Culture-Bound Illness

I just learned that Japanese women do not experience hot flashes during menopause. In fact, they don’t even have a word for “hot flashes”. Psychologists believe that this is due to the fact that in Western culture, a woman is seen as losing value as she ages, so stress induces hot flashes…

The Artistic Merit of Video Games

Art is a paradox when it comes to boundaries. For something as freeform and open to individual…

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is one of the most feared and stigmatized mental illnesses. In our present age, we treat it with antipsychotic medication, such as Haldol or Abilify. In some cultures however, these hallucinations, or visions, are seen as positive and revered by other members of society. How do we define…

Miracle Dreaming Music

Since midterm season is coming up, I know many students who cannot sleep at night because of the large amounts of…

Please Just Get a Trans Actor For Your Movie

After the past year and a half of COVID-19, I think I have consumed more media content than in the past five years. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I often find my Netflix recommendations with various queer stories. We get plenty of gay stories, like Call Me By Your…

Digital History in D.C.

For almost every summer up to when I left for college, my parents and I would venture out for a family vacation. I…

More Tool Than Game?

I think I can reasonably state that most people would not consider Microsoft Word a video game nor art. Yes, you use it on…

Abortion Laws in Texas and Women of Color

Occasionally there will be a news headline that perfectly aligns with a project I am working on or a topic I had been especially interested in at the time. It’s almost like the gods of chaos and evil manipulated the stars into alignment for this blog post…

A Few Moments with a Regular

Walking into my job on Tuesday rarely felt auspicious. Whereas from Thursday to Sunday the parking lot usually had no more space by 4pm, on Tuesday I usually had my pick instead of having to park down the street near the tattoo parlor and sprint across a street due to a lack of…

Hello World… There’s an issue with Healthcare

I can confidently say that I have never had an appointment with a healthcare physician that left me feeling good. I feel as though most of my appointments are spent trying to prove that whatever is causing me pain or discomfort is based on more than…