4B — Thursday, February 2, 2017
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

 
 
 
Who let Sober Christian™ into this party? Oh wait. It’s 

his apartment. Doors lead to trap doors. Juxtaposition of the 

cornfield and the sleek black hoodie with zipper accents — 

never noticed before. Woman out here literally walking 

through water in a Roberto Cavalli gown. Is the baseball 

bat also designer? Bang bang! Mood: Calling yourself 

the “baddest woman in the game.” Beyoncé driving 
over every parked car in a monster truck is my 
mom when she comes to visit Ann Arbor. Beyoncé 
yelling is so hot. Only person who can make the 
word ‘pussy’ sound eloquent. Waiting in thorough 
anticipation of Serena Williams’ scene. Bang 
bang!!! She here! “If I saw Serena and Beyoncé 
next to each other I’d be equally in awe of both of 
them.” “She too smart to crave material things,” 
but they don’t hurt, am I right, custom Cavalli 
gown? Now I am borderline crying because police 
brutality has taken so many. The mother who hastily 

shakes her head no as she holds up a picture of her 

murdered son. America is not fair. Beyoncé is speaking 

to the metaphor of lemonade and the room is quiet. “Every 

single costume in ‘Formation’ needs to be in a museum.” YES 

CHRISTIAN.

— Tess Garcia

‘Lemonade’ ft. Twins

in this series, three daily arts writers in varying states 

of mind do the same activity and write about it.

this week’s event:

My god this cinemotography. 
“Prayin to catch me”
“Where do you go when you go quiet” holy shit I’m already dead and this started 2 minutes ago.

She’s hitting me with her 

fuck I forgot what I was gonna say. This demon in my mind just asked if this video was over-

rated. God damn.

Oh I remember! DudeShe’s hitting me with poetry !! Pure poetry!!

Beyoncé almost plummeted to her death my heart just fell from my body.

My jaw just dropped all this water came rushing out of this building 

during “hold up” it’s a Beyoncé tsunami!! Slant rhyme!

I truly believe Beyoncé has the power of life and death.

I can’t wait until Blue Ivy is old enough to watch 

this god damn will she be proud. B is the leader 

of this female mob and wow I have no idea 
where we are or what we are doing but I 

most genuinely feel like I have been initiated 

into the mob.

Wait do we know how Jay-Z feels about this album?? 

does he finally feel bad for what he did? Or like ?

Anger to apathy ahhhhhh Is that SERENA WILLIAMS ?? they 

look like they are in the same house as AHS Coven setting.

 “Daddy’s Lessons” love this song but the host of this apartment does not. 

Whoa the cup I’m drinking out of has lemons on it like how fucking conve-

nient.

Ok well now we are disrespecting B by talking get about Eminem. Ugh “sand castles” I 

feel tears coming on but my cotton mouth is too bad it’s drying up my tears. Wow props to Jay Z 

for being in this video and knowing that he is a DAMN CHEATER. IN THE PUBLIC EYE.

I’m dead on “Freedom.” I think this is it here I go catch me now

Wait pd (post death) the evolution of her hairrrr though

— Daily Arts Writer

“I tried to make a home out of you but doors lead to trap doors” 

MY HEART. These words hurt enough when they’re not spoken 
by the soft voice of Beyoncé. Baked is giggling at her laughter at 
her own tears. I’m just waiting for “hold up” to come on so I can 
break it the fuck down. It’s on, Someone get me a bat. I hope if 
I ever go on a rampage my breasts look 1/15 as good as beys do 
here. Why does the cinematography in this sometimes remind 
me of Harry Potter, avadaka kadavra jay z. The outfit in “don’t 
hurt yourself” is everything I want to be in this life. (Minus the 
real fur, sorry bey, #meatismurder #morrissey) LOVE GOD 
HERSELF. “If Beyoncé doesn’t have suck his balls neither do I,” 
bored, quote of the century. This album makes me want someone 
to cheat on me. Baked doesn’t have a venmo. Is she Amish? A 
fourth party just reminded me about the fact that Eminem is “the 
skid mark on the underwear of America.” True. Beyoncé and I 
have the same Nina Simone record. I can die now, I am Beyoncé 
always. If you can listen to “Forward” without shedding a tear 
you are truly heartless. Goosebumps. I’m so emo. “Formation” is 
one of the most important things to come out of the last decade. 
Fight me. Replenish my wine.

