This story is about a transgender woman or the stories from transgender women, mixed into one. From the start of the story it is obvious that we are reading the experience through the mind of a gay man. He starts by talking about changing his sister's diaper and being jealous because his sister had a vagina and he wanted one. As the story moves forward the boy tells us about his feeling of not belonging and truly thinking he was a girl, a she. " I wondered why I was missing my bathing suit top at the beach." --This to me makes it obvious that the boy thinks like a girl. He then says how after being born, he was assigned a sex and how random he believed it was. " It has nothing to do with who you are."--I think what he means is that sex is something that shouldn't be determined by a genital organ but instead sex should be determined by who a person wants to be.
Overall this story makes it seem like having a vagina allows a person to be softer and to be more gentle... It makes it seem like it's peaceful.
"To touch"
"To pet"
"To hug"
"To help"
"To hold"
I think these example are meant to show softness and in some way point to softness and tenderness of the vagina and how it can relate to the soft and tenderness of a woman.
This story stood out to me because I feel like there is so much hatred in the world directed at gay people and I don't see why. I feel like every person is entitled to their own wants, needs, and desires. Just because a person is given a penis or a vagina doesn't mean that that is who they are. I've always been the type of person that accepts a person no matter what their sexual preferences are and it bothers me that in the year twenty- eleven people are still worrying about how other people live their lives. In this story it shows examples of people being beat because of who they are- a homosexual being.... something they ARE NOT wrong for. I'll never understand why people can't live the way they want to without someone having their own say.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Vagina Monologues reaction...
This past wednesday in class we all geared up and dug right into Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues". Not surprisingly, our class discussion this week was louder and more fun than ever and it seemed as if everyone had something to say. From people's thoughts on the menstruation stories to thoughts of what someone's vagina would wear if it could wear clothing, there were many different reactions and opinions all around the room. There were so many confused faces and demeanors, even a overall sound of "ouch" when the C word was used as a nickname for vagina. Shock would be the best way to describe the classes reaction to the "Vagina Monologues".
I think that the discussions and debates we had in class are exactly what Ensler is looking for. She wanted people to be shocked by the name vagina. I think in many ways she wanted people to be confused by the stories. As we went throughout the class it seemed that many of us had different things we were moved by in good and bad ways and that everyone seemed to have a different view of each of Ensler's stories. I'm sure this is also what Eve was looking for from her stories. The many different opinions of the monologues make them so much more interesting. Reading the story alone, I found to be entertaining enough but, going to class and actually seeing what everyone else took from the story makes it even more appealing.
Ensler's sense of humor makes some of the stories seem humorous. I don't think her point is to make a joke out of vaginas, but to just water down how censored the word is in society knowingly or unknowingly.
I think that the discussions and debates we had in class are exactly what Ensler is looking for. She wanted people to be shocked by the name vagina. I think in many ways she wanted people to be confused by the stories. As we went throughout the class it seemed that many of us had different things we were moved by in good and bad ways and that everyone seemed to have a different view of each of Ensler's stories. I'm sure this is also what Eve was looking for from her stories. The many different opinions of the monologues make them so much more interesting. Reading the story alone, I found to be entertaining enough but, going to class and actually seeing what everyone else took from the story makes it even more appealing.
Ensler's sense of humor makes some of the stories seem humorous. I don't think her point is to make a joke out of vaginas, but to just water down how censored the word is in society knowingly or unknowingly.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Monologues....!
Before I start with my analysis I would like to state that "The Vagina Monologues" has been a very interesting and fun experience to read so far. I've always been the type of person that watches a movie of a story rather that reading the story so I wouldn't say that I am in love with reading. The fact that I found pleasure in reading Ensler's story speaks levels about her creativity and her fearlessness in writing about such a subject. "The Vagina Monologues" has been enjoyable to me because it's different. Before reading this I really didn't think much about the word "vagina" but, I knew it was a word that has at least seemed to make women uncomfortable... Seemed being the key word. With that being said...
The word "vagina" is technically the same in context as the word "penis" except one describes a male organ and one describes a female. However, the two words end up being completely different. There are always stories of guys debating over their penis size and trying to build themselves up around friends talking about how "big" their's is. With women however, we never hear them talk about their vaginas. Not ever can I remember hearing a woman speak about her vagina. It's like the word vagina is forbidden or like it has a bad meaning or something. Ensler hits it right on the head when she says the words sounds like "an infection at best."
