hb-reynolds

[hb-reynolds]

My first piece as the Arts & Literature editor at the University Observer. Issue one of the year is always a mad dash - it's typically made almost entirely in house, as you don't yet have a contributor list, so everyone is jumping from section to section, filling spaces for each other and writing 4,000 words after midnight the day before we go to print.

I'm a nerd at heart (always and forever) so of course my first piece when I got even a modicum of editorial control was about the difference in how the stories of Superman and Supergirl work as immigrant narratives.

The article was originally published in September 2017, and can be read at the link above, or in the read below.

The concept of Superman, at its core, is that of a god. He is a supernatural, infallible being who protects and serves humanity at a level that would be impossible for any other singular person. However, behind Superman, exists a man. Clark Kent, the humanity which motivates Superman, drives him to be the hero, has became such a cultural milestone. Due to this, Clark is where most of the internal conflict originates throughout the various iterations of the character, since his conception in 1938. A large portion of this conflict is derived from these conflicting personas. Clark, a humble, kind child of farmers from Kansas, and Kal-El, the superpowered ‘Last Son of Krypton’, battle for dominance in the life of Superman. His attempts to balance these two identities is what creates the majority of his internal struggle.

These identities represent the two worlds, the two origins, he has to balance. On the one hand, Superman is a farm boy from Smallville. The only son to his parents, he is a quiet reporter, an All-American father and loving husband. On the other, he is Kryptonian. He is one of two survivors of his home planet, and depending on the specific run, the sole owner to the knowledge of Krypton. He exists in an ever-present struggle between his lived history: the knowledge of where he has come from, and the knowledge that he will never truly experience the land which he is supposed to call ‘home’.

This struggle is one faced by many who immigrated at a young age, particularly those who were adopted into their new home, as Clark was. This has not gone unnoticed by writers either, many new recent issues depict Superman protecting and aligning himself with immigrants faced with violence or deportation to violent or unfamiliar lands. As well as this, fans and creators alike have taken to referring to Superman as a “DREAMer”, a young immigrant who is fully assimilated to American life by adulthood, who arrived to the United States without documentation, and followed the specific “DREAMer” path to gain citizenship.

Superman’s Kryptonian identity remains a background feature throughout his multiple iterations, creating internal drama surrounding his guilt for not engaging with it enough in his day to day life. Writers typically alternate between neglecting visits to the centre of Kryptonian history on Earth, and most recently, his internal debate over how much of his Kryptonian identity he wishes to pass on to his half-Kryptonian son, Jonathan. However, these underlying conflicts are ever present as moments for introspection in an otherwise action heavy comic. This conflict is seen far more clearly in one of Superman’s main companion comics, Supergirl. Supergirl, which tells the stories of Kara Zor-El, Clark’s elder cousin and the ‘last daughter of Krypton’, is typically depicted as arriving to Earth five to ten years after the emergence of Superman. Clark typically being in his mid-to-late twenties at the time of her arrival.  She is in her late teens when we first encounter her, escaping Krypton upon its demise. Immediately, she struggles to find a place in this new and confusing world she finds herself in. She cannot speak the language, has no friends or support network, and her only existing family is twenty-five to thirty years older than she is. Her story is that of a struggle for assimilation, of the complexities of finding your way in a nation you have no idea how to navigate or how to communicate in.

Due to this, Kara struggles to find a place on Earth while still maintaining her heritage, an intrinsic part of herself. To her, to give up her heritage is to give up Krypton, a land to which she can never return. This struggle is absent from Clark’s story, as he grew up in the heartland of America, only discovering his heritage later in life. 

Both narratives are easily discernible, as are the complexities of the aftermath of immigration, the settling and the settled, those who are detached from their heritage by circumstance and those who have to find a way to balance it with their new life. It serves to create internal tension for the work, to create a more rounded story than ‘Godlike Character Saves the Day #978’, by adding a level of political commentary that comics are seldom without. Without this, the stories would never have withstood the test of time and would likely have faded into obscurity, along with countless other superhero stories which lacked the internal conflict to make their tale eternal.

