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America needs to talk about miscarriage

When Sen. Tammy Duckworth had a miscarriage, she was worried it was her fault.
At the time, she was in the middle of a demanding Senate campaign while also serving in the House as a representative from Illinois. “Did I do something wrong?” she remembers thinking. “Was it because I’m working too hard?”
Her doctor assured her that wasn’t the case — after all, miscarriages are extremely common, happening in <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pregnancy-loss-miscarriage/symptoms-causes/syc-20354298">10 to 20 percent</a> of all known pregnancies, and the majority are caused by genetic abnormalities in the fetus. But that didn’t necessarily assuage what Duckworth was feeling.
“On the one hand, you’re suffering through this grief,” she told Vox. “And on the other hand, your health care providers are trying to help you deal with it by telling you it’s really not a big deal.”
People who go through miscarriage “have all these conflicting messages being sent to them,” she said. Duckworth needed time to process them all and heal from the loss of a much-wanted pregnancy — but it was time she didn’t have. She needed a dilation and curettage (D&C), a surgical procedure to remove the fetus from her body. And after that, “I left the doctor’s office and went right back on doing my job,” she said. “I think I took the afternoon off.”
Duckworth’s experience of miscarriage — the self-blame, the confusion, and the need to bounce right back without taking time to grieve — is all too common.
Despite increased conversation around <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/postpartum-depression.html">other aspects of reproductive health</a> in recent years, miscarriages remain stigmatized and talked about in hushed tones, if they’re talked about at all. “The cultural norms around pregnancy are just happy, and miscarriage is not necessarily a happy experience for most people,” Yamani Hernandez, the executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, who has experienced a miscarriage, told Vox.
But in recent years, more public figures like Duckworth, <a href="https://www.today.com/health/gabrielle-union-reveals-she-s-had-8-or-9-miscarriages-t117079">actress Gabrielle Union</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/9/18078910/michelle-obama-book-ivf-miscarriage-infertility">Michelle Obama</a> have been opening up about their miscarriages, leading to more widespread conversation around the experience. And now, there’s growing recognition that people who go through a miscarriage need time to heal, physically and emotionally. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/new-zealand-approves-paid-leave-miscarriage-n1262121">New Zealand became the second country</a> in the world to provide paid leave in the wake of a miscarriage. Meanwhile, individual companies are beginning to offer miscarriage leave for employees — the Pill Club, a company providing online birth control prescriptions, announced such a benefit earlier this year. And on Tuesday, Duckworth and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) will introduce the Support Through Loss Act, which would provide paid leave for people experiencing miscarriage.
“We’re human beings,” Duckworth said. “We need time to cope.”
It’s part of a push toward normalizing miscarriage and supporting people who go through it, one that may be just beginning. “There are families across the nation who feel alone and have been suffering in silence,” Pressley told Vox. “I want them to know that we see them.”
A miscarriage is defined as any pregnancy loss before 20 weeks’ gestation — after that, any loss is categorized as a stillbirth. It’s not always possible to determine the cause of a miscarriage, but experts believe the majority have to do with chromosomal abnormalities in the developing fetus that are “not compatible with life,” Yasaswi Kislovskiy, an OB-GYN and advocate with Physicians for Reproductive Health, told Vox. Other causes can include chronic illness in the pregnant person, and potentially environmental factors — people of color and lower-income people have higher-than-average rates of miscarriage, and while the exact reasons aren’t clear, it may have to do with the chronic stresses of racism and poverty, Kislovskiy said.
The physical experience of miscarriage varies widely from person to person. Some people find out they’re miscarrying because they have abdominal pain and bleeding, which can <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-long-does-miscarriage-last">last days or weeks</a>. In rare cases, that can come with infection, which can cause foul-smelling discharge and prolonged heavy bleeding and require antibiotics or other care.
However, some people have no symptoms at first and only find out they’re miscarrying when an ultrasound shows the fetus is no longer developing, Kislovskiy said. At that point, if a doctor deems them at low risk for infection, they may be advised to wait for the body to expel the fetus on its own. In other cases, however, they may be prescribed medication or have a surgical procedure like a D&C to complete the process.
Even after the immediate symptoms have subsided, people may need time to recover physically from a miscarriage. “I was shocked, actually, at how physically debilitated I was” for a month after miscarrying, Hernandez said. “I just thought, you know, the pregnancy is over. But no.”
Then there are the emotional effects. Again, these are highly individual — some people who did not want to be pregnant may experience relief at a miscarriage, Kislovskiy said. But for some, a miscarriage is “incredibly tragic,” leaving them deeply distraught.
Those feelings can be compounded by factors like how long someone has been trying to conceive, whether they’ve gone through fertility treatments, and other stressors in their life at the time. Duckworth, for example, recalls miscarrying at nine weeks, after she had already seen the first fetal heartbeat on a sonogram. After years of fertility treatments, the sudden end of a wanted pregnancy “was really hard,” she said. “It was a real loss.”
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<figcaption>Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) speaks during a news conference in April, in Washington, DC.</figcaption>
<cite>Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images</cite></figure>
While miscarriage is an extremely common experience during which people often need physical and emotional support, it’s something many people go through nearly on their own. There’s a longstanding cultural norm in the US that people shouldn’t tell others about their pregnancy until the beginning of the second trimester, or about 12 weeks’ gestation, because that’s when the risk of miscarriage goes down. But as <a href="https://www.self.com/story/pregnancy-disclosure-coronavirus">Sara Gaynes Levy reported at Self last year</a>, that’s less of a hard deadline and more of a continuum, with the likelihood of pregnancy loss decreasing slowly as a pregnancy progresses.
And while the 12-week rule protects people from having to walk back the happy news of a pregnancy, it can also make miscarriage an incredibly isolating experience. When Hernandez miscarried in her first trimester, “I hadn’t talked to many people about the pregnancy yet, so it wasn’t like I could call a bunch of people,” she said. A first-trimester miscarriage is “invisible for a lot of people because they never got to even share that they were pregnant in the first place,” she added.
And when people do share the news of their miscarriage, they can encounter shaming and belittling comments. “I’ve definitely had people say, ‘You were barely pregnant,’ or ‘You weren’t pregnant that long,’” Hernandez said. “When you’re laying in a bed bleeding, it’s just like, ‘I don’t care.’”
