Monthly Archives: August 2022

40 years later, business of healthcare changed in very personal ways

Technology has transformed the industry, significantly expanding pharma pipelines, facilitating more engagement, and empowering patients.

By Maria Fontanazza [emailprotected]

When Med Ad News was launched during September 1982, there was no Google, no smartphones, no apps that with a tap of the finger brought you access to nearly the entire world. The term blockbuster drug was non-existent, but billion-dollar drugs would soon enter the picture and remain a goal that pharmaceutical companies would pursue for the next 20-some years, until the rise of generics forced them to shift their strategy. Now 40 years later, life without touchscreens is unimaginable. Fast-tracked by the pandemic, technology has facilitated innovation with tremendous speed, forever changing the trajectory of healthcare. And in our conversations with industry stakeholders, they all pointed to technology whether from a communications perspective or drug development standpoint as being the key driver in addressing challenges and in the continued advancement of the industry.

Not only has technology evolved dramatically, but the ability for pharma companies to better engage with healthcare providers and patients has changed dramatically, and the ability for agencies to deliver smart marketing cost effectively is a huge change, says Mike Myers, co-founder and managing director, CrowdPharm. With patients staking a greater claim in their own care, there is much more emphasis on empowerment and engagement, and pharma companies and marketing agencies have pushed to meet these needs by leveraging technology in new ways. This includes building community and deeper connections between patients, providers, and across the health continuum via technology platforms.

Theres an industrywide shift to help foster greater patient knowledge, self-advocacy and empowerment, yielding increased expectations of convenience and transparency in health-related experiences. This, along with increased measurement of outcomes at every level has mandated truly transformative technological approaches. In turn, this has led to significant changes in the business of life sciences and how we enable modern marketing and health education today with digitization leading the way, says Kim Johnson, global CEO, Ogilvy Health.

The principal client challenge and agency challenge remains the same to get good care into a patient. Its just the steps you go through are more complex, says Jay Carter, executive VP, director of business development, AbelsonTaylor. This is not about creating an oral tablet that is chemically related to another tablet that we know works for hypertension, and putting it out on the market, talking to doctors, leaving samples, and getting patients to take it, and then counting the money. Instead, its about finding the patient, communicating with them to create the need, facilitating the patient and the physician interaction, and ultimately driving use. Its highly personalized, and its highly specialized.

Data: its all about metrics and creating custom experiences

We have data being generated from devices and digital therapies, and on both the research and development side, and the commercialization and real-world side; we have a literal explosion of data types and data sources, says Dennis Urbaniak, executive VP digital therapeutics, Orexo US. Theres an entire industry built around gathering, storing, and maintaining health information that is being applied in multiple facets.

The shift from a one-size-fits-all approach to reach patients to a personalized strategy has pushed the industry to expand how, when, and why it uses data. Were seeing the role of data and technology now permeate everything that the healthcare industry does. The continued evolution of becoming more consumer focused, really thinking about patients as consumers is a key trend that were seeing, says Wendy Carhart, chief communications, culture and purpose officer at Real Chemistry. I think that personalization fits in here from an industry perspective as well, and we know that not all patients are the same, so how do we as an industry evolve to treat them differently, reach them differently, and reach them where they are?

As privacy laws become stricter, the ability to reach patients where they are will be a bigger hurdle and one that will push marketers to change their approach. I think youll see incentives for consumers and healthcare providers to opt in because I want your data, so if youre not going to give it to me, Ill pay you. As a result, consumers are going to receive pharmaceutical information that they want versus based on search [results], Myers says.

Despite the upcoming challenges, the omnipresence of data continues to help creatives, pharma marketers, and folks in the wider healthcare sphere gather meaningful insights and improve health outcomes and the use of data continues to advance and have a wider reach. I believe well see the experience economy meeting health care in a model that is increasingly consumer-driven, virtual, and personalized, with data being shared through a wide array of digital services, apps, and content, Johnson says. Virtual health is here to stay, as consumers are more and more in control of their health decisions, and hospitals and systems are reflecting that demand for a smarter and more personalized approach. These trends in health and customer experience open pathways for greater creativity to support positive health outcomes through diversified digital experiences. The onus is on us as marketers to use the smart technology, logic, and automation that are available to help solve the real health challenges were seeing from unmet patient needs across the health continuum, to easing the mental health burden of HCPs to increasing access to health education.

For pharma marketers, one of the keys to successful use of data is the ability to translate it into information that can be interpreted and deployed quickly, Urbaniak says. Its all about metrics and prospective metrics. I dont need them to bring in a mass of data scientists. I need someone who can talk to me and tell me, the goal for this idea is to accomplish this end result. In the beginning, thats the dialogue that I need to have even before we get into these big strategy sessions and deep dives.

Of course, questions remain regarding whether data overload could become an issue and potentially lead to wasted resources or poor decision making. How much do HCPs trust the data and how much do they trust it in making healthcare decisions? And how will doctors manage additional information that is not managed by a clinical source? pointed out Michael McNamara, managing director of McKinney Health. The generation and extrapolation of actionable data is a process of continuous improvement, experts agree.

The evolution of medicine

The era of blockbuster drugs is long gone, and pharma companies have shifted their sights to addressing much smaller markets. Its a huge shift, because if your target market is 100,000 people, pharmaceutical companies arent going to spend as much promotionally as if the target market is 2 million people, Myers says. Not only have we focused on smaller disease states and those in true need of care as an industry, but thats also changed the way that agencies and clients interact, because there were days when teams of 20-30 product managers were working on one product, and now one product manager might be overseeing two or three brands.

The evolution of technology has spurred significant progress in developing medications and more targeted treatment for diseases. Weve seen a massive increase in the understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of disease, and therefore a massive increase in the potential targets for drug therapy, which has driven a real need for scientific credibility and in some cases very complicated mechanisms of action of drugs and the interaction with some disease processes, says Neil Matheson, chairman, Atlantis Health. So theres been a shift from what I call pure marketing and promotion much more towards scientific and medical/clinical education as a backbone to promotion, with a lot more emphasis on the scientific side of the business and the clinical side of the business especially in areas that are complex like oncology, rare diseases, genetically based diseases, and of course the impact of mapping the human genome and the possibilities it provides in terms of gene therapy is massive.

