Author: Mollie Cahillane

Reflecting on sexual assault at Northwestern

Mollie Cahillane Life 0 Comment

Sexual Assault Awareness Month wrapped up last week. It’s such a terrible term, “sexual assault.” People don’t like thinking about it, let alone talking about it. As the recently appointed Director of Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators, I spend the majority of my time living and breathing sexual assault and rape culture.

Sexual assault is not unique to Northwestern. Right now, 94 colleges are under federal investigation in the United States for how they handle sexual violence under Title IX. Surprisingly, Northwestern is not one of them.

I find myself incredibly frustrated with the cavalier student body attitude that I’m often faced with. I’m discouraged because I feel that many students do not understand the gravity of these issues. Recently, I spoke at the PHA Grand Chapter, where I addressed approximately 500 sorority women about sexual violence on campus. While many women appeared to take our message to heart, I could still see people rolling their eyes, texting and blatantly ignoring what we were saying.

Our school has a sexual assault problem. We don’t like admitting it, and the majority of students like to exist in ignorance. That doesn’t change the fact that within four years at Northwestern, one in five people and one in three women will be victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault. These statistics come from a detailed campus survey taken in 2014. My message and SHAPE’s message is important. Sexual violence happens at Northwestern, and to people of every gender, race and sexual identity and not just heterosexual women. In a class of 20 people, statistically speaking at least four are survivors. Sexual violence is more prevalent in the Greek communities, and the school receives the greatest amount of reports in the first few weeks of each school year.

Northwestern University defines consent as knowing, active, voluntary, present and ongoing. Anything other than this is sexual assault. Consent is not present when an individual is incapacitated due to age or physical condition (sleep, lack of consciousness or incapacitation due to alcohol or drugs). Theoretically, this eliminates the possibility of victim blaming and slut shaming, as it is never a survivor’s fault. At Northwestern, I still hear things like “What were they wearing?” and “She shouldn’t have drank so much. What did she expect to happen?”

Wikipedia defines rape culture as “a concept within feminist theory in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality.” This is clearly oversimplified, but I’m tired, Northwestern. I’m tired of hearing rape jokes on campus and reading them on Yik Yak. Even when it’s as casual as something like “I need to bring some lube because I’m about to get buttf***ed by this midterm” or “I totally raped that test,” rape culture is perpetuated. These “jokes” trivialize rape and the experiences people go through. On Yik Yak, these terms aren’t used in a sexual way, but rather a dominant way. Rape is an act of power. Rape jokes perpetuate the culture of power and dominance and continue to take control away from survivors.

Working against sexual violence is exhausting. I find myself emotionally drained far too often. I know that I’m not doing enough. I see this enormous problem and I can’t fix it. Sometimes I feel like I can’t even make a difference. I keep fighting because I know that if I can counsel at least one person, stop one potential perpetrator from offending or show someone that they are not alone, I’m doing something to help.

There are members of our community who care. I spent the last five months helping plan Northwestern’s annual Take Back the Night week. Take Back the Night is an international non-profit organization that works to end sexual violence in all forms. At Northwestern, we had a series of events with the most well-known being the TBTN March and Survivor Speakout. Before the march, I was worried. I was worried we would be mocked or trivialized or that hardly anyone would come. My worries turned out to be unfounded. More than 80 students from a large variety of organizations came to march in solidarity with survivors of sexual violence.

Walking through campus chanting phrases such as “shatter the silence, stop the violence” and “yes means yes, no means no, whatever we wear, wherever we go,” I felt more hopeful than I had felt in a long time. Many students who watched us go by applauded, and I felt supported and empowered. I was with people who understood the work I am doing and why it is important. I didn’t feel so alone anymore.

We need more of this. We need to show survivors they are not alone and that we care for and support them. Northwestern, it’s time to stand up to sexual violence.

