Alice Vol. 7 No. 2

NOVEMBER 2021
FALL 2021
I L L U M I N A T E

VOLUME
S E V E N
I S S U E
T W O
[1]
[2]

COVER
MODEL/Valerie-Taiylor Williams
PHOTO/ Rebecca Martin
DESIGN/ Autumn Williams
[letter from
[editors]
EDITOR IN CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
DESIGN EDITOR
PHOTO EDITOR
ASST. PHOTO EDITOR
Lindsey Wilkinson
Jennafer Bowman
Autumn Williams
Ella Smyth
Rebecca Martin
Sarah Hartsell
[2]
he word
illuminate
is defined
as making
something
clear or easier to understand,
to shine light on something,
to enlighten intellectually.
As we enter into the winter
months, the nights become
longer, the days become
shorter and the air becomes
a little crisper. It’s important
that here at Alice, we
continue to illuminate the issues and topics that
matter even in the darkest months of the year.
Maya Angelou, an American poet, once
said, “Nothing can dim the light which shines
from within.”
This is the idea that has been swirling
around the Alice office since we began our second
issue of the semester. We all wanted to push our
stories, design and photography to the next level,
and we had an unique opportunity to accomplish
our goal. This is the first time that Alice has
produced two issues in a single semester.
Despite midterm season, hundreds of
extracurricular responsibilities and all the other
normal mid-semester chaos, our staff created
another beautiful issue that I couldn’t be more
thrilled by. In this issue, we have interactive
quizzes, suggestions on what to watch next,
personal anecdotes about body hair, a female
DJ, the science behind your monthly chocolate
cravings and even more.
the editor]
I cannot say thank you enough to our
amazing staff for always going above and beyond
in everything that they do. This issue is for our
readers, and we know that you will love it as
much as we do.
Until next time,
Lindsey Wilkinson
FASHION EDITOR
BEAUTY EDITOR
LIFESTYLE EDITOR
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
FOOD & HEALTH EDITOR
DIGITAL DIRECTOR
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
WEB EDITOR
VIDEOGRAHY EDITOR
MARKETING EDITOR
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
CONTRIBUTING
DESIGN/PHOTO
MODELS
EDITORIAL ADVISOR
ADVERTISING
DIRECTOR
Ta’Kyla Bates
Beth Wheeler
Cat Clinton
Jeffrey Kelly
Evy Gallagher
Kendall Frisbee
Katie Morris
Sophia Surrett
Laura Fecanin
Mary Groniger
Hannah Golden, Lizzie Bowen,
Laura Fecanin, Emie Garrett,
Annabelle Blomeley, Maddy
Reda, Madeleine Leidner, Ta’Kyla
Bates, Bailey Reynolds, Savannah
Dorriety, Jennifer Stroud, Lindsey
Wilkinson, Rachel Cooke, Bella
Carpino, Evy Gallagher, Kailei
Burgess, Jennafer Bowman, Dani
Danks, Cat Clinton, Emilee Boster,
Caroline Mills
Baylie Smithson, Kayla Roberson,
Katherine Nebbia, Wesley Picard,
Sarah Smith, Taylor Bryan, Jennifer
Stroud, Grayson Byrd, Emma Kate
Standard
Marcus Johnson, Candace Davis,
Anaya Mccullum, Sa’Niah Dawson,
Jaelyn Jackson, Tameah Cameron,
Valerie-Taiylor Williams, Deja
Williams-Powell, Avery Maxwell,
Tiffany Stout, Caitlen George,
Crowley Garrett, Taylor Brinkley,
Olivia Bennes, Elizabeth Nickels,
Nadia Hollis
Monique Fields
Julie Salter
Jessie Jones
Editorial and Advertising offices for Alice Magazine are located at 414 Campus Drive East,
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. The mailing address is P.O. Box 870170, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.
Phone: (205) 348-7257. Alice is published by the Office of Student Media at The University of
Alabama. All content and design are produced by students in consultation with professional
staff advisers. All material contained herein, except advertising or where indicated otherwise,
is copyrighted © 2020 by Alice magazine. Material herein may not be reprinted without the
expressed, written permission of Alice magazine.
[3]

[lifestyle] [ b e a u t y ] [fashion]
8
10
12
16
Your Guide to Photo Perfection
Dormitory or Deathtrap?
Writing Women Back into History
Ballerinas on Campus
22
24
26
28
This Years Fall Hair Trends:
Approve or Dissaprove?
How to Navigate Being a Hairy
Woman
Leave it to the Professionals
The Truth About Beauty Brands
32
34
36
38
Bad & Boo’jee: an SFA Fashion
Show
Why Are Musicians Building
Fashion Empires Instead of
Releasing New Music?
Race and Luxury
Everyone Deserves a Chance
at the Register
c o n t e n t s ]
[features] [entertainment] [food & health]
44
48
50
Gender Disparity in DJing
Women in S.T.E.M.
You Better Work, Bama
54
58
62
66
If You Like This, Try This
Rivalries and Competitions
Get Ready to ‘Pose’ for your New
Favorite TV Shows
Who’s Your Journalistic Soul
Sister
70
74
78
80
Chocolate Is Your Period’s Best
Friend
Finding the Balance: College and
Mental Health
What Fitness Can Do For
Immunity
What Exercise You Should
Try Based On Your Candy
Preferences
[4]
[5]

LIFESTYLE
DIVIDER WRITING
WOMEN
[lifestyle]
8
10
12
16
Your Guide to Photo Perfection
Dormitory or Deathtrap?
Writing Women Back into History
Ballerinas on Campus
[6]
[7]

Photo/ Jennifer Stroud
[8]
The Power of Presets
By Caroline Mills
Nowadays, social media is an integral part of our
lives, especially as college students. If it’s true that
“a picture says a thousand words”, suddenly many begin to
wonder what a camera roll says about its owner, and how
many words a thousand pictures say. Social platforms are
hubs for photographs and creative content. Instagram itself
has rebranded many times, having not looked the same since
storefront advertising was made the main focus in the software
update last July. A key part of any successful clothing company
or influencer is to be following the photo editing technique the
organization first established when creating the page. Whether
trying to or not, selling the page is the goal when running a social
media profile, and since this is the incentive, why would they
not invest in editing applications and define the organization’s
style for themselves? Brands and students alike can go beyond
the standard rules of filtering and have fun using social media as
an additional creative platform.
While in high school, my art teacher used to yell, “color,
baby, color”, any time students would ask for advice on how to
improve their artwork. Even though it is silly, it can be good to
begin embracing this excitement about color and its liveliness
into one’s editing techniques. When most people subdue the
volume of a photo to try to make it blend in, instead, consider
trying to turn it up to make it stand out. A fun way to organize
pictures is “color connections”, a similarity that can be used
to relate images or styles between two vastly different subject
matters. Whether it is a green sweater matching a cute plant in
a room or a vase of roses that match a stoplight, viewers and
content creators love to take and see pictures of anything and
everything that can be matched together later on. Images really
begin to connect when the producer is able to apply the same set
of editing settings to multiple pictures, called a preset. People
who use presets usually access them in the Adobe Lightroom
application, which is where this article begins, hoping to explain
how some small steps can transform anyone’s editing game.
Using Lightroom will completely change editing for
users. People often make the joke that the evolved “Vsco girl”
is a classier “Lightroom lady”. Instead of generally applying a
filter on pictures and making it work through simple lighting
settings, users have the power to take control of every color in
a photo in Lightroom, being able to change its saturation, hue,
and luminance. However, there is a tasteful balance to be found,
for editing these colors must be done in a manner where they are
not overwhelming. Great power comes with great responsibility,
and even though any and every color can be manipulated, it does
not completely mean that they should. In order to have refined
yet vibrant colors in your picture, the lighting must be altered to
fully allow one to use the range of color tools Lightroom offers
without making them look unnaturally harsh.
Lighting truly is everything. Color and lighting must be
used together in edits, or else the result will look oversaturated
and unflattering. Many years ago, my journey started after
buying a set of presets from a friend of mine on Instagram,
filters which look vastly different from the ones on my page now.
Although it was this purchase that gave me the specific curve
in Lightroom that enabled me to create my own, it was a start.
Below, readers can see the contrast between her old preset and
my new one. Despite this difference, they still have the same
light curve.
Once a basic set of lighting settings has been created,
focus editing time on the fun part: color. Since these lighting
settings are very brightening, they allow the flexibility of
editing a specific color’s luminance. Making a color darker
will make it stand out more whereas making a color lighter
will not draw as much attention. Instagram users are most
likely familiar with this luminance feature, as many girls are
prone to make the mistake of making their skin unnaturally
dark when turning down the orange luminance. Believe it
or not, there are ways to achieve sun-kissed skin that avoids
the “Oompa-Loompa ‘’ editing stereotype we all know too
well.
The first step is to lightly decrease the luminance of
the orange color, but also turn down the saturation and
change the hue to be pinker at the same time. Another way
to make skin toneskin tone look more tan and natural is
by editing the yellow color simultaneously. Try to decrease
the saturation of all yellow tones in the pictures to make
luminance brighter, and feel free to add some depth with
the orange hues. On the left, is a picture where the orange’s
luminance has been lowered too much, as well as having
increased its saturation. The right image shows how I
edited the orange to look closer to my natural skin tone by
using the tips I listed above.
[9]

The Demolition of Julia Tutwiler Hall
Illustration/ Kayla Roberson, Ella Smyth
[10]
BY DANI DANKS
ulia Tutwiler Hall, a landmark on
JThe University of Alabama campus,
is finally shutting its doors at the
beginning of the Fall 2022 semester.
This all women dorm was named
after Miss Julia Strudwick Tutwiler.
The original Tutwiler hall was built in
1914 on grounds near where the Rose
Administration building now stands
today. The current Julia Tutwiler Hall,
located on Paul W Bryant Drive was
built more recently in 1968. Tutwiler
was and is still given the recognition of
the naming of this new dorm due to her
efforts and success in making education
in Alabama more accessible in Alabama.
One of her most notable contributions
to this cause was her efforts to help the
first ten women gain admittance to The
University of Alabama in 1892. The
dormitory is now known for its long
history of hosting the many women
partaking in greek life here on campus.
It is a well-known assumption that just
about every resident of Tutwiler hall is
in one of the many greek organizations
right across the street. Many moms,
grandmothers and sisters have lived in
this dorm after one another. Because of
this, this dorm specifically has been the
home of so many unique friendships
and is a very close-knit fourteen floors
of girls ready to experience their
freshman year together.
Emily Hayden, a junior
nursing major at The University of
Alabama, reflected on her freshman
year.
“I absolutely loved my experience in
Tutwiler and wouldn’t change it for
the world. Although living in the tiny
shoebox 3 ft away from your neighbor
was weird at first, it soon became my
home away from home that I never
wanted to leave. I was surrounded by
so many great girls who were there to
pick me up on my bad days, jam out to
throwbacks as if we were at a concert,
and were always down for an adventure.
And now my little sister lives in tut and
she can share the same experiences as
I had. Every time I step back into tut
now, it’s like stepping back to time. I
am so sad to see it go.”
The generational and family
legacy of Tutwiler Hall is a strong
tradition at The University of Alabama
and one that with the new construction,
will be able to live on in a different
form.
That being said, many
previous and current residents of
Julia Tutwiler Hall have suffered from
numerous health issues caused by the
sheer age of the building. There are a
few additional costs for residents of
Tutwiler including; the absolute need
for a dehumidifier, air purifier, and
Damprid, and the multiple minute
clinic appointment costs for your neverending
sinus infections. Tutwiler, a
classic and even historical building on
campus, has certainly seen its better
days.
Some of the most negative
memorable aspects of Julia Tutwiler
Hall are remembered by Patricia Dyer,
an accounting major at The University
of Alabama.
“The bathrooms weren’t
cleaned on the weekends making for a
pretty unsanitary environment for tons
of girls to share, at least one elevator
was always broken if not more, and at
least one person I knew was always sick
with ‘tut flu’,” said Dyer.
Some students neither hated
nor loved their time within the walls
of Julia Tutwiler Hall. The strong love
for the dorm seems to come from the
close knit community and relationships
formed by living in a very small shared
space with not only a roommate but
endless neighbors. Having aspects
of this tight knit community missing
from a resident’s experience can
certainly make it less memorable. Anna
Woodson, a psychology major at The
University of Alabama thinks back on
her experience in
“Living in Tut had its ups and
downs. I loved how convenient the
location was and being just steps away
from all my friends but, it was a very
old, run-down, simple dirty building.
My roommate ended up transferring
so I lived alone, I think living alone in
a dorm-like Tut takes away a lot of the
classic experience so many girls get
there,” said Woodson.
As mentioned before, Tutwiler
Hall has its fans and people who will
fondly look back on their experience
for years to come, as well as those
who were not so fond of the building’s
many downfalls. Julia Tutwiler Hall
has had generation after generation live
within its walls, but it is safe to say, the
building has seen better days and it is
time to say goodbye.
With the impending doom of
Julia Tutwiler Hall, the love of alumni
for the building is apparent. Anyone
can now own their own piece of the
original building for a price.
A purchase of an original
brick for one hundred dollars to
commemorate your time is available for
purchase as well as specific door room
numbers for fifty dollars. In addition,
custom pavers can be purchased for
placement outside of the new edition of
Julia Tutwiler Hall.
“ We’re excited about the new
Tutwiler Hall and recognize that the
current building contains a history
and legacy that will live on long
after demolition day,” said Dr. Matt
Kerch, executive director of housing
and residential communities at The
University of Alabama.
The proceeds from these
efforts will fund more residential
housing scholarships to help new
students fund the ability to live on
campus and gain the type of experience
so many previous students have in a
dormitory such as Tutwiler.
Tutwiler has left an extensive
history on The University of Alabama
campus and despite its many health
concerns and negative attributes,
most previous residents have a strong
love and admirable outlook towards
the building. The opportunity the
traditional-styled dorm gave incoming
freshman women to create strong
friendships was one of a kind and
something that will be missed on this
campus. But, the new building will
offer an upscale, beautiful tribute to
the original building offering not only
a community environment but also one
that is within health codes and is safe
for the young women’s health during
their freshman year on campus.
[11]

Writing
Women
Back into
History
By Emilee Boster
When Mary Shelley wrote her gothic story
“Frankenstein,” she popularized a new genre, horror
fiction. A category that even people who despise reading
often enjoy through movies, short stories or video games.
In the same way, writers like Ida B. Wells and Nellie Bly
told stories that allowed people to see actions and truths
that had been hidden far too long.
Despite women having historically been the “game
changers” of writing, there is currently a lack of women
in storytelling positions. Many of the women who pursue
journalism and writing careers are rarely remembered
past their own generation.
Dr. Deborah Weiss, the co-coordinator of The
University of Alabama English Honors Program and a
professor in the English department, said women are
often pushed out of history.
“There’s always this process of women dropping
out and being written out [of history] because men have
historically had the authoritative position to determine
what gets published, what gets taught, and what gets
kept,” Weiss said.
This explains why “Frankenstein” is a household
name, but its predecessors are not. Ann Radcliffe, the
first female gothic novelhaso has been written out of
history. Perhaps without Radcliffe, there would be no
“Frankenstein” because there would be no female gothic
literature at all.
Photo/ Emna Kate Standard
[12] [13]

