Who reading this has not felt pressure to perform professionally or academically? I genuinely want to know. I have yet to meet anyone in my life who can say that the limitations of their socioeconomic status do not strain them, yet to meet anyone who doesn’t feel that their worth and safety aren’t intrinsically tied to their professional productivity. In the economy that we live in, money is the means through which you access healthcare, nourishing food, clean water, and other vital resources. And it seems that the exchange rate between time given, and resources received just keeps getting wider and wider. There’s no arguing that we live in a society with an intense capitalistic drive. So how are we to resist grind culture and find the time to rest that we so desperately need, while keeping ourselves housed and fed, to keep ourselves happy and healthy? This paradox brings to mind Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, wherein we can only work on the “loftier” goals of life, like love, self-esteem, and contentedness, if all our physiological and safety needs are met.
On April 19-22nd, the University of Idaho will host the annual Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. This year marks the 56th anniversary of celebrating one of the world’s largest and oldest educational jazz festivals. The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival honors the music, dance, and history of jazz music. Over time, the festival has become one of the most prestigious music events in the country. The festival hosts jazz masters from around the world to come together to celebrate this art form. The event includes student performances, workshops, clinics, and outstanding evening concerts. The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival inspires budding jazz musicians to become better at their craft and continue to support jazz education.
The first University of Idaho Jazz Festival took place in 1967. The festival was a one-day event, with a dozen student groups and one guest artist participating. As the years followed, the event erupted onto the national stage in 1982, when thousands of students and spectators gathered to hear jazz legend. In 1984, Lionel Hampton participated in the festival in Moscow, inspiring jazz students and forming a close relationship with the festival organizers. Hampton vowed to support the festival, and in honor of his pledge, the festival was named after him in 1985. Since then, the festival has hosted thousands of students, spectators, and artists worldwide. In 2007, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival was awarded the National Medal of Arts by former President George W. Bush; this recognition honors the power of jazz and education to bring cultures together, inspiring the next generation of jazz greats.
Earth Day is celebrated each year by people worldwide on April 22; this year marks 53 years of protesting, advocating for change, and volunteering for the good of the environment. By celebrating Earth Day, we recognize all the hard work activists have done to raise awareness about our global commitment to improving the planet. Understanding why this day was established and recognizing activists’ achievements helps connect people across the globe. Earth Day reminds the world that our planet is the only place we call home, and by participating in environmental health, we work towards improving our quality of life.
Earth Day celebrates the start of the environmental movement in 1970, with activists working on promoting environmental protection. In 1969, major ecological concerns arose due to the impact of the Vietnam War. A group of student activities led by Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson sought to push politicians to end the war and demanded the protection of the environment. This protest contributed to the first Earth Day celebrated in the United States as a day of education about environmental issues. It became a global event in 1990, encouraging people to get more serious about recycling. Establishing Earth Day led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and many more legislative actions. Now, it is an annual celebration that honors the achievements of ecological movements and raises global awareness of the need to protect the planet. These achievements highlight our progress in educating people about important conservation and sustainability issues and establishing critical environmental bills. However, issues surrounding climate change are still wildly impacting our planet.
Throughout March, we celebrate Women’s History Month by honoring women’s contributions to history and contemporary society. Once a local celebration, Women’s History Month is now recognized as a national month of observation by presidential proclamation. Throughout this month, we encourage the recognition of women, past and present, who have devoted their lives to supporting women’s rights.
The idea of Women’s History Month traces back to the first International Women’s Day in 1911. The holiday would later be forgotten in the U.S. until the late 1960s, when an activist known as Laura X organized a protest on March 8th, 1969, in Berkeley, CA, on International Women’s Day. Laura X founded the Women’s History Research Center in 1968, connecting women throughout the United States in the hope of reviving International Women’s Day. By 1970, the research center had become well-known through early feminist publications, presenting research-based writing on women’s views and making it available nationwide. Laura X inspired women to protest nationwide and later became a Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press associate. This organization increases communication between women and the public with women-based media. Laura X would continue to dedicate her work to supporting women in leading successful campaigns across America.