Im here in the oncology group, and there are so many first-in-class technologies coming to the marketplace: drug device combinations; CAR-T therapies are amazing not just in terms of what they do but also how they go about re-engineering a patients T cells, says Chris Esposito, director, oncology specialty training, Janssen Pharmaceutical. Just the advancement in technology has been remarkable. At its current pace, it will be interesting to see from the customer standpoint, how they stay on top of this new and exciting information.

Johnson has been in awe of the magnitude of scientific progress and innovations across so many therapeutic categories. All of us have benefited from these advancements in one way or another from more comprehensive antibiotics to minimally invasive surgical procedures, Johnson says. Experiencing exciting breakthroughs in heart disease and stroke research and watching universal hepatitis C treatments evolve to the point where the word cure can now be used has been nothing short of extraordinary. The improvements in treating cystic fibrosis have also been remarkable to witness. And, of course, the significant advances in targeted cancer treatments that have improved the lives of so many. Getting closer and closer to the promise of personalized medicine year after year with advanced diagnostics in the genomics and proteomics space is truly inspiring.

Myers predicts the focus on personalized medicine will continue. Theyll tweak a drug down to the DNA based on who you are, or theyre going to adjust a cocktail of medicines; theyre going to be able to look at you and get data on you and improve that outcome, he told Med Ad News.

Carter agrees, stating that developing extraordinary treatments and even finding cures that were previously thought impossible for certain diseases are now becoming an attainable goal. Were getting better at understanding specifically what is going on in a disease state and therefore we can create medications that address them directly. Were working on a gene therapy for hemophilia B, and its not outside the realm of contemplation that we could cure hemophilia B. Those victories have happened over and over again, he says. In 1982, the industry supported many unmet needs in primary care: better products for hypertension, asthma, COPD, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes became available. That required a different kind of promotion mass marketing. Today, with the needs set for each of those disease states, except arguably for diabetes, pharma has evolved to meet more orphan or rare disease, whether that be uncommon disease states or rare cancers addressed by our evolving understanding of the precise reason for a specific cancer. Both open up the need state for virtually every disease: patients (and their caregivers, as many rare diseases are in children) dont know anything about their disease and are literally aching for connection that the industry can bring them.

Communication and making the connection

Industrys efforts to build community, authenticity, and create deeper connection with patients and healthcare providers is an ongoing process that is placing more emphasis on inclusion and a holistic health approach. Well be talking to people with a chronic disease not just about their disease, but also about how to get their stress level down and improve their mental health, McNamara says. And the data from wearables and electronic health records will marry it together to get the fuller picture. Physicians will have to evolve and realize that their relationship with patients cant be to treat them and then send them out. It must look at the individual holistically. This, McNamara points out, is where technology enters the picture in helping address the entire patient versus one aspect.

According to Matheson, the industry must also continue to understand the relationship between healthcare providers, patients, and caregivers, as well as the pressures they face.

Caregivers play a critical role in a lot of healthcare decision making and theyre part of the continuum. The industry has started to become patient focused but theres still limited understanding in how patients interact with physicians and how caregivers support those interactions, he says, adding that there needs to be an understanding of the constraints that physicians face as well. Physicians have a limited amount of time to learn and actually understand what is going on. The industry must understand the pressures on the audience theyre communicating with in terms of their time and adapt to that and maintain an empathetic approach. He states this tactic is critical to managing a healthy relationship, especially in the age of more virtual and digital interaction.

There are number of different ways you can communicate with people depending on what they need, how youd like them to feel, and what you are trying to address, Urbaniak says. And as a marketer, you have to pay attention to functional and emotional as a standard, know some of those triggers, and be able to map those together which is a lot of fun for a marketer because its quite different from the traditional model of drug launches. It also forces you to think very differently and learn a lot of different things. Most people in the industry would be motivated and excited by that.

The reality today is that you account for so much more than just the product and the disease state. This idea of understanding the healthcare ecosystem has really come to the fore. Understanding the business of health care in whatever space you happen to play, whether working in the academic, medical, or community setting, you need to understand that healthcare ecosystem and all the various stakeholders, Esposito says. Its about reacting to the complexity of the healthcare system with organized teams that can help patients get access to medicines. Were talking about potential cures and lifesaving therapies. Thats exciting. The innovation on the therapeutic front is probably what gets me out of bed the most every day. The first drug that I sold as a sales rep was for toenail fungus and now were selling therapies that extend life beyond lung cancer, solid tumors and blood tumors. Its a great time to be in medicine.

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40 years later, business of healthcare changed in very personal ways PharmaLive - PharmaLive

"It's okay if you text me, but I can't respond until after work."

"I just need 30 minutes to complete this task, and then we can talk."

"I know I said I was available tonight, but I think I do need a quiet night at home."

If saying any of this scares you, you're not alone.

For many, the idea of setting boundaries with people you love and work with can feel mean, says Nedra Glover Tawwab, a licensed therapist and author ofSet Boundaries, Find Peace. However, there are tons of psychological benefits to drawing lines in your personal and professional life.

"Anxiety and depression are just some of the mental issues or concerns that arise when boundaries are not present in relationships," she says. "The lack of boundaries can make people feel powerless and hopeless."

And setting boundaries with friends, family, and partners can actually help strengthen those relationships.

"People want to feel seen and being unable to have your needs met equates to you not being seen in relationships," Tawwab says.

Setting boundaries can also shield you from damaging experiences at work, says Lisa Bobby, psychologist and clinical director ofGrowing Self Counseling & Coachingin Denver, Colorado.

"Setting boundaries means knowing your own limits about what you will and won't tolerate," she says. "This is important because it is the first step in protecting yourself from experiences that would be harmful to you if you allowed them."

Telling people what you need can also lead to "increased feelings of empowerment and control over your own life experience," she says.

If you have trouble setting boundaries in your life, there are ways to talk to yourself and others that might ease the process.

Taking care of your own needs before or in tandem with those of your loved ones can often be painted as "selfish," but it's not. "Unlearn that you shouldn't have boundaries," Tawwab says.

"Self-neglect is not a way to show how much you care for others. In relationships, both parties can choose what they want and need."

Start to tell yourself that you deserve to have preferences, she says: "This can be a helpful step toward speaking your needs and desires."

Self-neglect is not a way to show how much you care for others.

Nedra Glover Tawwab

Therapist

Saying "yes" to everything a boss, friend, family member, or even partner asks you to do leaves very little energy for you to pursue what makes you happy.

"Boundaries around how you spend your time and allow others to use it are essential," Tawwab says. "Thinking about time as finite, not infinite, can make people more aware of how important and impactful their time is."

