small
always being told to listen
and sit
and be pretty
don't argue
don't even speak
don't let them know
that you are a person
it can't be helped
you're just a girl
stupid
vapid
is there anything inside?
you are a blank slate on which
anyone can scribble
and turn you
into whatever they want you to be
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Current Women's Issue #2
Questions Follow Closing of Beijing Art Show on Violence Against Women:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/world/asia/questions-follow-closing-of-beijing-art-show-on-violence-against-women.html?ref=topics
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, an art exhibition, which was to be the first in which men and women artists were equally represented in China, never opened.
Reading about this gave me a strange mix of feelings. On one hand, I felt sad because I know how important it is for us to speak about these issues. On the other hand, I felt hopeful because even though they were denied access into the building, these artists persevered and displayed their creations out in the cold anyway. One artist, Xiao Lu, began to create new art out of cigarettes in the snow.
It was interesting that it wasn't the government who shut down the exhibition, but the gallery itself. It was passed off as being a misunderstanding and they even said that there wasn't enough public interest for it to be opened. Cui Guangxia, the male curator, said that the higher authorities thought it would be too crowded and risky. Many excuses were made, none of which seem to make much sense at all and I couldn't help but wonder if it really was accidental.
There's been a history of silencing victims of abuse. If it ever comes out that the exhibition was shut down in order to perpetuate this silence and "not make waves", so to speak, it would come as no surprise.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/world/asia/questions-follow-closing-of-beijing-art-show-on-violence-against-women.html?ref=topics
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, an art exhibition, which was to be the first in which men and women artists were equally represented in China, never opened.
Reading about this gave me a strange mix of feelings. On one hand, I felt sad because I know how important it is for us to speak about these issues. On the other hand, I felt hopeful because even though they were denied access into the building, these artists persevered and displayed their creations out in the cold anyway. One artist, Xiao Lu, began to create new art out of cigarettes in the snow.
It was interesting that it wasn't the government who shut down the exhibition, but the gallery itself. It was passed off as being a misunderstanding and they even said that there wasn't enough public interest for it to be opened. Cui Guangxia, the male curator, said that the higher authorities thought it would be too crowded and risky. Many excuses were made, none of which seem to make much sense at all and I couldn't help but wonder if it really was accidental.
There's been a history of silencing victims of abuse. If it ever comes out that the exhibition was shut down in order to perpetuate this silence and "not make waves", so to speak, it would come as no surprise.
Current Women's Issue #1
The Women of Hollywood Speak Out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-women-of-hollywood-speak-out.html?ref=topics&_r=0
I thought this article was very interesting, and also a little frustrating. As a woman who enjoys film-making and movies and TV shows, the issues addressed here really speak to me.
It was mentioned that many people will try and discount women directors who don't make movies like Star Wars or Jurassic Park by saying that women just "aren't interested" in making movies in the action/fantasy genre. This is not the case at all, actually. It's just that when women try to do the things men do, especially when working in Hollywood, they aren't taken seriously and people are more likely to criticize a female director/actor than they are a male.
I liked hearing the voices of female directors such as Leslye Headland even though, sadly, I had never heard of her before. Funny how we never get much exposure to women who do such great work unless we do some serious digging.
Someday, I hope that with any and all careers, we won't have to make the distinction of that person's gender. I don't ever want to be referred to as a "female author", I want to just be an author!
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-women-of-hollywood-speak-out.html?ref=topics&_r=0
I thought this article was very interesting, and also a little frustrating. As a woman who enjoys film-making and movies and TV shows, the issues addressed here really speak to me.
It was mentioned that many people will try and discount women directors who don't make movies like Star Wars or Jurassic Park by saying that women just "aren't interested" in making movies in the action/fantasy genre. This is not the case at all, actually. It's just that when women try to do the things men do, especially when working in Hollywood, they aren't taken seriously and people are more likely to criticize a female director/actor than they are a male.
I liked hearing the voices of female directors such as Leslye Headland even though, sadly, I had never heard of her before. Funny how we never get much exposure to women who do such great work unless we do some serious digging.
