The Cocktail Party Effect

Month long remembrances are a way to honor different groups of people and this month, June, is LGBTQ+ Pride Month . Pride month began by honoring the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan in which a gay bar was raided by police and protest ensued. The purpose of the month is to honor the struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community to find acceptance and respect. The latest craze sweeping the music industry is related to Pride month with the release of Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down.” There has been a lot of controversy around this video which questions Swift’s intentions and right to speak for a community of which she, a straight cisgender women, is not a part. As an ally myself, also a straight cisgender women, I wondered if my own allyship would warrant criticism as well.   I set out to evaluate the “You Need to Calm Down” and make my own criticisms. If you haven't seen the music video yet for the song, note that there will be spoilers ahead. Overall, while I was a

Failing the Bechdel Test The  Bechdel Test   is a feminist measure to see if two female characters could interact by communicating about something other than men and their romantic relationships. I’ve seen it mostly used to analyze pop culture: movies, TV, books, plays, etc. It’s amazing how many things fail at this task—like this post!   Dating makes me feel like my life would not pass the Bechdel Test. Everyone is always asking “So, have you met anyone yet?” or “Why don’t you have a boyfriend yet?” I cannot talk about that all the time. Therefore, I will attempt to talk about relationships once, and never again. I don’t like to brag, but I am an expert on relationships; I studied psychology and I’ve seen a lot of rom-coms. Clearly, I’m qualified to give advice, so read on! But firstly, let me put myself in my place: I am a straight, cisgender female. I apologize for the narrowness of my view, but I think it’s best to only generalize my own experiences. Addition

The Benefits of a Non-Traditional  Post-Grad Year College ended in May 2018 for me. It was a terrible, rainy day, and, unknown to me, the day my very traditional life became a little less linear. During undergrad,  I loved my psychology major and the friends I had made. However, I had no clue what to do next. I had spent my senior year fundamentally switching careers after I decided that my lifelong goal of being a lawyer was no longer favorable: teaching, social work, nursing, nomad, artist, you name it.  Fear not -- I am going to graduate school in September 2019 for business; I still don't know fully what I want, but at least I'll get a job. Yes, that is a year after all my friends started their advanced degrees or jobs -- a fact that haunts me every day. As someone who has always tried to me ahead of the curve in life-planning, this year between undergrad and grad school has been a real low.  While I could focus on how much of a classic your-20s-are-a-m