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Andrew Rice

Danny Brown exploded onto the rap scene in 2010 with his debut mixtape The Hybrid, featuring his unique style centered around eclectic beats, clever lyrics, and squawked vocals. As music critic Anthony Fantano describes it, Brown takes the typical topics of hip-hop and “[brings] them to such an extreme they… become parody… a kind of cartoony embrace of drugs and violence.” Brown consequently stood out in the contemporary hip-hop landscape as a freak and an outsider, exploring sounds that none of his contemporaries dared to touch. He expanded upon this niche with two later albums: XXX in 2011 and Atrocity Exhibition in 2016. The two albums served as some of the most experimental, hedonistic, and profane pieces of modern hip-hop— closely reminiscent of the Camp aesthetic described by Susan Sontag in her 1964 essay “What is Camp.” As Sontag stipulates, Camp is a love for artifice, aestheticism, exaggeration, and “instant character” (10). Brown largely embodies this Camp aesthetic through both his sound and content, but at the same time subverts it with his portrayal of the brutal reality that accompanies the lifestyle he depicts.

In much of his work, Danny Brown exemplifies the camp aesthetic with his sonic choices. One of the first ideas that Sontag addresses in “What is Camp” is that “the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration” (2). Brown’s delivery typifies this perfectly: the voice he uses is a freakish, over-the-top yelp, an exaggeration of his already shrill voice; the media company Pitchfork describes it as a “strangled yap” and an “abrasive honk.” The sound effectively conveys Brown’s wild energy and exemplifies the artifice and exaggeration that Camp celebrates. In another depiction of Camp, Bruce LaBruce’s “Notes on Camp and anti-Camp,” LaBruce asserts that “Camp itself should almost be defined as a kind of madness, a rip in the fabric of reality that we need to reclaim”— an ethos that Brown’s music embodies fully. Brown’s instrumentals, particularly on Atrocity Exhibition, illustrate this best: they are absurdly off-kilter and unconventional, sampling sounds from all kinds of music to create fast-paced, frenzied songs. Take the song “Ain’t it Funny,” for example, which samples the blaring horns on the chorus of Nick Mason’s “Wervin’” and its echoes of a pulsating tuba and spastic saxophone. Paul White, Brown’s head producer, loops this

Brown’s delivery typifies this perfectly: the voice he uses is a freakish, over-the-top yelp, an exaggeration of his already shrill voice; the media company Pitchfork describes it as a “strangled yap” and an “abrasive honk.”

syncopated tuba and saxophone, distorting them to sound even harsher; uses the dissonant horn chorus to introduce and enhance the hook of the song; and adds throbbing bass to amplify it all. The product is an exceedingly paranoid, unnerving, and chaotic piece of music, which, combined with Brown’s vocals, has a pervading sense of insanity— exactly as LaBruce believes Camp should. Brown’s lyrics, which vary between being comedic and alarming, effectively complement this soundscape and accentuate his embodiment of Camp.

Brown further exemplifies the Camp aesthetic with his lyrics: the outrageous anecdotes and comparisons that make up the stylized image of Brown’s lifestyle are prime examples of exaggeration, aestheticism, and instant character. As Cady Lang recounts in her article “What Does Camp Mean Exactly,” “the word ‘Camp’ comes from the French verb ‘se camper,’ which roughly translates to ‘to strike an exaggerated pose.’” Brown does exactly this with lyrics that depict his wayward lifestyle; on XXX, Brown creates a stylized world centered around this lifestyle, exemplifying the “daring and witty hedonism” and “outrageous aestheticism” that is Camp (Sontag 8, 14). The song “DNA” illustrates this best: in the first verse, Brown describes waking up in his mansion and having an extravagant breakfast with drugged-up women. He then boasts:

Everynight like a bachelor party in Sin City

Bitches sniffing coke off each other titties with rolled 50’s

Life I live like Charlie Sheen and Rick James

Going hard till it ain’t a dollar to my name.

Brown adds on the hook that such a lifestyle is “in [his] DNA” because his family all “like to get fucked up the same way.” He thereby “strikes the exaggerated pose” of a chronic debauchee, someone predestined to live an unhinged lifestyle, addicted to drug, sex, and luxury. Such an image epitomizes Camp’s “daring hedonism,” and, since it is a gross amplification of one aspect of Brown’s life, aligns with the “outrageous aestheticism” and exaggeration of Camp. Another aspect of Camp is “its elegant conventions for representing… the total presence of character” (6). As an adept lyricist, Brown exhibits this constantly. His music is loaded with clever similes and impressive rhyme schemes— the kind of “flourishes” that Camp celebrates. One of the most spectacular displays of this skill is on the song “Adderall Admiral,” where Brown raps:

Eating on an Adderall, wash it down with alcohol

Writing holy mackerel, actual or factual

Out for the capital, matador ya capsules

Hassle the bitch in a castle with ill grapples

Tackled her asshole, my dick like a lasso

Fucked her in her mouth, she washed it down with Tabasco.

Brown is able to maintain an astounding rhyme scheme with two- and three-syllable internal and end rhymes, all while describing his drug use, rap skills, and an odd sexual encounter. Instead of plainly stating these details, Brown chooses to recount them in this skillfully embellished way, creating this “total presence of character.” He also does so through ingenious similes, such as on “Fields,” where he boasts, “I had the fiends hitting rocks like the Pilgrims.” Taken literally, the crack addicts to whom Brown sold drugs “hit the rocks,” or smoked crack, like the Pilgrims “hit,” or landed, at Plymouth Rock. The line also reveals the escapist nature of both parties: Brown’s clients smoke crack to escape the pain of their lives, just as the Pilgrims sailed to American to escape religious persecution in England. Such a masterful simile is the peak of the “instant character” that Camp celebrates.

However, Brown simultaneously refutes these aspects of his Camp aesthetic by adjusting his sound and illustrating the consequences of such a lifestyle. As he contends in an interview with Complex, “The most responsible way [of rapping] is always telling both sides of the story… if you gon’ tell [listeners] about the high, tell them about the hangover too.” He does just this with the songs “Nosebleeds” and “Party All The Time” placed back-to-back on the latter end of XXX. Both feature stripped-back instrumentals and, more remarkably, Brown’s chaotic squawk replaced by a gruff, somber tone. The change in sound signals the gravity of these pieces, which serve as a disclaimer through their descriptions of lives ruined by cocaine and partying, respectively. Thus, just as Brown departs from the Camp sound, he also undermines the hedonistic Camp lifestyle he glorifies. Brown also uses his own struggles to do this. As he laments in a hoarse shout on the title track “XXX”:

Turning to these drugs, now these drugs turned my life

And it’s the downward spiral, got me suicidal

But too scared to do it so these pills will be the rifle

Surpassing all my idols, took the wrong turn

But can’t go back now so let that blunt burn

‘Cause now it’s my turn if I fuck it all up

Took a while to get here now I depend on these drugs

He reveals that his drugged-up, sex-ridden lifestyle that resembles “success” has actually left him empty, stressed, and depressed; in fact, it likely will kill him. Brown thus refutes the Camp lifestyle he often promotes with a jarring counterpoint— the impact of which is amplified by the contrast between this brutal candor and the embellished image of Brown’s lifestyle. He therefore subverts the very Camp aesthetic that he creates, forcibly warning listeners of the morbid reality of such a path.

Overall, while Danny Brown embodies the Camp aesthetic with his exaggerated sound and outrageous yet clever lyrics, he also subverts this image by adjusting his sound and describing the stark realities of the lifestyle he portrays. Unfortunately, this stylized picture of his lifestyle can seem like a genuine promotion without an understanding of Brown’s Camp aesthetic. As Brown bemoaned in 2014 with a series of Tweets directed at fans, “Y’all just want me to be goofy… Y’all think I do drugs ‘cause it’s fun… Y’all want me to overdose… don’t be surprised when [you] get what [you] asked for” (Kornhaber). He subsequently revealed that many of his fans do not see past his Camp image; they fail to understand his actual messaging. It therefore is necessary for consumers of art to probe deeper into works— for the sake of both the art and the artist. Such examination will reveal a more robust message and elucidate the artist’s perspective, thereby accomplishing the goal of art.

Works Cited

Brown, Danny. “DNA.” XXX, Fool’s Gold Records, 2011. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/26iXP0pZ6tbG8vCQLNDjaq?si=mTiBSEcxReGu6_esXRHJEg.

—. “Adderall Admiral.” XXX, Fool’s Gold Records, 2011. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/21b6vgUtfX7O3bPCm7Vddy?si=JaEFci91TfSUVsfqB9hTDA.

—. “Nosebleeds.” XXX, Fool’s Gold Records, 2011. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/7tbOZtGVW7M4dacYSBzD8B?si=vk8QKvWlTf6j1W7TDAfptQ.

—. “Party All The Time.” XXX, Fool’s Gold Records, 2011. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/2cFYfUEQrrpWZrjXdXQbzO?si=P_4DUP2NTdy4FvS_7bczoA.

—. “XXX.” XXX, Fool’s Gold Records, 2011. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/3fMYdbxKBDKtLa1HB9iBDK?si=WZRYSgH6Q_GhzMewtWobzw.

—. “Ain’t It Funny.” Atrocity Exhibition, Warp Records Limited, 2016. https://open.spotify.com/track/7ItFoQDmQIh3MAPsxiP6Vt?si=yKheZs-qRumY_0zSeKikPg.

“Danny Brown Cares About Rap More Than You Do.” YouTube, uploaded by Complex, 29 Sep. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7YuoyBuGSs.

Greene, Jayson. “Danny Brown XXX Review.” Pitchfork, 26 Aug. 2011, https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15753-xxx/. Accessed 7 Oct. 2020.

Kornhaber, Spencer. “Danny Brown and the Freedom to Be Depressed.” The Atlantic, 6 Oct. 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/10/danny-brown-atrocity-exhibition/502742/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2020.

LaBruce, Bruce. “Notes on Camp.” Nat. Brut, April 2013. https://glreview.org/article/notes-on-camp-and-anti-camp-2/. Accessed 5 Oct. 2020.

Lang, Cady. “What Does Camp Mean Exactly? A Comprehensive Guide to the 2019 Met Gala Theme.” Time, 2 May 2019, https://time.com/5581241/met-gala-2019-camp-theme-explained-photos/. Accessed 5 Oct. 2020.

