Woman Warrior 3

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I recently watched a political ad where gubernatorial candidate Tim James, son of Alabama politician Fob (how ironic) James, whines that the Alabama driver's licenses are in 12 different languages. He argues that it makes no sense, and that if elected governor he would require the test be given in English only, so as to encourage people to learn English. "If you want to live here, learn [English]" Besides the fucking ignorance and stupidity being espoused by this political moron, it is a wonderful indication of many of the challenges immigrants have faced and still face in this country.
Would Mr. James be so willing to waste the time of his constituents and of his government if he bothered to read Woman Warrior? Perhaps not. Maybe he would realize that moving to this country is an immense sacrifice, and most if not all immigrants and their families make a concerted effort to learn English and assimilate into American culture. In fact, Brave Orchid went as far to cut her daughter's frenum, defending her decision by stating "I cut it so that you would not be tongue-tied" so that Kingston could learn any language (Kingston 164). While this may be more of an example of Brave Orchid's intensity, it also shows her willingness to do anything so that her children can succeed in America.
Would he know of the intensity people are already willing to change themselves to fit in American culture, like how Moon Orchid's husband abandoned her because "She'd never fit into an American household." (Kingston 153)
So as Kingston struggled with her identity, from feeling alienated from both her peers and demanding mother to finally accepting her Chinese-American culture and heritage, the immigrant experience is shown in its fullest. The difficulties of language and cultural barriers are much to bear, so who are we American citizens to say that we can't do as much as possible to help these people who simply want a better way of lie? Maybe people like Tim James will never change. Maybe reading this book would only elicit feelings of confusion and further xenophobia. However, the success of this book is in itself a hopeful sign. I hope in the future, this nation that has prided itself on its immigrant experience will make experiences for people like Kingston that much easier.


Tim James: Professional Douchebag

Citation:
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts. New York: Vintage, 1989. Print.

Lesson Plan for Woman Warrior 2

Courtesy Chris

Do you think Kingston's family was able to integrate into American society as best as they could or did they struggle to find their place? Do you think they were able to properly keep their traditions and identities as Chinese-Americans?

"Kingston’s family finds itself struggling because distance and emigration have created two sets of tradition among the family, Chinese and American. But despite their differences, Kingston’s family remains whole and proves that family ties can survive almost any trial." - Molly

"Brave Orchid’s stories are only one instance of Kingston’s struggle to unite her Chinese and American identities. Throughout the story, Kingston proves the difficulties of growing up Asian American and the distance separating her from her parents and their old traditions." - Helen

"While Brave Orchid has tried to adjust the best that she could in China, she still yearns for her life back in China."-Jade
Courtesy Jade

What do you think of Brave Orchid? Is she a strong matriarchal mother figure to an immigrant family, or is she a manipulative woman stuck in archaic ways?

"It is this strengthening of the Asian-woman stereotype that is meant to be displeasing for the reader. Brave Orchid strengthens the stereotype not only through her personality, but in her attitude towards women in general" - Chris
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"She stubbornly holds onto her own beliefs, thinking that her children were strange to be thinking in any other way than her own." - Jade

" Perhaps the distance between Brave Orchid and her children is made even larger by her sense of superiority over them. Knowing the struggles and sacrifices she has had to make to survive in America, Brave Orchid often comes across as overly critical of others. She sees her children as useless and disappointing." - Helen

"For example, Orchid proves to have the will of an ox and unbeatable determination. She understands the value of hard work. Fitting of the elder asian stereotype, the very importance she places on hard work brings out irritating traits." - Chris

Why exactly is Brave Orchid distant from her children? Is it a generational issue, or is it cultural issue mixed with her experience as an immigrant?

"While Brave Orchid has become accustomed to many aspects of American life, she will never assimilate into the culture as her children have. This culture gap leaves her feeling distant from her children, and she begins to sneak around in order to feel more involved in their lives." - Molly

"She feels a disconnect with them, since she was raised in a tradition Chinese household with long-established Chinese values and her children were surrounded by American customs while growing up. " - Jade

"So I could relate to this first mother-daughter exchange, but I kind of cringed at the chapter entitled "At The Western Palace." The mom is SO ANGRY at her kids, it scared me. It seems like partially, she's mad at them for rejecting traditional mannerisms and attitudes." - Lauren

"In these ways, Kingston underscores the gap between her world and her parents’ old world, their vastly different customs and traditions. Even the word “home” carries a different meaning for Kingston and her siblings." - Helen

Do you think in general Asian-Americans have had difficulty assimilating to the vastly different American culture?

