Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Friday, April 6, 2018
When things get hairy
DANIELLE COLBURN | COLUMN
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
Sam Weinberger
DAYTON HARE
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Victory Royale for Esports
BEN CHARLSON | COLUMN
JOEL DANILEWITZ | COLUMN
D
rake recently rose to
the top of the Billboard
Hot
100
with
his
latest hit, “God’s Plan,” and
its heartwarming music video
in which the rapper gives out
nearly $1 million (the budget for
the video shoot) in the form of
groceries, gifts and donations
to lucky recipients across the
Miami area.
But the Grammy-nominated
artist has stayed in the news
not only for his music, but
for
another
endeavor
that
has captured the attention of
celebrities, athletes and college
students
alike
—
“Fortnite
Battle Royale, “ the video game
that is sweeping the nation and
only gaining more momentum.
“Fortnite,” as both a pop
culture
phenomenon
and
a
revenue-generating
stream,
seemingly came out of nowhere
in the past six months. But a
closer read reveals “Fortnite” is
just one of the many games that
make up the booming eSports
industry, a market that has been
steadily growing and grasping
more and more opportunities
for
mainstream
sponsorship
and advertising deals.
eSports are defined as any
multiplayer video game played
competitively, oftentimes for
spectators both live in arenas
and via the internet. These
games are beginning to take
the classic form of traditional
sports — a series of competitions
that accumulate points for the
players, ending with a final
tournament hosted in a national
stadium or streamed live on TV.
With viewership of professional
sports like the NFL dwindling,
it might be time to consider
eSports a real threat to the
status quo in American media.
On March 15, Drake, fellow
rapper
Travis
Scott,
NFL
superstar JuJu Smith-Schuster
and
“Fortnite”
guru
Tyler
“Ninja” Blevins came together to
play a few hours of the popular
game in what quickly became
the
most
watched
Twitch
stream of all time, gaining
over
600,000
simultaneous
viewers at its peak. Twitch is a
live viewing platform that was
acquired by Amazon for close to
$1 billion in 2014.
Blevins, who is slowly but
surely becoming the Michael
Jordan of “Fortnite”, claims he
makes more than $500,000 per
month from YouTube subscribers
and Twitch streamers.
His expected annual salary,
which would amount to about
$6 million, is greater than
those of NFL and MLB players.
Though such success from a
man who sits in his basement
and wears pajamas may seem
shocking, the eSports following
is nothing new.
In 2017, the global eSports
industry was valued at $493
million,
with
some
sources
projecting market revenue to
reach $1.65 billion by 2020.
Originally
a
phenomenon
originating in Asia and gaining
the most viewership in China
and South Korea, the industry is
transitioning to the United States
through games like “League of
Legends” and “Fortnite.”
What makes the eSports
industry such a captivating
market is its ability to take
video games — ideally played
on a couch with a bag of
chips and soft drink — to an
arena suited for basketball
or hockey. In fact, the 2017
“League of Legends” World
Championship
was
played
in Beijing National Stadium,
otherwise
known
as
the
Bird’s Nest, or the same place
that held the 2008 Summer
Olympics opening ceremonies.
That
same
event
in
2016
garnered 400 million viewers,
whereas the 2018 Super Bowl
saw only a little more than 100
million tune in. Other eSports
statistics
are
even
more
shocking: 100 million “League
of Legends” players per month,
600 sponsorship deals with
companies like Red Bull and
Coca Cola and 2.7 billion
videos streamed last year in
North America.
The facts don’t lie. eSports
are tapping into global markets
in
ways
traditional
sports
cannot,
and
it
is
finding
innovative methods to grow
its revenue and sponsorship
streams around the world.
The newest development is a
proposal to build an eSports
arena in a Las Vegas casino,
a move that would completely
transform the landscape of
gaming culture in the United
States.
It
helps,
too,
that
the
NFL has faced controversies
over
player
protests
and
concussions that have altered
the landscape of the league
and slashed viewership to a
recent low.
These factors together have
converged on the newest craze,
“Fortnite,” and aided its rise
to popularity. Though there is
no way to tell whether or not
it is just a phase, the status
of “Fortnite” in pop culture
is such that a wide array of
stars have hopped onto the
bandwagon
—
rapper
Lil
Yachty, NBA all-star Gordon
Hayward and Boston Red Sox
phenom
Xander
Bogaerts,
to name a few in addition to
the star-studded, “Ninja”-led
squad mentioned before.
Unsurprisingly, the game
has
found
a
home
across
university campuses and high
schools as well. It is practically
everywhere — a walk through
any college dorm will reveal a
slew of students glued to their
TVs,
more
concerned
with
finding a chest or rare gun than
completing
their
homework.
Recently,
“Fortnite”
had
to
launch an update on its mobile
version in which the loading
screen reminds the user to stop
playing in class.
All of this is to reinforce
the idea that eSports are much
more
than
the
traditional
video
game
our
parents
think turn us into lifeless,
computer-addicted
zombies.
Games like “Fortnite” are
a
revenue-generating,
pop
culture phenomenon that will
soon be the next mainstay on
ESPN or Fox Sports.