Sontag, Susan. “Notes on ‘Camp.’” Partisan Review, 1964.

“WhoSampled: ‘Ain’t it Funny’ by Danny Brown.” WhoSampled, https://www.whosampled.com/sample/456241/Danny-Brown-Ain%27t-It-Funny-Nick-Mason-Wervin%27/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2020.

Davis Bailey

Tracy K. Smith’s Ordinary Light is a powerful memoir in many aspects. Smith not only touches on the varying topics of religion, race, sex, and parenting, but ties them all together in a recount of her extraordinarily ordinary upbringing. The memoir focuses heavily on Tracy’s relationship with her mother, Kathryn, as well as her search for who her mother was “before,” or who she was outside of being a mother of five. This is a story of the development of Tracy’s relationship with her mom, but we also see Tracy’s coming to terms with the fact that mother may not always know best. At an early age, she saw her mom as a larger-than-life figure with no faults to be found, and she felt an extraordinarily strong attachment to her. However, as she moved through life, Tracy began to question some of the beliefs her mother had instilled in the household and became less candid about things she experienced on her own. Part of those experiences had to do with her exploration of her racial identity, something her mother seemed to almost disregard while her children were growing up. Tracy’s development over the course of the memoir led to her being able to separate her own views from her mother’s and keep more to herself, which means that she individuated herself from her mother. That earliest stage is illustrated by Tracy’s reactions during Nina’s visit, followed by her newfound desire for more privacy during her first year of high school, and finally, Tracy’s demonstration of awareness of her mother’s imperfections and her own individuality when she comes home from Harvard for the first time.

When Tracy was a child, there were many instances of her loyalty to her mother. Her belief in her mother could almost be viewed as religious, but because of the intense religious climate of the household, Tracy’s mother wouldn’t be very fond of that comparison. When Nina visited California, six-year-old Tracy was baffled by her cousin’s actions and demeanor. It’s interesting that Smith found it worth mentioning that “[Nina] didn’t want the eggs [Tracy’s] mother offered her” (38). It would have been insignificant for Nina to have wanted something different for breakfast, but since Nina outright refused something from her mother, Tracy took offense to it. She had such a strong sense of tradition within her family and such love for her mother that any affront to her mother was an affront to Tracy as well. It’s not that Tracy was opposed to Nina’s cheese grits (which are delicious, by the way); she simply felt like her mother had been disrespected.

In this same section, Smith noted that “[her mother] would give [Tracy] instructions once, and [Tracy would] do what she said, never considering the alternative” (41). Sure, readers could simply view this as Tracy’s being an obedient child, but this level obedience requires a great deal of respect. For a child to look down on other children for their rowdiness and instead identify with their parents seems a bit unusual. Tracy could not make sense of one’s compulsion to disobey one’s parents; the idea was foreign to her. Her obedience also relates back to the heavy religious influence in the Smith household, namely her attachment to Little Visits with God. Smith stated that she was “fearful of disappointing [her] heavenly Father” but considered “wounding [her] mother with anything less than exemplary behavior” a more heinous offense (40). Young Tracy’s unwavering loyalty was a testament to not only the closeness between Kathryn and her youngest daughter but Tracy’s view of her mother as someone who could do no wrong. This would be the case until Tracy was exposed to more of the world in her teenage years.

As is normal for many kids, they gradually begin to grow apart from their parents as they enter high school. Even Tracy experienced this, which was a stark contrast to her earlier dedication to her mother. She expressed a desire for a sort of secrecy that she didn’t really feel when she was younger. It’s not that she was lying or going against her mother’s wishes; she was simply becoming more in tune with herself outside of the home. During her friendship with Qiana,

For a child to look down on other children for their rowdiness and instead identify with their parents seems a bit unusual. Tracy could not make sense of one’s compulsion to disobey one’s parents; the idea was foreign to her.

Smith noted that “[her] mom had no idea what kind of information Qiana was feeding [her]” (182). This suggests that Tracy doesn’t tell her mother everything anymore, instead relishing in having a few things that are solely hers. She also starts to become aware that her views are changing, such as when she acknowledges that “[she] wanted to be liked—to be wanted—the way Becca was,” referring to the girl in her Bible study that was dating an older man. Earlier in the memoir, it was stated that Tracy couldn’t imagine wanting to kiss boys and didn’t understand sex, but now as she’s exposed to such things, she acknowledges that she does or will experience these desires at some point.

Around this time, race starts to play a bigger role in Tracy’s life. Part of why Tracy could have these “secrets” was because she was making more black friends. Her mom seemed to be more lenient in her allowing Tracy go places and was “happy to see [Tracy’s] circle of friends…darkening– to include more black girls” (183). This shows development on Tracy’s mother’s part; she had previously never shown much interest in the racial aspect of her children’s social life. This could be a sign that she is aware of Tracy’s exposure to the world and recognizes that Tracy is more likely to start thinking about her own racial identity. While this is the case, not all of Tracy’s new race experiences are positive. The “Black Girl” situation with Diane took Tracy a while to come to terms with, and she never shared it with her mother. She felt that it was something she should keep to herself, and that independence continues to carry her through high school and college.

After Tracy goes away to Harvard and comes back home, she sees her parents in a new light; most notably, she mentions that they seem “smaller.” At this point, Tracy is fully conscious of the decision to hide things from her mother because she, too, is an adult. Smith writes that she learned “how to be vague about certain aspects of [her] coed life” and that “the need to put distance between [herself] and [her] mother felt urgent” (258). Tracy is aware that no matter how old she may be, her mother could still become disappointed in her for straying from the ideals she worked sohard to instill. That brings into question the current complexity of their relationship. She mentioned that other mothers may have viewed their children’s opening up about growing up as “natural or even healthy,” but that she would have felt “guilt and shame” when speaking to her own mother (259). She was aware that it would not have as much impact on her now that she was grown, but that seed of fear that kept her from disappointing her mother all her life was still present. Tracy knew then, with hindsight, that her upbringing wasn’t necessarily conventional and that the way her mother ran things was sometimes strict or strange. Their relationship at that point was not quite estranged, but both parties were much more private and independent.

Tracy and her mom’s status as African Americans had little impact on the progression of their relationship aside from her mother’s belief that her children should strive for excellence in order to overcome the stigma surrounding black children and the appearance of more black girls in Tracy’s social circle in high school. Tracy’s racial identity was more of something that she faced on her own, such as the situation with Diane and her experiences with other black people in college. It was good for Tracy to be able to explore her status as a black woman outside of the domain of her mother, seeing as Kathryn had a more “Booker T. Washington” view of their blackness. In a way, Tracy followed that thinking by becoming well-educated and successful, but she came to be more socially aware than her parents in the end.

Over the course of her upbringing, Tracy’s relationship with her mother evolved from being a close one full of unwavering trust to one of mutual independence and self-reliance. Tracy tells us the story of her mom in a way that both allows her to make sense of what her mother was to her and makes readers feel like they knew her. Ordinary Light was an invitation from Tracy into her home and mind to show us just how powerful family relationships can truly be and how events of one’s upbringing can influence one’s life. It’s the story of Tracy’s searching, and by the end, readers know that she found herself.

Works Cited

Smith, Tracy K. Ordinary Light: A Memoir. Vintage, 2016.

Julieta Lessne

The male characters of Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides aspire to exhume answers that are seemingly locked within their imprecise memories to explain the tragedy of the Lisbon girls. In her essay, “Growing Sideways,” Kathryn Bond Stockton grapples with many of the ideas surrounding childhood and time that both the boys and Lisbon sisters confront. Stockton asserts that all children are queer, and that queer children never grow up, but instead “[grow] sideways” (296). The former claim finds its roots in Stockton’s idea of childhood being entirely distinct from adulthood since, “for the child to be born […], adulthood must be seen as a wholly different state” (296). Children may never grow up in the linear manner, but may only “grow sideways” and broaden their identities within the narrow delineation of the state of childhood. Children thereby embody a “species of strangeness” due to the distinct states of childhood and adulthood. They can only widen in their sideways growth, but they remain “queer” or odd in the way that their elders regard them (Stockton 282). Through their male onlookers, the Lisbon sisters embody the concepts of both “sideways growth” and “strangeness” not only because of their ages, but also as an unfortunate outcome of the manner in which the boys perceive them.

The neighborhood boys of Coppola’s film find themselves stuck ruminating over the short lives of the Lisbon sisters. The youngest of the five girls, Cecilia, attempts to kill herself through slitting her wrists. This event incites a series of tragedies, wherein Cecilia eventually commits suicide and the other sisters follow in an apparent pact (Coppola). One of the teenage boys (representing his friend group as a whole) narrates the film as an adult man and explains their lives based on his memories of the sisters and the evidence he and his friends have amassed. He states that “as teenagers…[they] tried to put the pieces together,” and yet they “still can’t” manage to accomplish this (Virgin Suicides Script). Now, as adults, he and his friends find themselves in an endless cycle of “going over the evidence” of the girls’ in order “to understand [them]” (Virgin Suicides Script). Coppola represents this process through the narration. This device illuminates the idea of estrangement through memory because the narration divides the reflection and exposition from the action that occurs on screen.

Another rift develops through the aging of the narrator: the boys explore the tragedy while it actually happens, but even as they grow into adults they continue to re-evaluate the evidence “whenever [they] run into each other at lunches or parties” (Virgin Suicides Script). Their aging forces them to investigate the girls at a time further and further away from the actual time in which the tragedy took place. Coppola’s choice of an adult male narrator underscores two temporal schisms: the separation between action and description, and the separation from the narrator as he retroactively explores memory. These fractures provide a fixed space in which the girls may “grow sideways” as the boys’ ability to understand their evidence is limited by only being able to revisit the events as the distance in time only increases. The girls evolve as a “species of strangeness” in the liminal space between these two impressions as the distance between them and the narrator broadens and retrospection becomes increasingly vital. Their “queerness” then magnifies as the boys must attempt more vigorously with every subsequent trip into their memories to understand the girls, given the widening divide between them.