It’s also all too common for people to assume that the miscarriage is somehow the pregnant person’s fault — one respondent to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/05/08/404913568/people-have-misconceptions-about-miscarriage-and-that-hurts">a 2015 NPR survey</a> said she was told she caused her miscarriage by wearing high heels. At the extreme end of this spectrum, people can face <a href="https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-advocates-arizona/blog/when-miscarriage-is-a-crime">arrest or criminal investigation</a> for having a miscarriage if a doctor thinks they may have tried to <a href="https://www.vox.com/21504883/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-barrett">self-manage an abortion</a>.
Meanwhile, people often internalize the shame and stigma around miscarriage, leading them to embrace misconceptions that encourage self-blame. In the NPR survey, a majority of people reported knowing that genetic abnormalities are the top cause of miscarriage. At the same time, 64 percent mistakenly believed that lifting something heavy could cause pregnancy loss, while 28 percent wrongly said the same about previous use of an IUD. A full 21 percent thought miscarriage could be caused by just having an argument, which is also not true.
In such an environment, many say there’s a clear need for a lifting of the silence around miscarriage. “I want people to know how common miscarriage is, that it’s not your fault,” Hernandez said. “You’re no less valuable or important based on whether or not you can carry a pregnancy.”
That message is beginning to come through more clearly in recent years, as more people open up about their experiences. Union, for example, <a href="https://www.today.com/health/gabrielle-union-reveals-she-s-had-8-or-9-miscarriages-t117079">wrote in her 2017 memoir</a> that “I have had eight or nine miscarriages.”
“For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant — I’ve either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle, or coming out of an IVF cycle,” she wrote.
The following year, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/9/18078910/michelle-obama-book-ivf-miscarriage-infertility">Michelle Obama wrote about her miscarriage</a> in her memoir, Becoming. She felt she had “failed because I didn’t know how common miscarriages were,” Obama said in an <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/michelle-obama-opens-miscarriage-ivf-donald-trump-abc/story?id=59033287">ABC interview</a> at the time. “We sit in our own pain, thinking that somehow we’re broken.”
The same year, when Duckworth announced her pregnancy with her second daughter, Maile, she <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/1/23/18362836/tammy-duckworth-is-pregnant-will-be-1st-senator-to-give-birth">told the Chicago Sun-Times</a> about her previous miscarriage. “I’ve had multiple IVF cycles and a miscarriage trying to conceive again, so we’re very grateful,” she said.
It’s not just celebrities and public figures — grassroots campaigns have also brought more attention to the experience of miscarriage. Psychologist Jessica Zucker, for example, started the #IHadAMiscarriage campaign in 2014 after her own miscarriage — it has now expanded into <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ihadamiscarriage/?hl=en">an Instagram community</a> where people share their feelings about their own experiences. And earlier this year, Zucker published I Had a Miscarriage, a memoir of her experiences.
For Hernandez, the community “was a lifeline” as she processed her miscarriage. “It helped me know that there were other people experiencing what I experienced,” she said.
And beyond reducing stigma, lawmakers and corporations around the world have begun paying more attention to the needs of people going through miscarriage. New Zealand made headlines worldwide with its paid leave bill earlier this year. “The bill will give women and their partners time to come to terms with their loss without having to tap into sick leave,” Ginny Andersen, the member of parliament who introduced the bill, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/newzealand-childbirth/new-zealand-passes-miscarriages-bereavement-leave-law-idUSKBN2BH1BU">said at the time</a>. “Because their grief is not a sickness, it is a loss. And loss takes time.”
Now Duckworth and Pressley are introducing a similar bill in the US. The Support Through Loss Act would require employers to provide at least three days of paid leave in the event of a miscarriage, an unsuccessful IVF or other fertility procedure, a failed adoption or surrogacy, or another medical diagnosis or event that impacts pregnancy or fertility.
The bill would help people like a teacher Pressley spoke with, who left school for a doctor’s appointment, found out she was miscarrying, and had to go back and work the rest of the day. The bill is about meeting people going through pregnancy loss with “care, compassion, and support, and paid leave should be a part of that,” Pressley said. People going through this experience “should not have to worry about whether or not they will still have job security.”
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<figcaption>Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) speaks in Boston, Massachusetts, in March.</figcaption>
<cite>Maddie Meyer/Getty Images</cite></figure>
The bill also sets aside $45 million annually for research on pregnancy loss and directs the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services to share information about the prevalence of miscarriage as well as treatment options. People often try to deal with pregnancy loss “by consuming information,” Duckworth said. “And that information just isn’t out there.”
Paid leave proposals have <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/3/17/21183388/coronavirus-paid-sick-leave-family-covid-19">faced opposition in the past</a> from Republicans in Congress, and the Support Through Loss Act could encounter the same obstacle. But Duckworth is hopeful about getting bipartisan support, noting that she was able to get Republicans on board for another recent bill around reproductive health and families, the <a href="https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworths-friendly-airports-for-mothers-improvement-act-signed-into-law">Friendly Airports for Mothers Act</a>.
Giving people time off from work to deal with a miscarriage is an important step, many say, whether it’s to deal with physical symptoms like bleeding or the emotional fallout that can come with pregnancy loss. “Creating space for supporting people through the mental ramifications of a miscarriage makes a lot of sense,” Kislovskiy said.
But paid leave is just part of a bigger picture when it comes to supporting people through the end of their pregnancies. Part of that picture is improving reproductive health care across the board, from access to contraception through parental leave. “There’s so many places where you can move the needle,” Kislovskiy said. Sex education needs to be improved too: “So many people don’t know about how to get pregnant, how to avoid getting pregnant, about fertility, about periods, about any of these things,” Hernandez said. “I think it’s very confusing to know what’s happening to your body.”
And part of it is cultural change, so that people who have miscarriages no longer have to feel alone. People who experience pregnancy loss “deserve all of the supports possible: physical, emotional, medical, paid leave,” Hernandez said, “without any stigma or shame.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22577338/miscarriage-pregnancy-duckworth-pressley-paid-leave">https://www.vox.com/22577338/miscarriage-pregnancy-duckworth-pressley-paid-leave</a>