Someday, I hope that with any and all careers, we won't have to make the distinction of that person's gender. I don't ever want to be referred to as a "female author", I want to just be an author!
Monday, November 30, 2015
The Robber Bride Discussion Question
1. In The Robber Bride
Tony says that people like Zenia don't get into your life unless you invite
them in. What devices does Zenia use to first gain entry into the lives of
Tony, Charis, and Roz? How does she alter her techniques to attract and control
men?
Throughout the book, we get many flashbacks. Each of the three women gets a section in the book in which they have a specific flashback about their childhood/their relationship with their parents. They also get a flashback in which they discuss in length how Zenia came into their lives.
Based on the flashbacks the reader gets about Tony, Charis, and Roz's childhoods, it becomes very clear that Zenia uses what she knows about their pasts in order to manipulate them.
For example, Zenia knows about Tony's mother leaving her and her father's suicide and at first uses these facts to antagonize her. She spins a story about how her own mother made her sell her body during the war. She specifically mentions war because she is aware of Tony's fascination with it, but she also makes out like Tony's hatred of her mother is not as justified as her own.
With Charis, Zenia knows that she is a deeply spiritual person. She comes to her in a place of illness and neediness, something that Charis can relate to. Zenia is able to appear weak in order to weasel her way into Charis' life. At first, she is kind and complacent. When she gets Charis alone, however, she says things Charis does not want to hear and instead becomes this spiteful, angry person which upsets the aura Charis feels.
Zenia first appears as a waitress when Roz and Mitch are out to lunch. Roz asks her what she's doing there and Zenia tells her that she's doing undercover research on sexual assault. Zenia presents herself as confident and prideful, personality traits in a woman that Roz looks up to and wants for herself. She seeks out Zenia because she craves that deeper friendship, only she gets more than she bargained for.
As far as attracting and controlling the men in their lives, Zenia manipulates them in a similar way as she does the women. She presents herself in a way that she knows they like. They find vulnerable, thus desirable. Just as a quick example, Zenia manipulates West and Tony's love for West in order to get her way. When it wasn't enough to just take Tony's money, Zenia had to come and take West from her not once, but twice because she knows that's how she can hurt the three women the most: by taking their love.
Throughout the book, we get many flashbacks. Each of the three women gets a section in the book in which they have a specific flashback about their childhood/their relationship with their parents. They also get a flashback in which they discuss in length how Zenia came into their lives.
Based on the flashbacks the reader gets about Tony, Charis, and Roz's childhoods, it becomes very clear that Zenia uses what she knows about their pasts in order to manipulate them.
For example, Zenia knows about Tony's mother leaving her and her father's suicide and at first uses these facts to antagonize her. She spins a story about how her own mother made her sell her body during the war. She specifically mentions war because she is aware of Tony's fascination with it, but she also makes out like Tony's hatred of her mother is not as justified as her own.
With Charis, Zenia knows that she is a deeply spiritual person. She comes to her in a place of illness and neediness, something that Charis can relate to. Zenia is able to appear weak in order to weasel her way into Charis' life. At first, she is kind and complacent. When she gets Charis alone, however, she says things Charis does not want to hear and instead becomes this spiteful, angry person which upsets the aura Charis feels.
Zenia first appears as a waitress when Roz and Mitch are out to lunch. Roz asks her what she's doing there and Zenia tells her that she's doing undercover research on sexual assault. Zenia presents herself as confident and prideful, personality traits in a woman that Roz looks up to and wants for herself. She seeks out Zenia because she craves that deeper friendship, only she gets more than she bargained for.
As far as attracting and controlling the men in their lives, Zenia manipulates them in a similar way as she does the women. She presents herself in a way that she knows they like. They find vulnerable, thus desirable. Just as a quick example, Zenia manipulates West and Tony's love for West in order to get her way. When it wasn't enough to just take Tony's money, Zenia had to come and take West from her not once, but twice because she knows that's how she can hurt the three women the most: by taking their love.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Stephanie Lenox Response
I was a part of the editing and publishing workshop so I was at the reading Stephanie and Heather did Thursday (11/12/15).
I really enjoyed getting to hear them read their poetry aloud because it made me think about poetry as a performance.
