursday night Tivoli queue.

“It’s Tivoli’s responsibility,” one policeman responded. But then what is their job, if not guarding the public’s safety and order, or providing help to those who need it? One night last winter, a friend of mine was pulled over and asked to follow a police car to a dark parking lot next to the highway. Three policemen with ÀDVKOLJKWV FDPH RXW WR TXHVWLRQ KHU DVNLQJ her if she was drunk. She said she wasn’t, which was true, but they continued saying that they didn’t believe her.

RI KLV EDJ DQG FRQWLQXHG WR WKURZ DOO KLV VWX̆ RQWR WKH JURXQG :KHQ ¿QGLQJ QRWKLQJ WKH\ simply warned him that he shouldn’t be out this late. Besides the sexist behaviour and the racial prejudice that characterise these encounters, policemen often seem to focus on things that may generate an income of some sort, be it WKURXJK ¿QHV RU FRQ¿VFDWLRQV )RU LQVWDQFH contrary to popular belief, the police are leJDOO\ DOORZHG WR FRQ¿VFDWH \RXU ZHHG HYHQ LI LW¶V OHVV WKDQ ¿YH JUDPV

6R PD\EH RXU VDIHW\ LV MXVW QRW SUR¿WDEOH We never got into Tivoli that night. We had enough. But at what cost does such biased survived two hours of dense crowds shoving police behaviour come? While the police and pulling only to arrive at a closed door. have time to unjustly harass my friend in a Two horrible hours of trying to stand updark parking lot, they weren’t there when right and get air. And all that under the in- Eventually, they made her take a breathalys- she was being followed home at night by a GL̆HUHQW H\H RI WKH SROLFH HU FRPPHQWLQJ ³QRZ ZH¶UH JRLQJ WR ¿QG RXW strange man. if you’ve been a good girl.” She passed the :KHQ , ¿UVW VWDUWHG ZULWLQJ WKLV DUWLFOH , test yet the police lingered around the car, While the police have time to check my thought I wanted to discuss crowd control. VKLQLQJ WKHLU ÀDVKOLJKWV RQ KHU IULHQGV ZKR friend’s bike reference number anytime he $IWHU DOO WKLV ZDVQ¶W P\ ¿UVW WLPH DOPRVW were all people of colour. “It felt as if they goes cycling, they weren’t there when he was drowning in a sea of people. My mind goes ZHUH WU\LQJ WR ¿QG VRPHWKLQJ 6RPHWKLQJ knifed in his own neighbourhood. back to King’s night, where I was involuntar- that just wasn’t there.” ily absorbed in a current of concert-goers, or And while the police has time to send six Lowlands, where A$AP Rocky presented his Another friend of ours has had similar ex- men to check bicycle lights in Wilhelmina ‘mosh pit: how-to’ video, creating a rather periences with the police. Even when he’s SDUN RQH JLUO ZDV IRXQG UDSHG DQG OLW RQ ¿UH violent crowd. cycling in a crowd the police always pick another girl was sexually harassed for forty him out to ask him for his bicycle reference minutes on a train, and yet another girl was In both cases I thought I was dying. Security number. A number that most white people shot by her stalker, whom she had already fences closing in, people jumping over me, won’t even know exists, but that people of reported. irritated girls saying “on three we push.” But colour need daily to prove that they didn’t in the Tivoli line my frustration lay not with steal their own bikes. This all happened. And things like these will the crowd, but with those cowardly onlookcontinue to happen if police priorities don’t ers who refused to intervene. He has been stopped and searched by police change. I would like to add that I’m not acon numerous occasions. One time, late at cusing every policeman of being sexist or When asking the police why a racist. That would be reductive. But I do night, the police asked to see the contents they hadn’t stepped in, think that there is something structurthey said it wasn’t ally wrong with the police their job. Our safety, system and that it standing on a paveneeds to be rement mere metres formed in order away from them, WR H̆HFWLYHO\ was not their protect us. concern. All of us.

"Maybe our safety is just not SUR¿WDEOH HQRXJK %XW DW ZKDW FRVW does such biased police behaviour come? "

Illustration © Ida van Zwetselaar

A University College Student Association Magazine

WORLD “Obesity”, the Big Fat Lie of Medical Fatphobia

by Pablo Ruiz Delgado TW: fat shaming and eating disorders I was barely ten when I came out of the docWRU¶V ṘFH DQG KDG P\ ¿UVW SURSHU EUHDNdown. Every month, my mom would take me to an hour-long doctor appointment for a checkup. Every month, he’d spend a solid third of the session calling me ‘obese’, ‘overweight’, and comparing me to animals like seals and walruses (because they’re fat). Every month, he’d tell me to strip naked and get on the scale, then argue with my mom for several minutes about her ‘overfeeding’ me. It seems this one time he got fed up of arguing and decided to prove the point. So he turned to me and said: “Boy, look down. Can you see your penis?” I couldn’t, of course, because my fat, overfed, walrus-like belly was in the way. Most of us know that fat people are laughed at and bullied in school, at the workplace, on the streets, and most would agree that it’s repugnant. And yet, most people are unaware of the much more dangerous, systematic fatphobia perpetrated by medical institutions and professionals, disguised as them trying to ‘help’ us.

Grotesque exaggerations of the rise in obesity and its health risks were propagated almost entirely by conservatives in the US and UK who thought that the WUDGLWLRQDO PDOH ¿JXUH ZDV EHLQJ ORVW emasculated, and corrupted by men growing fat. Fat women were of course also seen as degenerates, since child rearing required their bodies to be in an ‘ideal’ state, which fatness naturally is not. It was in this climate that medical institutions decided to make obesity a disease and embraced the ‘obesity epidemic’ discourse that persists to this day – not to ‘help’ fat people, but to legitimize discrimination against them ZLWK VFLHQWL¿F MDUJRQ

³2EHVH´ LV QRW D VFLHQWL¿F WHUP LW¶V D VOXU IDW SHRSOH DUH QRW DQ HSLGHPLF IDWSKRELD is." If the reader is still in disbelief that respectable medical institutions would adhere to such obvious bullshit, allow me to merely SRLQW RXW KRZ LQ WKH WK FHQWXU\ PRVW VFLentists accepted that Blacks were genetically less intelligent than Whites,

and how until the end of the 20th century, homosexuality was extensively considered a mental disorder by the medical community. If they were racist and homophobic then, they can be (and are) fatphobic today. "Obesity" conceals and fuels one of the most insidious kinds of fatphobia. When anyone looks at a fat person, they don’t see someone worthy of respect and self-determination, they see a manifestation of obesity. Instead of a human being, they see a clumsy, gross mass of ‘poor’ eating and exercise habits that ought to escape their miserable condition ZLWK VWDUYDWLRQ GLHWV DQG SVHXGR VFLHQWL¿F weight-loss pills. This phenomenon called “pathologization”, reducing an individual down to the traits and stereotypes of a perceived disease, has been widely researched in relation to fatphobia. 7KH PRVW LQWHUHVWLQJ ¿QGLQJ LV WKDW ZKHQ it comes to other instances of pathologization, the pathologized are more often seen as victims of their condition. For example, those addicted to hard drugs, though they face much prejudice, are seen by most as victims of their addiction. Fat people, however, are blamed for being what they are: losing weight is entirely their responsibility, staying fat is entirely their fault. Not only does this mindset frame fatness as a negative thing by default, but it also dismisses all social, economic and psychological factors that lead to fatness. The explosion of fast-food franchises and convenient delivery apps, coupled with increasing work hours and work-related anxiety, have resulted in increased consumption of the kind of food that leads to gaining weight. Another factor for increased fatness brought to you by late-stage capitalism is a rise in mental illness, which in turn provokes food addiction in many people who try to compensate for some other void in their life. Or what if – and this is the main point – someone just wants to be fat? They enjoy eating, they don’t enjoy doing sports, they don’t mind being fat. Why the fuck should anyone else judge these choices or instruct them on how they should act? Fat people are worthy of respect and dignity no matter how fat they are, how much they eat, or how little they move. And please, for the love of sweet Jesus Christ, stop calling fat people ‘obese’ or ‘overweight’. It’s not a euphemism, it’s not more polite, and it’s not more technically correct. ,W¶V R̆HQVLYH DQG QRW IXQ WR KHDU

Illustration © Avantika Bhowmik

The most blatant form of medical discrimination against fat people, and yet the most widely normalized, is the term “obesity”. The :+2 FODVVL¿HG REHVLW\ DV D GLVHDVH LQ meaning that many think it to be a more sciHQWL¿F RU HPSLULFDO ZD\ RI VD\LQJ µIDW¶ 7UXWK is, it’s complete and utter bullshit. Firstly, WKH KLVWRU\ EHKLQG LWV FODVVL¿FDWLRQ LV TXLWH WHOOLQJ )RU PDQ\ GHFDGHV EHIRUH WKHUH had been increasing talk of an ‘obesity epidemic’ threatening public health worldwide. As fat activists and scholars have pointed out, this so-called epidemic was nothing but a manufactured moral panic.