[14]
Weiss said, “What I and many of my colleagues
have done for a lot of our careers is an act of recuperating
and recovering many of those writers who turn out to
have been very prolific, well-respected and influential.”
Weiss has done this by lecturing on the
history of women’s literature. Her teaching is focused
on British women writers of the long 18th century. She
has also aided education by writing journals, academic
articles and a book of her own. Her book, “The Female
Philosopher and her Afterlives: Mary Wollstonecraft, the
British Novel, and the Transformations of Feminism,”
tracks the influence of Mary Wollstonecraft’s writing and
ideas through history.
The lack of women recognition in storytelling
that Weiss is currently working to uncover is not a thing
of the past. There still remains an imbalance and a lack
of diversity in modern journalism and writing.
When Meredith Cummings walked into a
room of graphic artists for Bleacher Report in 2017,
she was startled. The door opened to the office, and she
immediately noticed a great imbalance: the room lacked
diversity. It was filled with men, sitting at desks and
working on projects, and in the back of the room, there
was one woman.
Meredith Cummings is a self-described Southern
storyteller. She is a professor of journalism and creative
media at The University of Alabama and a freelance
multimedia journalist.
In 2017, Cummings traveled 10,000 miles through
the United States and visited newsrooms to learn about
the current state of journalism. Her observations were
clear: there was a great disparity between men and
women, people of color and diversity of any kind.
She said that specifically sports journalism lacked
women representation, but this lack of diversity went far
beyond sports journalism. It was present in almost every
newsroom she visited.
This imbalance will only exacerbate the problem.
If storytellers—multimedia journalists and writers—are
not a diverse group of people, history will not be told
accurately. People’s own stories and their experiences
will be forgotten, and only the most well-known stories,
like “Frankenstein,” will prevail, leaving the “left behind”
stories, like Ann Radcliffe’s “The Mysteries of Udolpho,”
unread and virtually unknown.
“We have an extreme lack of diversity and it needs
to be repaired,” Cummings said. “That comes through
recruiting early—in high school even—and also asking
white men to think outside of the people that they know
and that look like them.”
She started writing for The Crimson White while
a student at The University of Alabama and fell in love
with it. Soon, she was writing for different newspapers
throughout Alabama. When she was a young woman in a
field dominated by many older men, Cummings said she
had to learn to be heard.
“I found that if I had an unpopular opinion—
whether it was because of my age or, more often than not,
my gender—I had to negotiate that social water so people
would hear me,” she said. “If I had to say something that
was controversial or not popular, then I had to come
about it from another way.”
Increased diversity in the workplace—in
storytelling particularly—will help more voices be heard.
Specifically, more women are needed in leadership
positions. The more women in those positions, the less
likely their stories will be pushed out of history.
Cummings said she believes this comes through
journalists actively pursuing younger writers.
“I was inspired by how many women in newsrooms
all over the country are really concerned with the
generation behind them and are actively mentoring,” she
said. “If one woman, my age or older, can grab just one
younger woman and help, then that is going to help a lot
and will eventually conquer this problem that we have.”
Katarina Miller is a junior at The University of
Alabama and is majoring in public health. At a young
age, she engraved a belief into her brain: she was not
a writer, and it was one tedious task she hated. When
beginning college, though, she started writing for some
of her classes. After one particular essay, her professors
encouraged her that she was not only talented but also,
more importantly, she was a writer.
“Writing is in everything, even if we do not want to
think about it,” Miller said. “I went a long time thinking
I wouldn’t need to write, but now I realize any writing
skills are good.”
She was not a typical writer by some people’s
standards of an English major or a journalist, but she
learned that there truly is no “typical” writer. She now
primarily writes nonfiction, bringing social issues to
light, and poetry. She has found a connection between
the STEM writing she does in her public health classes
and creative writing. To her, the two seem to be one.
Writing has taken Miller to unexpected places. She
currently writes music reviews and DJs for WVUA. She
is also the vice president of the Writers Guild, a student
organization that encourages all majors to pursue writing
through guest speakers and workshop sessions.
“English and writing is for everybody,” Miller said.
“It should be for every major.”
Though less and less people are picking up physical
copies of newspapers and checking out hardback books
from the library, storytelling is not disappearing. It is
present in all modern media: research, movies, podcasts,
social media posts, and video games.
For the media to correctly tell stories, there must
be a more diverse group of people telling these stories.
Ideally, more women and suppressed voices will have the
opportunity to be heard. Unknown people, events and
experiences will ultimately be written back into history.
It’s time for women—of all backgrounds, experiences
and careers—to pull out their pens and papers and write
their stories.
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Shop Mon-Thurs 10am-7pm; Fri-Sat 10am-8pm
Sunday 1-5:30pm
[15]

ON CAMPUS
Photo/ Rebecca Martin
[16]
[17]

[18]
[19]

[ b e a u t y ]
22
24
26
28
This Years Fall Hair Trends:
Approve or Dissaprove?
How to Navigate Being a Hairy
Woman
Leave it to the Professionals
The Truth About Beauty Brands
[20]
[21]

Illustration/ Autumn Williams
[22]
By Emmie Garrett
This Year’s Fall Hair Trends:
Approve or Disapprove?
Darker, lighter, longer, shorter, more texture,
less frizz — with every season change, it seems
people rush to the salon, eager to update their ‘do.
This summer we saw 70s-inspired cuts
like the modern shag, blunt bobs and bangs and
experimental colors like pastel pink dominating
social media on starlets like Priyanka Chopra,
Dakota Johnson and Kaia Gerber.
As temperatures cool and sweaters get
pulled on, it’s common practice that the bleach goes
into hibernation while the rich colors come out to
play.
It has long been a beauty misconception
that summer and spring are for lighter colors and
fun, messy styles like beachy waves and lots of
balayage, while fall and winter are for sleek styles
and sexy, deep colors.
But in 2021, when rules, glass ceilings and
norms are being shattered left and right, trivial hair
rules should hold no bearing on how you choose to
freshen up your locks!
While long tresses and classic autumn
hues like the dark espresso brown seen on Meghan
Markle, and warm, red-toned burgundy, rocked by
Emma Stone and Julia Roberts, are always in, there
are a few new colors and cut trends popping up on
our Instagram feeds that are worth noting.
A cut popular in the 1960s that has been
living in heads rent-free is the curtain bang. While
this cut was all the rave this summer, it’s entering
this fall season full steam ahead and doesn’t seem to
be fading out any time soon.
It’s nearly impossible to scroll through
your TikTok For You Page without seeing at least
one girl rocking this modern take on feathered style
popularized in the 1970s by Farrah Fawcett.
Some get them short, hitting right around
the brows, while others like them longer and tapered
off at the cheekbones or just below. No matter what
length they fall, curtain bangs are crazy-flattering on
an array of face shapes and instantly add a cool-girl
umph to any hair texture or length. Pair your curtain
bangs with some choppy layers, and poof, you’re the
most effortlessly chic in the room.
Kathleen Randall, a hairstylist and colorist
working in Demopolis, Alabama, says that she is
loving the modernized 70s-styles she has been
cutting on her clients, “It [curtain bangs] is just so
flattering on all kinds of face shapes—round, oval,
square— you can’t go wrong with a curtain bang,”
said Randall.
However, there is a little bit of push-back
on the curtain bang. Courtney Baker, University of
Alabama junior and Criminal Justice major gives her
opinion, “I think they frame the face very well, but
can be a pain to style and keep up with depending on
your hair texture,” said Baker.
A color trend that is currently having a moment is
warm, in-between shades. These are colors known as
Bronde, the name for a color that lies on the fence
of blonde and brown, and Bronze, a shade that’s not
quite red and not quite brown.
Instead of simply going dark or blonde or
red, people are opting for these gentle, ambiguous
hues that complement a variety of skin tones.
Celebs like Kylie Jenner have recently
experimented with the Bronde trend, no doubt
setting off a chain reaction of salon appointments.
Blake Lively and former Victoria’s Secret Angel,
Alessandra Ambrosio, have been longtime Bronde
proponents. Anne Hathaway has also been rocking
Bronzy hair for years.
Abby Grace Cameron, a high school senior,
recently dipped her toes in the Bronde waters.
“I’ve been getting highlights for years, and the
maintenance required is ridiculous. I decided it was
time for a hair refresh and had been wanting to go a
bit darker for a while,” says Cameron.
“I have been a blonde for a long time and
was nervous about committing to a super dark
shade. My hairdresser and I decided it would be best
to try a soft brown instead of a dark brown, which
I think would have been too harsh and I absolutely
love it,” Cameron said.
After surviving the transition from summer
to fall, it seems that soft shades and feathery bangs
and layers are here for the long haul. Whether you’re
craving a little refresh or a dramatic hair overhaul,
there is an endless supply of trends that suit any
style.
With the internet and social media forcing
fashion, hair and makeup trends to cycle through
at a rapid speed, it can be frustrating trying to keep
up—so don’t! At the end of the day, color, cut and
style your hair in ways that feel good to you. Follow
trends exactly, or make your own. Any hairstyle and/
or color that makes you feel great is the only “trend”
that matters.
[23]

HOW TO
NAVIGATE
BEING A
Photo/ Grayson Byrd
[24]
BY LIZZIE BOWEN
Navigating body hair as a girl can be
hard. It is much more difficult when
it comes to societal pressures and stigma against
body hair. Hair is a natural part of who we are,
and for whatever reason when it is not on our
head, a sense of stigma is released. All in all,
society makes girls feel like they are not meant to
be hairy.
Maddy Reda, junior public relations major
at the University of Alabama, said, “Every female’s
opinion, including my own, is rooted in a lifetime
of misogyny. We are groomed by our mothers at a
certain age to start shaving just because ‘it’s what
people do.’ Women shave to
cater to a man’s expectations
of women not having hair.
Men are taught to equate
hair with masculinity and
tell women that not having
any is feminine, so it creates
a sense of disgust and
anxiety in women who feel
like they have to shave to get
male attention,” Reda said.
The stigma comes
from a place of pressure
that emphasizes an ideal
appearance. The pressure
ultimately comes with a
concept of needing to look
good as if there is a universal
way to look good.
“It’s definitely
cultural and societal. Men
expect women to bend over
backward to look good for
them, and go so far as to
make up the misogynistic
ideal of comparing body
hair to masculinity. The
truth is that body hair isn’t
masculine since both genders have it; only one
gender is celebrated and gets their egos stroked
by having body hair while the other one is shamed
and judged if they forget to shave their armpits.
Women need to ask themselves honestly if they
like having to shave and having no body hair, or if
they are only compelled to do it because of men,”
Reda said.
Popular travel blogger, Rachel Callahan
speaks quite often of her relationship with
hair and body hair as someone who is of Greek
descent. She documents her experience on her
blog Grasping For Objectivity.
Many people of different backgrounds have
different experiences with their own personal hair
and how the world interprets it.
“I first noticed my daughter’s eyebrows.
They are big and very Greek. I think we as Greeks
are very hairy people. Eyebrows [for me] were the
number one cause in awkward pre-teen years,”
said Callahan.
Sarah Sarcliffe, freshman English major
at the University of Alabama, explained the
journey she has had with her hair, “I have had
a complicated relationship with the hair on my
body. I have always had a lot of hair on my arms,
and would have a lot on my legs if I didn’t shave
it. For a long time, I was embarrassed about my
arm hair. I don’t really think about it that much
anymore, however, sometimes I wonder how
much other people notice it.”
“I think body hair has a stigma. One time,
when I was about 11,
a young woman told
me I should shave
my arms. That really
troubled me at that
age. I don’t remember
thinking much about
arm hair before
that moment. That
someone would say
that to a child shows
how much of a stigma
it has.” Sarcliffe
continues.
Having great
amounts of hair
seems to come and go,
similar to trends. Elle
Magazine discussed
how thin, overtweezed
eyebrows
used to be the social
norm during the
’90s, but have since
changed. Many
people of different
backgrounds have
different experiences
with their own personal hair and how the world
interprets it.
“I’m part Italian, and I think I realized very
young I have huge, massive eyebrows. I remember
the first time someone said I had a unibrow and
how badly it hurt me. It is so weird too because
now big, bold brows are back,” said Abi Bellance,
Jacksonville State freshman and business major.
Whether it be the hair on your head, hair
on your arms, hair on your legs or anywhere and
everywhere else, it can be difficult to navigate.
Also, individuals of different backgrounds often
grow hair at different and/or darker rates. No one
body is the same. No matter who you are, it is of
utmost importance to be comfortable in your own
skin. Despite what society tries to push on you or
tell you the most important opinion is your own.
[25]

Leave it to the Professionals
Keep Your Skin Up
It Just Makes Cents
Illustration/ Katie Nebbia
[26]
The dangers of seeing unlicensed beauty technicians
A teenage girl sees an ad for cheap eyelash extensions, done at the home of an unlicensed beautician. “It’s cheap, what’s
there to lose?” she thinks to herself, but what she might lose isn’t something money could buy. Using an unlicensed beautician
increases the risk of irreversible damage. Even when people might think they’re getting a bang for their buck, that discount is not
worth a possible skin infection or chemical burn. A lot of people think going to a friend or an at-home cosmetic technician is easier,
faster and most importantly cheaper. The cost, however, is permanent damage done to the skin and hair.
Hair Comes Trouble
When it comes to hair, the first priority should be the products
being used. Professional stylists tend to stick to organic hair care
and sulfate-free products. Clients might consider seeing a stylist
just to get advice about the right products to use, especially if
they use color in their hair.
To prevent allergic reactions with clients, technicians
will do what is called a “patch test” which tries out the product
on a small portion of the skin to make sure it is safe to use on the
client. Allergies to certain products and dyes are common and
can cause more than just an irritated scalp.
“At-home hair colors or boxed dyes have stronger developers
in them, so you’re not really sure how strong the chemical is
that you’re putting on your head. People can have actual burns
on their scalp from chemicals going wrong,” said Amber Moss,
a licensed hairstylist at Glam salon in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Recovery from
this kind of burn can take weeks, months
or possibly be irreversible. This means
potentially having to wait for the hair
to grow out and then cutting off the
damaged portions.
“Bleach at home is very
dangerous because when you’re not a
professional it’s hard to tell it’s done
processing, some people let it go way too
long and it gets to a point of no return,”
continues Moss.
But this “point of no return”
can be prevented with guidance from a
licensed professional. These professionals
have spent more than 850 hours in school
learning how to keep clients safe and do a
great job.
By Laura Fecanin
“There are so many precautions and guidelines we
have to follow. We do so much training on sanitation while
we’re in school - sanitizing between clients and cleaning
every single tool that we use…,” Moss said.
Cleaning and sanitizing beauty tools, stations
and surfaces for skincare are just as important, if not more
important. While an allergy to a hair dye only goes on the
hair shaft rather than affecting the scalp, any allergy to a
moisturizer or facial treatment is sure to cause unavoidable
irritation due to direct contact.
A professional license goes a long way even if the
service provider claims to know a lot about skincare. One never
really knows where technicians could have actually gotten this
knowledge if they don’t have a license.
Licensed Aesthetician and owner of “Natural
Reflections” skincare, Tory Gunn Clark, shared that learning a
task from the internet does not always mean a job well done.
“Even if the service provider in question has watched
lots of videos on Tiktok, YouTube, Instagram and has great
results, that doesn’t mean they have the correct techniques,
training in sanitation, legally trained and insured to perform
said services,” Clark said, “This could lead to many issues, some
of which are eye infections, loss of sight, allergic reactions and
3rd-degree burns to name a few.”
Skin needs to be handled delicately because everyone’s
skin is different and reacts to products differently. A certified
technician may know more about someone’s skin than they do.
Most of the time, all it takes is seeing a technician and having
them look at the skin to see what the client can try. Sometimes,
the client doesn’t even have to go in person.
“There are lots of spas and online Etsy services that
can do free skin consultations. I always recommend having a
face-to-face skin consultation before recommending products.
And yes FaceTime counts,” Clark said.
Clark says she often has clients come in needing to
fix an at-home job that did not go well, and the most common
service is skin peels. Skin peels or chemical peels are used to
improve and smooth the texture of the skin.
“Usually when a skin peel is done without a professional,
you will have scarring or hyperpigmentation where the skin
was burned. After the skin has healed, we can treat it by doing
additional peels and exfoliation services to restore the damage
to the skin,” Clark said.
But this recovery, much like that of damaged hair, is
a long process that requires maintenance at home as well. And
when it comes to eyebrow care, it can take years to recover from
a bad waxing job.
“I got my eyebrows waxed and after we were done, I
saw part of the end of my eyebrow was gone. I’m still trying to
get it back to how it was before and it has been two years since
that happened,” University of Alabama junior, Erin Hall, said.
Hairstylist Amber Moss said she has clients come into Glam
Salon needing fixes from non-professional jobs as well.
“I’ve had a lot of clients who have tried to touch up
their dark roots, and it just turns spotty and blotchy. People
have used boxed dye, and they come in and want to go lighter.
It takes several sessions to remove [the boxed dye],” Moss
said. It’s a very long and expensive process that could easily be
avoided.
The desire to save money is the main cause of these
mishaps. So are they really saving people money or do they end
up costing people more?
Clark explained that professional aestheticians don’t
make more money than non-professionals, but that the extra
cost is for the quality services and products that a client cannot
get from just anyone.
“Typically you don’t want to go with the cheapest when
it comes to services…you won’t get exactly what you’re looking
for,” Clark said.
Oftentimes, when someone tries a service at home or
goes to an amateur, they end up spending even more money
than if they had just gone into a salon in the first place.
“People will try to do things on their own at home to save money.
It ends up going wrong, and they spend two to three times the
amount of money to get it fixed or reversed in a professional
setting,” Moss said.
Skincare and hair care go hand-in-hand. Whether
someone has sensitive skin or an allergy to a specific product,
the products and services they receive for these services can
affect them long-term. Going to a professional salon may be
better than a drugstore hair dye kit, a YouTube tutorial or a
waxing job gone wrong. Quality hair care and skincare is worth
so much more than saving money in the long run; so let’s just
leave it to the professionals.
[27]