[hb-reynolds]

This was my last article as a Staff Writer at the University Observer, and was also my first piece of data journalism. Unfortunately, the webpage where I found the lists of previous Student Union sabbatical officers has since been wiped due to a lack of sourcing (as has the University Observer wiki, which contained lists of all previous editors and the standout pieces from their tenure), but it was all accurate at time of reporting (April 2017). Since then, I'm happy to say that the year to year gender breakdown has gotten a bit less male dominated, and with more openly trans officers to boot.

This article, on a more personal note, is also one of my earliest memories of the UO office. Myself and Nathan Young (another Staff Writer at the time, who has gone on to be one of my longest collaborators and dearest friends) sat opposite each other at a tiny desk working on last minute articles for the opinion section, which was due for print in under five hours time. For better or for worse, this became a habit of ours until he left the UO in 2022.

The article can be read at the link above, or in the read below.

With just one female candidate elected to UCDSU this year, Heather Reynolds examines the struggle in getting women into politics. 

Student Union election season has ended, with only one of six female candidates elected to a sabbatical position. This, being no surprise to anyone, was not commented on besides a few unpopular tweets, expressing mild resignation.

UCD students, used to the all-male sabbatical team from the 17/18 session, see the lone elected female candidate as either a step in the right direction or a non-issue, which, on one level, it is. Going from a male dominated sabbatical team to a team which contains a singular woman is, on paper, an improvement. However, when compared to the year previous which had a team consisting of two women and three men, and the year before that, which had three women, it shows that overall, the election of women to sabbatical positions is on a downturn.

This downturn is not for lack of engagement, as there are women running. All but one seat in the sabbatical elections were contested by a female candidate, all of whom has relevant experience, interesting ideas, or both. In fact, almost half of the candidates who ran were women, all of whom were qualified and charismatic in their campaigns. So why did none of them win? The preferable answer is that the other candidates ran on better policies, or had more active campaign teams, however the campaign is only half the battle with elections. Personal experience with candidates, or internal bias, can change how a well fought campaign is perceived, and so misogyny is not something that can be easily discounted when discussing this issue.

It is worth examining why the first three eliminated candidates for the presidential race were all of the women who ran

If public engagement was the decider between candidates, how did Murphy beat McFadden in Richview, where only she and Aljohmani had canvassers for the entire voting period? If it was policy used to decide, how did O’Brien get more first round votes than McFadden or Aljohmani, when both were more confident in their manifesto points at hustings? While it may seem reductive to assume lack of votes for female candidates is down to sexism, it is worth examining why the first three eliminated candidates for the presidential race were all of the women who ran. The same can be said in the race for Education Officer, where the candidates ran on virtually identical campaigns, had uncannily similar experience, and yet Crosby won by almost 10% of the vote.

Since 1975, only forty-three women have held a sabbatical position within the union. That is one woman for every year the union has been in session. Considering that the union has never had less than four sabbatical officers, and that the percentage of female students at third level is typically slightly higher than male students, less than a quarter of those who have held a position being women speaks to a larger issue that has echoed across student unions in Ireland. This year, Trinity students' union had thirteen candidates for election, two of which were women, one of which was running for a position that was not actually part of the union, that of the University Times editor. Both female candidates won, however both were running virtually uncontested for the positions, as O’Mahony, now editor of the University Times, was running against a joke candidate who was also running for president. She won 58.5% of the vote. Aimee Connolly, TCSU’s incoming Education Officer, ran entirely unopposed.

Since 1975, only forty-three women have held a sabbatical position within the union. That is one woman for every year the union has been in session

The view on this may be that student politics is a nonsense aspect of student life that holds no bearing, and who cares who gets in because they never change anything anyway, they only sap funds from clubs and societies. This may or may not be true, however student politics provides a valuable role to those who wish to pursue politics in their later careers. Paschal Donohoe, current Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform, started out in the Trinity College branch of Young Fine Gael and was actively involved in student politics throughout his time in university. Without this background, he may never have gotten anywhere in national politics as it provided him with experience and contacts uninvolved students would never encounter.

It is notable that the number of women holding seats in the Dáil currently stands at 22%, less than a quarter of the seats available, in line with both Trinity and UCD’s most recent elections, where one out of five officers are women.