Remind yourself that you only have a limited amount of hours in the day. Then, you'll be more likely to say "no" to experiences that don't serve you.

When it's finally time to draw the line, make the conversation about your actions, not the other person's. "Keep it clear and concise without overexplaining yourself," Tawwab says. "Your boundaries are about you. Communicate in 'I' statements instead of 'you' statements. Instead of explaining the problem, focus on what you need. That's the boundary."

For example, instead of telling a friend not to talk about a specific topic in front of you, communicate that it's unhealthy for you to participate in conversations about that topic.

A boundary could also be about a specific tone or attitude, Bobby says.

"Healthy boundaries are not saying, 'you can't talk to me that way," it is saying, 'if you talk to me that way I will remove myself from this conversation.'"

Stress that this is meant to improve your relationship, not stifle it, Bobby says.

"Find a special time to have a serious conversation that is not on the fly or during an argument," she says. "Use 'soft startup' skills that emphasize your good intentions, and desire to have a better relationship."

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Setting boundaries in your daily life can protect you from 'harmful experiences': Here are 3 tips to get you started - CNBC

The recent victory in Kansas signals good news for the rest of the country. Last week, voters in Kansas became the first in the country to decide the fate of abortion rights. Overwhelmingly, Kansans chose to protect abortion in the state. After weeks of mobilizing on the ground, reproductive justice organizations can now rest easy knowing that their hard work paid off.

Voters were deciding whether the states constitution protected or denied the right to abortion in the state. Rightwing state lawmakers passed an amendment in early 2021 that would have outlawed abortion. But changing the constitution in Kansas requires a statewide referendum. Legislators purposefully added the measure to the ballot in August, when few historically turn out to vote. One July poll even indicated that the majority of voters were in favor of the amendment.

What lawmakers could not prepare for was the reversal of federal abortion rights in June. In the wake of the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision, dozens of states immediately outlawed abortion with minimal exceptions. Others yet imposed severe bans, and more states are poised to follow suit.

This comes at a time when 85 percent of voters think abortion should be legal in some and all cases and 56 percent of Americans are opposed to the Dobbs decision. As the first post-Roe battleground, Kansans had a lot riding on them. Upending expectations, 59 percent of voters rejected the amendment in what CNN called a thunderclap ballot box victory.

Abortion is more than a pet cause of activists in so-called blue states.

Tonight, Kansans from a broad coalition of political beliefs voted resoundingly to maintain the status quo and keep access to abortions legal, Trust Women, an abortion clinic in Witchita, Kansas, said in a statment via email. This was the correct decision, and also the only compassionate and humane option on the ballot. Kansans have rejected the notion that pregnant people are hostages to their pregnancy. They have rejected the notion that the most personal and important life decisions must be managed by distant lawmakers. They have chosen liberty and self-empowerment over extremist ideology.

In the days following the Kansas referendum, The New York Times released new data showing that voters in more than forty states would reject a similar initiative to roll back legal abortion. While this is just a rough estimate, it clearly signals that abortion is a winning issue.

Kansas surprised the nation. Just two years ago, Trump won Kansas by fifteen points.

But this referendum saw 140,000 more votes than the states gubernatorial primary races combined and more Kansans voted in this primary election than in any other in the states history. There was also a massive spike in voter registrations by women after the Dobbs draft opinion leaked in May, and an even larger jump after the decision officially came down, according to data compiled from state voter registration files by Tom Bonier, a lecturer in political science at Howard University.

Anti-abortion actors should take note. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City spent $2.45 million to fund the anti-abortion movement in the state. Its clear that opponents of abortion are deeply out of touch with their constituents and have drastically underestimated the lengths to which people will go to protect access. Abortion is more than a pet cause of activists in so-called blue states. It is a tool of hope, empowerment, and liberationno matter where we live.

Steph Black is an abortion activist and writer based in Washington, D.C. She also writes a column, "The Activist Offering," for The Progressive. Read her work at stephblackstrategies.com.

August 10, 2022

11:21 AM

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The Activist Offering: Lessons from Kansas - Progressive.org - Progressive.org

If youre looking for a way to support female empowerment while you get your sweat on, youre in luck. Global athletic retailer PUMA has partnered with the Frida Kahlo Corporation and OEG Latino to launch the PUMA x FRIDA KAHLO collection to honor the iconic Mexican artist.

The FRIDA KAHLO Collection is part of PUMAs new Female Artist Series, an initiative that celebrates equality and empowers the voices of female artists. Who better to represent such a mission than Kahlo, one of the most inspirational change-makers in history, known for challenging norms and channeling personal struggles into art and self-confidence?

PUMAs collection features workout gear like leggings, crop tops, jackets, tank tops, running shoes and even accessories like hats and gym bags. The pieces all combine style and purpose through beautiful, detailed design and technical fabrics. The designs are inspired by the portraits and artwork of Kahlo.

And best of all, most pieces highlight a powerful Kahlo mantra: No es pecado ser original, serving as an awesome reminder to push yourself.

The pieces in the collection look like works of art in their own right, from vibrant colors to fine stitching. But theyre just as functional as they are beautiful. I love to work out from running to weight lifting to yoga so I was excited to give the pieces a try. I tested out the crop bra, 7/8 tight and reversible jacket. Heres what I thought:

Crop Bra

This crop sports bra has an open back design with delicately woven criss-cross elastics. It allows for excellent breathability while your workout intensifies. The front of the top is equally visually impressive, with floral graphics that run up the sides and colorful contrast stitching accents. I found the fabric to be quite comfortable; its supportive and quick-drying. The moisture-wicking technology helped me to stay dry and comfortable during even intense workouts. This crop bra works well for a workout like spinning, for example, because it provides great coverage that moves with you.

7/8 Tight

This tight is a fashion-forward legging with floral prints, inspired by Kahlos lovely blooms, a lace-up elastic waistband detail and contrast stitching. The effect of this detailing is an enchanting homage to the eclectic personal style Kahlo is known for. The tight features supreme support, quick-drying fabric and opaque coverage so you dont have to worry about any wardrobe malfunctions while youre getting a workout in. These are a nice fit for a run or HIIT workout because they have just the right amount of compression to keep your muscles engaged.