In Stephanie's poem Employees Must Wash Hands, I got a good sense of rhythm. I have always been taught poetry a certain way and I have tended to think of poetry as this very one-sided thing. I used to go into it having an idea of what it would be like and I've always been wrong. Poetry always surprises me. The way that Stephanie managed to turn this poem into a sort of chant captivated me. She took a traditional poetry trope (rhyming) and turned it into something that was almost magical.
Hearing her and Heather read their poems made me see them in a new light. Sometimes it's hard to understand what the author wants you to feel until you hear them read. Poetry is musical when it's read aloud and I liked that I got to see that during this night.
I really enjoyed getting to hear them read their poetry aloud because it made me think about poetry as a performance.
In Stephanie's poem Employees Must Wash Hands, I got a good sense of rhythm. I have always been taught poetry a certain way and I have tended to think of poetry as this very one-sided thing. I used to go into it having an idea of what it would be like and I've always been wrong. Poetry always surprises me. The way that Stephanie managed to turn this poem into a sort of chant captivated me. She took a traditional poetry trope (rhyming) and turned it into something that was almost magical.
Hearing her and Heather read their poems made me see them in a new light. Sometimes it's hard to understand what the author wants you to feel until you hear them read. Poetry is musical when it's read aloud and I liked that I got to see that during this night.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Short Stories: A Temporary Matter
I'm choosing to write this blog entry on the short story we read titled A Temporary Matter by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Out of all the short stories we've read so far in class, this one stuck out to me the most. I've read Interpreter of Maladies in the past and I am familiar with Jhumpa Lahiri in that sense.
I wanted to focus on how very real this story is. There is such deep, personal subject matter taking place here. Shoba and Shukumar show the reader the reality of a marriage. We see what it's like to have a relationship dwindle after a tragedy. I have not had anything like this happen in my life, but the loss of a child is something that many couples struggle with.
We get a better sense of each character's individuality by not only the way they deal with their grief, but the way they deal with each other. It is clear that Shoba and Shukumar struggle to find much in common after this happens. They end up resenting each other.
Shukumar's perspective is the focus of this story and the reader gets a good idea of how his feelings and opinions of his wife have changed over time. He says that she once used to be beautiful and interesting and now he does not regard her this way. When she was pregnant, Shukumar didn't find Shoba desirable and I think that in itself is the turning point of their relationship. After the death of their son, Shukumar turns the baby's room into his office and he becomes irritated when Shoba interrupts him and intrudes into his new, designated space.
Although this story is through Shukumar's perspective, we also get how Shoba feels about Shukumar through her actions. She no longer wants to cook, she leaves her shoes and her bag on the floor, she doesn't put an effort into her appearance, she's constantly staying late to work and she never wants to talk to Shukumar when she is home.
What really intrigued me are the scenes where their power is shut off and they begin to tell each other secrets in the dark. The reader almost feels like these candlelit confessions will be what saves their marriage, but it does not happen. Shoba tells Shukumar that she is moving out and it is truly the end. Their sudden trust in each other only happens because they don't have their work to busy themselves with and, most likely, because it's easier to tell someone you care about a piece of information you've been hiding if they can't see you clearly. It's only temporary.
Out of all the short stories we've read so far in class, this one stuck out to me the most. I've read Interpreter of Maladies in the past and I am familiar with Jhumpa Lahiri in that sense.
I wanted to focus on how very real this story is. There is such deep, personal subject matter taking place here. Shoba and Shukumar show the reader the reality of a marriage. We see what it's like to have a relationship dwindle after a tragedy. I have not had anything like this happen in my life, but the loss of a child is something that many couples struggle with.
We get a better sense of each character's individuality by not only the way they deal with their grief, but the way they deal with each other. It is clear that Shoba and Shukumar struggle to find much in common after this happens. They end up resenting each other.
Shukumar's perspective is the focus of this story and the reader gets a good idea of how his feelings and opinions of his wife have changed over time. He says that she once used to be beautiful and interesting and now he does not regard her this way. When she was pregnant, Shukumar didn't find Shoba desirable and I think that in itself is the turning point of their relationship. After the death of their son, Shukumar turns the baby's room into his office and he becomes irritated when Shoba interrupts him and intrudes into his new, designated space.
