Category Archives: Zeitgeist Movement

Rihannas Pride party included drag queen Adore Delano singing in a red Savage x Fenty robe. She was surrounded by multicolored balloons and streamers in what looked like it could have been the auditorium of a high school prom.

The party also included musical sets by Saucy Santana and Taylor Bennett in different virtual rooms, along with dance classes led by CJ the Trainer, while the innerwear brands Pride campaign video played in the virtual lobby and guests from all over the world logged on for Thursday nights free digital event.

Check out the new Savage x Fenty drop, the host said, while wearing what looked like a Savage x Fenty mens robe, nothing on underneath at least from the waist up.

It was a fitting way to end the brands monthlong Pride celebration, one that started with the launch of Rihannas Savage x Fentys first Pride capsule collection, a dual-gender assortment that included things like mesh bras with rainbow embroidery, knee-high stockings, smoking jackets, jockstraps and kitty whips. It is all meant to empower women, and men, too.

This Pride Month, were celebrating every body, captions on Savage x Fentys Instagram read.

The collection and Pride party follow Rihannas popular Savage x Fenty lingerie shows, the third and most recent of which was streamed on Amazon Prime. The show featured a mix of real women and high-profile models some of whom also walked in Victorias Secret Fashion Shows rocking fishnet bodysuits, balconette bras and lots of neon. The event was widely hailed for its inclusivity, thanks to its use of men and women of all different shapes, sizes and ages, including pregnant women, models with disabilities and varying skin tones and waistlines.

Rihannas Savage x Fenty Show Vol. 2 was staged in Brooklyn, N.Y.Getty / Courtesy of Fenty

Of course, Savage x Fenty isnt the only lingerie promoting diversity and inclusion, nor is it the only intimates brand to throw some kind of fashion event to encourage variety. Kim Kardashian West arrived at Nordstroms Manhattan flagship in early 2020 for an impromptu fashion show, complete with a skin-toned colored carpet for the models of various shapes, sizes, skin tones and ages to show off the Skims brand. Shes also recently hosted a pop-up in Los Angeles.

Kim Kardashian Wests shapewear brand at its Nordstrom debut in Manhattan with models of all different sizes and shapes.Andrew Morales/WWD

American Eagle Outfitters Aerie has been boosting the intellectual merits of its Aerie Real role models a stark contrast from Victorias Secret Angels since 2016. These are seen as women other women and young girls can look up to. Events included dinners, free yoga classes hosted by the role models and the Aerie Real Summit in March 2020 all of which the role models were fully dressed.

Even Victorias Secret, after canceling its fashion show in 2019, has held other events and campaigns, like Pink With Purpose, an annual scholarship that awards financial assistance to young women and men making change in their communities. Its most recent efforts, the VS Collective, is meant to positively impact the lives of women, according to a company statement.

Aerie Real Role Models Beanie Feldstein, Hari Nef and Lana Condor at the January 2020 Aerie Real Role Model dinner in Manhattan.Nina Westervelt/WWD

All of these innerwear events, while packaged and promoted differently, are hoping to send the message that theyre empowering women. It drives the question, what exactly is empowering about buying underwear? And why did it take a revolution in the lingerie industry something worn underneath clothes to reshape the way fashion is presented to women?

I prefer to reframe the issue [to], Why in a world where the customer has so profoundly evolved both their values and their behaviors, have fashion and lingerie been so slow to change? Catherine Sadler, chief executive officer and executive creative director of Sadler + Brand, a branding strategy and consulting firm, told WWD. For years, the fashion and lingerie industries have resisted the very notion of diversity and inclusivity. Long before COVID-19 and the #MeToo movement, women were simply not seeing themselves represented their bodies, their color, their uniqueness, their abilities or disabilities. The model of womanhood basically overtly stated You dont belong, [and] If you dont fit this narrow ideal, then you arent sexy. The lens was narrow and decidedly male.

Savage x Fenty has understood the zeitgeist shift from the get-go, continued Sadler, who also served as global chief marketing officer at Banana Republic for more than five years. Their fashion shows are disruptive because they saw the white space and built their brand based on the belief that women want to be seen for who they are in all their glorious diversity and want to define sensuality on their own terms.

Rihanna has also always understood the power of a personal brand, so much so that it has caused envy within the lingerie world. After all, there are other brands that promote diversity and inclusion, using both a wide array of models and offering a more extensive size range: Aerie, ThirdLove, Adore Me and Playful Promises to name a few. There are many more.

But the multihyphenated pop star used her celebrity power to catapult the brand at a time when shoppers were hungry for something new.

Rihanna came through at the perfect time with Savage X, said Cora Harrington, founder and editor and chief of the Lingerie Addict blog and author of the book Intimate Detail: How to Choose, Wear and Love Lingerie. There was peak discontent with the lowest point with Victorias Secret.

Victorias Secret held its last Fashion Show in 2018 in New York City.Andrew H. Walker/WWD

Shes referring to the time around the last Victorias Secret Fashion Show, in November 2018, when Ed Razek, former chief marketing officer for Victorias Secret parent company L Brands, told Vogue magazine that Victorias Secret didnt have any interest in using plus-size or transgender models in the high-profile fashion show. Victorias Secret canceled the fashion extravaganza the following year.

Still, one could argue that Victorias Secret was also in the right place at the right time and benefited from it for decades. The Angels and star-studded fashion shows in the early 2000s came about pre-social media and pre-cell phones, when it was still easy to hold exclusive events that few people would see and images of beautiful women were not plastered all over the internet. These days, anyone with a smartphone can broadcast video or pictures worldwide.

Which is why, as Harrington pointed out, having a large marketing presence doesnt necessarily equate to more market share or brand success.

There are brands that are very large but that are not participating in this marketing scramble, Harrington said. For example, Hanes. Theyre a very successful intimates apparel brand and they dont do any fashion shows; they dont do any pop-ups. They dont do any dinners. They just sell lots and lots of underwear.

And we dont know what Savage Xs numbers are, as far as profitability, as far as how much underwear theyre selling, continued Harrington, referring to the private company co-owned by TechStyle Fashion Group. What we do know is that they have an outsized presence in peoples consciousness. That says a lot about how many people are paying attention to Rihanna and what people want to see from future fashion shows and future representation. They dont want a certain ideal forced onto them. They dont want to be told that this is what you should want and this is how you should want to look. Consumers want to be made to feel like theyre fine as they are.

Meanwhile, Victorias Secret still owns the biggest slice of the U.S. womens intimate apparel pie, (16 percent as of spring 2020, according to The NPD Groups consumer tracking service). They also have approximately 933 company-owned stores around the world, many in parts of the U.S. that are lacking other in-person lingerie shopping options, and sold more than $7 billion in 2019, pre-pandemic. In addition, L Brands recently updated its board to six out of seven female members.

All the more reason why the lingerie giant said it will likely come out with some sort of new, updated version of its annual fashion lingerie event in 2022.

When we do bring something back, its not going to be the show that was, because the world has changed and entertainment has evolved, Ral Martinez, creative director at Victorias Secret, told WWD earlier this month. The evolution of fashion shows in general, I think, everyone is trying to discover what that is, what that experience is. So, what that will look like is what were discussing right now.

Just what that will be is still unclear. Either way Victorias Secret is under immense pressure to rebrand itself in a more positive light.

Victorias Secret is going to need to find its own way, Harrington said. Rihannas fashion show and influencer campaigns are working really well for Savage X. Aeries Role Model program is working well for them. Kim [Kardashian Wests] pop-ups are working well for her. Victorias Secret doesnt know what they want to look like in the future. They dont have a cohesive brand vision right now. All they know is that theyre running away from what they were in the past.

And hiring more female founders wont necessarily solve the problem either.

As feminist and LGBTQ author and former Nylon editor and chief Gabrielle Korn wrote in her book, Everybody Else Is Perfect: How I Survived Hypocrisy, Beauty, Clicks and Likes, I dont think being woman-owned and -operated makes your company inherently feminist. Corporations have learned the language of contemporary digital feminism. Women every day are starting their own brands, using the language and aesthetics of empowerment in order to appeal to young, feminist-identified women, without ever making it clear what is so empowering about their product.

Sadler noted, in the end, what consumer really want is freedom of choice.

Diversity and inclusion are table stakes today, she said. But so is innovation and entertainment whether thats by going behind the scenes, simultaneously shopping on Amazon or through more artistic endeavors as weve seen recently. Bottom line: the customer will demand richer experiences [in the future] where they feel seen and heard in the moment.

It isnt really about sexy bras and panties, Sadler continued. But rather, how good you feel in your own skin and the confidence that enables you to feel and express your best self when and how you choose.

Go here to see the original:

The Evolution of Lingerie Fashion Events WWD - WWD

June is Pride Month, and industries across the world have been celebrating initiatives and individuals to mark the occasion, including esports. Its fair to say that the esports and gaming industry, like others, has at times divided opinion with the LGBTQIA+ community and also the wider community.Megalodontus speaks to five members of the UK & Ireland esports community on what their experiences are, LGBTQIA+ representation and how companies or brands can do better. Foreword by Megalodontus

To be of a marginalised group is not easy. In general, even if you are sometimes surrounded by comfortable company, you might still feel ostracised in a way. There is also the conversation about not being within familiar spaces and how people deal with discrimination that so often comes with being part of a marginalised group.

The answer, for me, is never just grow a thicker skin and shut up. Growing a thick skin is the practical adaptation in the face of constant adversity, a by-product of being at the receiving end. To encourage the victim to ignore what people say and keep quiet about it only exacerbates the issue and emboldens abusers. Difficult conversations are often the ones worth having, and Pride Month is no exception.

Perhaps, things could be looking up in recent times. Companies in esports and gaming have at times divided opinion with their actions around representation, and to be fair to some of them, there could be repercussions due to their gargantuan reach worldwide and the number of people they reach.

This year, some companies have put the LGBTQIA+ flag on their socials as usual, and Riot has also been publishing stories around the games lore, like this one involving in-game champions Diana and Leona.

As with topics like these, conclusions are rarely if ever black and white. So instead of talking to just one person, I reached out to five individuals to talk about their experiences. Here are their thoughts.