Reversible Jacket

Finally, the reversible jacket tells a powerful story. Inspired by The Two Fridas, an emotionally charged portrait that illustrates the artists two differing personalities, the jacket provides an illustration of duality. One side features a solid color design with a subtle flower crown along the hood. The other side boasts a vivid allover floral graphic, ideal for when you feel like making a statement. Whether you are going for subtlety or prefer to be bold, the jacket is a perfect fit. This jacket is awesome to toss on after a sweat session because it transitions nicely from the gym to running errands. Or if youre gearing up for a cold-weather workout, its a great lightweight layer that wont slow you down.

The FRIDA KAHLO collection is a unique outlet for Kahlos artwork and legacy, gorgeously illustrating female empowerment and independence. Her passion continues to serve as a legacy that moves us forward, through her art and pieces like this collection. Not only does the collection offer a wide variety of styles, but theres also variety in their sizing, inclusive for all body types.

The FRIDA KAHLO Collection is available on PUMA.com and in PUMA stores with a price range of $35-$150.

Notice any corrections needed? Please email us at corrections@wearemitu.com

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I Tested PUMA's New Frida Kahlo Collection Honoring the Iconic's Legacy - mit

The digital route taken by photography today has led to people forgetting the existence of film, a medium that called for much patience from photographers due to the length of time between taking the image and producing it as a viewable photograph.

But Serena Chopra has used film to capture the simple subject of the Tibetan refugees living in Majnu Ka Tilla, North Delhi, and released the photographs thus produced in the form of a book. The colony is on the periphery of the Yamuna river, encircled by stinking drain waters and the Ring Road and close to the Inter-State Bus Terminus (popularlyknown asKashmiri Gate ISBT).

Most of the people in Majnu Ka Tilla are Tibetans. Many of them escaped the arrival of Chinas Red Army in their country with their lives and not much else. Living in India as refugees since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, the older generations of this colony have not applied for Indian citizenship because, while this may be their sanctuary, it is not their home. Indeed, from the moment they arrived in India, they have been involved in the Free Tibet campaign that demands the return to Tibetans of their land from China.

The Majnu Ka Tilla Diaries is not an expensive coffee table tome. Rather it is small, square-ish and looks like a journal. With 123 matt finished pages and photo plates, the images of the people Serena captured connect directly with readers.

From Serena Chopras book.

The intimacy of the written word in a personal diary format has always appealed to me as a mode of personal expression, says Chopra, explaining why she chose this format for her book. The Majnu Ka Tilla Diaries emerged like imagined excerpts from the diaries of this displaced community of refugees who struggle to survive here.

Chopras book includes a few pages from the diaries of some of the individuals she photographed. These handwritten pages tell of the writers struggles against the mammoth Chinese occupation of their country.

Vision of understanding

Photography is a tool that gives the unheard a voice, especially with regard to struggle, conflict and identity. Serena has used her art skilfully to depict the lives of the ordinary Tibetans who live in a small area of Delhi mostly known only to university students who treat it as a place to hang out and eat.

The more than half a century that the Tibetan diaspora have lived and thrived here, creating cultural coherence in a foreign land, has been noteworthy, says Chopra. I was struck by the human complexities of those who live in exile. The dream of going home to Tibet is a faraway one. Yet thats what seems to hold them back from actively seeking citizenship after more than 60 years of exile. The reality and dreams of the second and third generations after the exodus, however, shift the status quo. Their needs for identity and security cannot remain the same as they establish a new dual identity.

From Serena Chopras book.

With the growing hegemony of China in the world, Chopra displays Tibetan empowerment through her photographs.

Art and words dont know borders. Images and text are subliminal and powerful sensitisers, sometimes making meaningful inroads into our understanding, she says.

Inside the colony

Serena first came across Majnu ka Tilla as a University of Delhi student in the 1970s. But she worked on this book between 2007-2015. Though there are several Tibetan settlements around the country, Chopra focused on Majnu Ka Tilla because, It seemed to me to be truly representative of the Tibetan refugee situation in and around India.

The book uses images of the surroundings and the people to define the small colony and the struggle of those who inhabit it. Chopra used a Hassalblad 120mm format camera and black and white film to portray the ideas of the lives within the colony. While the images display an intimacy with and empathy for the struggling and growing community that stands firm against Chinas global power, the book is also about the everyday lives of the people in this colony.

Refugees from Tibet have been welcomed in India since Jawaharlal Nehrus years as Indias first prime minister. The young Dalai Lama was permitted to grow up in exile in India and many Tibetan refugees settled in McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh, Bylakuppe in Karnataka and the colony of Majnu Ka Tilla in New Delhi.

China has never been happy with Indias policy towards Tibetan refugees, which allows the Tibetans to fight for their rights from India. So far, however, India has stood by the refugees from Tibet.

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'The Majnu Ka Tilla Diaries' Reveals Tibetan Empowerment in India - The Wire

Kentwood Players will hold open auditions for 9 to 5 the Musical, with Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton, Book by Patricia Resnick, on Saturday, August 27, 2022 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and Sunday, August 28 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Callbacks will be held on Monday, August 29 by invitation only. This is a non-equity, non-paid production directed by Kirk Larson, musical direction by Catherine Rahm, choreography by Marie Gleerup, and produced by Jeremy Palmer and Bouket Fingerhut for Kentwood Players with rights secured from Music Theatre International.

Performance dates are November 11th through December 10th, 2022 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. There are no performances Thanksgiving weekend, November 25 27. Auditions and performances take place at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045.

Based on the hit 1980 movie starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin, 9 to 5 the Musical tells the story about three workmates pushed to a boiling point by their sexist and egotistical boss. Outrageously funny, thought-provoking, and even a little romantic, this musical is about friendship and revenge in the Rolodex era.

Those auditioning must be fully vaccinated, with mask wearing required indoors unless performing onstage. Please read the play before auditioning to become familiar with the characters. No appointments are necessary to audition; just arrive to allow time to sign-in and complete paperwork during scheduled audition times. Please bring a current headshot and resume as well as your calendar as a rehearsal schedule will be posted at auditions and you will be asked to note any conflicts. Actors are asked to bring music in the style of the show and will be required to learn and perform a short dance number. Please be prepared to cold-read from the script at auditions. If you have any questions for the production team, please email 9to5@kentwoodplayers.org

Free street parking is available on 83rd Street and in the adjoining neighborhood, but not on Hindry Avenue, with left turns restricted on the corner of Hindry and Florence. So please read all traffic and parking signs carefully when you arrive to audition.

Character Breakdown:

Auditions for all characters are open to all ages, genders, ethnicities and physical abilities. Please see playable ranges below.