 

Originally published: http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/story/reflecting-on-nus-sexual-assault-problem/

Real female journalists: getting sources without getting some

Mollie Cahillane Articles, Life 0 Comment
Although Medill presents a different demographic, white men are predominantly represented in the media industry. Photo courtesy of The New York Times
Although Medill presents a different demographic, white men are predominantly represented in the media industry. Photo courtesy of The New York Times

If you’ve flipped on Netflix between those midterms, you might have seen the stereotype: female journalists are overly sexual. These tropes are inherently harmful and degrading to women and demean the valuable work that female journalists do.

During Wildcat Welcome my freshman year, we were told at Medill orientation that there are more women in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications than men. So why are female journalists portrayed so poorly in media when they make up the bulk of the profession? In House of Cards, one female reporter brags about how she’ll “suck, screw and jerk anything that moves just to get a story.”

Clearly not ethical journalism right there. In the third episode of the first season of Parks and Recreation, reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep sleeps with parks employee Mark Brendanawicz. Shauna acquires multiple quotes from Mark, which he assumed was off the record since they were in bed together. The question we have to ask here is whether Parks and Rec is twisting the trope or just adding on to it. Is Shauna taking advantage of a dumb government official, or did the writers have her use her sexuality to get what she wants instead of doing her job?

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, a shameless chick-flick yet a classic, is built entirely off the premise of a female journalist attempting to seduce a man to write a story for her magazine. It ended happily, but at what cost? In 2005’s Thank You for Smoking, a young journalist named Heather seduces the vice president of a major tobacco lobby who claims there is no link between lung cancer and tobacco usage. Heather writes a furious exposé blowing up the lobbyist’s lies, but then Heather’s unethical tactics are exposed, and she is punished by having to become the local weather girl.

It’s easy to see in journalism classes at Northwestern that there are usually at least twice as many women as men. In my Journalism 301 class right now, a required class for Medill undergraduates, we have 13 women and three men. While more women than men enroll in Medill, in the professional world women are incredibly underrepresented in journalism. According to a University of Nevada at Las Vegas study, sources from TheNew York Times front page stories are 65 percent men, 19 percent women and 17 percent unknown. NBC’s news showMeet the Press is 62 percent white men and 28 percent everyone else. Fox News Sunday is even worse at 67 percent white men and 33 percent everyone else.

People might say that I’m overreacting, that I’m reading into things, that I’m creating a problem where there isn’t one. Sometimes a movie is just a movie, sometimes a character is just a character, but I don’t think that’s the case. The problems arise when we don’t even realize that what we see in the media influences our thoughts, perceptions and attitudes. How many girls are growing up now thinking that in order to be a journalist, screwing their sources is common practice? How many boys are growing up thinking that all they have to do to have sex with a girl is give her information for a story? How many perceptions have been warped in the last 20 years by the changing portrayal of female journalists?

There is nothing wrong with a woman choosing to exercise her sexual freedom. If any woman wants to have sex, without a doubt she should be able to and she should own it. The problem is the way media portrays female journalists as needing to use their sexuality in order to do their job, something that is clearly not true in real life. So how can Medill students, and any other aspiring journalist, break this stereotype? We are an incredibly respected journalism school: Medill graduates go on to win Pulitzer Prizes, work for publications in every corner of the country, travel overseas and cover violent warfare.

How can we reconcile these amazing people who do incredible things and the way that the media portrays us? We can’t. All we can do is live and work in a way that defies these stereotypes and create real-life examples of kick-ass, powerful women. We can attack the problem at its source. Aim to write for these shows and movies, changing the way women are portrayed. I grew up watching Gilmore Girls, where young Rory Gilmore is head editor of her high school paper and then the Yale Daily News.

The series ends with Rory pursuing her dreams of becoming a journalist, boyfriend be dammed. Rory never so much as even winked at a source, and she was still able to be a successful reporter and a great role model. I wanted to be a journalist because of Rory Gilmore. Gilmore Girls ended in 2007 though, so it’s unlikely that aspiring middle school and high school journalists are still watching it. Hollywood, give us accurate, empowering portrayals of female journalists. Give us more Rory Gilmores.

