It's Discrimination, Not Freedom

 Sticker on an Indiana business that has decided to serve
all customers

Yesterday, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. This bill allows a business to deny service to gay people due to conflicting religious beliefs. I think this law is completely unjust, specifically targeting and discriminating against gay people. People should be allowed to freely hold religious beliefs, but those beliefs should not be used as excuses for discriminatory actions.

However, many stores are choosing to put up stickers to express their decision to serve all customers. Designer Desserts, a cupcake shop in Indiana, has chosen to put up one of these stickers to show its  support for  all people. The NCAA is also struggling greatly with this law, questioning whether the organization should hold future events, such as the Final Four, in Indianapolis. With the NCAA and many other organizations and companies, including Designer Desserts, questioning this bill, I think it's pretty clear that this new law is unjust. It seems like a classic example of discrimination. Religion is being used as an excuse to target a specific group of people. That should not be allowed.

Finally a Black Spokeswoman for Dior

As I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed the other day, I came across a post that truly surprised me. Rihanna has just become the first black woman spokesperson for Dior! I'm so glad that the Christian Dior company is trying to become more diverse. However, the company was founded back in 1946. Why has it taken so long for an African American woman to represent Dior?

I think Dior's hesitance to hire a black spokeswoman for so long speaks to Americans' flawed perception of beauty. The company is finally making strides by hiring Rihanna, but she has very light skin for an African American. Throughout American history, white skin has always been considered better than dark skin. Even today, according to a CNN study, children of all skin colors seem to be biased toward lighter-skinned individuals. This bias can probably be traced to the media's insistence on whitewashing. When African Americans are used in ad campaigns, they are often photoshopped to look very light-skinned. For example, Beyoncé's skin was lightened to such an extent that she could probably pass for white. A comparison between Beyoncé's normal skin color and her retouched image can be seen below.

Beyonce's normal skin color (left) compared to her
photoshopped skin color (right)

At least Dior is finally hiring an African American, despite Rihanna's light skin. Rihanna claims that "It is such a big deal for me, for my culture, for a lot of girls of any color. I think to be acknowledged by Dior, it means a lot as a woman to feel beautiful, to feel elegant and timeless." Hiring Rihanna is definitely a first step for Dior. I just hope that Dior doesn't insist on photoshopping Rihanna to look even more light-skinned. Dark skin should be considered just as beautiful as light skin. The more African American women that appear across social media, the more likely that Americans will begin to see the beauty in all skin colors. 

Happiest Place or Priciest Place?

Disney's Magic Kingdom

Back in October, I wrote about Disney replacing its Maelstrom ride at Epcot with a new Frozen-themed attraction in order to make the Norway exhibit more profitable. After all, Frozen-themed merchandise has been earning Disney over $1 billion annually, leading Disney to have a record-breaking year in profit last year. After such a success, Disney is trying to earn even more money. In fact, Walt Disney World just hiked up its prices to $105 a day for admission to Magic Kingdom. This is the first time in history that prices have surpassed $100 at the theme park. For the average family, a trip to Walt Disney World would be extraordinarily expensive. Yet, when I was little, my siblings and I always loved Disney. My parents wanted us to have the Disney World experience, despite the park's priciness.

My parents were definitely not the only ones making the decision to take their children to the extremely expensive Orlando. According to Kay Hymowitz, author of Liberation’s Children: Parents and Kids in a Postmodern Age, "It’s become an American ritual...just about every kid, white, black, brown, rich and all but the poorest of the poor, go to Disney World.” It amazes me how Disney World has become such a "ritual" for American families. Parents are willing to sacrifice enormous amounts of money in order to provide their children the opportunity to go to the Happiest Place on Earth. The real "American" ritual may be for parents to spend tons on their children. Disney just brings out the true American money-spenders within us all.

SAE Shut Down

Fraternity at University of Oklahoma that released the
racist video

Yesterday, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity at the University of Oklahoma released a very racist video. In the video, many members of the fraternity chant, "You can hang ‘em from a tree, but it will never start with me/There will never be a n***** SAE." No one can deny that racism still exists today. This video was disturbing and completely unacceptable.