After Cecillia’s first suicide attempt, a psychiatrist recommends to her parents that she spend more time with boys her own age in order for her to obtain a “social outlet” (Virgin Suicides Script).  Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon, hoping to provide this for Cecilia, host a party for her and the other sisters at their residence. The girls invite the neighborhood boys, including the narrator. Coppola centers the entire scene around the perspective of a party guest (presumably that of the narrator). She interweaves quick shots of the different conversations occurring at the party. This style situates viewers within the distracting nature of parties by never allowing the audience to remain stuck in one area or conversation, which illustrates how the narrator likely perceived the event when he attended as a teenager. Noticeably absent from his view, however, is Cecilia. Coppola only offers audiences glimpses of her sitting alone somberly in the corner, even though the event is in her honor. It is not until the girls and boys crowd around Cecilia and Joe, a local boy with down syndrome, that the narrator refocuses his attention upon her.  She looks clearly upset by the other kids’ mocking Joe, and she asks her mother to “be excused” from the party (Virgin Suicides Script). Cecilia then recedes up the stairwell, metamorphosing into a shadowy figure on the wall, after which she promptly kills herself . Through

These fractures provide a fixed space in which the girls may “grow sideways” as the boys’ ability to understand their evidence is limited by only being able to revisit the events as the distance in time only increases. The girls evolve as a “species of strangeness” in the liminal space between these two impressions as the distance between them and the narrator broadens and retrospection becomes increasingly vital.

avoiding fixation upon Cecilia, Coppola emphasizes the faultiness of memory given the limits of attention. Even though Cecilia’s behavior at the party precipitates everything that follows in the film, the narrator barely notices her because he could not foresee what she would do when he actually attended as a young boy. He did not know to observe Cecillia and study her behavior that night, and the narrator can only recognize this in retrospect now that he knows that she would choose to commit suicide. Coppola then deliberately depicts Cecilia fading into the shadows as she advances to her death to illuminate his current obsession as an adult male. Since he neglected to watch Cecilia throughout the event, the narrator imports extra significance into those of Cecillia’s actions that he did observe at the party (as indicated by the intensity of the shadows as she walks upstairs). He subsequently forces that moment to “grow sideways” as an adult in order to justify what he declined to observe in favor of the moments he did witness and can, as a result, excavate meaning from; so, Cecilia’s “queerness” heightens as the narrator can never decode what he did not see. The spectre of those moments continues to haunt him, leaving him to ponder what he and the other boys failed to recognize, positioning Cecilia and her sisters forever within the world of the mysterious and strange.

Coppola continues her play with time and memory through her application of time-lapse photography. These videos, interspersed throughout the film, illustrate the narrator’s recollections of how time passed while the Lisbon sisters lived. For instance, after the parents confine the remaining Lisbon girls to the prison of their home, Coppola portrays its exterior lights turning on and off, weather changes, and the sun rising and setting, which characterizes the passage of time. These shots convey how time moves quickly when the boys cannot pay attention to the girls or interact with them. Time-lapses thereby represent actual lapses within the narrator’s recollection, which he must speed through in order to revisit his fuller memories. This distortion of time forces the girls to “grow sideways” within those moments that the narrator can recall (and therefore add importance to); it also displaces the girls irrevocably for those moments that he cannot recover. This “queers” the sisters as they wander through time in the boys’ memory: clearly at the forefront in some moments and warped or lost in others.

Coppola suggests the subjectivity of memory through her exploration of temporal rifts, attention, and the perversion of time. Through these three facets of memory, the boys find themselves left with gaps and areas of obsession that they must negotiate as adults: the girls “grow sideways” within the limited capacity of these mediations as the men continue to excavate clues from what they know, and justify the inconsequentiality of what they cannot. This cycle depicted in Coppola’s film expands upon Stockton’s notion of “growing sideways” through delegating that growth to the perceiver, rather than the people who cannot grow linearly given their queerness (and deaths, in the case of the Lisbon sisters). The girls expand through the boys’ examination of them within the impressions of memory and time. Nonetheless, since the men will “never find the pieces to put them back together,” the girls embody the ultimate “species of strangeness”: queered through the retroactive scrutiny of adult men who cannot possibly satisfy the voids in their distorted memory, thereby commanding the girls to traverse it forever (Virgin Suicides Script).

Works Cited

Coppola, Sofia, dir. The Virgin Suicides. Paramount Pictures, 2000. Digital file.

Stockton, Kathryn Bond. “Growing Sideways, or Versions of the Queer Child: The Ghost, the Homosexual, the Freudian, the Innocent, and the Interval of Animal.” Curiouser: On the Queerness of Children, Edited by Steven Bruhm and Natasha Hurley, 2004, pp. 277-317.

“Virgin Suicides Script – Dialogue Transcript.” Drew’s Script-O-Rama. 2020. http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/v/virgin-suicides-script-transcript.html. Accessed October 18 2020.

Shreya Sharma

Violence motivated by religion is a thematic element of both historic and modern-day societal living. In many instances, religion has served as a strong motivator for persecution, crusades, and general discrimination emphasized by religious superiority. Moreover, religious violence occurs across all disciplines of religion including Buddhism, which is widely regarded as a pacifist religion. Because of Buddhism’s reputation, there is confusion about the current day violence in Myanmar towards Muslims by extremist Buddhist monks, and Western media outlets are desperately attempting to find the monks’ reasoning and justification. Extremist sangha members justify violence in Myanmar through self-preservation ideologies, scriptural exceptions to violence in Theravada Buddhism, and by othering the Muslim populations. However, because the violence is motivated by non-religious factors like colonization and the manipulation of true Buddhism, the conflict should not be solely labeled as Buddhist violence.

Extremist monks who are persecuting Muslims in Myanmar oftentimes justify violence in the name of self-preservation. Since Buddhist monks believe that Buddhism requires a strong connection with the government to reproduce, extremists justify violent action against highly concentrated Muslim populations by claiming they are protecting this connection. Walton and Hayward describe how monks argue “that [violent] actions taken against non-Buddhist communities, which seem counter to Buddhist values of compassion and equanimity, are justified undertaken in defense of the sasana” (20). They believe that without a Muslim presence in Myanmar, Buddhism cannot have the strong connection to the government that it needs, and thereby, violence with the intention to re-establish this connection is justified. Moreover, violent monks in Myanmar and Sri Lanka often ask their followers, “How can one seek after Nibbana when a gun is pointed at one’s throat?” (Lehr 187), and then use this ideology to promote that “an armed monk was better than no monk at all” (Lehr 221). Extremist monks believe that because Buddhism is under siege in a deteriorating world, it is necessary for monks to take action to preserve Buddhism, and this justifies violent action against Buddhist enemies. However, in true Buddhism, Kweon explains that “only nirvana offers a final solution [to suffering]” (47). Because their final goal has shifted away from nirvana, extremist monks practice a manipulated version of Buddhism. Thus, the violence is not perpetuated by original Buddhist doctrine, but by the non-religious fear of losing power.

While original Buddhist doctrine does not promote violence, Theravada scriptures also allows monks to justify violence in the religious sphere. Many of these justifications come from Theravada interpretations which allow for exceptions to non-violence based on the intention of the assailant and the nature of the victim. Because karma revolves around intention, Theravada scriptures allow for varying degrees of condemnation for violence based on the intention of the assailant. Jerryson describes how “a death caused by the deliberate intention to kill results in expulsion” whereas an accidental death will be condemned with “penalties that are not as severe as deliberate acts of violence” (42). In Burma, Wirathu denies his connection to the violence against Muslims by claiming his intention in preaching the sermons was not to cause riotous behavior, thus removing his own karmic culpability (Walton and Hayward 42). Because of the ambiguity of intention in Theravada scripture, extremist monks can claim good intentions when they indirectly call laypeople to violent action. In addition to intention, Buddhist violence is also justified with regard to the nature of the victim. After analyzing Theravada scriptures, scholar-monk, Buddhaghosa, deemed that “in the case of beings that possess [moral] virtues, such as human beings, the act of killing is less blameworthy when the being is of little virtue and more blameworthy when the being is of great virtue” (Jerryson 42). Politically active monks in Myanmar today have

These fractures provide a fixed space in which the girls may “grow sideways” as the boys’ ability to understand their evidence is limited by only being able to revisit the events as the distance in time only increases. The girls evolve as a “species of strangeness” in the liminal space between these two impressions as the distance between them and the narrator broadens and retrospection becomes increasingly vital. T

then taken this explicit exception to violence and used it to further nullify the blame of persecuting Muslims by preaching that they have ‘little virtue.’ However, because the politically active monks have justified their violence solely on the basis of Theravada Buddhism, the sanctity of pure Buddhism remains intact and separate from the violence in Myanmar.

In addition to scriptural justifications, Myanmar’s racist cultural norms encourage the monks’ violence. Even while Buddhism is an inherently peaceful religion that preaches compassion, racism still pervades the culture in the Sangha. Jerryson explains how while the Buddha rebuked the South Asian Brahmanical caste system, the Sangha “contain[ed] a wealth of physical restrictions for those who wish to ordain, and the vast majority of [the Buddha’s] followers were of the higher castes” (64). In South Asia, the caste level has a direct correlation to race, causing the Sangha to propagate racist notions by creating a community subconsciously conditioned against those with darker skin tones. Furthermore, historical interpretations of Buddhist lore show “light skin tones for the Buddha and darker skin tones for his adversaries” (64), and Jerryson concludes that “these features suggest a structural level of violence that integrates Buddhist lore and racialized subjects” (64). These conditionings of colorism can be seen in the general violence and discrimination against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar; other groups in Myanmar often refer to Rohingya Muslims using the slur kalar which is aimed at their darker skin tone. Furthermore, in Myanmar, Wirathu works to condition the lay-people against the Muslims in the Rakhine state. In his sermons, he compares the Muslims to dogs; he says that “you can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog. If we are weak, our land will become Muslim” (Lehr 158). Not only does he make it clear that Muslims are the enemy, but he also dehumanizes them with the phrase ‘mad dog.’ In ancient Buddhist doctrine, the animal realm holds less merit than the human realm, and this distinction between the two allows for laypeople and monks to attempt to justify their violence and still falsely believe they are true practitioners of Buddhism. However, the true Buddhist doctrine of non-violence “inculcate[s] respect for all living creatures, whether human or animal, and regard[s] the intentional destruction of life as a grave wrong” (Keown 11). Thus, regardless of attempted justifications dehumanization, the violent Buddhist monks practice and promote a form of Buddhism that does not truly follow the original doctrine. Moreover, not only do the extremist monks practice a manipulated version of Buddhism, but their violence against Muslims is more motivated by racial conditioning rather than a clash of religious values.