"And so this is the Asian immigrant experience: we lose all our supernatural powers, gain a strong work ethic, hone our mental math skills, and give up our ability to operate motor vehicles. But seriously, there is a loss that takes place when immigrants come from the East and start living in the United States." - Chris

"Moon Orchid also notices that the newer generation does not hold some ideals important to traditional Chinese culture close to them. She compliments them, and they accept the compliment without a sense of humility. Moon Orchid realizes that these children were brought up in a different society, and as a result, hold a different set of values. "- Jade

The Woman Warrior 2

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Like I have said in other DB posts, the immigrant experience in America can never be summarized by one experience. Regardless, America is a distinct place and any immigrant to this land must be prepared to deal with these issues. What makes the Orchid sister's experiences interesting, however, is the intersection of gender roles across societies and cultures.
Brave Orchid, to me, is the archetypal matriarchal leader of an immigrant family and is thus able to use her power and leverage as an elderly and experience woman to keep control over her immigrant family. She is addicted to work and providing for her family, in fact saying "I can't stop working. When I stop working, I hurt. My head, my back, my legs hurt. I get dizzy. I can't stop" (Kingston 106). At the same time, life in this new country is not at all easy and she sacrifices much to provide for her family. However, her strength, her intelligence, and her cunning allow her to scratch out an existence for her family in the "Gold Mountain."http://www.corycatures.com/images/studio_color/Gold-Mountain-album-art.jpg

Her sister, Moon Orchid, is perhaps the complete opposite of Brave Orchid's experience. Where Brave Orchid is strong, is never brought down by the fact that she is a woman, and his brave enough to stand up to the injustices of men, her sister is timid and unwilling to change her position in life. She is also unable to adjust to the changes of an American life. As her "husband" points out, "You can't talk to [Americans]. You can barely talk to me" (Kingston 152). Thus, Moon Orchid is destined to live the life of an outcast, someone unable to cope to American way of life. Her status as a married woman whose husband barely acknowledges her existence means she is in an even more precarious position. She is in affect a widow in a foreign land. What hope does she have of living a truly happy or productive life? Her ensuing madness is not surprising.
As our countries gender and race relations continue to liberalize, I wonder if these issues will still be relevant. Will a Chinese woman who lives under the same social codes as Brave Orchid still regard everyone as "ghosts" and be unable to adapt to American ways? Who knows. What I do know is that we as Americans can do little to change the shock of integrating into our society, but we can definitely focus on being as receptive as possible to each others differences. We must show that we are receptive to the cultures of others, even if we don't agree with certain aspects of them. We must show that while certain cultures may have patriarchal elements that we do not agree with, we understand the history of their cultures and thus must accept them. So maybe while we may not be able to change the experience of Moon Orchid, we must still be receptive of her background and understand what she is going through.

Citation:
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts. New York: Vintage, 1989. Print.

The Woman Warrior

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Thank God this is not Disney's Mulan

"The model minority." This term, offensive on multiple levels, has been applied to Asian Americans. In complete disregard to the history of this ethnic group, this term means that in general Asian Americans have lower crime rates, have higher education rates, and have higher salaries than almost any other ethnic group in the country. But what is so derisive of this term is that certain minorities do not fit "the model" or that Asian Americans strive only to be successful.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Tor_Chinatown_San_Francisco.JPG

Any visitor to San Francisco can see that Asian Americans are a diverse and culturally significant ethnic group in this country. Their experiences are equally as diverse in this country. Some Asian Americans may be more detached with Asian heritage than others, much like I consider myself more detached from my Hispanic heritage than other Hispanics around me.
I do not think many Asian American woman could relate to the "No Name Woman," who "the villagers punished...for acting as if she could have a private life, secret and apart from them." (Kingston 13) At the same time, I am sure many Asian Americans I have met could completely relate to the gender pressures that the No Name Woman went through and the story would not seem so far-fetched.
That being said, even if Kingston's experience is not typical of most modern Asian American woman, she has amazing emotional pain that speaks volumes about the Asian American experience. "To avenge my family, I'd have to storm across China to take back our farm from the Communists; I'd have to rage across the United States to take back the laundry in New York and the one in California" (Kingston 49). Everything in this last sentence is something unique to Asian American history.
I do not think that Kingston wrote this in an attempt to speak for all Asian American woman; rather I think she wrote it to bring light to a certain type of experience that never seems to gather much attention in American culture. Her connection to both her immediate family history and traditional Chinese mythology provides even further insight to her experience. The dual-clashes of the Chinese and American cultures provide an interesting backdrop for her story. As such, these stories breathe life in to her narrative and allow her to fully extrapolate the origins of some of her fealings.