After reading "The Vagina Monolgues" it seems as if Ensler's purpose for language is to show that vaginas are not a dark, gloomy place like everyone has them out to be. It seems like her purpose is to show how graceful and a vagina can truly be to a woman. In the monologues Ensler has the interviews that she had with women and in most of them, the women that truly noticed and got to discover their vagina loved it and saw how important the vagina is.
I think Ensler's purpose of the monologues is to gain some respect for vaginas and bring them to the same level as that of the penis. From pages 35 to 40 Ensler writes recollections from women on when they got their period the first time and how they wanted their period. In this I think she just wanted to show how much a girl has to actually deal with her vagina, from a young age. How much of a pain the period can be. For young boys and men, we never think about our penis or how we have to watch out for it once a month. Though Ensler doesn't directly say it, I think what she means to insinuate through "The Vagina Monologues" is how unique the vagina is and it's meaning in the world and to women in general. Not what WE think of the vagina, but what the vagina actually stands for.
The word "vagina" is technically the same in context as the word "penis" except one describes a male organ and one describes a female. However, the two words end up being completely different. There are always stories of guys debating over their penis size and trying to build themselves up around friends talking about how "big" their's is. With women however, we never hear them talk about their vaginas. Not ever can I remember hearing a woman speak about her vagina. It's like the word vagina is forbidden or like it has a bad meaning or something. Ensler hits it right on the head when she says the words sounds like "an infection at best."
After reading "The Vagina Monolgues" it seems as if Ensler's purpose for language is to show that vaginas are not a dark, gloomy place like everyone has them out to be. It seems like her purpose is to show how graceful and a vagina can truly be to a woman. In the monologues Ensler has the interviews that she had with women and in most of them, the women that truly noticed and got to discover their vagina loved it and saw how important the vagina is.
I think Ensler's purpose of the monologues is to gain some respect for vaginas and bring them to the same level as that of the penis. From pages 35 to 40 Ensler writes recollections from women on when they got their period the first time and how they wanted their period. In this I think she just wanted to show how much a girl has to actually deal with her vagina, from a young age. How much of a pain the period can be. For young boys and men, we never think about our penis or how we have to watch out for it once a month. Though Ensler doesn't directly say it, I think what she means to insinuate through "The Vagina Monologues" is how unique the vagina is and it's meaning in the world and to women in general. Not what WE think of the vagina, but what the vagina actually stands for.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Night Women/ Theme of Krik! Krak?
In the short story "Night Women" from Dandicat's "krik?krak!", there is a woman who works in the night, which is reason for the name "night women." However, the work that the women does isn't what most people would call a real job, but it helps her provide for her young son. Unfortunately, the work that this mother must take part in to provide for her son is prostitution. At night, next to her son's bed, the woman takes part in prostitution always afraid that her son may awaken and catch her in the act, especially as he grows older and more aware of what's going on around him. Every night before her son goes to bed, the women gets dressed up and preps herself for the clients that will be visiting. When her son asks his mother why she gets prettied up she tells him that she is waiting for angels to come in the night. If the son ever awakens and catches the mother at her job, she tells herself that she will tell her son that the client is his father just visiting for the night.
-In this story it's obvious that the mother has a love for her son and that she feels obligated to provide for him by any means possible, which is why she depends on prostitution. This story makes the reader feel sympathy for the characters. First, for the mother. Never do I see lying to someone you love as something that's particularly good, but in this case the mother has no choice but to in order to protect her son from the truth that could and most likely would completely alter the boys perception of his mother no matter what age he is. She, a young and single mother hates her job, but knows it's something she must do. Second, the reader is also forced to feel bad for the son who believes his mother when she says that she is waiting for an angel to come in the night. Also, the boy is growing up with no father which is something no child should have to endure.
In this story, just as the other stories in "krik?krak!", we see a tendency to see the women struggle. In "children of the sea", Celianne is raped and must deal with her child being born dead. Because of her pain, she drowns herself in the ocean. In "Nineteen Thirty-Seven", Josephine must deal with her mother being imprisoned as a witch. Josephine never understands why her mother in the way she was until her mother's passing. In "A wall of fire rising", Lili is the mother who is proud of her son and her husband but must deal with the families financial struggles. However, Lili still finds ways to persevere and to find happiness no matter how bad the families struggles are, until Guy's death. Now in this story we have the mother struggling to provide for her son without prostitution. It is becoming a theme in "krik!krak?" that we see women struggling...