Tadhg CelticTiger Brennan, freelance esports commentator and analyst

My experience has varied a bit over the years. As a caster, most bigotry Ive seen has been through chat responses to me. Theres obviously the issue of the gaming space being generally unaccepting of others, and theres always that underlying feeling when passed over for work of whether I was simply not chosen for what I bring to the table, or for being considered too controversial. Id hope its the former.

I still remember making the conscious choice to be willing to mention my boyfriend in a cast, and the chat reaction to that being heavily mixed. Thankfully, it did seem to progress over the course of my career and during my latest international appearance, responses to such things were distinctly positive which is nice.

On the work side of things, anyone who knows me will know that I tend to make a conscious choice to make my LGBTQIA+ status clear, donning a rainbow bowtie and suspenders when I can. I also remember being told later by a co-worker that a producer had been worried about allowing me on in rainbow clothing. Nothing mentioned to me of course, probably realising how it sounded, but my concerns about production decisions remain firm with small snippets like this.

In a similar vein, I was once told that a co-worker had to be warned not to say slurs, especially around me. And instead of being removed on the spot, they simply continued on with that warning. I cant exactly call someone out for something I never saw myself, but the fact that it was considered something to be hidden from me, concerns me greatly. I guess my experience leaves me somewhat jaded but hopeful that progress is coming.

I think LGBTQIA+ representation is honestly pretty atrocious in esports right now. That is to say, LGBTQIA+ people both among players and casters seem incredibly sparse. People like to note that its simply a reflection of all media industries, as youll see the same across many sports. However, esports as a newer industry has a chance to be better and to me it seems lazy to just point at what other spaces do and say we tried as hard as they did. Well, try harder.

To me, the reasons for less representation in the communities are relatively obvious. Theres clearly going to be fewer LGBTQIA+ people in communities where bigotry is accepted. And online gaming communities, especially competitive ones, arent known for their progressive approaches. Id imagine there are likely many LGBTQIA+ players who dont come out for fear of the communitys reaction. I purposefully didnt come out in my all-boys secondary school because I knew it would at least cause awkwardness. I cant imagine a gaming house being a much better space for it. Hopefully Im wrong.

Now, Im incredibly happy with those who are the exceptions here: SonicFox blazing a trail as a player over in fighting games, Froskurinn having fought for better rep in LoL, and Fluke in Rainbow Six Siege has managed to be an excellent icon in that regard. It just shouldnt have to be a battle for people to exist as who they are in these spaces.

Corporate pride is something of a divisive topic in the LGBTQIA+ community. My stance is that its simply reflective of public opinion changing. It is becoming more profitable to be seen as an ally, than it is to be seen as uncaring. This is a positive change.

Id imagine there are likely many LGBTQIA+ players who dont come out for fear of the communitys reaction. I purposefully didnt come out in my all-boys secondary school because I knew it would at least cause awkwardness. I cant imagine a gaming house being a much better space for it. Hopefully Im wrong.

However, I also understand critics who note many companys approaches to this feel hollow. And I think its good to expect more, expecting more is what got us to this level of progress. For me, the best way for a company to get involved in Pride, is to put their money where their mouth is. Even if a company is supporting Pride for selfish reasons, money going to LGBTQIA+ charities is a win. On top of this, Id like to see companies actually advocate for LGBTQIA+ people using their resources.

I think that can be similar to things like this article, offering spaces for LGBTQIA+ people to speak out on topics important to them. And at the very least, companies should be consulting LGBTQIA+ people about their approach, internally or externally.

The best way for a company to help Pride and LGBTQIA+ people is to do so year round. Improve your representation, take a more active stance against bigotry in communities you foster, support LGBTQIA+ charities more than once a year. It comes across a lot more genuine when the rainbows dont just come out on June 1st to be quickly snuffed out come July.

Emi Fluke Donaldson, freelance Rainbow Six Siege caster

My experience has generally been very good! I think existing as an LGBTQIA+ person in any space is going to bring its fair share of challenges, and there are definitely some unique to esports so I came into it expecting challenges when I came out.

But outside of those expected bouts of strife Ive otherwise been very welcomed, both by my employers and colleagues behind the scenes, as well as the community itself generally at large. Its often very reassuring because these decisions, to come out and to live more honestly, they are never settled by just the action. It takes time to grow to understand yourself, and the love helps remind me that its the right positive movement to make.

I think that, compared to a lot of other industries, we have a growing scene of acceptance. It may be tough to see because the gaming sphere and the online world can at times be toxic, but those few loud voices are steadily being drowned out. Its always worth remembering that our industry compared to many others is young, and we are going through a rapid growth and transition. That comes with an explosion and over-extension on both sides.

Its a tricky dance for brands and corporations to judge who wears the rainbow for brownie points, and who makes brownies to fundraise for the rainbow. The cultural zeitgeist war means that often earnest attempts will still get slandered by voices that just want a fight.

Sure, there may not be a huge amount of LGBTQIA+ representation you can point to at tier-one at the minute, but a few years ago there wasnt any at all. From my position, as someone who is here now to see the responses to my posts and existence, and the amount of up-and-coming LGBTQIA+ talent in our scene, I have a lot of hope for the future.

Its a tricky dance for brands and corporations to judge who wears the rainbow for brownie points, and who makes brownies to fundraise for the rainbow. The cultural zeitgeist war means that often earnest attempts will still get slandered by voices that just want a fight.

For me, the golden rule is for a company to remember why the month exists, and to pay vast attention to not losing sight of that. Sure, you can wear a rainbow for a month, fundraise with something limited edition but you also have to make sure the morals you have for this month, you wear the whole year. LGBTQIA+ cant take off after the month, we dont disappear. Companies that pretend we do are the ones that paint the worst picture. It shouldnt be about them, but on raising attention and battling injustice.

Natacha Sunkern Jones, NUEL creative director & freelance esports broadcast producer

Im a genderqueer bisexual but Im very much cis/straight passing, so Ive not faced any discrimination or harassment due to my queerness in esports. I recognise that is a privilege that most others dont have. Ive faced more discrimination due to the fact Im femme-presenting than anything else.

I think esports is making steady progress. Seeing people like JessGOAT, Fluke and Froskurinn on tier one broadcasts is amazing, and I think esports is ahead of traditional sports and TV in its on-air representation of LGBTQIA+ folks. Off-air, I feel like theres less representation we dont see enough openly LGBTQIA+ people running esports companies or teams, speaking on panels or at conferences.

I think its easy to criticise companies for changing their logos to rainbow colours during the month of June. People will come out and scream VIRTUE SIGNALLING! but contribute nothing else themselves during Pride Month, when they could be putting their money where their mouths are and donate to a trans persons surgery fund, and Froskurinn did a great video about this.

To be honest, it gives me a small boost of serotonin every time I see a company with a rainbow logo and obviously it shouldnt stop with just a rainbow logo.

I want to see esports companies assessing who theyre hiring, who theyre promoting and who theyre putting on panels. If your panel has five cis-het white men on it, you should ask yourself why. Are they the only people you know with the expertise? Then you should probably get to know more people BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ people, women, all of the above. Having a diverse range of people in your company or on your panel will bring new ideas and a new way of thinking that you might be missing.

Having a diverse range of people in your company or on your panel will bring new ideas and a new way of thinking that you might be missing.

I want to see esports companies put LGBTQIA+ inclusion policies in their employee handbooks. I want them to support, pay and promote LGBTQIA+ people in their company. I want them to pay equality, diversity and inclusion consultants like Amanda Stevens to help them understand what steps they need to take to make the workplace safe for minoritised folks.

I want them to moderate their Discords and Twitch chats and take a zero tolerance approach to homophobia and transphobia. I want management of esports companies to undergo LGBTQIA+ awareness & sensitivity training, which we did at NUEL. I want to see companies boosting the voices of LGBTQIA+ people, like ENUK are doing with this article !

Alex Harris, head of marketing, London Esports

Its sad to say, but I would consider myself quite lucky, because Im able to pass as a straight cis white man very easily. I didnt talk about my sexuality or gender identity at all in the industry for many years and, to a certain extent, I still dont.

Its much easier to just hide it than attempt to have any sort of meaningful conversation on the topic, especially because Ive seen how disingenuously many support pride and other social issues. Ive seen businesses in the space support Black Lives Matter and Pride, and yet also support players and talent with vehement anti-black and homophobic attitudes.

I also really want to say that the LGBTQIA+ community is amazing and super resilient. Im very lucky to have so many great memories from events during some very difficult times in my life. They made all the difference.

I think as an industry, we are very lucky to have so many powerful LGBTQIA+ figures in the community, however the vitriol many of them deal with is unacceptable. We need to get to a point where homophobia and transphobia in this industry is such a shameful act, such an ostracising political opinion, that the social capital losses from it outweigh any gains. Unfortunately were just not at that point yet.

There are some badass gay people doing badass gay things, but thats more a credit to them, than to the industry or community as a whole. I also think its daft that nobody is talking about the intersectionality of many of the issues that esports faces.

Its no coincidence that esports falls behind traditional start-ups on all fronts: race, gender, socio-economic capital, class, sexuality and so forth but at the same time, has rampant sexual assault cases. These issues are perpetuated by anything not straight, western white male being seen as other. Its also no surprise that in an industry driven by cheap, passionate labour, that only those with the most privilege survive.

If I was from a non-white, low income household, how on Earth was I supposed to live and work full-time on a few hundred quid a month, in the manner that I did at the start of my career? I was lucky that my parents could give me a place to live, but many dont have that same privilege.

If I was from a non-white, low income household, how on Earth was I supposed to live and work full-time on a few hundred quid a month, in the manner that I did at the start of my career? I was lucky that my parents could give me a place to live, but many dont have that same privilege. These issues are intersectional and its a shame so little is done to treat the root cause.

If companies and brands were actually proud, they would be doing pride 365 days a year. If they were actually proud, theyd create working environments that put LGBTQIA+ individuals in positions of power, with salaries that rival their straight counterparts. If they were actually proud, theyd strive to make a difference, not just sell rainbow t-shirts.

I love Ateyo as a brand and seeing two very cool women build a leading apparel brand is awesome, but theyre one of very few projects Ive seen smash pride out of the park. For me personally, most of the projects Im involved in have a strong social justice stance, but 99% of organisations and businesses in the space run exceptionally superficial activations for one month of the year, and harbour homophobic and transphobic talent for the other 11 months.