The Truth About Beauty Brands:
Cruelty-Free or Cruelty-Full?
By Hannah Golden
Beauty products are one of the biggest
and most opportunistic categories of merchandise
that people can buy. From skincare, haircare and
makeup, there are so many brands to choose from
that knowing which brand to support can be a chore
in and of itself. Over the past few years, the term
“cruelty-free” has become one of the important
boxes that consumers want to check off when
looking to purchase because people do not want
animal cruelty on their conscience.
PETA, the animal advocacy organization,
defines cruelty-free as any product or ingredient
that was not tested on animals. Brands can also
gain a “Leaping Bunny” certification as a way to
distinguish that they have cruelty-free products.
Leaping Bunny is an organization of eight national
programs that banded together to make a universal
logo that distinguishes cruelty-free brands from
non-cruelty-free brands so that consumers know
what products they are buying.
Due to the growing popularity that
brands would gain by being certified cruelty-free,
many of them have cut corners to gain this status
and therefore gain more customers as people are
becoming more aware of where their products come
from and what they are made of. Cutting corners to
gain popularity is not a new concept, but it can put
people at risk for the sake of a better bottom line.
Cruelty to animals is viewed as unthinkable and evil,
but cruelty to people is something that occurs every
day and no one says a word about it, so brands can
get away with something much worse than testing
on animals.
Most beauty brands are divided by their
price points. KVD Vegan Beauty, a very famous and
successful prestige brand, was started by Kat Von
D when she wanted products that contained clean
and vegan ingredients. The brand was born in a
tattoo studio that Von D was employed at, which
is why their famous “tattoo liner” is so long-lasting
and extremely pigmented as it’s meant to mimic a
tattoo. In 2018, Kat Von D, however, was the subject
of backlash from the public after posting a picture
on Instagram of their Lock-It Concealer in front of a
cotton field with the caption, “Let Lock-It Concealer
do all of the hard work for you with instant one-coat
coverage.” The caption may seem innocent, but the
post as a whole was found to be extremely offensive
as it depicted a cotton field- a nod to slavery.
The brand took the post down but never
issued a formal apology for the incident. KVD was
also under scrutiny when they came out with a
shade of liquid lipstick called “Underage Red.” This
shade name gained attention because it refers to the
sexualization of minors and Von D stated that she is
the “sole creative force” behind her brand, pushing
her into the spotlight once more, and not in a good
way.
In addition to KVD, Kylie Costemics
sistently gaining traction among younger consumers
and recently rebranded and reformulated all of the
products to be certified cruelty-free. Kylie Cosmetics
was bashed when the brand first launched for not
being cruelty-free certified which led to the recent
rebranding and reformulating of products. Kylie
Jenner also has started Kylie Swim, Kylie Skin and
Kylie Baby, which are all controversial because of
the inconsistency found in the products that her
brands put out.
Kylie Cosmetics has been known to cause
breakouts and rashes in consumers because of the
heavy fragrance and harmful ingredients that go
into the products, according to stylecaster.com.
The brand has been accused of insensitivities
toward children with cleft palettes by comparing
them to monsters in a Halloween campaign with
Smile Trains, an organization that raises money for
financially struggling families with children that
need surgeries. The brand has also faced charges
of “sweatshop conditions” for factory workers. One
ex-employee even stated that she would become sick
after inhaling the particles all day with no protective
wear. Because of this, Kylie Cosmetics has faced a
lot of backlash from customers but continues to gain
popularity with a younger generation of consumers
that idolizes the Kardashian-Jenner family and as
social media influencers get paid to promote the
brand, making their reach far and wide.
Prestigious brands of skincare have had
their share of the spotlight, as well. Drunk Elephant
is a popular skincare brand that was founded by
Tiffany Masterson in her own kitchen because
she wanted skincare that was quick, easy and
effective. She built the brand’s popularity on the
concept of a ‘skincare smoothie’ where the products
could be combined for different effects and easier
use. Masterson sold her company to Shiseido, a
popular Japanese skincare brand, to expand where
Drunk Elephant products are sold and how many
products can be made, making the brand even more
accessible.
Drunk Elephant, however, has not avoided
the spotlight. According to The Cut, Drunk Elephant
used a fake account to bash Glossier, another beauty
brand, for using fragrance in their skincare products.
Fragrance is one of Drunk Elephant’s “sinister six,”
a concept they use to define the six worst ingredients
in a skincare product. Additionally, Drunk Elephant
has been accused of being racist towards BIPOC
(Black, Indigenous and People of Color) and using
offensive terms like “human inventory” to refer to
their staff and brand representatives. Not only is
the term “human inventory” a little off, but it is also
referring to people as objects which is offensive to
anyone.
In addition, Mackensey Haupt, a manager
at Ulta Beauty and a licensed esthetician, stated
that she had a personal interaction with the current
president of the company in which she asked a
question regarding the ingredients of a product on
a live stream and was immediately blocked.
She said,“brand reps are not properly
trained” by estheticians on products and how
ingredients work with different skin types, leading
to misinformation to customers.
Facing negative attention along with Drunk Elephant
is a prestigious skincare brand named Sunday Riley.
While the skincare brand has recently been growing
in popularity because of its good ingredients and
effective treatments, Sunday Riley had to make
false claims to get to the level of popularity they
are at now. According to The New York Times, the
brand has been accused of writing fake reviews on
Sephora’s website to make the products seem more
effective than they actually are. The reviews were
written by Sunday Riley employees and posted on
the Sephora website in order to boost sales.
The New York Times also provided
evidence of an email that the company’s CEO
and namesake, Sunday Riley, sent to one of her
employees that stated the employee should write
positive reviews and dislike negative ones so that the
negative reviews would be taken down, making only
the positive reviews visible and therefore boosting
sales. Rather than relying on the quality of products,
Riley thought it was better to falsify reviews to make
her products seem better than average. The brand
still continues to gain popularity because of the
good-for-you skincare ingredients, so why didn’t
Riley trust in her products in the first place? This
falsification of reviews leads consumers to believe
that there are other possible misdemeanors the
brand and Riley could be involved in, but there has
been no news of a large-scale scandal so far.
There have also been issues with the
quality of products that Sunday Riley has been
selling. One of the brand’s most popular products,
the Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream, has
been returned to Ulta, not once, but twice, on claims
of mold growing in the product, and they were true.
I have personally encountered the product having
mold and the guest said it was “disgusting” and that
it “smelled terrible.” There have also been reviews
from a few different sites that say they received
faulty product so it is a recurring issue. Ulta had
the employees pull the Tidal Cream from the shelf
so that no more customers would be at risk, so
there is a possibility that Sunday Riley knows their
product is causing issues and will work to fix it, but
there has not been any indication that the process of
reformulation has started.
Beauty brands are constantly competing with each
other to gain popularity and boost sales to remain
on top which often comes at the expense of their
customers. While brands may not test on animals,
they may not be as completely cruelty-free as they
want the public to believe. There are often a lot of
behind-the-scenes acts that take place and put real
people at risk. Doing research before supporting
a beauty brand is vital because an uninformed
consumer might never know what kind of people
are running the show and what kind of damage they
have done to others.
[28]
[29]

[fashion]
32
34
36
38
Bad & Boo’jee: an SFA Fashion
Show
Why Are Musicians Building
Fashion Empires Instead of
Releasing New Music?
Race and Luxury
Everyone Deserves a Chance
at the Register
[30]
[31]

Photo/ Rebecca Martin
[32]
Bad and Boo’jee:
an SFA Fashion Show
By Ta’Kyla Bates
Let’s set the scene: Caution tape, loud music, a
runway with a pool in the center. The camera flashes as
if you’re at a New York Fashion Week show. Darkness
falls upon the audience, the only light beaming on the
runway. Not able to recognize the person in front, next
to, or behind Rows of chairs with people with their legs
crossed preparing for what is about to come. Music
begins to play as Marcus Johnson dressed as the bride
of Pennywise begins to strut down the runway. Red
nose, red lip and an amazing white ruff around his neck;
yellows, whites with a single sleeve of purple and blue
stripes and can’t forget the big red buttons down the
center. Sariah Dawson dressed as Cruella De Vil makes
her way up next with a beautiful black and white afro and
a two-piece faux leather set with a fluffy dalmatian belt
to match with some phenomenal red elbow gloves, even
Emma Stone herself should be afraid of this Cruella.
If someone asked to describe The University of
Alabama’s Student Fashion Association’s 2nd annual
“Bad and Boo’jee Fashion Show,” face, confidence
and talent would be the words. SFA is the university’s
student-run fashion organization that “allows every
member to come from any background and thrive as an
active participant in their organization,” the organization
states on their website. Whether it’s modeling,
photography or blog writers SFA has an opportunity for
everyone.
“SFA represents a community of students who
can come together and express themselves and their
love of fashion! Fashion majors aren’t the only people
that can join either, the club is open to everyone,” said
sophomore fashion retailing major and SFA Fashion
Show Head Peyton Oden.
Inclusivity and Diversity are what makes
fashion. All of the little boys and girls who dreamed of
walking a runway or designing clothes had their moment
there in that spotlight. Showcasing their work and talent
to the world. Fashion is a way that everyone is able to
express themselves no matter body type, race, gender
and the SFA definitely showed what diversity looks like
on a runway. Naomi Campbell said, “You see all races in
music, and in dance and theatre, so why can’t we see it in
fashion?”
So how do college students make fashion look
so good? Simple answer: dedication, hard work and a
hell of a lot of confidence! Walking that runway these
models gave face, class and more or as SFA would say
Bad and Boo’jee.13 designers, 17 models and 17 looks all
inspired by horror favorites like celebrities, movies and
characters. Now we understand October is over, but it
was just too good not to be discussed.
From our favorite celebrities like Aaliyah,
modeled by Aniya Ruttege to iconic movie characters
Mia Wallace modeled by Nadia Hollis even Halloween
costumes can make the biggest statements. Fashion
is a way to express our love for anything from your
favorite Halloween costume to what you’ll wear at your
wedding, and that’s exactly the opportunity SFA gives
for students all across campus. Looking at models on
that runway, made the little girl in me think her dreams
had come true. There’s been a point in time where
we all imagined walking a runway and being a model
walking in our mom’s heels. SFA Model and sophomore
business Management Major, Nadia Hollis tells how her
experience of walking a runway is.
“While walking you see no one. You only see
bright lights and camera flashes, so you forget that there
is a crown for a second,” said Hollis.
This explains why so many models are always
so focused on the runway because in those few moments
it’s only them. It’s not about the crowd, it’s about the
posture, the face, the balance, the focus. It’s an allimportant
aspect of being a runway model.
“I would walk around my house in high heels
24/7. I feel it is important to get comfortable in them so
I can be super confident and the last thing I will have to
worry about is balance,” Hollis says.
Many people dream of working in the fashion industry,
whether it’s being a model like Naomi Campbell and
Kendall Jenner or being a top-tier designer like Coco
Chanel. Everyone wants to make their mark in the
fashion world and that’s exactly what UA student and
designer Janiah Pickett wants to do. Many other student
designers like Morgan Whicker, Kierra Green and Sariah
Dawson had their designs showcased on the runway, and
it’s just the beginning for them. There’s a lot of work that
goes into designed pieces, modeling and even putting
something like an SFA fashion show together.
It’s unknown to the attendees of the show what really
goes on behind the scenes in putting together such
extravagant shows. Finding the right models, the right
venue, the best place for a runway.
“A lot goes on behind the scenes in order to put on an
SFA fashion show,” said Oden.
Getting down to the specific details audio,
photography, lighting, and visuals are just some of
the many aspects Oden has to deal with when putting
together a fashion show. He even sent a very sweet
message out to the rest of his fellow SFA members that
said “We wouldn’t be able to do it without our President
Anaya and our awesome fashion show committee.”
Whether it’s walking an SFA Runway or a
Victoria’s Secret Fashion show, there are a multitude
of individuals who make fashion what it is. From the
models and designers down to audio and photographers.
Fashion is a place with no limits, and like the great CoCo
Chanel once said, “every day is a fashion show and the
world is your runway.”
[33]

