Senior Sarah Reifeis sits in the third row of her last math class at IU, MATH-M 415 Complex Analysis. The class meets on the second floor of Ballantine Hall, and when Sarah enters, she’s greeted by two anomalies in her mathematics courses thus far. First, her class is almost evenly split between male and female students, compared to Sarah’s other math courses that have been male-dominated. Second, this is the first math course Sarah’s had taught by a female professor, Professor Assel Farhat.
As Farhat solves problems and proves theories on the board for the class, she periodically turns around and asks questions to encourage class participation. Only male students participate throughout the 50-minute class, and only male students question Farhat when they believe she’s made a mistake. This will not be the last semester Sarah finds herself sitting in a classroom. After graduating in May, she plans to begin her doctoral studies. She wants to earn her Ph.D. and go to work in biostatistics. The female role models she sees at IU make her believe there is nothing holding her back from achieving this goal. “Another woman teaches 415 here, and the chair of the math department is female,” Reifeis said. “The stereotypes against women mostly come from the outside, not the inside.” But Reifeis, as well as many other mathematics students, do not perceive the realities of studying and working in a male-dominated field. According to a recent IU study, stereotypes against females in mathematics are negatively impacting their performance in the field. The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences found negative stereotypes lower female’s performance in math, but the effects of these stereotypes often go unnoticed and therefore aren’t being combatted. While many female students are aware of the stereotypes that work against them in the math and science industries, they believe those stereotypes will not stand in the way of their career ambitions. Professors and researchers disagree and believe there is more that can be done at the university level to combat these stereotypes. Kathryn Boucher, a researcher with the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, spearheaded the IU study. She was inspired to investigate these stereotypes after her own experience with prejudice in the classroom. As a teaching assistant in a statistics class, Boucher worked alongside a male TA. She found that generally, she was questioned on what she was teaching much more often than her male counterpart. “Over the last few years, a lot of the explicit form of discrimination doesn’t appear as it did in the past,” Boucher said. “It’s more subtle now.” Students are not blind to the stereotypes Boucher and her team are reporting. Eva Loveland is a senior studying mathematics, and she is aware of the stereotypes placed on men and women in academia. “Girls are supposed to be good at English, and boys are supposed to be good at math and science,” Loveland said. But despite this perception of expectations, she said she really doesn’t believe her gender matters in the classroom and beyond. “Most of the time, I don’t think about it,” she said. “I do well in my math classes. I don’t think men are naturally better at math than women.” Like Loveland, Reifeis doesn’t see stereotypes negatively affecting her either. If anything, she feels these pre-conceived notions come from students outside of the department. “When I’m talking to other non-math majors, they’re surprised,” Reifeis said. “Their surprise comes from me being female. They’ll say things like, “But you’re so normal” or “nice” or “sociable.”” Unlike many students, the importance of gender is not lost on the department’s faculty members. Kevin Pilgrim, professor and director of undergraduate studies in the math department, grew up watching his mother and wife face prejudice while studying physics and algebra, respectively. While he believes women in math and science today do not deal with challenges as difficult as what his mother and wife faced, he can still see where females may have a harder time. “If you have a male professor who’s 6’2” and sits on the desk, he’s going to be respected,” Pilgrim said. “But if you have a petite foreign women, will those students react in the same way?” Pilgrim has seen improvement in female representation throughout his time at IU. Women make up 41 percent of students in the math undergraduate program, and the department receives additional funding to hire professors of diverse backgrounds, including women and minorities. Currently, 14 women serves as faculty members in the department. But Pilgrim does not believe that should be a sign to slow down. “Is there room for improvement?” he said. “Yes. We’d like to have more female grad students and faculty. We try, we make an offer, but somebody else makes a better offer. We have great teaching needs here, so the bar is set high.” As for undergraduate students, Boucher believes one thing that may help is encouraging female students to join groups like the Association for Women in Mathematics or the Center of Excellence for Women in Technology. Reifeis is more involved with on-campus research, but Boucher believes these groups can add to female students’ feeling of inclusion. In the future, Boucher said professors need to be realistic that these stereotypes exist in the classroom. “Expect women to feel anxious and concerned about being the cause of bias,” she said. “Professors don’t think they’re that powerful, and if a woman then does poorly, it’s because she failed, not because of the stereotypes.”
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When the lights and glitz of the pageant are off of her, Lauren Mnayarji looks like any other Indiana University student. After a long day running between classes, she sits down at a table in Starbucks, precariously placing her AV equipment for her audio storytelling class on the floor. She’s wearing a white crew-neck sweater and leggings, and her hair long, brown hair is pulled into a ponytail high on her head. It’s a week away from spring break, and she can’t wait for the break from school.