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The latest trend in jewelry is summer camp chic

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Welcome to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/1/18205669/design-fashion-home-shopping-trends">Noticed</a>, The Goods’ design trend column. You know that thing you’ve been seeing all over the place? Allow us to explain it.
What is it: Custom bead accessories, the famed relics of summer camp, have been resurrected to remind us that multicolored, far-out necklaces and bracelets can still make us feel cool in a post-pandemic summer. Handmade DIY bead jewelry is back, providing a source of artistic and fashion expression with glossy-coated oblong shapes. While modern pieces are still campy, they have been rebranded as maximalist statements for those looking to accessorize while reminiscing their childhood.
Where is it: The bead jewelry you’ve been seeing on your social media feeds is most likely handmade by an individual artist. Accounts like <a href="https://www.instagram.com/beepybella/">@beepybella</a> started selling custom handmade jewelry at the start of quarantine, and since have amassed over 38,000 followers. Her beads have been sported by the likes of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNaiPyEjyAb/?utm_medium=copy_link">Bella Hadid</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ1SACZF-rO/?utm_medium=copy_link">Dua Lipa</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CPBUPdvDEc1/?utm_medium=copy_link">Ella Emhoff</a>. Instagram isn’t the only place bead artists like to sell their jewelry. <a data-cdata="{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.etsy.com/market/pearl_bead_necklace\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22578160/beaded-jewelry-friendship-diy\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22342201__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.etsy.com/market/pearl_bead_necklace","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22578160/beaded-jewelry-friendship-diy","xcust":"___vx__p_22342201__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}" has-subtag="true" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Fmarket%2Fpearl_bead_necklace&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fthe-goods%2F22578160%2Fbeaded-jewelry-friendship-diy" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Etsy</a>, <a href="https://depop.app.link/KWLqHQEnVgb">Depop</a>, and other popular DIY sites where jewelry artists can sell directly to their customers are full of beads too.
Why you’re seeing it everywhere: Fashion tends to adhere to the <a data-cdata="{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.thread.com/us/tips/men/style-advice/how-the-20-year-rule-predicts-how-youll-dress/\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22578160/beaded-jewelry-friendship-diy\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22342201__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.thread.com/us/tips/men/style-advice/how-the-20-year-rule-predicts-how-youll-dress/","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22578160/beaded-jewelry-friendship-diy","xcust":"___vx__p_22342201__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}" has-subtag="true" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thread.com%2Fus%2Ftips%2Fmen%2Fstyle-advice%2Fhow-the-20-year-rule-predicts-how-youll-dress%2F&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fthe-goods%2F22578160%2Fbeaded-jewelry-friendship-diy" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">20-year rule</a>: What is popular now will be popular again in 20 years.
The rise of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_it_yourself#Subculture">DIY subculture</a> in the 1970s paved the way for beaded, woven, collectible jewelry that was a staple in the American summer camp zeitgeist. Tube socks, primary-colored clothing, and friendship bracelets captured the wet, hot American summer aesthetic that made a resurgence in the ’90s. Growing up in the ’90s and early ’00s meant showing off your bead accessories on the first day of school. It was one way of reminiscing on summers past, and capturing the feelings of nostalgia that invaded classroom daydreams. Beads dangled from our necks, wrists, and ankles as constant reminders of fun times with friends. These custom bead accessories have been rebranded as nostalgic statements — a kind of escape from the Covid hellscape — while being a popular way to support small businesses and express gender fluidity.
As we enter a new decade, 20 years ago we were seeing the popular Y2K aesthetic flood pop culture. From escapist music videos to chunky iMacs, we were obsessed with surrealist worlds using what was then new technology.
In the early 2000s, we were on edge. Y2K fears spooked Americans, and we grieved through the 9/11 attacks, only to be faced with war in the Middle East. Similarly in 2020, we faced new challenges — this time, it was a pandemic, another economic recession, and several civil rights movements that sent us looking for a frivolous escape.
Enter beaded necklaces. They’re an accessory that captures ’90s vaporwave and 2000s glam to help us take on the new decade. If you visit Isabella Lalonde’s account <a href="https://www.instagram.com/beepybella/?hl=en">@beepybella</a>, you are entering her world of strange shapes, mushrooms, flowers, and mismatched colors. While Lalonde’s aesthetic is personal and done through a lens of fine art, she uses hazy filters, fantasy imagery, and digital art to show off her beaded necklaces to her followers.
“Perhaps, it reminds many of the charming type of imagination they had when they were younger. I know for myself, this sort of fantastical world-building art form has acted as a coping mechanism while I was growing up,” says Lalonde.
If you are a ’90s kid, you probably turned to the internet as a way to escape the realities of growing up. Early internet imagery of late-1990s web design, glitch art, anime, and 3D-rendered objects have a nostalgic, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave">vaporwave</a> feel recalling the innocence of childhood. Remembering the internet’s early days and going to summer camp combines a feeling very similar to the “<a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/what-exactly-is-cottagecore">cottagecore</a>” aesthetic, using “vintage maximalism” imagery rooted in ’90s and 2000s nostalgia. However, cottagecore isn’t just a visual aesthetic. The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/style/cottagecore.html">describes</a> it as an all-inclusive budding movement. Although complex, the trend seems to be a reaction to increased screen time and criticism of capitalism. The <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/8/3/21349640/cottagecore-taylor-swift-folklore-lesbian-clothes-animal-crossing">cottagecore</a> universe centers being sustainable, community-driven, and anti-big business.
“Even in our research we find that smaller brands are bringing a lot of newness to the table and they cater to huge markets like millennials and Gen Z,” says Ana Correa, the footwear and accessory editor at <a href="https://www.wgsn.com/en/">WGSN</a>.
Correa says that younger buyers are looking for nostalgic sources of inspiration. Popular hashtags like #vintagefits are dominating Instagram and TikTok as young users share their thrifting hauls from secondhand stores. Gen Z has also been investing in fashion pieces that remain relevant for years, with a large spike in consumers ages 12 to 24 buying more jewelry year over year.