While the extremist monks are motivated by a manipulated version of Buddhism, the violence in Myanmar cannot solely be credited to a religious dispute. As Lehr explains, “other factors like widespread poverty, grievances, and resentment against governmental authority or strong charismatic leaders are required even if there is a doctrinal justification for violence available” (182). King presents this very phenomenon of unjustly treating religion as the main motivation behind violence in his theory about the relation between religion and violence. He explains that society’s downfall is its constant interest in “tak[ing] religious discourse and practice as constitutive of changing social identities, rather than treating them as ideological smoke screens that hide the real clash of material interests and social classes” (249). Rather than taking into account ulterior motives behind the violence, society attributes religious discourse and practice as the sole motivators behind violent action, which wrongly labels the violence in Myanmar as Buddhist violence. Furthermore, the violence is largely motivated by remnants of fear left behind after the colonization of Myanmar. The colonization of Myanmar by the British caused the Sangha to fear losing their power again, and this fear increased Buddhist nationalism and xenophobic conditioning within the monastic community. Lehr describes how Monk Dharmapala “manifested the dual aspects of a colonial product – the rational puritanism of the missionaries interpreted in terms of Buddhism, which he combined with an intense hatred of the religion and culture of the Western rulers” (125). In an effort to combat the effects of colonization and to restore the Sangha’s power, monks like Dharmapala integrated notions of ‘rational puritanism’ and an ‘intense hatred’ of outside groups into the Sangha. These original notions turned into forms of Buddhist nationalism and xenophobia that perpetuate the violence seen today. Moreover, colonization brought “chaotic disturbances to the traditional social and political equilibrium” (Park 2), and these chaotic disturbances caused Buddhist monks to change their religion. Park describes this change by explaining that “the accommodations they reached with colonial powers account for the Buddhists’ occasional collaborations with imperial war, social injustice, and military occupation” (4). Following colonialism, Buddhist monks shifted away from the original doctrine to a manipulated mindset that allowed for Western ideologies like nationalism, militarism, and xenophobic conditioning; this change in mindset is what perpetuates violence seen against Muslims today.

Extremist Buddhist monks in Myanmar attempt to justify their violence towards Muslims through various lines of thought: self-preservation, scriptural exceptions in Theravada Buddhism, and the racist otherization of Muslims in the Rakhine state. However, due to the monk’s manipulation of original Buddhist doctrine and postcolonial ramifications, the violence in Myanmar has been wrongly labeled as Buddhist violence. By continually using the phrase Buddhist violence, western media has over-simplified the conflict in Burma while simultaneously overshadowing monks that do not align with extremist ideologies. Unfortunately, the western world’s infatuation with violence occurring by members of a very pacifist religion will only increase and promote more media traction around the alluring concept of ‘Buddhist violence’. However, regardless of Western portrayals of the conflict in Myanmar, it is important to remember that the true beauty of the Buddhist religion remains in these countries and that many monks and laypeople are still dedicated to the mission preached by the original Buddha.

Works Cited

Jerryson, Michael. “Buddhist Traditions and Violence.” In Violence and the World’s Religious Traditions: An Introduction, edited by Mark Juergensmeyer, Margo Kitts, and Michael Jerryson, Oxford UP, 2016, pp. 37-69.

Keown, Damien. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford UP, 2013.

King, Richard. “The Association of ‘Religion’ with Violence: Reflections on a Modern Trope.” In Religion and Violence in South Asia: Theory and Practice, edited by John R. Hinnells and Richard King, Routledge, 2007, pp. 226-257.

Lehr, Peter. Militant Buddhism: the Rise of Religious Violence in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

Walton, Matthew J., and Susan Hayward. “Buddhist Narratives of Insecurity and Conflict” and “Constructing a Counternarrative.” In Contesting Buddhist Narratives: Democratization, Nationalism, and Communal Violence in Myanmar, East-West Center, 2014, pp. 17-29, 30-44.

Laila Robinson

While our society grants creatives certain liberties, including freedom to express oneself through the arts, consumers inherently also have the freedom to express themselves through their opinions and perceptions of said art; whether that be to enjoy, reject, or grow offended by it. In her essay, “Confessions of the Human Shield,” Emily Nussbaum wrestled with another element of the issue, as she grappled with how to reconcile good art produced by questionable creators. Nussbaum concluded that while the art should not be entirely disposed of or erased, neither should the creator’s disgraceful past for differentiating the two would be “the sociopath’s approach: [treating] the artist and the art as separate” (144). Instead, she suggests that consumers analyze, scrutinize, and even embrace the art within the context of being created by controversial artists, to “chew on the rotten apple instead of spitting it out” (112). Kanye West’s latest studio album Jesus is King exemplifies and expands upon the issues raised in Nussbaum’s essay. West faced criticism of his own following the release of his debut gospel album, chiefly from the Christian community, in light of his own controversial and contradictory past. However, despite his controversial past and debatable character, the message he aims to share through his newest album should not be immediately nor entirely discounted, for art with meaningful and significant messages should be preserved, and its value assessed, within the context of the creator’s offenses.

Aside from many accolades, including being a Grammy-award winning rap artist and acclaimed fashion designer, Kanye West’s name carries with it an infamous string of controversies surrounding his radical publicity stunts and inflammatory behavior. Beginning in 2004, West solidified his narcissistic public persona, after notoriously brandishing his bravado, especially at award shows. After losing the American Music Awards Best New Artist award in 2004, West claimed that he was “definitely robbed” of the award (Montgomery). He also bashed MTV and declared he “would never return to MTV” upon losing all of the Video Music Awards he was nominated for in 2007, and most infamously, West stormed the stage at the 2009 VMAs while Taylor Swift was receiving the award for Best Female Video and declared that Beyonce deserved the award instead (Montgomery; “Top 10 Outrageous Kanye”). West’s scandals

West’s behavioral and lyrical history understandably predisposed the Christian community to have reason to question his character and be skeptical of any messages that he might possibly want to share, especially as it pertains to Christianity.

transcend the boundaries of the stage as well, as his internet presence is just as inflammatory. West’s Twitter account infamously harbors provocative comments including his defense of Bill Cosby, support of Donald Trump, and equating the music industry and NBA to modern slavery, among a host of other hot-button topics. It was not until 2016 that West’s inconsistent and radical behavior could be explained following his diagnosis of bipolar disorder, after which he converted to Christianity. Even still, he struggled to fully garner the support of the Christian community.

Ironically, one of Kanye’s early public incidents specifically offended the Christian community, sparking the community’s budding disdain for the rapper. In February 2006, West posed on the cover of Rolling Stone as Jesus Christ, his bloodied head donning a crown of thorns like Jesus notedly did in death. To further cement the artist’s allusion to the death of the martyr, the issue was even named “The Passion of Kanye West” after the Passion, the period in Christ’s life shortly before he was crucified. The combined elements of the magazine cover not only symbolize West likening himself to Jesus, but also effectively mocking him, resulting in West being accused of blasphemy, with the cover being dubbed “‘sacrilegious’ and an insult to Christians” (“Christians Angered”). Unfortunately, West’s god complex extends far beyond the magazine cover, as his song “I Am A God” features repeated declarations of the blasphemous statement. West’s lyrics cause more points of contention within the Christian community than merely being sacrilegious, for he has a reputation of utilizing particularly raunchy lyrics that glorify and condone explicit and offensive material, including misogyny, drug use, and premarital sex, all of which strictly contradict the tenets of Christian doctrine. Among West’s most provocative, and purportedly most NSFW lyrics, are lines from his song “Hell of a Life” in which he states:

“Tell me what I gotta do to be that guy/ Said her price go down, she ever f–k a black guy/ Or do anal, or do a gangbang/ It’s kinda crazy that’s all considered the same thing/ Well I guess a lotta ni–as do gang bang/ And if we run trains, we all in the same gang/ Runaway slaves all on a chain gang/ Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang” (Ruiz).

West’s behavioral and lyrical history understandably predisposed the Christian community to have reason to question his character and be skeptical of any messages that he might possibly want to share, especially as it pertains to Christianity. Even still, this response begs the question of whether West, as someone who has struggled to maintain a consistent connection within the Christian community, should create art for that community, especially if it also critiques that community.

Kanye West’s announcement of his thematically Christian, gospel-influenced album Jesus is King immediately faced mixed reviews. However, the bulk of the criticism is geared towards West’s faith as opposed to the work itself. Considering West historically made both blasphemous and critical comments about the faith, including that he would not “attest to any religion that tells [him] that other people gotta go to hell,” the Christian community expressed valid reservations about West’s intentions and alleged conversion (Klinkenberg). However, upon listening to the lyrics, one cannot deny the clear adulatory undertones of the album that revolve around offering reverence to God. Throughout the album, Kanye repeatedly praises God as he reminds the listener of “[God’s] mighty works and excellent grace and His mighty power” in the principal track “Every Hour” and calls for the listener to “Love God and our neighbor as written in Luke,” in his song “Selah” (West). West even transparently shares his own faith journey to Christianity through his song “Follow God” in which he discusses his personal faith struggles, detailing conversations about faith with God and his ongoing quest for a “bright light” as he is “lookin’ for a new way” through Christ (West). When viewed objectively, Jesus is King satisfies all of the requirements to be classified as a Christian album. Even still, many Christians questioned if West truly converted to Christianity and ignored the fact that, as promised, Kanye produced a Christian album with messages consistent with the doctrine.

