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Sephora contributes to defeat the gender norm that only women can wear makeup. Patrick shows how everyone can have a place in the beauty industry.

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A viral Tik Tok trend is getting rid of "women" beauty standards. Men are also taking on the challenge.

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The Brief: TikTok's #BarbieGirlChallenge defies unrealistic beauty standards as creators transition from a full glam look, through a post-op look, to au naturale.

DEEP DIVE

TikTok's Barbie Girl Challenge is sending a message about unrealistic beauty standards. The trend is marked by creators attempting to glow up into a life-sized Barbie doll by putting on a ton of makeup. Creators then draw lines and arrows on their face, adding gauze and fake blood to suggest that they'd have to undergo surgery to truly reach Barbie's point of perfection. These videos typically finish with a transition to a subtle face beat.

The trend is performed to Aqua's "Barbie Girl" remixed into Ava Max's "Not Your Barbie Girl." The trend began growing in popularity in early June 2020. Many of these videos can be found under the associated hashtags #BarbieGirlChallenge which has over 66 million views, at the time of publication.

The remixed audio, which is linked to over 107,000 videos, was included in @Jharnabhagwani's June 1 video. It received over 12.3 million likes and 69.1 million views.

@jharnabhagwani
Barbie Girl 💅🏼✨

♬ Barbie Girl - jharna bhagwani

Popular creator @Itsjustaba took on the trend, transitioning from monochromatic makeup to a natural makeup look, all the while advocating for #BlackLivesMatter. Her video received over 429,000 likes and 2 million views.

@itsjustaba
barbie finds herself. #blacklivesmatter #fyp #abasangels

♬ Barbie Girl - jharna bhagwani

Many videos are performed by makeup enthusiasts and beauty vloggers, while placing emphasis on empowering themselves and others with their final, subtle makeup look.

@nickigraham11
B A R B I E 💋 collab/ @madisonpetro ib @jharnabhagwani #fyp #mua #art #viral

♬ Barbie Girl - jharna bhagwani

Other "Barbie Girl" videos:

@glambyflo
#barbiegirlchallenge inspired by @jharnabhagwani check out my Instagram for more☺️ #fyp#foryoupage#lipsync#barbie#foryou#tiktoktutorial

♬ Barbie Girl - jharna bhagwani

@nrmfathi
iM a B4rbi3 gUrl #fyp #barbichallenge ib @jharnabhagwani

♬ Barbie Girl - jharna bhagwani

@mayaschoonover
This took me 5hrs & I'm still not happy with it 🥴 TikTokBrushes #WorkoutPlan #fyp #foryou #xyzbca #makeup #barbie_girl

♬ Barbie Girl - jharna bhagwani

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The Brief: TikTok's #BarbieGirlChallenge defies unrealistic beauty standards as creators transition from a full glam look, through a post-op look, to au naturale. DEEP DIVE TikTok's Barbie Girl Challenge is sending a message about unrealistic beauty standards. The trend is marked by creators attempting to glow up into a life-sized Barbie doll by putting on a ton of makeup.

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Influencer Normalizes Being Transgender 

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Influencer Normalizes Being Transgender 

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Nikita Dragun wasn't born in a body she was comfortable with. Now, she is a role model to those who feel the same.

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playboy bunny what's happening 🐰💗#playboyxmissguided use code ( nikita20 ) to save $ @missguided

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Kim Kardashian doesn't include any other gender but women in her shaping undergarment line. Body modification is not only done by women, however.

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Whether you're planning a virtual or socially distant wedding - we've got you covered to make you feel your best on your special day. SKIMS Solutionwear™ in Something Blue and our Bridal Silk Robe launches in sizes XXS - 5X on Friday, September 25 at 9AM PT / 12PM ET exclusively at SKIMS.COM. Join the waitlist now to receive early access to shop before it sells out. Photo: #VanessaBeecroft

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Since the beginning of its time, Miss America has included a swimming suit competition. Realizing its damaging effects, they are making a change.

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Contestants during the swimsuit part of the 2018 Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. Credit... Donald Kravitz/Getty Images for Dick Clark Productions

For the first time in nearly a century, Miss America contestants will not strut onstage in swimsuits this year, the organizers announced on Tuesday, as the pageant tries to redefine its role in an era of female empowerment and gender equality.

Miss America and swimsuits have been synonymous since its first contest in 1921 on the Atlantic City boardwalk. But what started as contestants wearing one-piece bathing suits, conservative by today's standards, became women in revealing bikinis and high heels parading around for a leering television audience.

Now under mostly female leadership, the Miss America Organization said Tuesday that it was scrapping the swimsuit competition, starting at the national contest in September, in a sweeping change that will also reshape local and state contests.

"I've talked to tons of young people who've said to me, 'I'd love to be a part of that program, but I don't want to parade around in a swimsuit,'" Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor who is now the organization's chairwoman, said in an interview. "I get it."

[Fifty years ago, feminists protested the Miss America pageant by throwing "instruments of female torture" into a trash can.]