Given about 20-25% of the population is LGBTQIA+, that means most start-up businesses should have at least two or three directors and managers that are LGBTQIA+. In esports, youll rarely get one. Id much rather we see more LGBTQIA+ people in positions of power, shaping businesses to be better in the long-run, than some sort of bullshit t-shirt.

In a recent interview withJames Stress OLeary, the former EU LCS caster and MAD Lions community manager shared some thoughts on LGBTQIA+ topics with Esports News UK as well.

Itd be a massive thing for a player to be openly LGBTQIA+, but with that comes a lot of pressure that theyd put on themselves, so its understandable why no European or LEC player to my knowledge has come out publicly.

Theres a big disagreement [on LGBTQIA+ representation and diversity] because some people lack the self awareness to realise that being angry about seeing someone who doesnt represent them, is the kind of feeling that underrepresented people feel day to day. If you believe two guys kissing on a TV show is an attack on you, imagine what it feels like to have just about every TV show lack any meaningful gay characters.

The anti-diversity arguments have grown so venomous that its raised the temperature for everyone involved, and at the heart of it, those pushing for equality will be on the right side of history. LGBTQIA+ people have existed forever, and will continue to exist, regardless of those who try to keep us hidden.

Its possible to be LGBTQIA+ positive for more than just pride.I think it can be difficult to come across as genuine regardless of if your intentions are sincere as a brand. Its about consistency in actions both behind the scenes and when the world is looking, and many social media teams are overworked and underpaid to also take on those responsibilities when theyre already swamped.

Many decision makers in esports will tick the box of doing pride because they are supposed to, but most of them arent actually a part of the community it supports. Until those decision makers are represented, thats not going to change.

Megalodontus is a miraculous survivor from the mass extinction and somehow learnt how to use his stubby fins to operate complicated mechanical equipment and drink tea. Worryingly for cryptozoologists, hes been writing League of Legends articles too.

A self-taught writer whos had the privilege to work with good editors who arent terrified of his pearly whites, Megalodontus is often seen writing either independently or for various websites such as this one. When not writing, he usually runs it down mid in real life and is fascinated with watching paint dry.

Read more:

Celebrating Pride Month 2021: UK & Ireland esports personalities share their view on LGBTQIA+ issues and representation within the industry -...

- First In Conversation episode launches on 23 June, Olympic Day in support of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 who represent over 80 million forcibly displaced people around the world.

- Featuring Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Yusra Mardini with US Olympian and 5-time gold medallist Katie Ledecky.

- Future episodes in the build-up to Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to include refugee athletes Anjelina Nadai Lohalith and Alaa Maso, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors Nomzamo Mbatha and Alphonso Davies, and many more.

- In Conversation premieres on 23 June 2021 across Olympics.com, UNHCR and Discovery platforms, including discovery+ and Eurosport.com.

As part of 23 June Olympic Day celebrations and in the week marking World Refugee Day, an exclusive series of interviews will tell the inspirational stories of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team athletes by bringing them together with big names in film, entertainment and sport.

Premiering in the build-up to Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the episodes feature members of the unique IOC Refugee Olympic Team that will bring together 29 athletes to compete at the Games this summer. Originating from 11 countries around the world, the team was created by the IOC and its President, Thomas Bach, ahead of Olympic Games Rio 2016. The series showcases the athletes stories to send inspiring messages of hope and resilience to the worlds 82.4 million forcibly displaced people.

Produced by Eurosport, Discoverys leading multi-sport brand and the Home of the Olympics in Europe*, in partnership with the IOC and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, In Conversation seeks to introduce new audiences to some of these inspiring Olympic refugee athletes. The conversations will provide new perspectives on refugees stories and raise awareness of the power of sport to help displaced people rebuild their lives.

In conversation: Yusra & Katie provides a unique perspective. The youngest ever UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Yusra Mardini, who was a member of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Rio 2016 and will compete at Tokyo 2020 this summer, meets five-time Olympic Games gold medallist in swimming, Katie Ledecky. Also set to compete at Tokyo 2020 for Team USA, Ledecky is the most decorated woman in swimming history including 15 World Championship gold medals as well as her Olympic titles.

Later episodes will see UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors such as actress Nomzamo Mbatha and footballer and former refugee Alphonso Davies paired with members of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, including Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, the South Sudan-born 1500M athlete, and freestyle swimmer Alaa Maso, originally from Aleppo, Syria. As each athlete and supporter become acquainted, intimate conversations follow and capture the compelling stories of the athletes, their challenging journeys, and how they have overcome adversity to compete at the worlds greatest sporting event. The series can be found across UNHCR, IOC and Discovery platforms, including discovery+ and Eurosport.com.

In Conversation follows the IOCs announcement of the Refugee Olympic Team headed to Tokyo 2020 earlier this month. A campaign to further support for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 will be launched by Eurosport, in partnership with the IOC, in July.

-ENDS-

*Excludes Russia. Official Broadcaster in France and the U.K for Tokyo 2020.

Notes to Editor

Episode 1 (In conversation: Yusra & Katie):

Link to episode and embed:https://www.eurosport.co.uk/swimming/tokyo-2020/2021/in-conversation-olympic-swimmers-yusra-mardini-and-katie-ledecky_vid1495306/embed-video.shtml

Transcript and assets available: HERE

About Yusra Mardini:

Syrian refugee and Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini was appointed the youngest ever Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in April 2017, aged just 19. She advocates for refugees globally through sharing her own inspiring story and has become a powerful voice for the forcibly displaced across the world and an example of their resilience and determination to rebuild lives and positively contribute to host communities.

Yusra was selected to compete at Rio 2016 as part of the first ever Refugee Olympic Team. She was catapulted on to the worlds stage and subsequently went on to address world leaders at the UN General Assembly, meet the Pope and be honoured with several awards. Yusras incredible story is told in her memoir Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian - My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph which is currently being adapted into a film.

Yusra has spoken on behalf of UNHCR at Google Zeitgeist, WE Day, the World Economic Forum in Davos and many other global stages. She also supports UNHCR campaigns and events and fundraising activities. Yusra will compete at Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 this summer.

About Katie Ledecky:

Katie Ledecky is a 5-time Olympic Gold medalist and 15-time World Championship Gold medalist who will be competing at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. Katie has dominated on the world stage since the age of 15 where she was the youngest athlete on Team USA at the 2012 London Games, winning her first Olympic Gold medal. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Katie was the most decorated female athlete winning four Gold medals, one Silver medal, and breaking two world records.

As the granddaughter of a Czech migr who defected to the US in 1947, Katie continues to spread awareness about the plight of refugees around the world through her involvement with the UN Refugee Agency. Katie is a recent graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in Psychology and is passionate about the importance of education, especially STEM and leadership programs for girls.

Press Contacts:

UNHCR:

Sarah Epstein epstein@unhcr.org + 44 7572601088

Alicia Hosking hosking@unhcr.org +1 917 565 3025

IOC:

IOC Press Office

pressoffice@olympic.org

Discovery:

James Hillier

E: James_Hillier@Discovery.com

M: +44 7778 129 413

About the IOC Refugee Olympic Team:

At the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in October 2015, confronted with the global refugee crisis that has seen millions of people in the world displaced, IOC President Thomas Bach announced the creation of the Refugee Olympic Team the first of its kind to take part in the Olympic Games Rio 2016. Ten months on from the announcement, 10 refugee athletes, were competing alongside 11,000 fellow athletes in Brazil, sending a message of hope and inclusion to millions of refugees around the world and inspiring the world with the strength of their human spirit. Following the success of the Refugee Olympic Team Rio 2016, the IOC decided in 2018 that there would be an IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020. On 8 June, the IOC announced that 29 athletes competing in 12 sports will take part in the Games this summer. This unique project demonstrates the IOCs commitment to stand with refugees and support them through sport, and it also shows how Olympic Solidarity, through its Refugee Athlete Support Programme, helps refugee athletes not only to train with the aim of qualifying for the Olympic Games but also to continue their sporting career and build their future. A IOC Refugee Olympic Team is planned for both the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026.You can follow and support the IOC Refugee Olympic Team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About UNHCR:

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We lead international action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and people without a nationality. We deliver life-saving assistance like shelter, food and water, help safeguard fundamental human rights, and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home where they can build a better future. We also work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality. We are in over 130 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions. http://www.unhcr.org

About IOC:

The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit, civil, non-governmental, international organisation made up of volunteers which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of USD 3.4 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.

About Discovery:

Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is a global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains. Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and territories and nearly 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator, reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio of apps; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as discovery+, Food Network Kitchen and MotorTrend OnDemand; digital-first and social content from Group Nine Media; a landmark natural history and factual content partnership with the BBC; and a strategic alliance with PGA TOUR to create the international home of golf. Discoverys portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and the forthcoming multi-platform JV with Chip and Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Network, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. For more information, please visit corporate.discovery.com and follow @DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.

About discovery+:

discovery+ is the definitive non-fiction, real-life subscription streaming service. discovery+ will launch with a landmark partnership with Verizon that gives their customers with select plans up to 12 months of discovery+ on Verizon. At launch in the United States, discovery+ will have the largest-ever content offering of any new streaming service, featuring a wide range of exclusive, original series across popular, passion verticals in which Discovery brands have a strong leadership position, including lifestyle and relationships; home and food; true crime; paranormal; adventure and natural history; as well as science, tech and the environment and a slate of high-quality documentaries. For more, visit discoveryplus.com.

About Eurosport:

Eurosport is the number one sport destination in Europe, unlocking the power of sport through localised content from the worlds greatest sporting events. As the Home of the Olympic Games in Europe, Discovery is bringing Eurosport to discovery+, the real-life direct-to-consumer streaming service, starting in a range of international markets during 2021. Firmly established as the Home of Cycling, Grand Slam Tennis and Winter Sport, Eurosport channels Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2 reach 246 million cumulative subscribers across 75 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Eurosport.com is Europes No 1 online sports news website with an average of 30 million unique users per month. Eurosport Events specializes in the management and promotion of international sporting events. More information is available by visiting corporate.eurosport.com.

As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.

These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.