Despite the majority of the lyrics involving Christian themes and revolving around praising and revering God, a major point of contention of the album for many critical listeners includes West’s critique of the hypocrisy of modern Christians and their judgmental nature in his song “Hands On,” as he states “What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?/ They’ll be the first one to judge me/ Make it feel like nobody love me” (West).  Because of West’s denunciation of the internal judgments and social ostracization that occur within the Christian community, many Christians took it personally, and thus attacked West on a personal front, choosing to discount the valuable messages laden within the album because of his past. As opposed to the quality of the work, the bulk of the criticism is geared towards West’s newfound faith, with “many critics both inside and outside of the Christian community dismissing West’s pledges of faith as surface-level and disingenuous” (Chow). Because of West’s alleged pseudo-Christianity, others accuse him of merely producing the album to gain a profit, and thus lacking in the authority to offer critiques of the community, or address it at all. However, even if West’s intentions were compromised, the fact remains that the messages of the album remain consistent with Christian doctrine, thoroughly praise God, and even offer valuable insights into flaws within the Christian community. Furthermore, in her essay, Nussbaum raises a valid point regarding the preservation of potentially compromised art. According to Nussbaum, we certainly should not merely disregard West’s self-incriminating past, nor should we discard his work. In fact, we should acknowledge it and perhaps, his accusatory past is what makes his newest album that much more valuable and profound. Perhaps the criticisms or observations that he offers of Christians are more valuable coming from him. Considering Kanye now considers himself a member of the faith, yet is relatively new to it, he possesses a unique perspective essentially because he is inherently more willing to observe and acknowledge its flaws.

A creator’s controversy arguably contributes yet another layer of depth to the work and an additional lens through which it can be analyzed or critiqued, particularly if the work offers invaluable commentary. Merely rejecting the work on the grounds of an artist’s personal life, particularly their past, presupposes that creators are not allowed to evolve and change their beliefs. However, an artist’s shortcomings should not necessarily be dismissed either. Should an artist act in a condemnable or heinous manner, completely ignoring their actions essentially condones them. By analyzing or consuming a work through the context of its artist’s controversy, one can, “scribble all over it in rage, confusion, in pleasure” and dissect the work from the perspective of the controversial elements, yielding an entirely new interpretation (Nussbaum 112). In the case of Kanye West’s Jesus is King album, considering his newfound Christian faith and subsequent commentary on modern Christianity offers an even more comprehensive understanding of his evolution as an artist matriculating from the secular to Christian realm and his concurrent faith journey, arguably making the album more meaningful. In certain circumstances, society needs outsiders, even if they come in the form of compromised artists, to make known issues within society. However, one would be remiss to pardon all works created by controversial artists, for this renewed analysis is not necessarily warranted in all circumstances, especially if a work does not offer a profound significance. Conversely, every controversial artist should not be given a second life nor does their work necessarily deserve attention, as Nussbaum suggests. Creating a standardized procedure for works created by compromised creators threatens ignorance to the specific circumstances. As Emily Nussbaum supposed, we as consumers are unable to successfully dissociate between an artist and their art. Therefore, sometimes celebrating a work of art is not worth celebrating its creator. Instead, one must approach every work by a controversial artist on a situational basis in which the rejection or acceptance of a work is largely dependent upon both the degree of the creator’s offenses and the art’s potential significance.

Works Cited

Chow, Andrew. “How Kanye West’s Controversial ‘Jesus Is King’ Is Dividing the Christian Community.” Time, 6 Nov. 2019, time.com/5716576/kanye-west-jesus-is-king-gospel-reaction/.

“Christians Angered by Kanye West Mockery.” Newsmax, 25 Jan. 2006, www.newsmax.com/Pre-2008/Christians-Angered-Kanye-West/2006/01/25/id/684017/.

Klinkenberg, Brendan. “Kanye West Reaches for Greatness But Falls Short on ‘Jesus Is King’.” Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2019, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/kanye-wests-jesus-is-king-904921/.

Montgomery, James. “Kanye West Loses It Again, Says He’ll ‘Never Return To MTV’: Report.” MTV News, 9 Oct. 2007, www.mtv.com/news/1569313/kanye-west-loses-it-again-says-hell-never-return-to-mtv-report/.

Nussbaum, Emily. “Confessions of the Human Shield.” I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution, Random House, 2019.

Ruiz, Matthew I. “Kanye West’s Top 10 NSFW Lyrics.” Billboard, 11 Sept. 2016, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7503613/kanye-west-top-10-most-nsfw-lyrics-yeezus.

“Top 10 Outrageous Kanye West Moments – TIME.” TIME.com, 14 Sept. 2009, content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1922188_1922187_1922190,00.html.

West, Kanye. “Kanye West (Ft. Sunday Service Choir) – Every Hour Lyrics.” Genius, 25 Oct. 2019, genius.com/Kanye-west-every-hour-lyrics.

—. “Kanye West – Hands On Lyrics.” Genius, 25 Oct. 2019, genius.com/Kanye-west-hands-on-lyrics

—. “Kanye West – Selah Lyrics.” Genius, 25 Oct. 2019, genius.com/Kanye-west-selah-lyrics.

Erika Navarro

Positive psychology has shown to impact the quality of life of individuals undergoing certain obstacles or hardships in their lives. Psychologists have used various methods to improve the well-being of individuals, including the PERMA model, which includes these five pillars: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement (Park, 2014). Connecting the PERMA model to a real-life situation, it has been shown that positive distractions can impact individuals, especially those struggling with a certain illness. These positive distractions can include engaging in activities like games or using creative outlets like journaling to release built-up negative emotions and welcome these new positive feelings as a result. Additionally, placing the needs of an individual first can lead to the person feeling a sense of importance and acceptance, which is valuable when it comes to the relationship shared between a doctor and a patient. These ideas connect with the three themes that will be discussed throughout this paper: the importance of engagement during hard times, the positive emotional impact that creative arts have on individuals suffering from a disease, and the importance of the doctor-patient relationship. From these themes, I have created an intervention that uses journaling and reflective thinking as a way for individuals with amputations to recognize all that they are able to accomplish in their day-to-day lives.

Engagement

Positive distractions have shown to help individuals escape the struggles of having a serious illness. This idea is discussed by Jane McGonigal (2012) in her TED talk, The Game that Can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life. Throughout her talk, Jane describes the impact that games have on a person’s life by giving her own personal example of how turning her life into a game allowed her to get through a dark time in her life. Jane found herself bed-ridden at one point in her life due to a concussion. During this time, she found herself having suicidal thoughts. Knowing just how much of an impact video games have had on her life, Jane decided to make her own life a game in which she battled her symptoms by using certain activities, which she referred to as “power-ups,” to defeat her symptoms and achieve her main goal: to heal her brain. This idea of making her life into a game impacted Jane by allowing her to mentally heal her mind from these suicidal thoughts while transitioning into an optimistic view of life in which she looked forward to seeing her progression throughout her recovery process.

Similarly, Josh Sundquist (2010) describes in his book, Just Don’t Fall, the impact that skiing had on him, especially when he reached a point in which he was not sure whether he would be able to live out a normal life. Throughout his book, Josh describes the shock he felt from his cancer diagnosis and just how much of a change he underwent after finding out the news. He then goes on to describe the impact that having his leg amputated had on his ability to complete his goals, specifically his goal to play soccer competitively. Knowing that having his leg amputated would mean that he might not be able to play soccer the same way, Josh tried to find ways around this obstacle, but eventually this feeling of hopelessness took over him. Similar to Jane and the game she created to heal her brain, Josh found this love for skiing and immersed himself in the sport (McGonigal, 2012). To Josh, skiing served as a distraction from his current reality, but after he saw just how quickly he was improving at the sport, he began to feel this sense of pride within himself.  These positive distractions changed the mindsets of both Jane and Josh and allowed them to accept their current situations, but also welcome this new sense of optimism that they lacked before.

Creative Arts and Positive Emotion

Implementing creative arts into therapy has shown to positively impact the emotional state of individuals struggling with a disease. In particular, journaling has shown to have a positive impact on individuals facing certain health-related struggles. One study has shown the impact that journaling has had on Latina/o adolescents who are struggling with depression or other mental illnesses impacting their lives (Vela et al., 2019). In this study, the participants in the treatment group took part in seven peer-led creative journaling sessions geared to allow adolescents to feel comfortable expressing their emotions and hopes toward their own futures (Vela et al., 2019). The results from these sessions showed that in comparison to the control group, the Latina/o adolescents who were in the treatment group experienced an increase in resilience as well as a decrease in depressive symptoms once they took part in these seven creative journaling sessions. These results were possible because of the impact that journaling had on these adolescents and how this activity served as an emotional escape for them. For many Latina/o adolescents, there is not much time for them to release emotions seeing that in many cases, there are various expectations placed upon these individuals, and this can at times be emotionally draining. With journaling, these groups of adolescents were able to unpack these emotions without feeling this judgment that they would receive from their families, who might believe that these depressive symptoms will just disappear.

In addition to journaling, artmaking has shown to have similar effects on individuals suffering from a certain illness. Art therapy has shown to have quite a positive impact on the lives of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. One study that showed this positive impact consisted of a participant with advanced Alzheimer’s disease who took part in 5 months of art therapy revolving around activities like mandala drawing, but the participant themself could also dictate what type of art activity they wanted to do for each session (Tucknott et al., 2016). At one point in the study, the participant began to create drawings that made no sense and at times were not considered to be pleasing to others. The art itself did not make sense, but the reason the participant created this type of art is that she used her time during these sessions to release her negative emotions associated with her illness onto a canvas, even if that meant that her final result was not understood or appreciated by others. The process of creating art allowed this individual to release her negative emotions and engage in an activity that provided her with a calming outlet for the emotions she was feeling while struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. In this specific example, the emotions are not being expressed through words, but taking out your own frustrations, as was seen with the participant of this study, results in an increase in happiness and accomplishment. Overall, art and journaling might revolve around different topics but just how journaling proved to be an emotional outlet for adolescents with depression, art allowed this individual who felt trapped due to her struggles with Alzheimer’s disease, to feel free from her own negative emotions that were weighing her down.

Doctor-Patient Relationship

Establishing a positive doctor-patient relationship is quite impactful on the outcome of treatment. Josh Sundquist (2010) spent most of his life undergoing treatment, but also seeking help for the depression he felt during these dark times in his life. Rather than feeling comfortable and free to express himself during his time in therapy, Josh was not able to open up to his therapist on how he was feeling. In particular, the therapist would ask Josh questions like “Can you tell me why you decided to draw that picture? Or how it makes you feel?” (Sundquist, 2010). This line in particular seemed quite scripted when it was meant to be a conversation that Josh’s therapist was having with him. Asking about the drawing that Josh drew not only seemed quite odd, but it created this uncomfortable space that led to Josh not being able to truly express how he was feeling considering all the events occurring in his life. To add on to that awkward conversation, Josh’s therapist spent a good amount of time mocking Josh’s drawing. With people like Josh who have gone through much in life, having a safe space to let go of all those feelings is essential and Josh’s therapist was not giving him this opportunity.