Even more striking is the way that obesity LV GH¿QHG 8QOLNH DFWXDO GLVHDVHV LW KDV QR clear symptoms to identify it, so instead it’s GH¿QHG XVLQJ WKH %0, RU ERG\ PDVV LQGH[ ,WV EDVLF IRUPXOD ZDV GHYHORSHG LQ WKH WK century by non-medical statisticians to simply measure the ratio of a person’s height to their weight, which means it doesn’t take into account muscle mass, bone density, or stature, among other things. Despite its cartoonish uselessness, the WHO still arbiWUDULO\ GH¿QHV REHVLW\ DV ³D %0, VFRUH ODUJHU than 30” and publishes annual obesity reports using this measure. It’s a completely XQMXVWL¿HG VWDQGDUG XVH WR GLDJQRVH D GLVease that isn’t a disease. “Obese” is not a sciHQWL¿F WHUP LW¶V D VOXU IDW SHRSOH DUH QRW DQ epidemic, fatphobia is.

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The Boomerang | Summer 2022

The Worst Mistake by Giulia Martinez-Brenner TW: sexual misconduct

DV SXUHO\ WKH H̆HFW RI D SHUVRQDO REMHFWLYH independent of everything else, narrows our Can sexual misconduct be a mistake? YLHZ DQG IRFDOL]HV RQO\ RQ WKH ¿QDO SURGXFW of rape culture. Again, this is not to say that The general consensus on campus seems perpetrators should not be held accountable to be "no". And if your answer in any way for their actions, on the contrary. We are all strays from this two letter word, it is deemed embedded in history and society, that does absolutely unacceptable. However, it is fear not make us mere predetermined machines. of controversy that paralyzes constructive However, when we frame the issue of sexual conversation, especially on issues that we misconduct as always and only the conseall agree on. I am not a victim blamer, nor a quence of individual desire and intent, I berape apologist, and nor am I personally un- lieve we dangerously reduce the matter, and familiar with experiences of sexual assault. diminish the scope of the problem. It is precisely the combination of all these things that brings this topic so near to my "Sexual misconduct must be taken heart, and why I am so wary of sweeping, VHULRXVO\ QRW VLPSO\ LOO GH¿QHG VWDWHPHQWV But actually, I believe my answer is yes, it can be. Not always, but it can be. Some situations do fall into the black and white areas of humanity’s moral compass, but they cannot all be so easily judged. To do justice to such an important issue means to also do the intellectual and emotional labor of going deeper and deeper into every aspect of the subject. Sexual misconduct is used to describe a wide range of behaviours, from inappropriate touching or comments, to sexual coercion and rape. It does not matter the degree or supposed severity, sexual misconduct is always unconsensual, unwanted, and undoubtedly condemnable. Yet, when we begin to speak of a “mistake” and say it can “never be” one, we are also silently accepting certain implicit assumptions and conclusions that must be unpacked. Mistakes are misguided acts that only make sense in the realm of individual intent. If something “can never be” a mistake, the sole root of that action must be grounded in a person’s deliberate objective. I am not denying the blatant fact that perpetrators, just like everyone, do have agency and must be held responsible, but accountability is not always the same as intentionality.

From a punitive perspective, I am sure many will feel this matters less: if you hurt someBesides this slightly more abstract pream- one, you should somehow be punished, it ble, there is also another question that must does not matter whether you meant it or be addressed. Regardless of whether you not. But from an academic perspective, what DJUHH RU QRW ZLWK ZKDW ZDV VWDWHG EHIRUH are we saying when we uncritically align acregardless of whether it is “correct” or not countability with intentionality? to understand sexual misconduct as always deliberate or also the product of something If misconduct is “never a mistake” then we ELJJHU ZH PXVW DVN RXUVHOYHV ZKDW GRHV accept that perpetrators are always acting intentionally and there is no space for WKLV GH¿QLWLRQ do? Is it helpful? change. I do not want to accept this. The sad fact is that most people, both perpetrators and victims, are not on the same Everyone is responsible for their own deeds, page with what is recognized as misconduct and the fact that I even must think about all this is infuriating, depressing, and unfair, or not. but this is a complex topic, and you must ac6XUYH\V DQG VWXGLHV VLQFH WKH V KDYH cept the discomfort if it means getting closer shown how across genders, across cultures, to understanding. across generations, what people believe to EH FODVVL¿DEOH DV PLVFRQGXFW KDUDVVPHQW Sexual misconduct must be taken seriously, and rape, is greatly varied. Perpetrators QRW VLPSO\ , NQRZ LW LV GL̇FXOW WR DOORZ DPgenuinely may not recognize certain actions biguity into our convictions, and it is a buras being incredibly problematic. There are den to constantly have to teach and learn some types of misconduct that are not open HDFK RWKHU¶V VX̆HULQJV HVSHFLDOO\ ZKHQ ZH to debate, where it is impossible that the are implicated. But what else is there to do? perpetrator was not aware of the harm they There are actions with intentions, and there ZHUH LQÀLFWLQJ DQG WKLV LV QR PLVWDNH <HW actions that stem from ignorance, from does that mean that the issue is never am- miscommunication, from cultural preconbiguous? Or in other words, if someone is ceptions and pressures. I may never stop blinded to the fact that what they are doing blaming someone for hurting another. I is wrong, can we truly grant them full inten- can blame them for the action in itself, and tionality over the outcomes of their actions I could even blame them for not knowing enough and for being unaware, but that is by saying it “was not a mistake”? GL̆HUHQW IURP VD\LQJ LW ZDV QRW D PLVWDNH , ZDQW WKLQJV WR EH GL̆HUHQW , ZDQW WKLQJV WR The core element to be understood change, but if there are no mistakes, there here is that sexual misconduct is is no hope to learn from them. always unwanted, but sometimes what is wanted or not is unclear. Illustration © Avantika Bhowmik

By shifting the emphasis to the individual perpetrator, one’s gaze moves away from the highly cultural, highly pervasive, structural conditions from which the very problem materializes. Seeing sexual misconduct

Some acts are ambiguous. Rape can be about power, purposeful domination, and humiliation, but we also cannot deny that there are forms of misconduct that are the result of distorted perceptions, miscommunications, and toxic cultural norms. What can be perceived an acceptable sexual advance can also be experienced as incredibly inappropriate and undesirable. The intent does not have to be to harm. If an advance is speFL¿FDOO\ SRLQWHG RXW DV EHLQJ R̆HQVLYH DQG then repeated anyway, there is no denying malicious intent, yet what if it is made from “innocent” ignorance?

A University College Student Association Magazine

WORLD

Pride Not Prejudice

by Kitty Bertrand although I was young, I felt it was impossiTW: mention of sexual assault ble for me to experience sexual attraction towards anyone, as well as romantic attraction My coming out story is less of a coming out towards men. Naturally, my labels shifted story and more of a “I was outed at school” and I started to describe myself as asexual VWRU\ , ZDV DQG DIWHU D GUDPDWLF ³\RX and homorantic. need to sit down, I have something important to tell you” kind of conversation with $ IHZ PRQWKV DIWHU WXUQLQJ , PRYHG WR my two best friends, I didn’t mind that the a new school. Early into the semester, a boy rest of the school knew. The outing came as NLVVHG PH IRU WKH ¿UVW WLPH DW D SDUW\ $QG D VXUSULVH WR QR RQH DV , XVHG WR FRQ¿GHQW- WKDW¶V ZKHQ , ¿UVW KHDUG LW ³,V VKH NLVVLQJ D ly talk about how in love I was with Santana guy? But I thought she was asexual and gay.” and Brittany (the most iconic queer couple in Glee) during our lunch breaks. The break- Sure, I had many experiences where people ing news in our school was that I was bisex- had doubted my sexuality, but never to my ual, and that was before I had even properly face. Not only was I fuelled with anxiety and labelled. But “sure,” I thought, “I like men, I panic at the thought of kissing someone, but OLNH ZRPHQ ELVH[XDO ¿WV , JXHVV ´ hearing those drunk classmates (who most likely hadn’t realised they were being so loud) As I continued growing up, carefully fabri- call me out for my non-queerness, made me cating my Pinterest boards of beautiful wom- internally regress. I felt embarrassed, but en and staying up into the late hours reading more importantly, I felt confused. /XQD /RYHJRRG [ *LQQ\ :HDVOH\ IDQ¿FWLRQ I came to the understanding that the label ,W KDV EHHQ MXVW XQGHU \HDUV VLQFH , NLVVHG pansexual ¿W PH EHWWHU $IWHU DOO JHQGHU ZDV that boy at the party, and a lot has changed. a social construct anyway, and what did gen- $IWHU PDQ\ \HDUV RI REVHVVLQJ RYHU ¿JXULQJ der matter - if I fancied someone it was for out my perfect labels, I came to the realisawho they were and how they made me feel, tion that conforming to social standards is their gender had nothing to do with my feel- not necessary for me to validate my queer ings towards them. identity. I am growing and constantly experiencing new things that alter the way I view $W DIWHU H[SHULHQFLQJ WUDXPD DW WKH KDQGV attraction, relationships and my queerness. of a man, my romantic and sexual attraction $QG WKDW LV RND\ VH[XDOLW\ LV ÀXLG 1RW MXVW shifted from one day to the next. The way I in the nature of sexuality, but in understandlooked at intimacy drastically changed, and ing how to label ourselves.