But instead of jet-setting off to a tropical locale or spending the week lounging on her parents’ couch binge watching Netflix, Lauren’s break will be all business – she’ll be traveling to Chicago to go shopping for pageant dresses for the Miss Indiana pageant. “I’m pretty small,” said Lauren, who stands at 4’11”. “I have a list of things I want in a dress. But when I call stores to ask if they have it in my size, they say they don’t have it in the store but I can order it online. I’m like, I can’t just order a dress and hope it fits!” After two consecutive years in the pageant circuit and competing for the Miss Indiana crown, Lauren spent a year away from the Miss America organization to focus on her mental health. In February, Lauren returned to pageants and won Miss IU, a preliminary to the Miss Indiana pageant. Lauren has overcome struggles with her height and happiness to get to where she is today. This summer, she’ll vie for the Miss Indiana crown this summer with a renewed sense of who she is and why she wants to represent young women. Lauren was an active member of Terre Haute South High School when Delana Pearman, who worked with the Miss American organization, approached her about competing. “I remember the day so clearly,” Lauren said. “I was walking to gym class, and she saw me in the hallway and she looked at me and said, “I need to talk to you.”” Delana talked to Lauren about her potential for success in pageants. Lauren came to the conclusion that someone who loved her would never leave her astray, and she put her trust in Delana. She met for lunch in Delana’s office every day discussing pageant strategy, and soon Lauren had entered her first pageant, competing for Miss Crossroads to America. Lauren said her first pageant was more of a learning experience than anything else, an opportunity to decide if this was a world she wanted to be a part of. She wore her prom dress from her junior year of high school and performed a dance she’d performed previously, edited to fit the pageant’s 90-second talent portion time limit. Lauren would go on to win the 2012 title. But what she said meant more to her than the crown and sash was her involvement with her philanthropic platform, Make-a-Wish Foundation, and her relationship with one girl in particular. Rather than volunteer with Make-a-Wish, Lauren chose to adopt a child’s wish, which would require her raise money to fund a child’s dream. Lauren was matched with four-year-old Faith, who was suffering from a rare brain tumor. Faith’s wish was to go to Disney World, and Lauren needed to raise $6,000 to help make that wish a reality. Lauren organized Dancing for Faith, a dance recital held at her high school. In addition to soliciting performances from local dance teams and studios, Lauren hosted and danced at the event, which raised $4,000 for Faith and her wish. “I was doing all of this work for this and not realizing how much I was going to get out of this later on,” Lauren said. “It’s one of my best memories ever.” After graduating from high school and moving to Bloomington for college, Lauren kept her pageant career alive, despite challenges in her personal life. Attempting to pick up the pieces after breaking up with her boyfriend, Lauren said she hoped for a fresh start at college. But she kept her social circle close-knit, rooming with her best friend from high school, Amanda, and spending her weekends at home with her family. What occupied her time and kept her driven was preparing for the Miss Indiana pageant. One thing that plagued Lauren going into her next pageant experience was the stigma that came with her height, something her sister, Elena, saw her struggle with firsthand. “Just like any other physical attribute, height has gained its own scrutiny, especially more petite girls,” Elena said. In her previous pageant experience, Lauren had been advised to try to look more mature and not seem as short. According to a study by PBS, the average height of women who have won the Miss America crown is 5’6 ½”, towering more than seven inches above Lauren. “Through the few months leading up to Miss Indiana, I had heavily focused on looking the part," Lauren said. “I didn't think, and others didn't think, that I looked the part. I struggled between how I viewed myself and how I wanted others to view me.” On a whole, Lauren said she was not getting what she wanted out of her college experience, and it kick-started feelings of helplessness and depression. “I was grasping on to my family and Amanda,” Lauren said. “You have so much free time when you first get to college. It’s a lot to handle. I was very intimidated by the college lifestyle.” Elena became Lauren’s confidant – Lauren would spend almost all of her time with her when she went home, and Elena began to notice her sister’s unhappiness eating away at her. “It was extremely hard to watch my sister struggle through her first couple years of couple,” Elena said. “I tried to support her the very best I could really. Just by being there for her, to listen, to sometimes give advice, and of course guide her when I was able to.” She joined the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, the same sorority her older sister was in, as an attempt to branch out. But she didn’t feel herself growing any happier, and when her ex-boyfriend came to Bloomington in January asking for her back, it only made things worse. “He came back and said, “Oh, my gosh, I don’t remember the past six months. Will you take me back?” she said. “I was like, this is what every girl wants, but I shouldn’t be wanting that.” Lauren began meeting