Photo/ Jennifer Stroud
[34]
Why Are Musicians
BUILDING
FASHION
EMPIRES
Instead of Releasing
New Music?
BY BAILEY REYNOLDS
It has been almost six years since Rihanna released her “Anti” album.
Today, this iconic album has recorded a whopping 25 million in sales, it
continues to rank 230 on “Rollings Stones”, “500 Greatest Albums of All
Time”— and currently has over 920 million Spotify streams. With her
music career still thriving today, it leaves fans wondering: Why is Rihanna
not releasing new music?
Like Rihanna, musicians such as Kanye West and Beyonce are also
putting off albums and waiting for years between music releases. Society seems
to have become dependent on fast, ongoing trends that allow consumers to
connect with brands and merchants around the world. This is true with Apple
Music, Spotify and other music streaming services—however, social media
allows consumers to stay in trend with their favorite celebrities, including their
music. In 2018, Instagram added a feature to allow users to share and post the
music they listen to through their account. Streaming platforms such as Spotify
grant subscribers access to their favorite music, however with increasing cost
for limited functionality: Instagram and the intimacy that is granted to social
media users has inspired musicians to connect with fans elsewhere.
Social media has defined a new career in recent years: Influencers.
Artists can use their platform to promote not only their music but their brands,
partnerships and overall lifestyle to their followers. These followers then buy
or share their products through the simplicity of one profile. This accelerates
the order and increasing dependability of digital markets. In an article released
by “The Wall Street Journal”, style coach Allen Onyia remarks that Celebrities
use “Instagram to stay relevant, to give their fans updates, to show that they’re
still there,” an important action that Spotify and other music streaming services
cannot perform.
In another report, “The Rolling Stones Magazine” points out that
musicians only receive one-tenth of total revenues from their sales due to
copyright and other endeavors faced by the American music financial system.
Dumping the music industry, what exactly has Rihanna been doing
these past six years? Well, since the “Anti” was released in 2016, Rihanna along
with several other collaborators were perfecting the multiple Fenty companies
such as Fenty, Savage x Fenty and Fenty Beauty. First launched in 2017 during
New York Fashion Week, Fenty Beauty has received over 2.8 billion dollars in
sales. Rihanna owning 50% of this company means her 1.7 net worth derives
directly from the Fenty brand itself. Following a selfie posted on Instagram in
early 2020 of Rihanna’s flawless, natural complexion, fans began to speculate a
new Fenty project in the works. Rihanna kept followers on edge until early July
when she announced the release of her newest Fenty line, Fenty Skin, launched
later that month. In contrast to Rihanna’s temporary
interlude from releasing new music, Kanye West who
founded the brand Yeezy, has continued to stay in the
spotlight of both mainstream media while continuing to
release new music. Following his “Donda” album release
this past summer, according to Billboard’s report, Kanye
made over $12 million from his two Donda parties in the
Mercedes Benz Stadium in late July. However, Kanye
fans were frustrated with his delayed release. Kanye took
to Instagram to address the subject, posting screenshots
of intimate messages to his 8.7 million-follower base.
These images blamed colleagues, including rapper
DaBaby, claiming that they were preventing him from
releasing the album when he had promised his fans.
Kanye West fans, Mia Oliveria, senior at The University
of Alabama was one of those followers who was left
disappointed after Kanye’s “Donda” album release was
delayed.
“I, along with so many other
fans, were so eager to hear what
Kanye had to say after everything
he had gone through in 2020
and 2021,” she continued. “I
don’t think we were surprised
“
by the particular marketing
strategies he used for this
album, we were just eager to
hear what he had to say. We
didn’t care why it was late,
we just wanted it.” Kanye
West fans however were not
left disappointed following
the fashion debut of his brand,
Yeezy, a collaboration that
launched his career in fashion.
Although Kanye West’s Yeezy
brand has been in contact and even
collaborated with iconic brands such as
Louis Vuitton and Nike since 2005, the shoe
line drafted and later collaborated upon by both Kanye
West and Adidas, launched Kanye’s career in fashion;
receiving overwhelming revenues that continues to
contribute to Kanye West’s exceedingly high net worth
since the shoe line with Adidas launched in in 2015.
With a net worth of 1.8 billion dollars, Kanye’s social
presence remains dominant and sets him apart from any
other influencer in both music and fashion.
Adidas has reached out to other musicians
since col laborating in their debut with Kanye West
in 2015. Following Beyonce’s release of her brand’s
campaign video in early October, fans were introduced
to the five Ivy Park collections that are embodied
in the“Ivy Park X Adidas” Collection that is to be
launched in late 2021. The campaign video left fans
underwhelmed and surprised by Beyonce’s direction to
incorporate western elements throughout the style of the
Social Media is a marketing
tool that has played a
vital role in these artists’
abandonment of music
collection. Abigail Southan writes for Elle magazine that
the collection is best described as athleisure cowgirl,
a creative direction taken by Beyonce who claims the
motive for this line is to shed light on the history of
Black cowboys, according to Abigail Southan. With sizes
ranging from XS to 4XL, Beyonce’s vision for her brand
are supported by her creativity and inclusivity that fans
admired in her music long before her debut in fashion.
There is no question that musicians such as
Beyonce and Kanye West have shown their flexibility
with their creativity in both music and in recent projects
with their fashion brands. This flexibility has proven
beneficial to musicians in recent years as COVID-19
restrictions put one of the music industry’s biggest
sources of revenues on pause, live concerts. In early
March of 2020, concerts across the US were canceled
due to COVID-19. Attorney General Phil Wieser
promised refunds over three million dollars
or roughly $359 per ticket holder,
according to journalist John Wenzel
at “The Denver Post”. Concert
cancellations cost billions for
the concert industry since
2020. When asked about her
experience with COVID-19
cancellations UA student
Caroline Riordan expressed
her frustration, “I had
bought the tickets to see
Tame Impala in December
before COVID-19 forced
everything to shut down,”
she continued, “there was no
refund or rescheduled time for
months. All I could do was wait.
That following October, I was
finally able to see them live.”
These cancellations made streaming
services and social media essential for
musicians to stay relevant amongst their followers.
It is not hard to understand why these musicians are
focusing on their fashion empires instead of releasing
new music—they are not profiting from releasing their
new music. With anxieties aside, Beyonce and RiRi
fans should not jump to the conclusion that they will
never release another iconic anthem or album in the
future. With COVID-19 vaccines slowly permitting
concerts and music festivals to come back (and maybe
some inspiration from A$AP Rocky) Rihanna along
with Beyonce, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and all other
musicians temporarily stepping back from music could
be releasing new content sooner than fans may think.
Until then, fans are to wait patiently and indulge in the
fashion empires that are Fenty and Yeezy.
RIHANNA, IT’S YOUR MOVE
”
[35]

BY SAVANNAH DORRIETY
2020 saw a mass influx of public support for the
Black Lives Matter movement from powerful
organizations and brands. Many luxury brands
flooded their feeds with messages of solidarity, symbolic
black squares, and promises of donation following the
murder of George Floyd in May of 2020. For some of these
brands, however, their racist past is not so far from the
present.
It was only in 2019 that Gucci came under criticism
for its knitwear and in 2018, Prada for a character in its
Pradamalia keychain line, both of which evoked images of
blackface. The Gucci blackface turtleneck was worn over
the bottom half of the face with a mouth cutout surrounded
by large red lips; to make matters worse, it was worn by a
white model. The Pradamalia figurine depicted a monkeylike
creature similarly with enlarged red lips. Burberry also
featured a hoodie that had a noose for strings on its 2019
London Fashion Week show; conjuring painful memories
for many African Americans. The manufacture of these
offensive products fueled a storm of opposition, with some
consumers threatening to burn the products they had
previously purchased from the brands.
Naomi Campbell, model and member of Gucci’s
diversity and inclusion advisory council, urged against such
actions, claiming “It wasn’t intentional,” according to an
article by The Washington Post. Gucci head Marco Bizzarri
furthered this sentiment with the statement that as an
Italian “[he] didn’t know about blackface.”
Prada’s response followed along similar lines. Civil
Rights Attorney Chinyere Ezie, the woman who first spoke
out against the Pradamalia character, was not buying it.
“They can do their own research about what these
painful images mean. There was no mistaking it, there was
no ambiguity,” said Ezie in an interview with CNN.
University of Alabama sophomore Aliyah James,
a mentor for Lucy’s Legacy, shares Ezie’s opinion. “If you
want to reach an audience outside your own country, it’s
important that you are aware of their history.”
Shelby Johnson, a second-year operations
management major and Co-Community Director of UA’s
Black Student Union (BSU) assert that “Companies dedicate
hours and even years to researching the behavioral and
spending patterns of their target audience so for them to
extend that same structure of analysis into social conditions
of their buyers would not be much of a leap.”
Overall, public opinion seems to agree that the
responsibility falls on luxury fashion to improve their social
awareness.
Representation has been another issue for minority
communities in the luxury realm. Naomi Campbell was the
first Black woman to open a Prada show in 1997 after more
than two decades, the second person of color to open for
Prada was Anok Yai in 2018. According to The Fashion Spot
Diversity Report, the inclusion of nonwhite models in the
Spring 2021 season increased by less than one percentage
point from 40.6% to 41.3%, with the diversity of models
in Milan and Paris dropping since Fall 2020. While these
numbers are not terrible, they highlight the lack of equal
representation for people of color in luxury fashion.
“The very notion of luxury is exclusionary of people
of color because the opportunities to enter this world are
slim to none. Thinking of both the fashion industry and the
wealthy, both are largely comprised of white faces.,” says
Johnson.
In 2019, African Americans made up 13.2% of the U.S.
population and a disproportionate 23.8% of the population
below the poverty line according to the United States
Census Bureau. That is nearly two times their population
representation, furthering Johnson’s point that the luxury
world is often unreachable for people of color.
Efforts have been made to increase diversity, equity
and inclusion in the luxury fashion industry, especially
after the events of 2020. 12 out of 25 of Thom Brown’s
Spring 2021 show were Black. Gucci launched a $1.5
million scholarship program to support young designers
from underrepresented backgrounds, a program Campbell
praises as an avenue for young creatives to escape harsh
circumstances in their home country the way soccer has
been for young athletes. Prada launched a similar program
to promote inclusion in the industry.
In September of 2020, almost every large magazine in
the U.S. featured a Black cover model, though that number
fell to only two in October of 2020. While these efforts may
seem positive on their own when coupled with the past
racist scandals and the quick decrease once public attention
has shifted, this poses the question of whether or not these
efforts are genuine. James has an ambivalent view on this
question, claiming that while past scandals do impact her
view on the brand she is willing to let it go as long as they
put in the effort to improve rather than simply giving an
apology without making change. Johnson does not feel her
views on inclusion efforts were impacted at all by scandal.
“Before the scandals broke I have always felt that
many company’s efforts at inclusion are usually propelled
by the desire to avoid any potential scandal and not to
provide any real equity,” said Johnson.
Ultimately, the luxury fashion industry has a long way
to go before it reaches the level of diversity and inclusion
the public expects.
Illustration/ Wesley Picard
[36]
[37]

Photo/ Sarah Hartsell
Everyone Deserves
a Chance
at the Register
By Jennafer Bowman
U
p until about three years ago, plus-size fashion
was limited to ¾ sleeved shirts in the same
pattern as someone’s grandmother’s table cloth.
Slipping on a pair of regular-length jeans made it look
like a flood was near as ankles were bare to any and
all. Inclusivity is a word rarely used in the fashion
industry, especially from big box stores. In fact, Old
Navy only sold sizes up to XXL and a selection in
different lengths in store up until the first half of 2021.
Any sizes or lengths that weren’t carried in-store had
to be purchased online, without trying them on. They
only started carrying inclusive sizes in August of 2021.
It feels like brands are trying to play catch-up and
act like they’ve always wanted to be inclusive but sales
weren’t there. Could that be from unconventionalsized
women not even bothering to step into stores
that they knew did not supply their size or could it be
that they didn’t even let their eyes wander past store
windows that publicly ostracized bigger women.
In 2018, Victoria’s Secret ex-chief marketing
officer Ed Razerk publicly shamed transgender and
plus-size women.
“We attempted to do a television special for
plus-sizes [in 2000]. No one had any interest in it.
Still don’t,” said Razerk. A year later, VS announced
its first plus-size model, however their size range
only recently expanded to a 44DD. According to
medicaldaily.com, the average American woman’s bra
size is 34DD.
Throughout the 2010s designated plus-size stores
have been able to cater to women who go above a
34DD. Torrid, a plus-size women’s store, charges
upwards of $70 for undergarments such as bras.
Recently Torrid was called out by TikTok users for
selling what looks like a plain white dress as an “angel
high low bell sleeve costume” for a hefty price of
$69.50. As Torrid is one of the few stores specifically
catered to plus-size women, customers were upset
by how much they were charging for how bland the
costume was.
Inclusivity includes price just as much as it means
size. Brands like Aerie and Savage X Fenty have
celebrated women of all bodies since 2014, quite a
while before their controversial competitors. They’ve
even seemed to keep their prices low with annual sales
and deals that apply to all merchandise. However,
customers still need to online order items and try
them on when it gets delivered.
The question “When will brands start to carry
my size?” is something no one should have to ask.
We’re not asking for every single clothing item to be
exclusively made to cater to us, we’re asking to be able
to walk into a store and be able to shop like everyone
else. No one should have to wait up to three weeks to
simply try on an item of clothing.
[38]
[39]

[40]
[41]

[features]
44
48
50
Gender Disparity in DJing
Women in S.T.E.M.
You Better Work, Bama
[42]
[43]

Illustration/ Wesley Picard
[44]
It’s Friday night in Tuscaloosa. Every
popular bar has a wrapped-around line,
and the sound of black booties hitting the
paved sidewalks is the heartbeat of this college
town. If you walked past World of Beer, at first
glance it would look like any other weekend.
The mutterings of apologies can be heard as
patrons slide past and make their way back to
their seats from the bar, spilling liquid on the
already sticky floor. There’s laughter and side
conversations about the weekend ahead and
the week behind them, while others pick their
favorite filter and snap a picture to document a
night they won’t remember. Above it all is the
music coming from the DJ booth, setting the
pace for the night ahead.
The DJ booth is a singular fold-out table
with a black tablecloth draped on top. There’s
a board with flashing lights and what seem to
be a million buttons. Behind the table, plugging
in wires and adjusting her headphones, is a
girl with long blonde hair and a tight black
dress. Some of the patrons are commenting on
her appearance, others on her song choices or
transitions. Suddenly, the bar is filled with a
waterfall of voices all singing along when she
plays their favorite Top 40 song. Tiffany Stout
could be any other girl walking past on the
quad, but tonight she is DJ Smokeshow.
Stout described her persona on stage as
an adaptation of Paris Hilton, a global icon
and female DJ, “When you’re a girl, you get
criticized your whole life. Paris Hilton has
also been judged her entire life, and she is a
female DJ, smart, wealthy, successful. That’s
everything I aspire to be.”
Stout grew up on Hilton’s reality TV series,
“The Simple Life,” and she loved the way
that Hilton had the confidence to poke fun at
herself. When Stout talked about becoming
DJ Smokeshow, she compared it to a masked
superhero because she would not describe
herself as the type to be super extroverted.
Nothing truly changes, but she has a
different level of confidence and is even more
comfortable as DJ Smokeshow than she is being
Tiffany Stout.
Tiffany Stout, known professionally as DJ Smokeshow, shows
off her electrifying style.
“DJing is like breathing to me. I feel like a
completely different person, and it makes me so
happy,” Stout said.
When Stout was a sophomore in high school
living in Tallahassee, Florida, she dreamed
of the day she could take part in the culture
of crowded bars, neon lights and performers
that filled her hometown. One day after school,
her dad took her to a music store downtown
that she had been to a hundred times before.
They walked around the store, absentmindedly
wiping dust off a few classic vinyl records. She
noticed her dad standing in a corner and walked
over to see what he was looking at.
“You want it?” her dad said, motioning to an
amateur DJ board. They talked it over, and not
long after, Stout started practicing after school.
She would catch herself daydreaming in class,
her hands mimicking the motions she had
practiced on the board the night before.
[45]