“This major shift drove interest in fashion jewelry with a playful and childlike aesthetic as it mixes high-low materials. Mood-boosting designs have also trended upwards to counterbalance the stress that we experienced globally during the lockdown period. Bright colors and nostalgic motifs have been key to convey this sentiment,” said Correa.
“Slow design” is extremely important to Lalonde. Not only does she find it fundamentally more sustainable, but it is also a beautiful process.
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“Buying jewelry from a small brand completely changes your perception of consumerism. It lies in the details,” explains Lalonde. “For example, I spend hours and hours designing the perfect unboxing experience that is not only unique and exciting, but also sustainable in the fact that every material I source is recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable,” she says. “As a designer, one of the most important tasks I place upon myself is to seek objects that are overlooked within our society and make them desirable. That’s pure magic to me.”
Kate Van Petten, a 27-year-old independent musician, knows the importance of supporting small artists, as their livelihood depends on it. Van Petten only buys jewelry from small, sustainable brands in order to aid the next generation of creators and protect our environmental future. “When you shop small brands, you’re voting with your dollar. You’re giving an independent artist the chance to carve a path for their creative future. You’re embedding yourself as a part of their story, and you get to wear that every day,” they said.
Another jewelry designer, <a href="https://www.presleyoldham.com/">Presley Oldham</a>, has also been seeing success in selling his handmade jewelry since the start of the pandemic. A one-man operation, Oldham does his best to make sure all his materials are consciously and locally sourced or upcycled from thrift stores.
Like Lalonde, Oldham also launched his line on Instagram and sells from a small self-titled site. His brand is less cottagecore, but still nostalgic — <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/9/19/20868322/puka-shell-necklace-hawaii-noticed-vsco-girls-nostalgia">puka shells</a> and all.
“There is definitely a deep sense of nostalgia pulsing through every piece I make. I’m always inspired by memories and past obsessions I had as a young gay kid growing up in Texas. This <a href="https://www.presleyoldham.com/shop">last collection</a> was kinda my take on the ’90s Abercrombie black-and-white dreamboat ads, and was definitely influenced by the experience of going in that store as a tween,” he says. “I used to wear weird rocks and leaves tied to strings as necklaces since I was a kid, and was a frequent puka shell and gift shop necklace boy too.”
What stands out most about Oldham’s Instagram posts are his models. A good portion of those sporting his bead necklaces are men. Oldham’s customers are “delightfully diverse,” and his customer base might even skew more male.
Gender fluidity and challenging beauty norms have made their way to mainstream content we consume, from Gen Z-centric shows like <a href="https://time.com/5917975/euphoria-makeup-fashion/">Euphoria</a> and the <a href="https://www.mic.com/p/the-gossip-girl-reboot-is-a-gender-fluid-fashion-paradise-82425534">Gossip Girl</a> reboot, to <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/gucci-balenciaga-collection-2021">genderless fashion</a> hitting the runway. Genderless fashion <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/04/when-unisex-was-the-new-black/390168/">interestingly coincides</a> with powerful LGBTQ movements of each generation. The ’60s and ’70s saw the androgynous “space-age sleek” with the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/a-glimpse-into-1970s-gay-activism/284077/">Gay Liberation Movement</a>, as womenswear designers like Pierre Cardin moved into men’s fashion. The ’90s saw the <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/03/grunge-officially-made-androgyny-no-big-deal.html">androgynous grunge age</a> as the AIDS epidemic swirled through the US, and the early 2000s saw the fight for gay marriage as the “metrosexual male” became a vogue term.
“I personally don’t think about gender when creating a collection,” says Oldham. “My pieces are intended for any person who wants to wear them. If you like it and want to wear it — just wear it. That being said, there are definitely many pearl and bead jewelry trends sweeping through menswear right now. I’d love for it to move past the trend stage and just become something that people just wear and don’t question.”
As for the future of bead necklaces, bigger brands are seeming to catch on, with UK-based Missoma <a href="https://hypebae.com/2021/5/missoma-pearls-jewelry-summer-2021-collection-release-date-info">launching</a> their “Summer Dreaming” collection and Forever 21 <a data-cdata="{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.forever21.com/us/shop/catalog/br?br21=beaded-necklace\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22578160/beaded-jewelry-friendship-diy\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22342201__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.forever21.com/us/shop/catalog/br?br21=beaded-necklace","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22578160/beaded-jewelry-friendship-diy","xcust":"___vx__p_22342201__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}" has-subtag="true" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forever21.com%2Fus%2Fshop%2Fcatalog%2Fbr%3Fbr21%3Dbeaded-necklace&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fthe-goods%2F22578160%2Fbeaded-jewelry-friendship-diy" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">selling</a> colorful bead necklaces for under $10. While this maximalist-bead-wearing craze is igniting, you have to attribute it to creators like Lalonde and Oldham who are pushing the boundaries of what’s in style.
On Gen Z-dominated TikTok, creators are sharing <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@annigraphyy/video/6959279060161711366?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESMgow0Bl7gRjkCPMB5GSs8PHLCth4LIORwwqfCquad2yw%2BfHig1vIDa%2FZCjB7Ak%2BOSdeoGgA%3D&checksum=2ff2e4a8c5db5f64ccad8748aa1a1c223706f682c5d92963f0e9316a78f9d70f&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAKUbh9sErIjawFGbqqgydqyGJAX8eQx2a8dqBLKUFsCJyoXj4WBOor1XgbWHB4x_7&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=6959279060161711366&share_link_id=35E569B7-6EBD-46ED-980A-ABC1F879A6E0&source=h5_m&timestamp=1626126550&tt_from=copy&u_code=dge754ie6a21dg&user_id=6916745400683742213&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy&_r=1">DIY bead tutorials</a>. “As consumers found themselves with more time and in need of a creative outlet, DIY items and kits gained traction during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Activities such as tie-dye, crochet, and knitting became trendy, especially in the youth market. DIY kits allow the user to create a unique piece and learn a new craft,” says Correa.
“Honestly, I have no clue why this trend became so popular so quickly. It shocked me, for sure. I still remember the first time I placed one of my handmade glass mushroom beads on a necklace. I genuinely thought it would be too radical for some people,” Lalonde said. “I wondered if some of my followers would be repulsed at the idea of wearing a mushroom necklace, which is hilarious, because now that is all I see on my Explore page.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22578160/beaded-jewelry-friendship-diy">https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22578160/beaded-jewelry-friendship-diy</a>

