Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, March 21, 2018
To the Arabs and Muslims on campus, keep the MomentUM going
REEMA KAAKARLI | OP-ED
I
wasn’t able to put a name
to
my
sexuality
until
my
sophomore
year
of
college. Before, I had always felt
stuck between two labels that
didn’t feel right. I was either
heterosexual or a lesbian, and
there could be no in between. I
would develop a crush on a boy
in one of my classes and think,
“I’m cured! I’m normal! There’s
no reason for me to worry!” Then
I would find myself daydreaming
about some female celebrity, and
I would immediately question if
all the feelings I had toward boys
were actually fake, something I
had forced upon myself in order
to function in a heteronormative
society. I remember once hearing
a close friend’s mom say, “I can
understand being gay, and I can
understand being straight, but I
don’t understand being bisexual.
It’s so selfish — just pick a side!” It
took meeting other bisexual folks
for me to understand the way I
experienced attraction wasn’t
abnormal, it wasn’t me being a
traitor to LGBTQ folks — it’s just
who I am.
Janelle
Monae
recently
released a single titled “Make Me
Feel” and, along with it, a colorful,
fun and undeniably bisexual
music video. The first time I
watched it, I felt myself rooting
for Monae and Tessa Thompson
to leave the bar, the setting of the
video, together — thus confirming
their relationship. I found the
scene where Janelle Monae jumps
between Tessa Thompson and a
man — seemingly unable to decide
between who she is most attracted
to, finally choosing to dance with
both of them — a bit awkward.
But when I stopped thinking of
the video as a story, and more
as an allegorical representation
of Monae’s sexuality, I began to
really understand what I felt the
artist was trying to convey. The
scene where she jumps between
Thompson and the man was a
representation of her attempting
to pick a gender, and when she
finally gives up and just dances
with the two of them, together,
it’s a statement that she doesn’t
have to pick one or the other.
When the music video was over,
I immediately sent it to one of
my friends, someone who also
identifies as bisexual, along with
the message, “I feel so validated!”
Art,
as
a
representation
of life, is often used to help
us understand ourselves and
how we should structure our
lives. Through film, music and
other art forms, I had been
convinced that a person could
not be attracted to more than
one gender — to be otherwise
was an aberration. On film and
TV, bisexuality was reserved
for characters who were almost
always
female,
generally
unstable and promiscuous, and
was often portrayed as a phase
that would eventually end once
the character found consistency.
It was never presented as an
actual, acceptable and long-term
way of living out attraction.
Though
bisexuality
has
existed in art for a while, in the
past I have struggled to find my
sexuality represented in ways
more obvious than a subtle hint
or a mispronounced pronoun.
So, lately, I have been seeking
out and appreciating art, created
recently,
that
is
explicitly
bisexual. The character Ilana
from “Broad City” is shown
having
relationships
with
people of all genders, and her
long-term attraction to Lincoln
isn’t seen as a statement of her
heterosexuality,
but
instead
just one relationship of which
she happens to be a participant.
Halsey, on her song “Bad At
Love,”
discusses
her
failed
relationships with both men and
women, and she also recorded
a duet with Lauren Jauregui
where they express their sexual
interest in one another. And
most recently, Monae’s “Make
Me Feel” — sexy, vibrant and
undeniably queer.
In the future, I hope to
see more art that reflects the
struggles and experiences of
bisexuality in a way that is
upfront and unabashed. I want
to see more characters in TV and
film who have relationships with
people of more than one gender
and are not asked to defend the
decisions they make in their
romantic lives. I want to hear
more music that explores the
nuances of being bisexual, and
I want to see representations of
people involved in long-term,
monogamous
relationships
but
who
still
identify
as
bisexual. Bisexual erasure is a
real phenomenon, and unless
there is a push to bring greater
exposure to bisexuality, harmful
narratives will continue to exist.
I hope to see a day where young
people don’t have to wait 19 years
of their life to finally have the
language to express themselves,
and won’t ever feel the need to
prove their sexuality.
When I experience art that
is bisexual, I am reminded that
though I live in a world that
enjoys placing people into sharp
and defined boxes, I can choose
to exist in a place that is fluid and
abstract. I can reject to make the
decision that society is constantly
asking me to, and as Cupcakke
assures me in her song “LGBT,”
“You ain’t gotta pick a side,” I can
stay just where I am.
I
f you’re anything like me,
you think Central Student
Government
election
season at the University of
Michigan is a nuisance at best.
As a freshman, I had serious
doubts about the ability of
Central Student Government
to
accomplish
anything
meaningful or substantial, or
if it could, then I had doubts as
to whether Arab and Muslim
voices would matter at all in
that setting.