The organization, confronting its own harassment scandal and searching for its place in the #MeToo era, had worked on the new format for several months. The nine members of the board of directors - seven are now women - unanimously approved the change in March. It was kept a secret until two days ago, when state directors and former Miss Americas were informed.

Ms. Carlson, who assumed a prominent voice for women's rights in the workplace after filing a harassment lawsuit in 2016 against the former Fox chairman Roger Ailes, said the competition would focus more on the contestants' talents, intelligence and ideas.

"We are not going to judge you on your outward appearance," Ms. Carlson, who was Miss America in 1989, said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday. "We are moving it forward and evolving it in this cultural revolution."

The changes will be immediate for Miss America, but will take longer to arrive at local and state events, Ms. Carlson confirmed. Since state contests are currently underway, they will not adopt the new format until after the national competition in September.

The Miss America Organization has undergone a rapid change in the past six months. Ms. Carlson was named chairwoman in January, and several women were appointed to the organization's highest ranks.

Those changes came after emails surfaced in December showing that Sam Haskell, the former chief executive, had made disrespectful and misogynistic comments about former pageant winners. Miss America is also confronting dwindling viewership as people turn away from live televised events.
[Read more: Miss America appoints women to top positions, months after scandal]
Earlier this year, the Miss America Organization brought in the advertising agency Young & Rubicam to help with its branding. Y&R conducted interviews with several past pageant winners, state volunteers, board members, and other stakeholders. The message from Y&R was clear: Miss America needed to modernize to relate to younger women today. Their recommendations included focusing on the career achievements of past winners, and suggested that the swimsuit competition could distract from that message.

"This will be more inclusive," said Jennifer Vaden-Barth, a Miss America board member, who was also Miss North Carolina 1991. "It'll allow us to put the ownership of a woman's presence and beauty in her hands."

Miss America started as a beachside beauty pageant in 1921 in an effort by Atlantic City to extend the summer vacation season. At the first competition, the top finisher was crowned Miss America and a runner-up received the swimsuit trophy.

Over the decades, the Miss America Organization struggled to reconcile its stated mission - empowering women and handing out millions of dollars in scholarships - with requiring contestants to wear revealing attire.

The organization's leaders have said for more than 20 years they had thought about altering the swimsuit competition. Until recently, though, they continued to defend it, asserting that the competition is about poise in uncomfortable situations and fitness, not thinness. In last year's edition of the instruction manual for state-level judges, the organization noted that many view the swimsuit portion as exploitative. "It is the Miss America Organization's belief that those who feel that way really don't understand the competition itself," it said. "Regardless of what we may each believe about the role of the Miss America Organization's titleholders, the American public has an expectation that she will be beautiful and physically fit."

Yet some former contestants have spoken out against the swimsuit competition, saying it led to serious physical and mental problems. Kirsten Haglund, who was Miss America in 2008, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that the swimsuit portion "perpetuated the objectification of women more than it empowered them."

The directors of the Miss America state contests, who were told of the changes two days ago, offered a range of reactions to the announcement, with some welcoming it and others expressing dismay. On Twitter, the Miss Georgia pageant reassured fans that its contest next week will still include swimsuits.

"It's discouraging to hear, I was definitely a proponent of it," said Chaz Ellis, the interim executive director of the Miss South Carolina Scholarship Organization, adding that he supported the national group despite the changes. "It's about physical fitness, it's about a healthy lifestyle."

Not everyone in the pageant world, however, agreed that the swimsuit portion was entirely about judging fitness. "I don't know if that's completely honest or accurate," said Leah Summers, the executive director of the Miss West Virginia Scholarship Organization, who won that state's title in 1991.

Ms. Summers said she anticipated "pretty dramatic changes" from the national organization after the appointment of a new chairwoman and new female board members. She said the new leaders are trying to keep Miss America relevant.

And, she noted, the news would no doubt bring contestants a measure of relief. "There's something to be said about not having to think about walking across a stage in a bikini," she said.

Beth Knox, executive director of the Miss North Carolina Scholarship Pageant, said that she was thrilled at the development: A woman's goals and aspirations were far more important than how she looked in a swimsuit.

"If people really listen with an open mind to the reason this change is being implemented, I just do not see how anyone could not support this improvement," Ms. Knox wrote in an email.

Miss America is one of two major pageants in the United States. The other, Miss USA, was founded in the early 1950s by a swimsuit company after Miss America would not allow the company to use pictures of its contestants for advertising. Miss USA also operates Miss Teen USA and is part of Miss Universe, the international pageant that Donald J. Trump owned from 1996 to 2015.

Officials at the Miss Universe Organization did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment on Tuesday about whether they would also end the swimsuit competition.

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The swimsuit competition had been part of Miss America since its first pageant in 1921 in Atlantic City. Credit... Associated Press

Miss America and Miss USA have long positioned themselves as different pageants. Miss USA is a for-profit show-business enterprise focused on beauty and whose contestants typically reveal more skin and do not have to perform a talent. Miss America is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization with affiliates in 50 states and in the District of Columbia.