Growing up, the few queer characters I saw on screen described their understanding of their sexuality as something they knew right away. But I didn’t. I mean, I knew I liked women. When I was nine, I made a book dedicated to Selena Gomez, with pictures cut out from magazines that I neatly glued RQWR WKH JOLWWHU ¿OOHG SDJHV :KHQ , ¿UVW got a computer, I made my background a collage of Santana and Brittany kissing. So yes, I knew I liked women, that’s for sure. But exactly which label was most accurate is something that I no longer spend long evenings thinking about. I no longer journal for hours on end, in an attempt to decipher every interaction I’ve had with another perVRQ WR 6KHUORFN +ROPHV P\ ZD\ LQWR ¿QGLQJ WKH PRVW ¿WWLQJ ODEHO :KHQ , ZDV ¿UVW WKUXVWHG RXW RI WKH FORVHW labels were something I latched onto because they made communicating my queerness so much easier. But now, having grown into a PXFK PRUH FRPSOH[ SHUVRQ WKDQ , ZDV DW RU ODEHOV KDYH EHFRPH PRUH UHVWULFtive than helpful, and letting go of them has helped me develop my newfound comfort in my non-labelling queerness.

Hello I am

Amidst the Feminist Fog by Andrea Pantazi

TW: rape, torture, war in Ukraine The recent headlines about the rapes of Ukrainian women by Russian soliders have shook me to my core. Headlines such as “In the war on Ukraine, rape has been used as a weapon” and “Russian rape in Ukraine: 'You can tell from their eyes'” include stories from women of all ages coming forward about how they were raped, humiliated and tortured by male soldiers in their own homes. :KHQ WKH ZDU ¿UVW VWDUWHG LQ )HEUXDU\ , ZDV WHUUL¿HG 6HHLQJ SKRWRV RI WRZQV OLNH .\LY and Bucha devastated, with the bodies of dead civilians lining the streets, shocked me. I saw homes that looked just like my grandPRWKHU¶V ZLWK EORRGVWDLQHG ZDOOV DQG ÀRRUV girls who looked like my little cousin lined up in hospitals with bandages covering their little limbs, women wearing clothes with

the same fabrics and patterns as my aunts’, describing their experiences being raped in their town’s cellars with a dozen other women.

I could talk about how one out of six women have been the victim of rape, about how more than 20% of Black women are raped during their lifetimes, or how somebody is VH[XDOO\ DVVDXOWHG LQ WKH 86 HYHU\ VHF(DUOLHU LQWR WKH LQYDVLRQV , VHO¿VKO\ FRXOGQ¶W onds. I could have a damn clock put up in stop thinking of whether Putin’s troops Times Square to tick down the seconds unwould stop at the border with Romania or til the next rape will occur, and still nothing continue to attack into my family’s home revolutionary would happen. country. I’m ashamed to say it took this connection for me to feel this level of empathy. I could talk about my own personal experiI felt a type of horror that stops you in your ences with sexism. About how I can’t go to tracks. I feel this outrage in my gut and tin- Albert Heijn in a low cut top without being JOLQJ WKURXJK P\ ¿QJHUWLSV P\ EUHDWKLQJ whistled at. About how in a club I can’t walk gets shallower and I want to hide. But life through the room without a man’s hands seems to go on. Why do I not see others also wrapping around my waist, my breasts, stopping to catch their breath? Do they feel as if they exist for the sole purpose of his the same and are just better at hiding it? enjoyment. How many more mass rapes and femicides will it take to feel that outrage? article continues on page 6

6 WORLD $ERXW WKDW WLPH , ZRXOGQ¶W OHW D PDQ ¿QJHU PH RQ WKH GDQFH ÀRRU VR KH UHDFKHG RYHU WR WU\ WR ¿QJHU P\ EHVW IULHQG LQVWHDG /LWWOH things, like how a man can ask stupid quesWLRQV LQ FODVV ZKLOH , DP WHUUL¿HG WR VD\ WKH wrong thing. I could talk about my friend’s professor saying her essay was good but to not let “feminism cloud her judgement”.

The Boomerang | Summer 2022

courses, and then go back to male-oriented theories directly after.

Allow yourself to feel this outrage. It can be sparked by anything, big or small, fueled by a headline or a personal experience. Bursts Honestly, I am sick of reading beautiful of passion are intense and powerful but feminist articles and revolutionary research realistically short-lived. However I ask you papers. I just want to be able to walk down to let them fuel you. Sexism lives in all of us the street with the same empty-headed cock- in so many minute ways we have learned to iness of a straight white man. I want to take ignore in our day-to-day lives. I ask you to up space in the world the same way I see my not let these seemingly small things go, but The label of “feminist” has become dirty, male friends do. WR ¿JKW WKHP DV \RX ZRXOG ¿JKW IRU DQRWKHU associated with an untamed wildness young woman you love. What seems minute to you girls should learn to do without. Truthfully, And after all this, all the hard work to change contributes to the larger forces which invisiit becomes hard not to bend over and accept the idea of natural male dominance, all the bly run our lives. These narratives when undefeat. It’s hard to study so many historical voices shouting the same message, all the questioned make massive atrocities, such as waves of feminism in my textbooks, only to headlines detailing rape and assault from the rapes in Ukraine, become merely an inlook up today and see things are very much around the world, all the lives ruined and HYLWDEOH ³VLGH H̆HFW´ RI D PDQ¶V ZDU UDWKHU the same. It’s disheartening to see a week lost, the pattern will still continue. 6R ZKDW than a direct attack on humanity itself. of a “feminist perspective” in my politics is the point?

On Tourism and Global Exploitation E\ $GD 7U]DVNRZVND

How are tourism and coloniality connected to patriarchy and capitalism? Managing the Global South

Managing working women The connection to patriarchy might seem with many other exploitative, hierarchical, OHVV FOHDU EXW WR PH LW LV QR OHVV VLJQL¿FDQW and immoral phenomena, to patriarchy and Here comes my personal experience, po- white capitalism. VLWLRQDOLW\ DQG KRSHIXOO\ UHÀH[LYLW\ P\ parents own and manage two hotels on the :K\ WKHQ LV WKH MRE PDUNHW tropical paradise island of Zanzibar. promoting men due to their age or

The connection to the latter is pretty obvious - tourism, particularly in the Global South, is rooted in the exploitation of natural resourcHV VXFK DV ODQG ZDWHU ÀRUD DQG IDXQD WDNH for example zoos, safaris, and so-called na- The reason why they came up with this idea ture parks). LQ WKH ¿UVW SODFH LV WKDW P\ PRWKHU FRXOG QR ORQJHU ¿QG D MRE LQ 3RODQG ZKHQ DOO VKH This exploitation is never referred to as such, wanted was to continue climbing up the cabut rather as the ‘managing’ untouched re- reer ladder and girlbossing. Perhaps she also sources. It is often backed by ugly and cringy wanted to earn money to keep her family sentences like “local people would never take DÀRDW DOWKRXJK WKLV ZDV GH¿QLWHO\ D VHFRQGadvantage of this anyway” or “people who ary consideration. live here do not have the capability/capacity to manage a big, proper business.” Not 3HUKDSV LQ WKHVH SODFHV LW LV QRW once does it cross their mind that perhaps ‘obvious’ to exploit every bit of nature in these places, it is not ‘obvious’ to exploit IRU SUR¿W HYHU\ ELW RI QDWXUH IRU SUR¿W WKDW SHUKDSV this is where the opposition between na- But then why would a woman with higher ture and humans, and the blinding focus on education, living in Warsaw, with 20 years growth and career, are not the main drivers of work experience, suddenly not be able to of a society. ¿QG D MRE"

³H[SHULHQFH´ DQG ¿ULQJ ZRPHQ IRU WKH exact same reasons?" My father, who had his third child at the DJH RI ZDV QRW IDFHG ZLWK VXFK D FDUHHU brick wall. He could easily continue working in the same positions he was in before. Not only that, but bigger and better-paid doors were actually opening for him due to over 20 years of experience he had acquired in his ¿HOG

Why, then, is the job market promoting men GXH WR WKHLU DJH RU ³H[SHULHQFH´ DQG ¿ULQJ women for the exact same reasons? Ageing, for men, is almost always associated with experience and growing authority. For women, on the other hand, it is associated with losing relevance and the girlish energy they Tourism, once again particularly in the :HOO EHFDXVH DW WKH ULSH URWWHQ DJH RI once used to have. “Global South”, also relies on the exploita- she gave birth to her third child. For a womtion of “cheap” labour. This practice is also an working in managerial positions in mar- And this is how in one page, it becomes HDVLO\ MXVWL¿HG E\ VWDWHPHQWV WKDW ³WKLV LV keting, this was no less than a career death fairly clear that the answer to most quesjust how much people get paid here”, “every- sentence — especially in such a “youth” and tions about exploitation and abuse of powone pays this amount”, and perhaps the ug- “relevance” obsessed domain as advertising. er can be traced back to capitalism and its liest one: “for them it’s better to have this embeddedness in patriarchy. A system that income than no income at all”, implying that Don’t get me wrong here, I am in no way try- makes people obsessed with career-buildif it weren’t for tourism “local” people would LQJ WR MXVWLI\ WKLV RXWVRXUFLQJ RI FDUHHU IXO¿O- ing and authority only to kick them out onto starve to death and just have nothing “pro- ment by exploiting the resources and work- the street when they lose what’s considered ductive” to do. ers of Zanzibar. I am simply trying to trace “relevance”. A system in which "relevance" is the roots of “Global South” tourism, along innately tied to gender and race.