vox The latest trend in jewelry is summer camp chic

Welcome to Noticed , The Goods’ design trend column. You know that thing you’ve been seeing all over the place? Allow us to explain it. W...

Hot girl culture is whatever you want it to be

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My jaw clench is back. It was around during the week of the election, in that several-day stretch where the poor CNN guy had to point at the same map for 72 straight hours. It returned in the lead-up to my birthday party, and now it’s back and I’m not really sure why, which is its own kind of anxiety. But that’s okay, because on the internet, I can tweet something like “hot girls have bruxism” and maybe get 50 or so likes.
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This is how it feels to be on the internet lately. You’ve potentially seen some iteration of this, perhaps in a tweet about how all hot girls have IBS and depression or anemia and ADHD or some combination thereof. The joke, of course, is that these are <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/06/10469561/what-are-hot-girl-ailments-ibs-anemia">deeply unhot ailments</a>, couched in the acknowledgment that yes, I too am in on the joke, unlike you other weirdos who won’t stop earnestly debating the scraps of whatever the culture war most recently dredged up.
But before we got to a place where we were openly talking about hot girls’ bowel movements or their collective proclivity for, like, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avqpj/why-is-tinned-fish-hot-girl-food-now">tinned fish</a>, there was Megan Thee Stallion. In 2019, the artist’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/7/12/20690515/hot-girl-summer-meme-define-explained">fans iterated on her “hot girl” moniker</a> and invented the concept of “hot girl summer.” At the time, the idea that people of all genders could call themselves hot girls because they shared a certain attitude and not because it had anything to do with their proximity to traditional hotness, felt novel. Even Megan certainly couldn’t have anticipated what came next, though, which was the total memefication of “hot girl” by too-online adult women, creating something like a natural, more self-aware nemesis to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22466574/gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss-meaning">girlboss</a>.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
hot girls have 1) eczema 2) IBS 3) chronic utis 4) scoliosis or 5) all of the above. if u don’t see yourself on this list idk what to tell u
— spookshow baby (@httpkathleen) <a href="https://twitter.com/httpkathleen/status/1393911555931222018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
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One of my favorite TikTok memes from a hundred years ago was “I can’t talk right now, I’m doing hot girl shit.” There was one iteration that made me gasp in recognition: In this instance, the “hot girl shit” in question was “<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mommasaige/video/6902642450012196101">scraping the large mounds of dandruff off my scalp</a>,” which is objectively disgusting but extremely relatable to me personally. “‘I’m hot’ is the new ‘I’m ugly,’” reads a <a href="https://twitter.com/clintoris/status/1412491052196368384">recent tweet</a> from the delightful @clintoris, referencing the wave of people calling themselves ugly on the internet, but, as I’ve written about previously, in an <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/11/14/20963125/tiktok-ugly-hi-im-ryan">almost wholesome or progressive way</a>.
When I talked to an expert for that story, she said that the inclination to self-deprecate is mired in self-protection. “I kind of celebrate what they’re doing — they’re trying to push back on the idea that we all look perfect on social media,” Sara Frischer, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, told me. “But I think it’s just a little misguided in how they’re doing it. It’s deflection, and it’s self-protective to then make a joke about it. It protects people from feeling vulnerable.”
Calling yourself a hot girl would appear on its face to be the opposite: Rather than reappropriating a weakness, you’re asserting your power, regardless of how traditionally attractive you actually are. There’s something else going on, though, something more like how a humblebrag operates as a way of protection against seeming too narcissistic. You can use the specter of hotness as a preemptive defense against any anonymous avatars waiting for the chance to call you ugly or fat, while also adding the vulnerability of admitting you have poop problems.
That’s a relatively cynical explanation for something that, again, is literally just a joke. Yet I’d argue that “sad online hot girl” is just as useful of an identity marker as anything else. The popularity of the ironic bimbo aesthetic — the state of being both classically hot and socially progressive — has given way to a continuous debate on TikTok and elsewhere about whether it’s really possible to be a feminist while still appealing to the male gaze. But as Marlowe Granados <a href="https://thebaffler.com/outbursts/the-bimbos-laugh-granados">pointed out in the Baffler</a>, the feminist film scholar Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze was about representation of women in art created by men, not actual women living their lives. “Laura Mulvey’s manifesto has been recast as an inescapable fact of life, conflating men’s artistic gaze with men’s literal gaze — the latter being painted as inherently oppressive,” she writes. “How long will we measure women’s every action against the Male Gaze?”
The idea of proudly touting oneself as a hot girl subverts not only men’s opinions, but the opinions coming from the endless annoying chatter of circular internet discourses. Every time I come across a video about whether, say, plastic surgery is inherently progressive or immoral, I’m reminded of why so many of us wish <a href="https://twitter.com/as_a_vegetarian/status/1412227015332155395">we were hot sluts who don’t know how to read</a>. It’s because watching the same kind of people — people who seem to have genuinely good intentions but have spent far too much time arguing in comments sections — yell over each other is exhausting. “Hot girl,” then, is a relatively useful term for the very online to differentiate themselves from, well, the other kind of very online person.
Regardless, calling yourself a “hot girl” is normal now. But wait: Next we’ll all be calling each other <a href="https://mashable.com/article/breedable-horny-copypasta-meme-fanfiction-fandom">“submissive and breedable.”</a>
This column first published in The Goods newsletter. <a href="https://www.vox.com/pages/newsletters">Sign up here</a> so you don’t miss the next one, plus get newsletter exclusives.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2021/7/20/22584329/hot-girl-summer-tiktok-twitter-ibs">https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2021/7/20/22584329/hot-girl-summer-tiktok-twitter-ibs</a>

vox Hot girl culture is whatever you want it to be

My jaw clench is back. It was around during the week of the election, in that several-day stretch where the poor CNN guy had to point at th...