Student politics are a lot of people's first foray into politics as a whole. In UCD it provides a lot of students with their first experience voting down the ballot, engaging with election material, and making an informed decision regarding who they want in a democratically-elected position of authority. We are pushing women to get more involved with politics on a national level, yet male prevalence in student unions is going unexamined. Real world politics informs student politics, and student politics provides an introduction to real world politics, and so these pushes should be unified, as one cannot exist to the best of its potential without the other.

[hb-reynolds]

I have described this article a lot of different ways to a lot of different people down the years, but it in essence boils down to a pitch that was just a headline, that became an article critiquing how hot take culture interacted with long term structural issues, that then had several rewrites because it wasn't viewed as relevant enough to Irish university students. It's about the Flint water crisis and about the Irish homelessness epidemic - both of which were longstanding issues at time of printing in November 2017, and only one of which has since been resolved, with Flint having large scale work done on the affected pipework in the early 2020's.

The article can be read in full at the link above or in the read below.

Heather Reynolds examines the weaknesses in the modern liberal ethos through the lens of the Flint water crisis. 

Liberalism as a doctrine is about putting the rights of the individual at the core of politics. Referring to government as a “necessary evil,” it espouses that all people should have the freedom to do as they please, so long as it does not hurt anyone else in the process. However, in recent years, the doctrine has become separated from the practice, with many who profess having liberal views not wholly following this practice. Most recently, liberalism has become conflated with maintaining the status quo with a left-leaning tilt. Rather than pushing for radical change, as has been the course with liberalism in the past, modern liberals concern themselves more with reasoned debate. Hearing both sides has become par for the course in all arguments, even those as simple as whether people should have clean water. Individual human rights, which liberalism professes should be at the core of all legislation, are being debated based on how they affect others, even when they are proven to have no negative effect. This is a phenomenon that has been allowed to occur because liberal ideas are being viewed as an exercise in thought, rather than as actual legislation that affects the lives of others.

This “thought exercise” culture that has arisen in liberal politics has led to two main faults; a lack of acknowledgement of the lives that government policy affects, and a preoccupation with hot topic issues. Due to the focus on reasoned debate and rational thinking, people are encouraged to disconnect, leaving those who are in need of aid without assistance because it would take away benefits from those who do not need them.

Flint, a town in Michigan, declared a state of emergency on the December 15th, 2015 after their water source was changed to save money resulting in slightly higher levels of chlorine. This increase in chlorine levels aggravated the lead piping, causing lead to seep into the water systems and enter the water supply. This state of emergency was one of the leading stories at the time, and people were aghast that an entire town was poisoned over an avoidable change made purely to create a monetary gain for those in government. It was a major talking point among liberal circles, with many organising clean water drives and holding fundraisers to provide aid to those who need it.

This story held the public consciousness for around a month to varying degrees, before fading away entirely

This story held the public consciousness for around a month to varying degrees, before fading away entirely. Flint was without clean water from April 24th in 2014, a year and a half before the state of emergency was declared, with little to no media coverage. The government has agreed to replace the pipes, but at this point, in 2017, locals are still encouraged to avoid drinking the water. People who refer to themselves as liberal, and profess the tenants of liberalism, were preoccupied with this crisis until the next scandal came up, when they quickly moved along. Flint stands as just one example of this aspect of modern liberalism, a preoccupation with having the ‘hottest take’ on any given issue while maintaining an intellectual distance from the matter at hand.

At this point, in 2017, locals are still encouraged to avoid drinking the water

Another example of this is the public response to the homelessness crisis in Ireland. Any new figure released or headline printed about yet another death of a homeless person leads to a few days of indignation on Twitter, maybe a new petition to be emailed to the Dáil, but where is the consistent pressure being placed on the government? Who in Varadkar’s constituency is tweeting their outrage instead of calling his office to complain about the lack of feasible legislation to aid the homeless in Ireland?Comments made by Eileen Gleeson, Director of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive sparked the most recent backlash about homelessness in Ireland. Gleeson said long-term homelessness tends to be caused by years of “bad behaviour,” comments that sparked anger and outrage online, homeless charities spoke out against the comments and possibly received increased donations as a result of the media attention and Twitter storms. Well-intended as such responses may be, they alone are not enough to solve the problem of the Irish homeless, and are clearly not resulting in enough pressure being placed on our government to do more to alleviate the problem. No matter how much the issue is discussed, no action is going to be taken without individuals taking that action themselves.

