An effective protest song does two things: presents its message clearly in a moving manner and causes people to play it more often or want to hear it played more often due to the appeal of its sound to the ear. Often times the song does not need to fully have both of these aspects and still be a quality protest song, but in order to truly be effective it should ideally have both aspects be legitimate and fully present.
Developed by Nicolette Schneiderman, Adrian Moore, and Rachel Hodes (2017)
In a patriarchal world where the lives, opinions, and experiences of men are prioritized above all else, a culture is developed around masculinity that constricts people into a set of unjust normalized behaviors. People who do not fall into the confines of this constructed masculinity are vilified, bullies, made to feel inferior, or even forced to repress their own identities.
Men, the very source of the issue and its main perpetrators, face just as many negative consequences as women and other groups do. Toxic masculinity forces girls at a young age to be confronted and assaulted by their supposedly dominant male counterparts while also teaching boys that they are not to be treated as girly lest they be seen as lesser. The concept of what is girly is not only limited to pink things and frilly clothing though; being in touch with your emotions and being able to express said emotions is considered to be feminine and weak by much of society. A man who cries is often seen as being a weak or unmanly man. Thus, we teach our men that they can not show or acknowledge their feelings and that it is unnatural for them as men to do so. The enforcement of the gender binary and the repression of “non-masculine” behavior in men is at the root of many gender-related problems we see today, from heterosexism and homophobia to the restriction of women’s reproductive rights. For our media representation, we chose to have a representation of the destruction of toxic masculinity by burning the staple symbol of masculinity. By burning a penis shaped candle, we show the slow and tedious deterioration of toxic masculinity. This shows how over time, albeit slowly and with initially small steps, we can move towards tearing down the constraints toxic masculinity puts on people and instead begin to teach healthier mindsets and lifestyles. We also decided to ask for honest answers from people about their opinions on toxic masculinity. By pairing the burning of a phallic symbol with commentary from those within the community of Friends Seminary, we hope to acknowledge how the patriarchy has permeated the way we think and act. By showing earnest responses to the questions “what is toxic masculinity” and “how would you suggest fighting against toxic masculinity”, the end result would present an alarming but honest account of the trauma of masculinity. We hope that this image might provoke and encourage people to think about the ways in which sexism, patriarchy, and male privilege affect their immediate environment as well as the overall the society they live in. The video, especially the inclusion of the phallic symbol, is meant to be shocking. Its purpose is to get people talking about toxic masculinity. Often people can feel attacked by the phrase, and we want to introduce it as a terms to be utilized by those who have society’s best interests at heart
WARNING: Video clip contains some graphic images and language
For my media presentation, I used lines from the Harlem Renaissance poems I collected to create a new poem. I chose the lines from each poem based on how much they spoke to me and not based on how well they can fit together. After I compiled all my lines, I arrange the lines in the order that flowed the most, avoiding putting too many lines from the same poem together. While the poem mostly reads well, it feels choppy because there seems to be conjunctions missing from the poem and punctuations oftentimes do not mark the end of a complete idea. While this was unintentional, the choppy feel to the poem is interesting because it has a shock value to it a bit and given the words can make a powerful impact of the reader. The choppy feel can also represent ideas beyond what the poem directly addresses, something that is up to the reader to decide for themselves. I chose poetry as my media representation because of the fact that these poems spoke to me since they were about issues I could relate to. I have hoping to give another person, who might not necessarily enjoy poetry, that same experience with a poem made up of the the poems that touched and convey what I see as the current struggles of black people.
Developed by Morgan Carmen and Elizabeth Ely (2017)
Theater for Social Change is a course dedicated to bridging the gap between theater, the performing arts, and social justice work. More often than not, when theater and other forms of art are used as a vehicle to promote social justice, the response tends to be more receptive. By infusing a thing that everybody enjoys with important socially charged topics, we are opening up new opportunities to engage a diversity of people in critical debate and discussion.
Ever since election day, half the country has been disappointed. Day after day, new controversies arise that expose our current President, Donald Trump, and cause us, or at least me, to feel great discomfort. In dealing with the current political climate, we must make choices, and decide how to channel our energy. For this project, I decided to channel my creative energy into creating political cartoons describing current events that are troubling to the point that they are funny.
