How are our characters connected to the world?
Well, I think our characters are very connected to the world in this short story "Whites" by Julie Otsuka. They are stated as being a very real part of California's history in farming and existing in the country while having a sense of honor-bound duty to their families back in Japan. They are very real and entrenched in the underbelly of American's society during that time, and do a wonderful job of bringing us a view of that world with the ways they have to talk to Americans, do their work, and speak about their own places where they feel they can be safe. Calling the little Japantown in San Francisco 'more Japanese than the villages in Japan' was a really unique way of bringing us into this perspective of the situation these Japanese people were stuck in, specifically the Japanese women.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Short Story Questions
Are there any female characters in the work that you identify with?
• I don't really personally identify with a lot of the female characters in these stories. I've never really been in these situations that a lot of them are placed in, so I don't find a whole lot relate-able to them. Possibly the instance of being lost due to trauma, but that's about all.
How are relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles) portrayed in the story?
• It, to me, just always looks like a very heavy one-side-has-freedom/power while the other side has little to none, and the one without power always finding some joy to getting that freedom, or the character feeling sadness or whatever when they're having that power used against them.
What are the power relationships between men and women in the text?
• The men usually have the most power, and either use it or don't outright use it in the story but it's implied due to the sorrow of the female character.
How are male and female roles defined?
• The female characters are almost always relegated to being trapped inside the house, or trapped doing things they absolutely don't want to do. The male characters are always running around doing really whatever they want.
What constitutes masculiniity and femininity in the world of the story?
• "Femininity" is usually defined by staying home, cleaning, being quiet/submissive, being pretty for the husband. "Masculinity" Is usually defined by always bringing home money/food, being aggressive and in control, always keeping a hold on the situation and not letting any threats appear.
Do characters take on traits from opposite genders in the story? How so? Does this change others reactions to them?
• I suppose in the one that I read, Where are You Going; Where Have You Been, one of the male characters that the main character originally finds interest in takes on a pushover, easily manipulated, submissive role to the aggressive, bad male character. I suppose that could be 'taking traits' from opposite genders.
What does the work reveal about the ooperations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy?
• That the men of the society are extremely entitled and believe they are owed whatever a woman has.
What does the work express or imply about the possiblities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy?
• That women need to spend less time being pitted against each other by men, and spend more time working together to survive and have success.
What does the work say about the history of women in literature or the arts or about women's creativity?
• I think it implies that women are insanely creative in various fields, but they're often pushed aside or purposely written out of history/stories because they don't want people finding out that women can be successful.
• I don't really personally identify with a lot of the female characters in these stories. I've never really been in these situations that a lot of them are placed in, so I don't find a whole lot relate-able to them. Possibly the instance of being lost due to trauma, but that's about all.
How are relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles) portrayed in the story?
• It, to me, just always looks like a very heavy one-side-has-freedom/power while the other side has little to none, and the one without power always finding some joy to getting that freedom, or the character feeling sadness or whatever when they're having that power used against them.
What are the power relationships between men and women in the text?
• The men usually have the most power, and either use it or don't outright use it in the story but it's implied due to the sorrow of the female character.
How are male and female roles defined?
• The female characters are almost always relegated to being trapped inside the house, or trapped doing things they absolutely don't want to do. The male characters are always running around doing really whatever they want.
What constitutes masculiniity and femininity in the world of the story?
• "Femininity" is usually defined by staying home, cleaning, being quiet/submissive, being pretty for the husband. "Masculinity" Is usually defined by always bringing home money/food, being aggressive and in control, always keeping a hold on the situation and not letting any threats appear.
Do characters take on traits from opposite genders in the story? How so? Does this change others reactions to them?
• I suppose in the one that I read, Where are You Going; Where Have You Been, one of the male characters that the main character originally finds interest in takes on a pushover, easily manipulated, submissive role to the aggressive, bad male character. I suppose that could be 'taking traits' from opposite genders.
What does the work reveal about the ooperations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy?
• That the men of the society are extremely entitled and believe they are owed whatever a woman has.
What does the work express or imply about the possiblities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy?
• That women need to spend less time being pitted against each other by men, and spend more time working together to survive and have success.
What does the work say about the history of women in literature or the arts or about women's creativity?
• I think it implies that women are insanely creative in various fields, but they're often pushed aside or purposely written out of history/stories because they don't want people finding out that women can be successful.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Wonder Woman
For the question for writing this week:
I would like to design a female character that is okay with being pretty, she's smart, she doesn't put up with the 'not like other girls' bullshit (it's a tired rhetoric, very embarrassing to read.) She's allowed to display emotion, without being put down for expression emotion, for her to be able to have friends that are men without her immediately being shackled to them as a 'love' interest. I'd like her to be able to love another woman, without being reduced to just fetish material, or the fact that she loves another woman be seen as wildly inappropriate or only ever sexual.
This week when we read the book talking about Wonder Woman and her history, I was actually very surprised to find out so many things connected to her creation, as well as her 'lore' in the comic series.
I had no idea that wonder woman was even remotely connected to the creation of the lie detector, or that murders and other scandals were connected to her history and the people who created her. I will admit, reading the book was somewhat hard for me, because the format of it was very hard for me to follow.
Stuff and chapters felt very fractured to me, making it hard to connect the chapters together as I was reading. It was a good book, but was hard for me to follow and read.
The film that we watched in class was pretty good, but I'm pretty, personally, tired of people immediately attacking women who like to use makeup, and who immediately assume they are vapid and are only doing it to impress people.
Most of the content in the film I agree with, especially with the perspective of people being called bitchy because they are a woman in power. This attitude has gotten especially worse, with the rise of people immediately attacking a woman (or anybody that challenges the normal) when they point out something wrong, calling them 'triggered', annoying, 'sjw', etc.
The attitude is even worse towards women who don't fit the 'norm' either, including fat women, disabled women, women of color, trans women, are always put down and made fun of.
I would like to design a female character that is okay with being pretty, she's smart, she doesn't put up with the 'not like other girls' bullshit (it's a tired rhetoric, very embarrassing to read.) She's allowed to display emotion, without being put down for expression emotion, for her to be able to have friends that are men without her immediately being shackled to them as a 'love' interest. I'd like her to be able to love another woman, without being reduced to just fetish material, or the fact that she loves another woman be seen as wildly inappropriate or only ever sexual.
This week when we read the book talking about Wonder Woman and her history, I was actually very surprised to find out so many things connected to her creation, as well as her 'lore' in the comic series.
I had no idea that wonder woman was even remotely connected to the creation of the lie detector, or that murders and other scandals were connected to her history and the people who created her. I will admit, reading the book was somewhat hard for me, because the format of it was very hard for me to follow.
Stuff and chapters felt very fractured to me, making it hard to connect the chapters together as I was reading. It was a good book, but was hard for me to follow and read.
The film that we watched in class was pretty good, but I'm pretty, personally, tired of people immediately attacking women who like to use makeup, and who immediately assume they are vapid and are only doing it to impress people.
Most of the content in the film I agree with, especially with the perspective of people being called bitchy because they are a woman in power. This attitude has gotten especially worse, with the rise of people immediately attacking a woman (or anybody that challenges the normal) when they point out something wrong, calling them 'triggered', annoying, 'sjw', etc.
The attitude is even worse towards women who don't fit the 'norm' either, including fat women, disabled women, women of color, trans women, are always put down and made fun of.
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