Violet 40-50, F3 D5. The company's Head Secretary and Mr. Hart's Administrative Assistant, she is a single mother and typically stands up for what she believes in. Attractive, strong, ambitious.

Doralee 20-30, G3 E5. A young, sexy spitfire who works at Mr. Hart's office. She is proof that there is more to a woman than just her looks.

Judy 30-40, A3 F5. The "new" girl at the firm, she has been burned by her husband's affair and is searching for personal empowerment. Insecure, determined, and hopeful.

Franklin Hart 45-55, C3 G4. One of the firm's executives and a notorious chauvinist. He is capable of faking charm but usually shows his true colors as an arrogant, self-absorbed boss.

Roz Keith 35-45, G3 C5. The attentive office gossip queen and snitch. She has an unrequited love for Mr. Hart and will do anything she can to win his approval.

Joe 25-35, B2 G4. A handsome, young office accountant. Genuine and nice, and smitten with Violet.

Dwayne 25-35, A2 G4. Doralee's attractive husband. He is very supportive of her professional pursuits.

Josh 15-18. Violet's awkward teenage son.

Missy 20-35. Franklin Hart's wife, clueless to her husband's true nature.

Maria 20-30. A young and vibrant secretary in Hart's office.

Dick 35-45. Judy's soon-to-be ex-husband. An average guy, he is sporting a little less hair and a little more paunch than he did ten years ago.

Kathy 30-40. A secretary in Hart's office with a tendency to gossip.

Margaret 30-40. A secretary in Hart's office with a tendency to drink.

Tinsworthy 50-65. Franklin Hart's boss and Chairman of the Board. A good man, who may be wiser to Hart's ways than he lets on.

Ensemble Office employees, police officers, hospital employees, etc.

To meet the 9 to 5 the Musical production team and learn more about Kentwood Players, the public is invited to attend our general membership meetings, which are free and held on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm at the Westchester Playhouse located two blocks west of the San Diego Freeway and two blocks north of Manchester at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045. The production team can provide a Zoom link to participate in the meeting virtually.

COVID-19 Policy: Everyone ages 12 and over must show proof of vaccination and photo ID for admittance to the Westchester Playhouse. Face masks are required while inside the building unless performing onstage. This policy will be updated following Covid safety protocols as set by the city and county of Los Angeles.

Kentwood Players is a nonprofit theatre group dedicated to enriching, educating and entertaining our community through the transformative power of live theatre while creating an environment for inspiring human potential. As a 501C3 organization, donations to Kentwood Players are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. For more information about Kentwood Players including our current production and upcoming auditions, please visit the Kentwood Players website at http://www.kentwoodplayers.org. You can also find Kentwood Players information on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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Kentwood Players announces open auditions for 9 TO 5 the Musical - Culver City Observer

This story contains spoilers.

I never expected a slasher flick on gay and transgender oppression to have an uplifting Hallmark message.

They/Them, which hit Peacock on Aug. 5, has many ingredients of a legit horror film: an opening scene with a masked assassin, a sleep-away camp in the woods stocked with torture devices, a group of teens poised to engage in forbidden (read: queer) sex.

But despite centering on the terror of LGBTQ "conversion therapy" -- a topic deserving of cinematic complexity -- They/Them (pronounced they-slash-them) isn't the stuff of nightmares. Instead, it delivers a feel-good folktale wrapped in a tidy happily-ever-after bow. The aim of the film's writer and director, John Logan, wasn't to focus on psychological abuse or gay victimhood, but "to celebrate queerness."

For well over a century, LGBTQ people have been told they're sinful, diseased or suffering from a mental condition, and that they can change their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression through psychological, behavioral or spiritual "conversion" efforts. According to Casey Pick of The Trevor Project, 17% of LGBTQ youth report being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy.

Recent movies have put a spotlight on the damaging effects of "reparative therapy," includingThe Miseducation of Cameron Post, the 2018 drama about a young woman attending a Christian "ex-gay" camp; andBoy Erased, based on the memoir of Garrard Conley, the son of a Baptist pastor who went through the infamous Love in Action program. The 2021 Netflix documentaryPray Away profiled former leaders of Exodus International, once the biggest conversion therapy organization worldwide, who now regret the suffering they caused.

They/Them is the first to tackle the theme of gay and trans conversion therapy as a slasher film. With a cast of LGBTQ actors, Logan (who's openly gay) consulted with executive producerScott Turner Schofield to make sure the characters were represented in an inclusive way.

The film Get Out masters the social thriller genre, in which horror is used to reveal provocative and unnerving truths about inequality.

But the movie is still a shallow dive into LGBTQ oppression. Few filmmakers have effectively pulled off the social thriller genre, one that exposes how the real evil is society itself. It requires a willingness to be divisive -- to reveal biases and unlock audience fears through deep political underpinnings and subtext. My expectations were high for They/Them to be a trailblazer, much the way Jordan Peele's Get Out masterfully used horror tropes to unpack the daily perils for Black people in America.

Logan's film doesn't follow the fright playbook: There's no edge-of-your-seat tension or dread. (The oppressed aren't even the ones being hunted by a killer, contrary to the movie's trailer.) Nor does it deconstruct the trauma that comes with anti-gay and anti-trans bigotry the way Peele does with racism. Instead, it relies on inoffensive and overly simplified themes of personal empowerment.

In the film, Owen Whistler (Kevin Bacon) runs a weeklong conversion program for LGBTQ youth, most of whom have been sent by their families to be "cured." Whistler deceptively tells the campers, "If you're happy with the way you are, then more power to you," adding that God doesn't hate them. Jordan (Theo Germaine), the film's central protagonist, who's trans and nonbinary, is suspicious of the lack of overt Bible-thumping bigotry. So was I.

But the brutal tactics of Whistler camp are soon revealed -- which do, in fact, reflect real life. The campers are separated by gender, with Jordan pushed into the boys' cabin and Alexandra (Quei Tann) forced to move out of the girls' cabin when it's discovered she hasn't fully transitioned. The two trans storylines in the film echo the heated controversy over gender identity in public bathrooms, sports teams and schools. In fact, many of the figures leading conversion programs in the US today are also behind anti-transgender policies and legislation, pushing kids to only be labeled by the gender they were assigned at birth.

Theo Germaine, who plays Jordan in They/Them, appears in a particularly impactful scene demonstrating the psychological anguish of conversion therapy.

