Acknowledging the complicated history of our past issues...
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Over the years, Toyon’s values regarding diversity and respect to women have varied. Our most recent issues’ diverse contents contrasts with earlier issues. Around the 1970’s, Toyon featured visual art and prose while attention to diversity and the representation of women seemingly lacked mindful selection. Toyon’s 1969 and 1970 issues are especially culpable of sexist content. 1969’s features a somewhat controversial cover (pictured below), as well as a poem, “Find me a Woman”, that indiscriminately oversexualizes its subject. This poem exists within a feature with predominantly male authors. This issue suffers from an unfair distribution of gender diversity, and is followed by the 1970 issue, which grapples even more from sexist themes. Toyon’s cover from 1970 depicts a white woman, pictured in bed--naked with black boots. This feature almost exclusively published images of naked women, either depicted playfully or artistically. Toyon acknowledges the content in our past issues, with their complications, misconceptions, and their severe straying from our current values of diversity and inclusion.
Past issues have suffered from a lacking attention to diversity. More recent issues feature attention to multilingual submissions and readers, as well as diverse representation. Since 2016, staff meetings are held regarding attention to diversity and inclusion as our utmost concern: becoming aware of the danger of the single story. The mentioned issues suffer greatly from telling a single story, whether that is one of sexism, of white importance, or of male-domination. The current incarnations of Toyon, in our careful selections, hope to ensure this history remains history - unrepeated. --Madeline Bauman, Social Media Manager |
"We honor our history while also remaining vigilant about our blank-spots." |
About the 1969 Issue
The 1969 issue of the Toyon was particularly notable (and notorious) for its cover design, chosen by editor Steven Phipps and photographed by one of his friends, which portrayed a completely naked woman standing next to a fully clothed man. The editors who published this issue were Steven Phipps, Joseph Fusco, and Thomas Cooper. A 1991 article, written by Barbara Kelly, shone some light on the situation, by quoting then-faculty-advisor Ralph Samuelson. Samuelson says he, “did not know about the cover, and trusted Steven.” After the 1969 issue was released it quickly became the most popular issue of Toyon to sell.
More recently, the cover has been perceived as sexist, mainly for the fact that only the woman is naked, and not the man. It seems to portray a male dominant power dynamic when viewed through a modern lens, echoing the recent Me Too movement and the greater realization that women in media are often exploited. First seeing the cover after copies had already been printed, Samuelson said, “I had a last desperate thought of ripping off every cover, but that, too, seemed ridiculous, and I left it in the hands of destiny.” However, per a recent (September 2018) phone call between a current Toyon student staff member and the student editor of that very issue (Steven Phipps), the editorial team of 1969’s intention in selecting the image was a far cry from sexism. In the 60s, Humboldt State was considered to be a very conservative school, operating under a more conventional system. The choice of this cover was made to move away from that conservatism and to reflect the counterculture movements of the time by supporting new radical ideas.
Searching through the archives at HSU we found that Steven Phipps was one of the editors for Toyon’s 1969 issue. A Google search of his name lead us to a phone number and we decided to call him. He was very happy to hear from Toyon’s staff and agreed to answer a few questions:
Phipps says the 1969 issue was supposed to be somewhat satirical about the student population of the time. The school, and Toyon, had been stodgy in the past. When I asked Steven if he knew that this issue is currently viewed as sexist because the woman is naked and the man is clothed, he said, “It was in no way meant to be sexist nor viewed as sexist at the time. In fact, women adopted this counterculture of the “Humboldt Hunnie.” Editors were trying to be radical enough to shake the norm by publishing a cover that featured the first naked person in Toyon. The 60s was replete with counterculture, protests, more liberal ways of thinking. It’s not uncommon that students would be criticizing conservative ideas at the time. Phipps continues, “the women wanted very much to be in the photo. She wanted to make a statement herself. It was liberating.”