Why a new law requiring Asian American history in schools is so significant

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This month, Illinois became the first state in the country to require the inclusion of Asian American history in public school curriculums. While the actual impact of this law will depend a lot on implementation, its passage alone sends a significant message: that Asian American history is American history and is integral to understanding the country’s past and present.
For years, Asian American history has been virtually nonexistent in textbooks or cordoned off to a narrow section at best. Much of the framing has also sought to paint the US as a savior for Asian immigrants, glossing over people’s agency and the government’s role in imperialism and exclusion.
“My general understanding is there is not much, if any [Asian American history], being taught in most parts of the country,” says Tufts University sociology professor Natasha Warikoo, whose work centers on the study of inequality in schools. “I have not seen it in my own experience, in my children’s experience, or in my own experience as a teacher.”
<a href="https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=110&GA=102&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=0376&GAID=16&LegID=128327&SpecSess=&Session=">This new Illinois law</a> — the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act (TEAACH) — takes a first step toward addressing some of these gaps by requiring all public elementary schools and high schools to have a unit dedicated to Asian American history. Its passage follows an increased focus on anti-Asian racism, as attacks and xenophobia have surged in the pandemic.
Grace Pai, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, the advocacy group that first proposed the legislation, notes that its overwhelming passage — it was approved by the state House 108 to 10 — is a testament to the work of local organizers who’ve helped write the law and lobbied lawmakers on it over the past year. The victory comes as conservatives mount a national attack on <a href="https://www.vox.com/22443822/critical-race-theory-controversy">critical race theory</a>, or what is really education that scrutinizes systemic racism and highlights the importance of lessons that examine the country’s history of discriminatory policies.
By ensuring that more Asian American experiences are included in classroom lessons, the hope is that laws like this will build more understanding among students and combat damaging stereotypes that have persisted for decades.
“TEAACH is fundamentally at its core about building empathy,” Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, a lead sponsor of the bill alongside state Sen. Ram Villivalam, <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2021/07/11/illinois-becomes-first-state-require-asian-american-history-be-taught-public-schools">emphasized in a press interview</a>. “Empathy comes from understanding, and we cannot expect to do better unless we know better. And when Asian Americans are missing from our classrooms, what fills that void are harmful stereotypes.”
Because states and districts have jurisdiction over what’s taught in schools, curriculums about Asian American history vary widely across the country, and focus mostly on a few events, including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese immigrants from entering the country.
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00933104.2016.1170646">In her 2016 analysis</a> of history standards of 10 states across the country, Sohyun An, a professor of elementary and early childhood education at Kennesaw State University, discovered that most lessons centered on the treatment of Japanese and Chinese immigrants and didn’t begin to cover the immense diversity of the Asian American diaspora.
The majority of the curriculums she studied framed Asian Americans as the victims of nativist sentiment and restrictionist policies, with few highlighting them as active contributors to the country’s achievements.
“They portray them as the victims of racism, but they don’t highlight their agency,” says An.
Nicholas Hartlep, an education professor at Berea College, discovered an even starker breakdown in his 2016 review of K-12 textbooks, <a href="https://psmag.com/news/why-are-asian-americans-missing-from-our-textbooks">Pacific Standard previously reported</a>:
<blockquote>
His 2016 <a href="https://www.academia.edu/27170952/Asian_American_Curricular_Epistemicide_From_Being_Excluded_to_Becoming_a_Model_Minority">study</a> of K-12 social studies textbooks and teacher manuals found that Asian Americans were poorly represented at best, and subjected to racist caricatures at worst. The textbooks often relied on tropes such as dragons, chopsticks, and “Oriental” font to depict Asian Americans. The wide diversity of Asian Americans was overlooked; there was very little mention of South Asians or Pacific Islanders, for example. And chances were, in the images, Asian Americans appeared in stereotypical roles, such as engineers.
</blockquote>
And historic events are often framed in a way that paints the US government in a positive light, while obscuring its role in colonization and oppression.
“K-12 American history texts reinforce the narrative that Asian immigrants and refugees are fortunate to have been ‘helped’ and ‘saved’ by the US,” Jean Wu, a Tufts Asian American history lecturer emerita, <a href="https://time.com/5949028/asian-american-history-schools/">previously told Time</a>. “The story does not begin with US imperialist wars that were waged to take Asian wealth and resources and the resulting violence, rupture and displacement in relation to Asian lives. Few realize that there is an Asian diaspora here in the US because the US went to Asia first.”
A lot, in the end, is currently left out of textbooks. Students don’t learn about <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-it-is-important-know-story-filipino-american-larry-itliong-180972696/">Larry Itliong, the Filipino American farmworker</a> who led historic strikes for workers’ rights alongside Cesar Chavez; they don’t learn about Asian American activists working with other student groups to push for <a href="https://time.com/5837805/asian-american-history/">ethnic studies departments in the 1960s</a>; they don’t learn about <a href="https://jfk.blogs.archives.gov/2020/05/15/dalip-singh-saund/">Dalip Saund</a>, the first Asian American Congress member, who advocated for immigrant rights; and they don’t learn about <a href="https://www.reproductiveaccess.org/2017/05/aapi-heritage-month-yuri-kochiyama-grace-lee-boggs/">activists Grace Lee Boggs or Yuri Kochiyama</a>, both of whom fought for civil rights.
When textbooks focus on anti-Asian racism, they usually gloss over the severity of the discrimination that people endured and the resilience they exhibited in fighting back. Few history lessons address the attacks on <a href="https://wp.wwu.edu/timeline/south-asians-expelled/">hundreds of South Asian immigrants in Bellingham, Washington, in the early 1900s</a> as white workers sought to drive them out, or the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/the-chinese-massacre-one-of-los-angeles-worst-atrocities/">mass lynching of Chinese American immigrants in Los Angeles</a> in the 1870s.