Diversity 2

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America is a diverse and cosmopolitan country. It is also remarkably tolerant, at least by contemporary and historical standards. However, there is one issue of diversity that severely divides this country at the moment: the issue of gay rights. A mix of traditional homophobia and religious conservative driven rhetoric has created a large stumbling block for the advancements in gay rights in this country. Indeed, I don't think it is a stretch to say that in many areas of this country being gay is the hardest thing a person can go through.http://thewiddershins.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/matthew-shepard.jpg
Is what happened to Matthew Shepard an indication of a nation-wide problem?

The first assigned piece for this DB was not about homosexuality, but it was still an important look into issues of diversity that face our country. As Luckett points out, "Everywhere I went, including New York city, I managed to warrant a second look" (Course Anthology 865). Will we ever reach a Utopian idealistic society, where the looks of ANYBODY never warrant a second look? Probably not. Human beings are much too superficial and judgmental, but its a nice thought.
But even if us human beings hide behind stereotypes and preconceived notions, the type of abuse and discrimination endured by the authors of the last two pieces is still, to me at least, unacceptable by American standards and must change. Initially upon reading Johnny Lee's piece, I was pleased that he reminded us "I do not tell my story to have Korean criticized as backwards and antiquated" and that "No one should fool themselves into thinking that the United States is a great deal more sympathetic to the GLBT" (Course Anthology 879). With that being said, with their cultural background, it is slightly more easy to understand where his parents came from. But I really don't care. I found their behavior absurd, unacceptable, and just as any native homophobes, I am embarrassed to call them fellow Americans.
I know this is not the point of reading these excerpts. I truly believe their existence is to provide an insight, to destroy prejudices and ignorance, and to give a voice to those who normally don't have one.
In terms of giving a voice to those whom I rarely hear from, Vincent Ng gave a fascinating insight into the experience of a bisexual male in America. What I find especially fascinating was when he stated "What I have learned is that intimacy is most profound when experienced hand in hand with emotional displays of affection and constant communication about feelings; whereas sexual attraction on a physical dimension, absent of these other factors, does not mean as much" (Course Anthology 886). I feel that no one, regardless of sexual orientation, can disagree with that. I think that is in essence the power of reading such personal accounts. It allows you to truly disregard your own preconceived notions and realize just how much you have in common with someone you once considered so different from you.
I really hope that in my lifetime I get to witness a civil rights movement on the scale of the 1960's movement that will give the GLBT the freedom and lack of discrimination they deserve. While I can see this movement gaining steam, for now I think baby steps are required to accomplish anything significant. And if reading about the experiences of GLBT members of American society is considered a step in the right direction, then I am all for it.

Discrimination based on Race and Sexuality

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Reading the three selections for this DB was particularly fascinating for me, a student of Hispanic origins. In many ways I could relate t0 some of the issues facing the writers of these stories, but in the end I just focused on what made me different from them. As a first generation Panamanian-American, I grew up in a 50-50 Spanish and English household. All of my relatives outside of me immediate family live in Panama, and I was very much acquainted with my heritage. I was, and still am, at the butt ends of many jokes about my heritage. While it may have bothered me when I was young, I never give it much thought now. To me, I was always accepted as a fellow American. As Miguel Ramirez puts it, "I dress like an American, I walk like an American, I see the world like an American" but I never once felt that "in America, my home, I feel like an expatriate" (Course Anthology 842). To be honest, I could not at all relate to his issues considering his sexuality and I pretty much looked over that. That does not mean that I do not think it is important; in fact one of my friends just recently came out and I am in full support of it. But when I was reading this pieces, I was thinking about how they relate to my life experience.
I think the issues of discrimination very from people to people. Considering all of my friends are white, I am always conscious that I am a little different, but I never let my heritage define me. This may be because my parents were learned people, who came here to receive a graduate level education. Unlike Norma Andrade's family, my family was never "forced to accommodate to the work that was presented to them" (Course Anthology 851). Assimilation was easy for my family and I think it is now impossible for us to think of ourselves as anything but Americans.A perfect blend of cultures: Our family watching football in Panama (Image provided by Author)
Despite these discrepancies between the author's experiences and my own, I could still comprehend and appreciate the emotional difficulties of Allesandro Melendez's piece. His experience as a black Latino is something completely alien to me and I believe to most Latinos in this country. His struggle to find his identity was particularly striking, and I felt severe pain when his teammate confused him for an African-American, and upon learning his heritage says "I guess I should have called him a spic, huh!" (Course Anthology 857) Nothing will ever stop close guy friends from hurling racially insensitive jokes at me, but my true friends understand my heritage and appreciate it. That is why that particular episode was so callous to me; not only was that person being unnecessarily cruel, but his ignorance added another layer of hurt.
After reading these pieces, I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for one Latino's account of their experience in America to truly represent all of us. Some Latinos hate it here; some, like me, love it and thank God that we live here. There are just too many Latinos for people to truly discriminate against us in a meaningful way. Latinos are an integral part of this country, and as such our experiences highlight countless aspects of American culture. But for now, I don't worry too much about being "the other" and I don't think many Latino Americans do.