 

Originally published: http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/story/the-real-female-journalists-getting-sources-withou/

Northwestern professor hosts roundtable discussion on Ukraine, U.S. response

Mollie Cahillane Articles, Politics 0 Comment

A group of professors, Northwestern employees, Evanston residents, and students gathered at the Buffett Center on Friday Oct. 3 to discuss the conflict in Ukraine with Jewish History Professor Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern.

Petrovsky-Shtern opened his presentation called Ukraine: The Maidan and After with a crucial acknowledgement: while there is a lot of discussion about Ukraine, there is little understanding about it. The Ukrainian native certainly undertands the country and its conflict to a degree most may not, having visited Ukraine three times in the past year alone and written three books about it.

Petrovsky-Shtern was born in Ukraine and speaks excellent, slightly accented English. Now he teaches several undergraduate and graduate Jewish history classes at Northwestern. He spoke with a quick confidence that made it clear he knows exactly what he’s talking about.

His message: Ukraine is a textbook example of a postcolonial entity. It is not divided into an East and a West, as some reports have indicated. Instead, it has a strong and pronounced center that is equidistant from the pro-Russia southeast and the pro-nationalist west. In the past 20 years, Ukraine has become a borderland, the buffer zone between Eastern Europe and Western Europe.

Petrovsky-Shtern used multiple maps to show areas of tension in Ukraine, as well as areas he had spent two months of this past year in.

The Ukraine that exists now is a deviation of what it wanted to be in 1991 when it became independent of the Soviet Union. In 2013, Ukraine underwent the Euromaiden protests after President Viktor Yanukovych changed his mind on the European Association. Hundreds of thousands of people protested and Ukraine became a land of political turmoil. Petrovsky-Shtern said that it is important to note people were pro-Russia or pro-nationalist not because of “who they are, but what they want.”

The Euromaiden protests led to the Revolution of Dignity in early 2014. Yanukovych’s government collapsed, and the Revolution brought moderates to power, not radicals. There was still enormous unrest in southern and eastern parts of the country. In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Parliament deployed troops into Ukraine and annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

So what does this mean? First of all, Russia clearly violated the 1994 Budapest Agreement. The US, Russia and the United Kingdom had agreed that, in exchange for Ukraine giving up the world’s third largest nuclear weapons stockpile, there would be no threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine. When Russia annexed Crimea, it broke this agreement.

Putin is an unprecedented leader of Russia. Most dictators start out working from ideology and then become more pragmatic. Putin has gone from a pragmatic leader to an ideological radical. He is working to restore the Soviet Union, and Ukraine is a good start. His propaganda has painted Russia as the restorer of a corrupt Ukraine, rather than Russia as the aggressor.

And Petrovsky-Shtern’s reaction to it all? The professor said he is “simply amazed by the lack of response from the U.S. government” and that “they laugh at European sanctions in Russia.” There is no world government or army, so whose responsibility is it to intervene in situations like Crimea? Does the United States have a moral obligation to protect the Ukraine from Russian aggression? Some would argue that it does. Russia essentially escaped unpunished from annexing Ukrainian territory, setting a powerful precedent. What’s to stop this from happening again?

When the floor opened for discussion, one attendee asked how Ukrainians felt about the situation. Petrovsky-Shtern responded with his own position, saying he avoids even speaking Russian, his native language. He also said his next work, an autobiography, has been delayed due the resentment he feels towards Russia.

 

Originally published: http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/story/ukraine-the-maidan-and-after/

The best television shows featuring Northwestern alums

Mollie Cahillane Articles, Entertainment 0 Comment

Northwestern routinely turns out some of the most talented people in Hollywood, mostly from the School of Communication. It is almost impossible to attend a student production without thinking, “That person will be famous some day.” Here are some of those people that proved those predictions true.

Jayne Atkinson: “24,” “House of Cards” 

Jayne Atkinson has appeared in a variety of films, television shows and stage productions. She graduated from Northwestern in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications.In “24,” Atkinson played the badass agent Karen Hayes from Homeland Security. Her character rocked. She was fierce and a strong woman, even if early on her character was slightly unlikeable. She was in a total of 30 episodes and made those later seasons of “24” more bearable. She currently plays Secretary of State Catherine Durant on the hit Netflix original series “House of Cards.”