Your best source of news about the Olympics is http://www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only

See original here:

IOC, UNHCR and Discovery Unite Talent from the Worlds of Sport and Entertainment 'In Conversation' with the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 -...

by Sam Manzella 6/24/2021

Britney Spears is begging a judge in Los Angeles to free her from a longstanding conservatorship that has granted her father full control of her life, and LGBTQ+ Twitter users and fellow celebrities have her back.

On Wednesday (June 23), the beloved pop singer gave a rare and gut-wrenching testimony detailing how the 13-year conservatorship has traumatized her. As The New York Times reports, Spearss father, James P. Spears, was granted legal authority over Britneys life in 2008 after she was involuntarily hospitalized for mental health issues. More than a decade later, the conservatorship is still in place, meaning Britney has virtually no autonomy in her day-to-day life.

During her emotional, uninterrupted 20-minute statement, Britney spoke at length about how her father has used his legal authority to keep her heavily medicated, compel her to work against her will, and force her to keep her IUD inserted, preventing her from having any more children. I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive, she told the court. I dont feel like I can live a full life.

Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images

The fan-led movement to #FreeBritney from her conservatorship has been ongoing for years and reentered the cultural zeitgeist after the premiere of the documentary Framing Britney Spears earlier this year. But Britneys testimony on Wednesday marked a turning point in how the 39-year-old singer has publicly discussed the matter.

Its embarrassing and demoralizing what Ive been through, and thats the main reason I didnt say it openly, she added. I didnt think anybody would believe me.

Needless to say, Britneys LGBTQ+ fans across social media believe her and are standing with her as she battles to end the conservatorship.

Britney also got messages of support from fellow celebrities, including Mariah Carey, Halsey, and even her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake.

Bless Britney and I hope with my whole heart she is awarded freedom from this abusive system, Halsey tweeted on Wednesday. She deserves it more than anything. I admire her courage speaking up for herself today.

Find a transcript of Britneys full testimony here.

Brooklyn-based writer and editor. Probably drinking iced coffee or getting tattooed.

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Activists, Celebs Rally to #FreeBritney After Her Heartbreaking Testimony - NewNowNext

In conversation with Awards Dailys Shadan Larki, Halston costume designer Jeriana San Juan offers an extensive look into her designs for the Netflix series highlighting the work of the iconic American designer. San Juan details designing upwards of 1,000 pieces for the 5-episode, Ewan McGregor-starring series, and reflects on Halstons reverberating legacy.

Its become something of a writing cliche to say that costumes serve as a character in a story, but in the case of the Netflix series, there is no Halston without the clothes. The show takes you inside the designers genius. Halston is the artist and clothes is his medium. His iconic Halstonettes draped in hammered silk and one-seam caftans that danced across runways in the 70s.

Halston, the series, which chronicles the rise and fall of the mononymous designer, is a fashion-lovers paradiseHalstons penchant for bright, bold colors on full display. Costume designer Jeriana San Juan was tasked with studying Halstons extensive body of work and choosing touchstone moments to display in the five-episode series. From designs on his iconic muses like Liza Minnelli (Krysta Rodriguez) and future Tiffany & Co. designer Elsa Peretti (Rebecca Dayan), tolavish parties at Studio 54, and Halstons own changing wardrobe, every frame features stunning clothing. San Juan has lost count of the number of pieces she designed for the seriesa true tour de force of costume design that helped shape McGregors performance in the series as a whole. Halston is the ultimate love letter to the brand and the man behind it all.Read more from Jeriana San Juan below:

Awards Daily: I wanted to start with the striking use of color in the series. How did you use color to tell Halstons story?

Jeriana San Juan: I think it was important to visually anchor the story. Doing so many different time periods and spanning his life, it felt to me that we needed some sort of visual anchor to guide the audience through that.

One of the signatures to his body of work is his use of colorbright, bold colors. It felt honest in some ways to do the story in that way and to move his particular journey, costume-wise, through different periods of color. Colors that would sort of echo his life at that time and the mood of our story and create symmetry between the colors of his environment and what he was wearing.

Halston was such a world builder as a designer. He was always painting the canvas, so to speak. When he designed his townhouse with Paul Rudolph and designed these gray carpets and these steely gray couches, I wanted to echo that in the costumes. As we moved into a fiery and tumultuous period of his life, he moved into the Olympic Tower, which is very famously carpeted in this red colorhe loses himself in the brand identity of it.

I wanted to blur the lines where the Halston the man ended and the brand began. As things dissolve, and ultimately the name of his company gets taken away from him, he is left without an identity, visually. Color is a device I use all the time as a costume designer, but I think I used it in a very identifiable way in this show where it really pops onto the screen and connects the audience to his emotional journey.

AD: You did have to take some liberties with some of the designs for the series. For example, the fashion show at Versailles. Liza Minnelli is wearing a different dress. You have spoken about how you designed the European dresses based on the sensibilities of the time period and your knowledge of fashion history. How did you decide when and where to make those changes?

JSJ:I think how it lends itself to the story is how I always operate. I always root everything in a tremendous amount of research. Everything from Bill Cunninghams photos, observations to everything at theVogue archives at Cond Nast,Womens Wear Daily. I always root everything as truthfully as I can in research and create that textbook for my mind to work from. But ultimately, it is always in support of the story.

For example, in doing Versailles, we werent going to be doing hundreds of models on stage and even presenting the performance as it actually was. It really was just in support of, How can we celebrate each different designers voice? And also anchor it in the truth of what they were doing at that time. And celebrate the differences between those voices and contrast them to the European collections, which were generally inspired by what Givenchy and Dior were doing at that time. Again, taking artistic license to heighten the contrast between that and the American collections, makes it feel more fantasy, more fairy princess, and makes it a little more corseted, almost traditionally feminine. And it helped to highlight the modern energy of the American collection.

I take those artistic licenses throughout the show. But I always root it in something real and tactful, whether it was a color story that Halston was doing at the time or using the truthful textiles and working in hammered silk. But also, always taking a bit of artistic license to create and hype the energy and mood. I have often said that because we are talking about Halston, who has a tremendous body of work, it was a practice of editing and figuring out what important touchstones we had to represent his work. And also, highlight those pieces creatively in a very calculated way to help enhance the energy and magic.

In doing a collection that is only ultimately five pieces represented on camera, it was really about conveying the mood and energy of those clothes. Sometimes that involved adding capes, which I did for his collection at Versailles, to see the fabric move through the air with carelessness and freshness. It feels like magic when you see these dresses dance. I knew that the way we would shoot it, we would always want to see models and have movement up by the face, so I just added these capes to have a little bit more fabric moving up in the air to create that magic. And to also fill the stage.

The same thing happened with the rouge dresses and the collections that we show at the Olympic Tower where its all of these silk jersey, very early disco, glamour dresses. I found an image of Pat Cleveland, it wasnt necessarily from that collection, but it was just an image of her with a sheer scarf she was dancing with on the runway. I just felt like that was a wonderful way to echo that color and to fill the spaces with those beautiful colors and get a sense of that freedom and movement.

AD: I read you created 1,200 pieces for the show. Is that correct?

JSJ:It is actually more than that. It is so funny because people always want to know the exact number, and I always lose count. The volume keeps growing, and we were keeping up with production. I think it was ultimately much more. I know its over 1,000, maybe even over 2,000. There are so many costumes between the number of huge parties and the background actors we had. The principle characters have so many changes because they are such fashion plates, so they changed all the time. There are musical numbers, there are fashion shows, and the audience at the fashion shows. Its just a massive volume.

AD: What was your approach to that? You mentioned editing through Halstons career and choosing those key touchtone moments. For you, what were those touchstone moments, and how did you land on those?

JSJ:It was really a matter of studying his body of work and understanding which pieces in his body of work are the most critical in terms of revolutionizing modern American sportswear and evening wear.

Whether it was the introduction of, for example, the single-seam caftan. The caftan alone is a signature of his. But the singe-seam caftan is infamous in fashion history because it is perceivably a very simple garment, but it is constructed in a very complicated, almost origami way. For me to highlight that piece, I found a marker of time for that in our story the beautiful hammered silk, sarong dress. Its the dress that Elsa Peretti wears as a guest to Liza Minnellis wedding to Jack Haley Jr. I really wanted to incorporate that because it was an absolutely revolutionary idea. This careless idea of wrapping a towel around you, but as the most exquisite evening wear. It felt like I had to include it. I had to include the cashmere twinset dress.

Also, all of the Elsa Peretti jewelry that was so iconic and pivotal to creating that look, whether it was the equestrian belt, the bone cuffs, the diamonds, the scorpion necklace, all of her creations helped anchor the story, visually and timewise.

For example, I found a way to coincide the single-seam caftan with the story; it became this Zoar blue and diamond printed caftan created on Elsa Peretti at the end of episode one. I knew that we were going to create a boutique collection. In the script, its written that he creates a dress and ultimately ends up on the runway. It just felt like a perfect moment to educate an audience on the bias he used quite frequently, which that single seam caftan uses. It starts as one singular piece of fabric. What a wonderful way to see a garment be formed from one piece of fabric, live on a model, in real-time. It was a place where I married a bit of fashion history with something real, which was his tie-dye collection. I am not actually certain that there was ever a single seam caftan that was also a tie-dye piece. That was a total invention. I wanted to marry all of the concepts that felt so signature to Halston.

AD: Are there other signature pieces you would like to highlight that I havent ask you about from the show?

JSJ: There are so many, and each one of them is my baby [laughs]. I will say, I did map out Halstons career alongside the script to find those moments where we could potentially highlight with some honesty in terms of dating pieces appropriately, or we could highlight pieces from his body of work. There are other pieces, of course, like this coat that Halston wears that is a double-faced wool coat. He wears it in black at the start of Episode 2. There is an image of him wearing this long black coat sitting over all these rolled-up carpets before they have actually built the Olympic Tower and decorated it. It is like his initial walkthrough of the space. That was a coat that felt so dramatic, and he looked so elegant sitting there, kind of hovering over New York City. In this photograph, you see him in front of the skyline, sitting in front of big windows, and he looks like Batman or something, looking over New York City. I thought what a wonderful image and how powerful he felt. I wanted to do that coat and I wanted to do the perfect weight of double-faced wool, so as he walks through Central Park, as he does at the top of the episode, the air would sort of catch it and you would see it fly around a bit.

