New Moon Write Up

Before going in to see New Moon, I had my opinion, my stance on Bella. I’ve read the series; she falls in love, if you can call it that, with a vampire, he leaves her for her own good, and then she crumples into a ball and cries for around three hundred pages hurting everyone around her. I know exactly what to write for this entry.

Obviously, Bella is a feminist’s worse nightmare. She has no will to live after Edward leaves her, and without some man (Jacob and his pack, Edward, etc) to come save her, she wouldn’t even have lived to her eighteenth birthday. Bella epitomizes everything feminists despise; she is a helpless girl that needs a man to protect her and even to keep her functioning. And, just as obvious, I dislike Bella’s character. I’m not sure if this is a feminist side of me, but I just want her to be able to live by herself for herself. Weak women irritate me. I do not mean that women have to be just like men, doing all the things men do. I just wished girls would stop believing themselves nothing without their men to give them reasons to live. That is just ridiculous. Bella is fitting right into that gender role, and thus, I do not care for her.

However, as I was cringing (at Bella and Kristen Stewart’s “acting”), I realized Bella has somehow received some power over the men who help her. Edward is willing to kill himself for a mere fragile human girl if she no longer exists, and Jacob continues to hurt inside and help her despite the fact that she breaks his heart. She falls down and they both come running, vying to help her up, battling for her attention. It’s actually very scary that such an incompetent girl with no strength mentally or physically to hold her own in the world, hooks two very capable, strong and kind young men into doing her every bidding WHILE being a helpless damsel in distress and pining after Edward.

So, as much as I hate to even imagine, girls’ weaknesses somehow charm some guys and give themselves female power. However, Bella’s defenseless hurt baby animal pull does not come close to her insane inability to shut down without Edward. Bella is silly; she is a horrible perfect gender typer.

This is How it Went Down...

I have an idea for my final project. Before Ms. Falk stopped speaking I had an idea. However, I am not sure how workable or feasiable it is. Unfortunately, my timing is horrible because Ms. Falk was talking with Chaplain Leatherman during the brainstorming period during which I hoped to check with her on my idea. They continued talking during the five minute interval I hoped to at least set up an appointment to talk about my idea. In fact, I had to interrupt them (which I finally figured out was concerning her malfunctioning printer) to schedule an appointment. Thus, I will not brainstorm during this blog because I 1) have an idea 2) have had it during class time, a time in which I should have had the opportunity to solidify it.

My theme is love vs lust. I am going to focus on why women choose the man they lust for over the man they love or who love them (kinda like why the bad boy over the good one). It is a look on books (GWAPE and LWFC show this trend), media (Twilight is the first example I thought of), and society (America's standards have shifted). I want to focus on the "why" from the angle: what made this change? women? women's standards? men? etc. DONE.

My Mr. Nate Chinen Rxn

SO, first, I was impressed with Mr. Chinen's chapel speech because it was 1) funny/informal/nice typical non ancient Iolani alum plus 2) informative, deep, and slightly poetic? The "listen" part was very deep; I agree listening gets one a long way in life. Plus, I wish more people were more respectful in chapel so hopefully THEY were listening.

Next, I'm just a little saddened at our unusual lack of discussion in class. I love our class discussions because our class tends to bring all these different deep insightful ideas that clash and mesh to form new ideas, etc., but today, we were all tired and lazy from the mix of extended and first thing in the morning (?) I suppose. Plus, I will admit, I was a little intimidated by Mr. Chinen's pro-critic status... I didn't really want to sound stupid as he already has his professional NY Times worthy opinion (not that my opinion isn't just as important but you know...)

However, I am not of deep thought, and as our class warmed up to him, I learned a lot about the tricky media and just listening to songs in general. I am victim to the if it's catchy I don't really care what it's saying illness, but I wonder now what exactly I'm promoting/supporting. From now on, I hope to judge a little harder and pick my tunes a little more carefully.

I am also thankful for Mr. Chinen's presentation because I learned more about the Hollywood news I barely pay attention to. I am also left with a lot of unanswered questions especially about domestic violence, but I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open as well as my mind to eventually grasp the whole picture. In fact, I just read on the internet (not 10 minutes ago) Rihanna's coming out with the Chris Brown abuse story. I'm glad she sees how her decision keeps women moving in the wrong direction rights wise. I will try to continue to support her, and I hope Chris Brown learns you cannot mess with a woman and hope to cover it up with some cutsey songs without some hardcore humbling involved.