Zach Braff: “Scrubs” 

Zach Braff graduated in 1997 from the School of Communication. In 2001, Braff was cast as Dr. John “J.D.” Dorian on NBC’s “Scrubs.” The show follows a group of employees at a teaching hospital, and the name is a play on both the clothing doctors wear and the low ranking of hospital interns. Braff is the narrator and the main character of the series and was nominated for an Emmy in 2005 for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series.

 Stephen Colbert: “The Colbert Report” 

Comedian Stephen Colbert graduated from NU in 1987. In 2005, he launched “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central. It has won four Emmys and proves just how funny Colbert is. Colbert plays a satirist newscaster and comments on issues affecting the United States and the world at large. It’s hilarious. Please go watch it.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: “Arrested Development,” “Seinfeld”

The class of 1983 gave us the gift that is Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Most known for starring in comedy “Seinfeld,” Louis-Dreyfus proved she is a force to be reckoned with. She guest starred in “Arrested Development” as Maggie Lizer, a lawyer who pretends to be blind. Even though she was only in four episodes, she made a lasting impression. If you like comedy and haven’t seen either of these shows, you clearly don’t actually like comedy.

Seth Meyers: “Saturday Night Live,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers” 

NU seems to be really good at spewing out comedic geniuses. Seth Meyers graduated from the School of Communication in 1996 and is most known for his 14 years on “Saturday Night Live.” He was head writer for “SNL” and anchored “Weekend Update” on the show. Honestly, he was my favorite part of “SNL,” and I miss him dearly. You can catch him now on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” airing weeknights at 11:35 on NBC.

David Schwimmer: “Friends”

Who could forget Ross Geller? David Schwimmer graduated from NU in 1988. He is best known for playing Dr. Geller on “Friends,” and for being Jennifer Aniston’s lobster. “Friends” is a classic, and if you haven’t seen it I consider you a disgrace. Fun fact: My mom lived down the hall from him in Willard Residential College, and she says that as soon as he got a little drunk he would start beatboxing and was actually quite good.

 

Originally published: http://dailynorthwestern.com/2014/03/05/thecurrent/the-best-television-shows-featuring-northwestern-alums/

5 TV shows that never should have been canceled

Mollie Cahillane Articles, Entertainment 0 Comment

Many cancellations are deserved. Many shows are still on the air that should have been ended a long time ago. Then there are the ones that died before their time. These are the shows with enormous cult followings, that are talked about years later and fans of which you’re slightly afraid.

5. “Friday Night Lights” (Canceled after five seasons in 2011)

“Friday Night Lights” is the little show that could. A drama series based around a high school football team and coach Eric Taylor’s family in Texas, this show became one of the most powerful series ever to grace television. The show deals with difficult issues important to American culture, including family values, life lessons, racism, drugs and economic inequality. No show has portrayed life in Middle America as well as “FNL.” The series was met with critical acclaim and an avid fan base, though it struggled in the ratings. The show was almost canceled after the second season, but due to fan uproar, NBC made a deal with DirecTV to co-produce three more seasons, first airing on DirecTV and then on NBC. I wish the show hadn’t ended. There is still so much more we can learn from the Taylor family. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

4. “Pushing Daisies” (Canceled after two seasons in 2009)

This cute and quirky show sadly met its demise after only two seasons. The premise is incredibly unique: A pie-maker, Ned, has the ability to bring dead people back to life just by touching them. However, one more touch will render the person dead again, forever. Ned revives his childhood sweetheart, and the two of them, along with a private investigator, solve murder mysteries by asking the victim “whodunnit?”

3. “Firefly” (Canceled after one season in 2003) 

You would never think a show billed as a “space-western” could be so incredible. Set 500 years in the future, “Firefly” follows the adventures of Captain Malcolm Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion, and his motley crew around space. Reynolds is a former galactic war veteran on the losing side, accompanied by a diverse range of people, including a “companion” (prostitute, but respected in this society), a preacher and two fugitives from the ruling body, the Alliance. Fox canceled Firefly after only nine episodes, after airing them all out of order. The pilot was aired last, as the 13th episode. Of course ratings would suffer if the network airs the show incorrectly. However, “Firefly” lived on in the form of a wide-release film “Serenity.” The show’s fans, known as “Browncoats,” are probably one of the largest cult followings around today.