-In this story it's obvious that the mother has a love for her son and that she feels obligated to provide for him by any means possible, which is why she depends on prostitution. This story makes the reader feel sympathy for the characters. First, for the mother. Never do I see lying to someone you love as something that's particularly good, but in this case the mother has no choice but to in order to protect her son from the truth that could and most likely would completely alter the boys perception of his mother no matter what age he is. She, a young and single mother hates her job, but knows it's something she must do. Second, the reader is also forced to feel bad for the son who believes his mother when she says that she is waiting for an angel to come in the night. Also, the boy is growing up with no father which is something no child should have to endure.
In this story, just as the other stories in "krik?krak!", we see a tendency to see the women struggle. In "children of the sea", Celianne is raped and must deal with her child being born dead. Because of her pain, she drowns herself in the ocean. In "Nineteen Thirty-Seven", Josephine must deal with her mother being imprisoned as a witch. Josephine never understands why her mother in the way she was until her mother's passing. In "A wall of fire rising", Lili is the mother who is proud of her son and her husband but must deal with the families financial struggles. However, Lili still finds ways to persevere and to find happiness no matter how bad the families struggles are, until Guy's death. Now in this story we have the mother struggling to provide for her son without prostitution. It is becoming a theme in "krik!krak?" that we see women struggling...
Thursday, February 10, 2011
My Krik? Krak! Assessment
The first short story in Dandicat's Krik?Krak! novel, we read a story called " Children of the sea." In children of the sea there are two separated characters who are in love with one another. The two lovers write love letters to one another that unfortunately are never read by the other. The female speaker writes in her letter in a manner as if she was talking to herself or venting to a journal entry. Her writing is very informal and unorganized. The female is writing about her frustrations in the fact that the world holds back her and the male character from pursuing their love and that she one day hopes that they will reunite, though it is unlikely. One of the things holding back their love is the girls father who is very controlling and watchful of his daughter. In the male figures letter, he writes about fleeting Haiti and being opposed to the Haitian government. He writes about how he hates the suffering he sees in Haiti. While writing his letter he describes that he is on a small boat or raft of some sort that is in the ocean fleeting Haiti while writing this letter to his lover. On the small raft, he meets a teenage girl named Celianne. She is pregnant and basically in birth with a child that took place through her being raped by a soldier. When Celianne's baby is bored prematurely and already dead, Celianne takes her own life by drowning herself in the ocean. It is at this point that the male begins to fear the fact that he will never see his female counterpart ever again. He writes about the rising levels in the raft and becoming a "child of the sea." Back home, the female lover sees black butterflies and wonders what they mean and if the mean the death of her lover. We are left wondering whether or not the male lover lived or not...
Overall, I think that Dandicat did an amazing job at making the reader feel as if they are in between the two lovers. I sort of felt as if I was a messenger for the two. Reading how the male feels, and how the female feels showed me how strong love can truly be. Though they didn't know if they would ever see each other again, these two characters never gave up hope on their love. With rising waters in the raft in the middle of the ocean, the male figure admits that he worries he may never see his lover again. However, he then writes about how their love will live on whether he sees her again or not. When the female sees the black butterflies flocking around her, she thinks about her lover and if the butterflies signify anything. She seems as if she is in denial when she tries to avoid the butterflies, like she already knows that he has passed. It's as if the writer attempted to use the butterflies as foreshadowing the death of the male. Never do we find out what really happens to the couple. Hopefully later in the story we will...
-This story made me think about what love truly is and how love can still exist even though the lovers may not. Dandicat did an amazing job of introducing the reader into the center of the story and making the reader feel sympathy for the two main characters. -"Children of the sea" is a great read.
Overall, I think that Dandicat did an amazing job at making the reader feel as if they are in between the two lovers. I sort of felt as if I was a messenger for the two. Reading how the male feels, and how the female feels showed me how strong love can truly be. Though they didn't know if they would ever see each other again, these two characters never gave up hope on their love. With rising waters in the raft in the middle of the ocean, the male figure admits that he worries he may never see his lover again. However, he then writes about how their love will live on whether he sees her again or not. When the female sees the black butterflies flocking around her, she thinks about her lover and if the butterflies signify anything. She seems as if she is in denial when she tries to avoid the butterflies, like she already knows that he has passed. It's as if the writer attempted to use the butterflies as foreshadowing the death of the male. Never do we find out what really happens to the couple. Hopefully later in the story we will...