Overall, I am going to pay more attention to the music I listen to as well as the world around me, media and world wide. I would also like to keep gathering knowledge on domestic violence because I have been close to some cases and would like to continue formulating the whole picture before judging. Thanks to Mr. Chinen for some eye opening info and some new ideas to mull around in my head!

The Analysis of Pygmalion and Galatea

This is a painting of Pygmalion and Galatea. Since I was in British Literature last year, I wanted to look further into this story. Pygmaliona and Galatea is a Roman myth about a sculptor, Pygmalion, who was disgusted by women after, I can only suppose, having too much run ins with the wrong kind makes a perfect, virginal woman sculpture and falls in love with it. He names it Galatea (well, actually, a Frenchman named her Galatea after the Greek myth about the nereid who fell in love with a human man and turns into a goddess), and he prays to Aphrodite to make her real. Aphrodite makes her real, and the two live happily ever after.

If only it could really happen. I actually was looking at the Greek painting of The Triumph of Galatea by Raphael when I remembered this story. It is typically masculine becuase there are no "perfect women" in the world. Men's ideals of a perfect woman is just nonexistant, especially in their terms. I wish the story went on to describe all the actions of Galatea such as if she obeyed his every command, cleaned, cooked, had beautiful baby boys for Pygmalion, etc. The thought of a man creating a "perfect woman" both tickles and irritates me. It's symbolic to me that no one is perfect, but I wish she never came to life because it would have been better as a satire on how men chase after the ideal woman in vain.

The painting depicts what men want I suppose. In the painting, there is a baby angel holding clothes around her to emphasize her innocence and pure angelic nature. At least, she is above him in both position and perhaps in purity, etc. The one thing that saves me from hating this story is that he is enthralled by her; she holds power over him!

The Real Little Red Riding Hood

Interesting... ok, well, a little mind blowing, but it makes sense. Most fairy tales, now that I think about it, do not really have morals or lessons to them, and in the end, seem really pointless and merely candy instead of food for thought.

I find it a little sad that our culture (if it's old enough to even exist) in America (and England I suppose) slowly dumbed down fairy tales until there were no substance left which led to safer minds or innocence untouched or what have you, but look at Americans today. The clothes industry alone is competing to see who'll buy the shortest shorts and the tailors, etc. all cheer because their clothes can be made with less and less care. Girls love tattered clothes, frayed ends, worn this and that. They want their shirts to be see through. Clothing companies must be having money fests just cutting back on cloth, thread, enough paint to actually screen a whole shirt because a little splotchy, faded, half unreadable pictures are in. Being seductive, scandalous, might I go as far to say as a little slutty is what most girls strive for. Like the lipstick, girls should want to be chased by wolves.

What I really loved about Ms. Magazine's article was the mentioning that tales like Little Red Riding Hood originated by women with strong leading heroines. The Little Red pulling out a magnum or at least tricking the wolf is more my style. It irritates me to no end to think men took their ideas of how women should be, and made it into "lessons" for girls to follow to be more submissive and good.

In a way, though it is shocking, I like these more realistic fairy tales because they have meaning to them. It is true that if you were pretty in that time in France you could easily be seduced and disgraced. However, I do wish there were some fairy tales (scarily realistic or not) teaching men lessons, too such as not to be wolves, etc. In a way, sexist sounding or not, some American girls might need to hear the French version, and all girls who think men are all powerful or that it's fine to just act loose because it's all about sex and money, etc. could hear one of the true original fairy tales straight from the source, women.

Trip Down Memory Lane

When I first read the prompt, my first thoughts went to the Disney princess fairy tales. However, on further inspection, I realize I did not really like any of them. Sleeping Beauty sleeps until the prince wakes her up (not to mention her dress is not that pretty), Snow White cleans for little men then takes an apple from a stranger, and Cinderella, though probably the most interesting due to the fairy godmother and the cute mice, cleans until someone realizes she is kind hearted and drop dead gorgeous and marries her (of course he's a prince).

My favorite children's stories are probably the short tales from those Japanese collections like The Sticky Pine, Momotaro, and the Jizou Statues. I suppose I like them because I love my Japanese culture, learning about it, being a part of it, etc. Plus, the stories have morals, the good guys win, and the bad guys lose, but with better reasons and rewards than Disney. However, it was probably the culture that got me into it; I was not that deep of a six year old. I also like Soup From a Stone because it was funny, and the soup actually sounded really good. My mother was also a very comical and realistic storyteller.