Who in Varadkar’s constituency is tweeting their outrage instead of calling his office to complain about the lack of feasible legislation to aid the homeless in Ireland?

Liberalism has regressed to a debate rather than an actively engaged political stance, and this has led to people physically not engaging themselves with horrors, instead using them as thought exercises for as long as they stay relevant and then assuming them to have been dealt with when the opposite is true. This is the key fault in modern liberalism: it leaves the issues explored, dissected, but not engaged with to a point where those in power feel the need to effect direly-needed change.

[hb-reynolds]

My first of many Arts and Culture pieces with the UO! As well as the first time I worked with Dylan O'Neill, now with the Examiner. Dylan was such an invaluable support to me during my first two years at the UO, and this piece on the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor really set us off on the right foot.

The article was originally published in November of 2017, and can be read at the link above, or in the read below.

Heather Reynolds deconstructs the myth surrounding role model exclusivity in media and literature. 

This summer, on July 16th, the next actor to be cast as the Doctor was announced during a minute-long short on BBC One. As always, the hype for this event was huge. The topic was trending on most social media sites hours before the announcement was made. The conversation was overrunning other hashtags, such as Wimbledon and BBC News, with fans waiting with baited breath to see who would be taking over as the star of a show with a legacy lasting over fifty years. However, through all of these posts, tweets, and hot takes, one query surfaced time and time again. Would this announcement finally see the introduction of a female Doctor?

The time for the announcement came, Jodie Whittaker was announced as the new lead of Doctor Who, and the overwhelming response was positive. The majority of fans, men and women alike, were excited about the new opportunity this presented, with many pointing out how it was about time. Considering how many other Time Lords were known to regenerate into different species, transcending gender seemed like a small step in comparison. This wasn’t even the first time the modern iteration has had a Time Lord regenerate into a body that would be perceived as a different gender, with the role of the Master being portrayed by Michelle Gomez since series eight, taking over from John Simm’s Master. By all accounts, while it is a first for the Doctor, it isn’t a big deal in the show’s canon.

“The obvious response to this is: why can young boys not see a confident woman as a role model?”

However, while many rejoiced over this new role model for young girls in popular fiction, and others felt no particular way about it, there were many viewers who held incredibly negative views about the casting. Some felt robbed of the grandfatherly nature of the Doctor, who had endeared them to the role originally, and some felt that it was too much to explain to children that the Doctor, who changed body every few series, had done it again but a bit differently. The majority of criticism received was due to young boys having one less role model to look up to. The obvious response to this is: why can’t young boys see a confident woman as a role model?

This occurs time and time again with modern fiction, where men are seen as role models for all, and women are seen as just role models for young girls. Most modern television for children has male leads, including shows that are not geared towards a specific gender, whereas female led shows are perceived as a ‘girl thing.’ According to a recent study, 57% of protagonists in children’s literature published between 1990 and 2000 are male, with only 31% of lead characters being female. The remainder are animals, of which only 1/3 are female. Books and television shows with female leads are seen as less marketable, and are more likely to be turned down by those in charge in the industry.

However, this perception that boys cannot relate to a female protagonist has little basis in reality. The majority of children, regardless of gender, will look up to and relate to the ‘good guys’ regardless of who they might be. They may relate to some more than others, like the character that wears glasses like they do, or plays soccer like they do, but gender is often the last thing on their mind when looking at an ensemble cast. Many young children who feel ostracised by their ‘nerdy’ nature find solace in characters like Matilda and Eliza Thornberry, while others get the courage to stand up for what they believe in from characters like Mulan and General Leia Organa.

“While Skulduggery is the titular character, it is Valkyrie’s story and she is the character people emote with, boys and girls alike.”

