The reality of economic sanctions is starvation and devastation for the masses of people on the ground in the targeted...
NOVEMBER 30, 2021 | WYV NEWS
Since 2014, Wear Your Voice has been a platform for those who needed a space that honored their voices, centered their narratives, and challenged oppressions in ways mainstream publications so often fail to or refuse to do.
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Worker Exploitation, Capitalism, and The “Normal” We Can’t Return To
In a capitalist system, “normal” means worker mistreatment and exploitation, and this disproportionately impacts already marginalized groups. By Princess Avianne Charles “Normal” was considered many things but it certainly was not good enough. For many, what was considered normal was mentally and physically draining, it revoked them of their access to basic necessities and it rationalized sacrificing their well-being to...
‘The White Lotus’ Is An Exercise in White Privilege None of Us Asked For
‘The White Lotus’ says nothing at all, except for what we already know, which is that those who benefit from whiteness are very rarely willing to divest from it. By Arielle Gray [CN: this article contains spoilers for HBO’s “The White Lotus”] In the opening scene of HBO’s The White Lotus, viewers know that someone is going to die. The...
“Bisexual Men Are The Best In Bed” Is Fetishistic Biphobia
Using bisexual+ men’s presumed superlativeness encourages sexual intrigue firmly rooted in the biphobic reduction of bisexual+ men to objects of sexual pleasure. TW: biphobia, sexual violence/rape culture, mention of sexual abuse against boys, mention of genitalia, fetishization of bisexual+ men, misogyny By J.R. Yussuf “Bisexual men are the best in bed” is a comment that continues to gain steam. Cosmopolitan...
With Both COVID and Abortion Access, The Government Abandons Young People
The dignity, citizenship and humanity of young people have always been treated as unimportant or collateral in culture wars and both national and geopolitical conflicts. CW: r*pe, sexual assault By Kylie Cheung With the new school year around the corner, the Delta variant spreading rapidly among the unvaccinated, and no guidelines still on if and when kids will be able...
What A Psychiatric Hold Taught Me About Prison and Policing
Both the police and the mental health industry treat us inhumanly by taking us away from our homes and placing us in cells. By Treva Flores “Treva Flores… 1995. Treva. God. Treva God Brain. But Treva Not God. Treva,” my head raced while two police officers handcuffed me. I was 5150’d, later changed to a 5250. At first I thought...
The Biden Administration is Failing Miserably as the Housing Crisis Continues to Surge
As the COVID-19 incidence rises again, the Biden administration, with their alleged immense desire to keep people housed, are nowhere to be found. The Delta variant is surging in much of the United States, sending thousands to the hospital daily, and eviscerating the other COVID-19 variants. More than 90 million eligible people in the country haven’t been vaccinated and hospital...
‘Belly of the Beast’ and the Things Our Bodies Cannot Hold
“Our bodies, they move, they morph, they shift. We do things with them, we show up with them. They do hold things that they shouldn’t have to hold, that they can’t hold… They have all these assignments, but who are you?” Da’Shaun L. Harrison “Who are you outside of your body?” — This is one of my favorite questions that...
India’s Massive Vaccination Drive is Leaving Women Behind
This essay is published as part of WYV Young Voices, a column highlighting upcoming writers under the age of 21. The vaccination disparity between men and women is due to the government’s inefficacious vaccination policy and India’s patriarchal social norms. CW: COVID-19 deaths By Shreya Kalia India’s Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi gloated about India’s victory against Coronavirus during the...
Lil Nas X & What it Takes to Become a Gay Black Icon
What does it mean to witness Lil Nas X not only unfold in all his complexity but also be platformed by larger media? To be the expansive, daring, playful artist that he is? By J.R. Yussuf It rattles so many of us to witness Lil Nas X, a dark skinned gay Black man, purposefully walk away from hegemonic traits assigned...
Evaluating the Male Gaze in Classrooms
This essay is published as part of WYV Young Voices, a column highlighting upcoming writers under the age of 21. Upholding the male gaze in education encourages male students to view women as pleasure objects devoid of any personhood CW: The following article discusses racism, sexism, adultification, and sexualization of women. However, there is no sensitive or explicit imagery. By...
Black Food: A Spell of Preserving and Protecting Our Culture Through Recipes
Food is a map. Meals are a bridge, a tool, that connects those most impacted by criminalization, underemployment, governmental surveillance and poverty. By Amber Butts I didn’t receive my grandmother’s salmon croquette recipe until the end of her life. We have the same hands, our middle fingers curving right and left at the last knuckle. She coveted the recipe, sprinkling...
A New Texas Abortion Law Highlights The Dangers of Citizen Policing
The law effectively legitimizes citizen policing of pregnancy and abortion, which have previously been policed primarily by the government and abusive partners. CW: lynching, anti-Black violence, miscarriage, feticide By Kylie Cheung A Texas abortion ban signed into law earlier this year became one of dozens of disastrous, dehumanizing abortion bills in the state, and could take effect in just over...