That coat came to life again, in white, in the show, as we enter his white period, and then ultimately in red. It became kind of a signature piece, and I think in part because of the way Ewan reacted to it. The way he responded to it. He loved wearing it. He loved feeling it. He loved the elegance and the cleanliness of the lines. The gravitas of walking into a space and having more fabric around you to manipulate, kind of toying around. I think he loved that. It helped him inhabit Halston more. That is my job as a costume designer, ultimately. That was a piece that was rooted from real history that we definitely took creative license with.

There are so many more. Every single costume of this show has a story behind it, whether its about trying to find a way to highlight a real Halston piece or trying to find a way to highlight a color, or a recreation of something that Liza Minnelli actually wore, like the bugle-beaded jumpsuit. I really wanted to do the particular bugle beads because I knew they would come alive in the lights ofStudio 54. I actually found designer Naeem Khan, a former assistant of Halstons. His father was the beader for Halston and actually got him the job with Halston. Naeem still had the beading patterns to those jumpsuits and the jacket, so he helped me recreate that exact beading pattern for that look. I took some liberties with the color to help highlight Krysta, our Liza, in that scene. Generally, there is a story behind every costume (laughs). I could go on.

AD: I could talk to you for two hours just about theStudio 54aesthetic.

JSJ:[Laughs].

AD: I am curious; Halston is not a part of the cultural zeitgeist, at least, not anymore. As a student of fashion, what has stood out to you? What do you consider to be his greatest legacy?

JSJ:I think the great gift of having done this show is just the insight into the creative process behind an artist. This particular artist, his medium, happened to be clothing. Reading the script initially, just to see insight behind a creative mind. That is not a story that gets told very often, so it was really exciting for me to be a part of.

I think in terms of Halstons own legacy, the essential DNA of Halstons aesthetic is truly about taking complicated ideas and conveying them simply and visually creating a look for women that was simultaneously liberating, freeing, and also elegant and timeless, and not very trend-driven. And that is what is so magical about his pieces is that they still feel so timeless and modern. That is the thing I always personally appreciated about his clothes.

I have an appreciation of his use of color. I can be very reserved with color, just in my own life. I felt like just doing this project has made me feel freer about color because he celebrated color. And it really does; I saw it with my own eyes, bring people to life in a fitting room, trying on bright, bold color made everybody happier. I took away so many things from this project in terms of just studying his eye and his aesthetic, and also all the creatives that he surrounded himself with and being able to immerse myself in researching Joe Eula (David Pittu), Elsa Peretti, Liza Minnelli, Andy Warhol all of the characters, all of the synergy of these artists, who were all very different from one another, but together created this unique culture. I think that is something I absolutely will take away from this forever.

AD: Halston was famously a huge inspiration for Tom Ford. Who do you think is the modern-day Halston? Who do you think is carrying on his legacy in fashion today?

JSJ: That is interesting. I mean, its hard to even distinguish at this point because his thumbprint is on everything! [Laughs]. Part of what Halstons legacy is, is the democracy of fashion, the accessibility of fashion. The fact that he bought a 5th Avenue label to J.C. Penny was sort of gauche at the time. It was unheard of. Now it is celebrated for high-end designers at Bergdorf Goodman to also have diffusion lines at Target. It feels like he was the pioneer of that, and the fact that it is now so celebrated to have a J.C. Penney line or a Target line, that is what is so amazing.

Also, one of the most exciting things in doing this story, and in this time, was how he used models and muses of all colors and shapes, and sizes. It was never a matter of being a certain type of woman to wear Halston successfully and beautifully. It was about celebrating women of all shapes and sizes and colors, which echoed through fashion, especially today. That whole idea of feeling very individual and very free and beautiful no matter what you look like and that was a beautiful message.

Halston is streaming on Netflix. Read more coverage of the show here.

Continue reading here:

'Halston' Costume Designer Jeriana San Juan: "There is a Story Behind Every Piece." - Awards Daily

CONSERVATIVE POLITICS in New Zealand is running out of puff. Both National and Act are struggling to offer voters much in the way of new political insights. The radical right-wing ideas that swept all before them in the 1980s and 90s have solidified into a pallid orthodoxy: one increasingly at odds with observable reality. The Churches political influence in New Zealand has been in steady decline since the 1970s. Robust though it may be in caucus, Nationals right-wing Christian faction merely testifies to the growing distance between their party and the electoral mainstream.

When a political party is fortunate enough to possess a charismatic leader, such ideological frailty counts for much less. Absent such a leader, however, philosophical cluelessness constitutes a formidable barrier to electoral success. Unfortunately for their respective parties, Judith Collins and David Seymour cannot be included in the same company as Sir John Key and Jacinda Ardern. It remains to be seen whether Winston Peters still possesses the power to harness the political zeitgeist to NZ Firsts battered chariot.

If Peters has spent the last few months scouring the conservative landscape for an ideology to match the temper of the times, then it is likely he will already have encountered the most radical right-wing movement since the rise of fascism, almost exactly a century ago. Although Traditionalism predates fascism by at least two decades, it shares the latters comprehensive rejection of Enlightenment values, liberal capitalism, scientific rationalism and democratic politics. When one considers that the leading promoters of Traditionalism in the world today are Steve Bannon formerly Chief Strategist to President Donald Trump and Aleksandr Dugin long-time behind-the-scenes adviser to the Kremlin any temptation to dismiss the movement as something wacky from the fringe should be resisted.

Like so many of the reactionary creeds emanating from fin-de-sicle Europe, Traditionalism fetishized what it considered to be the core values of the pre-modern era: hierarchy, spirituality and the (now very rare) ability to live honourably in the moment, unburdened by the weight of material concerns. The two individuals most closely associated with the early Traditionalist doctrine were the Frenchman, Ren Gunon, and the Italian proto-fascist, Julius Evola. Their Traditionalist utopia combined theocratic government with what amounted to a socio-economic caste-system. Cloaked in this antique guise, the doctrines prospects of political success in the Twentieth Century were slim. As modified by Bannon, however, Traditionalism has the capacity to act as an extremely powerful solvent of the electoral status-quo all over the Western World.

Bannons Traditionalism imputes to what New Zealanders would call the ordinary Kiwi bloke (or, in colloquial American, the average working stiff) the core definitive values of the nations character. It is in such folk: most particularly in their faith, generosity and resilience; that the nations ability to endure and triumph over all manner of adversities is located. They are the bedrock: the best; the people without whose support nothing of any lasting worth can be accomplished.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

In the unanticipated triumph of Brexit and Trump, the world witnessed the extraordinary political resonance of Bannons version of Traditionalism. It had the power to mobilise electorally groups which had, for decades, been disengaging from their traditional electoral champions Labour in the UK, the Democratic Party in the USA. It was Bannons strategic, and Trumps performative, genius that caused these disillusioned and disgruntled citizens to reassess, at a personal level, the costs and benefits of political engagement. Hillary Clinton may have dismissed them as deplorables, but Trump transformed her insult into a badge of honour: convincing them that they were the only people who could make America great again.

To be politically effective, however, Traditionalism needs a special kind of enemy. In this regard, an elite layer of effete professionals and managers, who look down with disdain upon ordinary people and their beliefs, and who react with abject horror at the very thought of these usually biddable yobbos intervening decisively in the political process, is exactly what Traditionalists are looking for.

In the eyes of the elites, this ignorant lumpen element presents itself as an army of terrifying zombies. Civilly dead, but now, by the power of Bannons weird political voodoo, electorally re-animated, they represent the very deepest fears of the people in charge. Shuffling menacingly towards them, their arms outstretched for ballot papers, these possessed political corpses must be cut down where they stand. Under no circumstances can general elections be turned into re-runs of The Night of the Living Dead.

A less tendentious presentation of Traditionalism may be found in the television series Yellowstone. In their sprawling Yellowstone ranch, set in the Republican stronghold of Montana, live the Duttons a powerful family in whom the best constitutive elements of the American character are embodied.

On every side, however, a hostile world is pressing in upon them. From the adjoining Native American tribal reservation in which an even older embodiment of America is stirring to the avaricious development buccaneers poised to turn the Dutton patrimony into ski resorts and casinos. Interestingly, those best constitutive elements include a willingness to defend the familys interests with deadly, and usually illegal, force. (Which is, at least, an honest admission of core American values!)

In the lead character, John Dutton (played by Kevin Costner) the viewer is frequently presented with something approximating that Zen-like ability to live in the spiritual moment which the original Traditionalists prized so highly. The series general contempt for the democratic process, and its clear preference for maintaining the established hierarchy of natural leaders, similarly echoes the ideas of Gunon and Evola.

New Zealand political leaders as different as Rob Muldoon and John Key have secured lengthy stints of political power on the strength of elevating ordinariness into something very special. Muldoon pitted his ordinary blokes (aka Robs Mob) against the hapless Citizens For Rowling whom he successfully portrayed as an ineffectual collection of over-educated snobs who thought they were better than everybody else. Keys trick was to convince nearly half the electorate that they were already the ones in charge; and all they had to do to prove it was make an ordinary millionaire their Prime Minister.

Few conservatively-minded New Zealanders would admit to feeling in charge of very much at all at the moment. Quite the reverse, in fact. In Traditionalist terms, all the worst elements of modernism are in the saddle and riding New Zealand hard. Even worse, no political party of the Right is currently willing (or, seemingly, able) to swing the axe in defence of the values of Real New Zealanders, or even explain, in simple terms, what those real values are. While this remains the case, the conservative cause will continue to languish.

What Bannon and his Russian equivalent, Dugin, understand is how quickly Democracy exhausts the ordinary man and woman. How ready they are to put their faith in those they recognise as belonging to the natural hierarchies of wisdom, strength and power. And how angry they become when those they trust to lead them prove unequal to the task.

In order to restore the natural balance of society, the Traditionalists argue, it is necessary to look deep into the heart of the ordinary people whose daily labours keep society going. Only when guided by the simple but durable virtues of those at the bottom of society, they argue, will those positioned at the top re-discover the wisdom, strength and power required to restore their nation to greatness.