In the chaos of SATs, prom, graduation, and
moving to Tuscaloosa, Stout stopped practicing
DJing. Her board collected dust in the back of
her childhood bedroom closet, just as it had
in the music store a few years before. It wasn’t
until she got a job at Twelve25, a bar on the
Strip, that she fell in love with the art again.
One day after work, Stout walked over to
the DJ Booth and couldn’t believe that the
man DJing was using the same board she had
back home. He let Stout play on it, and all her
coworkers were supportive. They encouraged
her to start playing again, and Stout couldn’t
resist.
Once Stout got her board back from
Tallahassee, she had to start cultivating her
image, solidifying her skills and booking gigs. In
high school, Stout had never played for actual
crowds, and she was nervous to get back into
the rhythm that had once consumed her.
For many female DJs, breaking into the
industry is the hardest part. In fact, in 2016,
only 12% of performers at musical festivals were
female, according to The Huffington Post. With
each year, the representation of female DJs
increases, but the gap in the industry is larger
than just one area. In 2021, all-male acts made
up 65% of music festival lineups, while only 3%
of technical and production roles in the music
industry were filled by women, according to
Annenberg Institute.
Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is widely
known to be a boy’s club, and this does not go
unnoticed by festival-goers who are over 50%
female, according to Nielson. For example,
Book More Women is a social media account
that regularly edits festival lineup posters
to only show the female artists. The
edited posters have garnered the
attention of many fans, and in
some cases caused enough
of a stir that festivals
book more women
in the future.
Lollapalooza
went
from 21% of their lineup being women in 2018
to 27% in 2021.
Stout was very aware of the statistics when
she started to branch out in the Tuscaloosa
area. Stout is just one of two female DJs in
Tuscaloosa. Many times she was told that she
was the first female DJ a bar or fraternity had
ever booked, however, there were times when
she felt like she would never be afforded the
graces that her male counterparts got.
A few weeks ago, Stout booked a gig at
BearTrap, a bar located on The Strip. The gig
was on a Thursday and used as a try-out to see
if she could handle a weekend night. At first, it
was going great, and even though there weren’t
a lot of people out, Stout could tell they liked
her. The administrators of the bar, on the other
hand, kept giving her side-eye glares.
“I don’t really know how to describe it,” she
said. “The vibes were just really off.”
About halfway through the night, Stout
started to have technical issues with the speaker
system and her board. The owner walked over
to her and abruptly told her she would never be
allowed back.
The next day, Stout took her system to a
repair store, and they couldn’t find anything
wrong with the system. Frustrated, Stout went
and bought all new equipment.
Stout reached out to the owner and let him
know she had bought a new computer and
board, and there wasn’t anything repairmen
could pinpoint as the problem for the night
before.
“I guess what really bothered me was the fact
that I’d been at BearTrap before and watched
drunk male DJs leave the stage in the middle
of their gig and get invited back the next
weekend,” Stout said. “It’s just so frustrating.”
This is not the only instance in which Stout
has received a lesser level of respect from bar
owners and managers.
“You get a lot of, ‘really?’ and it’s like you just
have to keep proving yourself and saying that
‘yes, I’m really a DJ,’” Stout said.
She even has seen less than stellar opinions
of herself on YikYak, a popular anonymous app
in which college students post their thoughts.
“Lately, I just have been deleting social media
for days at a time because my mental health has
just decreased so much,” Stout said. “It makes
me terrified to play bars in Tuscaloosa because
I feel like some days I’m not good enough. I
don’t feel real sometimes like I don’t belong to
myself.”
Stout hit a breaking point and decided to
start reaching out to bars in Birmingham and
Troy. She booked multiple slots at Innisfree in
Birmingham and fraternity events in Troy. At
Innisfree, Stout said that the owner came up to
the booth in the middle of her set and started
asking for her availability for the rest of the
month.
An even bigger marker of success came when
Stout started receiving messages from women
she had never met before, asking her about her
DJ journey. Inquiries about her starting board,
how often she practiced and how she booked
her first gig flooded her inbox.
“I always tell people to just go up to the DJ
at a bar or club and ask them if you can watch,”
Stout said. “It’s really the best way to learn.”
With newly found confidence, Stout
reentered the Tuscaloosa sphere. She will be
the first female DJ ever to play at Gallettes in
the coming weeks. In addition, a conglomerate
approached Stout to open for multiple, larger
known artists on tour. Stout would receive
10% of all profits during the tour if she signs.
Because of the magnitude of the tour, Stout
would not know the dates until after she signs
and with school that poses an issue.
Women in the industry are consistently
patronized and disrespected by club owners and
patrons alike. Regardless of whether she signs,
Stout has proven that she is not a DJ confined
to weeknights and no pay. Even though Stout
hasn’t completely shattered the glass ceilings
above her, she is determined to keep knocking.
[46]
Photo/ Grayson Byrd
[47]

Illustrator/ Sarah Smith
Women in
STEM
[48]
While growing up, it is a usual occurrence for
children to be asked what they want to be
when they grow up. Little girls often pick
from examples such as teacher, ballerina,
hairstylisthair stylist, or actress. With time,
however, more young ladies are becoming set on becoming a
doctor, scientist or engineer. Multiple times, many young girls
are told things such as, “It will be hard to be both a doctor and
a mother” or “that sounds quite ambitious”. For me and many
other women in these fields of study, the doubt of others has
been the extra push male counterparts might not have experienced,
thus providing a drive to work even harder towards a
career in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Women in S.T.E.M come from many different
walks of life, backgrounds, experiences, and identities, but
the unifying factors that ties all of us together is ambition,
drive, determination, and daringness. The thing that makes
many women in stem stand out from their peers is they are
some of the most determined students in college, and that
determination often spills out beyond their academic lives.
“Women in Stem usually also balance leadership
positions and extracurriculars on top of their course load”,
said Francis Buntain, a junior mechanical engineering major
and foreigner senator of the University of Alabama School of
Engineering, “these are the women not afraid to make their
own path and push themselves.”
An ambitious student is powerful, but women in
S.T.E.M.stem are oftentimes ambitious in all aspects of their
being, including extracurricular activities, friendships, and
hobbies. Where a normal student would have the time to
healthily maintain a friendship easily by going to lunch or the
gym with their friends, a S.T.E.M.stem womean commonly
haves to make the effort to spend time with friends because
she may be going to the gym at five in the morning before her
first chemistry lecture, or at eight at night after her math test.
Where a normal student may decide to have free time instead
of being a member of the student council, a S.T.E.M.stem
womean often wants her voice to be heard further than just in
the classroom, and choose to become a member of the Student
Government Associationstudent government so that her
ideas can be even more impactful. As a result, S.T.E.M.stem
women are often some of the hardest working students in all
aspects of their lives, contributing to their commonly shared
characteristics of determination.
In terms of ability, there is certainly no barrier
between men and women in scientific fields. Science has
no bias in regards to gender, in fact… sSome of the best
minds of researchers, medical personnel, engineers, and
mathematicians have been men, and just as many have been
women. However, when it comes to capturing the attention
of other scientists in the field, women often have to work a bit
harder. In college, there are seldom group work projects to
be done in S.T.E.M.stem majors, but when they do come up,
female students often have to work harder to get their points
across to others. In college, many students are immature in
their field and as a result, have not had the opportunity to
work with many other students in their respective fields
of study. Because of this, their often implicit biases
surrounding the concept of intelligenceintellectual and
effort based gender inequality have yet to be challenge
project-basednged. When project based assignments
come up, females can find it hard in classes where they
are the minority to have their voice be heard. It is a
usual assumption for others to discredit work based
on the concept that their ideas have less value. Some
of the brightest minds in a classroom may be female,
but due to biases, they may be given the smallest aspect
of a group project to work on. While this may sound
to some like a disservice, in reality, it can be a driving
force for many women to work even harder than their
male counterparts, to prove themselves to be even more
competitive players in their fields. For those women who
are able to push past the doubters, they are able to use
others’ doubt as fuel for the late nights studying in the
library, early morning test preparation, and all of the
countless hours of hard work in betweeninbetween.
“Being forced to work through my male counterparts
in group work assuming that I would not be as much of
an asset in experimental methods and presentation just
made me want to work even harder to prove to them and
myself that I know just as much and more than the others
in my class,””, said Faye O’Connell, a sophomore human
developtmentHuman Development and pre-medicalPre-
Medical student at Tthe University of Alabama. said, “I
am grateful for those who have doubted me in the past
and in the present, because they have just made me work
BY RACHEL COOKE
harder to be the best student I can possibly be.”
The most powerful and impressive aspect of
women in S.T.E.M.stem is the impacts they can have on
the communities that they are members of. They can
serve in a a multitude of heavily influential roles, from
medical lifesaver, to scientific professor, to math tutor,
to military chemical engineer, to software developer, and
everything in between. These roles impact not only those
that they are directly benefiting and working with, but
generations of other people that work in their fields and
learn from their findings and methods in the future.
“Not only am I doing something in the medical field that
I have always been so excited to be a part of, but I feel
like I have the privilege to give back to the community
that has given me the opportunity to excel academically
because I am able to work as an EMT who protects that
community,.” said Jillian Carew, a psychology major and
pre-medical student and EMT in Tuscaloosa., said
All women in S.T.E.M.stem maintain a powerful
position as role models to little girls who are looking
up to them and hoping one day they will develop into
being similarly influential, intelligent, and hardworking
women who are key players in the science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics fields. While these
women are forced to overcome certain barriers in their
education, this adds to the determination to open
doors and gain access to new opportunities, attempting
to become important leaders and beneficiaries in
communities and career fields for future generations.
[49]

[50]
YOU BETTERWORK,
BAMA
By Jennifer Stroud
It’s a common misconception that modeling is an
easy career or hobby and that it’s limited to a certain
demographic of people, specifically skinny, white,
conventionally attractive women. But the community of
models on campus at The University of Alabama proves
otherwise.
“No matter what you look like, no matter what you
wear, no matter what color you are, what size you are, I
feel like anyone can be a model, it’s all about the passion
and the determination and the drive,” Marcus Johnson,
a junior and a musical theater major at The University of
Alabama says. “It’s not about what you look like, it’s about
what you do and how well you do it.”
Johnson is a member of the Student Fashion
Association at the University, a community of models,
designers, artists, event planners, and photographers that
he says are constantly growing and diversifying. Student
Fashion Association (SFA) has helped him connect with
other models on campus and feel like part of a family of
students with similar interests. Johnson also modeled in
the Young Atlanta Fashion Show this past summer with
more than 200 other models and over a dozen designers,
an experience he marked as the biggest accomplishment
in his modeling career thus far.
“There was a lady that stopped me after the fashion
show that was telling me about how beautiful I was, and
she was telling me about how she had a daughter who
was also thicker and curvy, and she wished she could
have come to the show because she just saw me and saw
her daughter in me,” states the model. “The beauty she
saw translated from me to the image of her daughter. So
I think the biggest reward [of modeling] is seeing how I
can change people’s image of themselves and the image of
their life.”
Johnson describes his style as androgynous and
genderfluid, inspired by models like Precious Lee and
Slick Woods. He is excited about modeling this year with
SFA because he feels like they finally have designers that
are willing to work with him and design for him.
Johnson balances his modeling career with his
major, musical theater, as well as other creative outlets
like dance and acting. The key to balancing all of his interests
and student life is understanding that it’s all a part of his
brand and himself.
“It’s all about doing what you want for you, and I
feel as though I have been able to expand myself outside of
the school year and outside of modeling, and the two work
hand in hand and influence each other,” Johnson said.
Johnson says he was inspired to model because he
saw a lack of diversity in the industry and wanted to be able
to represent people who looked like him. Deja Williams, a
sophomore at The University of Alabama, mentions she was
inspired by a similar desire to diversify the industry.
“Back in the third or fourth grade, I didn’t know I
could actually become a model because I feared that I wasn’t
light enough in skin tone, or that my hair was too coily,” she
comments. “What opened my eyes to the modeling world was
a Justice catalog I got in the mail. Seeing all the pretty girls
dressed in beautiful clothes made me want to do the same.”
Williams started modeling when she was in
elementary school. She recalls her mom heavily supporting
her decision to go into modeling and helping her
find local modeling opportunities. Now, she’s a
member of SFA like Johnson and she’s majoring in
fashion retailing.
“I can tell the students that make up SFA
have real passion and creativity,” said Williams.
“It’s easy for me to connect with other
models, designers, and photographers at
SFA meetings, rehearsals, and model calls.
UA’s modeling industry is inclusive and
inviting.”
According to Williams, her
biggest challenge when modeling is selfesteem
and rejection. It can be hard to
put yourself in the spotlight, knowing
that your appearance is being
judged. However, she says the
adrenaline rush of walking
a runway or the gratification
of getting photos from a
photoshoot is very rewarding.
Williams says she’s inspired by models like Naomi
Campbell, Duckie Thot, and Adut Akech, as well as fellow
SFA model Selena Spaight.
“Naomi inspires me because she represents me in
the modeling industry,” Akech said. “She’s iconic.”
Williams’s biggest accomplishment so far was
winning two medals at a modeling competition in Atlanta
for runner-up Most Photogenic and runner-up Best Runway
Walk. However, her favorite modeling opportunity was
modeling for Seventh Level Apparel, a locally-owned online
boutique.
Williams’s advice to aspiring models is to put
yourself out there.
“Go to as many model calls and photoshoots as
you can,” Williams stated. “It’s okay to do things for free
sometimes because you can gain skills and exposure. You can
also follow local photographers and boutiques so you can be
on their radar as a potential model.”
The modeling community at The University
of Alabama is flourishing, full of young models that are
challenging the industry’s outdated beauty
standards and thinking outside of the box. It’s a
creative community of students full of passion
and grit, who are learning to be more confident in
themselves and inspiring confidence in others. It’s
important for young models to have a community
like this to learn and grow. Modeling can challenge
your confidence in yourself and it can be hard
to make connections in the industry to be
successful.
Often, models can be treated as essentially
living mannequins for clothes, and judged
harshly as such. The New York Times describes
modeling as a “silent profession, where women
[are] supposed to be seen and never
heard.” Having a community of models
and designers like the one on
campus can help models feel
heard and supported early
in their careers, setting
them up for future success.
Photo/ Jennifer Stroud
[51]

[entertainment]
54
58
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If You Like This, Try This
Rivalries and Competitions
Get Ready to ‘Pose’ for your New
Favorite TV Shows
Who’s Your Journalistic Soul
Sister
[52]
[53]

IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY THIS
With school being in full swing, it can be hard to find new entertainment to fill the time. It can
be hard to stray away from our comfort movies, shows and television shows, and the best way to
combat the slump is to find something similar.
BY MADELEINE LEIDNER
If you like
Percy Jackson
If you like
Red, White,
and Royal Blue
If you like
The Hunger Games
If you like
American Horror
Story
The “Percy Jackson and the
Olympians” series by Rick Riordan
is a comfort series for a lot of people.
For those who loved this series as a
child, try swapping for “Circe” by
Madeline Miller.
“Red, White, and Royal Blue” by
Casey McQuiston is an LGBTQ
romance novel that follows the
rivals turned lovers, First Son
Alex Clairmont-Diaz, and Prince
Henry of Wales. The story unravels
their romance and addresses their
struggles with coming out to not only
their families but the world. If you
loved this romance novel, you might
want to read “What If It’s Us” by
Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera.
“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne
Collins is a dystopian series that
follows the life of main character
Katniss Everdeen as she fights for
her life in the Hunger Games, and
accidentally incites a revolution
that sweeps the nation. Loved this
thrilling novel series? Switch for,
“Red Queen” series by Victoria
Aveyard.
“American Horror Story” is a cult
classic television series on FX. It is
an anthology horror series that has
captured the hearts of millions of
viewers. If you loved the horror/
thriller aspect of “American Horror
Story,” you might want to give “The
Haunting of Hill House” on Netflix a
watch.
Try
Circe What If It’s Us Red Queen
“Circe” is a historical fiction novel
that follows the life of the sorceress
Circe as she discovers her magical
powers. This novel has adaptations
from various Greek myths, most
notably, “The Odyssey.”
Try
“What If It’s Us” is an adult romantic
comedy that alternates between the
point of view of Authur, who is an
intern in New York at his mother’s
firm, and Ben, who is struggling from
a recent breakup. They meet at a
post office before being separated by
a flash mob and readers experience
Alex trying to find Ben in the big city,
and get to enjoy what follows after
they finally reunite.
Try
“Red Queen” series takes place in a
dystopian society where classes are
defined by the color of their blood,
Red, those left impoverished and
neglected, or Silver, rich upper class.
It follows the main character, Mare,
who is a Red, who must navigate
through this world being a Red, while
still holding Silver powers.
Try
The Haunting of
Hill House
“The Haunting of Hill House” is a
supernatural horror series and is
the first entry of “The Haunting”
anthology series. This story follows
a family and their journey dealing
with supernatural creatures that
have affected their lives. It alternates
between the past and the present and
closes with a surprise twist ending
that brings the whole series full circle.
[54]
[55]

