I’ve been writing for the school newspaper for 2 years, and am now the editor-in-chief. My articles focus on popular culture and its influence on society.
October 5, 2020
Social media may play a key role in the future of voting
“With the ability to register to vote through social media, and voting apps that allow Americans to see the voting history of their friends and encourage them to vote, this year's presidential election has taken a modern approach.
This election already looks different from most, being in the midst of a global pandemic. Some candidates have held rallies, but the pandemic has caused turnout to be low.
Candidates need to find a new way to connect and recruit votes. Enter social media. Candidates can directly communicate with their audiences, and ask their audience to reach out to more friends to support them.
However, the shift to campaigning on social media is recent, which leads to most social media use to be ineffective. Social Studies teacher Patrick Walsh, who is currently teaching an Upper School elective at Catlin Gabel School (CGS) about the presidential election, said that before this shift “it was just unpresidential to be on social media.”
President Donald Trump’s use of Twitter has been a large contributor to the shift. Michael D. Shear, White House Correspondent for the New York Times, noted that “Twitter was a political tool that had helped get [Trump] elected. In the years since, he has fully integrated Twitter into the very fabric of his administration, reshaping the nature of the presidency and presidential power.”
Social media campaigning is especially important for bringing in young voters. In the past, the Federal Higher Education Effort required that colleges “make a good faith effort” to distribute voting registration and information to students.
“These hubs of youth politics, like university campuses, are shut down,” said Walsh.
Youth voter turnout in the 2016 presidential election was stagnant from years before and even decreased in some states.
Though the pandemic has obviously affected this years’ election, social media may have even more of an impact in future elections, as its use becomes more normalized.”
May 7, 2020
The white beauty ideal in the media falls short
“Media dominates our lives. In the age of social media, most adolescents start their day by scrolling through Instagram. They may end their day by watching TV. In short, research suggests that young people are exposed to about 5,000 advertisements per day, in research published by Psychology Today.
The faces they see on their screens affects their perception of beauty. The earliest example of this lies in the Doll Test, which was used in arguments against racially segregating schools in Brown v. Board of Education. Here, African-American children were asked to choose which doll they wanted to play with more: a white doll or a doll painted brown. A large majority of the children chose the white doll.
The introduction of television and film has since exacerbated the white beauty ideal. Often, actors of color play comedic roles or are used to diversify the cast, all while adhering to white beauty standards.
Catlin Gabel School (CGS) junior Kelly Park can attest to that.
“Growing up, the characters I watched did not look like me. It’s frustrating because when Asian actors do appear, they are typically cast as stereotypical sidekicks white directors can use for comic relief and extra diversity points,” Park said. “It wasn’t until this year when “Parasite” came out, that I actually felt represented.”
“Parasite” shattered boundaries, being the first film with an all-Asian cast to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
There are of course, scientific aspects to beauty. Humans are genetically engineered to pick out and judge, and there are certain things that the human eye simply finds attractive.
Universally, beauty is “partially determined by a function of physical features, such as facial averageness, symmetry and skin homogeneity,” says Neelam Vashi, MD. Vashi is an associate professor of dermatology and the founder of the Center for Ethnic skin.
However, over time, the American media has skewed these indications of beauty, making it more conventional and more white. It is only in recent years that characters are being cast more diversely. In addition to more people of color being cast, they are also receiving less stereotypical roles.'“