On Wednesday, Oct. 25, in the McCormick classroom of the High Library, two students gave presentations on issues close to them. Teddy Bazyer discussed women’s rights in the Middle East and Darrel Mingle discussed media portrayal of men and their societal consequences.
Women’s Rights in the Middle East with Teddy Bazyer
In Iran, there are strict rules against women showing their bodies, singing or dancing in public, riding a motorcycle, reserving a hotel without a husband or father’s permission and many more.
On Sept. 16, 2022, a young woman named Mahsa Aminni, who was arrested for wearing a hijab loosely, died in police custody. Her death sparked protests all across Iran and eventually across the globe. After Amnini’s funeral, women ripped off their headscarves in solidarity. In protest, women cut their hair and burned hijabs.
To this day, protestors are continuing to fight for their rights. Bazyer said that she even attended several of them herself. But protesting carries a high risk as many peaceful protesters in Iran are arrested using unlawful force, tortured and even executed. Many women who were arrested are raped as punishment. In the midst of this human rights violation, the UN was called upon to help with no avail. As Bazyer puts it, the UN might have well said, “it’s not our problem, you’re on your own.”
Bazyer proceeded to show us a slide with images of women of all ages who had been arrested or killed for not wearing a hijab. The age range of these women was from 3 to 88 years old; this slide was only a handful. This is a relatively common occurrence as Bazyer put it, remarking that even her extended cousin was killed as a result of not wearing a hijab.
Bazyer closed the presentation by talking about what we can do. She said we need to stand in solidarity with the people in Iran who continue to demand equality and an end to decades of oppression despite the risks. She said to also use social media to let the Islamic Republic know that we will never forget.
Media Portrayals of Men and their Societal Consequences with Darrel Mingle
Mingle began his presentation by telling us about Geralt of Riveria, a fictional character from the series, “The Witcher.” Geralt is shunned by society, not because of who he is, but what he is. No one tries to understand him as a person, they only recognize him for the job he’s there to do.
Then, Mingle led into the idea of “old school” men. He gave examples of James Bond and Rocky. These are characters that are seen as “macho men” and “ladies men.” They want to be the biggest, strongest and fastest and they don’t really talk about much else. These “men on a mission” often default to violence in the midst of a problem and are either chasing a goal or a girl.
Then, the presentation broadened into male stereotypes in the media in general, where Mingle broke it down. First, we have the “joker” who uses jokes as a way to hide emotions instead of truly confronting them. Next, we have “jocks,” who cannot show weakness and often resort to violence when problems occur. Then, we have the “strong but silent” types who bottle up emotions. “Big shots” are men who are mainly concerned with getting money and material things. Then, there’s the “action hero” who solves all issues through violence and doesn’t take a second to truly think things through.
Mingle believes we need better representation of men for young boys. He goes on to talk about a character who had a positive impression on him as a kid. It was a character from the Percy Jackson series named Nico di Angelo who was plagued with many bad circumstances at a young age, and while his first thought was to be aggressive and abrasive, he grows through the series to find peace, healing and love, ideas which resonated with Mingle.
Going back to Geralt of Riveria, Mingle believes he portrays a lot of men in our society. Geralt has a rough exterior, but he is deeply emotional inside, has a lot of love to give and a lot of sadness that he hasn’t truly dealt with and that comes back to bite him later on. Mingle says this is a perfect representation of what is wrong with men in our society. Many of them don’t know how to deal with emotions or properly talk about them so they hide it instead.
Mingle closed the presentation by asking what it means to be a man. “Whatever you want,” he said, pushing men to embrace their individuality. “It’s all about being in tune with yourself and not locking away parts of who you are behind what you think society wants from you…at the end of the day, being a man is being comfortable with yourself.”