A University College Student Association Magazine

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Yes, Comittees Should Be Political by FemCo

There appears to be some misconception of what being political or apolitical means. Being political is not about supporting a particular party/ideology and campaigning for them. Our daily lives are immersed in politics and our society is built on politiFDO HQJDJHPHQW PDUJLQDOL]HG FRPPXQLties only have basic rights because people engaged in politics. However, FemCo is restricted from holding some events because they may be ‘too political’. The events in question include attending/promoting women’s rights rallies and discussions of government legislation that could deny trans people the right to bodies they are comfortable in or that could prevent people with uteruses having any say over their body. We are called political because we believe that advocacy for basic human rights should be allowed within the framework of the UCSA. It’s a shame that the majority of the campus sees this as an outrageous stance to take. How is it that, in a society that espouses itself to be so open and liberal, people still get weak in the knees when people of marginalized identities say we want to carve out a space for ourselves to talk about our issues without censorship? Just establishing FemCo was a long process and it was only after pointing out that there were equally political committees on campus focused on environmental sustainability, that we were allowed to form. Creating PrideCo was over-compliFDWHG LW ZDV ¿UVW D µSDUW¶ RI )HP&R EHIRUH being permitted to be its own committee, which is ironic given that the Netherlands portrays itself as a paragon of LGBTQ+ rights. RaceCo/ExotiCo are also committees that were deemed too ‘political’/‘divisive’ to be formed. And where did this lead us?

With racialized individuals on this campus holding a protest because we believed the institution was not supportive enough of our identities as people of color. The experiences of people of color at UCU could have been PDGH LQ¿QLWHO\ EHWWHU KDG WKH LQVWLWXWLRQ DOlowed this kind of committee to be formed, by giving us the space to have the conversations that people who believe in ‘apoliticality’ are so uncomfortable with.

DQG IXQQLO\ HQRXJK WKH\ GRQ¶W PHQtion when they actually did start doing so. The point is that politics changes over time. While women and POC weren’t given a seat at the table then, there’s no explicit barriers like that anymore (the issue of the implicit ones is a whole other debacle). So, the institution should situate itself on the right side RI KLVWRU\ E\ VXSSRUWLQJ RXU H̆RUWV WR FODLP the dignity we deserve.

When you're a member of a marginalizedcommunity, your existence is inherently political. As women, as queer people, as POC, as nonbinary and trans folks, our bodies have DOZD\V been politicized. In some cases, our mere existence is resistance. Years of being marginalized have led us to be openly political because it’s the only way we can take the dignity we deserve for ourselves from this world. Why, then, should we censor ourselves because a liberal arts college in the Netherlands tells us to? Last year, when FemCo wrote the letter concerning the sexual misconduct on campus, we had to sign it individually as students because signing it as FemCo was deemed ‘too political’. So, is asking for survivors to be heard and supported ‘too political’? Why are we, as members of this institution, not allowed to question it within the framework of said institution?

Apoliticality is often argued to be maintaining peace by being neutral, but being apolitical is a political choice. You are choosing not to do anything and your silence communicates your privilege and your preference to keep things the way they are as you comfortably live in your secure bubble. Everything is political. There is no neutrality in situations of injustice, and being apolitical just means you have chosen the side of the oppressor. Rather than being ‘without political interest’, you’re just showing your lack of interest in the everyday struggles of your friends of marginalized identities.

7KH GH¿QLWLRQ RI µSROLWLFDO¶ LV HYHU FKDQJing, and as we move forward, the institution tries to bury its past. The UU website proudO\ SURFODLPV WKDW WKH\ DGPLWWHG WKHLU ¿UVW ZRPDQ LQ EHFDXVH IHPLQLVP LV QRW XS for debate, it is fact. However, we all know WKDW WKH 88 GH¿QLWHO\ ZDVQ¶W DGPLWWLQJ EODFN SHRSOH LQ IRU FRQWH[W WKH EHJLQning of the Dutch slave trade can be dated to

"The institution should situate itself on the right side of history: by supportLQJ RXU H̆RUWV WR FODLP WKH GLJQLW\ ZH deserve" So yes, committees should be political because we should be able to raise our voices against injustices and not be apathetic to those around us. We are political because it’s the only way to grant ourselves and othHUV GLJQL¿HG OLYHV 1R PDWWHU KRZ PXFK \RX PD\ ZLVK LW ZRQ¶W D̆HFW \RX RU WKLV FDPSXV politics will always have a major role in your life, well-being, and university.

Illustration © Ida van Zwetselaar

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The Boomerang | Summer 2022

Don't Look Back in Anger by Monserrat Martinez Medellin When all graduating students were informed we would need to provide baby pictures for the commencement ceremony, I immediateO\ IHOW« FRQÀLFWHG %DVKIXOQHVV DQG DQ[LHW\ intertwined with nostalgia. I did not care ZKHWKHU WKH SLFWXUHV ZRXOG VKRZ \HDU ROG PH XJO\ FU\LQJ RU ZHDULQJ ULGLFXORXV RXW¿WV But still, I felt a tinge of embarrassment, and looked back to realize that I had rarely shown those kinds of pictures to my close friends.

PLGWHUPV DQG ¿QDOV ZKHQ HYHU\RQH¶V QRVHV are stuck in a book and you can feel your eyesight deteriorating amidst the bright lights in Voltaire.

I reminisced a lot when looking at these pictures. I thought about the cramped apartment we lived in before we moved into my childhood home, about that particular vacation to the beach, and about the featuring relatives who have since passed away. Seeing that younger version of myself made me feel melancholic. I pictured her standing next to me, as if she were a person completely separate from myself. As strange as it may sound, I felt envious of how peaceful and content she looked in the pictures. She wouldn’t have to worry about DFDGHPLFV DQG EXGJHWLQJ IRU DQRWKHU years. She also hadn’t experienced the same solitude and grief as 20-something-year-old me had. I felt remorseful for resenting her over all the distress she hadn’t experienced. , UHPHPEHU WKH ¿UVW ZHHN RI XQLYHUVLW\ EHfore lectures started, when our concerns were how late we would stay out partying or how we would decorate our rooms. It’s so enticing to unearth those memories during

your needs and restricting your social life become easier once you adopt a punitive attitude toward who you perceive to be culpable — yourself, and any human fault you may have been taught to scourge. So when I looked at my wide-eyed toddler self in the pictures, I thought of that: of every degrading comment I had directed toward myself. If she were standing in front of me, would I be able to call her all the insults I had called myself? It took a while to get out of that weird funk. I recognize that it is incredibly hard to disassociate your self-worth from your con-

At the same time, we should recognize the value in appreciating blissful moments whenever we experience them, completely as they are. It’s a process of self-forgiveness and self-care, of allowing ourselves to bask in our happiness not because we have exhaustively worked to earn it, but because we intrinsically deserve to feel at peace without there being any caveats. With the semester ending and giving way to a promising summer, I encourage anyone to welcome a compassionate version of themselves as they learn to let go of the critical, deprecating one they might’ve internalized over the years. Easier said than done, but cut yourself some slack. And if not for me, do it for the wideeyed, chubby-cheeked toddler version of yourself staring back at you next time you’re browsing through old photographs.

Illustration © Monserrat Martinez Medellin

tribution to your community or academic performance. It is even harder when the expectations of your family and friends are at play, too. What I can tell you is that it is one of the most compassionate acts to rejoice in 'XULQJ WKHVH VWUHVV ¿OOHG WLPHV LW EHFDPH others’ success, but you owe it to yourself to second-nature to penalize myself over what celebrate your growth and accomplishments I perceived to be failures. It became so easy as well. to call myself ‘stupid’ when I embarrassed myself in a social setting, or to intentionally Fostering self-kindness in the process of deexacerbate the culpability I felt whenever I taching yourself from a system that simulI texted my mom for her help, and she quickly prioritized rest over productivity. Was deny- taneously nurtures your skills and the comVHQW PH ¿YH GL̆HUHQW VFDQQHG SKRWRJUDSKV ing myself the right to eat dinner really an pulsion to discredit them can be extremely In one, I must be around three years old, DGHTXDWH SXQLVKPHQW IRU P\ LQDELOLW\ WR ¿Q- rewarding. Feeling like you’re falling behind showing the proudest of smiles as I climb ish a PowerPoint presentation? Neglecting is not unthinkable in a place where virtualover a couch. Another one shows ly every other student is thriving me sneakily trying to eat a chocolate amongst friends or helming 37 bar and getting caught in the act. committee events. 2Q D GL̆HUHQW RQH , DP VLWWLQJ RQ D IHQFH ÀDXQWLQJ D SDLU RI RYHUVL]HG To success-driven people, like so khaki shorts, tropical scenery in the many of us, feelings of inferiority background. are disorienting. But sometimes, as comedian Conan O’Brien said In all of the baby pictures, I quickin his Dartmouth graduation adly observed a few things: one, my dress, “it is our failure to become wardrobe displayed striking 2000s our perceived ideal that ultimateLQÀXHQFHV WKDW , DVSLUH WR UHFUHDWH O\ GH¿QHV XV :KLOH LW ZRXOG EH today. Two, my parents had an unideal to be able to rock a mullet canny fascination with cutting my instead of a bowlcut, maybe the hair into a bowlcut. Three, I look the PXOOHW VLPSO\ LVQ¶W PHDQW WR EH« happiest I have ever been. and that is okay.