An IUD in the Medicine Man exhibit in London Photo credit: Olivia Andersen
Humans’ efforts to control their fertility have been evident throughout history. Over time, important advances in medicine have changed the focus of public health measures. The evolution of contraceptives, from traditional home-based forms of treatment to modern ones, has revolutionized birth control today. From condoms made from fish bladders thousands of years ago, to court decisions that limit and expand who has access today, efforts to control bodies have in place for millenia, although often been imposed by governments, religious institutions, medical professionals, and others seeking to regulate reproduction by blocking access to contraception.
During the development of modern contraceptives, people initially relied on birth control methods of coitus interruptus, leaves, herbs, or periodic abstinence. These traditional methods varied throughout ancient societies. Many women would gather natural ingredients to create potions and other birth control-like substances or document their menstrual cycle. During ancient and medieval times, women took various forms of drugs, abortifacients, to terminate a pregnancy. Different variations of condoms were produced during these times made from animal skin, but it wasn’t until 1855 that the first rubber condom was invented. Initially, condoms were produced to guard against venereal infection, but they would later be used as a contraceptive. Ideologies surrounding the beginning of life differed between religious practices, but most maintained that life began after birth. These ideologies about abortion changed with efforts to control the population; these traditional methods slowly died out due to the political ideologies surrounding intercourse and life. Decades later, when the church began to closely regulate marriage in Europe, procreative intercourse within the bounds of marriage was the only sexual activity condoned. During the 1800s, two opposing movements surrounding birth control began. On one side, women pushed for birth control, while others argued that contraception was immoral and promoted prostitution. Ideologies surrounding the opposition to abortions and or preventative methods have delayed the freedom to exercise family planning. In 1873, The Comstock Act made it illegal to use the U.S. postal service to mail/sell anything sex-related, including contraceptives. This act wouldn’t be removed until decades later, after several attempts to repeal the law.
Having just turned 23, I continue to ponder what it means to be at this stage of my life. What has my transition from girl to young woman been like? What is still in store and how can I continue to cultivate and remember this journey into womanhood? I realize that this transition isn’t something I’ve formally been prepared for. There are times when I feel mature beyond my years and naïvely adult. I’ve watched my rooms change over the years, my clothing preferences, and my taste in literature expand into more intimate and serious topics. Trying to define where my girlhood ends, and womanhood begins fills me with conflicting feelings. Is this growth private or something that can be evaluated? Perhaps there is no real preparation past puberty – you just grow up, learn to take change in stride.
From pexels.com
As with all great periods of change, there is a feeling of loss that comes over me when I think of the years I left behind. While there is reason to be proud of getting older, I draw my focus towards objects, memories, people, and places that have defined this transition. Some of these aspects are universal, but stories of women and girls as individuals are diverse and complex because there are many ways to be a woman, despite what society narrates. For some, growing up means facing reality. This could be moving out of one’s childhood home, a relationship, the loss of a loved one, starting birth control, or even just starting menstruation. Personally, I’ve grounded my transitions in my identity and sense of self. I felt like a woman when I started to understand the complicated emotions shown by my parents and how they reflected within me. I realized that as I was getting older, I had new thoughts and opinions emerge. Asking myself questions about whether I’d want to be a wife and mother someday, what sort of career I wanted and how to navigate those expectations through the lenses of society and my parents.
My father often told me that being a woman of color in Journalism would not be easy. So, I had another facet to consider about womanhood – the color of my skin. If being Black has made me less of a person, does having my skin make me less of a woman by default? Growing up, women are told they can do and be anything, but always within the confines of sexist restraints and double standards. I want to believe that womanhood is an ongoing and beautiful adventure. The characteristics that describe a woman can be stereotyped when it comes to personality. Traits like sensitivity, tenderness, helpful, and nurturing have been linked to what defines the “typical” woman. But this definition of femininity is sometimes linked with sexual objectification and how forward or passive a woman is or “should be.” Down to the clothes we wear, whether “tomboy” or “girly,” there are endless ways to define being a woman. The lists can be biased towards traditional ideals that sadly have not yet been done away with. I do not believe that the traits listed define a woman poorly, but rather, society has curated a particular image of how to exhibit each trait. As part of my growth into womanhood, I find that my empathy gives me resilience, my sensitivity fosters deep understanding, and intuition, which in turn give way to patience and creativity in my words and actions. The clothes I wear showcase my version of my own beauty and allow me to express the nuances that make me who I am.
young woman of color from pexels.com
I do agree that most women I have met tend to be more in-tuned with their emotions, myself included. However, gender socialization also plays a major role in the stereotypes embedded in modern culture. What is expected of women and men has been instilled since childhood for many people. It involves teaching children to behave under an umbrella of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors associated with their gender. As time goes on, girls learn to behave in a docile or modest way and are often expected to be more emotional due to their hormone fluctuations. Boys, on the other hand, can often be taught to suppress their emotional sides in effort to look strong, capable, and masculine. That said, many of the personality traits we see among young men and women are often apart the gender conditioning that occurs well into adolescence.