The announcement by the Miss America Organization was more than two decades in the making. In the early 1990s, the organization acknowledged the controversy over the swimsuit portion and asked viewers to vote on whether to keep it.

"We are not stupid," Leonard Horn, the organization's chief executive, said in 1993. "We are very sensitive to the fact that the swimsuit competition has always been our Achilles' heel. The swimsuit competition has been controversial since the early 1920s, but it's been retained because the majority of the people like it."

The Miss America winner in 1993, Leanza Cornett, said at the time that the swimsuits should be scrapped. But another unscientific poll by the organization in 1995 found that two-thirds of respondents wanted it to stay.

It is unclear whether advertisers were consulted on Miss America's decision, but the industry has been working in recent years to improve how women are portrayed on TV both in commercials and in programming. The Association of National Advertisers has led an effort called #SeeHer that has been assigning scores to ads and some shows based on whether women are depicted respectfully and as good role models for other women and young girls. Earlier this year, AT&T said that it had started talking with networks and cable companies about incorporating such scores into its ad buys.

"We firmly support this change," said Stephen Quinn, the chairman of the initiative and the former marketing chief of Walmart. "It is important and consistent with #SeeHer's mission to increase the accurate portrayal of women in media."

Last year, 5.6 million viewers watched "The Miss America Competition" on ABC, down 10 percent from 6.2 million in 2016 and seven million in 2015. But many live shows have experienced similar ratings declines, including "Sunday Night Football," the Olympics, the Oscars and the Grammys.

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Miss America Ends Swimsuit Competition, Aiming to Evolve in 'This Cultural Revolution'

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For the first time in nearly a century, Miss America contestants will not strut onstage in swimsuits this year, the organizers announced on Tuesday, as the pageant tries to redefine its role in an era of female empowerment and gender equality. Miss America and swimsuits have been synonymous since its first contest in 1921 on the Atlantic City boardwalk.

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A poll worker was fired recently from turning down voters in Tennessee, causing others to quit their job. The victimized voters were rejected because of "Black Lives Matter" merchandise.

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MEMPHIS - A Shelby County, Tennessee, poll worker was fired Friday after election officials learned that he had turned away voters who were wearing masks and T-shirts that said Black Lives Matter.

"What he did was patently wrong and he was fired," said Suzanne Thompson, spokeswoman for the Shelby County Election Commission.

State law prohibits people from wearing items with the name of a political party or candidate currently on the ballot while in a polling place, but statements like "Black Lives Matter" or "I Can't Breathe" are not violations of that law.

A manager of operations went to the Dave Wells Community Center in Memphis during early voting and fired the worker on the spot after confirming the reports, Thompson said.
2020 Election: Voting: What COVID-19 precautions to expect when you cast your vote in Shelby County Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com, 901-529-2799 or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess. Memphis women look for common ground in early voting initiative
A day later, a second poll worker at the location did not show up for work, quitting. The two poll workers were friends and drove to work together, Thompson said.

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Tennessee poll worker fired after turning away voters in Black Lives Matter shirts, masks

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MEMPHIS - A Shelby County, Tennessee, poll worker was fired Friday after election officials learned that he had turned away voters who were wearing masks and T-shirts that said Black Lives Matter. "What he did was patently wrong and he was fired," said Suzanne Thompson, spokeswoman for the Shelby County Election Commission.

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After a Kentucky clerk claimed violation of her religious rights due to the legalization of gay marriage in 2015, several Supreme Justices say they will work to reverse the right given to the LGBTQ community.

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Conservative Supreme Court Justices Slam Ruling Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

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A statement from Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, underscored conservatives’ excitement and liberals’ fears about the direction the court could take if the Senate confirms Amy Coney Barrett

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The Band-Aid brand recently came out to announce that it acknowledges different skin tones. Soon, people of color will be able to choose a bandage that matches their skin color.

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band-aid will make black and brown skin-toned bandages - cnn

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Band-Aid will make black and brown flesh-toned bandages

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Band-Aid is creating a range of bandages that "embrace the beauty of diverse skin," including hues that better match the skin tones of black and brown customers.

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Lillian Medville discusses how not seeing race does not benefit the oppressed, and how it actually needs to be acknowledged to fix the system.

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Your Privilege Is Showing | Lillian Medville | TEDxBeaconStreet

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Fergus Falls, MN, public library decides to get rid of late fees, in order to better accommodate a wider range of library-goers.

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FERGUS FALLS, M.N. (Valley News Live) - The Fergus Falls Public Library is no longer charging late fines.

The board and staff have spent months researching and discussing the issue of fines. After several board meeting deliberations, it became clear that eliminating fines would be in the best interest of the public and the library.

The library says its resources should be accessible to the widest possible range of users.
Copyright 2020 KVLY. All rights reserved.

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No more library late fines at Fergus Falls Public Library

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FERGUS FALLS, M.N. (Valley News Live) - The Fergus Falls Public Library is no longer charging late fines. The board and staff have spent months researching and discussing the issue of fines. After several board meeting deliberations, it became clear that eliminating fines would be in the best interest of the public and the library.