A University College Student Association Magazine

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UQ¿OWHUHG by Elisa Uccello Endings tend to make us emotional. Since , ¿JXUHG LW ZRXOG EH WRR FKHHV\ WR UHÀHFW RQ P\ ¿UVW \HDU DW 8&8 E\ ZULWLQJ WKH FOLché “what advice would I give to incoming students?”, I decided to recount a couple stories that summarize UCU for me. I’m not sure the people who know me would describe me as shy, but that understates how I felt when walking around WKLV FDPSXV IRU WKH ¿UVW WLPH , PDGH P\ way out of the huge, weirdly shaped building I was assigned to and, step by step, built up the courage to approach a circle of strangers sitting on the grass next to ColOHJH +DOO ³+H\ DUH \RX ¿UVW \HDUV" &DQ , join?” After an hour or so of ice-breaking conversations about where we came from and how we ended up here, the yet outlandish Dutch weather drove us indoors. As we sat around a room in what I was told to be an old military hospital, four people I had never seen before walked in and sat down on the couches. “What’s up? We’re playing a game, come join! You can grab a beer in the fridge if you want!” We stayed until past 2 AM listening to music, playing games, and talking. None of those people ended up in my friend circle, and only occasionally do I see them around. Yet I always make sure to smile their way, as they do mine. I never forgot how welcomed that evening made me feel.

for parties. I remember the excitement that VXUURXQGHG WKH ¿UVW 7KXUVGD\ QLJKW DIWHU the announcement that the regulations would be loosened. The bar was packed with faces that would eventually become familiar to me, and I stumbled around in search of people I knew, which, at that point, did not consist of much more than my introweek family and the girls I live with. After hours of dancing to Abba and Pitbull, a girl pulled me towards the counter. It took me at least half a minute to realize I recognized her face from the many times she had been in my living room hanging out with my unitmates. “Hey, I forgot my wallet. Can you pay for my drink and I’ll pay you back tomorrow?” I nodded, hesitantly (people in Brazil won’t pay you back tomorrow). She asked for my phone, added her contact, texted herself and then replied from her phone: “I OWE YOU ´ 7KH QH[W GD\ VKH SDLG PH EDFN

having a conversation, in Dutch, with the boy sitting on her other side, so I pulled my phone out and started scrolling through Instagram. At one point she turned to me and said “You’re also joining the tennis team, right?” I was taken aback by the question since I couldn’t follow their conversation. Nevertheless, the three of us chatted some more and I found out the boy and I had the exact same classes. A couple weeks later we had our midterm exam, and in a moment of despair I searched his name up on the ¿UVW \HDU JURXSFKDW WR DVN ZKHUH WKH '+ lounge was. He didn’t answer since he had already put his phone away in preparation for the test, but the next day he sent me a message asking if I wanted to grab lunch in Dining Hall and work on a philosophy paper we’d been assigned. I did, and that’s the random story of how I met my best friend.

Although these accounts are quite unrelated and perhaps foolish, I think they highlight something extremely special about To go along with the new country, new uni- UCU. I don’t think there is an environment versity, and new life, I decided I should try that makes it easier for us to meet, talk, and playing a new sport. Tennis open practices JHW WR NQRZ VR PDQ\ GL̆HUHQW LQWHUHVWLQJ were fun, despite the fact that I had nev- open-minded, and amazing individuals. As er touched a racquet before and everyone , ¿QLVK P\ ¿UVW \HDU ZLWK WKHVH DQG FRXQWelse seemed to have practiced religiously less other stories of incredible friendships HYHU\ ZHHN VLQFH WKH\ ZHUH ¿YH \HDUV ROG and unforgettable memories, I just wanted Nevertheless, it was a great way to meet to take a second to appreciate the unique people, and I found out I was in the same sense of community that we have here. After psychology class as a very nice girl on the all, it is beyond gratifying to be surroundteam. On the following day, we sat next to ed by people who make me feel at home. :LWK WKH &29,' FXUIHZV SUHVHQW LQ WKH ¿UVW each other in class. During break, when I semester, it took a while for the bar to open came back from the bathroom, she was

&LQHPDWLF :D̈H E\ <D÷PXU =XEDUR÷OX +DYH \RX HYHU VHHQ D FRPHG\ ¿OP WKDW¶V DFtually funny? Besides Borat? No? That will no longer be the case once you meet After Hours 7KLV 6FRUVHVH GHOLFDF\ ZLOO DSSHDO WR WKH ¿QHVW SDUWV RI \RXU FRPHG\ GHprived taste buds and make you giggle like D FKLOG :DWFKLQJ WKLV ¿OP RQFH D GD\ FXUHV YLWDPLQ G GH¿FLHQF\ DQG OLYHU SUREOHPV

Having read the same book he, of course, starts a conversation. Paul ends up visiting Marcy that night in her apartment in SoHo. %XW« OLWWOH GLG KH NQRZ WKDW KLV ODVW ELOO À\LQJ RXW RI WKH WD[L¶V ZLQGRZ ZRXOG only be the beginning of an unfortunate series of events waiting for him that night.

ently, the young professional under threat is a genre of its own. The name is the “yuppie nightmare cycle” where “yuppie” is a cooler way of saying “young urban professional”.

Regarding artsy cinema movements to tell your friends about and other imporWDQW VWX̆ $IWHU +RXUV RQFH DJDLQ H[FHHGV After Hours LV D ¿OP IXOO RI XSV GRZQV RXU H[SHFWDWLRQV 7KURXJKRXW WKH ¿OP $IWHU ¿QLVKLQJ DQ RUGLQDU\ GD\ DW KLV ERULQJ turn-arounds, and everything in between. Paul’s shaved unibrow changes. SomeṘFH MRE WKH SHUIHFW HYHU\PDQ 3DXO +DFN- Scorsese manages to surprise us every time. times it’s there, sometimes it’s not, and ett goes to a café to unwind. Sipping his cof- <RX ZLOO DOZD\V JHW FDXJKW R̆ JXDUG E\ WKH sometimes it winks at us with hair in fee, he sees Marcy as she’s reading her book. next piece of bad luck hitting Paul. Appar- the centre of the brows. Isn’t that crazy.

10 BUBBLE Previously, I told you about journalism in Turkey, women looking for rights, and Hollywood nightmares. Unlike all that, After Hours doesn’t serve any higher purpose. It’s just about Paul. One might say, there is a lot to learn from Paul’s bad luck. Possible life lessons including but not limited to: never take only $20 in cash if you’re going to the other end of the city, don’t pee in strangers’ toilets, and don’t try to break into a mo-

The Boomerang | Summer 2022

hawk night if you don’t have a mohawk.

to know that some of you added them to your watchlists. Lastly, dear upcoming ¿OP FROXPQLVW LI \RX H[LVW FRQJUDWXODtions for taking over this divine task. I am looking forward to going through future Boomerangs and reading about all the inVDQHO\ ZRQGHUIXO ¿OPV \RX ZLOO GLVFXVV

As the days get longer and the rain pours harder, it is also the UCU after hours for some of us, including me. Hoping that it will be more fortunate than SoHo after hours, I wish you all the happiest hottest summer(term). It was a delight to get to shout into the abyss every month Hope to see you all in another newspaper DERXW P\ IDYRXULWH ¿OPV $QG , P JODG one day!

Kindle-ing by Anonymous +DSS\ -XQH HYHU\RQH ,Q KRQRXU RI WKH EORRPLQJ ÀRZHUV DQG WKH JRRG ZHDWKHU KHUH DUH D IHZ ERRN UHFRPPHQGDWLRQV EDVHG RQ VXPmery paintings that I know you will love. So take some time to lie down in the grass, relax and enjoy your well-deserved summer reading.

Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers, by Deborah Heiligman Almond Blossom might be one of my favourites of all time. Vincent, incredibly close to his brother, painted it as a gift for his newborn nephew who was named after him. This is a book about their lives and how they intersected, with stories based RQ WKH PRUH WKDQ OHWWHUV DQG DUW WKH\ Birdsong in Springtime. Lee Tiller (2020) sent each other. It is a lovely tribute and testament to a deep love and friendship The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgthat endured great sorrow and trial. son Burnett For a spring classic to match Renoir’s roses, we have the story of a rude, hot-headed child sent to live with her distant uncle. The discovery of his late wife’s hidden garden changes her life and transforms her into a kinder person. This is a story about change, memory and how real friendship and love can save your life. Almond Blossom. Vincent van Gogh (1890)

The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben The colours in this painting remind me of the specks of sunlight trickling in through a forest canopy. As it turns out, trees can remember, struggle, and communicate to The Rose Garden at Wargemont. Pierre-Aukeep each other alive and well. This beauguste Renoir (1879) tiful book explores the entangled relationships between them, drawing on new scienWL¿F UHVHDUFK DQG DQ DEXQGDQW ORYH RI WKH Romantic Poetry and Prose ZRRGV WKDW \RX¶OO GH¿QLWHO\ UHPHPEHU QH[W I hope everyone gets to stand in the Mont time you walk into a forest. Blanc valley one day and take in a view like this. A number of Romantic poets spent time in the mountains or wrote about their

awe-inspiring scenery and emotional resonance. This period of poetry often touched on the beauty and grandeur of nature, and its capability to wake imagination. It’s dramatic. Very dramatic. And then you get out there and see it for yourself, and you understand.