Until then, we can sit
back, turn on the Xbox and
play “Battle Royale” until our
thumbs start to cramp. And if
we’re lucky, maybe Drake will
be online to play a round of
Duos.
Ben Charlson can be reached at
bencharl@umich.edu
The reality of privilege
O
ver
the
summer,
I
interned at a health care
lobby in Washington,
D.C. Or at least, that’s what I
tell people. In reality, I worked
for
the
government
affairs
office of my dad’s company. My
mom always says that the door
of opportunity is open, I just
have to walk through it. This
was how I continually justified
taking this internship at his
office – pretending like walking
through that particular door was
so difficult.
I
sometimes
take
embarrassment in the fact that
I interned at my dad’s company
because I know I probably took
the position from someone who
was actually dedicated to the
cause with which I was affiliated
but of which I knew so little
about. Someone who also had the
skills and experiences to do this
type of work.
During this experience, I
began to think, “Do talent, life
skills or merit really matter?”
If you’re privileged, no. I am
constantly trying to grasp the
concept of privilege, especially
considering
how
I
am
in
possession of a disproportionate
amount when compared to the
rest of the world.
At
the
University
of
Michigan, the median yearly
of income students’ families is
$154,000. The median income of
the average American is $50,039
I, like so many others, was and
continue to be blithely unaware
of such disparities. But as I
become more and more aware of
how little I’ll have to think or do
to gain economic success, I want
more and more to understand
what it means to have to
persevere and gain success.
From a racial standpoint,
I understood that being white
endowed me with an inordinate
amount of opportunity that is
simply not relegated to people
of color. As a cisgender man, I
try to be acutely aware of how
much easier it is to carry out tasks
and daily excursions that most
cisgender women find difficult. It
could be the incontrovertible fact
that I’ll never feel the need to go
to the bathroom with friends, or
the understanding that my body
doesn’t lie on the desk of some
old, white legislator. This may be
in the form of gutting Planned
Parenthood
or
prohibiting
transgender people from using
the bathroom that correlates to
their gender identity.
When
I
came
to
the
University,
I
believed
my
outsized
wit,
intellectual
capacity
and
passion
for
knowledge
undoubtedly
unlocked the gates of one
of the most selective public
institutions in America. I didn’t
consider the fact that I had an
ACT tutor my parents dutifully
sent checks to once a week, I
came from a Caucasian family
with
an
impressive
yearly
income, was born as a cisgender
man and had grown up with the
idea that going to college is a
given. These are the elemental
components of privilege that,
as someone who is progressive
attending a University with a
diverse student body, I have
decided to refuse to ignore.
In
college,
I
have
met
students
who
come
from
vastly different socioeconomic
backgrounds,
ones
which
have not afforded them these
conveniences that existing in
the upper echelon of American
society
provides.
Yet
these
students
are
undoubtedly
smarter, more hardworking and
passionate about any assortment
of causes than I ever considered
myself to be.
I can only be presumptuous
about students who grew up in
different
circumstances
than
me. However, I can work as little
as I want at the University and
have an infinitesimal impact on
this institution. I can accomplish
the bare minimum and still come
out being able to find work that
allows me to continue existing
within
the
stratosphere
I
currently inhabit.
Meanwhile, those with life
skills far exceeding mine will
still traverse a landscape of
obstacles that are sometimes
insurmountable
because
systems in place oppress many
and give power to few. Those
who have exhibited passion in
facets and means that I can’t
even fathom will still be rungs
down a ladder that was built
only for people with hands and
feet like mine. This indicates
that social mobility is a myth
in the United States. This is a
statement that I have become
well-versed in yet have only
really seen as an abstraction.
Joel Danilewitz can be reached at
joeldan@umich.edu.
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I
was 17 when I cut my hair
into a pixie cut. It was my
junior year of high school,
and it had been an
ongoing internal battle
as I tried to decide if
I was ready to make
the
chop.
With
the
exception of a brief
stint my freshman year
of college, my hair has
remained short. In fact,
it’s gotten progressively
shorter,
culminating
in a buzz cut when I
lived in the woods for
six weeks one summer. Now,
at 22, I keep my hair clipped
pretty close to my head. I don’t
put product in it; I describe
it, affectionately, as “fuzzy,”
and I (involuntarily) give my
numerous cowlicks free reign.
Something I’ve noticed is
the way women compliment
my hair. They lament about not
being able to “pull off” the short
hair look. They tell me they
wish they were brave enough to
cut their hair like I did. Some
women feel it’s really important
that I know I shouldn’t let
people tell me my hair doesn’t
look good. When I cut my hair,
it wasn’t to make a statement.
It was because my hair was big
and I wanted to sleep more.
In my mind, there were two
options: sleep less and spend
the time styling my hair or chop
my hair and reap the benefits of
an alarm set forty-five minutes
later. I didn’t know then that
there was a third option: just
leave it alone. Sleep in, forget
about my hair and let it frizz.
I know why I didn’t see
that as an option. It’s the same
reason the women who like
my hair use words like “brave”
and tell me they wish they
could cut their hair while never
considering that they could
any
time.
Hair
symbolizes
femininity.