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Rap-star Eminem didn't start out like most celebrities. He was a minority in his neighborhood, and was in poverty before his career really kicked off.

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Getty Images

Eminem: a melodious name that rolls off the tongue (and maybe melts on it, too!). A name associated with acts of depravity, highly offensive language, and enough gruesome descriptions of felony-worthy behavior to warrant a couple life sentences.

Eminem is the stage name of Marshall Mathers, also known as his constructed alter ego "Slim Shady." He's one of the most famous and contentious rappers of a generation, consistently breaking boundaries with his volatile rhymes that often reflect his personal and professional life. Here's the insane real-life story of Marshall Mathers.

He came from humble roots

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Eminem was born as Marshall Mathers, the blue-eyed child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Debbie Nelson Mathers-Briggs. Marshall's father took off 18 months after his birth, leaving 15-year-old Debbie to care for Marshall and later his younger brother Nathan. Marshall's childhood involved moving between multiple public housing systems in Kansas City and Detroit. Frequently "the new kid" and often one of the only white ones, Marshall started inhabiting an outsider's stance at an early age, often resulting in his being bullied. Meanwhile, home proved just as rocky. His mother exhibited signs of mental illness, so the responsibility for caring for his younger brother fell on Marshall's shoulders.

Perhaps understandably, Marshall didn't like school; he flunked out of the ninth grade three times before calling it quits. But he always loved English - specifically words. In an interview with 60 Minutes, he copped to enjoying reading the dictionary and demonstrated his mastery of the slant rhyme by freestyling words that rhyme with the "orange." With this keen interest in the English language, he moved into writing lyrics for rap battles in the underground music scene.

He was living in a trailer when he became a rap star

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After dropping out of school, Marshall began to regularly alternate between working, writing, and performing. His white skin in a predominantly black arena caused people to initially reject him, only to be won over once he started rapping. Meanwhile, he had a baby with his high-school girlfriend, Kim. The new family inhabited crack-riddled neighborhoods: in a Rolling Stone interview, Kim recounted going through four TVs and five VCRs in two years, and Eminem recalled a crackhead who broke into their house just to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Eminem's career grew, but it wasn't enough to pay the bills. He was living in a trailer when his EP "Slim Shady" landed in the lap of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine (both pictured above) of Interscope Records, who immediately tracked Eminem down and helped catapult him to fame.

The movie 8 Mile is semi-autobiographical and won an Oscar

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Anyone who saw 8 Mile may acknowledge that while Eminem isn't the greatest actor, he's still a great artist: his song "Lose Yourself" won an Oscar for best original song, while acting as a vehicle for exploring the subject matter of 8 Mile. The film's plot pulled heavily from Eminem's own life: A young Detroit rapper attempts to battle his way into the music world while also combating his harsh neighborhood. "Lose Yourself" plays (non-diegetically) to portray Rabbit struggling to write lyrics worthy of a throwdown. With a tight rhythmic guitar beat guiding the vocals, the song centers on a narrator who is intensely focused on succeeding in the moment of performance, while lamenting the narrator's daily struggles. ("Can't get by with my 9 to 5 / And I can't provide the right type of life for my family," raps a morose Eminem.)

The song is so good, that with any luck an alternate dimension contains a ledger that records every time somebody played "Lose Yourself" before a major life event: a sporting event, stepping on a plane, walking down the aisle, etc. ("You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow" before math tests, anyone?)

He's been investigated by the Secret Service

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Eminem's lyrics frequently push boundaries: This is the guy who raps about suicidal mushroom trips and forced relations with his mother, after all. But his most infamous example of crossing the line came in 2003, when a bootleg version of his song "We As Americans" surfaced with the following lyrics:

"F**k money / I don't rap for dead presidents / I'd rather see the president dead / It's never been said, but I set precedents."

Note that "dead presidents" is slang for dollar bills (Jefferson, Benjamin, Lincoln, etc.), so that line pans out. But (working theory), if you're Eminem and have one innocuous lyric, it's your artistic duty to follow up with something provocative, outrageous, or offensive. Saying that he'd "rather see the president dead" set off a whirlwind of gasps, chat-room rumors, and reports the Secret Service was looking into the song, as a standard response to investigate any possible threats against the president.

Perhaps because the song didn't specify the president of the United States or mention Bush by name, the Secret Service never took any real action against Eminem. Subsequent releases of the song, however, did censor out the word "dead." And Eminem went on to speak out against Bush's actions in his song "Mosh," albeit in more articulate - and less violent - language.

Elton John is his BFF

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Homophobia and its constituents - derogatory slurs, names, and jokes - make their way into many of Eminem's songs. So it may surprise you to learn that Elton John is a huge fan of Eminem's work, a lifelong friend, and a defendant when people accuse him of homophobia. During a discussion recorded in Interview Magazine in 2017, John told Eminem: "When that s**t was thrown at you - about you being homophobic - I just thought, 'I'm not standing for this. It's nonsense.' I had to stand up and defend you. That Grammy performance was the start of a lovely friendship and I'm grateful for that."