Without such lessons, there’s little awareness not only about how Asian Americans have been discriminated against in the past — and how that continues to inform current biases — but also about how Asian Americans have helped to build the country.
The omission, and limited portrayals, of Asian Americans in history lessons establishes and reinforces the message that they aren’t part of this country’s narrative.
“By not showing up in American history, by not hearing about Asian Americans in schools, that contributes to that sense of foreignness,” says Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn, a teacher educator with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice initiative.
The Illinois bill was first proposed in early 2020 by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, and Pai notes that the recent rise in anti-Asian sentiment has underscored the urgency of the measure. Between March 2020 and March 2021, the group Stop AAPI Hate has received reports of <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-march-2021/">more than 6,600 anti-Asian incidents</a> ranging from verbal abuse to physical attacks, as lawmakers including former President Donald Trump have used racist rhetoric to describe the coronavirus. Greater history education can help students see how such statements tap into longstanding xenophobia and echo the scapegoating of Asian Americans for the spread of illnesses in the past.
While the Illinois law does not detail exactly what the curriculum should cover, it references a <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/asian-americans/">five-part PBS documentary</a> about the history of Asian Americans as a useful resource. Just how much the bill will change in classrooms remains to be seen, though. School districts have a lot of leeway in how to implement the law and designate what they mean by a “unit,” so the actual lessons that are taught could have significant differences from place to place.
“The impact, in terms of children’s education, really depends on what comes next. The extent to which training is provided for teachers and school districts, the provision of curricular materials,” says Warikoo. “Even within states, there’s a lot of flexibility in state standards and how different districts and even schools and teachers implement them.”
Pai says that Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago is working with the state government to offer guidance for districts and teachers. “I think weak implementation is a challenge and a concern,” Pai says. “There has to be a multi-pronged strategy and that means partnering with other organizations on teacher trainings, to receive professional development around this ... to provide a comprehensive set of resources,” she says.
Illinois is not the only state pursuing such changes. Others, including California and Oregon, have established ethnic studies curriculums, which include lessons on Asian American and Pacific Islander history. Connecticut also has legislation in the works to ensure that Asian American history is part of the state’s model curriculum that’s provided as an outline for schools.
“Unfortunately, it took the anti-Asian hate and violence in this country to get people’s attention, and it was a call to action,” says Karen Korematsu, the director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, an organization dedicated to advocating for more inclusive education.
Expanding education to incorporate a variety of perspectives is viewed as a key way to build empathy and critical thinking among students, which could, in turn, reduce bias. While it’s certainly far from the only thing that’s needed, this curriculum is viewed as one way to help prevent anti-Asian attacks moving forward.
“If you’re thoughtfully inclusive, really helping kids see that difference is not something to be scared of or a bad thing, that can really support empathy. And in a moment when we are seeing more awareness in anti-Asian hate and violence sometimes, that is probably a good thing,” says Blackburn.
Research on children’s literature indicates that exposure to diverse voices can change students’ perceptions: <a href="https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1182&context=mrj">A 2012 Michigan Reading Journal paper</a> from educators Rose Crowley, Monica Fountain, and Rachelle Torres found that consuming children’s literature with diverse protagonists helped children develop more understanding of people who were of different backgrounds. Previous studies have also found that such books can help push back on stereotypes children may hold.
Such lessons also ensure that Asian American students feel seen and included.
“It’s hard for children. ... When you don’t know about the contributions of Asian Americans and you’re an Asian American yourself, you don’t have mentors and people to look up to,” says Hartlep. “If you don’t see yourself in the curriculum, and you don’t see yourself in the classroom, it’s like, where do you belong? It makes you feel invisible and it doesn’t lead to empowerment.”
This bill points to the important role that schools can play in providing important historic context that informs students and nurtures empathy. It’s also just the latest act the state has taken to make its public school curriculums more inclusive: Last year, Illinois approved a new law requiring history lessons to <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-lgbtq-history-illinois-schools-law-20190826-m2k4qtpiifhkzp5a76dwtwlbwy-story.html">include the contributions of LGBTQ people</a>, and earlier this spring, <a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/05/13/illinois-black-history-schools">another law expanded the scope of Black history taught in schools</a>.
Pai notes that the GOP focus on critical race theory — a term that’s been used as a catchall by conservatives to describe education that addresses race — did not play a major role in the discussions of this bill, which garnered widespread support in Illinois’s mostly Democratic legislature.
Experts have also theorized that this legislation’s focus on the inclusion of Asian American history and contributions, rather than calling out systemic racism outright, may have made it less likely to prompt conservative pushback. “This law ... doesn’t call out white supremacy, so it can be very palatable,” says Hartlep.
An, the Kennesaw State curriculums expert, says that Illinois’s actions could spur momentum for concurrent efforts taking place in other states, though she says comparable bills are likely to be a tougher sell in more conservative places, like Georgia, where she lives. Still, it’s a change that helps set a precedent, she says.
“We have a grassroots movement right now to benchmark Illinois and do something similar,” An says.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/20/22576138/asian-american-history-illinois-law">https://www.vox.com/2021/7/20/22576138/asian-american-history-illinois-law</a>

vox Why a new law requiring Asian American history in schools is so significant

This month, Illinois became the first state in the country to require the inclusion of Asian American history in public school curriculums....

