Recently, circumstances forced me to have a disturbing realization: I had become a bully. However, I’m not the type of bully who shouts homophobic slurs or steals lunch money. College bullies are not quite the same as secondary school bullies. We’re much more subtle and just as cruel, but we act as groups with a…
Outsourcing our oppression: Slavery abroad
“Once upon a time, some naughty white people enslaved some alright black people. Then, some good white people made everything better, and we never had slavery again.” That was approximately how my elementary school explained the Civil War. Secondary and post-secondary school has added some moral ambiguity into the mix, but the basic story remains…
Besiege the pink dollhouse: Feminism and Femininity
Too often, feminists and non-feminists alike equate feminism with anti-femininity. The occasional devil’s advocate loves to ask how someone can identify as a feminist and still wear lipstick or jewelry. Real women don’t wear pink: \Aren’t we supposed to chop off our hair and strangle the patriarchy with our burning bras? No, at least not…
The joy of arguing
Arguing is underrated. Too many folks avoid their differences and see arguments as nothing but a source of stress. But why else would anyone read the Op/Ed section, peek at Youtube comments or study Plato? Disagreement does not always cause pain; we gain a certain joy from seeing others reaffirm or oppose our own views.…
Choose your own extracurricular
It’s that magical time of the term again when we realize finals are circling like birds of prey. Between classes, jobs, laundry and extracurricular activities, most Lawrentians have little time in their schedules. Sleep is unlikely. And somehow, through all of this, we still get our work done and remain loyal to our extracurriculars. Some…
Consider more than two options with gender-neutrality in video games
Lawrence has seen quite a bit of discussion about gender-neutral bathrooms recently. However, bathrooms are not the only place where gender-neutrality is an issue. While the stark dichotomy between bathroom doors may be the simplest demonstration of how gendered our lives are, media also plays a massive role in creating gender. Video games may be…
In minor defense of Fox News
At Lawrence, Fox News is a label that inspires laughter. This is unsurprising when considering how liberal our campus is. While I do find Fox to be an unpleasant mixture of obnoxious and offensive—– Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly would just like to remind you that Santa is definitely a white man –– I wonder…
The good, the bad and the fictional
There’s not much good in the world. Allegedly, the good and the bad should even out, but I have never understood how that works. The occasional rainbow does not outweigh the growing ferocity of tropical storms. All the love in the world cannot combat even the tiny sliver of hate found at Lawrence. Good and…
Two or three degrees of separation
Estonia is a tiny nation on the Baltic Sea with a long and colorful history of pig and potato farming. During World War II, many Estonians fled from the violence, and many of them, including my grandmother, went through many trials and risked their lives to make it to America. But I’ve never cared enough.…
In defense of bronies and other children’s cartoons
Since coming to Lawrence, I seem to have watched more kids’ shows than I ever did as a child. In the last year, “My Little Pony,” “Gravity Falls” and both series of “Avatar” have sucked me in with their excellent writing and lovely animation. I am not alone, though, as within the last decade, many…
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