Why the dreadlock debate is complete BS, a strong dose of straight talk for white men, and, er, is Azealia Banks a witch? Here’s what the Dazed team are hyping this week
“Ian Martin’s ruminations on the future of the bulging metropolis that we call home are horrifying. What is London becoming? A playground for ghostly investors and ghastly developers to launch their skyscrapers rocketing into the sky, a privatised dystopia, with ever-lessening evidence of its former, wild glory. I think we’re still hanging on to the soul that makes this city so amazing, but if we let businesses turn it into a clusterfucked, empty motherboard, inhabited only by the tiniest percentage of the world’s wealthiest, then we’ll regret it in centuries to come.” – Thomas Gordon, Digital News Writer (@AngstromHoot)
KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA
“In which a depressed Norwegian writer, who happens to be Our Generation's Proust, travels across America. Like much of My Struggle, the seven-volume cycle of his life, and, perhaps, the interstates that make up his subject, it's miles of rambling, broken up by snatches of insight so startling you feel in the presence of something holy, followed by another seemingly endless rambling stretch. Still, it's a great piece of commissioning and super worth a read.” – Charlie Robin Jones, Digital Editor (@CharliexJones)
MUSLIM, QUEER, AND FEMINIST: IT’S AS COMPLICATED AS IT SOUNDS
“The author – a Muslim, queer, and feminist – proves that religion doesn't have just one face, and it shouldn’t have. I just wonder how long it will take us to realise that. My cynical, yet realist, view is that it will probably take too long. This unique point of view is just that, unique. It's not just Islam, of course. Bigotry and self-importance exist amongst every crevice of society – this girl just happens to be facing up to three major ones. If more people were as accepting of themselves and had the ability to accept those around them, perhaps we would be in a much safer place. Hell, we might even find that 'peace' thing everyone's been raving about for years. Basically, I just wish we could bake a cake of rainbows. Whatever. I leave you with this: ‘I do not speak for Islam. I do not speak for Muslims. I speak for one Muslim: myself. There are as many interpretations of the Qur’an as there are readers of the text. This is mine: a queer, feminist interpretation for my queer, feminist life. It is my path to peace. It is freedom from the shackles of uncertainty. It is my greatest and purest love.’” – Ashleigh Kane, Digital Assistant (@AshleighKane)
SEASON OF THE WITCH: WHY YOUNG WOMEN ARE FLOCKING TO THE ANCIENT CRAFT
“My queer teenage self has always felt a deep empathy with witches, especially Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer circa season four (minus the bit where her girlfriend dies). This piece by Sady Doyle uses the unlikely jump-off point of Azealia Banks' tweets to explore the intertwined history of feminism and witchcraft. It will probably also lead you down an internet wormhole of witchy tumblrs (I highly recommend charmcore.” – Zing Tsjeng, News Editor (@MissZing)
THIS DREADLOCK DEBATE IS A DISTRACTION
“Yes, Guiliana Rancic’s dreadlocks=stoner comments at Zendaya Coleman were pretty fucking stupid. But from now on, let’s all agree to get our Twitter knickers in a twist over issues that really really matter? Don’t take the faux-righteous bait.” – Natasha Slee, Social Media Assistant (@TashaLouiseS)
GHOULIES 30TH ANNIVERSARY
“Flashback to the height of 80s creature features with Ghoulies – when special effects meant a kitted-out make-up artist and a crafty animatronics whiz. In Ghoulies, sharp-toothed slime babies pop out of swamps and toilets to terrorise the innocent teens who simply want to lock lips. Audiences often draw parallels between Ghoulies and Gremlins, but they were actually in production at the same time. It’s all kinds of so-bad-it’s-good, and as it celebrates it’s 30th anniversary Monday, we’ll definitely be rewatching this weekend.” – Trey Taylor, Film Editor (@TreyTylor)
"White people. Some are cool, some are not, plenty are smart, plenty are not and yet they all have one thing in common: white privilege. This is the notion that societal privileges are afforded to white people in western countries beyond what is experienced by the non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. The increasing popularity of this term has been upsetting some white people. It's like when men say they're not feminists because they're humanists or when someone changes #blacklivesmatter to #alllivesmatter. Sometimes it isn't about you, guys. It's not the same. There are entire industries and systems in place that work to oppress anyone who isn't a heterosexual, white male.
Fret not, privileged smart straight white man Nicholas Kristof came to everybody's rescue and wrote an accessible, informed piece that is crucial reading for white, black, brown, orange and green people everywhere. If you read nothing else, at least digest this sentence, 'It's not that white men are intentionally doing anything wrong, but we do have a penchant for obliviousness about the way we are beneficiaries of systematic unfairness'. *Mic drop* " – Jonny Walik, Editorial Intern (@JonnyWalik)