If you like
A Simple Favor
If you like
Squid Games
If you like
Sabrina the
Teenage Witch
If you like
Bojack Horseman
“A Simple Favor” is a crime drama
that follows the lives of two best
friends, Stephanie and Emily. When
Emily randomly goes missing,
Stephanie investigates by digging
into Emily’s past and finds many
surprises. If you loved the suspense
and mystery of “A Simple Favor”,
have a go at “Cruel Summer” on
Hulu.
“Squid Games,” a Netflix original,
has become instantly popular
since its release. The show details
hundreds of contestants competing
in children’s games for the chance to
win millions of dollars, but the stakes
are deadly. If you loved this thrilling
and suspenseful show, you might
want to give “Alice in Borderland” a
try.
“Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” a
television sitcom that aired from
1996 to 2003, is a series about a
teenage girl learning to balance her
witch abilities while trying to be a
normal girl in high school.
“Bojack Horseman” is a Netflix
Original animated series that follows
the life of washed-up actor, Bojack
Horseman, who is a horse/human
figure. Deep into partying, booze
and self-loathing, he decides it is
time to get his life back together, and
commissions a memoir to be written
about him. If you enjoyed this witty
and deep animated series, start “ Is
For Family” on Netflix.
Try
Cruel Summer
Try
Alice in
Borderland
Try
The Ex Hex
Try
F Is For Family
“Cruel Summer” is a suspenseful
drama series that is told over three
summers; 1993, 1994 and 1995. In
these summers, beautiful and popular
Kate is abducted, and once dorky,
sweet Jeanette goes from being a
loser to the most popular girl in
town, then to the most despised. The
show follows the town through these
three summers and as the mystery
of Kate’s disappearance unravels,
viewers make their own decisions on
who they think is responsible.
“Alice in Borderland” is another
Netflix original where the main
character Arisu, an avid gamer,
finds himself in an empty version of
Tokyo where he and his friends must
compete in deadly games in order to
survive.
If you enjoyed this series, you might
want to read “The Ex Hex” by Erin
Sterling. A novel about a small-town
witch who suffers a broken heart.
She solves this in the only way she
knows how, she hexes him. When her
boyfriend returns to town and causes
a chain of supernatural disasters, she
must use magic to restore order.
“F Is For Family” is a raunchy comedy
Netflix Original series that is set in
the ‘70s, and is modeled after the
life of stand-up comedian Bill Burr,
who is also the co-creator and coproducer
of the series. Bill Burr also
voices the patriarch of the family who
works at an airport. This animated
comedy series is filled with all things
70s; style, music and lifestyle.
[56]
[57]

Photo/ Rebecca Martin
RIVALRIES AND COMPETITIONS
The Media’s Role in Pitting Women
Against Each Other
By Annabelle Blomeley
[58]
Since the invention of tabloids in the early 1900s, female
celebrities ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Kim
Kardashian West have found themselves plastered on the
covers of magazines and newsstands everywhere, particularly
in their relation to other women.
From the constant reminders of the intense and
impossible beauty standards to the feuds of celebrity women
that feed our drama-obsessed culture, women standing
in opposition to women have found themselves prevalent
throughout society today.
“Media is a reflection of the society that makes it, which
means it includes the values, beliefs, interests and anxieties
of the given culture,” according to The University of Alabama
journalism and creative media assistant professor, Alyx Vesey.
“Since we live in an inherently misogynistic and racist society,
the media we consume and produce is also entrenched in those
values.”
Although media representation has gotten better in
recent years, for a while it consisted of mainly degrading and
devaluing women.
For one, women are rarely viewed not in relations
with someone else. For example, a large part of female media
representation is made up of women’s relation to men. Whether
tabloids gossip about a female possibly seeing a famous male
celebrity or whether she broke up with her man, women are
consistently being seen as accessories to celebrity men.
When a man isn’t involved, women are then seen in
relation to other women. If she walks out of the house without
makeup, she’s not as pretty or sensual as others. Only in the
past few decades have women been able to make headlines for
their achievements, and oftentimes the media will still focus on
their love life or looks.
Today, competition against women has grown beyond
sexuality and attractiveness. With more women in the workforce
than ever before and more women wanting jobs traditionally
taken by men, women now have to fight for their spots in their
careers.
Half of the competition between any two female
celebrities is ignited by the media. Tabloids, gossip pages and
ever-growing social media platforms have shown time and
time again that drama sells, and no one does drama better than
women.
No one depicts this occupational competition better
than female celebrities. Nicki Minaj is constantly fighting for
her spot as the one female rapper, especially with the newfound
fame of Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B. Although no one tries
to name the one male rapper, Nicki Minaj and other female
rappers consistently have competition with each other to
protect their fame, money and respect from fans.
In other areas of the music industry, pop stars Pink
and Christina Aguilera had a feud in the early 2000s over who
was the reigning pop star queen. More recently, Taylor Swift
is constantly making headlines for disagreements with other
female celebrities, like Demi Lovato, Karlie Kloss, Katy Perry,
even though the perceived drama is just speculation most of the
time.
How media and culture create female competition
is by subjecting them to personas and stereotypes that make
women’s drama and attitudes seem like an annoying, yet
normal, phenomenon. For example, calling women “bossy”
when they’re really just acting like a man; stereotyping Black
women as “sassy” or “angry” works to make people think they
know someone just based on their looks and race.
When Destiny’s Child disbanded in 2006 and Beyonce
started her own solo career, the media speculated it was because
every member wanted to be the “leader” of the group. The
women were called selfish and an intense rivalry was created by
the media.
“That rite of passage from girl group members to solo
artists gets written in the language of rivalries,” Vesey said.
“We don’t talk about boy bands like One Direction in quite the
same way. We don’t talk about all-male rock bands who 25 to
30 years later can’t even be in the same room together. We don’t
talk about them in terms of drama, we don’t talk about them in
terms of rivalries. There is an awful delight in seeing women
fight each other, even if that conflict is blown completely out
of proportion or is ignored when that same kind of behavior
happens with men.”
The largest and most important component of media
is the money entangled in it. The powerful and wealthy people
who benefit from the patriarchy and run everything from major
television companies to social media and publications make
content and media that sell. For a long time, content about
women and people of color wasn’t made because it would affect
the money the companies stood to make.
Lucy Barrows, a graduate student in American studies
whose research focuses on the intersection between fashion
and oppression, said media surrounding fashion, like women’s
magazines, blossomed in the ‘60s and ‘70s as women started
showing an interest in content that wasn’t just for housewives.
Despite feminist media being pushed to the forefront, a divide
was still created among feminists, and women alike.
Barrows said in 1972, famous feminist Gloria Steinem
created Ms. Magazine to give a platform for women to talk
about whatever they wanted to, which wasn’t something women
had the outlet to do previously. Despite Ms. Magazine and other
outlets’ attempts to bring women’s voices forward, many other
women were being left out.
[59]

“In the grand scheme of things, you look at the
magazines, you look in Vogue and Ms. Magazine, and you see
skinny white women,” Barrows said.
Again, since the people in charge make media, white
beauty standards have often been in the forefront, creating
competition between women who vowed to be the most
attractive or worthy of a man. While the white beauty standard
is difficult for white women to achieve, it’s even more difficult
for women of color who don’t match the standard.
Women of color have never been included in the
beauty ideal made by white men. While the beauty standard
always has been pushed by men and what they find attractive,
women in media, like Cosmopolitan and other feminist outlets,
were pushing a more sexual, feminine narrative in the ‘60s that
still emphasized the white beauty ideals that were leftover from
before.
From Marilyn Monroe to Jane Fonda to Kim
Kardashian West, the media has been pushing an ideal body
type for as long as it’s existed. But among the most obvious
harmful effects of social media is the perpetration of an often
impossible beauty standard that users are confronted with every
time they open the app. Even in a world where Photoshop and
photo altering leaves celebrity and influencer photos looking
flawless, people who use social media still compare themselves
to the unattainable image of women they see online.
This beauty standard has divided women for decades.
Whether it’s a trope about “ugly girls” hating the pretty ones or
the competition between women to get the best man, looks and
sexuality play a major role in how women are treated by men,
and adversely how they are treated by other women.
“It’s all about consumer culture,” Barrows said. “Until
the right person says it’s cool or the right person publishes it,
society is not going to start to change their beauty standard.”
Barrows explained that female beauty has always
been a bit skewed. In the 1960s, London-born model Twiggy
made long, dramatic eyelashes and short pixie cuts, along with
her extremely small frame, popular throughout the modeling
industry. Every model looked like Twiggy, similar to how
supermodels perpetuate the idea that skinny is beautiful, while
other influencers/social media models push the big butt, small
waist body.
This beauty standard directly affects competition
among women, in which every girl wants to be beautiful so they
can have their pick of the best men and opportunities around.
For women of color who don’t fall into this white standard of
beauty, competition is even more fierce.
Makayla Jordan, a freshman majoring in marketing
at The University of Alabama, said she has struggled with her
identity as a Black woman due to this white beauty ideal.
According to Jordan many Black women struggle with
their identity due to the white beauty ideal.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t want to be Black,”
Jordan said. “I didn’t understand why there were no personable
black women in the media. We didn’t have any representation.”
Many people don’t realize the media is biased, which
influences our subconscious biases, according to Jordan. Often
Black people are stereotyped as the “brute,” “criminal” or
“Jezebel,” which then affects the ways in which Black people are
treated and fosters competition among women.
The media representation that women of color do get
is often negative and racist.
Jordan said the beauty standard revolves around white features,
often portraying Black women as “ugly and unappealing.”
She said this is even prevalent at the University, where
Black women are treated differently than white students and
competition between women forces girls to compete to be the
best.
With more and more women fighting for the
competition and rivalries to stop, many women have taken to
starting their own forms of media to compete with the negative
light on women. On-campus, female student publications and
organizations are pushing for female empowerment and women
supporting women.
Madeline LeZotte, a senior majoring in public
relations at The University of Alabama and the president of
UA’s chapter of Her Campus, started the chapter in the spring
of 2019 to bring a female empowerment organization to the
University. With almost 300 members, Her Campus runs an
online magazine and lifestyle brand for college women that
emphasizes inclusivity for women of all backgrounds.
“Through Her Campus, we’re able to have a group of
women from tons of different backgrounds, but we all have this
common connection and motivation, and we support each other
and we’re there for each other,” LeZotte said.
Despite the media often perpetuating the misogyny
and racism prevalent in a society, the best way women can
combat this is to support each other, work to diversify the
people who are in media and understand the biases that both
them and the media come with.
[60]
[61]

GET READY TO
For Your New Favorite TV Show
By Maddy Reda
[62]
Illustration/ Autumn Willliams
Amanda Donohoe and Michele Greene didn’t know they
were making history when their characters on “L.A Law” would
be the first to depict a romantic, same-sex kiss between women on
U.S primetime television in 1991.
The subject of same-sex relationships has been pushed into
the wings by the heteronormative standards that dominate pop
culture and society as a whole. Being anything other than straight
was hardly something that people felt safe enough to talk about, let
alone portray on TV in a positive light.
However, despite a lifetime of struggle and invisibility,
GLAAD’s “Where We Are on TV” report has given hope to the
LGBTQ+ community after it was reported that 10.2% of series
regulars in the 2019-20 broadcast television season were reported
to be LGBTQ+.
According to the report, that’s considerably higher than
the prior year’s report, where only 8.8% of main characters were
queer.
Uplifting today’s most critically-acclaimed queer TV shows
is key to providing visibility to previously un-heard and un-seen
aspects of LGBTQ+ culture.
Jaime Campbell Naidoo, a professor in the School of Library
and Information Studies, said Hollywood executives should push
a wider variety of LGBTQ+ films into the mainstream world of
cinema and streaming services for all to enjoy.
Cameron Carazo, a senior majoring in advertising, said
television’s lack of visibility and representation for people of
color as well as members of the LGBTQ+ was detrimental to her
childhood.
She said she never saw any characters on television growing
up who were both Afro-Latina and bisexual like her.
“The lack of non-stereotypical representation of people
of color contributed to how I viewed myself amongst other little
girls,” Carazo said. “I think it showed most in how I viewed my
own hair. I felt really ugly. I didn’t feel like a girl sometimes.”
Currently, there are a few shows that are not only telling
genuine, heartfelt stories about the queer community but featuring
transgender people of color and queer voices in the writing rooms
and in the roles themselves.
“POSE,” a drama set in the ‘80s centering around ballroom
culture and Black and trans women’s experiences, is a true pioneer
for casting transgender, gay and lesbian women in main roles
rather than following the historical precedent of casting cisgender
actors to play queer characters.
“POSE” illuminates the once-invisible, underground
community of non-binary, gay and transgender women forming
a community of their own through extravagant fashion shows,
finding chosen families and an ensemble almost entirely composed
of transgender women of color.
According to LGBTQ Nation, ball room is an underground
LGBTQ subculture in which participants, who are largely Black
or Latinx trans people and gay men, compete for prizes, trophies,
titles or cash at events known as “balls.”
The heart of the ballroom community is the idea of “houses”
serving as literal homes for queer and transgender youths who
were often kicked out or disowned. Houses were often led by a
“House Mother” or “House Father” who provided security and
shelter.
During season three, House Mother Elektra Abundance,
played by Dominique Jackson, sums up the essence of ballroom
culture in a heated conversation with Papi Evangelista, played by
Angel Curiel, over the necessity of having a wedding-themed ball
category.
“That category was invented like all other categories in order
to give us a chance to experience what the outside world gets to
live,” Elektra said.
The show perfectly encapsulates the beauty of self-love,
dance, lip-syncing and non-gender-conforming fashion while
highlighting the struggles of queer people during the peak of the
HIV/AIDS crisis in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
“Pose” received significant media attention surmounting
with lead actress MJ Rodriguez becoming the first transgender
woman nominated for a major Emmy acting category.
While “Pose” made great strides in bringing transgender
and non-binary people front and center, it is still the only show of
its kind, showing that the work towards trans visibility is far from
over.
Not only has the portrayal of queer people in television
been one-note and inaccurate, but what little representation
the community has gotten has been mostly limited to telling the
stories of white, cisgender gay men.
“I lived only an hour away from Disney World and viewed
the world through the rose-colored glasses of Disney romanticism.
[63]

