Culture & Media – Catalyst

The Myth of the Oriental Beauty: The History of the Hypersexualization of Asian Women

April 9, 2021April 8, 20214 min read Ruolan Ma

After nearly 200 years, Asian women are still not being given the respect and dignity that they deserve, all because of a sick and incorrect stereotype. When will the world stop seeing Asian women through this hypersexualizing and dehumanizing filter?

Interview with Shaquiera Hamilton

April 7, 2021April 25, 20212 min read The Catalyst Editorial Board

The Catalyst team met with Shaquiera Hamilton to discuss her upcoming article “Reimagining Jamaican Black National Identity Through the Voices of the Dispossessed: A Counter-Hegemonic Movement” in the upcoming Spring 2021 edition of Chrysalis.

Sarah Everard and Dismantling Harmful Rhetoric on Gendered Violence

April 5, 2021April 5, 20216 min read Claudia Velimirovic

The kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard sparked national outcry, evident in the protests, social media posts, and media articles written in response to her death. Her death quickly became a symbol of the violence that women face at the hands of men, and the system that upholds it.

Interview with Mahnoor Ali Syed

March 31, 2021April 25, 20212 min read The Catalyst Editorial Board

The Catalyst team met with Mahnoor Ali Syed to discuss her upcoming article “Chador aur Chardevari: the Veil and Women's Agency in Pakistan” in the upcoming Spring 2021 edition of Chrysalis.

Stifling Dissent: The Regulation of Internet in India

March 29, 2021April 9, 20216 min read Nikhita Panwar

The decline of political and civil liberties has accelerated since Modi's re-election in 2019. During this time, authorities have increased regulation of, and access to, online spaces as a means to control political discourse and stifle dissenting voices.

QAnon and the Threat Conspiracy Poses to American Democracy

March 20, 2021March 19, 20217 min read Claudia Velimirovic

In the US imagination, conspiracy theories have been contrived as harmless efforts to explain the unknown. But the power conspiracy theories carry has been made evident by the emergence of QAnon.

The Double Standard of Free Speech

March 16, 2021March 16, 20216 min read Maeve Williams

The American people and their Senators must reckon with the fact that white men’s bad behavior is overlooked and forgiven far more often than that of women, particularly women of color.

Ismailism: The Success of a Community through the Bounds of Religion

February 28, 2021February 27, 20217 min read Santhindu Wijesooriya

Embedded in the Aga Khan's position are catalysts for the success of the Isma’ili community, specifically, the use of faith-based power to give back to the group from which that authority is originally derived.

Fado, Dictatorship, and Nostalgia: The Centenary of the Life of Amália Rodrigues

January 26, 2021February 9, 20217 min read Adriana Gabriela Franco

Fado has become a national symbol for many Portuguese people, and Amália herself has become the face of this iconic genre.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité?

December 22, 2020February 24, 20216 min read Misbah Lalani

Reports of terrorist acts often plant biased rhetoric and paint the Muslim population as a whole in a violent and ruthless light. There is no undermining the severity of these attacks, however it is not uncommon for them to serve as a contribution to the common narrative depicting the Islamic religion as one with savage inclinations. Rather than painting the attacks as isolated anomalies, media outlets often use them to feed into an ever present mentality of bigotry, something that the Muslim community has had to work in one way or another, to prove themselves separate from.