Kayla Lien

Companies like H&M willfully mislead consumers about their impact on the environment. With sustainable products becoming trendy, it’s no surprise that marketing campaigns use greenwashing to their advantage. The way that corporations greenwash their brands and claim to fight climate change appalls…

Homophobia, whether an individual realizes it or not, contributes to the inherent sexualization of LGBTQ+ communities. Many inaccurately refer to the mere support of queer and trans individuals as sexual in nature. Describing LGBTQ+ support as sexual when it clearly isn’t further inflates the issue, making anything not hetero-cis-normative unsavory and unfit for polite...

  The Church of Latter-Day Saints recently came out in support of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify same-sex and interracial marriage. This statement garnered much attention and praise, as for many, it feels like a step in the right direction. It has also gained a fair share of understandable criticism, as the...

Every year, my social media gets flooded with photos of peers posing with children of color, talking about how they had the experience of a lifetime. Voluntourism has persisted for years and it’s unlikely the billion-dollar industry will dry up anytime soon. Service trips do more harm than good by…

Politics exhaust even the strongest-willed individual. New chaos happens all the time, and you must keep on top of every little detail if you want to stay informed. It’s only natural to lose sight of what matters sometimes. In our current political climate, burnout and activism fatigue go hand in hand. We need to...

A bill introduced in the 2023 Utah Legislative Session will continue to censor curriculum. S.B. 55 will require that all teaching materials are posted online, reviewed by parents and voted on in a public meeting. This bill hurts Utah educators, placing them under a microscope that hinders constitutionally granted free speech. S.B. 55 requires that...

Tennessee’s governor signed S.B. 3 into law on March 2, banning “adult cabaret performance” — drag shows — on public property or in view of minors. It also bans these performances from happening within 1,000 feet of a school, public park or place of worship. Those found violating the law face misdemeanor charges on

The presentation of sexism and misogyny has changed over time. Women and femme-aligned people now have protections in place, such as Title IX, that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender. These measures, unfortunately, have not eradicated sexism. The practice of sexism has simply adapted to the times. While now women can own property,...

  The way we use gendered language has rapidly evolved over the past few years. Suddenly, the strict gender binary of “his” and “hers” isn’t the only possibility. The rise of “neopronouns,” or English third-person pronouns beyond traditional terms, has sparked countless discussions, both for and against. Neopronouns are important signifiers to reflect the genders...

It’s easy to look down on female-coded work such as sewing or embroidery, but craft is an incredible means of communication. Craftivism and “women’s work” is a politically and socially relevant form of art that can’t be ignored in favor of the capitalization of creation. Craftivism, or craft activism, refers to the act of...