Just a few years ago, the
Arab community on campus
seemed fractured and invisible
with no clear central authority
to which we could address our
concerns and aspirations, and
no clear institutional support
for improving student life in
ways that narrowly affected
our community. The Muslim
community
seemed
only
slightly better in these regards
but was still relatively weak in
its administrative ability to
deal with rising incidences of
Islamophobia. At that time, it
was difficult to even imagine
a place for inserting ourselves
into important administrative
conversations, as so few Arabs
or Muslims were represented
in CSG, and the ones that were
present were known to have
faced discriminatory remarks
and subtle racism to get there.
Now, as a graduating senior,
I have come to see the Arab
and
Muslim
communities’
place on campus in a totally
different light. These past two
years especially, have seen
important victories for us
and it has become clear that
administrations,
including
CSG, have begun to take our
collective concerns seriously.
In the past two years, CSG
has uplifted the voices of
historically
marginalized
Palestinian
students,
responded to ugly incidences
of Islamophobia in reflection
rooms, administered reforms
and, crucially, has made the
broader Arab community on
campus more visible with the
support for the implementation
of a Middle Eastern/North
African identity category on
official University documents.
This most recent resolution
supported by CSG will help
the
ME/NA
community
going forward by providing
pertinent
demographic
information on issues like
retention
and
graduation
rates, allocation of funding
and bias incident reporting.
But these huge victories
were not won alone. Our
communities,
both
Arab
and
Muslim,
have
relied
on
our
allies
on
campus
to bring attention to our
unique needs. And in this
respect, Engineering junior
A.J. Ashman and LSA junior
Charlie
Bingham
must
be
thanked for their work and
dedication.
I
didn’t
know
either of them then, but I saw
and recognized their presence
at the University Board of
Regents meeting when the
implementation of the ME/
NA box was being debated.
I saw them proudly sporting
#WeExist shirts, and they
were present and supportive
for the right reasons. Both
Ashman and Bingham stood
in solidarity, recognizing how
minority
experiences
can
often be detrimental to our
collective feeling of belonging
on campus. They were there
for us even before either of
them decided to run for office.
Now, they have partnered
to
create
the
MomentUM
campaign, highlighting issues
like ours and similar issues for
other minority communities,
relying
upon
Arabs,
Muslims and allies to build a
comprehensive platform that
speaks to our needs.
Representation
matters,
and
this
year’s
slate
of
candidates
with
the
MomentUM party are the
most
representative
and
diverse yet, including the
most
Arab
and
Muslim
representatives to run with
a party to date. It’s not
enough that the candidates
are demographically diverse.
Indeed, these candidates are
all
incredibly
passionate,
competent
and,
most
importantly, eager to continue
making positive changes on
our campus. What separates
them from other candidates?
The MomentUM team wants
to center voices and concerns
that affect communities on
campus from both visible and
invisible identities. In fact,
The Daily’s CSG debate last
Thursday
highlighted
how
MomentUM alone addresses
these
issues.
Every
party
mentioned
the
struggles
of invisible identities, but
only MomentUM candidates
mentioned ME/NA students
in particular. The ME/NA
category was recorded for the
first time in a CSG report, and
it was Ashman who made that
change to input that data in
that report. In fact, Ashman
specifically requested that
CSG redo the survey just
to make sure that data was
available for analysis. Being
included in the MomentUM
campaign gives affirmation
to their experiences while
simultaneously
uplifting
them,
especially
for
Arabs
and
Muslims
who
aren’t
necessarily
clearly
identifiable as such but who
nevertheless bear the brunt
of
anti-Arab
racism
and
Islamophobia.
Now is our opportunity to
elevate our communities by
bringing them into the fold
of
University
governance.
CSG
does
affect
student
experiences whether we are
aware or not, so it’s important
that
we
understand
the
consequences of our votes. It’s
time for Arabs and Muslims to
keep the MomentUM going.
The importance of queer art
ELENA HUBBELL | OP-ED
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Samantha Goldstein
Elena Hubbell
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram
Jeremy Kaplan
Sarah Khan
Lucas Maiman
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Alex Satola
Ali Safawi
Ashley Zhang
DAYTON HARE
Managing Editor
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
ALEXA ST. JOHN
Editor in Chief
ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND
ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board.
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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
D
emocrat Conor Lamb
defeated
Republican
Rick Saccone in last
week’s special election for the U.S.
House seat in Pennsylvania’s 18th
Congressional District, extending
the Democratic Party’s winning
streak and possibly offering a
glimpse into the future electoral
landscape a little more than seven
months before the 2018 midterms.
Though the official results of
the election are pending a final
count, Lamb’s victory shook the
political world and suggested
that Republicans will have to
withstand a massive Democratic
wave this November if they are to
retain their majorities in Congress.
This race received less media
coverage than December’s special
Senate
election
in
Alabama,
perhaps because the results have
fewer immediate implications,
with the GOP still claiming a large
majority in the House despite
the loss and the fact that Lamb
will be up for reelection already
in November.