On the other hand, in Matthew Quick’s (2012) Silver Linings Playbook, Pat did have a therapist who created a trusting relationship with him. Pat was struggling with the idea of whether he would be reunited with his wife, and with his former therapist he was told that his wife would never come back to him. The difference between Pat’s past therapist and his current therapist, Dr. Patel, is that although he did not promise Pat that his wife would come back, he also did not deny the possibility that she might come back, which made Pat feel this sense of hope and positivity that he was not feeling in past therapy sessions. Comparing Dr. Patel to Pat’s former therapists or even to Josh Sundquist’s (2010) therapist, you can clearly see that the one aspect that Dr. Patel has that is impactful towards patients is how understanding and caring he is. Dr. Patel did not have to listen to Pat’s story about his wife and could have easily told him that she was not going to come back to him, but instead, he listened to the story and took into consideration all possibilities.

In connection to the relationship created between a therapist and their patient, the relationship between a surgeon and a patient is different, but also similar in importance. It is common for surgeons to make mistakes during a procedure but disclosing these mistakes can result in lawsuits and other consequences that hospitals prefer to avoid at all costs. Surgeons like Atul Gawande (2002) have discussed the procedure that doctors take to have a conversation with patients or their families in the case that a mistake was made during surgery. In his book Complications, Gawande discusses how most of these conversations end up sounding along the lines of “I’m sorry that things didn’t go as well as we had hoped.” (Gawande, 2002) Similar to the conversation between Josh (2010) and his therapist, this line seems scripted, which would not be appropriate during a time where there is a loss or a mistake during surgery that caused serious complications. Instead, there should be an extensive conversation or at least an explanation on what has occurred rather than simply offering an apology. This connects back to this doctor-patient relationship because of how important this bond is for both the doctor and the patient. Rather than having these scripted lines, doctors should be trusting of their patients and feel comfortable sharing important information regarding the patient’s procedure which will then allow the patient to recognize that they can confide in their doctor and know that their health is being taken care of.

Patient Intervention: Journaling for Young Adults with Amputations

Seeing the importance of engagement, it is important to keep individuals who might be hospitalized or struggling with a disease motivated towards their own goals. One example of a population who would benefit from engagement would be patients with amputations. People who have had to undergo an amputation procedure have also had to adjust to various obstacles in their own lives. At times this adjustment can seem tiresome, and for many, there are instances in which giving up sounds like a better option than having to change one’s entire lifestyle due to this amputation. Individuals who have experienced an amputation at times may forget to reflect upon all that they are able to accomplish even if they do not have all limbs. Reminding these individuals of all that they can accomplish is of great importance. For these reasons, I propose a positive journaling intervention, Words of Affirmation, that revolves around reminding individuals with amputations of just how resilient they are.

Having read the story of Josh Sundquist (2010) and how he lived his life after having his leg amputated led me to want to learn more about individuals with amputations and the adjustment period they undergo after having a limb amputated. In particular, seeing the mental and emotional impact that having his leg amputated had on Josh led me to wonder whether all individuals with an amputation react the same way or if they experience different levels of emotional, mental, or physical distress. One aspect about Josh’s story that stood out to me was when he discussed how he felt as if his life was over because of his amputation. For example, he was unable to play soccer anymore. This part of the book led me to think about individuals who have also had to deal with the idea of not being able to continue their normal lives post-amputation. Keeping this information in mind, I propose an intervention that addresses the distress felt by young adults after having undergone an amputation. For many of these individuals, having to adjust to life after an amputation is one obstacle in itself. At times, people forget that this adjustment can cause emotional, mental, and physical distress that leads these individuals to feel hopeless. For these reasons, the intervention I propose takes into consideration the distress that these young adults endure after having undergone an amputation procedure and creating activities that keep them engaged, hopeful, and connected to a community of individuals that recognize their efforts to adjust to this new lifestyle.

Words of Affirmation is a program based on positive journaling that is geared towards individuals of ages 16 to 25 who have recently undergone an amputation or are still learning to live this new life. Each individual taking part in the program will be given art supplies in order to create a journal that is personal to them and represents any aspect of their own life. For the individuals who might not be able to write out their own thoughts, they will be given a device to record their ideas. Similar to the individuals personalizing their journals, those who will be recording their thoughts are also going to be given supplies to add pictures or drawings to their device that represent their personal interests. This modification will allow those patients who cannot write their thoughts down to still feel personally attached to the device in which they will be recording their goals. Once everyone has personalized their own journal or their recording device, they will be reflecting on certain aspects of their life after their amputation.

The individuals will start off by spending 10 to 15 minutes of their Sunday writing or speaking about the goals that they have set for themselves for the week. These goals can range anywhere from reading a new book to meeting a new person. The purpose of this journaling activity is to have something to look forward to during the week. This engagement aspect of the intervention allows the individuals to gain new interests and even feel this sense of accomplishment as they complete their weekly goals. As each individual works on their list of goals, we will introduce another journaling activity on Wednesday in which each person reflects on how completing their goals has been going.

Keeping this information in mind, I propose an intervention that addresses the distress felt by young adults after having undergone an amputation. For many of these individuals, having to adjust to life after an amputation is one obstacle in itself.

In particular, each individual will reflect on the obstacles they have faced as they complete these activities but follow these obstacles with a set of strategies that they have to overcome these challenges. These strategies can be ones that the individuals have come up with and done successfully or even ones they intend on trying before the end of the week. This activity will take 15 to 30 minutes in order to allow each person to deeply reflect on ways to overcome the obstacles of the week. By doing so, this journaling activity will serve to provide meaning to the lives of these individuals, who at times convince themselves that their amputation has taken away all chances of success.

Finally, on Friday, all the individuals taking part in this procedure will come together and share the journey they underwent to complete their list of goals for the week. This activity will include going around in a circle and reading your own goals out loud to the group and the process you went through to complete these goals. Once each individual shares their list of goals they completed for the week, each person will go on to give words of affirmation to the support group for completing their goals and stepping out of their comfort zone. The purpose of this last session is to reflect on the week and celebrate what the whole group has been able to accomplish. This last session will also serve as a reminder that even after having had an amputation, there are still ways to go about living a normal life even if it means adjusting certain aspects of your daily activities to fit your new lifestyle. This intervention will continue going on until the patients in the groups are either cleared to leave the hospital or have finished physical therapy. If the individuals taking part in the intervention are done with their in-hospital treatment and still would like to take part in the program, we will have separate groups for those individuals adjusting to life outside of the hospital, and they will also complete the same activities. In the end, the program is created for the patients, and limiting the time of the intervention might benefit some individuals while others might still have interest in having this support system present in their lives.

Although the intervention is meant to help individuals with an amputation live their lives after the procedure, there are certain limitations that might impact the intervention results. One main aspect is that although all these individuals have had an amputation, not all of them had to have the same limb amputated. For some individuals, it might have been their leg and for others their arms, but these circumstances can impact how the patient would take part in the journaling activities. For those individuals who might not be able to write down their own thoughts and create a journal to keep them in, it might feel different having to record your own thoughts. It might not seem as personal as it would writing all these thoughts on a journal personalized for you. To add to this, the severity of the amputation might be different for each individual. Some individuals might have multiple amputations and others might just have one. These differences would be a limitation because the severity of these amputations can affect each individual differently. Not every individual might feel motivated to take part in these journaling activities, especially if they have severe amputations that have completely altered their lifestyles. In the end, not every individual will react the same to these journaling activities, and at times there might not be any motivation to take part in these reflective activities. There could also be a limited number of people who are willing to take part in this intervention which can affect the group activities since there might not always be groups of the same size. The intervention is a start to addressing the distress felt by these individuals, but these limitations do impede the program and the impact that it will have on the patients taking part.

In the future of this intervention, I will consider expanding the availability of this program and the resources available throughout these sessions. Seeing that most of these sessions are taking part in a hospital setting, I will work towards creating an online platform that allows individuals who might be receiving treatment from home to take part in this program. Although an online version of this program might not be the same as an in-person version, the ideas behind what the program offers to these individuals will be present throughout these online sessions: the support from a strong community of individuals experiencing the same obstacles throughout their daily lives. Another aspect of this program that will develop with time is the inclusivity of the intervention. Although at the moment this intervention is provided to individuals who have undergone amputations, I intend on opening this program up to people who are struggling with other orthopedic injuries that have led to them losing hope and motivation for the future. In the end, this program is in its beginning stages, but as the intervention develops, I will proceed to make changes that will benefit the current individuals taking part in the program as well as the future people joining this community of support.

Conclusion

Overall, certain aspects of positive psychology like positive emotions, engagement, and the creation of trusting doctor-patient relationships impact how an individual goes about their life whether they are healthy or experiencing a medical disorder. With all these implementations of positive psychology, there are new tools and interventions being created to add to these existing methods. Various interventions have been created that use the arts as well as other activities promoting an individual’s well-being in order to treat the distress experienced by individuals with certain medical disorders. Although these interventions have shown to positively impact certain aspects of an individual’s health, they have all been used separately rather than together. Combining the arts with exercise and other forms of interventions that promote well-being can not only impact a patient emotionally, but also improve upon the mental and physical aspects of an individual at the same time. These therapy sessions should be offered for various types of diseases. Whether this disorder causes emotional or mental distress on a patient, or it mainly impacts an individual physically, these therapy sessions should be created to improve all aspects of a person’s health. Ultimately, by expanding on these new forms of treatment and therapy, patients are able to positively impact all aspects of their health and not need to rely on medication or surgical procedures alone to recover from a certain disease.

References

Gawande, A. (2002). Complications: A surgeon’s notes on an imperfect science. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.

McGonigal, J. (2012, June). The game that can give you 10 extra years of life. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life?language=e

Park, C. L. (2014). Integrating positive psychology into health-related quality of life research. Quality of Life Research, 24, 1645-1651.

Quick, M. (2012). Silver linings playbook. New York, NY: Sarah Crichton Books.

Sundquist, J. (2010). Just don’t fall: A hilariously true story of childhood, cancer, amputation, romantic yearning, truth, and Olympic greatness. New York, NY: Penguin.