This is, indeed, a step backward into pre-modernity. What Bannon and Dugin are describing is the enduring political alchemy of leaders and followers: that allegedly sacred bond between sovereign and subject which owes nothing to the intervention of elite interests, or, at least, not to those elite interests who fail to make their first two priorities the protection of the leader and the welfare of the people. Bannon and Dugin may call this Traditionalism, but a better name for their system might be Monarchical Socialism.

Think, the King and the Commons, without the Barons and the Bishops: the doomed dream of the Peasants Revolt. Or, the Fuhrer and the Volk, without the Capitalists and the Jews: the murderous dream of Hitlers stormtroopers.

Originally posted here:

Of Commoners And Kings: Steve Bannon's New Traditionalism - thedailyblog.co.nz

Photo: Eric Guillemain / Trunk Archive/

Somewhere between Hillary Clintons first and second presidential bids, it became pass and utterly dull to ask women of note whether they were feminists. Any answer to the once-Zeitgeist-y question, foisted upon female actors, pop stars, and doctors, was the wrong one, and would make headlines in the days that followed. This is a good thing for Rose Byrne, who, given her recent track record, would almost certainly have been interrogated on the belief that people should be treated equally, every time she faced the press.

The one-two punch of her latest projects in particular would have really landed Byrne in the F-word hot seat: Last year, it was FX on Hulus Mrs. America, in which she portrayed the mother of white feminism herself, Gloria Steinem. And beginning June 18, its her AppleTV+ series Physical, which, incidentally, picks up in 1981, exactly where Mrs. America left off.

It strangely felt like a companion piece because Mrs. America ends in 1980, Byrne says, video-chatting while on holiday in her native Australia. And [my character] is a former hippie activist, coming from the movement of the Berkeley days, and shes disillusioned when we meet her. And its sort of about the next stage of America, I think, if I can be so lofty to say. It felt like that to me.

Set in sepia-hued Southern California, Physical, from creator Annie Weisman (a producer of the cult comedy Suburgatory and Desperate Housewives before that), follows Byrnes Sheila, a wife and mother who regains some agency over her life through the burgeoning aerobics craze. Its also kind of a reverse engineering of the wellness industry, Byrne says. Today, everybody is an entrepreneur online, whether its a parenting expert or a wellness expert or a makeup expert, everybody has their brand. And this is really the seeds of that, these sort of lifestyle gurus.

In other words, the series paints aerobics instructors as the original influencers. And though its a half hour and is billed as a comedy, it also features some of the most unrelenting depictions of female suffering ever shown on TV, even in this antihero-prone era.

I feel like sometimes women are seen as unraveling in very obvious ways, whether its outlandish behavior or theyre crazy or whatever, Byrne says. And often the destruction that women experience is on the inside: how we talk to ourselves or how we look at ourselves. All of that stuff, its all inside, and its secret, and its shameful. Thats a harder story to tell. And its rarely represented like that onscreen, that internal, destructive, terrible treatment of ourselves.

Because to externalize turmoil, Byrne ventures, is a privilege which women, still, are not often granted. Sheila is mentally ill she has bulimia, among other conditions, none of which are played for laughs. To the contrary, thanks to a near-constant voice-over that laps over Byrnes performance in front of the camera, Physical is an intimate portrayal of torment.

But Sheila is as cruel to other women as she is to herself, and even partakes in both blackmail and theft. You want to root for this character and shes complicated, and shes not an easy character to just [understand], Byrne says. Its not all black and white with Sheila. And that was my challenge, I felt, trying to understand that myself. You know, often these illnesses are a punch line or the butt of a joke Particularly back then, there wasnt a language around Sheilas illness at all. It was really new to sort of even acknowledge it and know what its called.

It can be taxing just for the audience to be inside Sheilas own caustic head, even as she flashes a smile onscreen. But Byrne is able to leave that anguish on set, along with her 80s wig and leotards, thanks to her two young children (with partner and fellow actor Bobby Cannavale). Her kids arent just grounding; they simply dont allow her to wallow. They couldnt care less if Ive, like, had a hard day and I feel a bit vulnerable, or like, Gosh, that was a tough scene, she says. Im sure back when I was a younger actress without as many responsibilities, I would sort of indulge that stuff.

That doesnt mean Byrne is an Etsy ideal of female self-empowerment. Despite her achievements and devoted fan base (lesbians may have manifested her role as Steinem), she nearly falls over herself to admit shes susceptible to hyperself-criticism. Yeah, of course, whatre you crazy? she says. Are you bloody insane? Its like any artist, right? Were all just struggling, whether its about your writing or your music or your painting. What I see obviously is so different from what someone else is experiencing.

Along with Physical and Mrs. America, factor in her other recent project, a modern adaptation of Medea, performed at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, opposite Cannavale, in early 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic closed theaters, and Byrne is on a roll playing women in varying degrees of crisis. (The matriarch at the heart of Medea, famously, could have used some wellness.) This signals a watershed moment in Byrnes eyes. I look at Mrs. America and I look at Physical, and neither of those shows wouldve been made five years ago, or ten years ago, or even three years ago, maybe. Its timing, she says. And its a cultural shift and its a cultural reflection of storytelling. Look at [the success of] Nomadland. And obviously these projects are about a female story, a female narrative.

She has a point. Weisman wrote the Physical pilot eight or nine years ago, Byrne posits. And its only now that shes been able to find a home for it.

Doing what she could on her part to move the needle was certainly top of mind in Byrnes forming a production company, Dollhouse Pictures, founded with four other women, in order to prioritize female-driven storytelling. Its exciting to have women making decisions and being at the table, making choices about how a story unfolds and how it looks and how its told, she says of the venture. (The companys first project, a musical dramedy called Seriously Red, is currently in production with both Byrne and Cannavale in its cast.)

Though shes scaling new career heights, Byrnes rise in the industry has been far from meteoric. She starred opposite Glenn Close on FXs five-season legal drama Damages, and there was of course her role as stuck-up Helen in Kristen Wiigs brassy comedy Bridesmaids you know, the movie that proved with absolutely no precedent that women can be both funny and bankable at the box office. Bridesmaids also rendered Byrne a deft, sought-after comedic performer, leading to standout roles in Spy and the Neighbors franchise.

But Physical does mark Byrnes first time as the sole lead of a project. She recognizes the weight of the moment but not too much. Im Australian, so its hard for me to really talk about this because I feel like we cant take ourselves too seriously, she laughs. Im gonna just hide behind my cultural inability to reflect.

She adds: I couldnt think too much about being on the shoulders of myself. She doesnt have to, though; those who come after her will.

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The Tormented Rise of Rose Byrne - The Cut

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly, these words might seem counterintuitive to our desire to meet the day with a positive mental attitude, it might seem as if we have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and are setting ourselves up for failure. Although Roman Emperor turned philosopher, Marcus Aurelius continues in his journal, later titled The Meditations:

They are like this because they can't tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good and the ugliness of evil and have recognised that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own And so, none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are obstructions.

Here Marcus Aurelius is not articulating a pessimistic outlook for the coming day; he is reminding himself that he will, inevitably, meet people who rub him up the wrong way or act out of anger. His response to that negativity is not to rise to it or 'obstruct' it. But he is to be psychologically resilient in the face of that routine challenge and achieve a harmonious relationship with the offender. Marcus is using a Stoic thought exercise of premeditation; he is internally pre-empting and resolving the potential sources of stress to maintain the psychological fortitude to act, unlike the hypothetical 'wrongdoer'.

Stoicism, not to be confused with the lower-case stoic, is an ancient Greek philosophy that promoted the art of living in accordance with what they considered to be Nature. The central node of the discipline is, as philosopher Pierre Hadot wrote in his book The Inner Citadel, that of an 'inner discourse', because the followers of the Stoicism stressed the utmost role of cognition and judgements, and their optional potential for either emotional pain or peace a theme later taken up by Shakespeare in Hamlet: There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.

In their attempt to live harmoniously with the rationality of Nature and to avoid internal disturbances and destructive action, the Stoics developed an early hybrid form of philosophy/psychology. More recently, this ancient paradigm for living has heavily influenced the development of modern cognitive psychotherapy and has lately become increasingly more popular with people inspired by its message and its framework for a considered life.

The unshakeable philosophers path towards the tranquil mind

Marcus Aurelius is often thought of as the coming of the philosopher-king envisioned by Plato in his political dialogue, Republic. Although, The Meditations was not a Stoic philosophical treatise written for wider publication but was a form of personal guidance and self-admonition. He was, in essence, repeating affirmations, but not the sort of affirmations that are found in the pages of bestselling self-help books, written by self-appointed positive vibe gurus.

In actuality, the affirmations that permeate the pages of the journal speak as much about the depressive transience of life as much as they do about positive moral action. In Stoic philosophy, what is termed as memento mori remember you are mortal, is used to remind the philosopher to treat each day as a gift, to not waste time on the trivial, to remain present, and to live life with some sort of purpose.

Rather than implying a nihilistic inconsequential meaningless to life, the characterisation of life as small implies for the Stoics a sense of urgency to live a life of meaning, if you dont free yourself it will be gone and will never return.

The ancient Greeks described individuals who lived well and flourished throughout their lives as enjoying eudaimonia, or good (eu) spirit (daimn). The concept is often translated as happiness or welfare, although a more accurate proposed translation has been human flourishing or the condition of living well in accordance with Natures web of cause and effect.

Unlike the earlier philosophy of Aristotle, the Stoics disregarded external fortune as endangering the path towards achieving eudaimonia, believing that everyone was capable of flourishing as long as their actions were guided by reason (logos). The natural order of reason for the Stoics was the paradigm to which they aspired to live in accordance with, but in order to live in harmony with the active reason pervading and animating the Universe, the philosopher had to first psychologically master himself.

If Marcus Aurelius can be termed the 'philosopher-king', then his intellectual inspiration, Epictetus, should be termed the 'philosopher-slave'. Epictetus, born a slave and later a freeman, illustrated that Stoicism wasnt elitist, for everyone is thought to have the human capacity for reason. Epictetus contribution to Stoicism was more far-reaching than Marcus Aurelius, and one of his famous pieces of guidance that he offered in the Enchiridion is commonly known as the Stoic fork, the fork representing the division between things that are up to us and in our control, and those that are not.