In their separate groups, the campers participate in traditionally gendered activities, from knitting and baking cakes to shooting guns -- and Whistler roars at one of the campers to "be a fucking man" and kill Duke, the camp's infirm dog. Such behavioral "training" is premised on the notion that gender or sexual nonconformity is a pathological disorder.

Before seeing the movie, I spoke to Mathew Shurka, co-founder of Born Perfect(a global campaign to end conversion therapy), who experienced his own kind of bullying into "manhood" when undergoing the practice as a teenager. A licensed psychologist claimed that Shurka could become straight under the guidance of men. To avoid adopting "effeminate behaviors," Shurka was prevented from having any meaningful interaction with women. He couldn't engage with his mother and sisters for a full three years.

Today, conversion practices lurk in the corners of religious youth camps, addiction treatment facilities and online groups, but Shurka told me that they mostly occur during one-on-one talk therapy. That means that instead of providing tools for overcoming anxiety and depression, a psychotherapist manipulates an LGBTQ patient's trust by poking at their shame and intensifying their self-hatred.

The one truly chilling scene of They/Them is a therapy session with Jordan. Cora Whistler (Carrie Preston) exploits Jordan's innermost doubts about their parents' rejection, saying, "You're nothing to them, you're not even a freak." In the robotic creep of a Stepford wife, she crushes her prey: "They're never going to love you... unless you drop this nonsense and admit what you are. A scared, lonely, ugly little dyke." Jordan returns to their cabin disarmed, believing they're a fake.

But in a bizarre about-face a few minutes later, Jordan and the other campers appear to be in a Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, proudly singing and dancing to Pink's 2010 song Fuckin' Perfect. The filmmaker's message in this impromptu performance is supposed to be that the campers are united as a tribe, but the gleeful celebration is a tonal misfiring that underplays the burden of psychological abuse.

In another scene, star athlete Stu (Cooper Koch) is subjected to electric shock therapy as punishment for sex with another camper, Gabriel (Darwin del Fabro)... who turns out to be an undercover agent for the sadistic counselors. With electrodes attached to his chest, Stu is shocked with each image flash of a burly man, in an attempt to associate gay desire with pain and torture. Whistler tells Stu to look on the bright side: "In my grandfather's day, you'd be on the lobotomy table."

In the first edition of the DSM in 1952, homosexuality was referred to as a "sociopathic personality disturbance." Its classification as a mental disorder was officially dropped in 1973, but "sexual and gender identity disorders" were replaced with other coded diagnostic names until 2013.

Not long ago, the US government deemed LGBTQ people abnormal and criminal, barred them from employment or committed them to psychiatric institutions. In the 1950s, homosexuality was officially characterized by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental illness. For decades prior, doctors and medical professionals had already been "treating" gay and gender-nonconforming people through "corrective" violence and surgery, medication and electroconvulsive shock treatment, among other types of aversion therapy and pseudoscientific techniques.

The characterization of homosexuality as a mental illness wasn't officially removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders until the early 1970s, as depicted in the 2020 documentary Cured. And that's when new forms of conversion therapy came onto the scene, particularly among religious leaders dedicated to "praying the gay away."

Conversion therapy today has been rejected by virtually every major medical and mental health organization in the US and outlawed in multiple states, counties and cities. But according to Pick, it's still legal for licensed professionals to practice conversion therapy on minors in 30 states. Shurka told me that Born Perfect has tracked at least 5,500 conversion therapists nationwide in the last two years.

One survivor of conversion therapy I spoke with, Matt Davis, contacted a "prayer hotline" in a Christian magazine when he realized he was gay as a young teen. Growing up with a fundamentalist family in conservative Kansas in the early 2000s, Davis was terrified of going to hell and struggled with obsessive thoughts of being a failure. A pastor encouraged him to take a 60-day online class called the Door of Hope on the website Setting Captives Free.

Through the program, Davis was assigned a mentor to whom he confessed his sexual thoughts about men. He was forced to read testimonials of men who had committed sex crimes, which evoked tremendous shame by putting Davis in the same category. Davis told me that the program taught him that being gay "would lead to a sad, lonely and unhealthy life." He became so angry that he resorted to self-injury and considered suicide. "I still have lingering depression and anxiety that continues to this day," he said.

Like Davis, LGBTQ youth who are under pressure to change their sexual orientation or gender identity suffer from extreme despair and alienation, not to mention homelessness and drug use. Gay and trans youth who experience high levels of family rejection -- including by having to undergo conversion therapy -- are eight times more likely to report having attempted suicide.

Map of 20 US states and territories with laws that fully ban licensed mental health practitioners from subjecting LGBTQ minors to conversion therapy practices. The other 30 states have either no laws, partial bans or injunctions preventing enforcement of bans on conversion therapy.

While the Door of Hope no longer exists (it's been replaced with a program called Purity Bootcamp), multiple outfits like these continue to operate, some openly so. Others fly under the radar, rebranded through "rainbow-washing" -- that is, falsely positioning themselves as friends of gay and trans people by co-opting new language to emphasize healing and freedom.

Though moviegoers are led to believe that the LGBTQ youth are being hunted by a bloodthirsty maniac, the actual targets of They/Them are the bigoted Whistler Camp staff. In the last scenes, the masked assassin is revealed -- a former camper named Angie (Anna Chlumsky) driven mad by her abuse. Disguised as Molly, the camp nurse, Angie was able to carry out her kills from the inside.

In Angie's final confrontation with Whistler, she says what motivates her revenge: the long-lasting damage and trauma that plagued her into adulthood. Her plot is to expose and shut down all gay conversion therapy camps that "hollow out" their child victims.

For a brief moment, I thought this tame storyline would suddenly be packaged as a revenge fantasy, and I was ready to embrace an antihero. Though a brave avenger's actions are often futile and nihilistic, at least they're based on a desire to take down the criminals and institutions that destroy innocent lives. That sense of righteous rage and resistance is what makes other narratives -- like Django Unchained or Promising Young Woman -- so satisfying.

But the filmmaker chose to depict Angie as a lonely, weak and unhinged villain. Before impaling Whistler with a mounted rhino head, Angie encourages Jordan to shoot him, but they refuse. "I'm strong enough to not do this," Jordan says. For a film that avoids much mention of religion, the final message seems to be that neither God nor the devil can save us. It also goes out of its way to coddle all the LGBTQ characters, making sure they come off as unsullied angels.

Logan's movie intended to emphasize a collective solidarity in queer culture, yet it sells the idea that emancipation is an entirely personal, not societal, act. And this, perhaps, is the most unsettling. Conversion therapy tells us that if we're not "cured" of being gay, it's our fault -- but is it also our fault if we don't overcome the trauma of conversion therapy via our own internal strength?