While Doug Jones’s defeat
of Roy Moore in Alabama’s
Senate
special
election
was
more
shocking,
Lamb’s
victory may have been more
improbable. Lamb’s district was a
conservative, reliably Republican
district,
and
a
district
that
President Donald Trump carried
by 20 percentage points in 2016.
Unlike Roy Moore’s candidacy,
which was skewed by allegations
of
sexual
assault,
Saccone’s
campaign avoided any serious
scandal.
And
while
Saccone
wasn’t the strongest candidate,
Republican-aligned super PACs
poured millions of dollars into his
campaign and he enjoyed the vocal
support of Trump, Vice President
Mike Pence and Congressional
Republican leaders. In short,
he should not have had any
problem winning. Instead, he was
defeated in a district so blatantly
gerrymandered
to
benefit
Republicans that it won’t even
exist this November after the
state Supreme Court ruled it had
to be redrawn.
Lamb’s victory is ominous for
Republicans. Democrats need to
pick up 20 seats this November
in order to retake the House,
and there are 100 Republican-
held seats less conservative than
this one. If districts like these
are even somewhat competitive
come Election Day, Democrats
will almost assuredly take back
the House and could do so by a
large margin.
Republicans have rolled out
several excuses in an effort to
gloss over this loss. Some have
pointed to polls that predicted
a 4 to 6-point Lamb victory,
claiming
the
close
margin
actually means that Saccone
exceeded expectations, or that
Trump, who campaigned for
Saccone days prior to the election,
nearly
propelled
Saccone
to
victory. These rationalizations
are weak. Losing in a district
that Trump won by 20 points
cannot possibly be construed as
exceeding expectations, unless
Republicans
have
reconciled
themselves to losing the House
in spectacular fashion.
As for the idea that Trump
somehow energized voters and
boosted Saccone in the final
days, it seems almost certain the
president’s lackluster approval
ratings contributed significantly
to Saccone’s defeat. The election
was not only a repudiation of
Saccone, but also a repudiation of
Trump. Saccone billed himself
as “Trump before Trump was
Trump,” so if Trumpism still
appeals to the voters of the 18th
district a year and a half removed
from the 2016 election, Saccone
should have won with ease. Even
if Trump’s visit did mobilize
some conservatives to turn out
and vote, that does not negate the
fact that Trump’s unpopularity
has turned independents against
him and invigorated his liberal
opponents.
Others have tried to dismiss
Lamb’s victory by claiming that he
is actually a conservative, which is
a rather specious argument. Lamb
ran on a platform that supported
universal health care, labor unions
and legal medical marijuana, and
opposed the GOP’s tax bill, cuts
to Social Security and Trump’s
border wall. Those are not
conservative positions. Though
Lamb is personally opposed to
abortion and more centrist on
gun control issues, he is pro-
choice on constitutional grounds
(as are many Democrats) and
supports stronger background
checks on gun purchases. He
is hardly the “pro-life, pro-gun
conservative” that Paul Ryan
tried to characterize him as after
his victory.
From
the
Democratic
perspective,
Lamb’s
victory
underscores the fact that is there
is no sole blueprint for success in
these Congressional races. Jones
won in Alabama on a solidly liberal
platform.
Lamb
mixed
both
liberal and moderate positions
to win in Pennsylvania. Though
more moderate and more liberal
Democratic candidates will surely
clash in the primaries, this intra-
party conflict must stay contained
to the primaries, and Democrats
would be wise to embrace the
ideological diversity within their
party in their quest to retake the
House. Lamb’s victory, coupled
with a large number of retiring
GOP incumbents, demonstrates
that scores of House districts will
be up for grabs in the fall. Even
the Senate could be winnable if
the cards fall just right.
Though it is easy to dismiss
Lamb’s victory as an isolated and
irrelevant event, it reflects deep
voter dissatisfaction with the
current balance of power that will
indubitably influence the results of
the 2018 midterms. Looking down
the road, control of Congress
will be critical to not only
determining whether Trump
can implement his legislative
agenda but also determining
the president’s fate if the special
counsel,
Robert
Mueller’s
investigation
concludes
that
Trump colluded with Russia
or obstructed justice. Given
these implications, last week’s
results in Pennsylvania should
energize Democrats and alarm
the Trump administration.
Lamb’s victory is a sign of what’s to come
NOAH HARRISON | COLUMN
CARLY BEHRENDT | CONTACT CARLY AT CARBEHR@UMICH.EDU
Noah Harrison can be reached at
noahharr@umich.edu.
Elena Hubbell is a Senior Opinion
Editor.
The MomentUM
campaign gives
gives affirmation
to their
experiences while
simultaneously
uplifting them.
Reema Kaakarli is an LSA senior.
In the future, I
hope to see more
art that reflects
the struggles and
experiences of
bisexuality.