Fortunately, the president of the University of Oklahoma, David Boren, decided to take action. He claimed that "Real Sooners are not bigots, real Sooners are not racist." He ordered that the fraternity be shut down and that Oklahoma would not provide housing to "bigots." Boren claimed that he would have a zero-tolerance policy when it came to racism and he is sticking to his word. I'm very pleased that Boren and the University of Oklahoma have decided to take immediate action against SAE. Just because the school is located in the South doesn't mean it should be a school full of racists. I'm proud of Boren for making it clear that racism should not be tolerated at the University of Oklahoma or anywhere else in the US for that matter. 

The Mystery Behind #TheDress

White and Gold Version (Left), Original Image (Center),
Black and Blue Version (Right)

I'm sure by now almost everyone has heard of "the dress". In case you haven't, this past weekend, there was a huge controversy over whether the dress on the left was blue and black or white and gold. Social media buzzed crazily when people could not agree on the colors of the dress. Personally, I saw blue and black. I was extremely confused when my cousin told me that she could only see white and gold. After a heated debate across almost all social media platforms, the designer of the dress, Roman Originals, tweeted that the dress was in fact blue and black: "We can confirm that #TheDress is blue and black! We should know!" Of course, I was relieved to find out that my theory was correct.

However, I was most interested in the fact that people became so invested in this mystery. News about this dress spread so quickly across social media because everyone was so eager to discover the truth. Not only was this a mystery about a dress, but a mystery about health, and specifically vision. Many feared that there was something wrong with their eyes when they disagreed with others about the dress color. It amazes me how Americans are so obsessed with their health. News spreads about the newest cancer treatments and salmonella-infested foods very quickly each day. I think to many Americans, viewing the wrong color of the dress was just another health concern. Of course, media went abuzz.

"Stay Weird, Stay Different"

Graham Moore after winning an Oscar for The Imitation Game

During the Oscars this past weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people use their winning speeches as opportunities to   bring certain issues for the forefront. For example, after winning an Oscar for Boyhood, Patricia Arquette pointed out the importance of women gaining equal rights. John Legend and Common spoke up about the discrimination against African Americans after the two singers won the award for their song, "Glory". However, many people, including myself, considered Graham Moore's speech the most moving of the night.

Graham Moore won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game. When Oprah announced Moore as the winner, Moore looked stunned but extremely excited. He rushed up to the stage, eager to spread his words of wisdom to the millions of people watching the event.  Moore said, "I tried to commit suicide at 16 and now I'm standing here. I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. You do. Stay weird. Stay different, and then when it's your turn and you are standing on this stage please pass the same message along." Moore bravely shared his own story of attempting suicide when he was a teenager. He got through it, and now look at what he has become! I think it's wonderful that not only did Moore share this story and bring suicide to the attention of the public, but he also advised people to "pass the same message along". Unfortunately, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in Americans of all ages. People need to know that they may go through dark times, but they can still become something great. Being different doesn't make you worth any less. In fact, it makes you more interesting. Just look at Graham Moore; he won an Academy Award! If that isn't interesting, then I don't know what interesting means.

Redefining American Beauty

Yesterday,  a new unaltered photograph (on the right) of Cindy Crawford circulated all across the internet. Crawford, 48, has been a supermodel all her life. However, after aging and having children, her body looks more like the average woman. Crawford once said, "When I was 23 other women could look at me and say, 'Well, she's never had kids,' but now I have and I know what it's like to have to lose baby weight." After giving birth, she hasn't been able to completely lose her extra belly weight. In this photograph, she decided not to hide that fact. Through this picture, Crawford is inspiring others to appreciate their bodies.

When I first viewed this image, I was delighted to see a woman embracing her natural beauty without Photoshop touch-ups. We have too many photographs in magazines, on billboards, on the internet, and on TV that depict extremely skinny models who have been Photoshopped to look even "better". Yet, those images aren't real. The expectations for beauty aren't real. These unrealistic expectations help explain why approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies.  That fact hits close to home since my cousin struggled with Anorexia Nervosa for a few years. The media's focus on extremely skinny women only contributed to her anxiety. Whenever she started to eat more normally, reminders of thinness haunted her as she turned on the TV or logged onto the computer. For people with eating disorders, this technological age tends to only perpetuate their bad eating habits. Until more photographs like Crawford's begin to appear throughout our society, I'm afraid that women all across America will continue to be unsatisfied with their body images. People need to learn to embrace others' "imperfections" in order to redefine American beauty. This Cindy Crawford image is a step in the right direction.