0RQW %ODQF &KDPRQL[ -DQH :DUG

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E Schwab. Addie LaRue is born in rural France, and travels with her father through landscapes like these by carriage. When she makes a GHDO ZLWK D P\VWHULRXV ¿JXUH RQ WKH GD\ before her wedding, she is doomed to be forgotten by everyone and live through the ages alone. Her courage in the face of injustice, crushing solitude and a boundless desire to be remembered by someone reminds you that you that you can weather any season, but with some help.

The Harvesters. Pieter Bruegel (1565)

A University College Student Association Magazine

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GastronomyCo Monthly Recipe

Jane's Ice Cream E\ 5HEHFFD +DUURZ

Ingredients RUDQJH Illustration © Jana Fragoulis

- 2 limes JU LFLQJ VXJDU

PO GRXEOH FUHDP

Instructions

Zest and juice the orange and the limes

Add the zest, juice, and icing sugar to a large mixing bowl, and stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves

Add the double cream to the bowl and whisk the mixture until it forms soft peaks

3XW WKH PL[WXUH LQWR D VKDOORZ DLU WLJKW FRQWDLQHU

3ODFH WKH FRQWDLQHU LQ WKH IUHH]HU DQG OHDYH IRU KRXUV until frozen

The Dish +RZ GLG \RX JHW WKH UHFLSH" 'RHV LW KDYH D Do you have any food traditions? special story to it? 'Not really, actually. I used to always go 'This recipe is from my boyfriend’s mom, get Vietnamese food after I picked up but I’ve tweaked a few things. She’s a cool my new sets of Invisalign if that counts.'

I think at the time it was one of the most valuable things that actually belonged to me. , ZDV HFVWDWLF 2Q WKH ÀLS VLGH , DOVR KDYH a plethora of stories relating to accidental ÀDPEpLQJ LQMXULHV DQG EUHDNLQJ WKLQJV

lady. She also loves cooking, and I think we could be besties if not for the 30-year age gap.'

Are there any people that inspire you to cook?

Cooking tip of the month

'Be patient! It sounds obvious, but things taste better if you take the time to cook What is the best part of the recipe? them properly. I feel like a lot of people Making it? Eating it? Or both? rush through recipes and just try and get 'I would say eating it! I love the fact that it them over and done with. Take the time RQO\ UHTXLUHV LQJUHGLHQWV DQG WDNHV DOPRVW to actually wait for your pans to preheat, QR H̆RUW WR PDNH \HW \RX JHW VRPHWKLQJ VR and let your sauces simmer for a while.' delicious out of it.' Do you have a memorable story related to cooking?

A Love for Cooking When did you start cooking?

'The day I came out of the womb. I think I annoyed the crap out of my parents by always trying to lick spoons and mix things.'

‘I have an uncountable amount of cooking stories, the most positive being the time that I entered a cooking competition in a mall ZKHQ , ZDV , HQGHG XS FRPLQJ VHFRQG place and winning a Le Creuset Dutch oven!

'Honestly, my biggest inspiration is Chef Gusteau from Ratatouille. I was absolutely enamoured with that movie as a kid. In line with that, I still take my biggest inspiration from media surrounding cooking. I love the *UHDW %ULWLVK %DNH 2̆ and @carolinagelen on Instagram. And of course, I take inspiration from Jane, seeing as I nicked her recipe for The Boomerang.' :KR GR \RX OLNH WR FRRN ZLWK" 'Everyone! I think cooking is a great way to bring people together, so I will cook with everyone I know and anyone I want to know. '

12 QUAD QUIZZES

The Boomerang | Summer 2022

%RRPHUDQJ XVHV ZLQG HQHUJ\ SULQWHUV 7KH %RRPHUDQJ LV D SHULRGLFDO QHZVSDSHU It comes out eight times a year. This is the eighth issue of the academic year.

A University College Student Association Magazine

CULTURE

My Roommate Is Racist, Stop Convincing Me Otherwise by Abolish Raid Alarms TW: body image, body shaming, eating disorder

She was a walking beacon of colonial beauty standards. She felt it her responsibility to be its foremost disciple. She, of course, was attractive in every sense of the word conventional. Her GUHVVHV ZHUH ÀDWWHULQJ VKRZLQJ R̆ KHU ELJ WLWV and her great ass. She was white and she was thin. She was so deeply insecure that she felt the need to analyze the girls in our year, quick with her comments about their faces or bodies. It would be accompanied by her standing in front of our G mirror calling herself fat or weighing That was what it was, completely and her every meal. XWWHUO\ ED̈LQJ PXFK OLNH KHU DVNLQJ PH for ADHD meds during exam season or It wasn’t even her alarm that sounded like a raid spewing ableist shit in a Voltaire classroom. in Nazi Germany or her refusal to change it after I didn’t know what to do but I realized how I’d I told her how anxiety-inducing it is or her com- never want to be perceived by her and to be afplete lack of understanding of my boundaries, it ¿UPHG RI HYHU\WKLQJ , KDWH DERXW P\VHOI 7KDW was the insistence that she could not possibly be was the most terrifying feeling of all. Everything racist. She so often boldly handed me the task of I hated about myself would be somehow corexplaining the very nuances of colonialism and rect because I wasn’t white or looked anything how she could be simultaneously white and not like the girls she thought were beautiful. I don’t guilty. If I were to protest this she’d level with think I ever felt quite as disgusted with my apme that I didn’t know much about her culture pearance as that October standing in front of either almost as if to say we were equally at fault Wall one crying. and in the same breath, she’d say, “Isn’t namaste thank you in yoga language?”

7KH ¿UVW FRQYHUVDWLRQ ZH P\ URRPPDWH DQG I, ever had was about possibly buying a couch. Prior to this, we knew nothing of each other. Soon enough, our conversations were about music, cleaning and her long-distance relationship with her boyfriend. We lived together for a semester before she dropped out. I held her as she broke up with her boyfriend and I went to my ¿UVW FROOHJH SDUW\ ZLWK KHU :H¶G VPRNH WRJHWKHU DQG RUGHU &KULV¶ DIWHU D ¿QDOV UXVK :H ZHUH DOmost friends. I didn’t know much about her but I knew how I felt. It was instantaneous much like her assumption of my culture which more often than not was boiled down to hot yoga for white thin Instagram models.

So stop telling me she was just unaware, or that she didn’t have the right upbringing, I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been shut down with this bullshit. Stop fucking handing people of color the fucking responsibility to be the sole source of information and change. Stop with your fucking crocodile tears. I cannot deal with another white person asking me about what they should order when they go to an Indian restaurant. Don’t IXFNLQJ DVN PH ZKHWKHU , FRRN D GL̆HUHQW FXUry every day or about the bullshit you’ve heard about people drinking cow piss. Look it up on the fucking internet. I am so emotionally burnt out from dealing with white guilt. Do the work, god knows I have been asked to.

'HDU DOO As always, things arrive sooner than expected. We have reached our last edition of the year, campus will be empty in a couple of weeks, and you will all be traveling to various points across the globe. Some of you will be returning here, and some of you will not. A few months ago, when back in Italy with my family, I mentioned something about when I would “go back home” to UCU. My mother’s eyes widened, almost comically. “But your home is here!” she said, “With us!” I laughed and agreed with her. Family will always be my home. But does that mean you can only have one? These years have changed me. I have been tossed into an arena of strangers and have emerged with the closest of friends. I have learned that I can have many homes, and my hope for you all, is that you will too. May you jump through hoops, turn the corners and turn the pages in this long mess of growing up, take some steps with ease, and others with challenges. And at every fork in the road or every moment you can simply sit still and serene, may you be surrounded by people who love you. 7R WKH ¿UVW \HDUV \RX¶YH PDGH LW $ QHZ EHJLQQLQJ LV QHYHU HDV\ EXW KHUH \RX DUH DQG \RX VKRXOG EH SURXG To the second years: things tend to work themselves out. You face the strangeness of being in the middle, not the babies anymore but unsure whether you are ready for what’s to come. No one ever is, but trust me, you’ll get through it anyway. To the third years who, like me, are turning that next corner, turning that next page: good luck. To the Boomerang board: Nina, Monse, Noor, Avantika, Mats, Jana, thank you for all you have done and I hope wherever you go, you will continue to spread your incredible talents. You are the reason I love doing this. I’ll miss you. We leave the Boomerang in Avantika’s excellent hands, and I want to give my warmest welcome to Isa, Pablo, Kitty, and Ida, who I know will do a fantastic job next year of continuing our work. Now enough of me being a sappy graduate. Have fun this summer, Lord knows you deserve it. <RXUV DOZD\V Giulia Martinez-Brenner Editor-in-Chief

14 BLACKOUT

The Boomerang | Summer 2022

Barpocalypse by Anonymous Under the cover of another night, I failed once again to stop myself from returning here. I manoeuvre the heavy metal plate covering the entrance in a practised manner and comfortably VTXHH]H WKURXJK WKH SDVVDJH ,¶YH FUHDWHG , ¿QG myself in a cool, damp space, characterised by D VRXU VPHOO 7KH PDJQL¿FHQW VWDLUFDVH ULJKW LQ front of me is far more interesting than anything else down here because a feeling repeatedly calls me to the top. So, I ascend, and after passing through one of two doors which both lead to the same oddly

VKDSHG URRP , VLW GRZQ RQ WKH ÀRRU , WU\ WR UHimagine the moments right before the end.