As I think about it, the one Disney fairy tale if it even counts, is Anastasia. I like the music, the plot, and the touch of magic. Bartok, the bat was hilarious, Anastasia is a strong heroine which I tend toward even now, and of course, it ends happily ever after.

I realize that even as a little kid, I like those three things: magic, music, and, in a way, history. After I outgrew Disney and the like, I went on to those Royal Diary books which were semi-fictional diaries of princesses throughout history from all sorts of different cultures.

My Rxn To LWFC

If this book ended midway through chapter 12, it would have been my dream school reading book! The language is cultural, but I could understand all of it unlike the pure dialect of the South or Shakespeare. The whole plot revolves around food (a big plus for me!) and a Korean soap opera worthy love triangle (super duper huge plus!). When I first picked up the novel, I wondered how a story could actually be formed from recipes. I remember thinking to myself that this would be a stilted book at best because how could that be the backbone, the foundation for a book? However, Esquivel not only proved me wrong but shoved my nose in it. I couldn’t imagine the significance food can have on a culture, or the different tangents one can take with it. It is like a whole new form of grammar or sentence structure I did not think possible! But, I did mention the twelfth chapter. I am and will always be a helpless, unrealistic, and definitely unreasonable romantic, and the ending killed me. John Brown, the “love” of Tita’s life, is left alone and yet still smiling on for Tita’s sake as she’s swept off into lust’s embrace a.k.a. Pedro. First, Pedro is a jerk. Not only does he use Rosaura to get to Tita, but then he expects somehow to love both of them (in different ways). Then, he gets mad when Tita finally has a chance for happiness, and lastly, even after he knows Tita turns John down, he has to get jealous and braggart-like when dancing at Esperanza and Alex’s wedding. The bad guy is not supposed to get the girl! To be honest, I did want Tita and Pedro together, but I don’t know why. It’s as if Esquivel makes us root for the two because the whole book is about them pining away for each other from across the hall. That’s drama; the real twitch in my conscience is that Pedro=lust and John=love, but Tita chooses lust over love, is happier in lust than love, and the “love” character is left out of luck with no wife of his own or anything. I wonder if Esquivel is trying to make a point about the true weighings of lust vs love. Overall, I love that this story is a romance (a non-literary, real romance with realistic ups and downs not including the magic) novel which automatically makes it wonderful, and on top of that, it had meaning, symbolism, a hint of the fantastic (!), and a (somewhat) happy ending.

Thinking Out Loud for a LWFC Essay

First, I just have to say that I L O V E this book because it has romance and korean soap opera-esque drama in it!

For possible paper topics, I think my favorite themes are:
-LOVE definetly
-independence (the motive of the main character)
or maybe a motif:
-crying
-matches/fire (this one is very confusing yet interesting to me)
-the overall technique Esquivel uses recipes to move the story along- a feat in itself

I really want to use matches, but I don't know if I fully understand it yet. I'm not even sure what kind of a theme it supports. Just in general, I love inspirational, metaphorical/philosophical advice so this one hits home!

However, I still am not sure how to make an 11th grade/12th grade worthy thesis out of it so...

Some other brainstorming...

Tita's lack of independence is her main obstacle to obtaining true happiness.

or something about that irritating Pedro...

The unfortunate circumstances concerning Pedro reveal his true character and flaws that Tita may not have seen until married otherwise.

Those are my main interests: hating Pedro, matches, and independence. Hopefully, we can discuss in class, and I can for something concrete or more certain at least!