Tucknott-Cohen, T., & Ehresman, C. (2016). Art therapy for an individual with late stage dementia: A clinical case description. Art Therapy, 33(1), 41–45. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.davidson.edu/10.1080/07421656.2016.1127710

Vela, J. C., Smith, W. D., Rodriguez, K., & Hinojosa, Y. (2019). Exploring the impact of a positive psychology and creative journal arts intervention with Latina/o adolescents. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 14(3), 280–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2019.1610535

Heather Mansell

Mary Karr is a celebrated poet and memoirist, and her debut memoir, The Liars’ Club, is a gripping story of family life in East Texas in the 1960’s. The Karr family, in the memoir, is portrayed as intensely human. While the events that make up Mary Karr’s childhood are horrific, she never demonizes her family members. Her mother is a mentally ill woman dealing with trauma, her father is a deeply caring man, and her sister behaves not unlike many big sisters. This is one of the most striking characteristics about Mary Karr’s debut memoir: her childhood was full of trauma, but her family was a loving one. The reader of The Liars’ Club is able to see the humanity and realism of the Karr family even if the events that transpire in Mary Karr’s childhood seem alien. The Karr family, in The Liars’ Club, is a recognizable family that was forced into extraordinarily disturbing circumstances.

In The Liars’ Club, Mary and Lecia are depicted as quite typical sisters for their age difference. Lecia, as the elder by two years, bosses Mary around and often insists on having her own way because she thinks that she knows better. She is also, as many elder sisters are, forced to take on the role of mother to Mary. This maternal role also often extends to caring for the girls’ mother, Charlie Marie, when she is drunk or having a breakdown of “Nervousness.” Mary and Lecia have a relationship that girls with sisters can relate to; they step on each other’s toes, each wanting to have the upper hand. In the end though, they are not against each other, and they are true allies in all situations that matter. When they are forced to choose which parent to live with when their parents get divorced, they work together to make a decision, difficult as it may be (Karr 192). This is a tender, familiar sisterly relationship, and although Mary and Lecia have to endure unimaginable difficulties as children, their friendship, as it is portrayed in the memoir, is notably unchanged by these circumstances. The same can be said of Pete Karr’s relationship with his children. Pete Karr works a low paying, physically demanding job with near constant hours, yet his children still see him as a reliable, loving presence in their lives. Despite circumstance changes, most significantly, the move to Colorado, Pete takes care of his children without question. During a fishing trip, after cooking dinner over an open fire, Pete cradles his children under his arms and holds them so that they do not wake up (Karr 190). This is the type of father-daughter relationship that makes the dynamic between fathers and daughters so meaningful. Even though Pete is in a failing marriage and has to constantly worry about money, his daughters can rely on him because he is as steady as a rock. They love him and he loves them, which is why their separation after Pete and Charlie Marie’s divorce is so heartbreaking. He wants to fulfill a secure role in their lives, but they are forced to leave him because Charlie Marie needs them.

On the surface of this memoir, Charlie Marie Karr seems like the most “villainous” character, and it is easy to attribute all of the Karr family’s problems to her. Mary Karr, however, takes care with her writing to not demonize her mother, only her mother’s actions. Charlie Marie is, in essence, a very recognizable woman. When her mother is sick and comes

After reading this memoir, it is easy to simply react by making a remark about the absurdity of the plot and moving on, but one of the most strikingly beautiful aspects of this piece is the characterization of the Karr family.

to stay with the Karr’s, Charlie Marie begins to act more “normal.” She cuts down on drinking and puts up with her mother’s constant ragging on the children and herself, which is a normal thing for elderly mothers to do. After she dies, Charlie Marie descends into alcoholism, a fairly understandable response to a parent passing, but her “Nervousness” causes her actions to get out of hand quickly. While the episodes of Charlie Marie inflicting violence against her children are akin to horror and thriller scenes, the woman herself is never meant to be the villain. In this characterization, it is clear that Charlie Marie is merely a woman attempting to deal with trauma. What makes the situation anomalous is when Charlie Marie’s mental illness makes her violent towards her kids, and she loses her identity. She is no longer their mother, she is a trapped woman who wants to escape. In Colorado, she is not a single mother, she is a woman with lots of money to spend who is trying to lose any and all connections to her old life. Charlie Marie Karr is the most distinctive example of a scapegoat that one could find in the reading of The Liars’ Club. When the text is read closer, though, Charlie Marie is not meant to be evil. Mary Karr takes care to not make her mother out to be a bad person. Only her actions were harmful. This becomes even clearer in the last several pages of the book when Mary and Charlie Marie have a reckoning over dinner. The truth about Charlie Marie’s life comes out, and it becomes impossible for Mary, or the reader, to think of her as an objectively bad person. She has been abandoned and her first two children were taken from her (Karr 314). She is a real woman who is mentally ill, and she is dealing with unforeseen circumstances.

The Liars’ Club pulls readers in with its vivid depictions of action-packed scenes and Mary Karr’s spectacular writing. After reading this memoir, it is easy to simply react by making a remark about the absurdity of the plot and moving on, but one of the most strikingly beautiful aspects of this piece is the characterization of the Karr family. Mary Karr takes care to not demonize anyone in her family or blame them for her traumatic childhood. It is clear, in her beautiful depictions of her family members, that she loves them deeply and that is the impression of her sister, father, and mother she intended to give to her readers. Mary Karr endures horrible atrocities as a child, including being raped twice and her mother trying to murder her. None of these events though, define her memoir. The Liars’ Club is a beautiful depiction of East Texas life in the 60s. Mary Karr writes with a singular voice and a definitive sense of purpose. Her writing makes the least out of plot and the most out of characters. The Karr family, in The Liars’ Club, is not defined by the wild things that happen to them. They are defined by the love and grace that Mary Karr gives them. They are a devoted East Texas family living though tumultuous events.

Mary Karr’s memoir The Liars’ Club is a fantastic illustration of a loving, ordinary East Texas family. Mary Karr herself wrote that “A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it” (Karr XVI). While it is easy to look at the events of The Liars’ Club as outrageous, it is not quite as simple to find a member of the Karr family to blame for these bizarre plot points. Mary Karr deliberately does not blame any specific member of her family for her traumatic childhood. In fact, she depicts her relationship with her sister, father, and mother as traditional and normal relationships between sisters, a father and daughter, and a mother and daughter. The Karr family, in The Liars’ Club, is not an insane family. Rather, they are normal people, who love each other, living through chaotic circumstances.

Works Cited

Karr, Mary. The Liars’ Club: A Memoir. Penguin, 2005.

Kelsey Chase

Thank you to my esteemed colleagues for inviting me here today. Although American democracy is failing, I am proud of our effort to unite in contemplating its restoration to full health. The current political structure, particularly in elections, empowers the wealthy and disproportionately excludes voters of color. Big business and the wealthy dominate political attention; conversely, the poorest and most disadvantaged citizens are largely disenfranchised. These two issues, outwardly unrelated, are inextricably tied; they both facilitate an undemocratic electoral system where powerful voices are heard and the powerless are silenced. Democracy must be representative, therefore, the systemic empowerment of the wealthy while ignoring the most disadvantaged among us is unrepresentative and undemocratic. To right this injustice, a re-imagination of how campaigns are financed and the restoration of the prisoner’s civic right to vote is required.

American democracy is designed to be representative, regardless of inequalities in financial resources. Today, the United States theoretically has universal suffrage, which is designed to be a “public institution for influencing the conduct of government officials within which everyone has the same power” (Hudson 190). By allocating one vote to every person, private inequalities in political resources are balanced out. Therefore, any advantage given or vote taken away is incongruous with the principles and objective of representative democracy.

The United States violates this promise in allowing the wealthy to buy political power through a campaign structure that requires large sums of money to win. Even if ‘one person, one vote’ was fulfilled on the surface (which it is not, due to the Electoral College), money would still erase this basic democratic value. Campaigns require enormous sums of money to support their infrastructure, as exemplified by the 1.49 billion dollars that Donald Trump had spent on his re-election campaign, as of October 22, 2020 (McMinn). Although some politicians, like Mike Bloomberg, can largely rely on their personal fortunes to fund their campaigns, most must rely on wealthy donors. Furthermore, raising funds drives media attention because outlets “decide which candidates to cover largely on the basis of how much money they have raised” (Hudson 197).  Since these wealthy individuals or groups essentially ensure the legitimacy of their candidacy, few elected officials “dare to take positions or advocate policies that might anger campaign contributors, no matter how popular those policies might be among ordinary voters” (Hudson 196). By creating a distinction between “campaign contributors” and “ordinary voters”, Hudson highlights that the average voter does not get the same kind of access that money buys. Not only does money buy the ear of elected politicians, it buys elections. Data from 2004 demonstrates that Congressional candidates who spent the most won in 96 percent of races; in 2016, “House winners… spent over four times more than the losers” (Hudson 198). The strength of this correlation is partially due to incumbent advantages; however, money contributes to such advantages. In the Senate races from 2019-2020, the average amount of money raised for an incumbent was $23,776,007 compared to the challenger’s $5,913,320 (“Incumbent Advantage”). Money legitimizes one’s initial candidacy, wins the first election, and ensures that they will remain victorious successively. It is no wonder that politicians cater to the interests of the wealthy, as their donations all but guarantee a triumph. The influence of the rich and therefore the powerful breaks the fundamental premise of American democracy that the vote empowers all people equally.