The editors were very much aware of what they were doing, and the kind of pushback that would occur since Arcata was a conservative town. Instead, they took the editorial freedom they were given, had a friend take the photo and published it as the cover. Phipps also said that the editorial team had to go through a different publishing shop in order to get the cover published. It was somewhat secretive up until the day of its release.
To conclude the idea of sexism in the issue, Phipps said, “It certainly offended people, but that was not the point. It was not meant to offend women. We were making fun of the way of the conservative thinkers.” The editors were trying to shock people in the community as a way of pushing back against the conservative climate. “We considered ourselves forward thinking, and for Humboldt it was a liberating experience. It was a rather dull college before that.”
-Quinn Dobbins and Heather Rumsey, 2018-19 Toyon staff
More recently, the cover has been perceived as sexist, mainly for the fact that only the woman is naked, and not the man. It seems to portray a male dominant power dynamic when viewed through a modern lens, echoing the recent Me Too movement and the greater realization that women in media are often exploited. First seeing the cover after copies had already been printed, Samuelson said, “I had a last desperate thought of ripping off every cover, but that, too, seemed ridiculous, and I left it in the hands of destiny.” However, per a recent (September 2018) phone call between a current Toyon student staff member and the student editor of that very issue (Steven Phipps), the editorial team of 1969’s intention in selecting the image was a far cry from sexism. In the 60s, Humboldt State was considered to be a very conservative school, operating under a more conventional system. The choice of this cover was made to move away from that conservatism and to reflect the counterculture movements of the time by supporting new radical ideas.
Searching through the archives at HSU we found that Steven Phipps was one of the editors for Toyon’s 1969 issue. A Google search of his name lead us to a phone number and we decided to call him. He was very happy to hear from Toyon’s staff and agreed to answer a few questions:
- 1969 was one of Toyon’s controversial issues can you tell me why?
- More recently people have viewed this issue as being sexist due to the cover. Is this something that you know?
- What was the community and Humboldt State like during this time?
- How did the editorial group publish this cover? Who did you go through?
- Why do you think this is the only issue of Toyon that sold out despite the controversy?
Phipps says the 1969 issue was supposed to be somewhat satirical about the student population of the time. The school, and Toyon, had been stodgy in the past. When I asked Steven if he knew that this issue is currently viewed as sexist because the woman is naked and the man is clothed, he said, “It was in no way meant to be sexist nor viewed as sexist at the time. In fact, women adopted this counterculture of the “Humboldt Hunnie.” Editors were trying to be radical enough to shake the norm by publishing a cover that featured the first naked person in Toyon. The 60s was replete with counterculture, protests, more liberal ways of thinking. It’s not uncommon that students would be criticizing conservative ideas at the time. Phipps continues, “the women wanted very much to be in the photo. She wanted to make a statement herself. It was liberating.”
The editors were very much aware of what they were doing, and the kind of pushback that would occur since Arcata was a conservative town. Instead, they took the editorial freedom they were given, had a friend take the photo and published it as the cover. Phipps also said that the editorial team had to go through a different publishing shop in order to get the cover published. It was somewhat secretive up until the day of its release.
To conclude the idea of sexism in the issue, Phipps said, “It certainly offended people, but that was not the point. It was not meant to offend women. We were making fun of the way of the conservative thinkers.” The editors were trying to shock people in the community as a way of pushing back against the conservative climate. “We considered ourselves forward thinking, and for Humboldt it was a liberating experience. It was a rather dull college before that.”
-Quinn Dobbins and Heather Rumsey, 2018-19 Toyon staff
In 1969 Toyon published one of its first controversial issues. The cover received pushback from the community, professors, and sponsors of Toyon. However, it is the only edition that sold out. Refer to this page to find more details on the controversy.
Work Cited
Kelly, Barbara. “TOYON: ‘60s winds of change blow across campus literary magazine.” Humboldt Historian. 1991. Print.
Phone call with Steven R Phipps 9 September 2018.
Kelly, Barbara. “TOYON: ‘60s winds of change blow across campus literary magazine.” Humboldt Historian. 1991. Print.
Phone call with Steven R Phipps 9 September 2018.