They/Them might bring a sense of catharsis to certain viewers, but it suffers from romantic simplicity. And that means it won't educate its audience on a cruel practice that continues to terrorize LGBTQ youth to this day.

See the article here:

'They/Them' Review: A Slasher That Isn't as Scary or Subversive as Real Life - CNET

Education, Babasaheb Ambedkar said, is the milk of a tigress, and thereafter generations of our communities invested all their potential to seek education for their empowerment. For my family, this struggle started with my grandparents who worked hard for my parents education.

It was abruptly halted when my parents had to prioritise employment for dignified living over pursuing higher education.

I joined the University of Hyderabad (UoH) for my Masters in History in July 2019. As a first-generation student in higher education, I knew about the varsity through the Rohith (Vemula) movement.

Eminence and aspirations accompany deterrence for the marginalised. Soon after my admission process was over, I was informed that the portal facilitating hostel accommodation had been temporarily closed. There was no certainty of getting hostel accommodation until vacant hostel rooms were made officially available. For me to afford to pursue my course here, it was critical to get a hostel room.

Hostels have played a very significant role in creating an educated class among marginalized groups. In July 1924, Babasaheb established the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha to promote education among depressed classes. Establishing such hostels for students was one of the prime aims of the Sabha, which opened two such hostels for students from depressed classes.

It was the denial of access to hostel rooms that gave rise to the Velivada by Rohith anna and four other students who were socially boycotted along with him in 2016 by the Appa Rao-led varsity administration.

It became an everyday routine for me to visit the chief wardens office to request hostel accommodation. My means of resistance; sitting outside the office to seek accommodation, barely dented the apathy of the Warden office. It was only after a months humiliation that I approached Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) for help, that a hostel room was allotted to me overnight. Both of my parents are primary school teachers, who raised me in Ambedkarite thought.

The contempt towards working in an anti-caste organisation was quite known to me. Through narratives in liberal circles, I came to believe in the casteist speculation about the ASA as an organization that was infamously hyper-masculine and gender insensitive. I chose to dissociate myself from any close affiliation with ASA. I believed that disassociating would help me navigate any such experiences of discrimination. However, the interactions of faculty members and students fraternity continued to be casted (entrenched in caste). Performances of my caste-Hindu classmates, whether good or bad, benefitted from guidance by faculty members. Whereas vis a vis us, they used sweeping remarks calling our answers objective and our language as non-academic. Our questions in the classroom were met with a contemptuous silence or remarks like You dont get what I am talking about or You need to read more.

75 years of Independence have not erased our experiences of discrimination within university spaces. By accessing our right to education, we are making our way to higher education. But does mere physical freedom to enter these university spaces ensure us the freedom from the discrimination and gate-keeping in higher education? Have these experiences allowed us to access education to develop our human capacity, to exist as free humans? Few months before I joined the varsity, the Velivada raised by five Dalit scholars who were denied access, was demolished by the University administration in the middle of the night.

While Velivadas in villages across nation still signify the ghettoisation of Dalits, what would have been the intention of the administration behind dismantling the Velivada in the UoH? It was an attempt to erase the history of resistance, whose reminiscence would keep challenging the practice of discrimination. Higher education that remains monopolised by the caste-Hindus, will always make university spaces sustain such discriminatory practices.

Under such circumstances, ASA, like many other young Ambedkarite student organisations, became a space for counter culture, where such humiliation is channelised to build the potential of students coming from marginalised caste backgrounds. Addressing public gatherings rebuilt the confidence that was lost in the classrooms.

ASAs participation in student elections, small victories in persuading the administration to fill all the reserved seats, check on malpractices where students from marginalised communities were marked indifferently in the interviews, due disbursement of scholarships, building pressure around incidents of harassment by the supervisor are a result of the invisible work that Ambedkarite student organisations have done for generations. In a way, these organisations have offered more towards realisation of equitable societies than claims made university texts and handbooks.

All spaces are patterned hierarchically. The ASAs was no exception. Negotiations with the administration, decision-making, access to organisational capital are determined by these hierarchies.

The abjection and marginality associated with queerness did reflect in my experiences within ASA. The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility.. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust, Rohith anna had warned us in his last message. An organisational space shapes individual opinions and worldviews; but organisational spaces that limit you to your immediate identity cannot treat you as a mind, as a free human. It is in ASAs commitment to Babasahebs emancipatory worldview and assertive self, that I see my transformative journey against fighting discrimination and reaffirms my faith in an equitable future for all.

In the words of Wamandada Kardak, a renowned Ambedkarite poet

Samatecha wahi wara na pilavnukila thara,Tya nagarichya shodhasathi navya manasapathiTanda chalala.Manus nava ghadavava ha lok ladha ladhvava,Ekjuticha awaj amacha abhal ata gathi

Where the wind of equality blows (where there is) no shelter for exploitation,To search for that city for the new human,Caravan is moving.To create a new human (this) human combat be fought,Our united voice has now reached the sky.

(This appeared in the print edition as "The Caravan is Moving")

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Originally posted here:

We The People: A Personal Narrative Of Getting Socially Boycotted - Outlook India

If you ask top real estate coach and mindset specialist Tanja Lee the secret to success, her answer is surprisingly simple self-belief.

Just as Henry Ford once wrote, whether you think you can or think you cant, youre right, Tanja believes agents inner thoughts are the element that most controls their success in the industry.

Strategies and resources will never work or last on top of what is known as a disempowered belief system, she says.

So if you believe youre overweight, if you believe youre broke, if you believe you dont have time and money or the resources to make a difference to what youre doing, then its unlikely you will take action to fulfil it.

Speaking as part of Elite Agents 33-hour, continuous Zoomathon training session, Tanja invited agents to consider two distinct groups of people.

Those who are unsuccessful, unhappy and unfulfilled, and those who are the opposite.

Tanja says the unsuccessful group has a list of reasons they fail, such as not having enough time, energy or resources, and they are disempowered.

The successful folks, they have results, Tanja explains.

The reason they have results is that theyre more resourceful with the things that other people arent, and therefore they have access to being empowered.

Tanja says agents that are not successful know what they should be doing to reach their goals, but their disempowered belief system stops them from taking action to reach them.

A disempowered belief system around prospecting could mean having thoughts like, Im an interruption, Im an annoyance, and they dont want to hear from me, she says.

