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Black, white, beige, chola descent, Lebanese or orient—we all have our origins.
It’s time to go back to the beginning. In our modern lives, we are often so wrapped up in the stress of the present and the anxiety of the future that we forget the importance of looking into the past. However, there is no escaping our origins. When and where we were born, as well as to whom we were born, all have a large effect on our lives today. As we grow, the powerful cultural structures around us guide our attitudes and behavior; they are so ingrained in us and are the only ways we can make sense of our world.
In the Origins Issue, Buzzsaw aims to explore the roots of various aspects of our society, from pervasive structures to new creations. We explore issues that completely define our society. In “Opposition to Evolution Not Yet Extinct,” Shaun Poust explores the continued resistance against Darwin’s theory of evolution. And in “I Want It All. And I Want It Now,” Abby Sophir discusses the origins of our consumerist culture and asks us to reevaluate our desire to consume.
Now, our generation is able to witness the creation of new cultural and social trends. We explore new conceptions that give us an indication of our current place in society, such as jeggings in the article “Stature, Comfort and Camel Toe,” by Sarah Kasulke. We also investigated how new constructions develop while retaining their culture. Moriah Petty, in her article “A Tale of New Cities,” demonstrates how cities that had suffered economic and social turmoil are renewing themselves while staying true to their roots. In other cases, things we are familiar with take on a new identity as they evolve with the times. In “Creepy Classics,” Jenni Zellner shows how recent novels are adding a different twist to literary classics.
Sometimes we also tend to overlook the origins of everyday customs. In “Recipe for Change,” Elizabeth Stoltz explores how the origins of our food affect our lifestyle and how the Slow Food movement works to address problems with the food industry and culture.
We hope this issue illustrates how important origins are in recognizing where we are in the present and how we can change in the future. It is crucial to always look back and critically evaluate our beginnings; we can never move forward if we don’t understand our past.
So baby, remember, a lot went into what you are today—you weren’t just born this way.
– The Editors <3
See the online archive of the Origins Issue here.
Download the printed version here.