The Grammy performance he's referencing is the duo's 2001 collaboration on "Stan," a song that describes a crazed fan who eventually commits a double homicide after not hearing back from his musical idol. (While the performance received mixed reviews, the song has stood the test of time: In 2017, the Oxford English Dictionary included the word "stan" in its lexicon to denote "an overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity.")

Elton John's and Eminem's friendship demonstrates the separation between Marshall Mathers and the personas he takes on in his songs. It's also worth noting that these songs don't take kindly to just about anyone: straight or gay, black or white; marginalized or not. In that regard, his lyrics are agnostic - there's no one or no subject that Eminem won't take on.

He had a fat phase

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Pill-popping musicians and unnatural weight gain have a certain legacy in music. Elvis started the trend; at one point, John Lennon continued it. Eminem picked up the baton when his substance addictions included massive intakes of food and pills.

At his worst, Eminem consumed 60 Valium and 30 Vicodin a day, plus multiple Ambien. Meanwhile, he ate regularly at fast food joints like Taco Bell and McDonald's, gaining 80 pounds and a relationship with the staff as a regular. One day at McDonald's, he overheard a conversation between two people debating whether or not it was actually him because of the extra weight. The fact that his own fans couldn't recognize him acted as wake-up call to Eminem, but it wasn't the one that would save his life.

He's been sober nine years

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At his worst, Eminem was staying in bed all day and popping pills just to function. Extensive drug use wiped out many of his memories, which he attributes to Ambien specifically. Whatever the case, he hit rock bottom when trying to get out of bed one day and falling to the ground unconscious. Later, doctors told him he'd consumed the equivalent of four bags of heroin (via Rolling Stone).

It took that hospital trip, a relapse, and a stint in rehab to set him sober, with help from Elton John, who became his sponsor. Eminem told Rolling Stone how John was able to walk him through sobriety by describing not just the various known stages, but smaller moments as well: how colors and sensations would intensify, how he would be able to notice small details without drugs.

Ever the artist, Eminem channeled his struggles into the album "Recovery," which revolves around the theme of - you guessed it - getting clean.

Despite being a famous kid of a rap star, Hailie is very normal

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Beyond all the obscenities and constructed stage identities, the one thread that runs authentic through all of Eminem's music is his love for his daughter Hailie.

She's been the subject of her father's songs from her youngest years. Frequently, she's depicted as an anchor in the storm, the primary subject of her father's love that manages to keep him sane in an otherwise crazed world. Sometimes, he uses her to demonstrate a man torn and conflicted: either between being able provide for his family while pursuing his dreams, or loving his daughter while wanting to kill her mother. (You know, normal family stuff.) When Eminem collapsed from a drug overdose, he described the hardest part as missing out on Christmas with his kids.

In that sense, Hailie's a very public persona who has never stepped squarely into the spotlight. But despite the fame, she grew up apparently normal. Check out her 20ish Instagram posts, and you'll see her hanging out with friends, showing off outfits, and looking like any normal, well-adjusted young 'un. Congrats!

He's had as many courtroom battles as rap ones

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Eminem's no stranger to the courtroom. In the first 13 years of his fame, he encountered at least one major lawsuit per year, possibly spending several million dollars in legal costs.

Several lawsuits came from immediate friends or family members. His mother sued him for $10 million for defamation of character based on his descriptions of her in interviews and his music. (She eventually won just $1,600 in damages.) His aunt and uncle also sued him after he bought them a house and wanted to keep it in his name. Kim also sued him for defamation, as did a bully from high school. None of these lawsuits panned out the way the prosecutors intended.

Other issues included a concealed weapon charge and an assault charge. The first came when he pulled an unloaded gun on someone outside a car audio store in Michigan. Eminem was arrested then released, only to be swooped back up the next day when he saw his wife smooching a club bouncer and got violent. Eminem pleaded guilty to both charges and was given two years' probation.

Finally, Eminem took out the big guns when going against Apple twice, for different incidents; they reached quiet settlements out of court. He'll have material for years!

Besides the obvious financial burden, Eminem's enemies created considerable mental distress for the rap star: he started wearing a bulletproof vest just to frequent his recording studio.

His divisive music also brings people together

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Expressing anger at authority is Eminem's forte, so it was no surprise when he dropped "Storm," a 4.5-minute bash on President Trump while his buddies stand in the background. The video premiered at the BET Hip Hop awards and got a lot of support from other celebs, including Ellen DeGeneres and Snoop Dogg.

The aggressive quality of his music isolates many while resonating with others. He knows how to lay low and stay prolific at the same time. He might go years without releasing an album, but when he does release one, it rides a line between the topical and the personal.

Perhaps the outsider stance he picked up as a child allows him to maintain a completely unique voice in a field filled with cliches. Either way, Shady is back, and it looks like he's here to stay.