2. “Freaks and Geeks” (Canceled after one season in 2000) 

The beauty that was the high school comedy-drama “Freaks and Geeks” was tragically canceled in its prime, after only 12 episodes had aired. The show centered on brother and sister Sam and Lindsey Weir, and their interactions with their respective high school crowds, “geeks” and “freaks.” The show was complicated, emotional and, above all, incredibly relatable. Thankfully, it helped introduce us to the genius of Judd Apatow, Jason Segel, James Franco and Seth Rogen, among many others. The whole season is on Netflix. Go watch it.

1. “Veronica Mars” Canceled after three seasons in 2007 

“Veronica Mars” is my all-time favorite show. The adventures of title character Veronica Mars, played by Kristen Bell, still had so much potential. It was witty, it was brilliant, it was heartbreaking, and it was amazingly acted. The first two seasons of the show on the WB network were unbelievable. However, in 2006 when the new network CW replaced the WB and UPN networks , “VMars” lost a lot of its shine. The show moved away from season-long mysteries that involved heavy topics like murder, rape and suicide, and into more shorter arcs in an attempt to make the show more accessible. It clearly did not work. However, the fans, known as “marshmallows,” have spoken, and thanks to a fan-funded Kickstarter page, “Veronica Mars” will get a second chance in the form of a movie, to be released March 14.

 

Originally published: http://dailynorthwestern.com/2014/02/05/thecurrent/5-tv-shows-that-never-should-have-been-canceled/

Spend Valentine’s Day with your TV and marathon these episodes

Mollie Cahillane Entertainment 0 Comment

Valentine’s Day has an undeservedly negative reputation. Couples love it; singles hate it. I love Valentine’s Day, and I always have. I have a difficult time understanding why some people despise it. Whether it’s a boy, a girl, chocolate or my personal favorite, Netflix, everyone can have a significant other to celebrate with. So, if you’re spending this VDay with your television, here are the best Valentine’s Day TV episodes to marathon.

8. “The Office” — “Valentine’s Day” (2006)

Michael Scott accidentally reveals that he and Jan Levinson “hooked up” right before a corporate meeting in New York. In Scranton, the office gets jealous when Phyllis’ boyfriend delivers her gifts all day, Pam gets mad at Roy and we have to watch Jim heartbreakingly long for Pam. In  the show’s prime, this was one of the best episodes.

7. “Modern Family” — “My Funky Valentine” (2010)

Hilarity ensues in “Modern Family” when Claire and Phil’s roleplay ends with her only clothing getting caught in an escalator. Almost all of the characters are involved in equally funny plots, so if you want to laugh for 20 minutes and be glad you’re not in a relationship, this one’s for you.

6. “Friends” — “The One with the Candy Hearts” (1995)

Chandler agrees to go on a double date with Joey, only to find that he was set up with his two-time ex, Janice, and Ross’s Valentine’s is tested by the presence of his lesbian ex-wife. “Friends” is a classic, and honestly I wouldn’t blame you if you decided just to watch this show on VDay.

5. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” — “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (1998) 

Cordelia broke Xander’s heart, so he casts a love spell so he can break up with her. However, the spell backfires, and every woman in Sunnydale, with the exception of Cordelia, falls in love with him. Including Buffy’s mom. Gross. Buffy becomes a rat and Angel is evil, so there’s a lot to laugh at. Also, this is my second all-time favorite show. Go watch it.

4. “30 Rock” — “Anna Howard Shaw Day” (2010) 

Liz deliberately schedules a root canal on Valentine’s Day, only to realize she has no one to drive her home. Add the fact that she’s high as a kite, and you’re guaranteed to laugh. Jenna is devastated to discover her favorite stalker has moved on, and Jack has a date with a journalist. If Liz Lemon is single on Valentine’s Day, I think we’ll all be OK.