Although this story is through Shukumar's perspective, we also get how Shoba feels about Shukumar through her actions. She no longer wants to cook, she leaves her shoes and her bag on the floor, she doesn't put an effort into her appearance, she's constantly staying late to work and she never wants to talk to Shukumar when she is home.
What really intrigued me are the scenes where their power is shut off and they begin to tell each other secrets in the dark. The reader almost feels like these candlelit confessions will be what saves their marriage, but it does not happen. Shoba tells Shukumar that she is moving out and it is truly the end. Their sudden trust in each other only happens because they don't have their work to busy themselves with and, most likely, because it's easier to tell someone you care about a piece of information you've been hiding if they can't see you clearly. It's only temporary.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Beloved Discussion Question
3. What judgments does Toni Morrison make on Sethe's killing of her daughter? How does Sethe's community judge her? How does Paul D.
judge her? How does she judge herself? How do you judge her?
I personally don't think Toni Morrison makes a specific judgment on what Sethe does. She leaves the interpretation up to the other characters in the book as well as the reader. Paul D. and the rest of the community end up demonizing her because of what she did.
The community seems to understand why Sethe killed her daughter, but they cannot grasp that she actually did it. When Sethe came back from jail, she closed herself off from the community (maybe out of shame) and this is why the community ends up turning their backs on her. They saw her withdrawal as an act of pride.
Paul D. at first has trouble believing that the woman in the newspaper Stamp Paid shows him is really Sethe. He keeps saying it can't be her because that's "not her mouth". I think that this is, in part, his way of still trying to see her the way he saw her at Sweet Home. Back then, he mostly saw her as a woman to desire; and while when he shows up at 124 all these years later and still does see her in this way, he also sees her as more. Paul D. is suddenly faced with having to see her as someone who is capable of murder.
Sethe is constantly trying to explain why she did what she did. She tries to justify it to others, but, it mostly seems like she is trying to justify it to herself. She seems conflicted. She talks like she believes she did the right thing, yet when Beloved starts to guilt-trip her, Sethe becomes consumed with regret. She ends up apologizing numerously to Beloved for "leaving her behind".
As far as my judgment of Sethe, I think it's kind of hard to say it was either right or wrong. It's not a black and white situation. I am deeply sympathetic towards what many enslaved women like Sethe had to go through and I know all about the issue of infanticide. I can understand why Sethe thought it was necessary. She really only wanted to protect her children from living their lives in the same, awful way she did.
I personally don't think Toni Morrison makes a specific judgment on what Sethe does. She leaves the interpretation up to the other characters in the book as well as the reader. Paul D. and the rest of the community end up demonizing her because of what she did.
The community seems to understand why Sethe killed her daughter, but they cannot grasp that she actually did it. When Sethe came back from jail, she closed herself off from the community (maybe out of shame) and this is why the community ends up turning their backs on her. They saw her withdrawal as an act of pride.
Paul D. at first has trouble believing that the woman in the newspaper Stamp Paid shows him is really Sethe. He keeps saying it can't be her because that's "not her mouth". I think that this is, in part, his way of still trying to see her the way he saw her at Sweet Home. Back then, he mostly saw her as a woman to desire; and while when he shows up at 124 all these years later and still does see her in this way, he also sees her as more. Paul D. is suddenly faced with having to see her as someone who is capable of murder.
Sethe is constantly trying to explain why she did what she did. She tries to justify it to others, but, it mostly seems like she is trying to justify it to herself. She seems conflicted. She talks like she believes she did the right thing, yet when Beloved starts to guilt-trip her, Sethe becomes consumed with regret. She ends up apologizing numerously to Beloved for "leaving her behind".
As far as my judgment of Sethe, I think it's kind of hard to say it was either right or wrong. It's not a black and white situation. I am deeply sympathetic towards what many enslaved women like Sethe had to go through and I know all about the issue of infanticide. I can understand why Sethe thought it was necessary. She really only wanted to protect her children from living their lives in the same, awful way she did.
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