by The Cowl Editor on October 26, 2017
Opinion
Stop Sexualizing Female Halloween Costumes
What are we trying to tell our girls?
When you are a child, Halloween is about costume parades, trick-or-treating, and haunted houses with friends.
For girls, at some point, they hit an age where that all changes. Halloween becomes about sex and revealing as much of yourself as possible until you are considered “too old” to dress like that.
We have become conditioned to believe that this is just “how it is.”
This is the year 2017, and women have made so many strides in our country. We nominated our first female presidential candidate last year, and we have seen more women in leadership positions this year than ever before.
Even in our Providence College community, for the first time in history Student Congress is run by an all-female executive board.
Despite this evident and continuous growth, when it comes to Halloween, it seems we have made no progress at all.
Type in “adult female costumes,” and what do you see? The images speak for themselves. Every costume seems to have “sex” slapped all over it.
There is not an option to just be a cat as an adult, you must be a “naughty” cat. You cannot just be a nurse, you must be a “sexy” nurse. Do not even get me started on the superheroes, because if you are not a half-naked female superhero, you might as well not be one in the first place.
Why do we continue to sexualize and objectify women through this innocent holiday and when will it stop?
-Kelsey Dass ’18
Ruane Café Needs an Express Line
As students rush to their morning classes, many try to make a stop at the Ruane Café Starbucks to fuel their hectic day. Yet every morning, the line snakes endlessly through the hallway, moving at a snail’s pace.
Even those with 10 minutes to spare are eventually forced to leave for class, so the café loses business and the students walk away frustrated. While long lines in the morning will always be a nuisance, complicated espresso drinks unnecessarily prolong the wait.
Caramel macchiatos and cappuccinos take minutes to make, holding up the line as others desperately need to get to class. Yet ordering a plain hot or iced coffee takes seconds, since all the barista has to do is hand you a cup.
Ultimately, Starbucks can easily avoid this problem by creating an express line for simple coffee drinks. Suddenly grabbing a coffee on the way to class would be possible, as complex drinks would no longer bring the line to a halt.
Now students in a rush can bring their business, and those with time to spare can wait for their drinks in a longer line. Most importantly, the fix is incredibly easy. An additional line would boost efficiency, leave students happy, and allow more cash to pour into the cash register. A win-win.
-Nicholas Moran ’19
Registration 101: A Student’s Perspective
It is that time of year again. No, not fall, or midterms, or being sick. I am talking about the dreaded course registration. Here are a few pointers that will help regardless of your graduating year.
The first thing you want to know is that you cannot prepare too early. Even though registration is in the middle of November, start planning now. Why? There is such a thing as pre-registration, where you are able to get into classes ahead of time according to your declared major. This is a life-saver.
Secondly, I am sure you have heard this one before, but have a ton of back-ups because there is no guarantee that you will get into any of these classes. Next, make an appointment with your advisor as soon as possible. It makes the process a lot less stressful, and that is how you get your ALT pin and pre-registration form.
During registration, the PC Secure Wi-Fi is really slow and busy because everyone else is using it too. Here is a trick: on an iPhone, there is a “Personal Hotspot.” Whenever you don’t have access to Wi-Fi, you can use this and it will allow you to have Internet access on your computer. Yes, it does take up data, but you will only be using it for a few minutes and it is well worth the cost.
Lastly, another tip is to register alone. I know it is fun to share the pain and tears with your roommates when you do not get into the classes you wanted, but this will make your connection worse. Get up early and go to a quiet spot like the Ryan Center or Slavin.
Follow these tips, and your registration will go much better. Good luck!
-McKenzie Tavella ’18