Some things are up to us, and others are not', wrote Epictetus. He argued that we should only concern ourselves with the things that are in our control towards everything else, we should be indifferent. He lists the things that are in our control as our opinions, intentions, desires, and actions. In contrast, the things not in our control are our property, status, what people think of us, others behaviour, and anything external.

When we invest in something external to us, and it doesnt act or end in the way that we desire, we, of course, feel frustrated or anxious or even depressed. Although much like in Marcus morning premeditation, the actions of others that we meet during our day are not in our control to determine. Any attempt to influence their behaviour is only setting ourselves up for further frustration.

Essentially for the Stoics, only what we think and do are worthy of our attention. Although we might preface that statement, as for example, we may work diligently in the hope of securing a promotion or practice hard for an upcoming football match, we, however, are not in control of whether our boss realises our ability or how many goals the other team will score. Moreover, if we fixate on the thought 'I will get the promotion', or 'I must win the game', we will most likely set ourselves up for a crushing failure. Therefore, for the Stoics, these judgements would be thought of as misguided as they have the potential to lead to disappointment and distress.

Another related central Stoic tenet that was touched on earlier is that it is not what happens to individuals that are the cause of their distress but how individuals perceive what happens to them that determines their effect, as Marcus Aurelius puts it the soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts and choose not to be harmed and you wont be harmed, and Epictetus it is not things that trouble us but our judgement about things.

Epictetus and Marcus are saying here that our inner discourse is the primary cause of our distress, rather than the external causes themselves. We might initially think that they are victim blaming or are glibly dismissing the pain caused by others. However, the message is that whatever happens to you, your thoughts dont need to become dyed it doesn't need to affect you psychologically; you can control your perception of the external and, in turn, be liberated from your negative judgements.

As Pierre Hadot explained, for the Stoics: Things cannot trouble us, because they do not touch our ego they do not touch the guiding principle within us. They remain at the threshold. Marcus and Epictetus are saying that as our thoughts are under our control, we are responsible for how we respond to outside pressures. If, for example, we dont get that promotion or we lose that game, we should reframe the judgement that has set ourselves up for disappointment into something more productive, such as I will do my best to while accepting that the outcome is outside our control.

What comes from viewing troubles as existing on the threshold of the self is the formation of a psychological tranquillity, robustness, and resilience to take on those challenges a mastering of ones own inner discourse, in Marcus words:

The philosophical foundations of CBT

Stoic thought dominated the ancient world, only tofade with the advent of Christianity, although elements of Stoicism would survive in the new faith and consequentially in the later philosophies of early modern Europe.

Epictetus said that the philosophers school is a doctors clinic, and from the 1950s onwards, psychotherapeutic clinics began to rediscover Stoicism through the writing of Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, founders of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), respectively. Both psychotherapists explicitly acknowledged Stoicism as the philosophical precursor to their revolutionary approaches to treatment.

Aaron Beck clearly referenced 'the philosophical origins' of CBT in his book Cognitive Therapy of Depression: The philosophical origins of cognitive therapy can be traced back to the Stoic philosophers, particularly Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Epictetus wrote in The Enchiridion, Men are disturbed not by things but by the views which they take of them Control of most intense feelings may be achieved by changing ones ideas.

CBT is the predominant style of modern evidence-based therapy. As its name implies, the style examines the role of cognitive activity on behaviour and how this activity can be modified to promote desired behavioural changes. Stoicisms influence on CBT is especially evident through both the Stoic fork and the principle of positively transforming our attitudes and actions towards outside events.

The philosophical core of Stoic teaching finding new life within the therapeutic space, a reasonably natural transition, as Stoicism is similarly concerned with the goal of promoting a tranquil and resilient psyche and in transforming our thoughts regarding external causes of distress.

The classical philosophys influence has also not only been restricted to psychotherapy, as it has been a source of comfort for the powerless and the powerful alike famously for Nelson Mandela during his 27 years of imprisonment, Admiral James Stockdale while a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and the 42nd President Bill Clinton during his tenure.

Modern Stoicism preventative medicine

The renaissance and return of Stoic thought in the 20th century brought about Modern Stoicism as an intellectual and popular movement aimed at reviving the philosophical tradition, modified to the modern zeitgeist and challenges. Doctor John Sellars, Reader in Philosophy at Royal Holloway and author of Lessons in Stoicism, spoke with Mental Health Today about why this classical philosophy has particular resonance and appeal in modernity, and why interest has exploded over the last decade.

Who do you want to be? As square-eyed consumers, this is a question that advertisements routinely answer for us. The product stands in and tells the story of who we are or want to be the stylish camera promises to demonstrate our adventurousness, or a car our desire to break free; we are told that we can discover our 'true selves' on the high street.

Although, it never feels enough, as the commodity can never satisfy our insatiable appetite for fulfilment and rarely ever enhances our inner experience. In this landscape, people are constantly searching for a framework to understand what is important and what they ought to be pursuing in life.

Dr Sellars continued: Stoicism offers a whole framework these are the things we think are important, these are the things you ought to be pursuing in your life. It offers a wider ethical framework, which I think people find attractive, particularly in a broadly secular society, where people that no longer have that kind of religious framework.

The Stoics appear to remedy the insecurity of age of anxiety and can direct us in our search for fulfilment. And rather than relying on psychotherapeutic spaces to provide the solution for our internal problem, Dr Sellars said that Stoicism is being used as a preventative medicine.

In a moment of crisis, you're already in a mess, and you need to be fixed. A therapist will intervene to fix that one problem and then leave you on your own. Someone who becomes interested in Stoicism and connects with these ideas on a regular basis, they're developing resilience before they experienced any crisis, there's a sense in which it is preventative medicine.

He continued: There's a strong interest these days in what you might call the psychotherapeutic aspect of Stoicism. So, dealing with adversity would be one. The Stoics don't think that we're caught in some kind of internal psychological battle between reason and emotions. They think that our emotions are the product of the judgments that we make about things.

If someone judges that something really dangerous is coming, then they're going to experience the emotion of fear, and they're going to generate that emotion. But the emotion is going to be the product of that value judgment they've made that something dangerous is coming. And so, the Stoics think that if you attend to those judgments you're making, you can transform your emotional life.

Recently, during the first Covid-19 lockdown in May 2020, thousands of people took part in Stoic Mindfulness and Resilience Training (SMRT), a four-week e-learning programme developed by the Modern Stoicism team.

Participants studied ideas and followed practices taken from the ancient school of philosophy to see if they might improve their daily lives and, in particular, improve their emotional resilience. By the end of the month, participants reported an average 13% increase in resilience, along with an increase in life satisfaction of 14%, and an increase in positive emotions (11%) and a decrease in negative emotions (15%).

The course quantified the therapeutic benefits of Stoic philosophy as a preventative therapy and demonstrated that the discipline could be used to lay the groundwork for psychological resilience. The study also strikingly had excellent retention rates, the results suggesting that the longer the course was followed,the more robust the benefits, comparative to Marcus Aurelius' constant repetitive daily reaffirmation of Stoic doctrine.

What can we learn from Stoicism?

The philosophy teaches us that targeted emotional indifference can help us to endure the inevitable pains of life and that one small reframing of your mindset can cascade into larger, more impactful changes later down the line. It also teaches us that meaning comes from acting well in the world, to treat others with respect even if they act negatively and that our psychological tranquillity is not only for others to provide fundamentally, it is our own responsibility.

Notably, Stoicism also tells us something that is often neglected in modern Western culture, that the mind can be a source of tranquillity and nourishment as much as it can be a source of disturbance. The key to the inner citadel comes with constantly reinforcing our psyches and through not treating the outside world as an extension of ourselves and ultimately, by understanding that the true source of stability and serenity comes from within.

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Inner citadels: How to live the meaningful life of a Roman emperor - Mental Health Today

People seldom eulogize the wisdom and virtues of their fathers, but to excuse some folly or wickedness of their own. ...America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States. Frederick Douglass in "What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?"

During the most recent legislative session, Texas Republicans ostensibly theparty of small government usurped the role of the state's teachers and school boards in drafting social studies curricula. The bill they passed follows the lead of other state legislatures in targeting a bogeyman by the initials of CRT. If you haven't been following the debate, that stands forCritical Race Theory.

This allegedly pernicious ideology goes unmentioned in the text of the bill, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law on Wednesday. Even so, the legislation's author, State Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, couldn't resist touting his handiwork as "a dagger shot right through the heart of Critical Race Theory."

Many of the conservative critics of this relatively obscure field of legal scholarship would no doubt flunk a remedial pop quiz on the subject. However, before we do some brushing up on what CRT actually is, let's survey the collateral damage wrought by House Bill 3979.

Decree #1: "A teacher may not make part of a course or award extra credit for efforts to persuade members of the legislative or executive branch at the federal, state, or local level to take specific actions by direct communication."

That means no more having students write a letter to the president or their congressperson about pressing issues of the day one of the standard assignments in basic civics courses. And no more extra credit for anything remotely resembling "political activism" or "participation in any internship or similar activity involving social or public policy advocacy." That means penning an op-ed for a local newspaper, volunteering to register voters, interning for an elected official, attending a town hall with Cornel Westor mustering up the courage to speak at a city council meeting can no longer earn a Texas student class credit. So much for fostering an engaged citizenry.

Decree #2: "A teacher may not make part of a course the concept that the advent of slavery constituted the true founding of the United States" or "that slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles."

Not only does that seem to nix the famous speech quoted above from Frederick Douglass even though the bill specifically recommends his autobiography as essential reading it also effectively bans an important book by University of Houston history professor Gerald Horne titled The Counter-Revolution of 1776. In it, Horne shows that one of the catalysts for American independence was colonists' outrage and fear that Britain broached the possibility of forbidding chattel slavery outright something the country ultimately did three decades before us. The motivating power of slavery was even stronger in Texas' independence from Mexico, but that's another story.

Fact is, slavery was legal in all 13 colonies at the onset of the Revolutionary War. Whether you consider that a "deviation" or take it to be foundational to America's later prosperity,why is it the business of armchair historians in the state legislature, over objections from more than 70 civic groups and businesses across Texas, to censor the teaching of one side or the other in a partisan manner?