— Daily Arts Writer

“If we don’t educate half 

the world, we can’t work as 
efficiently and as advanced as 
we would like to,” said LSA 
sophomore 
Luna 
Terauchi, 

Membership Coordinator of 
She’s the First, when speaking 
about women around the world 
who do not receive education.

As powerful as these words 

are, they do not even slightly 
sum up all the objectives “She’s 
the First” has for the future.

A non-profit organization, 

She’s the First, sponsors girls 
in low-GDP countries that 
allows the girls to graduate 
primary 
and 
secondary 

schools. 
Globally 
founded 

in 2009 and with a chapter 
opening up at University of 
Michigan in 2012, STF has 
been creating opportunities for 
young women all around the 
world who have the potential, 
but do not have the educational 
resources.

“The 
organization 

fundraises and has social 
awareness events that provide 
information about what we are 
raising money for and why,” 
said LSA junior and STF’s 
President, Heidi Haas.

The group has partner 

organizations in other third-
world countries where they 
can easily find and help girls 
who belong in STF.

“There is so much potential 

that 
goes 
untacked 
when 

you have all these girls who 
could contribute something 
really meaningful to society,” 
said 
LSA 
sophomore 
and 

Global Awareness Program 
Representative, Ishani Mathur. 

However, She’s the First 

represents more than just 
women in foreign countries 
who are in need of education. 
They are a standing emblem 
in the area of global female 
oppression — a loud voice 
that can be heard in this sea 
of unjustified women’s rights. 

Although the majority of their 
organization involves women, 
they are eager to recruit more 
men into the group.

“We are trying to get guys 

involved,” 
Terachi 
added, 

“because 
girls 
education 

affects 
everyone, 
not 
just 

women.” With that goal in 
mind, about 10 percent of the 
club’s members are now male.

LSA 
senior 
and 
STF’s 

Events 
Coordinator, 
Mona 

Iskandarani, 
shared 
a 

personal anecdote of how her 
grandmother, a child of 12, was 
not sent to school because she 
was a girl (they educated the 
boys instead). “It’s stripping 
a fundamental right away 

from people because of their 
gender,” she said. “We (STF) 
are thinking about all the 
injustice in the world.”

The 
organization 
is 

consistently going after these 
problems both on a global and 
national scale. Last summer, 
Haas and Terachi attended a 
leadership summit in New York 
City where they interacted 
with 
larger 
corporations 

which support She’s the First. 
What was most humbling for 
the team was when they met 
two girls who were sponsored 
in the organization. It was 
a moment that “brought the 
cause to life,” Haas said. 

Even with so many women 

in such faraway places, the 
board felt as though they, 
too, grow up with the girls by 
staying connected through the 
journey. The club exchanges 
letters with the scholars and 
are able to see the impact that 

is being made on both the girls 
and on the club.

Additionally, 
the 
group 

doesn’t shy away from other 
issues. 
They 
are 
always 

considering the health and 
well-being of the girls and 
their families, their day-to-day 
lives and unfortunately, the 
discomfort and fear society 
creates around being female. 
The board understands that 
talking about these issues with 
these girls is a way to handle 
them.

At a place like the University 

of Michigan, where different 
perspectives 
economically 

and racially create a heavy 
influence, the members of STF 
take these viewpoints into 
consideration.

“We (STF) are about equality 

and education. Education is the 
main thing that is separating us 
from these girls. Other than 
different cultures, there is 
nothing physically or mentally 
different, but education is what 
is giving people power. And 
these girls deserve to have 
equal power,” said Business 
sophomore and Vice President, 
Emily Fletcher.

And as Haas reflected on 

what being a woman meant to 
her, she concluded: “I always 
remember that there are more 
difference within each sex than 
there are between sexes. We 
are living in a very progressive 
time, but not everything will 
fall into place right away. 
Although there a lot of women’s 
issues that need to be solved, I 
am really excited because this 
is the first time women’s issue 
are being valued.”