with her ex-boyfriend in secret and keeping herself isolated from her new sisters. It wasn’t until she attended a mock interview for the Miss Indiana pageant that all the negative thoughts and feelings she’d had about herself came crashing down on her. Some of the judges at the trial run had seen Lauren earlier in the year, when she’d been doing better, and they noticed a change in her. “They told me, “Wow, Lauren, what happened to the girl we judged in November?”” she said. “”Did something happen? What’s going on?” I hadn’t cried in months. I was blocking myself to feeling emotion. At that moment, it all came out.” After that moment, Lauren said she decided she needed to take time to focus on herself and what would make her happy. She broke things off with her boyfriend for good and took a year off of pageants, but her depression continued to grow. In a bold attempt to regain a sense of purpose in her life, Lauren traveled to Los Angeles to check off an item from her bucket list – completing an intensive Hollywood acting course. She moved into her cousin’s apartment while he was gone for the summer and received the liberation she craved. “I think I spent too much time trying to fit into a mold,” she said. “I tried to process what the last two years had been. I learned more about myself in three weeks than I did my entire life.” Lauren returned to IU this year with the goal to finish what she started and focus on doing what made her happy, including getting back into pageants. Due to her bout with depression, Lauren decided to change her philanthropic platform from Make-a-Wish to To Write Love on Her Arms, a non-profit dedicated to helping people suffering from addiction, depression, self-injury, and thoughts of suicide. “I felt like everywhere I turned, depression and suicide surrounded me,” she said. “I was so frustrated. We need to be talking about these things, and I felt my purpose was to live that out on campus. I wanted to represent the school and bring awareness to these events and issues no one wants to talk about.” The best way Lauren felt she could do this – becoming Miss IU. After a year-long hiatus from the pageant circuit, Lauren received the title and will compete in her third Miss Indiana pageant in four years. Lauren will compete for the state-wide title on June 20 in Zionsville. One person that will be there to root Lauren on is Elena, along with the rest of her family. “Lauren works very hard to compete at the caliber that she does,” Elena said. “I expect that she will do her very best and shine, as she always does.” In the far future, Lauren sees herself getting her career off the ground, hopefully one that combines her psychology and journalism education. But with her pageant career still going strong, she’s focused on one thing – being her true self. “It’s easy to compare yourself to other pageant contestants,” Lauren said. “But I have to grow within and feel good about myself. I’m going to have a good time knowing who I am is enough.” On one of the windows of the newly opened Sofra Café, a decal reads “Halal.” It is small, written in a fine script. But to café owner and chef Naciye Akgun, it is an imperative trait in her business.
Naciye says Halal refers to a style of cooking and food preparation imperative in the Muslim religion. It is something her customers take very seriously, so it is something in which she invests a lot of time and money. Every week, she and her husband/business partner Mehmet make the trek up to Indianapolis from Bloomington to shop for food and ingredients. That way, she can be assured what she is selling to her customers is truly Halal. For Naciye, it is a modest price to pay to ensure a pleasant experience for her patrons. “If you do what you like,” she says, “you can get the best.” Since Turkish eatery Sofra opened its doors on Jan. 19, Naciye has finally been getting to do what she likes. The passion and care she has for her food and her customers translates to the welcoming atmosphere of the café, as well as the finished – and happily consumed – product. As local residents and foodies are well aware, the prime destination for international cuisine in Bloomington is Fourth Street. Sofra is slightly off the beaten path of B-Town’s foreign fare with its Walnut Street location, not to mention a bright décor, complete with eggplant, olive green and Creamsicle orange walls, an Istanbul city skyline wall decal and a handmade quilt from Naciye’s mother. The modern interior was more reminiscent of Panera Bread than the Middle East. But the café does a few things to make it stand apart from the competition – in a good way. The space’s tight layout forces parties to eat a little too close to one another, but that coziness also pushes the kitchen toward the front. Hearing and watching Naciye and Mehmet, along with the rest of the kitchen staff, clattering and chattering while they cook epitomizes a true family-restaurant experience. Sofra also features menu options unique to a Turkish eatery. As a café, it is open for breakfast as well as lunch and dinner, providing customers with spinach and feta Boreks and crepes that some other Turkish restaurants don’t provide. But aside from its hours and early-bird menu options, Sofra’s dinner entrees have a home-cooked comfort to them that allows them to stand out from the crowd. One of the café’s more popular dishes, as Naciye reports, is the Mediterranean chicken, cooked in a spice-infused marinade with peppers and onions. As with all dinner dishes, it comes with a side of rice or, for a more authentic experience, the Turkish grain, bulgur. The