What Lizzo Teaches Us About Cancel Culture 💅
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I set aside a chunk of time to reply to all your gorgeous emails yesterday, and nothing makes me feel more whole than seeing you all sit there and type our your genius (and extremely honest) responses to all the different parts of the newsy!! Here's one that made me feel all 🥺
“Hey Luce,
I LOVE your duck tattoo!! It's adorable and so sweet. I was inspired by you saying that you like it when people ask you about your brother, so I messaged my aunty who lost her son (my cousin) last year.
I told her how I remember his cheeky grin and how kind he was and how he could make us laugh, even when he felt dark inside. She didn't reply for a while and I was worried I had upset her but then she ended up thanking me for talking about him. My family aren't very good at expressing emotions and she says it makes her sad that we never bring him up. So thank you for teaching me something about grief and helping me to open up to my aunty and honour my cousin's memory today.”
It takes a lot to open up in this silly little newsy each day, but you are genuinely the only people I'd do it for because messages like this genuinely make me feel like it HELPS WHEN WE ARE ALL HONEST. Grief is a hard and weird thing, but it's less hard and weird when we talk about it together.
Anyway, today's newsy was a real fun one to write (and Bel's chime CRACKED ME UP today) so please enjoy (and always respond with your thoughts) xxx
Bel Chimes In: Have you been glass-ceilinged?
You know who I am - who are you??
Lizzo’s Lyric Offended Fans. She Changed It, and They Forgave.
My Policeman Trailor!!!
There's a tampon shortage, eek
BTS are not on hiatus, actually
Does the week start on Sunday or Monday?
Bel Chimes In: Have you been glass-ceilinged? A dramatic recount.
This section is written by my crush, the refreshing-as-a-house-chardonnay-on-a-steamy-day, Bel Hawkins. You should check out more of her beautiful words here.
So I was reminded of this thing the other day, which used to happen a lot when I started out working as a woman in the world, and it’s both funny and super annoying and Luce and I talk about it often.
It’s being glass-ceilinged. Have you had it? If you’re unfamiliar, the glass ceiling is a term used to describe the barrier that prevents a certain demographic (most often women) from rising in their careers. It sucks, and it’s changing but every now, and then you come across a worker in the wild that is unfamiliar with the shattering that has gone on and attempts to keep it intact.
Instead of retelling this incident in a simple recount, I thought I’d script it into a small mockumentary screenplay instead (lol):
INTERNAL. BOARDROOM. A NONDESCRIPT BUT FAMOUS COMPANY.
Men gather, mostly all wearing black t-shirts under blazers and statement sneakers. There are 11 men and one young woman.
Man in suit: Three flat whites and - what will you get Sambo? Long black. Three flat whites and a long black, thanks.
Woman: Oh, I’m actually about to present. This is my presentation. For the meeting. That we’re all here for. Meeting about.
Other man in blazer: Oh, we thought you were an intern. You are small and soft around the edges, and it’s funny to me that you would be presenting, what a world, eh.
The man’s phone pings, and from that moment, he will never pay attention in the meeting again.
Woman: [internal monologue] But I’m in high heels that are making my shins sore to make you take me seriously. I literally can’t run on the weekends because of these shoes. I have spent a lot of time on this presentation. And in these shoes. Here I was, just thinking we were all humans trying to make our way in the world. I'm all of a sudden very tired.
The presentation begins. The woman quickly realises no one is listening. On the wall is a fish-eye photograph of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the air, a gentle smell of mahogany and the story of a thousand meetings just like this. Some of the meeting attendees have their feet propped up on the table.
Other man (could be Sambo, could alternatively be another man in the room): [thinking internally, but emits this vibe to all the other men in the boardroom] Absolutely can’t relate to this content, seems boring. Women talk so much. Returning to my phone screen.
Woman: And this was the really interesting part of our findings…
Most of the men continue to look at their phones or at the woman like a window in the room.
The woman finishes the presentation. It was useful information presented in a jazzy way, even with a few jokes or one-liners in there to make her seem both intelligent and relatable. Even a joke about rugby league to seem relatable and sports-adjacent.
The men ask for it to be emailed with summary notes, which they will read after lunch over a Peroni and a Marlboro Red.The woman looks over to one of their phone screens and notices all the men have a shared TAB account and have been placing bets instead of listening to her presentation for the last hour.