There’s
nothing
more conventionally beautiful
than long, straight and silky
hair. Feeling like others might
see you as attractive is wound
up in having pretty hair. The
women on the street who are
insistent I shouldn’t let people
make
me
believe
anything
negative about my hair are
doing
so
because
they’ve
internalized
this
standard;
even while they’re defying the
notion that it takes long hair
to look good, they’re assuming
that it is just accepted, that I
might need to be reassured the
choice I made is acceptable.
Don’t get me wrong, I
think this is kind of them. I’ve
internalized the standard too,
and it often takes effort to look
at myself and others outside
the lens of what is portrayed
as beautiful. I’ve been pretty
lucky, too; by being white, I’m
already ahead of the game in
terms of what is considered
acceptable by society. Ankita
Rao writes there are “societal
pressures to adhere to beauty
standards
that
typically
embody a white, European
aesthetic” that are especially
harmful to women of color.
The thing about expecting
hair to look a certain way is
that it doesn’t take into account
differences of hair texture,
cultural
styles,
etc. It doesn’t care
what is possible
for
your
hair;
society
wants
straight and shiny.
This,
besides
being
arbitrary
and
ridiculous,
is actively toxic,
especially
for
women of color.
And
while
the
standards of beauty are toxic
in many ways that go beyond
haircare, looking strictly at
hair is enough to show how
problematic the expectations —
and the lengths to which they
drive women — are.
A
study
by
Perception
Institute, titled “The ‘Good
Hair’ Survey”, found Black
women feel more anxiety than
white women regarding their
hair. It states, “One in five black
women feel social pressure
to straighten their hair for
work — twice as many as white
women,” and that this pressure
came
from
biases;
white
women ranked Black women’s
textured hair as “less beautiful,
less sexy/attractive, and less
professional than smooth hair.”
In spring 2017, a Massachusetts
public charter school punished
two girls for their braided
hair, claiming the style was an
infraction against their uniform
policy, which prohibited “hair
extensions.”
This
is
just
a
small
sampling of attitudes, and the
issue is prevalent. Women of
color are fired from jobs and
discriminated against based
on the hair styles they choose;
hair styles that, because they
are
culturally
significant
and particular to textured
hair
not
conventional
in
Western
beauty
standards,
are seen as unprofessional and
unattractive. Natural hair is
often erased from the public
eye;
the
Victoria’s
Secret
Fashion Show has gone on
for 22 years, and only in the
last three years has it include
models
with
natural
hair.
In
November
2017,
Lupita
Nyong’o used Instagram to
call out the magazine Grazia
UK for editing and smoothing
her hair without her consent
when it featured her on the
front page.
In response to all of these
factors, women of color often
feel pressure to use heat or
chemicals to straighten their
hair,
meaning
“compared
with white women, women
of color have higher levels
of
beauty
product–related
environmental chemicals in
their bodies,” according to a
Vice magazine article. Not only
are the attitudes surrounding
hair and beauty expectations
toxic, but these expectations
are literally, physically toxic.
There are women, too, who
may lose their hair because
of treatment for an illness, or
because of a condition like
alopecia. These women then
have to grapple with their
notion of femininity and their
own self-image because of the
pervasive standards of beauty.
The pressures to conform to
a certain standard are both
internal and external, and all
they do is cause trouble.
People took to the internet
to praise the movie “Black
Panther” for (among many
other
things)
the
female
characters and their natural
hairstyles. Patrice Williams,
in an article or Hello Giggles,
questions whether her own
journey to accepting natural
hair might have been made
easier if there were more
representation like that in
“Black Panther”. From braids,
to curls, to bald heads, the
women in the movie are strong,
powerful and rocking natural
hairstyles. Representation like
this allows women (and men!)
to see that there is beauty
outside
enforced
societal
standards. Beauty standards
are
largely
arbitrary,
and
highlighting women who don’t
fit these molds is important
for young girls growing up
and figuring out how they feel
about themselves.
I
support
whatever
a
woman wants to do with
her hair. Cut it off, wear it
long, straighten it, let it curl;
whatever makes sowwmeone
comfortable is what she should
go for. What I don’t like is the
pressures that make us feel
like there’s a right option for
us, and that the option should
be pursued, even if it’s not in
our best interest.
Every time a woman tells
me she wishes she could cut
her hair, I want to tell her, “But
you can!” I want to tell her it’s
worth it to take the leap, even
if she isn’t doing it to make a
statement or liberate herself,
she might find these things
happen anyway. But I know it’s
hard; it’s scary to know people
might stare, to know you’re
deliberately
going
against
what the world tells you
to do to be beautiful. But
when I can, I try to gently
encourage
them
to
think
about what they’re afraid of,
why they couldn’t go ahead
and chop it all off. Pulling
it off isn’t real; what is real
is
following
your
heart
and rejoicing in the first
shampoo with inches of hair
gone.
Danielle Colburn can be reached at
decol@umich.edu.
DANIELLE
COLBURN
I support
whatever a
woman wants to
do with her hair.
All of this is to
reinforce the idea
that eSports are
much more than
a traditional video
game
Those with
life skills far
exceeding mine
will still traverse
obstscles