Quin's Blog

     Amidst the sea of appalling anti-LGBTQ laws enacted throughout these years, there has been one positive story that has stuck with me. The marriage of the former beauty queens, Fabiola Valentín and Mariana Varela show that coming out and expressing love should be on the couple's own terms.   According to CNN, the couple “...met at the 2020 Miss Grand International competition in Thailand. After making it to the pageant top 10, the two beauty queens appeared to remain close friends on social media. What fans didn’t know is they were secretly dating the whole time.” They got married in Puerto Rico, who accepted same-sex marriage because of Obergefell v. Hodges. Although it is sad that they had to keep quiet, it allowed them to make the executive decision to marry for themselves instead of the press or fans to force it.     In a joint Instagram reel from both women, the caption reads, " Después de decidir mantener en privacidad nuestra rela...

  Ethnic Notions, Race: The Power of an Illusion      I watched this piece with a group on Monday in the common room of Braun, which made watching more communal. From my personal experience and growing up in the South, the oppression and media surround the Black community has been taught to me in a distant way. Not to say that the impact of the history is lessened or any less valid, just that my knowledge about this subject needs to be examined and broadened.      The style of the cartoons of exaggerated black caricatures made me realize how easily these stereotypes are passed down onto children as well as adults. Though it didn't shock me when the iconic Bugs Bunny wore blackface and sang in a stereotypical "Black" voice because it made me reconsider what media I was given and consumed as a child. Bugs was a character I had seen every Saturday morning on the family computer and while he made us laugh, Bugs was also normalizing these grotesque depictio...