She’s the First is more than 

a group of people supporting 
educational rights. They will 
continue to make great strides 
in creating equality for all people 
universally and inspiring others 
in the Ann Arbor community 
and beyond. For membership 
information, 
please 
contact 

hahaas@umich.edu. 

ERIKA SHEVCHEK

Daily Community Culture Editor

She’s the First makes 
moves for girls globally 

STF_umich

Girl’s organization She’s the First

University chapter promotes potential, equality and 
connections among their members and girls worldwide

ALEXANDER WANG

Will womenswear 
remain a man’s world?

Ghesquière, 
Tisci, 

Saab, 
Michele. 
Galliano, 

Lagerfeld, Gvasalia, Wang.

Question: What do these 

things all have in common? 
Each of these men sit at 
the helm of a top-grossing 
women’s 
clothing 
label. 

Even the musical reference 
I just made can be attributed 
to a man.

In 2016, only three of the 

world’s top 12 richest fashion 
brands 
boasted 
female 

creative directors. This is 
especially remarkable given 
that womenswear rakes in 
over $200 billion more of 
the industry’s income than 
men’s. Business of Fashion 
notes that although women 
account for the majority of 
those entering the industry, 
they represented only 40.2 
percent of the 371 designers 
surveyed last fashion month. 
Even 
if 
certain 
fashion 

houses were created by 
women at their time, they 
write, today they often have 
creative leaders that are 
men.

Somewhere 
in 
the 

women’s clothing industry 
lies an alarming disconnect.

Women 
may 
be 

underrepresented 
and 

underpaid in most other 
fields, 
but 
one 
would 

think that they could take 
internal control of the one 
that is, quite literally, made 
for them. Yet something 
continues to keep girl power 
from coming out on top.

Are the meninists right? 

Does 
testosterone 
truly 

know estrogen better than 
estrogen 
knows 
itself? 

After 18 years of immersive 
research on female life, I can 
conclude that the answer is 
no.

To tell you the truth, I 

don’t know what’s driving 
the male domination of 
this 
seemingly 
womanly 

territory. All I know for 

certain is what is true of 
every industry: the existence 
of nuanced inequities among 
men and their qualified 
female 
counterparts. 

That, coupled with brand-
owner groups like Kering 
and LVMH being male-
dominated, could be enough 
to restrain even the most 
talented 
young 
female 

designer.

I can’t write this article 

without 
acknowledging 

the handful of of incredible 
female designers that do 
exist. 
They’re 
scattered 

across the globe, from Milan 
to Tokyo to New York City, 
presenting young women 
in fashion with a silver 
lining 
surrounding 
the 

monogamous cloud that has 
loomed over womenswear 
from the beginning of time.

“Monster,” 
the 
song 

I 
referenced 
earlier, 
is 

comprised of three verses. 
Rick Ross and Jay-Z present 
the first two, accompanied 
by Kanye West in the chorus. 

Things change in the final 
verse: Nicki Minaj, one of 
few 
well-known 
women 

in 
the 
male-dominated 

rap world, takes over. She 
shows listeners who’s boss, 
dropping bars that must 
have left Rick, Jay and ‘Ye 
with their jaws to the floor.

McCartney, 
Karan, 

Prada, Philo. Kawakubo, 
Versace, Sui, Ferretti.

Not unlike Minaj, these 

female designers embody 
all that a woman in fashion 
should. Their poise and 
creativity produces billions 
of dollars in revenue for 
their labels each year –– the 
true embodiment of “think 
big, get cash, make ‘em blink 
fast.” 
They 
consistently 

leave the industry eager for 
what the future will hold, 
inspiring 
their 
up-and-

coming counterparts along 
the way.

Beneath 
the 
surface 

of 
womenswear 
lies 
a 

whole new generation of 
motherf*cking monsters.

TESS GARCIA
Senior Arts Editor

Education 
is what is 

giving people 

power

The irony in an industry made for women dominated by men