The current flawed and blatantly undemocratic system ensures that some voices are louder than others and silences many from having a say. A vote is a symbol of representative democracy; to disenfranchise prisoners, even for a short time, violates one’s rights as an American citizen. A vote expresses one’s opinion, and therefore should be a form of protected speech under the First Amendment (Tibbot). Prisoners, without the right to vote, become citizens that are subject to American laws “but without a voice in the way that they’re governed – not unlike taxation without representation” (Brettschneider). By comparing the disenfranchisement of prisoners to taxation without representation, Brettschneider ties today’s injustice back to injustice in the founding era, which effectively motivated the creation of American democracy. Although the founding generation did not believe in universal suffrage, Americans still carry their ideals and must re-interpret them in a changing world. Prisoners are also often counted in the population of the district of their prison, which means that their lives are counted in exchange for political power without being able to wield it (Brettschneider). As Brettschneider states, “[s]uch a policy resembles the Constitution’s notorious three-fifths clause, which denied slaves the right to vote but counted them in the Census for the purposes of amassing more pro-slavery representatives.” The juxtaposition of these two problematic policies carries a racial undertone, as Black people are incarcerated five times more often than white people (Nellis). Importantly, the two states that do not disenfranchise prisoners–Maine and Vermont–are both more than 95% white, because as Emily Tredeau states, “White voters will give pause before they disenfranchise other white people,” (Gross). The socioeconomic status of incarcerated people pre-imprisonment is also indicative of a flawed justice system. In 2014, prisoners had a median annual income of $19,185 prior to incarceration, which is “41% less than non-incarcerated people of similar ages” (Kopf, Rabuy). The demographics of imprisonment are important because they highlight not only the flaws of the criminal justice system, but that the disenfranchisement of prisoners disproportionately impacts people of color and the poor. Taking away one’s voting rights not only violates one’s rights as a citizen, but ensures the most disadvantaged in America remain voiceless.

The inequalities in who has access in politics is at odds with a representative democracy, and re-imagining the campaign finance system is one way to undercut the influence that the wealthy have in elections. With the understanding that money is a mode of political power – just like a vote – we must ensure that such access to influence is better designed to encourage political equality. To combat inequalities in campaign finance, I propose a six-to-one publicly financed, small-donor matching funds program, as well as lowering the contribution limits on individuals and parties. Elizabeth Warren included these ideas in her campaign finance reform proposal, which is effective in involving

The current flawed and blatantly undemocratic system ensures that some voices are louder than others and silences many from having a say. A vote is a symbol of representative democracy; to disenfranchise prisoners, even for a short time, violates one’s rights as an American citizen

ordinary citizens in supporting campaigns while reducing incentives to appeal to wealthy donors. Elizabeth Warren’s plan, which is similar to that of H.R. 1 in 2019, would match small-dollar donations (up to $200) six times over, which would mean that a donation as small as $20 would become $120 given to the campaign. According to H.R. 1, the money for the publicly funded program would be derived from a 2.75 percent fee on criminal and civil financial penalties with the government, which would be bookmarked for a “Freedom From Influence Fund” (Kessler). To qualify for the program, candidates must “raise at least $50,000 in small-dollar donations from at least 1,000 individuals during the qualifying period” to prove citizen support (Kessler). The proposal encourages campaigns to target small-dollar donors, as their donations would vastly increase their budget. This plan works in conjunction with a lowered limit on how much individuals can contribute to campaigns, which would effectively undercut any efforts of the wealthy to buy power. Currently, the limits on how much an individual can donate are high: $2,800 per election for individual donations to campaigns, $35,500 per year for individuals’ donations to national parties, and more than $100,000 to special party accounts (“Getting Big Money Out Of Politics”). Instead, lowering the limits to $1,000 to campaign contributions and $100,000 to political parties would ensure greater equality and access to political power (“Getting Big Money Out Of Politics”). When combined with the 6-1 donor matching system, someone who donated $200 would ultimately be more useful to a campaign than someone who donated $1,000, thus incentivizing campaigns to focus on the average American. Restructuring how campaign finance works is essential to ensuring that all people have equal access to political power. By leveling the playing field, Americans can vote knowing that their democracy is more representative of their voices and interests.

Reforming the currently undemocratic system of elections not only requires dismantling the access of the wealthy, but creating access for the poor and condemned. The disenfranchisement of prisoners in most states violates what it means to be a citizen and disproportionately erases the voices of the poor and people of color. Although many states allow for re-enfranchisement after one’s sentence has been served, any limitation on one’s voting rights is unconscionable. Each of the prisoners confined in today’s prison-industrial complex is subject to U.S. laws (having been punished underneath them) and are still counted in district populations — still entirely United States citizens. Yet, one of their fundamental rights has been taken away: the right to vote. Leaving prisoners out of the political conversation also means that a population who has never experienced prison get to dictate the rules of their confinement. The disproportionate rates at which people of color and the impoverished are imprisoned demonstrate the flaws in our criminal justice system; consequently, who better to vote on criminal justice reform than those who have experienced the injustice themselves? Most Americans have never seen the inside of a prison, so at best, they do not know to call attention to often distressing prison conditions, and at worst, they are an uneducated population voting on a reform they do not know nor care about. As Brettschneider states, “A prison and jail constituency… would make it routine for politicians to hold town halls and seek ways to improve prison and jail conditions from those who are subjected to them.” Although the formerly incarcerated could certainly provide feedback, they cannot give the most current commentary on what needs to be changed within prison walls. An essential part of this reform is also rescinding limitations on the rights to speak freely and receive information about current events, as these limitations blatantly violate prisoner’s rights as citizens. In order to vote properly, the incarcerated require access to information, as “government can be held accountable only when citizens have information about the actions of their representatives” (Brettschneider). Brettschneider’s word choice of “accountable” speaks to the dichotomy of prisoners being held responsible for their actions while being unable to hold their representatives accountable for the injustices that have been inflicted upon them. Although the criminal justice system requires much reform in order to be considered just, the re-enfranchisement of prisoners would go a long way towards reclaiming voices that have been lost to the powerful.

Some might argue that against my proposals for campaign finance reform, citing that it is unfair for public funds to be used for private campaigns. However, my plan, which is derived from Elizabeth Warren’s plan and H.R. 1 would require no expense from the taxpayer. Instead, the public funds would be derived from a 2.75 fee assessed from civil and criminal penalties with the government. Others might still argue that fines will not be enough to cover the 600 percent match rate, so taxpayer dollars would still be required to make up the gap. However, this is not the case. H.R. 1 states clearly that if there are not sufficient funds made from fines, no money can be used from other sources: “In any case in which the Commission determines that there are insufficient moneys in the Fund to make payments to participating candidates under this title, moneys shall not be made available from any other source for the purpose of making such payments” (Kessler). My reforms would include similar language to ensure that there is no infringement upon the taxpayer dollar. Opponents may also object to the lowered limits on what individuals may donate, perhaps complaining about limitations on free speech. While there is an argument to be made for the consideration of campaign dollars for free speech, freedom of speech sometimes must be limited in the event of mitigating circumstances. As it is illegal to yell “Fire!” in a movie theater when there is no fire because the stampede may cause unwarranted injury, it is also necessary to limit the amount that one can donate to campaigns in the name of political equality. Moreover, the lowered limits would not affect any one campaign’s performance because all campaigns would be under the same limitations and funds-matching program. Instead, campaigns that spend the most time talking to everyday Americans would get a boost, and so would democratic health.

Many would certainly object to prisoners being able to vote, likely arguing that those who have broken the laws of society should not be able to dictate the newest laws. This ignores the idea that citizenship entitles a person to some inalienable rights. The social contract requires that when each citizen enters into society, they acknowledge that to gain such rights, they are subject to the law. These two concepts are inextricably tied; a citizen cannot be subject to the laws without having access to all of their rights. Some might also state that re-enfranchisement should depend on one’s conviction. Judging one’s entitlement to their rights based on their punishment is flawed due to a faulty system; there are numerous cases across the country that were unfairly convicted of crimes due to racial biases or a dearth of resources to fight back. An argument for voting rights based on conviction “takes for granted that the criminal-justice system is a fair barometer for who is trustworthy and responsible and who is not” (Gross). A system that has criminalized addiction, mental illness, poverty, and race cannot be depended on for accurate judgments on who is entitled to their rights. Moreover, free people often act immorally and yet do not get their voting rights taken away. Others may say that it is enough to restore a prisoner’s rights once they’ve obtained their freedom. However, studies have shown that gaps in voting, no matter how short, have long-term effects on participation (Brettschneider). If voter participation is essential to democracy, then the restoration of voting rights to prisoners is imperative. Likewise, continual exercise of citizenship and access to information better allows convicts to transition into life after exile. A citizen’s rights, no matter their misdeed, is inviolable.

These two reforms, though addressing seemingly disparate issues, are tied together by addressing a larger problem: an undemocratic system that empowers the wealthy and silences the poor and condemned. Elections are the fundamental process of representative democracy where each citizen may vote and have their vote heard by their elected representatives. However, a system in which money buys power and those with minimal resources have no access is at odds with this fundamental idea. Currently, the United States today reflects the latter and not the former. By implementing these two proposals, Americans can vote as though they live in a representative democracy.

Works Cited

Brettschneider, Corey. “Why Prisoners Deserve the Right to Vote.” POLITICO Magazine, 21 June 2016, www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/prisoners-convicts-felons-inmates-right-to-vote-enfranchise-criminal-justice-voting-rights-213979.

“Getting Big Money Out of Politics.” Elizabeth Warren, 2019, elizabethwarren.com/plans/campaign-finance-reform.

Gross, Daniel A. “Why Shouldn’t Prisoners Be Voters?” The New Yorker, 27 February.2020, www.newyorker.com/news/the-future-of-democracy/why-shouldnt-prisoners-be-voters.

Hudson, William E. American Democracy in Peril: Eight Challenges to America’s Future. CQ Press: An Imprint of SAGE Publications, 2021.

“Incumbent Advantage.” Open Secrets,  5 Dec. 2020, www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/incumbent-advantage.

Initiative, Prison Policy. “Prisons of Poverty: Uncovering the Pre-Incarceration Incomes of the Imprisoned.” Prison Policy Initiative, 9 July 2015, www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/income.html.

Kessler, Glenn. “Would ‘Every Small Dollar Donated’ Be Matched 6 to 1 under the House Democratic Plan?” The Washington Post, 8 March 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/08/would-every-small-dollar-donated-be-matched-under-house-democratic-plan/.

McMinn, Sean, et al. “Money Tracker: How Much Trump And Biden Have Raised In The 2020 Election.” NPR, 23 October 2020, www.npr.org/2020/05/20/858347477/money-tracker-how-much-trump-and-biden-have-raised-in-the-2020-election.

Nellis, Ashley. “The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons.” The Sentencing Project, 10 January 2019, www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/.

Tibbott, Kassie, and Hans A. van Spakovsky. “Should Prison Inmates Be Allowed to Vote? Pro/Con: Opinion.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 10 Octobeer 2019, www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/prison-felon-inmate-vote-vermont-maine-20191010.html.