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Getty Images Eminem: a melodious name that rolls off the tongue (and maybe melts on it, too!). A name associated with acts of depravity, highly offensive language, and enough gruesome descriptions of felony-worthy behavior to warrant a couple life sentences. Eminem is the stage name of Marshall Mathers, also known as his constructed alter ego "Slim Shady."

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In the Netflix series "All-American," two Black teenagers are pulled over for being in a nice car in a nice neighborhood.

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Asians face the assumptions of being "educated" or "smart" because of their race. Truth be told, there are more differences within races than between them.

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It's very annoying how many people say that i'm smart just because of my race, like if i were to tell someone that i was asian they would be all like, " Oh, that's why you're so smart!", Yeah i may be smart, but it's not because I am Asian! Many people believe that people who are asians are smarter, but they are just the same as any others, just taught a little more or works a little harder than any other. Anyone, and i mean anyone, could be as smart as any asian person, not saying they are smart, they just try hard to learn, and anyone can do that. As a kid, I got taught by my parents and grandparents, because my grandpa from my mom's side was a mathematician, so i ended up learning more in my childhood and can learn easier because i have been learning since i was very young, like 5 or 4. It is not cool to say you or someone else isn't as smart as me just because i'm asian, everyone would learn different, race doesn't matter that much, it may change where you are, but not who you are as a person, like if you wanted to be smart, learn! I chose to be smart and learn because I wanted to, and as i say this, i would say i didn't learn as much in writing or language arts, so i don't write as good, but i can change that. There are also handicaps to being asian, because people think asians are smarter, the government makes asians work harder than anyone else! An example of that is, asians can't get a certain degree or can't go to certain colleges because people say they are "Super smart" just because they learned more than others.
The myth of race: what making race caused
Race was never real; it was made up by a single person. It was made to categorize people, nothing else. As the American Anthropological Association (AAA), which is a group of very well educated anthropologists in the country say, "it has become clear that human populations are not unambiguous, clearly demarcated, biologically distinct groups. Evidence from the analysis of genetics (e.g., DNA) indicates that most physical variation, about 94%, lies within so-called racial groups. Conventional geographic "racial" groupings differ from one another only in about 6% of their genes. This means that there is greater variation within "racial" groups than between them. In neighboring populations there is much overlapping of genes and their phenotypic (physical) expressions. Throughout history whenever different groups have come into contact, they have interbred. The continued sharing of genetic materials has maintained all of humankind as a single species." So people aren't very different after all. In 1776 a german scientist named Johann Friedrich Blumenbach was one of the first to make different races, and came up with 5 different categories based on physical appearance and where the people lived. After that, white and european people bought into this subject and then said that race would resolve things, so Thomas jefferson said, "To these objections, which are political, may be added others, which are physical and moral. The first difference which strikes us is that of colour." And so they divided up black people and white people so that white people could feel superior. Also, Huffington post says, "The concept of race in such research is "problematic at best and harmful at worst," everyone is in the same race, which is human. We need to know this because race causes many bad things, like discrimination, and people should be able to live without it. Race was never real,
It was made by one person, and race couldn't make anything better.

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"You're Asian? You must be smart." - The Race Card Project

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It's very annoying how many people say that i'm smart just because of my race, like if i were to tell someone that i was asian they would be all like, " Oh, that's why you're so smart!", Yeah i may be smart, but it's not because I am Asian!

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Three Latina women talk about what their education was like as they grew up. Teachers expected less from them, and assumed they didn't even speak English.

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Monday marked the start of a series of events for "Women's Herstory Month" with a panel discussion on Latina students in the United States education system. The panel, hosted by the WAGE Center, featured Latin American studies coordinator Eva Santos-Phillips and three students, junior Maria Paulina Duarte Hernandez, sophomore Celismarie Ortiz and junior Liliana Meza.

Gender was given a special emphasis during the discussion, as students explained how Latinas have been affected by their relationship with classmates and teachers.

Stephanie Zighelboim, student services coordinator for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and professor of Latin American studies, said the event was helpful to raise awareness on the difficulties that Latina women face in the American education system and how they are able to overcome these difficulties.

All three students talked about their experiences when they first came to the United States.

Ortiz was born in Connecticut, but has Puerto Rican heritage. She said at a young age she spoke English and Spanish, but up until third grade was placed in the English as a Second Language program.

"They assumed I couldn't speak English," she said.

When she was in fourth grade, Ortiz moved to Florida where things changed. She had a Hispanic teacher who taught in Spanish and English. Ortiz said that as she got older, speaking Spanish became a big advantage.

"At first (speaking Spanish) was a negative thing and later on it became a positive thing," she said.

Duarte Hernandez came to the United States when she was 9 years old and started in fourth grade while her brother was in first grade. She said for her first two to three years in the country she didn't do homework and was ignored by her teacher.

She was also placed in the ESL program but said it wasn't much help either, as students would speak in Spanish.

When Hernandez got to middle school, she dropped her ESL classes and started to do homework and learn more English. She said her accent was heavier when she started to learn the language, but her brother didn't have as much trouble because he started in first grade.