3. “Community” — “Early 21st Century Romanticism” (2011) 

Britta goes to a dance with a girl she thinks is a lesbian, and she’s proud to be friends with someone so “diverse.” Troy and Abed get into a bit of a disagreement over a girl. Jeff gets in a fight with the gang, so he hangs out with Professor Duncan. But Chang crashes their party. Season two of “Community” rocks, and this is one of the standout episodes.

2. “Veronica Mars” — “Ruskie Business” (2005)

This is my first all-time favorite show. Veronica gets hired by a Russian mail-order bride to find her husband, but Veronica is distracted by helping her friend Meg find her secret admirer. Logan (be still my heart) is devastated when he finds his sister instead of the mother he believes to still be alive. This leads to a funny but heartbreaking scene in which Logan shows up at the school dance without wearing pants.

1. “Parks and Recreation” — “Galentine’s Day” (2010)

Leslie and Justin try to reunite Leslie’s mom with an old fling before they realize he isn’t quite all there in the head. This episode introduces us to the wonderful tradition that is “Galentine’s Day,” where on Feb. 13, women celebrate other women. Every friend group should have this tradition. It’s cute and fun and reminds you to appreciate the great people in your life.

 

Originally published: http://dailynorthwestern.com/2014/02/12/thecurrent/spend-valentines-day-with-your-tv-and-marathon-these-episodes/

‘Orange Is the New Black’ shows refreshing portrayal of gender, race, sexuality

Mollie Cahillane Articles, Entertainment , , , 0 Comment

With the launch of several original shows and the revival of the classic “Arrested Development,” 2013 was quite a year for the on-demand Internet streaming giant Netflix. However, no other show had quite the same cultural impact as the Netflix original show “Orange Is the New Black.”

“Orange is the New Black” is based on the memoir of the same name by Piper Kerman. What’s most interesting about “Orange” is that it is comprised almost entirely of unknown female actors. “Orange” is a show starring women and created by women, but it is not marketed as a show for women.

What “Orange” has done is nothing short of incredible. I cannot remember the last time a show with this many women in it has been so widely popular.

“Orange” is a prison drama. The often unlikable protagonist, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), once carried a suitcase full of drug money for her then-girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Prepon). Piper voluntarily surrendered years after the incident, and she quickly learned in prison the true threat isn’t only the other prisoners, but herself. Prison forces Piper to reflect on who she is, and the Piper at the end of the season is almost unrecognizable from the person in the beginning.

Piper enters prison with a fiance, Larry Bloom (Jason Biggs). However, their relationship quickly becomes strained when Piper discovers Alex is in prison with her. To make matters worse, Piper’s prison counselor (Michael Harney) initially seems friendly and supportive, but quickly reveals a darker side.

Each woman Piper meets in prison has her own unique backstory, with each episode focusing on a different woman. Whether it is Russian prison cook Red, the meth-addled religious fanatic “Pennsatucky” or lesbian ex-heroin addict Nikky, each character is uniquely written and propels the show forward. Comedic relief comes in the form of best friends Taystee and Poussey.

“Orange” is not only full of women, but it is full of a diverse representation of women. The show isn’t just straight white women. It’s queer women, women of color, queer women of color and women of different ethnicities. The show portrays a wide range of sexualities but avoids making the characters’ sexualities their main talking points. Schilling’s character Piper is a phenomenally honest example of bisexuality. Alex and Nikky are both lesbians. Most powerfully, in my opinion, the trans character Sophia is actually portrayed by a black transsexual woman, Laverne Cox. Cox’s character is multidimensional, intricate and, at times, heartbreaking.

“Orange Is the New Black” has everything one could want in a show. You’ll laugh until you cry, and then cry at some of the heartbreaking story lines. Basically, stop what you’re doing and go binge-watch “Orange.” Get caught up quickly: Season two is expected to premiere in full on Netflix this spring.

Originally published: http://dailynorthwestern.com/2014/01/22/thecurrent/orange-is-the-new-black-shows-refreshing-portrayal-of-gender-race-sexuality/