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Thursday, May 11, 2023
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‘Skin Stories’ speakers discuss tattoo artistry the fluctuating Creators talk about acknowledge and nonessential state of yourbody art as a form self and your body, our praclike my tattooing, become of expression, being tices, spiritual.” By JESSICA MA
daily senior staffer @jessicama2025
Multicultural Student Affairs hosted “Skin Stories — Bodily Ritual and Art in APIDA Communities” on Wednesday, inviting panelists Rin Jung and Janani Nathan to share their experiences with tattoo artistry. During the talk, tattoo artists Jung and Nathan discussed the ideas that inform their tattoo practices. They described their journeys in tattooing, as well as how tattooing serves as a space to build connections. Jung said they think of their tattooing as a way of “spiritual and radical becoming.” They referenced French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, who discusses the notion of “becoming” in contrast to “being.” “Being” is static and meant to be preserved, according to Jung. But “becoming” is constantly shifting — a concept reflected in their tattoo practices, they said. “There’s no such thing as how our bodies are supposed to look,” Jung said. “Once you
MSA graduate assistant Grace Park said she resonated with Jung’s reference to Deleuze. She said she appreciated how Jung embraced the ambiguity and transformation of the body — especially since she said tattoos aren’t always permanent, fading as skin regenerates. Tattooing provides active human connection, Nathan said, as two people sit together for hours on end to create art. For Nathan, hand poking tattoos becomes a “slow, meditative process.” Nathan also emphasized the importance of trust in tattooing. In tattoo studios, some clients may feel like they aren’t allowed to ask questions or take a break, they said. “You’re making a permanent, painful change to your body that you are consenting to, and it’s a beautiful change,” Nathan said. “The power of the client is so important to return to them and to treat tattooing like a collaboration.” On social media, many people describe receiving tattoos as a form of therapy or describe
» See SKIN STORIES, page 6
Photo courtesy of Sarah Wachs
Sherman Avenue Starbucks employees filed for unionization Wednesday. They expect to vote to officially unionize by the end of June.
Sherman Ave. Starbucks unionizing Workers report islamophobic, antisemitic and transphobic environment By SHANNON TYLER
daily senior staffer @shannonmtyler
After months of management turnover and instability, the Starbucks at 1734 Sherman Ave. hired a new permanent manager in March. But, employee and Weinberg sophomore Sarah Wachs said the store’s new manager has only exacerbated
the store’s issues. Several employees at the Starbucks filed for unionization Wednesday to join the national Starbucks Workers United movement. Wachs said the staff has faced discrimination based on religious identity and lack of protection for transgender employees, in addition to issues with communication, understaffing and underscheduling
— all without support from upper management. “It came to a point where we were like, ‘We could get fired,’ but (unionizing) is almost a necessity because even when we would reach up to higher management about our concerns, there was nothing that was happening,” Wachs said. Former employee and Weinberg sophomore Miracle Burt said
she has experienced Islamophobia from management. She said she quit last week because of the toll the job started to take on her mental health. She said management made the environment uncomfortable for people of all religions and identities, noting two negative experiences she had during Ramadan
» See SHERBUCKS UNION, page 6
College Feminists host Sex Week Shortage of officers Programming aims to teach inclusive, safe and pleasurable practices By KRISTEN AXTMAN
daily senior staffer @kristenaxtman1
Northwestern Sex Week, organized by NU College Feminists, launched their eight-part programming Monday with a sex toy giveaway at Norris University Center. The NUCF planning committee began working on the week in April, collaborating with Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators, Menstrual Equity Activists and The Women’s Center to coordinate the series of events. Weinberg junior Maia Smith, a sex week organizer, said programming aims to promote sex positivity and safe sex through discussions, workshops and other events. Being a feminist requires rejecting societal narratives pushed onto female identifying people, she said. “The whole point of feminism is to be comfortable in the body that you have and the feelings that you have for everything,” Smith said. She added the week highlights voices often left out of conversations about sex, including people with physical disabilities and queer people. Organizers will
Recycle Me
be screening “The Last Taboo,” a documentary about six people with physical disabilities and their relationships, on Thursday in Harris Hall. Anthropology Prof. Noelle Sullivan will present Friday’s event, her “Guide to Having Mind-Blowing Sex.” She teaches a class on sexual pleasure in the Gender Studies Department, and said almost all messaging about sex from popular culture, movies and pornography is “a lie.” Only about 20% of women achieve orgasm through solely penetrative sex, which is the most common portrayal of sex in the media, she said. “It’s great for creating business for sex therapists and couple’s therapists, but not very good for helping you achieve a satisfying sex life,” Sullivan said. Sex Week should encourage students to have honest conversations about creating satisfying sexual experiences, she said. While the Illinois education system teaches sexual health, she said it does not teach sexual pleasure. Sex Week aims to remedy that. In Sullivan’s class on sexual pleasure, she said she anonymously polls her students, asking if they would like honest
prompts DACA bill
There are an estimated 400,000 New policy could let undocumented living recipients serve on in Illinois, aroundimmigrants 30,000 of whom DACA recipients, according police force in Illinois are to Nina Sedeño, an immigration By CASEY HE
the daily northwestern @caseeey_he Illustration by Lily Ogburn
Weinberg junior Maia Smith, an organizer of Sex week, said the NU College Feminists will have raffled around 110 sex toys by the end of the week.
feedback about their partners’ sexual preferences. Across all the classes she’s taught, between 87-95% of students surveyed respond yes, but only 20-30% say they feel comfortable sharing that information. Sullivan encouraged students who want to learn about sex to take her class; go to minority, LGBTQ or women owned sex shops oriented towards higher quality items; or listen to sex positive podcasts. The show “Sex Education,” which follows high schoolers who have open conversations about sex and consent, depicts sex realistically and
is “somewhere in sexual utopia minus the awkwardness,” she said. Communication sophomore Simone Spalding said she attended Monday’s Kink 101 workshop after hearing about it from a friend. She had seen representations of kinks in the media but didn’t have a complete idea of what it entailed, she added. At the workshop, Spalding said she learned that kinks are not inherently sexual. “I didn’t really understand the nuances of what a kink was or that
» See SEX WEEK, page 6
Amid staffing shortages in police departments across the country, a new bill in Illinois will clear the path for DACA recipients looking to become police officers. State Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora)introduced the bill in the Illinois House of Representatives and said it has dual purposes. “My hope is to not only help DACA recipients but also help the police departments that are currently going through a lot of shortage with … either COVID or retirement,” Hernandez said. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a federal program that started under the Obama administration, provides temporary deportation protection and work permits to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before turning 16 years old.
policy analyst at Chicago-based advocacy organization Latino Policy Forum. Hernandez said her inspiration came from a similar bill that went into effect in California earlier this year. There are also several municipalities in Illinois, including Fairmont City and Blue Island, that already hire DACA recipients to the police force on a case-by-case basis, so she wanted to introduce a statewide law, she added. But, federal law does not permit DACA recipients to carry firearms. That law became the center of debate on the bill in the Illinois House, which passed an amendment specifying that potential hires need federal approval to carry a firearm after they are hired. “Unfortunately, we will need to see some federal government action,” Hernandez said. “I’m not saying everybody. Just allow those that are applying to be an officer, if they are hired, to be able to have a
» See DACA POLICE, page 6
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