"My accent is slowly drifting away," she said.

Meza came from Mexico when she was 18 years old and attended two years of high school. She said during the first six months she didn't like being in the United States and was crying most of the time. Meza also said she didn't like being treated as a special person, so she started to study and practice English.

Ortiz, Meza and Hernandez said in high school all their teachers expected less from them.

"No one expected for you to work to your full potential," Ortiz said.

But college is different, they said. They don't feel special treatment because of the variety of students as well as other international students.

Professor Santos-Phillips moved to the United States. when she was seven. She said when she arrived her teacher made her feel accepted.

"She never made me feel as if I didn't belong here," Santos said. "It was a good experience and it bothers me that today kids don't have the same treatment."

Ortiz said she didn't have a Latin accent, but because her looks were different she received different treatment.

They all said that they are only given special treatment if they say English is not their first language, and that it makes them concerned that their achievements were not because of their efforts, but because they are Latinas.

"We want to be given the same opportunities," Santos said. "I don't want to ask myself 'did they give me the job because I'm Latina, or because I'm good as everybody else?' "

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Latina students reflect on their education

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Monday marked the start of a series of events for "Women's Herstory Month" with a panel discussion on Latina students in the United States education system. The panel, hosted by the WAGE Center, featured Latin American studies coordinator Eva Santos-Phillips and three students, junior Maria Paulina Duarte Hernandez, sophomore Celismarie Ortiz and junior Liliana Meza.

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Iyanna Dior was attacked by a woman outside of a store, and was denied protection. "Just because someone is trans identified does not take away our black card. We are as black as you are," says Dior.

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Iyanna Dior, a transgender woman, said she felt "disgusted" and "attacked" and became visibly emotional in response to a viral video showing a group of people beating her inside and outside a convenience store last week in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In a Facebook live video posted Thursday, she said that while moving a friend's car late one night, she hit several other cars on the East Side in St. Paul. Dior, 20, said she could not pay cash demanded by one car's owner and left the scene because she feared being attacked or shot.

When Dior sought safety in a nearby convenience store, she said, owners declined to call police or help.

NBC News did not receive a response to a Thursday request for comment from the Minneapolis Police Department.

"I really feel bad that I just did this," she recounted telling the friend who owned the car after she crashed into others. But Dior also said in the Facebook live video that she felt afraid, describing the neighborhood as a "gang area" where people could come out of buildings and threaten her.

The friend and former roommate whose car she moved wouldn't let her come back to her house, Dior said, so she attempted to flee the scene.

A man allegedly followed Dior down an alley and said, "I don't know what your little gay ass is doing" and demanded money for the car accident, she said. Dior, who had no money to pay, said she tried to get away.

Dior said she told him, "I'm gonna give you 500, please, please can you just get me to the store."

"I wanted to get to the store because the only thing that's really running through my mind is: 'If I'm going to die, I'm going to die on camera,'" she said. "I want people to know actually what happened."

Dior said she asked for the store owner to call the police and he told her to get out of his store. "You're causing too much drama," Dior recalled him saying.

Soon after, she said she was "sucker punched" in the face, she spit back at the woman who punched her, the onslaught of beating began, and then she blacked out.

"I was sitting there really thinking I was going to die," Dior said.

"To have that many men and women that are adults, to do something like that is really, really horrible," said transgender activist Dee Dee Watters, who accompanied Dior in the Facebook live video. "Just because someone is trans identified does not take away our black card. We are as black as you are."

Tributes poured in from LGBTQ people online.

"Sis. I'm sorry," writer and director Janet Mock wrote in an Instagram post. "They didn't have to come after you. But they did. There's no f------ excuse for their brutality, their dangerous ignorance, their fragile masculinity."

"Many of the community members have been much more intentional about showing up for her," said Ashlee Marie Preston, an L.A.-based transgender activist and commentator, describing mutual aid efforts to provide community-based cash support to Dior.

"I think it's a difficult time to be a trans woman because we are trying to combat anti-blackness within the LGBTQ community and we are also trying to combat transphobia within the black community," Preston continued.

Activists like her are "trying to get people to understand that black trans women are still black women and that our gender identity doesn't cancel out the experiences that we have in a racist society," Preston said, describing the video as "traumatizing because it gave me a flashback to Muhlaysia Booker," a trans woman whose beating was filmed in Texas.

So far in 2020, according to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 12 transgender or gender-nonconforming people have been killed.
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Minnesota trans woman said she thought she was going to die in beating

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Iyanna Dior, a transgender woman, said she felt "disgusted" and "attacked" and became visibly emotional in response to a viral video showing a group of people beating her inside and outside a convenience store last week in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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We all probably remember when the #metoo movement began on twitter, where women publicly acknowledged the sexual harassment/assault they have faced. The movement's website helps victims and encourages others to make an act.

