Dear Readers,

When allegations of sexual assault surfaced against film producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, it quickly became the impetus for a larger cultural movement. Powerful figures were toppled off their pedestals, but there was still a glaring issue remaining: how to address social injustices embedded in our culture. The imbalance of gender and power has long been an issue, and solutions still need to be found.

The reporting class for Mosaic examined how gender and power intersects in so many facets of everyday life. Some of us took on large-scale topics including Title IX, online dating and shifting values in the beauty industry. Some of us looked at gender and power with a local lens profiling Chicago businesses supporting feminist values and the LGBT community. We all dedicated a semester to reporting and delving into important and sometimes difficult topics.

Our reporting also goes beyond the magazine. Look online at mosaicloyola.com and you’ll see a variety of multimedia reporting from photo essays to videos to podcasts. These elements add to what’s in these pages and give further insight into this year’s topic.

The Mosaic staff had discussions which a lot of us wouldn’t have had in any other class. We had candid — and sometimes provocative — conversations about the ways gender and power are present in our own lives. We also had hard discussions and disagreements, which challenged each other’s perspective on some issues.

I encourage everyone reading our work to approach it with an open mind, and Mosaic welcomes any feedback.

I want to give a huge thanks to Jessica Brown who led both the reporting and design staff this year and to everyone who shared their insight and stories with us.

Thank you,

Carly Behm
Managing Editor

 

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