chicken is moist and tender, cooked to perfection, and the sauce slowly builds in tanginess so as not to overwhelm your taste buds. The rice is neither too soggy nor too dry, but what really makes this dish pop is combining the two delicacies. The rice soaks up the sauce like a sponge, making the otherwise ho-hum side a bit more thrilling. With a generous serving of both dishes, you’ll definitely have enough left over to take home – but don’t expect the same mouth-watering experience as when you ate it in-house. The dish also comes with a slice of homemade pita bread, which unfortunately gets lost in the shuffle. The pita is not bad – it is fresh and hearty – but it cannot hold a candle to the chicken-and-rice medley. But what really makes this Turkish joint stand out from the crowded repertoire of Bloomington Middle Eastern restaurants is the sincerity and passion of the Akguns. Speaking to Naciye, it is clear this is more than a business – it is a fantasy finally realized. While attending college in her native Turkey, one of Naciye’s professors gifted her with a Turkish cookbook. That book has stayed with her all these years later, even inspiring dishes on the menu, including the popular Sultan’s Delight. Naciye hopes to one day display the book in the café, honoring it as her driving force and inspiration for Sofra. Naciye said support from the local mosque as well as the media has kept her and her staff busy since they have opened. She is excited that a diverse group – from Turkish people to college students to the over-50 crowd – have stopped by to try out their Turkish delicacies. She believes her restaurant is proof of what hard work and determination can bring. “If you follow your dream,” she says, “it will come true.” After years of dreaming, it is heartwarming to see a small business owner’s goals finally realized. Not to mention, it is proof that there is more to Bloomington’s ethnic offerings than what can be found on Fourth Street. One of the first disagreements I ever had with my mom revolved around movies.
I was five years old, and one of my friends had invited me and my sister to see “The Rugrats Movie.” But my mom would not let us go – she worried the character Angelica was a bad female representation for young girls, and she did not want us to become exposed to that at such an impressionable age. At the time, I was furious with my mom. But now, almost 20 years later, I am grateful I had someone who was looking out for me and my feminine identity. Today, I seek out those examples of positive female representation on my own. And with films, like “Selma,” “Wild” and “Gone Girl” released this year, I find it inspiring to see more and more films directed by, written by and starring women as more than just the leading man’s girlfriend. But if you looked at this year’s Academy Award nominations, you would see a Hollywood apparently lacking in girl power. All eight of the nominated films for Best Picture star male protagonists. Not a single female received a nomination in the directing or writing categories, especially shocking since Ava DuVernay directed “Selma,” one of the most universally acclaimed films of the year, and was considered a frontrunner for the Best Director statue going into the nominations announcement. The Academy Awards have been in existence for more than eight decades. It is a major cultural platform for the U.S. to show the world the extraordinary movies our filmmakers created over the year. If the Oscars cannot represent the diversity that exists and is continuing to flourish in Hollywood, it's sending a message to the international film community that the only films that matter are those helmed by men. While these nominations came as a shock to me and others in the film community, when you look at who is voting on these honorees, it all starts to make sense. The Academy itself is a sausage fest - 94 percent of all Oscar voters are male, according to a study by the Los Angeles Times. This is not the first time this year the discrepancy between male and female actors in Hollywood has been exposed. In November 2014, the widely publicized Sony hackings revealed that five-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence were paid less than their male counterparts in the film “American Hustle.” Both women received nearly universal praise for their performances in the film – they both even nabbed Oscar nominations – not to mention the film didn’t receive studio support until Lawrence’s “Hunger Games” franchise proved a major hit. But that didn’t stop their paychecks from coming up short of fellow stars Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner. Pay gaps between men and women have long existed in American culture, and while it may take greater steps to fully amend that, I say there’s something that can be done for the Academy to represent greater diversity. The voting body for the Academy Awards needs to be more representative of the film community at large. This year shows more clearly than ever that a heavily male-skewed voting pool has some effect on the outcome of the nominations, and therefore the winners. Not only do we need more diversity involved in the film-making process, but we need diversity in those who decide to honor them. I long for the day when films created by and starring females are awarded the same recognition as those starring men. Until then, I encourage all film lovers to seek out strong female role models in the industry who are a part of powerful films. And no, that does not include “The Rugrats Movie.” |
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