Taylor Lamb

Author

Taylor is a fourth year majoring in English with a minor in Drama. Her passion is using art (primarily theatre and writing) as a tool for social change. That was her primary focus through her own articles during her time as an Iris intern. Now, as the assistant editor, she hopes to help shape the publication in a similar way. She also is a Sagittarius who adores Beyoncé, which is incredibly important information, in her opinion. 

Devin Garcia, Taylor Lamb, and Mary Esselman at the end of year graduation celebration

Each year in May, the Women’s Center gathers its graduating interns to thank them for the impact they’ve had on the UVA community. As they look back on their experiences working with the center, they offer some terrific insights that we at Iris want to share with you. 

A photo of Taylor Lamb with lightning bolts drawn on

Well, it's the end of an era. The school year is over, and my matriculation at the University of Virginia is over. I graduate this weekend. By the time you read this, I'll have already graduated. 

A photo of a woman holding a picture frame around her with string lights on the frame

As women, we have a lot of expectations to uphold. One is the expectation of being "feminine." Google defines femininity as "the quality of being female; womanliness." 

That... doesn't tell me much. Based on that, every woman would be "feminine." But we know that's not true. There are requirements to being feminine. 

A hand-drawn photo of hearts over a pink background, with Love written over and over in the bottom.

Ah, love. A four-letter word to describe what may be the most complex thing that humans are fortunate enough to experience. 

A polaroid frame with no image inside

In today's looks and media obsessed society, we spend a lot of time thinking about the image that we're cultivating to the world. What do people see when they look at us? What persona are we giving off?

A hand-drawn photo of a lightbulb that is overflowing with yellow light, with "We're Back!" written on either side.

Well, the semester has kicked off and is in full swing. Students are having "midterms" (which, as all UVA students know, are not at all confined to the middle of the term), people are freaking out trying to come up with summer plans, and we have a bunch of stuff to share with you all!

A hand-drawn photo of balloons, champagne bottles, and confetti A

Well, folks. We did it. We made it through another semester. Considering the circumstances under which we entered this semester, it certainly felt a little new this year. But we made it through! 

Hand-drawn photo of ovaries with two scales hanging off of them.

Fun fact: having a vagina is hard.

If it's not the lawmakers trying to legislate what we do with our bodies, it's ridiculous pressures to make our vaginas "smell good."

A hand-drawn photo of a drum on an orange background

BREAKING NEWS: it's not always great to be a woman. Shocking, huh? I could make a list of a quite a few things that tend to make womanhood seem more like a curse than the blessing.

Abby Palko handling Rachel Most flowers at the Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award Ceremony

Here at Iris, we strive to be a provocative magazine for thinking young women. That means we want to make you think, and give you things to think about. Here are some things you might not know:

Las Vegas just happened, and we are heartbroken and numb. What follows is the editor's note as it was written Friday, before the Sunday night massacre in Las Vegas.

Aftermath

Well. It’s been quite the interesting start to the semester, huh?

Walking through Grounds the first day, knowing just days before it had been filled with torch-wielding neo-Nazis was a bit of a weird feeling.