Elle Rotter, Deputy Conceptual Editor-in-Chief
• January 4, 2023
The camera pans across a bathroom wall as musical artist Taylor Swift looks down as she stands on the scale. Zooming in, we discover that the scale reads “FAT.” Fans and critics collectively booed...
Disclaimer: To protect student identity, certain sources have been given different names.
We see the happy-go-lucky attitude daily in our classrooms: brightly colored posters plastered across the walls...
Blinding lights flood packed stadiums, illuminating the world’s greatest soccer players. But, as billions of eyes were watching the long-awaited FIFA World Cup, Qatar’s human rights violations —...
Turn on the television. Somewhere, sometime, a man stands at a podium, blood-red tie plastered against his sweat-soaked suit, his forehead red and clammy from exertion. He jabs his finger into the audience,...
Blackface. "Spirit animals." Kimonos. In today’s day and age, cultural appropriation — the adoption of one aspect of a culture from another, often disrespecting the original culture — is something...
With Netflix’s release of the first season of “DAHMER - The Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” a glaring spotlight was put on both true crime and its effects on its audience. The show accumulated...
In the modern global market, environmentally-friendly products are rising to the top of fashion trends. Whether it’s a hunter-green backpack or the trend of ‘thrifting,’ many teens find it fashionable...
On televisions across St. Louis, the faces of Democratic Senate candidate Trudy Busch Valentine and Republican Senate candidate Eric Schmitt were familiar ones from August to November. One moment, Valentine...
A viral video shows two activists flinging tomato soup at Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.” Then, with the $81 million painting dripping red, the activists superglued themselves to the wall and asked the crowd, “Is art worth more than life?”
College.
With early action application deadlines quickly approaching, it’s safe to say that college is a pressing thought on many senior students’ minds. Years of preparation — career quizzes,...
![Although society is reaching an all-time high for mental health awareness, celebrities are still facing heavy scrutiny about what they depict in their art, particularly surrounding mental health. Musical artist Taylor Swift received backlash for her display of body dysmorphia in her “Anti-Hero” music video. “There’s a difference between saying being fat is bad and saying you have [an] eating disorder that you’re constantly battling,” Swift fan @expiredthrills said on Twitter.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Taylor-Swift-Body-Dysmorphia-.jpg)
![In an intense game between Argentina and France, the entire world tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup. But behind this tantalizing game remained questionable decisions FIFA got away with. “I love soccer so much, but I hate that it has to become a political thing,” varsity soccer player and junior Ava Relihan said. “Coming from the United States, where we do have so many rights, I don’t like [that] we’re hosting a global [event] in a place where so many rights are restricted.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Soccer-The-Life-or-death-game.jpg)
![Anti-Black bigotry is prevalent on the internet, and online platforms are some of the most significant factors in perpetuating this anti-Black discrimination. For example, anonymity on the internet emboldens people to say racist things online that they would not typically say in person. “[People] can have fake names and say what they want because you don’t know them, and they know you don’t know them. They’ll say pretty hurtful things about African-Americans, and they’ll use a lot of vulgar language about [us]. I believe you’re more likely to hear racism online than anywhere else,” junior Nylah Thompson said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/EA8EB3A6-DC66-4CC3-81CE-F6AFF36E0F92-900x600.png)
![Cultural appropriation is being called out in mass media and online, but the line between appropriation and appreciation can often be hard to identify. Recently, Asianfishing and Westernization have become more acknowledged by the media, but it’s important to understand exactly why they are harmful. “Cultural appropriation can give [people] the wrong concept of [certain] cultures. They’re seeing what the American media perceives these [cultures] to be, and a lot of times that’s not [what] it [is],” sophomore Anu Pidikiti said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screenshot-2022-12-01-10.02.27-AM.jpg)
![This photo illustration is inspired by the copious political attack ads plastered over all news and local stations in the St. Louis Metro area. These commercials exploit current event issues by using the biggest concerns to attract attention. "Marijuana is one [concern] in Missouri because they’re having a ballot issue. Illegal immigration and cutting taxes are the ones that Republicans use. The whole ‘[Republicans] being very right-wing and autocratic’ is [an issue ad] that you would see the Democrats doing. They’re all over the place depending on what the hot-button issue is," social studies department chair Jeffrey Chazen said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Cant-be-trusted-900x675.png)