Similarly, the bill states: "The State Board of Education shall adopt essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's understanding of the fundamental moral, political, and intellectual foundations of the American experiment in self-government."

This leaves out historians who question whether we can best conceive of the founding as an "experiment in self-government" at all including Michael Klarman, a constitutional law professor at Harvard. In his book The Framers' Coup, Klarman debunks the romanticized image of our national user-agreement, contextualizing it as an elitist reaction to the burgeoning democractic zeitgeist of 1780s.

Indeed, many voices of the founders' generation may not even escape Texas' new curricular muzzle. Here's Rep. James Lincoln, speaking at the debate over whether South Carolina should ratify:"He had listened with eager attention to all the arguments in favor of the Constitution; but he solemnly declared that the more he heard, the more he was persuaded of its evil tendency. 'What does this proposed Constitution do? It changes, totally changes, the form of your present government. From a well-digested, well-formed democratic, you are at once rushing into an aristocratic government. What have you been contending for these 10 years past? Liberty! What is liberty? The power of governing yourselves. If you adopt this Constitution, have you this power? No: you give it into the hands of a set of men who live 1,000 miles distant from you. Let the people but once trust their liberties out of their own hands, and what will be the consequence? First, a haughty, imperious aristocracy; and ultimately, a tyrannical monarchy. ... It is said this Constitution is an experiment; but all physicians are cautious of experiments'."

Decree #3: "A teacher may not require an understanding of the 1619 Project."

Whatever one's opinion, the 1619 Project was a significant series of articles published in the New York Times Magazine, and the editor of the project won a Pulitzer Prize,both for her work in assembling a range of high-caliber authors as well as her own "distinguished commentary."

Agree or disagree with Nikole Hannah-Jones, as a journalist she's a role model for what students of any background should aspire to achieve through hard work, dedication and resolute character. But now this "groundbreaking look at the impact of slavery" can never be required reading in any of Texas' public or open-enrollment charter schools. To quote back the language of the bill, how does that "strive to explore the topic from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective?"

Decree #4: "A teacher may not make part of a course the concept that an individual bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race."Imagine if a right-wing government in South Africa or Germany passed a malleable restriction like this regarding education about racial apartheid or atrocities during Word War II. In 1946, philosopher Karl Jaspers published The Question of German Guilt, evocatively arguing that an acknowledgment of national guilt was a necessary condition for the moral and political rebirth of Germany." Can we ever truly heal from our wounds as a country without admitting that racism remains a problem the white majority must honestly confront?

Decree #5: "A teacher may not make part of a course the concept that an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race."How, pray tell, can one study the dispossession and slaughter of Native Americans, the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans, the legacy of lynching and segregation and housing discrimination with which we're still living, the racial wealth gap, mass incarceration or the murder of an unarmed Black suspect in custody without feeling some measure of distress?

These injustices should break our hearts, and when teachers are allowed to teach, they can walk the line between letting kids know that while racism was not their idea, many of us are its inheritors and beneficiaries and therefore have a moral obligation to face uncomfortable truths. Being "colorblind," sadly, is not enough.

Decree #6: "A teacher may not make part of a course the concept that an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of the individual's race.""Reverse discrimination" and "special treatment" are how Fox News pundits have recently spun COVID-19 relief aid to Black farmers, despite the fact that over the past century the Agriculture Department stole tens of billions of dollars from them thanks to actual racial discrimination. This edict ostensibly declares off limits any teacher-led discussion of affirmative action to redress past wrongs and that in itself is a wrong.

Decree #7: "Any employee of a state agency may not be required to engage in training, orientation, or therapy that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or blame on the basis of race or sex."That's unfortunate, since Texas lawmakers could really use a session with renowned diversity educator Jane Elliott.

Decree #8: "A teacher may not make part of a course the concept that meritocracy is racist or was created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race."To quote pro football coach Barry Switzer, "Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple." The myth that every individual's share of success perfectly matches their talent can cover up unearned white privilege, recycling status into "merit." At the very least, it's worth considering as an idea, but it's now verboten.

Decree #9: "A teacher may not make part of a course the concept that an individual is inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously."

This tosses the entire study of "unconscious racial bias" out the window along with this 1987 Stanford Law Review essayby professor Charles Lawrence III:Americans share a common historical and cultural heritage in which racism has played and still plays a dominant role. Because of this shared experience, we also inevitably share many ideas, attitudes, and beliefs that attach significance to an individuals race and induce negative feelings and opinions about nonwhites. At the same time, most of us are unaware of our racism. We do not recognize the ways in which our cultural experience has influenced our beliefs about race or the occasions on which those beliefs affect our actions. In other words, a large part of the behavior that produces racial discrimination is influenced by unconscious racial motivation."

And that brings us back to the bogeyman.

Spawned by Harvard Law professor Derrick Bell in the late 1970s, Critical Race Theory was an attempt to grapple with the exasperating persistence of racism in American law and life after the hard-won concessions of the Civil Rights era. Legal scholars such as Ricard Delgado, Patricia Williams, Cheryl Harris and Kimberl Crenshaw created an array of concepts the empathic fallacy, microaggression, intersectionality, whiteness to help explain how seemingly neutral institutions are implicated in the continuing subordination of people of color.

CRT is not "state-sanctioned racism," it's not "an excuse for giving up," it doesn't "pit our children against each other" or "teach hate." One of its vital contributions has been refreshing reinterpretations of American history through exhaustive archival work, as conducted by international relations theory expert Mary Dudziak in her must-read article "Desegregation as a Cold War Imperative". Though most of the recent scaremongering has had little to do with CRT as an academic discipline, it's fair to say CRT has inspired anti-racist activists from all walks of life, including many in the Black Lives Matter movement.

And perhaps that's where Texas lawmakers were really aiming their dagger. Like naming a high school after the commander of the Confederate Armyin response to integration, we had to expect blowback from the tens of millions of Americans who marched against police brutality and systemic racism last summer.

Ironic, though, that the Legislature's decrees were signed into law around the same time Juneteenth became a federal holiday. Apparently, in the culture war over symbolic gestures, substantive education got left behind.

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Analysis: Here's what Texas' newly signed ban on teaching Critical Race Theory really signifies - San Antonio Current

People have started thinking about what theyve been doing and whether they want to continue on in ... [+] the same job or career for the next five to 25 years. The results of this introspection clearly show that they want to make a move.

I was highly skeptical of the Texas A&M University professor Anthony Klotzs prognostication that the great resignation is coming. Klotz contends, When theres uncertainty, people tend to stay put, so there are pent-up resignations that didnt happen over the past year. This should lead to a mass exodus of workers leaving their companies for greener pastures with better opportunities.

At first, it seemed a little too far-fetched that workers en masse would quit with or without new jobs already lined up. However, his assertion is proving true. American workers are quitting their jobs more than any other time in the past two decades.

The United States Department of Labor reports weekly and monthly data on unemployment. A lesser known indicator is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, referred to as JOLTS by economists. CNBC pointed out that the most recent JOLTS report showsjob openings in April soared to a record 9.3 million, as the economy rapidly recovered from its pandemic depths.

It's hard for many to comprehend the amazing resurgence in job openings. A year ago at this time, the U.S. was in a terrible place. Millions of people lost their jobs.There was an overhang of dread and fear over the bleak future in front of us. Those who were employed sheltered in their jobs. They hunkered down, waiting out the outbreak.

Now, everythings changing. It's moving fast too. The same sectors that were crushed during the pandemichotels, restaurants, bars, manufacturing, travel, concerts and sporting eventsare now leading the charge in job openings.There are so many open jobs available that businesses have been raising wages, offering sign-on bonuses and other incentives to procure workers. Companies are offering flexible and remote-work options. Wall Street investment banks gave their staff Peloton bikes, Apple products and sizable raises and bonuses to show their appreciation and retain personnel.

Over the last few weeks, Ive spoken to the CEOs and executives of leading job sites and recruiting platforms that represent a cross-section of both white, blue and grey-collar workers. The leadership at Monster, Snagajob, Adzuna, HireVue, Hiretual and LinkedIn have all unanimously told me that there is huge demand for workers and companiesand it's highly challenging for companies to find people for their openings.

Theres been a mood shift and change in the zeitgeist. Weve learned firsthand how fragile life is. Many people have reexamined their lives. They realize they have a limited time here in this world. This has caused a bit of an existential moment. People have started thinking about what theyve been doing and whether they want to continue on in the same job or career for the next five to 25 years. The results of this introspection clearly show that they want to make a move.

There are an array of personal reasons to make a move. Some simply refuse to schlep back and forth to an office, taking two-plus hours a day commuting into a crowded, dirty and crime-ridden city. Insurance and financial services giant Prudential conducted a study that found one in three American workers would not want to work for an employer that required them to be onsite full time. The survey also indicated, A quarter of workers plan on looking for a new job when the threat of the pandemic decreases, signaling a looming war for talent. Prudential vice chair Rob Falzon admitted, "If there's one thing that keeps me up at night, it's the talent flight risk.

Seeing all sorts of opportunities, people have switched industries. Some have taken classes or attended online bootcamps to learn new trades or professions in fast-growing areas, like technology. There are still people concerned about the virus and have pulled themselves out of the job market. Working mothers felt the need to choose between work and childcare. This has been especially difficult for people who live in cities where the public schools stopped in-person learning and sent students home.

People dealt with overwhelming stress and anxiety during the outbreak. Mental health issues, feelings of burnout, depression and isolation were widespread. These people may have taken a break or sought out employers who provide an empathetic and caring environment.

This movement is exciting. By quitting a job, workers show that they are confident in the future. It also signifies that there are sufficient jobs available that if the move doesnt work out, they could relatively easily find a new one. This was certainly not the case for most of the last year and a half.

Heres one piece of advice though. Please dont quit your job unless you have something else already lined up. It's too risky. Without a job, you have less negotiating power. Without a current job, you cant leverage the possibility of a counteroffer to gain a higher salary. You could be out of work for three to six months or longer. When you interview, hiring managers will question your judgment. Theyll be concerned that you are too impulsive and may leave their company too over some minor trivial matter.

The rest is here:

Workers Are Quitting Their Jobs In Record Numbers, As The U.S. Experiences A Booming Job Market - Forbes