5XPRXU KDV LW WKDW WKH\ VWDUWHG G\LQJ R̆ EXW what killed them?

, WKLQN RI P\ SUHGHFHVVRUV WKH EORRG VZHDW DQG tears they shed to keep this place intact. An institution sacred as this runs to be worn down. Keeping it going meant keeping your head just above the water. An empty carcass of its previous life is all that remains. It wasn’t meant to ODVW FOHDUO\ EXW RQH TXHVWLRQ VWD\V DÀRDW LQ P\ mind. I try some improvised version of meditation, hoping that somehow the answer will come from within. What made its visitors disappear?

I open my eyes again, remembering that the depths of my soul do not allow me to see into the past. As I breach to stand up, something catches P\ DWWHQWLRQ IURP WKH FRUQHU RI P\ H\H DQ DGYHUWLVLQJ À\HU $V VLPSOH DV LW PD\ VHHP WKLV LV P\ ¿QDO SLHFH RI WKH SX]]OH DV HYHU\WKLQJ IDOOV into place. So I leave. I know now to come back WR WKLV SODFH ZLWK XWPRVW UHVSHFW WKH UHVSHFW WR honour the harrowed souls of those who died paying a big beer worth of an entrance fee.

Childhood Memories by X <RX VLW GRZQ RQ \RXU EHGURRP ÀRRU DW \RXU GDG V KRXVH OHJV FURVVHG DQG \RXU IDYRULWH VWX̆HG DQLPDO FOHQFKHG LQ \RXU OLWWOH ¿VWV WU\LQJ WR GLVWUDFW yourself from what is going on downstairs. You can hear their voices getting louder, sometimes followed by the slamming of doors. This wasn’t WKH ¿UVW WLPH WKLV KDSSHQHG DQG \RX ZHUH FHUtain it wouldn’t be the last one. Ever since your parents split up, it felt like you had a new ‘stepPRWKHU¶ HYHU\ ZHHN ,W ZDV KDUG WR GL̆HUHQWLDWH between them, they all looked similar and they seemed especially skilled in arguing with your dad. Not that you would describe your dad as a wonderful man, he tended to be very impulsive and quick-tempered.

$V \RXU WKRXJKWV ZDQGHU R̆ \RX VXGGHQO\ KHDU a loud bang that brings you back into reality. You move yourself to the corner of the bedroom and plug your ears in an attempt to drown out the noise. You want to go home, back to your mom, where everything will be okay again. A tear rolls down your cheek at the thought of her. Oh, how you miss her. Then you hear footsteps coming up the stairs, your heart starts racing, you quickO\ MXPS LQWR \RXU EHG DQG WXUQ WKH OLJKWV R̆ Your dad opens your bedroom door as you pretend you’re asleep. He looks around the room, his gaze lingering on you. As you try to breathe calmly, he closes the door and goes back down. There, the argument immediately resumes.

You turn on your bedside light and look around your room. It’s your room but it has nothing personal in it. Sure, it has toys and books, but none of them are yours. It’s like they tell a different story. This is not your story, this is not your home. A home is supposed to make you feel warm and safe. This house does the exact opposite. It carries many of the worst memories, you will never truly feel comfortable here.

I poured my soul into the palm of your hand, with enough speed and vulnerability that you managed to turn it into some kind of substance for you to toy with. The way you shut your hand closed when you knew you were holding the most important parts of me. You knew it, and yet still after having prodded and poked, you still threw me away like a piece of gum that had gotten stuck to your palm.

Despite all this, I only noticed how disposable I was to you when I sought the warmth of another. I had nuzzled into your palm so much that bending to the creases of your hand felt familiar, and who doesn’t love familiarity? So I stayed until the smell of familiarity merged with the stench RI \RXU PDQLSXODWLRQ , VWD\HG ORQJ HQRXJK IRU \RX WR EH DEOH WR FKHZ DQG VSLW PH RXW RQH ¿QDO time.

Despite how set you were on crushing me, I’ve built myself back up, and I no longer see myself as the piece of gum you were once holding onto. Right now, I can actually say that I’m doing good. Like actually good. Not the kind of ‘good’ I used to say with a melancholic air like I was begging you to see through me and know I was in pain. Not the ‘good’ I would use to describe you to my friends when in reality you’d been hurting me.

Like gum, I had made myself elastic for you. Whatever you wanted, I became it. A replacement for your lover, a warm touch, a friend. I distorted myself to become the missing piece of your puzzle, unaware of how sharp your edges were.

I am free from you, now. But it’s funny you see, because despite how infuriating you are, a part of me craves the calmness I only experienced when we were lying next to each other, limbs tangled with one another. The way you used to look at me, between brief mentions of your girlfriend and seemingly sincere promises that you’d want the best for me. How does it feel knowing that ZKLOH VKH ZDV DZD\ RXU ¿QJHUV RIWHQ LQWHUlocked innocently the same way our legs would on your bed.

I’m doing good. And I feel the need to repeat it until the words get tired of being written because I know you never wanted to hear those words from me. You needed me in pain to continue feeding your fragile ego, so I would run back to you like a lost little girl. So better believe I will be shouting these next few words from the clocktower, where we once held each other late into the night: I am doing good, and more importantly, I am doing good without you.

"You should not have to experience this" “Luckily,” you comfort yourself, “it’s just one more night.” Still, you want to go home. To your real home, where you can truly feel at ease. You should not have to experience this, it’s not fair. You were just a child. You are just a child.

Elastic by Anonymous

But unfortunately, unlike gum, I am not that durable. I break when chewed too many times. And although I stay long enough to get stuck in your hair, I will also hand you the scissors so you can cut me out, for I cannot stand not being wanted.

A University College Student Association Magazine

BLACKOUT

Nature or Nurture by NatureHater_101 You think Nature with a capital "N" is important, right? We need to reconnect with it, care for it, care for our earth, right? Then you must also agree with the KH gardening initiative. This is how the situation was presented: A equals B. I care about Nature. Gardening must be inherently good, so I like the various posts, and now I can feel like a better person. But it all VHHPHG D ELW R̆ To be honest, I must (almost shamefully) admit that I do not have the time or energy to take care of a garden. UCU students juggle four intensely academic courses, jobs, committees, and countless other responsibilities. There are times when I feel I can barely keep myself together, let alone patiently nurture the space outside. Does this make me a bad person? Or does this mean that others hold an immense privilege to have the time, abilities, and resources to actually do so? And what happens when these lucky people leave? Let’s put more high expectations on future students’ shoulders, maybe they won’t have enough already.

This idea does not only create expectations for what students should do but also how they should be doing it. Not only are we being asked to make time to garden, but to also garden well. 2WKHUZLVH ZKDW ZRXOG EH WKH GL̆HUHQFH WR RXU current situation? I am in no way an expert in WKLV ¿HOG SXQ LQWHQGHG DQG , DP QRW DERXW WR tear up the soil without a clue of what is good for it. I guess I am expected to give myself a gardening education in the meantime as well. This is not to speak of the professionals who are taught and paid to come and properly take care of our campus greenery. Perhaps I lack faith, but then again, UCU already does have a garden for students (did you even know?), and it’s completely neglected. Students could be working on improving the spaces GHGLFDWHG VSHFL¿FDOO\ WR WKLV LQVWHDG RI FUHDWLQJ more areas that will then be abandoned. I guess that wouldn’t get as many likes on Facebook though. In the end, what annoys me is that you are either on the side of “Nature”, the good side, or

you are M.D.'s little bitch, cynical and unsympathetic. This is a striking logical fallacy, and I was actually quite surprised at the complete absence of any type of critical reaction. Maybe I am cynical, but I am far from being anyone’s bitch. I love that UCU students are idealists, I think it is a valuable strength and I would never say otherwise. However I have begun to notice that at times, the practical necessities and the material consequences of someone’s actions are ignored in the face of a larger, abstract principle. I know this initiative was born from the best of intentions, but the privilege and thoughtlessness in its execution make the whole thing feel hypocritical. I write this outside, facing my own KH garden. It is green and alive, even though I have not touched it. The same seemingly dead sticks that I saw during the winter have now sprouted and bloomed. I am so grateful for our campus, while also knowing there is always room for progress. I just don’t think randomly planting cabbage is the most sustainable way to go.