The journey to womanhood is rooted in the sum of my experiences and how they form a sense of self. Self-concept is the perception of behaviour, abilities, traits, and overall personality. As I grew up, my interests and thought patterns began to shape the girl I was growing into. As I age, I continue to learn what’s important to me, what virtues and characteristics I want to embody within the framework of a woman that has been provided by society, my spiritual beliefs, and female figures in my life. This collection of internal conditions lays the foundation for the experiences that will follow. There is no single way to be a woman, but I do believe that all women are unique in the way that we process emotions and make use of our intellect. One is not better than the other and that is the beauty of being human; of growing in my own way from girl to woman. I do not want to despise my bifurcated self; I will not choose whether I am strong or kind. There are no parts of me that are useless, no matter how society views them. The stereotypical traits of women do not represent the fullness of womanhood, and with this in mind, as I get older, I can learn to be content with the version of me that is both strong and tender, or sensitive and assertive.
There isn’t a time of preparation for the changes from girl, to adolescent, to young woman. Cultivating my own journey of growing up and defining who I am as a woman is what will go towards the breaking down of social expectations for girls and women. No one can tell us who we ought to be, a sense of self is formed inside of us long after we have left our parents and living communities behind. I want to remember my transitions as they were. To join all the woman who have come before me in the frightening, yet fulfilling, path to growth. Nurturing the freedom to be the strongest woman I can be by the standards of my own personal beliefs.
The vastness of the internet gives us all access to more information than we’ll ever know what to do with. Those of us that experienced the introduction of technology during our childhoods can’t imagine living in a time before Google was readily available at our fingertips. Having constant access to anything and everything you can think of might sound like a negative thing, and at times it can be a bit much. But it also allows us to learn about things we might not otherwise. In the case of social media, we can learn things about ourselves and other people. The popular video-sharing platform, TikTok, has recently become a popular place for all kinds of advice, though the most noticeable is the increase in relationship advice and how to identify toxic traits in partners.
Most social media platforms focus on presenting perfectly manicured versions of our lives. We post our best days on Instagram and Facebook, often not sharing the reality of those moments. But TikTok has proven itself different as a social media platform with its large number of creators dedicated to exposing the real parts of life and relationships. One thing that I learned about fairly recently on TikTok is the idea of weaponized incompetence. Though the term first showed up in 2007, it’s not really a new thing.
November is Native American Heritage Month and in honor of this month of observance, the University of Idaho hosted a week-long speaker series about Indigenous history and culture. The United States was built on the contributions and history of the Indigenous people. The university campus itself is located on one of many tribal lands in the state of Idaho. Specifically, UI Moscow campus is located on the homelands of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce). Gratitude and recognition is extended to the Indigenous people that have called and still call this place home: “UI recognizes that it is our academic responsibility to build relationships with the indigenous people to ensure integrity of tribal voices”.
The University has a Native American Student Center that supports and empowers Native American students with their academic and cultural needs on campus. Its services include: tribal networking, tutoring, advising, mentoring and much more. This encourages other Native American students, staff, and faculty to get to know each other and form a community.
Native American Statue from pexels.com
The Office of Tribal Relations sponsored this week’s Native American Heritage speaker series. The office strives to cultivate respect and knowledgeable research of Indigenous culture, as well as provide outreach and programming for its Indigenous student body. UI seeks to provide for Native American communities an environment that understands the interconnectedness of the earth, history, and our present day.
On Monday, I had the privilege of attending Dr. Elizabeth Huaman’s speakeing event. Dr Huaman is an educational researcher of Indigenous ecology, cultural practices, and knowledge systems. She is of the Huanca/Wanka Quechua people in the Junín Region of central Peru.