CONVERSATION: This piece was meant to outline the division in our country that seems to bar certain types of people from being able to converse with each other. Through looking at Facebook comment chains, and watching CNN panels, I have an uneasy feeling that has been growing; people with diverging political views simply cannot see eye to eye and have a conversation. A liberal person who begins to speak will be shut down and cut off by a conservative, but conversely, a conservative who begins to speak will be shut down and cut off by a liberal. In this case, the cartoon is a critique of both the far left and the far right for a lack of effort when it comes to trying to understand the other side. This unfortunate duality makes me feel uneasy about the future of our nation where some people might not be able to even have a simple conversation. I sought to speak truth to power by drawing this cartoon to expose the comedy of this problem, almost as if to say “come on.”
COAL TO DIAMONDS: This was a direct response to the climate agenda of President Donald Trump. The appointment of Scott Pruit to head the Environmental Protection Agency, along with countless baseless comments about climate change’s being a hoax along the campaign trail, have made me angry. To deal with this anger, I put together this cartoon that comes up with a comical justification for backing coal so strongly. The idea is that viewers will consider the illogical policies of supporting coal given the environmental risks involved.
DIEU MERCI: This cartoon is simply a button-pin of French President Emmanuel Macron that I drew the day he won the presidency. This cartoon does not speak truth to power as much as capture the collective sigh of relief anti-Trump Americans exhaled as a major European nation did not follow suit with the Brexit- or Trump-style election of the far right candidate Marine LePen.
I SWEAR…: This cartoon is a critique of Americans who say that they will take action and never actually do. People were saying “I swear, I’m moving to Canada if Trump wins” during the election, but the truth is that most people who said that did not move. Americans are stuck with Trump for at least the next four years and must now deal with the problems directly rather than run away from them. The joke is that if we get nuked, we would be dead – we couldn’t move to Canada.
PUTIN VOLLEYBALL: As more and more news was coming out about Russian interference into our election and European elections, I felt a growing sentiment that Russia is trying to control global events, and that Putin, at the helm for Russia, is playing with the world, hence the volleyball-earth.
FLOWER SALESMAN: This cartoon simply aims to capture Donald Trump’s demeanor and rhetoric. His use of hyperbolic language is evident every single time he opens his mouth, and he exaggerates things he does not know anything about. Besides the actual speech in the cartoon, Trump is meant to be selling something he knows nothing about. The flowers are actually meant to be a metaphor for the GOP House Healthcare Bill. The flowers have not yet bloomed, yet Trump is selling them as the best flowers even though we have no proof of it. We have seen this time and time again with Trump, as he says something is going to be “the best ever,” and there is not a single trace of it in reality, but of course, there is apparently an alternative reality about which we know nothing.
In today’s society, there is a shared perception which is, that the criminal justice system is broken. Many people believe that it focuses far too much on criminalization and incarceration rather than working to rehabilitate prisoners so that they can re-enter society once they serve their time.
With this documentary, I hope to
bring together the different perspectives surrounding the criminal justice system and hopefully shed light on some possible solutions to repair the separation between law enforcement and the community.
The project entitled “Where He Ought to Be,” tries to encapsulate the spirit of Trayvon Martin, the spirit that should have existed today but cannot due to the pre-existing racism in this country. The painting shows an almost iconic version of Martin…as he would be now 21 or 22 years of age. In the background of the painting are the wise words of Ta-Nehisi Coates from “Between the World and Me.”
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#ReflectOurValues is a hashtag which stands for a movement, for everyday people asking the many politicians that hold immense amounts of power and authority within our government to advocate for equality and respect women.
Text on mirrors:
In the U.S., 62% of women 15-44 currently using a contraceptive method
“Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s ok, contraception is ok. It’s not ok.” (Rick Santorum)
In 2013, 41% of all births were births outside of marriage
“One of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock… is that there is no longer a stigma… no reason to feel shame” (Jeb Bush)
In 2014, women 16+ made up 47% of the U.S. workforce
“many women… left their kitchens to go door-to-door to put yard signs up for me” (John Kasich)
For additional information, please visit the following websites:
There are mainly Uyghur Muslims in China. Recently China banned fasting and attending services in a mosque for Ramadan in Xinjiang, which is a mainly Muslim part of China. China made this choice because it thought that they faced a “terrorist threat” because of “religious extremism.” Some scholars speculate that the Uyghurs’ persecution in China could lead Muslims in China to ISIS, rather than the other way around. The Uyghurs have no choice but to obey China’s laws, and the government official who represents the Uighur community in Xinjiang agreed to “not enter a mosque in order to consciously resist religious and superstitious ideas.” It is ironic because China has a constitution that promises freedom of speech and religion, but it is clearly not being followed.
For additional information, please visit the following websites:
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