Love Vs. Lust

Love, everybody knows about love. “Love is patient, love is kind…” says the Bible. “Love is a battlefield” bemoans Pat Benetar. It’s found in “a moment” insists Kelly Clarkson over and over and over again. But seriously, you can ask anyone, love is complicated. However, what people won’t always tell you is love does not equal lust. Lust is another species entirely, but it is mistaken for love everyday.
Love is about or should be about internal qualities a.k.a. personality. If he/she makes you laugh, understands you, sees you for your personality. It is this indescribable bond between two people (and technically places, things, animals, etc. for the purpose of simplicity, people) that keeps them together through good and bad. Love is some crazy magic that makes people overlook flaws and want to stay together. There are so many different takes on love because love is never the same for any two people, but the main idea stays universal. Love is powerful, odds-beating stuff.
Lust, on the other hand, is all about the outside, the physical, the biological even. It’s about how chemically two people are attracted to each other. If people are in lust, they like how the other looks, dresses, etc. and basically are set up for a future of passion and separation in the long run unless love springs from said lust, not typical but not impossible. There is nothing wrong with lust; it’s in our chemical make up. We as humans want to procreate, but it doesn’t carry the same substance love does. Lust is what people think of as “love at first sight.” Many believe in it; I personally don’t. No one knows a person’s thoughts, actions, or disposition by looking at them. What really happens when someone falls in love at first sight is that one human finds another pleasing to the eye.
However, my definitions are from the perspective of a helplessly romantic female. A man could have quite a different sense of the two words. The stereotypical man will only lust after women, telling them whatever need be to get them to bed. The stereotypical woman will love foolishly and blindly after all the lustful men having their hearts broken. I, as all brainwashed society children, tend to lean towards these assumptions because I read that it is so, my parents tell me it is so, and movies/media/friends scream its existence. However, I love searching for the silver lining, cheering for the ignored underdog. I would say men and women can interchangeably have my definitions of love and lust. There is many a woman who would scorn my happy unrealistic take on love or live their lives lustfully calling it love. There are many men who will say my definition of lust is all wrong or that their love is more physical but they love all the same. Definitions are all with perspective, experience, and knowledge. I think men and women have different opinions as well as women have different thoughts than other women and men from other men.

Females' Views on Femininity Make Me Lose My Appetite

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2009/08/women_eat_daintily_around_men_1.html

I found this article from the Washington Post about a study done in Ontario, Canada that women ate less around men because of their idea of feminine was to eat smaller portions. First, I don't understand how people can NOT eat. I love food, and if you want to have energy, be healthy, and SURVIVE, you E A T. Who ever said ladies shouldn't eat until satisfied?
However, I will agree that I have read books, seen movies, and somehow have the little tidbit ingrained into my memory, and the results did not surprise me. This article jumped out at me because 1) it's true and 2) I can't comprehend WHY. I thought the feminine things guys are attracted to in women are due to something that used to be practical. A teacher once explained guys tend to go for girls with bigger breasts because they'd have more milk to feed their offspring. So as much as that bothers me to be judged so, that makes sense. BUT, how does starving yourself do any good? An unhealthy woman equals an unhealthy baby and premature death (of one or both) and thus more work, pain, and suffering for the husband. On the other hand, I would like to conjecture that this eating "like a bird" as one commenter quoted from Gone With the Wind is really a new idea of femininity. In America today, we seem to like ridiculously skinny, tall, blonde girls as models and girlfriends. Oh, not to mention if they're really ditzy, too. Just imagine Paris Hilton (the cash it the exra bonus). I have no clue how we jumped from practical (yet slightly uncomfortably vulgar) to plain out unhealthy silly girls. My second problem with such an idea of femininism is that women don't feel good about their body this way. Even for me it's a problem. In this day and age, girls must be skinny, and if possible, they should be fit AND healthy AND maybe a little athletic. The pressure to fit in and attract guys with the feminine-ly skinny body leads to such mental problems as anorexia and bulimia. Not to mention, lying to oneself and one's love interest isn't going to make the relationship last very long. If a guy doesn't like the way a girl sustains herself, that's the guy's problem, not hers. I really hope this expectation of skinny girls dies out with shoulder pads, seriously.

Opinionated Definitions

My definitions are for distinguishing the mental boy vs. man and girl vs. woman. Biologically, a girl is a female who did not go through puberty (vs a woman who did) and the same for boys and men.

A girl is a female who is innocent or naive. She doesn't realize the harsh realities of life and hardships and obstacles yet to come. A girl tends to see life through rose tinted glasses, but she will also has that straight forward, blunt, honest nature all children do. A girl requires someone to look after her and take care of her.

A woman is a female who understands life is full of trials to overcome. She is on her own (independent of support such as a parent). She is matured and aware (thus cautious) of her surroundings.

A boy is a male who is innocent, honest, and oblivious of the pain of loss, hunger, or want.

A man is a male who has experienced or learned of such hardships and is naive no longer.