I Don’t Give a Shit About Your Ghosting Updates by Resident Meddler 2Q 0D\ WK 8&8 &RQIHVVLRQV SRVWHG WKH following:

It’s perplexing to see people who openly and unapologetically perceive the campus (and its Facebook pages) as a canvas to smear and shape “Hooked on my toxic boy, confused as to wheth- WR ¿W WKHLU FUHDWLYH YLVLRQ 0RUH VSHFL¿FDOO\ , er he likes me or not. Going on a walk with him ¿QG LW DVWRQLVKLQJO\ HJRFHQWULF IRU DQ\RQH WR wish me luck. XOXO keeping you updated.” think they’re entitled to others putting up with their ghosting documentary. Don’t make me a 8SGDWH ³&XUUHQWO\ ZDONLQJ WKURXJK FDPSXV witness to your toxicity and failed girlbossing. KH¶V ṘFLDOO\ DQ DVV ´ The page does not exist for the purposes of beLQJ VRPH VWUDQJHU¶V MRXUQDO DQ\RQH ZKR GRHV Update 2: “He’s asking me if I want to go back not wish to become informed about others’ WR KLV SODFH \R JLUO QRW FDYLQJ LQ 'H¿QLWHO\ QRW DZNZDUG D̆DLUV VKRXOG QRW EH VXEMHFWHG WR LW seeing him again! CANCELLED” 'R ZH UHDOO\ QHHG XSGDWHV DERXW D VLWXDWLRQ in which we hold no stakes? Confessions like these one (and the many that followed by the same author) are far from rare. "Is it not immoral to submit confessions about A quick search through UCU Confessions will ; SHUVRQ WR D SDJH IROORZHG E\ PRUH WKDQ produce numerous search results entailing SHRSOH" some form of update - about meeting people on FDPSXV DERXW ¿QGLQJ JURVV LWHPV LQ \RXU WUDVK I recognise that when submitting confessions can, about buying a sex toy, etc., etc. (or a series of them over a period of time) we may be seeking a sense of community we feel Sharing developments of one’s personal life is we lack. Maybe the people around us fail to one of the most customary rituals on our cam- listen to and sympathize with our joys and pus. When we verbally exchange sensitive infor- VRUURZV $OWHUQDWLYHO\ ZH PLJKW QRW ¿QG WKH mation, we reinforce a sense of trustworthiness right channels through which to voice our frusbetween us and those around us. This timeless trations and/or receive validation elsewhere. social practice explains the tradition of submit- Many of you might suggest simply not readting to UCU Confessions. But since my annoy- ing the confessions if they bother me so much, DQFH HFOLSVHG P\ OLPLWHG LQGL̆HUHQFH WR WKH but I can’t overlook their potential for damage. matter, I must extend my uncalled-for opinion While routinely crafting an update about a man about these confessions: I don’t give two shits in your life is not inherently akin to writing gosabout your ghosting updates. sip or falsifying accusations about him, is it not

immoral to submit confessions about X person WR D SDJH IROORZHG E\ PRUH WKDQ SHRSOH" Yes, I am aware that asking for their consent would have undermined the saga’s sense of mystery and that the guy in question seemed relatively unharmed by the confessions about him (judging by the confession he submitted in the end). Neither party experienced long-lastLQJ KDUP« KRZHYHU LI , VXGGHQO\ IRXQG RXW that someone in my close circle had been detailing our encounters, calling me “a bitch”, “an ass” (irrespective of my gender identity) or recounting back-handed compliments they gave me, I would feel betrayed. Would you want to have a series of posts about your interactions displayed on a gossip page? Taking on the perspective of the two people involved in the confessions, things I might share with you in secreF\ DUH QRW IRU WKH RWKHU SHRSOH WR NQRZ Whether or not our interactions were characterized by toxicity, it would not be up to either of us to broadcast it as a spectacle for others. This critique seems like an unnecessarily bitter one, so I admit the shortcomings of my judgment. My point is that not everything that unfolds around you needs to be shared, especially LI LW LQYROYHV VRPHRQH ZKR PLJKW WDNH R̆HQFH at such violations of privacy. In a place where YLUWXDOO\ DOO LQIRUPDWLRQ VSUHDGV OLNH ZLOG¿UH D bit of secrecy and intimacy really don’t hurt.

16The

The Boomerang | Summer 2022

Blackout Summer 2022

Impunity in Plain Sight by Anonymous TW: sexual assault on campus

kids should face if they scribble on their classmate’s arm with a sharpie. These are consequences for someone who has committed a mistake. What were you all saying after the election GA again? Sexual assault is not a mistake. It is a crime, and it’s time we start treating it as such.

assaulted, you will feel as helpless as you do now. Infringing on someone’s safety for another’s unconsented pleasure is not something we are supposed to know how to GHDO ZLWK 1RW DW QRW DW QRW DW

The importance of kicking an aggressor out of associations they are in does not only come from the need to punish them for what they have done, but also from that of makAfter talking to the people associated with ing it extremely clear that this is unacceptWKLV JLUO ZKR RYHU ER\V KDYH DFFXVHG RI able. It is paramount that everyone knows physical and verbal harassment and/or sex- that if you choose to commit crimes, vioual assault, I want to address some of the jus- late others’ safety, harass, or assault other WL¿FDWLRQV JLYHQ IRU WKH ODFN RI FRQVHTXHQFHV SHRSOH \RX ZLOO VX̆HU UHDO YLVLEOH QRWDEOH consequences. Treating her normally and 7KH ¿UVW DQG PRVW FRPPRQ UHVSRQVH LV ³VKH allowing her to continue in the same social did have consequences, you just don’t know setting creates the following impression: about them.” It is comprehensible that the “if you’re our friend and you do something ¿UVW VWHS WDNHQ E\ RQH RI WKH DVVRFLDWLRQV like this, don’t worry! You might have to say of which this perpetrator is a member was sorry, skip a few events, and maybe even to reach out to UCU’s sexual misconduct go as far as learning what assault is, but contact person. In my understanding, they we’re not gonna kick you out! You’re one were told that kicking her out of the asso- of us and we will be your support system!” ciation would not solve anything, thus deciding not to. With the belief that the girl This is how you perpetuate a problem: by had acknowledged what she did wrong being there for people who have commit(ironic that the self-awareness wasn’t pres- ted acts you claim to be appalled by, yet not ent at the GA) and was working to improve, DSSDOOHG HQRXJK WR ULVN DQ\WKLQJ WR ¿JKW all parties seem to have agreed on the suc- them. If you don’t care about it enough to cess of the process. But a question remains: PDNH VDFUL¿FHV \RX GRQ¶W FDUH DERXW LW DW DOO was that enough? Here is my opinion: 7KH ODVW MXVWL¿FDWLRQ LV ³ZH¶UH RQO\ \HDU Apologizing to a few of her victims is not olds. We don’t know how to deal with someenough. Explaining herself to the asso- thing this serious.” Well, here’s a discomciations she’s in is not enough. Having a forting fact: it doesn’t get easier with age. couple of meetings with an adult to learn ,I ZKHQ \RX¶UH \HDUV ROG \RXU FKLOG about boundaries is not enough. These comes up to you and tells you they’ve been are consequences that elementary school

It’s not fair that someone who has assaulted numerous people on this campus gets to have positions of authority within it. It’s not fair that jokes about harassment are being made in public events as if this was VRPHWKLQJ WR ODXJK R̆ ,W¶V QRW IDLU WKDW WKH boys who she violated have to see her being treated normally by people who know what happened. It’s not fair that other victims of sexual assault feel unsafe knowing that perpetrators are supported by their communities. It’s not fair that future aggressors will think that it is okay to commit such acts without fear of punishment. It’s not fair that so many of her victims will watch her receive a diploma and a round of applause and leave this campus intact while they will forever EHDU WKH VFDUV WKDW VKH LQÀLFWHG XSRQ WKHP

Disclaimer: all names have been omitted, and the article has been fact checked by the association concerned. A few weeks ago, hundreds of us watched the UCSA election GA in which a chair candidate made a wrongful claim that clasVL¿HG VH[XDO PLVFRQGXFW DV D SRWHQWLDO mistake. While the eyes of the audience were turned towards the stage, awaiting what would be said next by a guy who had just, in simple terms, fucked up his whole campaign, I was still processing someone else’s words. Was I the only one in utter shock that, in the middle of a conversation about sexual assault, one of the people with the most allegations to her name had the guts to stand up and ask a question about the culture that she contributed to? I know a lot of you know exactly who I’m talking about, which proves my point. The problem, however, is much larger than an individual perpetrator: the problem is the people who serve as her support system and the culture that allows her to walk away unscathed.

I don’t think 20-year-olds who have NOT committed sexual assault should have to deal with its aftermath. Thus, the answer is "If you don’t care about it enough to PDNH VDFUL¿FHV \RX GRQ¶W FDUH DERXW LW to disassociate yourself from the aggressor. If anything, she deserves to go through all at all" the consequences of the crimes she chose to 1H[W ³QRQH RI WKH ER\V ṘFLDOO\ UHSRUWHG commit on her own. But keep in mind that her, so we would be exposing them if we doing (essentially) nothing is the same as kicked her out.” Last year, UCU saw what giving them a green light to go on. I get it, a KDSSHQV WR DEXVHUV ZKR DUH ³ṘFLDOO\´ UH- bunch of kids are not equipped to handle sitported: nothing. Why would these boys say uations as tough as this one, and it’s not fair anything if they have nothing to gain and for us to have to make such consequential VR PXFK WR ORVH" 2̇FLDO VDQFWLRQV DUH DV decisions, but you know what else isn’t fair? important as they are rare in cases of sex"Infringing on someone’s safety for ual misconduct. This girl has numerous DFFXVHUV PDNLQJ LW XQOLNHO\ IRU ¿QJHUV WR another’s unconsented pleasure is not be pointed. Exposing them is not necesVRPHWKLQJ ZH DUH VXSSRVHG WR NQRZ sary for the imposition of a social sanction. KRZ WR GHDO ZLWK

It’s not fair. It will never be fair. If you are associated with any known perpetrator, and you decide to remain quiet, you are a part of the problem. You are a part of the system that nurtures them, encourages them, and supports them. “You are not the gunman, but you’re the culture that built him. You are the bullets in his gun.”