I was taught through film and TV shows that being in love meant
I had to love a man,” Carazo said. “That became the standard
by which I viewed relationships. I never saw my sexuality as an
option. Love by default meant that as a girl, I had to like a boy.”
“Orange Is The New Black” squashes the historical
invisibility of gay women in mainstream media when main
character Piper Chapman goes where no woman has ever gone
before-- a women’s prison.
With a respectable runtime of seven seasons, the show was
monumental in exploring the corruption of the prison-industrial
complex, as well as themes of homophobia, sexual assault,
racism, transphobia, the poverty cycle, immigration, misogyny
and romantic relationships between women.
The idea of queerness and the culture that goes along with
it has been watered down by the oppressive heteronormative
standards that have dominated society since the beginning of
time.
Queer people were expected to hide their identities in order
to assimilate to the domineering aspects of heteronormative
culture, hence why the art of drag has been met with violence
and opposition for centuries.
Recently, drag sensation RuPaul Charles challenged the
centuries-long battle of fighting for the right to do drag in public
by creating “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” a reality show featuring drag
queens.
With 14 main seasons, 6 all-star seasons and installments
in over ten countries, it is safe to say that the American reality
competition amongst drag queens has taken center stage.
RuPaul became the most high-profile drag queen in the
world by creating a show that was the first of its kind to feature
drag queens on a primetime reality competition.
It was the first show to showcase queer people in their
celebration of drag as an art form.
What makes “RuPaul’s Drag Race” unique is that the show
has forged a place in pop culture amongst straight people as well
as queer people, showing that the path to true acceptance of
the LGBTQ+ community in day-to-day life begins with straight
allyship.
“It is so important for straight people to be educated and
inclusive allies,” Jackson said. “Especially when it feels like a
majority of straight people are against you, it is important to
know you have people that love and support you no matter what.”
With a groundbreaking 48 Emmy nominations and 23
wins, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has cemented itself in queer history
as one of the most successful LGBTQ+ TV shows of all time.
The show permeated mainstream media and pop culture
with an unparalleled force that allowed queer people to truly be
seen, since as of 2021, RuPaul Charles is the most-awarded Black
person in Emmy history.
Other critically-acclaimed LGBTQ+ shows include
“Legendary,” “Will and Grace,” “Modern Family,” “Queer Eye”
and “Euphoria.”
While these shows are taking monumental steps in
providing a platform for all members of the LGBTQ+ community,
mainstream media is still riddled with stereotypes.
Naidoo said a significant portion of queer representation
seen on television today is still based on stereotypes.
“There should be other representations too,” Naidoo said.
“Otherwise, media will just reinforce the same ideas of the queer
community and perpetuate phobic attitudes.”
According to an article by The Guardian, psychologists at
Anglia Ruskin University have found that the “‘positive’ portrayal
of gay men on TV ‘can be damaging.’”
“On the face of it, stereotypes associated with gay men,
such as being fashionable or witty, appear positive,” said Daragh
McDermott, the leader of the study at Anglia Ruskin. “However,
by their very nature, these stereotypes pigeonhole what it means
to be gay and lead to unrealistic expectations of how gay men are
expected to behave.”
McDermott’s study found that many gay men were left
depressed after watching certain TV shows and movies that
pigeonholed gay men into having small builds, “flamboyant”
fashion sense and one-note, sassy remarks.
The decrease of stereotypical pandering, acceptance,
support and visibility of the LGBTQ+ community begins with
broadening inclusivity within educational systems at all levels.
Naidoo regularly consults with education and library
organizations at The University of Alabama to ensure that
their curricula and environments are welcoming to the queer
community.
“Growing up, I didn’t have the opportunity to encounter
people like me in print and digital media. If I had, perhaps I
wouldn’t have felt so alone,” Naidoo said. “The same goes for
youth and other members of the queer community, particularly
those living in rural or socially conservative areas.”
Naidoo said the art of media provides a crucial opportunity
for queer individuals to see rerepresentations of their culture in
the media they consume, but also shows non-queer people that
the LGBTQ+ community isn’t so different from them.
Not only does a lack of diversity on television have severe
consequences for marginalized groups, but it enforces a worldview
of close-mindedness and ignorance amongst straight
people.
Grace Jackson, a junior studying human development
family studies, said ignorance on television only breeds more
ignorance within viewers.
“A lack of LGBTQ+ and racial representation on television
has affected my life growing up as a straight person,” Jackson
said. “It made me more close-minded and ignorant to the world
around me. As a kid, television made me believe that most people
in the world around me looked like me.”
Carazo said society’s tendency to pass homophobic
sentiments and viewpoints as “morals” is what creates a sense of
societal censorship amongst viewers and studios alike.
Carazo is pleased with recent efforts to diversify television
but calls on producers to normalize queerness by telling stories
that are not centered around the downfalls and struggles of being
part of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I understand that it’s important to educate and inspire,
but there comes a time where I would like to see a lighthearted
romance story about two people who love each other and leave
it at that,” said Car. “Not a coming-out story, not a stereotypical
story centered around AIDS. Just a story about pure love.”
Carazo said she wants a story that’s just “pure [queer] love”
rather than a cliche coming-out story like “Love, Simon,” a story
centered around AIDS, or even shows like “Glee” where every
LGBTQ+ character doesn’t seem to have a personality outside of
being sassy and gay.
“Realistic shows about the trials of the queer community are
important, but so are joyous dramas, heartfelt comedies, dystopian
thrillers and action movies,” said Naidoo.
It is essential to take pride in the great strides the LGBTQ+
community has made in television while also recognizing that there are
still so many hurdles to overcome.
“
Realistic shows
about the trials of the
queer community are
important, but so are
joyous dramas, heartfelt
comedies, dystopian
thrillers and
action movies
”
[64]
[65]

who’s your journalistic
SOUL SISTER
7.) Who’s your ultimate fashion inspiration?
A
Princess Diana. Classy,
beautiful and unafraid
of a sweatshirt and biker
shorts moment.
B
Zendaya, hands down.
Sexy and sleek with
fun textures and colors
galore— obsessed!
8.) Your boss is being really passive-aggressive
this week. How do you handle it?
A
Work my hardest to do
everything to their liking
and then avoid them like
the plague!
B
Swing by their office before
heading out for the day and
asking if everything is alright.
Communication is key.
By Emie Garrett
Fictional female writers have helped shape pop culture for decades. From Sex and The City’s Carrie Bradshaw, who has
represented the pinnacle of fashion across generations of women, to modern iterations like Ugly Betty’s Betty Suarez, it seems
the female-writer-working-for-a-prestigious-fashion-magazine character trope is still alive and well Are you spunky like Carrie
Bradshaw, fearless like Jane Sloan, bubbly like Betty Suarez or ambitious like Andy Sachs? Take the quiz below to find out
which journalistic female powerhouse you embody most!
C
Our queen mother,
Cher. I live for the
glamour and drama,
baby! Is there anyone
else?
D
Harry Styles! He’s all
about bold patterns and
structured silhouettes. And
we love a man who isn’t
afraid to rock an elegant
gown.
C
Have a big venting sesh
D
with my girlfriends and get
their advice on how I should
handle it.
Just try to grin and bear it.
Maybe they are going through
a tough time and need to see
a smiling face. This too shall
pass!
1.) Up and at ‘em! What’s
your coffee order?
A Why would
I overpay for
coffee made by
a pretentious
barista when I
have a perfectly
good Keurig at
home?
C The biggest cup
they have filled
with the hottest,
strongest coffee
they make.
B Iced Americano
with an extra
shot and lotsssss
of cinnamon on
top.
D
Whatever
seasonal drink
they have right
now, duh!
C
2.) You’re grabbing drinks
with your girls at that new
speakeasy downtown. What
cocktail are you ordering?
A
Eh, fancy
cocktails aren’t
my thing. I’ll just
stick to wine.
B
Easy; extra dirty D
martini with three
olives. Can’t go
wrong with a classic.
Mexican Firing
Squad — tequila,
fresh lime and
cherry! So
refreshing.
Oooo, one of
those cute pink
ones with a
flower in it that
I saw on their
Insta!
3.) Time to blow off some
steam. How are you
unwinding?
A
C
Checking out a
new art exhibit
or movie with
my best friend
or partner.
Sushi and
drinks with the
girls, then off
to a bar or club
for dancing and
flirting.
B
A cozy dinner
spent laughing
and catching up
with my circle. I
cannot be held
accountable for
the shot(s) that are
ordered!
D Staying in,
lighting a scented
candle and
reading Reese
Witherspoon’s
newest book club
pick!
Mostly As
Mostly Bs
Andy Sachs - “The Devil Wears Prada” You’re a doer and know that to achieve your
dreams, it’s going to require some elbow grease. Like Andy, you’re a quick learner
and thrive under massive stress that would cause most to run scared. You tend to
overextend yourself and can suffer from being a bit passive to those you perceive as
superior. You couldn’t care less about material items and vanity, that which is most
precious to you lies within yourself and those you hold dear. You’ve got the dreams, the
brains and the grit, but be sure to make time for yourself and your loved ones to avoid
the dreaded burnout!
Jane Sloan - “The Bold Type” Faithful and honest to the end, you always seek the
truth and fiercely stand behind those you love. Like Jane, you have strong core values
and you’re likely the one all of your friends turn to for words of wisdom. You give
kindness generously, but that shouldn’t be mistaken for weakness, you are bold and
never afraid to jump headfirst into what scares you most. You are constantly working
to be the best version of yourself and can be a bit hard on yourself if things aren’t
aligning perfectly to the timeline you’ve created in your head. Give yourself a break
and take some of the great advice you would give a friend.
4.) A friend comes to you
with a problem. How are you
responding?
A
I’ll help them
put together
a list of ways
to resolve the
situation.
B
Just listen, then
ask if they want
any advice.
Sometimes people
just need to vent
to someone they
can trust.
5.) What are you reading?
A Philosophical
nonfiction is
my jam. I like
books that make
me think deeply
about the human
experience.
B
Memoirs by
powerful,
successful
women. Their
stories are so
inspiring.
A
6.) How do you get active?
HIIT. I need a
workout that’s
effective and
efficient.
B
Hot yoga or
pilates! Low
impact and
helps relieve
stress.
Mostly Cs
Carrie Bradshaw - “Sex and The City” Oh, you made it. The party can finally start!
Like Ms. Bradshaw, you are fun-loving, smart and have made the term “work to live, not
live to work” your personal mantra. You never meet a stranger and are at your happiest
when you’re surrounded by your closest circle of friends. You have dreams and goals,
but you know that there’s more to life than just work. Drawn in by the arts and all
things creative, you express yourself through your clothes, home decor and career—
everything in your life has your personality splattered all over it. You can be a bit flighty
at times and it’s difficult for friends and romantic partners to nail you down, which can
lead to tension in your relationships. Just remember, your people love you and need
you to be there for them sometimes, too.
C
I usually try
to relate to the
situation by
telling them
about a similar
experience I’ve
had and how I
handled it.
D
A big hug, if they
are okay with that.
Everyone needs a
hug from a friend
sometimes!
C
Romance. What
can I say? I’m a
lover at heart,
but if anyone
asks, literary
fiction.
D Whatever
the newest
thriller is! I love
putting all the
pieces together
and seeing the
mystery unfold.
C
Workout? Ha!
Yeah, right. The
only endorphin
rush I need
happens when,
you know.
*wink*
D
Going for a walk
with a friend
always makes
me feel good —
mind and body!
Mostly Ds
Betty Suarez - “Ugly Betty” Little Miss Sunshine! You’re an eternal optimist and sweet
as frosting. Like Betty, you possess a warmth that radiates from the inside out and
makes others feel instantly at ease. While you have a sunny disposition, let there be no
mistake, you have an intense work ethic and fight tooth and nail to achieve your goals.
You are always willing to work 10 times harder than the rest and you do it with a smile
on your face, but be careful not to let your needs go unmet. Because you are always
working so hard to get the job done well and help those around you, you can forget to
take care of yourself. Don’t be afraid to let the smile falter and show people how you
really feel sometimes!
[66]
[67]

[food & health]
70
74
78
80
Chocolate Is Your Period’s Best
Friend
Finding the Balance: College and
Mental Health
What Fitness Can Do For
Immunity
What Exercise You Should
Try Based On Your Candy
Preferences
[68]
[69]

Illustration/ Ella Smyth
Chocolate Is Your
Period’s Best Friend
By Bella Carpino
[70]
Over the years, women, young and
old, have been on the search for
a tool that can be utilized to conquer the
dreadful, yet anticipated week of their period.
Once a month, when a female’s menstrual
cycle arrives at its period week, women can
typically experience emotional instability,
menstrual cramps and a constant bloated
feeling. Many women themselves have
attempted the use of all that they believed
was out there, from hot baths to over-thecounter
medicine. While those tactics seem
to help cure certain aspects of one’s period,
such as helping with solely menstrual cramps,
there is one key strategy out there that comes
into play in order to tackle practically all the
main period symptoms. Known by many as
a common craving and specially built for the
“sweet tooth” in the room, the method is as
simple as it sounds: eating chocolate.
Specifically dark chocolate, this strategy
can help cure the oftentimes harsh offerings
of the menstrual cycle. Chocolate, through
its power of calming mood swings, providing
much-needed iron in the blood and healing
menstrual cramps, is a tool that does wonders
far beyond any other option.
While having mood swings and high
stress levels are two of the most common
symptoms while a woman is on her period,
chocolate comes to the rescue as a true
strategy for dealing with them both. Several
ingredients embedded in chocolate contain
the recipe for stabilizing mood and decreasing
stress.
According to a Spa Experience article
regarding cacao and its benefits,
“cacao contains a compound called
PEA (or phenethylamine), which triggers the
release of endorphins and mood-enhancing
neurochemicals in the brain...cacao is also
excellent at helping banish stress, thanks to its
high levels of the stress-reducing substances,
valeric acid and magnesium. Not only does it
reduce stress, raw cacao can also convert into
serotonin (which improves your mood).”
Due to cacao’s overall composition
which includes phenethylamine, valeric acid,
magnesium and serotonin, the mood swings
and feelings of stress that come into play as
a result of an individual being on their period
can rely on chocolate to take care of those
emotions.
University of Alabama student, Kate
Tully, consistently uses chocolate as a tool
for dealing with increased anxiety and stress
levels during her period.
“Chocolate is definitely my go-to snack
while on my period. Throughout the week, I
always find myself more overwhelmed than
usual by my school work and busy schedule.
I can easily say that a piece of Hershey’s
chocolate never fails to calm that anxiety,”
Tully explains.
With that being said, when a female
is on their period and can’t seem to decide
whether they’re stressed, anxious, exhausted
or annoyed, the power of chocolate is on their
side when it becomes that time of the month.
Since someone being on their period
is mainly associated with a heavy loss of blood,
chocolate can assist in providing the muchneeded
iron that is lost during this point of
the menstruation cycle. The loss of blood, and
therefore the loss of iron, can even take the
blame for the lethargicness one can feel while
on their period.
[71]

According to an A.Vogel article written
by nutritionist Emma Thornton, “[iron]
usually transports oxygen around the body,
however, the mineral is lost as you bleed. This
means parts of the body do not get the oxygen
they need and as a result, you can begin to feel
tired and lethargic...chocolate could help here
too as it contains iron, thus helping to top up
the levels that are lost as you bleed.”
While many females are aware of the
stereotype that chocolate tends to become
a consistent craving while on their period,
Thornton describes how there seems to be
more to the story. Chocolate may be most
appreciated and recognized for its rich
flavor and delightful sensation as it melts in
the mouth, but the iron it contains causes
chocolate to stand out above all other tools
when dealing with one’s period, since the
element represents a pivotal feature that
can be used to both improve health and cure
drowsiness.
Another hallmark trait of chocolate
that gives it the title of “your period’s best
friend” is its ability to heal the painful
menstrual cramps that are both unpredictable
and unpreventable during the week of one’s
period. Chocolate contains the elements that
can overtake the contracting muscles in the
pelvic area, and as result, they overpower the
strength of menstrual cramps.
A blog post by The Ladies Room, written
by Isadora Wong, explains, “dark chocolate
contains high levels of magnesium…[which]
plays a role in neuromuscular transmission
and muscular contraction...dark chocolate is
able to relax and soothe the raging contracting
muscles causing your painful cramps...
dark chocolate contains cocoa flavanol...
known for its powerful antioxidant and antiinflammatory
properties. These also help to
increase blood circulation and thus alleviating
menstrual cramps” (Wong).
Due to the functions carried out by both
the element of magnesium and cocoa flavanol,
chocolate takes on yet another brand new role
of preventing the contractions associated with
periods.
Carsyn Waldrop, a sophomore political
science major at the University of Alabama,
explains from her own experience with her
period.
“I’ve always noticed a huge difference
in the level of pain with my menstrual cramps
after eating a piece of dark chocolate. Years
ago, a friend told me about this secret to
facing intense period cramps, and ever since,
each time the symptom comes along during
my menstrual cycle, chocolate is the first thing
that I turn towards,” Waldrop said.
As explained first-hand, the often
overlooked potential of chocolate when it
comes to menstruation can act as a blessing
for females who are forced to deal with period
cramps.
While females’ menstrual cycles may
consist of a variety of possible symptoms,
chocolate is a tool that can be utilized to
overcome even the most common of them.
To be more specific, the menstrual cycle is a
process tied to mainly negative associations
based on the symptoms it causes in the bodies
of females, however, chocolate holds the
capability to fight those battles.
Within chocolate lie the elements that
uphold the strength to decrease mood swings,
replace lost iron in the blood, help prevent
menstrual cramps and therefore, stand handin-hand
with a female’s period. For this reason,
a whole new meaning forms a connection with
this universally adored sweet treat. It not
only serves simply as an ingredient in many
people’s favorite dessert but also as the key for
girls facing the week of their period.
Chocolate will be there for women when
the symptoms of their period kick in, and
they can trust in it when they are in need of a
soldier to put up a fight for them, much like a
best friend would do.
“Chocolate will be there for women
when the symptoms of their period kick
in, and they can trust in it when they are
in need of a soldier to put up a fight for
them, much like a best friend would.”
[72]
[73]