Morrison 3

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Would any other medium besides writing fully capture Pecola's desire to live the life of Jane?

Many times I have wondered how reading writing affects how we thing and act. How do illiterate people express what they are feeling or properly convey their emotions? Can an uneducated and illiterate person ever be exposed to the same level of abstract thinking as that of someone who is illiterate?
I don't know if The Bluest Eye completely addresses this issue, but the story itself and the writing Toni Morrison employs is a testament to the power of writing. What power am I referring to? I mean to power to change perspectives, to heal, and to bring people together. If this were a completely true story and each of the real life characters read this book, how many do you think would have changed their views on the entire situation? A good majority I am willing to bet.
What makes writing so effective? For one, to me it is the ultimate medium for which someone can understand the thoughts and view of another person. Through writing, one is able to be transported into the mind of another person. Normal barriers such as looks, language, accents disappear through the medium of writing. For instance, would Pecola's insanity be as vivid had we not witnessed her madness from her own eyes? Would it be as depressing if we weren't given all the facets of the story that allow us to understand what drove her to this point? If we did not know the madness that also envoloped Cholly we would be able to sympathize with Pecola or would we cast her aside as did all the other townsfolk?http://www.phantomprojects.com/sitebuilder/images/BluestEyeLMT09MiniPosterWEB2-383x600.jpg

That's what I believe is the silent power of The Bluest Eye. It's ability to weave the personal stories of individuals in the context of society at large creates the ability to feel compassion for individuals in the novel on a scale that is rarely matched in other novels. Had I seen a film version of this novel, I feel much of its impact would have been lost on the transition to the big screen. The acting and the screenwriting would probably dilute the effect of Morrison's writing and make it harder to really connect with the characters. Would we truly understand that Pecola "stepped over into madness, a madness which protected her from us simply because it bored us in the end" (Morrison 206)? Maybe, but I guarantee that it would not leave such a powerful imprint on my mind as reading the novel did.

Morrison 2

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Racism hurts. This statement is almost universally appreciated in modern day American popular culture. Television, films, and books portray racism as pointless, unnecessary, and wrong. This country has a history awash in racism, and it is still apparent in everyday life, even if most of us don't realize us. The legacy of racism is everywhere, and people still judge others solely on looks.
The intricacies of racism and discrimination are lost on our generation I feel. How many of us have heard older members of our families make racist remarks? How many of us have judged someone of a certain ethnicity without even talking to them or getting to know them? A lot of people like to argue that racism is dead, that minorities should stop whining because they have the same opportunities as every in this country. While this is true in many respects, I think that the legacy of institutional racism in this country is so strong that we affected to this day. How many fortune 500 CEOs are minorites? How many members of the River Oaks Country Club are not white? Indeed how many members of my beloved Kappa Sigma fraternity besides me are not white? The answer of course is zero.
The Bluest Eye reveals the extent of racism in this country. To me, it doesn't matter if this book is a word for word accurate indicator of racial relations in Depression Era Ohio. The fact of the matter is that racism of the caliber in The Bluest Eye, in which blackness is equivalent to ugliness, exists and that is something that noone can argue against if you ask me. The fact that a white doctor would say to students that black women "deliver [babies] right away and with no pain. Just like horses" (Morrison 123) does not surprise me at all. It does shock me, but racial relations in this country were indeed THAT sour in all the parts of the country.
This is why the novel is so effective. It transcends traditional notions about racial relations and attitudes towards race. Anyone reading the novel can relate to Pecola's helpless situation. Why? Because each and every one of us can relate to the "fear of being rejected of our appearance, abadonded by the group, left homeless" (Course Anthology 334). The pain of rejection, the ugliness of the pointless discrimination encouraged by institutional racism, and the despair brought on by one's own belief in their perceived 'ugliness' is felt in the novel. The mean spirited attacks of Maureen, the coldness of Geraldine, and the fall from grace of Mrs. Breedlove breathes to life the inhumanity of discrimination of people based on looks. Hopefully, the influence of novels such as The Bluest Eye can change society's perception of "ugly." For now though, the legacy of this country's racial history means that I view that as an idealistic dream, not likely to come true.