-This story made me think about what love truly is and how love can still exist even though the lovers may not. Dandicat did an amazing job of introducing the reader into the center of the story and making the reader feel sympathy for the two main characters. -"Children of the sea" is a great read.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
19 Varieties of Gazelle
Throughout 19 varieties of Gazelle, Naomi Shihab Nye tells many great stories through her poetry. She talks about her experiences of being Palestinian American and most importantly her family. Though many of Naomi’s poems do not directly mention and family member, you can see that she reflects on her experiences and her love for her family members through her poetry. For example: in the “ my grandmother” poem, Naomi talks about the sadness and grasping of her grandmother moving on, or passing away. In the third stanza it is as if she showing a thankfulness for her grandmother. However, never do the words in the poem show on the paper that it is her grandmother that she is indeed referring to. The talent and content in the poem is what leads you to believe that it is indeed her grandmother. In the poem “ my father and the figtree” Naomi speaks about her father and her memories of him and his love for a figtree. Because the figtree is sentimental to her father, it becomes sentimental to her. Also, her father’s memories of the fig tree become her memories of the figtree. 19 Varieties of Gazelle is Naomi’s way of showing us some experiences in her life and the meaning of her family to her through her amazing poetic talents.
Marching Men
The poem I chose to reflect upon for my first post is called Marching Men and is written by Martin Harris.
Marching Men
Think of wars in the past and then of wars that we have left
For when your country calls for you to murder, maim and persecute
In a war where nothing is gained, where the slaughter of people is inhumane
When your country sends its war machine of marching men and bullets clean
Rivers flow the colours red, drained from men that have been bled
And they tell you that God is on your side. That when you kill its justified.
But the spoils of war turn bad, when you send friends home in body bags
With anger strong and bitterness high, you struggle to fight the emotions inside
You’re told to be tough, you’re told to be mean, that you’re not a man, you’re a
killing machine
But hidden away deep down inside, you are a man and you cannot hide
For your children scream and your children cry, for they don’t understand the
reason why
Why at war its right to take a life but in peace time, it’s our worst crime
So your country knows what‘s good for you, now take your orders and carry
them through
And finish it quick the job you do, to kill another man
For there will never be peace on earth my friend
So listen to the feet of the marching men.
This poem is meaningful to me because I have a brother serving in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army and a brother who also served two years with the U.S. Army in Iraq. Growing up I've idolized my two older brothers, Matt and Erik. However, that doesn't mean that I am completely comfortable with their careers. Though I support them and every other American soldier 100%, I have a hard time coming to grips with the destructive, debilitating force we call war. Growing up, my father always that if I'm ever going to fight for anything, fight for peace. Because of that I have a difficult time thinking of my brothers as soldiers. I just think it's sad that as great as our nation can be, we still must rely upon American soldiers to kill for our freedom. Something that is illegal in a regular society, but necessary in a war setting as the poem says. Another thing in the poem that caught me is how it speaks about soldiers and how deep down inside they are men and women, and that they do have emotions. This points out something rarely pointed out. In our society we view soldiers as strong, tough, brute heroes, and many people see past the fact that though they are heroes, they are just as vulnerable and fragile as the rest of us.
Marching Men
Think of wars in the past and then of wars that we have left
For when your country calls for you to murder, maim and persecute
In a war where nothing is gained, where the slaughter of people is inhumane
When your country sends its war machine of marching men and bullets clean
Rivers flow the colours red, drained from men that have been bled
And they tell you that God is on your side. That when you kill its justified.
But the spoils of war turn bad, when you send friends home in body bags
With anger strong and bitterness high, you struggle to fight the emotions inside
You’re told to be tough, you’re told to be mean, that you’re not a man, you’re a
killing machine
But hidden away deep down inside, you are a man and you cannot hide
For your children scream and your children cry, for they don’t understand the
reason why
Why at war its right to take a life but in peace time, it’s our worst crime
So your country knows what‘s good for you, now take your orders and carry
them through
And finish it quick the job you do, to kill another man
For there will never be peace on earth my friend
So listen to the feet of the marching men.
This poem is meaningful to me because I have a brother serving in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army and a brother who also served two years with the U.S. Army in Iraq. Growing up I've idolized my two older brothers, Matt and Erik. However, that doesn't mean that I am completely comfortable with their careers. Though I support them and every other American soldier 100%, I have a hard time coming to grips with the destructive, debilitating force we call war. Growing up, my father always that if I'm ever going to fight for anything, fight for peace. Because of that I have a difficult time thinking of my brothers as soldiers. I just think it's sad that as great as our nation can be, we still must rely upon American soldiers to kill for our freedom. Something that is illegal in a regular society, but necessary in a war setting as the poem says. Another thing in the poem that caught me is how it speaks about soldiers and how deep down inside they are men and women, and that they do have emotions. This points out something rarely pointed out. In our society we view soldiers as strong, tough, brute heroes, and many people see past the fact that though they are heroes, they are just as vulnerable and fragile as the rest of us.
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