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Farida D. is the author of "The List of Shit That Made Me A Feminist." On her instagram, she quotes herself and is able to reach a larger group of people by using social media. (image should correctly link to instagram post)

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Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris is the first woman to take the vice presidency role in the nation's history. Many women have attempted to pave their way into this role, but this election marks the beginning of a new era for women.

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Kamala Harris elected the first female vice president of the U.S.

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She will become the first female vice president of the U.S. and will be the first person of color to hold the office.

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In this video, it is explained how feminism not only benefits women, but specifically how it benefits the male gender too.

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Abortion has became a huge controversial topic within the last few decades. More so today than ever, because of more women wanting the right to their own bodies. Planned Parenthood fights to make sure women can have that right.

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NEW YORK - Planned Parenthood said Monday that it's pulling out of the federal family-planning program rather than abide by a new Trump administration rule prohibiting clinics from referring women for abortions.

Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood's acting president and CEO, said the organization's nationwide network of health centers would remain open and strive to make up for the loss of federal money. But she predicted that many low-income women who rely on Planned Parenthood services would "delay or go without" care.

"We will not be bullied into withholding abortion information from our patients," said McGill Johnson. "Our patients deserve to make their own health care decisions, not to be forced to have Donald Trump or Mike Pence make those decisions for them."

Enforcement of the new Title X rule marks a major victory for a key part of President Donald Trump's political base -- religious conservatives opposed to abortion. They have been campaigning relentlessly to "defund Planned Parenthood" because - among its varied services - it is the largest abortion provider in the United States, and they viewed the Title X grants as an indirect subsidy.

About 4 million women are served nationwide under the Title X program, which distributes $260 million in family-planning grants to clinics. Planned Parenthood says it has served about 40% of patients, many of them African American and Hispanic. Family-planning funds cannot be used to pay for abortions.
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In a statement, the federal Department of Health and Human Services said Planned Parenthood knew months ago about the new restrictions and suggested that the group could have chosen at that point to exit the program.

"Some grantees are now blaming the government for their own actions - having chosen to accept the grant while failing to comply with the regulations that accompany it - and they are abandoning their obligations to serve patients under the program," the department said.

It said it would strive to make sure patients are served.

Planned Parenthood was not the only organization dropping out. Maine Family Planning, which is unaffiliated with Planned Parenthood, also released its letter of withdrawal Monday. The National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, an umbrella group for family-planning clinics, is suing to overturn the regulations.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco is weighing a lawsuit to overturn the rules, but so far the court has allowed the administration to go ahead with enforcement. Oral arguments are scheduled the week of Sept. 23. Several states and the American Medical Association have joined the suit as plaintiffs.

Abortion rights activists are also pressing Congress to overturn the rule, though it seems unlikely that the Republican-controlled Senate would take that step.
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Monday was the deadline set by the government for program participants to submit statements that they intended to comply with the new rules, along with a plan. Enforcement will start Sept. 18.

In addition to the ban on abortion referrals by clinics, the rule's requirements include financial separation from facilities that provide abortions, designating abortion counseling as optional instead of standard practice, and limiting which staff members can discuss abortion with patients. Clinics would have until next March to separate their office space and examination rooms from the physical facilities of providers that offer abortions.

The Trump administration has also made it possible for faith-based organizations opposed to abortion to receive Title X grants.

Among the recipients of grants this year was Obria Medical Clinics, which runs a network of facilities in California. It promotes abstinence-based sex education and "natural family planning," and does not prescribe birth control.

The impact of Planned Parenthood's withdrawal will vary from state to state. Some states, including Illinois and Vermont, have said they would step in to replace lost federal funding.

"We will make sure that access to these services remains available, because in Illinois we trust women," said Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who joined Planned Parenthood's news conference on Monday. He said Planned Parenthood serves about 70,000 people in Illinois.

Elsewhere, the impact could be substantial. In Utah, Planned Parenthood is the only Title X grantee; in Minnesota, it serves 90% of patients.
Detained immigrants file lawsuit: Medical help ignored, wheelchair requests denied
"It will simply be impossible for other health centers to fill the gap," McGill Johnson said. "Wait times for appointments will skyrocket."

HHS said in its statement that it's grateful for the many grant recipients that are remaining with the program. State and local health departments account for a significant share of service providers.

"We will work to ensure all patients continue to be served," the agency said.

Planned Parenthood has called the ban on abortion referrals a "gag rule," while the administration insists that's not the case.

Maine Family Planning CEO George Hill said in a letter to HHS that his organization is withdrawing "more in sorrow than in anger" after 47 years of participating in the program.

He said the Trump administration regulation "would fundamentally compromise the relationship our patients have with us as trusted providers of this most personal and private health care. It is simply wrong to deny patients accurate information about and access to abortion care."

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'We will not be bullied': Planned Parenthood withdraws from US family-planning program

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NEW YORK - Planned Parenthood said Monday that it's pulling out of the federal family-planning program rather than abide by a new Trump administration rule prohibiting clinics from referring women for abortions. Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood's acting president and CEO, said the organization's nationwide network of health centers would remain open and strive to make up for the loss of federal money.