To take a more Irish example, the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Dublin-based writer, Derek Landy is geared towards those aged 11 up into their late teens. The ten book series is based around a skeleton detective who solves murders and can summon fireballs into his hands. It, by all intents and purposes, sounds like the ultimate teen boy series. However, it has one clear difference from the other books you will find in this genre. Its protagonist is a teenage girl. While Skulduggery is the titular character, it is Valkyrie’s story and she is the character people relate to, boys and girls alike.

Female role models are for everyone, not just girls, and to limit the extent of their impact is to ignore and undervalue the immense good they do to the lives of so many children and adults alike. It’s long past time to gear media towards different children, instead of targeting children based on gender, and so, really, who cares about the gender of the actor who plays the Doctor, so long as they keep the fun and whimsy of the show alive?

Doctor Who returns to screens on Christmas Day on BBC1.

[hb-reynolds]

I received my first ever piece of hate mail off the back of this article - it was very plainly a copy pasted response from someone who hadn't read the article, but I still count it.

Full article available at the link or under the Read More

The NRA is one of the most successful lobbying groups in the USA, but what do they actually do? Heather Reynolds investigates its history and enduring influence.

The second amendment to the U.S.A constitution was implemented in 1791 and is defined colloquially as “the right to bear arms.” The full amendment reads “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The intention behind the amendment was to ensure the government could never exert total control over its people. By having a people with the right to bear arms, the will of the people would prevail. The citizens of the U.S.A would have the power to overthrow their government by violent force if it was required.

The second amendment protects an individual’s right to bear arms

The battle for gun control began in 1939 with United States v. Miller. This case set the precedent for gun regulation in the U.S. for the first time, wherein the court ruled that a sawn-off shotgun could not be of military use, and thus could be regulated against. This precedent stood for almost seventy years, not without challenge, but was eventually struck down in 2008, during the case of District of Columbia v. Heller. The plaintiff, Heller, argued that Washington D.C.’s strict handgun ban was unconstitutional, as it contradicted the second amendment. Unlike the 1939 Supreme Court, which placed a great deal of emphasis on the military ties in the amendment, the 2008 Supreme Court sided with Heller for the abolition of the handgun ban.

The District of Columbia v. Heller was a landmark case and ruled that the second amendment protects an individual’s right to bear arms, unconnected with the military, as this was the intention in which the amendment was made. This ruling revitalised the movement in the U.S.A to strengthen gun protection laws, and revitalised the National Rifle Association (NRA).The NRA is among the largest of the special interest lobbying groups in America, with an annual budget of $250 million and a membership that is typically placed between 3 and 5 million. When the NRA began in 1871, it originally pushed for better gun control, playing an active role in lobbying for both the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968. However, its origins are not political in nature. It began as a scientific research and promotion group, and provided education for both communities and politicians alike. That is not to say that the NRA were not political, however it was not a key aspect of the organisation at the time. The NRA as an organisation did not become outwardly political until the 1970s forming of its Political Action Committee in 1977, which gave them the power to fund legislators as an organisation, allowing them to further their message.

This change in direction was not just a shift to political lobbying. The 1970s also saw a shift in the primary mission statement of the group; it no longer advocated for gun control. Instead it pushed heavily against any new legislation that could potentially hinder any individual from gaining access to a gun. This change in ethos correlates with a shift in leadership, as well as the shooting of long-time member Kenyon Ballew during a raid by the federal government in 1971. Ballew was under suspicion of stockpiling weaponry, made illegal by the Gun Control Act of 1968. The shooting paralysed Ballew and turned the NRA against the government, and began their lobbying against any gun control measure they attempted to introduce.The NRA has stuck with this stance ever since, with their members remaining active lobbyists against gun control. They have lobbied against the Manchin amendment, which would have prohibited those on the federal terrorism watchlist from purchasing firearms. Their reasons being, individuals who had not been charged of committing crimes could be added to the watchlist. They have also lobbied against multiple amendments to allow for a national database of gun owners, and against mental health histories being added to background checks.

Between their public appearances and their political lobbying, they leave little room for debate

In 1996, the NRA lobbied to put in place the Dickey amendment in 1996, which disallowed the Centre of Disease Control from allocating any funds towards researching gun related deaths, meaning that no major studies on gun control have been conducted in the US for over 20 years. Outside of their lobbying efforts, they have also appeared in the media several times to dispute claims that gun control could have prevented mass shootings, going as far as to claim that the Sandy Hook Massacre of 2012, in which 20 children were murdered, was faked by the government to push for stronger gun legislation.