Finding the
Photo/ Kalei Burgess
Balance:
Mental Health
In College
By Kalei Burgess
College is one of the most exciting and
transformative times in people’s lives. Not only
are students meeting new people, finding their passions
and earning an education; they’re also discovering who
they are. Moving away from home and learning how to
navigate life as an individual without direct expectations
and guidance from families is an adventure full of
successes and lessons.
Students are expected to build resumes, impact
organizations, complete internships and maintain a
social life, all while performing well in their classes.
Although these aspects of growth and responsibility are
challenging for any individual, these can be even more
difficult for students also working to maintain their
mental health.
The normalization of conversations surrounding
mental health and mental illness has helped the campus
community bring these issues to the forefront, but those
struggling with mental health may often still feel lost
and left to deal with these challenges by themselves.
Comparing oneself to peers who may not have mental
health issues can leave someone feeling as though they
aren’t performing at the same level, or managing life to
the same degree of success.
Although dozens of rubrics are given to students
throughout the semester for assignments, there is no
rubric for life. Each student’s personal experiences and
challenges are different, and everyone is dealing with
things beneath the surface. These students share their
own experience with self-awareness and mental health,
and how they navigate those obstacles throughout their
college careers.
ADHD: Liv Bennes
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, referred
to as ADHD, has historically been underdiagnosed in
women because of the less stereotypical symptoms they
typically display. Within the last few years, awareness of
ADHD in women as the underlying cause of day-to-day
struggles that were commonly misdiagnosed has risen.
Women such as Liv Bennes, a senior art history major at
The University of Alabama, weren’t diagnosed until later
on in life.
“I was diagnosed in 2020 when I was 22,” recalls
Bennes, “Which is a diagnosis I hadn’t considered
personally in years prior.”
While Bennes experienced symptoms in childhood
such as difficulty focusing, lack of energy and slightly
faltering grades, she wasn’t sure what to attribute them
to.
“I finally realized I might have ADHD because of my
speech,” Bennes said. “It was actually through how I
conversed with people I knew. I’m kind of all over the
place, which is something I apologize for often.”
Once diagnosed, Bennes began therapy and
medication in addition to journaling to cope. Although
she said she’s significantly improved academically,
ADHD still presents challenges in her day-to-day life.
“I feel better after being medicated,” Bennes said.
“I still have ADHD and have horrible issues with
exhaustion and insomnia.” “Those two together make it
incredibly hard to focus when you’re that tired. It makes
you realize how much it affects your day-to-day life when
you actually have the energy to do things. I’ve done well
as a student, but it’s the exhaustion that makes things
difficult to do.”
Once a diagnosis has been given, an individual can
properly assess the root of their mental health issues and
develop strategies to maintain productivity and enjoy the
college experience. Bennes has developed several ADHD
“hacks” that help to keep her on track throughout the
school week.
“I do things when I remember to do them, even if it
feels out of place,” Bennese said. “Laying everything
out for the week helps me know what I have to do, and
planning which days to do things in advance is helpful.
Color coding my planner helps me keep class dates
and information organized. Going the extra mile by
annotating, underlining and writing notes helps me
process information.”
[74]
[75]

Borderline Personality Disorder:
Eli Henson
Borderline Personality Disorder, known as BPD,
is a personality disorder that stems from childhood
and completely alters the pathways in the brain.
BPD can affect how those diagnosed handle personal
relationships, mood changes, impulsivity and more.
Those with BPD often struggle to maintain friends
and intimate relationships, control impulsive thoughts
and experience intense mood swings that can often be
almost impossible to control. While it shares common
symptoms with Bipolar disorder, BPD is unique in the
sense that it isn’t something you’re born with. Senior
social work major at The University of Alabama, Eli
Henson, was diagnosed during her sophomore year of
college.
“I was diagnosed at age 19,” Eli Henson said.
“Before that, I had several wrong diagnoses because they
can’t diagnose minors with BPD.”
Growing up, Henson wasn’t sure of the cause of some
of her behaviors.
“I didn’t go to therapy until I was 16, so I wasn’t
sure what was wrong with me,” Henson said. “I was
irrationally angry and impulsive, and engaged in a lot of
risky behaviors.”
Once she was properly diagnosed, she searched for
support through others’ stories.
“It’s nice to know that I’m not alone in the way I feel,”
said Henson. “There’s a ton of other people that actually
have it. I joined some online support groups, and it’s nice
to hear other people’s stories because I can relate. It’s
almost comforting to know not everyone had a perfect
family growing up, and that changed my perspective.
That’s the beautiful thing about online support groups
because I’ve only met two or three people in real life with
BPD.”
While there is no medication-based treatment
currently available for BPD specifically, Henson uses
a combination of tools to ensure she takes care of her
mental health to the best of her ability.
“I go to therapy weekly, I specifically do Dialectical
Behavior Therapy (DBT),” said Henson. “With it being
a personality disorder, there’s no medication that would
completely cure me. BPD changes how your brain
pathways are formed, it’s almost like a head wound. I
journal a lot to avoid oversharing to others and to work
out my emotions independently.”
Making use of tools and resources, both on and offcampus,
has helped Henson tremendously in making the
most out of her college years despite experiencing BPD.
“I’ve been late on assignments and things come
up because BPD affects all areas of my life,” Henson
explains. “Now that I have that diagnosis, I’m registered
with the Office of Disability Services and protected in a
way.”
To successfully juggle all aspects of life, Henson makes
several accommodations to her own lifestyle to help her
mental health.
“I feel like I have to work so hard for everyone else’s
level of adequacy,” Henson said. “But there’s many
things I do to help myself. My Publix pharmacy sends
me reminders throughout the month to help me stay
on track of my medication and I take advantage of ODS
resources like tutoring. I meet with my social worker
from the REACH program, a program that supports
homeless and orphaned students at the university, once
a month. We plan out the upcoming month, I update her
on classes and she helps hold me accountable. It gives
me the little push I need.”
Henson encourages students to reach out for help. “I
had really bad imposter syndrome and I thought mental
health resources weren’t for me, but they’ve helped me
grow tremendously in my own mental health journey.”
Anxiety and Depression: Maddie
Dean
Anxiety and depression affects over 40 million adults
in the U.S. Maddie Dean, a sophomore at the University
of Alabama, is no exception.
“I was diagnosed in 2017, during my sophomore
year of high school,” Dean said. “My mom is a nurse
practitioner, and she saw the signs in me. She sat me
down to talk about it, and from there I really started
handling it.”
Dean noticed that since being diagnosed, she
feels more prepared to handle what comes with anxiety
and depression, but they still present obstacles.
“I can’t really control my depression, when
it hits I try to journal a lot,” Dean said. “I do prompt
journaling, and it helps me clear my head and relax.
When I’m not working on my mental health and going
through a lot, my grades plummet. Last year was
especially rough, I had a 2.0 GPA. I was still passing, but
it wasn’t what I wanted.”
Dean’s diagnoses especially affect her collegiate social
life.
“Meeting new people can be really hard because my
anxiety presents a lot as social anxiety,” Dean said.“It can
be nerve-wracking to meet people, and my depression
and anxiety just makes me not want to do anything.”
When confronted with a situation or time when her
mental health isn’t the best, Dean knows she needs to
take care of herself.
“If I feel myself starting to have severe anxiety, I try
to take a second to breathe and write everything down,
which really helps me get it from my head onto paper,”
Dean said.
Taking care of your mental health while fulfilling a
seemingly endless list of obligations in college may seem
even more difficult when a student is already struggling
with mental illness. The best way to take care of oneself
is to find what works for an individual’s specific situation
and remember that no one is alone in these experiences.
Reaching out for help can feel embarrassing and hard
to do, but mental health is just as important as physical
health. Sometimes outside perspectives, tools and
resources can help students not just stay afloat during
their college careers but thrive.
National Suicide Prevention
Hotline:
800-273-8255
BPD Hotline:
800-950-6264
[76]
Olivia Bennes, a student at the
Univeristy of Alabama shares her
experiences with ADHD.
[77]

Illustration/ Ella Smyth
WHAT FITNESS CAN DO FOR
IMMUNITY
[78]
BY EYY GALLAGHER
During the peak of flu season and of
course, the ongoing COVID-19 season,
immunity and health, in general, tend to be the
recurring hot topic of discussion for parents of
college-age students. The plan of attack for students
tends to be as follows; chug an Emergen-C, pop
a Vitamin D supplement and possibly wash their
hands a few times a day. It seems as though there
is not a whole lot college students can do except
hope they don’t come down with the newest strain
of the flu or get mono from the boy they kissed a
month ago at the bar. However, there actually is
something they can do.
Believe it or not, fitness, both physically
and metabolically, is one of the best defenders
against viruses, bacterias and diseases. According
to Ace Sports Clinic, “regular physical activity and
structured exercise have been shown to reduce
the incidence of chronic diseases, including
communicable diseases like viral and bacterial
infections. The benefits of leading an active
lifestyle include enhancing immune competency
and regulation.” By adding in a form of movement
into a weekly routine, college students can better
protect themselves from seasonal illnesses and
even future diseases.
“Chronic inflammation causes our immune
system to become aggressive towards our own
bodies, which propagates issues such as cardiac
and pulmonary fibrosis, diabetes, vascular disease,
and even cancer,” Dr. Lee Winchester, Assistant
Professor of Exercise Science, said. “Conversely,
our immune cells become less responsive to an
infection and therefore, are not as efficient at
fighting it off.”
Unfortunately, when some people
think of fitness; physical appearance, weight and
muscular definition may come to mind. While
these aspects do play a part in overall fitness,
physical appearance or a number on a scale is not
wholly what being “fit” means. In a video that Lizzo,
an American pop singer, posted, she summed
up this fact when she said, “Next time you want
to come to somebody and judge them — whether
they drink kale smoothies or eat McDonald’s, or
workout or not workout — how about you look at
your own f*cking self, and worry about your own
damn body. Because health is not just determined
by what you look like on the outside, health is also
what happens on the inside.”
It’s important to realize that metabolic
health is just as important to overall fitness, and it
plays a major role in immunity. Metabolic health,
in a study according to the journal of Metabolic
Syndrome and Related Disorders, is “having ideal
levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density
lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure and
waist circumference, without using medications.”
The idea is that when metabolic health is good,
bodily functions are most likely working properly,
which allows for the immune system to work to
the best of its ability.
“When metabolism becomes distorted,
typically (but not always) because of poor
diet and/or lack of physical activity, we see
pathophysiological changes that promote the
development of metabolic diseases, such as type II
Diabetes Mellitus,” Winchester said.
According to the Journal of Sport and
Health Science, exercise has an anti-inflammatory
influence on the body and creates an effective
immune response. In a study the journal
conducted, they found that “acute exercise, or
a single bout of exercise, is now viewed as an
important immune system adjuvant to stimulate
the ongoing exchange of leukocytes (white blood
cells) between the circulation and tissues.”
Winchester said as well as physical activity,
having a proper diet is also critical for maintaining
metabolic health. Diets high in sugar, saturated
fats, and cholesterol are considered detrimental to
metabolic health.
Exercise and diet are the key factors that
can drive these immune responses and hopefully
improve the function of an individual’s immune
system. It’s important to note that though
exercise has great benefits to overall health,
excessive exercise or vigorous training can have
the opposite of a beneficial effect on the immune
system. Whether walking or weight lifting, any
form of light to moderate exercise can significantly
improve health and metabolic fitness.
“Proper metabolic regulation, which is a
major benefit of exercise training, reduces the risk
of disease development, due, at least in part, to the
aforementioned mechanisms,” Winchester said.
“Therefore, fitness culture should incorporate this
knowledge into their conversation because regular
exercise is one of the most effective strategies
for reducing the risk of metabolic disease
development.”
Staying healthy and keeping the immune
system strong does not have to be difficult. There
are a multitude of ways to keep sickness away
but exercise and diet have proven to be some of
the best weapons. The best part about it is there
is no right way to exercise, it’s whatever makes
someone feel their best. Now, get a long walk in
and eat a nutritious dinner before heading to the
bar and your immune system will thank you and
have a much easier time protecting you from the
mono you were worried about.
[79]

What Exercise You
Should Try Based
On Your Candy
Preferences
By Jennafer Bowman
Do you like Sweet or
Sour candy?
Sweet
Sour
Do you have a sweet tooth?
Are you looking for a new
form of exercise? Follow
our candy map to find out
what the best way to sweat
it out is! Plus, get a new
candy suggestion!
Do you prefer milk or
dark chocolate?
Would you rather eat hard
candy or chewy candy for
the rest of your life?
Dark Milk Hard Chewy
Which is the best duo: peanut
butter and chocolate or caramel
and chocolate?
PB & C
CA & C
Which is better:
Peppermint or Spearmint?
Peppermint
Spearmint
Do you prefer bitter or
sweet chocolate?
Which is better: Red
Vines or Twizzlers?
Bitter
Sweet
Red Vines
Twizzlers
EXERCISE YOU SHOULD
TRY: Intense exercise like running
and cardio-based workouts are
totally your thing. Bitter candy
usually leads to less sugar and
peanut butter is great for a source
of protein and energy, perfect for
those going through high-intensity
training.
CANDY YOU SHOULD TRY:
Next time you take a trip to Trader
Joe’s make sure to grab a tub of
their dark chocolate peanut butter
cups. The bitter chocolate encasing
mixes smoothly with the creamy
peanut butter inside the wrap cups.
EXERCISE YOU SHOULD
TRY: It’s time to be bold! Try
Zumba or any form of dance class
to really step out of the box. High
energy dance classes will leave
you feeling happier and more
confident all while learning some
choreography.
CANDY YOU SHOULD TRY:
As the holiday season quickly
approaches, food stores will soon
be lined with chocolate and mintflavored
candies. Don’t skip over
Ghirardeli’s Peppermint Bark.
These perfect squared chocolate
bars combine all three types of
chocolate with a layer of crunchy
peppermint bark to give you a cool
crisp flavor.
EXERCISE YOU SHOULD
TRY: It’s time to break out the
yoga mat! Just like the cool taste
of spearmint, take a break and
practice your downward dog with
a yoga class! Take some to stretch
like a Red Vine and push your
muscles to release any and all
tension.
CANDY YOU SHOULD TRY:
Have a beach trip coming up?
Make sure to stop at the boardwalk
and grab some salt water taffy.
This salty and chewy dessert will
crush all of your cravings. An
added bonus is that there are
over 50 flavors of salt water taffy!
Imagine a sweet minty treat to
fight off some sunburn!
EXERCISE YOU SHOULD
TRY: Have you been thinking
about getting a gym membership?
This could be your sign to get one!
Weight training is the perfect
exercise for you. Just like how
caramel and soft and chewy
Twizzlers seem to have super
strength when you pull them apart,
you too can turn into superman.
CANDY YOU SHOULD TRY:
Target run anyone? Next time
you’re checking out in this super
chain store, take a look at their
cash wrap area and pick up a bag
of Wiley Wallaby. This Australianbased
licorice brand has put a
sticky spin on the iconic Twizzler
bites, with a softer texture and
a more tart taste, these will be a
perfect post-lift snack.
[80]
[81]

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