The Persepolis Perspective

After all our discussions of femininity and masculinity, The Complete Persepolis contains a totally different set of values.Marjane Satrapi comes from a different culture with a new religion, and therefore, a whole new society to live up to.
The culture and religion of Iran seem to overlap each other probably due to my ignorance. However, I think it is safe to say Islam is a large part of the Iranian culture. The rules of Islam dictates what people should consider masculine and feminine. A woman's femininity in Iran includes her hair, the outline of her body shape, and any of the skin on her body. The Iranian government felt those three things seduce men. Thus, the veil and chador is required for all females. The government puts more responsibility and restrictions on women than men because in their culture women are inferior to men. However, men are responsible for covering their arms; bare arms is seen as a form of seduction, too. (To quote Satrapi, "There was a kind of justice after all!" p. 75) Also, men are not supposed to shave because Islam looks down on it, but in the time of transition from shah to the religious leaders, shaving was a form of rebellion and sign of support of modern progressive men. For both genders, anything Western was looked down on because our culture and ideals were so different from an Islamic one that they could never be integrated without some restrictions or freedoms given or taken.
When Satrapi moves to Austria, all of the values and ideas of masculine and feminine changes. She is allowed to cut her hair, and then show it off. She can wear whatever she wants, bare her skin if she wants to (but she doesn't because she is still faithful to her culture in that sense). Eventually, Satrapi even tries the punk look with gelled short hair, eye liner, and safety pin earring chains.
After all is said and done, Satrapi sees both the western ideas of masculine, feminine, and all together accepted versus her culture's set of values. It must have been a mind blowing experience because the two are on opposite sides of the spectrum, and she can experience both and mix them together to make new ideas on what is feminine and masculine.

Society Dictates Lives

It is human nature to want to compare oneself to others as well as be like them and be accepted. I would hold society the most influential in shaping a person’s gender identity. I define “society” as the general or mainstream mindset of people which has eventually turned into spoken and unspoken rules of living.
Society pressures parents to raise children to be a certain way, to possess certain traits, and to look down on some behaviors as strange and wrong. Parents usually want their children to be successful in life, and their idea of success is measured by society’s reaction and acceptance. Stereotypical gender roles include such actions like sons should be sent into sports to build muscle and fame while daughters should go into dance, music, or art. (As a side note, I do understand though that parenting cannot account for all of a child’s gender development because a child’s personality cannot be changed by sheer will power, but society’s power if far-reaching.)
I believe environment can also be found, in a way, under society. Different groups of people based on their occupations and surroundings are given expected end results by means of how feminine the girls ought to be, and how much masculine qualities boys should possess. The expectations of a community of farmers will greatly differ from our presumptions of how New York City people are. Also, being around different types of people and cultures affects the traits one will value and the amount of masculinity or femininity one strives to obtain to be considered proper and normal.
One of society's strongest and individuality killing methods is the media. So many young Americans will see how the latest rapper or movie star acts, dresses, looks, and behaves then takes their new observations and strive to be like him or her. Their thinking is natural; those people are famous, loved, and accepted. For me to be the same I should be like them.
Overall, society dictates to everyone subconciously through widespread ideas and misconceptions what the ideal male and female are. Everyone wants to fit in (one way or another). Thus, many will develop (faking it until they make it true) the kinds of activities, clothes, looks, and actions to be a true woman or a real man.

My Take on Persepolis

I was astonished when I opened up Persepolis for the first time due to the novelty of an Iolani required reading book in the form of a comic book!! After the initial shock wore off, to be honest, I began to worry because history is not my favorite subject not to mention Iran's is little known to me at all. However Marjane Satrapi's childhood innocence pulled me in because it came off ironic (due to the children not realizing their new restrictions). This book reminded me that freedom does not come free and that in other places in the world, people have to live with so many hindrances, with their whole lives being dictated to them practically. From a spoiled American perspective I think all those rules, especially the general bulk aimed at strangling all of Iranian women's independence and choice, are forms of intolerable injustice. I say "from a spoiled American view" because personally I believe such rules to be unjust, but somewhere in the back of my mind I know I cannot totally and willfully condemn a culture because our own American society and culture are not "the best" despite our blown up egos. If their culture was merely strict to everyone equally I would think they must have hard lives, but it would be easier to swallow compared to the degradation of women to a seeming lesser status in which men blame women for seducing them. I agree with Satrapi that it is not just women's responsibility to abstain. Plus, after reading about all the hardships Satrapi went through, I am now very grateful for the peace and independence I am allowed. If so many of my friends and family were executed, my life layed out precisely, and my life always in danger of some kind, I'd be either depressed or so angry I'd get myself killed. I'm so glad her life story is out for the public to see; it feels like a testimony and a triumph for her still standing not to mention succeeding! Persepolis is truly an eye-opening book with a lot of hard truths.