The NRA has been pivotal in decrying, delaying, and halting any movement involving gun control at every level of government since 1977, spreading misinformation and twisting circumstances until they appear to be the saner choice. Between their public appearances and their political lobbying, they leave little room for debate on gun control, and no room for any change in the stance of the politicians with whom they are associated.

[hb-reynolds]

My first ever article for the University Observer, all the way back in September 2017. We had just gotten news that the planned consent workshops for students living in residences had been cancelled - now, in 2023, consent workshops are incorporated into the orientation plans for all incoming students.

Full article available under the read more.

Heather Reynolds wonders if the SU showing first years a video about consent is enough. 

Consent workshops are becoming a staple aspect of student orientation on campus, with major universities such as Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University, and Oxford University in England making them a sizeable aspect of their orientation timetable. Trinity has faced such a high demand for these workshops that they have had to plan more for students who were unable to attend the previous batch. So why is it that while other colleges have such a high demand for consent workshops, UCD has cancelled theirs, opting instead to show a three-minute video during another aspect of their orientation programme?

UCD students’ union cancelled their consent workshops in February 2017, citing a lack of interest and a marked under-attendance from students, however this has not been a deterent for other universities. Oxford continues to hold regular workshops throughout orientation, even though attendance can fall as low as three people per workshop. As well as this, Trinity has seen an uptick in attendance this year, with up to 93 people attending one of their workshops, even though they are about as mandatory as the scarf ceremony is in UCD. Considering that other universities hold these workshops regardless of attendance rates, and local universities are seeing an increased interest in these workshops, it seems odd that UCD has downsized their attempts to talk about consent on campus.

That is not to say that UCD is doing nothing. The video shown at orientation, Tea and Consent by Blue Seat Studios, is a highly informative video with a clear message, despite its short run time. However, there are many topics that are discussed in larger workshops that this video does not address, such as consent within an established relationship, or how alcohol can impede decision-making. It also does not discuss other circumstances that can affect someone’s ability to consent, such as large age differences or power imbalances. These situations are too complex to discuss in a three minute long video, but they are necessary discussions to have, which is why larger workshops have been rolled out on so many campuses.

Other universities hold [consent] workshops regardless of attendance rates

These discussions are necessary for many reasons, and should be had in all learning environments from an early age, which, coincidentally, Blue Seat Studios also has a video for. According to a USI study carried out in 2013, almost 20% of Irish female students have had unwanted sexual experiences whilst in their current educational institution. This makes it particularly important we have this discussion within universities and their campuses. However, in university, where basically everything you do is optional to a certain degree, it can be near impossible to get students to attend them, with many believing they know it all already. This lack of interest and assumption of knowledge is what led to UCD cancelling their workshops.

Trinity College increased their intake by giving each hall in their accommodation a set time to attend a workshop and by advertising the workshops heavily, using flyers to promote the classes, and timetables in each residence kitchen. They reached 200 students in the first day of workshops, in comparison to 400 over the full week last year. Workshop coordinators also linked an increase in public discussion to their increased attendance. In comparison to Trinity’s highly publicised classes, many in UCD were not aware of the classes’ existence until after they had ended.

Many in UCD were not aware of the classes’ existence until after they had ended

The SU’s main issue with continuation of the workshops, aside from an underwhelming turnout, was the financial cost. Consent workshops for the 15/16 and 16/17 academic year cost the SU €1,800, with no financial assistance from the university, despite said assistance being promised when the workshops were first introduced. However, the SU have not released their accounts to the public since 2014, so this figure is difficult to confirm, and is difficult to take seriously, considering recent events.

Consent is a difficult discussion to have on campus, but it is an important one, and with more campuses every year joining the discussion, UCD’s choice to cancel their workshops is leaving its students behind the curve. DIT, WIT, Queens University Belfast and NUIG all expanded their consent workshops this year, leaving UCD as the only college to downsize their engagement with students on the issue of consent. This only further indicates that this decision is a firm step backwards.