In this webinar, Huaman presented powerful insights from the experiences and history of Indigenous peoples. One of the things that stood out to me was how she used weaving as a metaphor for gathering in the event itself. As part of the audience, I and many others become an integral part in the telling and celebration of Indigenous experiences. Just as weaving is a cultural art form and expression, travel is another core aspect of Native identity.
Dr. Elizabeth Huaman gives a timely speech about the planetary beauty surrounding Indigenous culture. Every river, mountain, and terrain ties together the existence of indigenous peoples. The respect for the ground our food and resources come from to the lakes and rivers that sustain both us and the earth. She definitely has me reframing my view of this holiday season- where gathering, gifts, and bountiful meals are prepared in celebration of community and familial ties.
Huaman went on to explain the dedication Native Americans show to the land. From travel, the dedication and respect to the planet and all natural elements grow into the heritage. Huaman understands how important it is for everyone to remember the country we see today and the true history that formed it. “The global systems of land and body must be acknowledged”, she said. With Indigenous research comes an awakening, which she describes as “shunning ignorance and denial- fully understanding and defending the Native peoples and the lives they lived and the history they shaped even today”. This is not only for other people and nations but also for indigenous peoples themselves to continue learning about their ancestral ties with the integrity it deserves. The world is always changing and Huaman’s talk urged us to move away from the notion of a fixed identity.
Holiday harvest from pexels.com
With Thanksgiving underway, people all over the country prepare to sit down and express gratitude. Indigenous culture can provide a renewed perspective on Thanksgiving. An Honorable Harvest is a framework about the reciprocation of humans and the land. Oftentimes, in the heat of festivities, sometimes we don’t stop and really express gratitude for the Earth itself and its provision. In Native American culture, Thanksgiving is a result of stewarding the land faithfully- taking only what is needed and appreciating the gifts of the land. Today, mass production and resource exploitation are far too common and are extremely damaging to the Earth future.
In an article from YesMagazine, writer Robin Kimmerer says this, “In this season of harvest, our baskets are full… so too are the steel shopping carts that clatter across the parking lot, plastic bags whipping in the wind. How do we even name such abundance? Are these commodities? Natural resources? Ecosystem services? In the Indigenous worldview, we call them gifts”.
An Indigenous perspective provides us with the balance of give and take; provision and sustainability. An honorable harvest can teach the world how to ethically receive and produce what sustains us and express gratitude in unity with our loved ones. This is the honorable harvest.
Giving thanks is a longstanding tradition in Native Indian culture and can continue to teach humans to be mindful of what the planet does for us this holiday season. While the origin of Thanksgiving doesn’t have a beautiful origin story, the Indigenous legacy it has left behind continues to bring honor to the life taken from the ground and animals and the honor given to those who receive it.
So next week, as gatherings and meals take place,- take an extra moment to think of how much the Earth does to fill our tables and kitchens. Take another moment to remember the Indigenous people and the culture of stewardship that shapes this holiday.
What do you think of when you hear the word “princess”? Maybe you thought of fairy tales or enchanted forests. Was it maybe talking animals or singing? Or maybe I’ve already swayed your opinion with the picture I used, and you thought about Disney. Maybe you would have thought about Disney anyway. After all, Disney Princesses have been a part of our culture since the release of Snow White in 1937. However, not very many people know that there was a princess before Snow White. Though Snow White was Disney’s first full-length movie, the short film The Goddess of Spring (1934) featured the story of Persephone and served as a test run for the first “official” Disney Princess. Since then, princess stories have been loved by both children and adults alike. These stories and the culture they’ve inspired are beautiful and magical. Unfortunately, we’ve found that even fun things like these can have negative effects.
One of my favorite things about visiting new places is finding spaces where nature flourishes, vibrant and breathtaking. Growing up in southern California, the idea of nature never immediately brought to mind images of forests or dense woods. Nature for me was the wide-open valleys and horizon built of jagged mountain tops. But no matter where I went, I was always struck by how powerful nature was and how I felt connected to it. Reading under a tree, watching ducks and geese on a pond, or just sitting in a park enjoying the atmosphere are all comforting to me. So it’s no surprise that the connection between women and nature is a popular topic among feminists and environmentalists.
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