Jeff Bezos, World's Richest Man, Travels To Space In His Own Rocket

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Jeff Bezos, World's Richest Man, Travels To Space In His Own Rocket" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-07/eo2j1j3_jeff-bezos-takes-off650_625x300_20_July_21.jpg" title="Jeff Bezos, World's Richest Man, Travels To Space In His Own Rocket" /></div>
Jeff Bezos blasted off for space Tuesday aboard a Blue Origin rocket
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Washington:
Jeff Bezos, the richest person on the planet, blasted off for space Tuesday aboard a Blue Origin rocket on its first human flight, the company's live broadcast showed.
The rocket lifted off from a base in the west Texas desert at approximately 8:12 am local time (1312 GMT) after a brief hold.
The capsule touched down in the west Texas desert after breaching the boundary of space, the company's live broadcast showed.
The spaceship floated down on three giant parachutes before firing a retro thruster, sending up a cloud of sand as it gently landed at one or two miles (kilometers) an hour.
"A very happy group of people in this capsule," said Bezos.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/jeff-bezos-worlds-richest-man-takes-off-for-space-in-his-own-rocket-2490869">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/jeff-bezos-worlds-richest-man-takes-off-for-space-in-his-own-rocket-2490869</a>

news world Jeff Bezos, World's Richest Man, Travels To Space In His Own Rocket

Jeff Bezos blasted off for space Tuesday aboard a Blue Origin rocket Washington: Jeff Bezos, the richest person on the planet, blasted ...

Amazon Magnate Jeff Bezos Ready To Ride His Own Rocket To Space

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Amazon Magnate Jeff Bezos Ready To Ride His Own Rocket To Space" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-07/99r971hg_jeff-bezos-650_625x300_20_July_21.jpg" title="Amazon Magnate Jeff Bezos Ready To Ride His Own Rocket To Space" /></div>
Jeff Bezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000.
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Washington:
The wealthiest man on the planet Jeff Bezos will ride his own rocket to outer space on Tuesday, a key moment for a fledgling industry seeking to make the final frontier accessible to elite tourists.
Blue Origin has planned its first crewed mission, an 11-minute hop from west Texas to beyond the Karman line and back again, to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of the first Moon landing.
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson made the voyage on July 11, narrowly beating the Amazon magnate in their battle of the billionaires.
But Bezos, like Branson, insists it wasn't a contest.
"There's one person who was the first person in space -- his name was Yuri Gagarin -- and that happened a long time ago," he told the TODAY show on NBC on Monday, referencing the Soviet cosmonaut's 1961 milestone.
"This isn't a competition, this is about building a road to space so that future generations can do incredible things in space," he added.
Blue Origin's sights are also set higher: both in the altitude to which its reusable New Shepard craft will ascend compared to Virgin's spaceplane, but also in its ambitions.
Bezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of one day building floating space colonies with artificial gravity where millions of people will work and live.
Today, the company is developing a heavy-lift orbital rocket called New Glenn and also a Moon lander it is hoping to contract to NASA.
New Shepard has flown 15 uncrewed flights to put it through its paces and test safety mechanisms, like firing the capsule away from the launchpad if the rocket explodes, or landing it with one less parachute.
"We learned how to make a vehicle safe enough that we'd be willing to put our own loved ones on it, and send them to space," Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said at a briefing on Sunday.
Lift-off is at 8:00 am Central Time (1300 GMT) from a remote facility in the west Texas desert called Launch Site One, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the nearest town, Van Horn.
Weather conditions currently appear favorable and the event will be live streamed on BlueOrigin.com, starting 90 minutes before launch.
Richest, oldest, youngest
Joining Bezos will be barrier-breaking female aviator Wally Funk, who at 82 is set to be the oldest ever astronaut, and 18-year-old Dutchman Oliver Daemen, who will become the youngest.
Rounding out the quartet is Jeff Bezos' younger brother and best friend Mark, who directs the Bezos Family Foundation and works as a volunteer firefighter.
Notably absent is the still anonymous winner of a $28 million auction for a seat, who had "scheduling conflicts" and will take part in a future flight.
Daemen's father, the CEO of a private equity firm, was a runner-up in the bidding, allowing his teenage son to become the company's first paying customer.
After lift-off, New Shepard will careen towards space at speeds exceeding 2,300 mph (3700 kph) using a liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engine whose only byproduct is water vapor.
The capsule separates from its booster, and when it gets high enough, the astronauts unbuckle and experience weightlessness for three to four minutes.
The spacecraft peaks at 65 miles altitude (106 kilometers), allowing the crew members to admire the curvature of the planet, and the inky black of the rest of the universe.
The booster returns autonomously to a landing pad just north of its launch site, while the capsule freefalls back to Earth with three giant parachutes, and finally a thruster, for a gentle landing in the desert.
Funk, who excelled in the Mercury 13 project meant to train women for space, but was denied the opportunity to go because of the sexism of the early space-era, said she planned to make the most of the opportunity.
She told NBC she was looking forward to floating, turning and rolling in near-zero gravity. 
'Read the room'
Blue Origin has remained relatively coy about what comes next. 
The company says it plans two more flights this year, then "many more" next year. 
Analysts say much will hinge on early successes and building a solid safety record. 
Smith, the CEO, revealed Sunday that the next launch could take place in September or October, adding "willingness to pay continues to be quite high."
At the same time, the sector is beginning to face criticism over the optics of super wealthy individuals blasting off to space while Earth faces climate-driven disasters and a coronavirus pandemic.
"Could there be a worse time for two uber-rich rocket owners to take a quick jaunt toward the dark?" wrote Shannon Stirone in an Atlantic piece titled "Space Billionaires, Please Read the Room."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/amazon-magnate-jeff-bezos-ready-to-ride-his-own-rocket-to-space-2490852">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/amazon-magnate-jeff-bezos-ready-to-ride-his-own-rocket-to-space-2490852</a>

news world Amazon Magnate Jeff Bezos Ready To Ride His Own Rocket To Space

Jeff Bezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000. Washington: The wealthiest man on the planet Jeff Bezos will ride his own rocket to outer ...