So youre not going to be inspired to pick up the phone, make a call and connect.

You know you should be connecting with 25 people a day, five days a week, to get that momentum, to get the opportunity to appraise or do a listing consultation but the reason you dont do it is because your belief system is not empowered.

Tanja says every time something happens in life we, as humans, create a story around it.

So agents who are not successful will see a potential client telling them no as them not being good enough, or turn a minor failure into meaning they are a failure.

As soon as you collapse what happened, and the negative belief or story you tell yourself, you start to access your own greatness and you access your own personal empowerment, Tanja says.

The key to turning things around is to turn your internal dialogue around in a realistic fashion.

Tanja says while shes a big fan of auto-suggesting, positive affirmations dont work because they are not sustainable.

Instead, she recommends you change your thoughts incrementally.

If youre broke or struggling financially, and youre walking around and saying Im rich and successful, your subconscious mind knows its not the truth, Tanja says.

Id rather you use your language to build a bridge to where you want to get to. For example, you could start saying things like, Im becoming more masterful with my money.

So you need an empowered definition, definition is decisive, your perception is your reality, if youve got a negative definition of yourself or a task you have to do to succeed in real estate, youre unlikely to utilise all the learnings, the strategies or the insight that youre learning.

Tanja says the last thing agents need to do to turn things around is combine their empowered beliefs with a development plan to build the skills they dont have and couple that with a hardy attitude.

Couple that with the willingness to rise the willingness to rise resiliently even in the face of rejection, even when times are tough and even when the market shifts, she says.

Read more:

Tanja Lee: The key to success - Elite Agent

Im Gen Z and I dont understand what older generations want from us. Were either the laziest generation ever, and need to learn how to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, or objects of pity as we soak ourselves in nostalgia for the simpler times they enjoyed, staring down a wasteland of a future. Oh, and were also way too PC.

For whatever reason, its the pity more than the scorn thats gotten my back up of late. With Kate Bushs Running Up That Hill back on our airwaves and the mainstreaming of the mullet, the amount of hot takes on young peoples apparent infatuation with the past is peaking.

Take this article by Business Insider explaining that The youth become nostalgic when the economy is struggling, seeking comfort and connection. Or the conclusion of two Australian academics that young consumers are immers[ing] themselves in eighties pop culture to cope with their wistful affection and sentimental longing for this period of the past and to pretend they were really a part of that historical period.

And youre not even pretending well! those who lived through the era cry, screaming factual inaccuracy.

But maybe thats the point. Were not trying to replicate or relive the past. Were trying to update it even rewrite it. Were saying Ill take your fashion and raise you female empowerment, gender fluidity, and people on catwalks and TV that actually look like us. The Gen Z trend is all about cultural reinterpretation as a form of empowerment.

Nostalgia (which translates to homecoming pain, a condition once diagnosed to homesick mercenary soldiers) is about a sense of loss or longing. For young people, the current trend is about what we can gain or even redeem from the past, not a mourning for whats lost. As a generation defined by our activism and progressive beliefs, the concept of craving for simpler times just doesnt compute. How can we be the most likely generation to identify as LGBTQIA+ and advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, but at the same time, want to go back to the 90s when same-sex marriage was illegal and Ellen was being booted from air for being too gay?

In fact, what were doing feels closer to taking what our parents made and sticking a knife in to see what rings true and what bleeds out, or reclaiming aspects of cultural history that werent previously accessible to everyone.

One example thats been ripe for millennial backlash is the return of low-rise jeans. And I totally understand the trauma. As some have pointed out, it was a fashion trend about showing off your flat-as-a-tack stomach at a time when Marissa Cooper was the ideal.

But thats exactly what many Gen Z proponents of the low-rise comeback tour are trying to subvert. Take this TikTok by 19-year-old Spencer Barbosa responding to the comment that only people with flat tummies can wear low rises. In the caption for the video, she responds clothes dont have a body type. And its true. Societies have a body type, not clothes. By putting items once limited to cis ultra-skinny white women on a wider range of bodies, Gen Z is trying to expand that body type definition.

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At the same time, high-waist jeans are far from being out. Theyre still being seen everywhere from the street to Fashion Week runways. Its all about choice now what is comfortable and what suits your personal style rather than smooshing yourself into one common trend. Its a push towards democratising fashion. Our own friends are just as much personal trendsetters as celebrities, since platforms like Instagram gave us all a space to develop our own aesthetic portfolios.

This has created a generational view of fashion that is much more inclusive and less cut-throat. I cant really think of many trends that are actually out other than fur and, increasingly, hopefully, fast fashion. Its also less fixed. Were donning a different look every day or even multiple looks mashed up at once rather than committing to one for a period of our lives.

The so-called nostalgia trend can also be understood in the broader context of Gen Zs love of mimicry and intertextual references. Take the popularity of memes and, more recently, TikTok. Its all about recreating your own version of something. Then your own version of a version of something. The references are often so many layers deep that Im not surprised those not up-to-the-minute with digital culture are mistaking their mockery for homage.

Finally, the nostalgia narrative seems to leave out the fact that plenty of trends being reanimated for the 2020s are actually common sense given the moment were in. Were wearing 2000s get-up because we want to be sustainable by op-shopping (and apparently a lot of low-rise jeans were up for resell). Were using flip phones because were trying to be more mindful of our technology use. Were buying records because more money goes to the artists rather than, say, Spotify. And mullets are back and in the mainstream, not because we all wish we lived in the 80s, but because were generally shifting as a society towards more genderless style.

So to older generations who coo that we must be nostalgic for a pre-pandemic, pre-climate change, pre-housing crisis world (themselves indulging in pity porn while doing nothing to actually absolve the crises theyve bequeathed to us) I respond: the kids are alright. On balance, I feel lucky about the age Ive grown up in. I honestly couldnt imagine anything worse than coming of age at a time when heroin chic was all the rage and women on screen were lucky if they had a name let alone a personality. Far from a practice in escapism, our interest in the past is much more about the lessons that can be gleaned from it both the good and the bad as well as perhaps a more morbid recognition of the things that have not progressed as much as they should have.

Lets save our condescension for those who talk earnestly about the good old days. More often than not, these are the kinds of people who are genuinely nostalgic for eras where men were macho, women subservient and milk tasted like real milk.

Bridget McArthur is a freelance writer and host of the 3CR program Chronically Chilled

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Gen Z isnt mourning the past were trying to redeem it - The Guardian