She regrets the shoe choice. She decides then in that moment that success is the best revenge and that widespread telling of this story will help continue the revolt.
You know who I am - who are you??
I recently got an email from Anna with a great question - is she our average reader??? She’s a 28-year-old from the U.K, and she wanted to know if she was a ‘grandma’ or if she was ‘down with the kids.’ For the record - none of you are grandmas/grandads/grandparents (actually I think a few of you might legit have grandkids, and that's the coolest thing ever) - but for as long as you're reading this newsy each day we’ll keep each other young and cool together!! (I can’t wait to get older together too.)
So, based on our latest survey of newsletter readers, here’s how old we all are:
And here's where most of us live:
Look at us all!! I love us!!
A Love Island Debrief - let’s meet the islanders!
A Love Island Debrief: Let's meet the islanders! - Culture Vulture — open.spotify.com
Luce and Liv meet our islanders this year and debrief episodes 1-5!
Lizzo’s Lyric Offended Fans. She Changed It, and They Forgave.
I saw this story buzzing around on the internet and have been waiting to write about it until I had something meaningful to add. I still don't know if I do, because Lizzo has gone and done the meaningful thing for us, but here's the story:
Lizzo released her new song “Grrrls” last Friday, but the version she released included a derogatory term for people with disabilities.
As per The New York Times:
In the original version of the song “Grrrls” released on Friday, Lizzo used the word “spaz” to indicate that she was going to lose control. The word is based on spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, a condition that causes motor impairments in the legs or arms.
Fans and disability advocates were quick to notice the use of the word and approach her about it (or, bring it to the internet in hopes that she would see it.)
Lizzo saw, listened, and by Monday had uploaded a new version of the song to all streaming services without the word. Here's her statement about it:
I think this is so great. Through her actions, Lizzo has shown us in real time how to handle a situation like this - when you unintentionally hurt a community, you need to fix it before our eyes so we can all learn how to fix it too, and what the expectation is for others.
This is something we always say here at SYSCA. If you are going to 'call someone out' online, then you need to do it with grace, and allow them to make the changes we're asking for before our eyes so that as a society (I always feel silly when I say that) we can learn from it. The whole point of calling someone else is to make the world better, and it can't be better if we never allow (or take notice) of the changes people make when they realise they've done wrong.
(I'm fighting the urge to caveat this section with all the classic - 'this is obviously cases by case'/'some people are legit criminals and shouldn't have a platform' things, but "we live in a society" so here I am doing it at the end.)
My Policeman Trailer!!
It needs no introduction, just watch it will ya?
BTS are not on hiatus, actually
Yesterday I reported that BTS were going on hiatus. It actually turns out it’s just ‘a break.’ Which is all kinda much of a muchness really, but I know if sorta softens the blow, and I get it.
Anyway, a rep for BTS told Billboard in a statement that BTS “are not on hiatus,” but “will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats.”
My love to the Army <33333
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There's a tampon shortage, eek
We all know that at SYSCA we prefer using our period cups anyway, but for those who are still tampon inclined, I hate to break it to you, but the latest casualty of the supply chain shortage is... tampons.
Some people are blaming Amy Schumer, Marjorie Taylor Greene is blaming trans people (god she's the fucking worst), but the real culprit is "a combination of factory staffing challenges, transportation bottlenecks, and the rising costs of key raw materials used to make the products, tampon makers say."
Does the week start on Sunday or Monday?
26% say it starts on Sunday
74% say it starts on Monday
If you said Sunday then I don't trust you at all.
Today's mundane poll is from Sannah and her dad:
"Hi Luce,
Just read this newsy and you reminded me of a longstanding debate I have with my dad. It's about you saying you "pre-ordered" a book.
I think pre-ordering is a fine thing to say but he maintains that you can only ever order something you can't pre-order as that means to order it before you order it...
This has led to many arguments haha
Any thoughts on your end? Maybe an idea for a mundane poll?
Much love,
Sannah"
SUCH A GOOD POINT
Not Every Musician Wants To Be A TikTok Star (Culture Vulture)
Hong Kong: New school books claim territory was not a British colony (BBC)
Welcome to the bear market (The Spinoff)
Our Love Island Debrief (Ep 1-5) (Culture Vulture)
Juneteenth merch is American consumerism at its most crass (Vox)
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