A look through the theme of Gender Conflicts

Growing up you may have experienced some pretty rough gender stereotypes with some catchphrases such as “That’s for girls!” or “Ew that’s a boys toy!”. While we are young we are implemented with what society deems as correct for our gender. During this week of April, I was assigned readings that fit the theme of gender conflicts, where I was able to experience different forms of writings which either agreed with my opinion or completely debated. That is why these themes are the most interesting, as I’m able to look at different opinions and change my perspective for multiple pieces. Gender stereotypes have been around for as long as we can imagine, of course, it goes without saying that each culture is different from their gender expectations but each is equally as harsh. Body modification is also a big effect that comes with gender stereotypes such as Chinese foot binding. Chinese foot binding is the binding and breaking of the four small toes at the age of five to stop the feet from growing and have an appearance of a smaller foot. This practice along with many others was deemed erotic and if you wanted a husband you were forced to do this modification. Fortunately, many of these practices are no longer happening or are optional now, instead, it was replaced with separation with colors, toys, and emotions. Wild right? emotions now have a gender. This theme was personal, as it had touched stories about romance, jealousy, sexuality, regret, and many more. I recommend looking into this theme because it genuinely is interesting, and reads more than reaches the eye.

Welcome to the portion where I tell you about two interesting works out of this theme! The first one is “Happy Endings” by Margot Atwood, this work was wild from the beginning to the end. Its sort of like a choose your own ending type of story, but it is focused over a couple, and every ending you choose leads to death. My favorite ending was definitely C. I think its because it had one of the more gruesome endings, and that is usually my favorite thing weirdly. Overall I recommend reading this because each option is interesting even though they all end with the same thing, death. Next is “You Fit Into Me” by Margaret Atwood, this was an extremely short poem. I recommend looking up cheesy edits of it because those are pretty cute. Anyway the way gender conflicts fit on this theme is a bit different to figure out due to how short it is. But overall it is a cute poem even though it does have a dark meaning. I recommend both of these works, and if you are interested in a link or more works from this theme please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help you find one you are interested in.

Gender stereotypes are something I feel you can never escape no matter how much the culture changes. Boys will still be told to be more masculine and strong while holding in all of their emotions. Meanwhile, females will be told to be feminine and let loose of all their emotions, so that a man can save them. That’s the basic idea of what we deal with. Personally just like many others I’ve had my own experiences first hand with gender stereotypes. When I was younger I grew up with mainly male cousins, they were very rough and had many opinions. Which was fun at the time, since I was the same way until I turned a certain age and was then not allowed to hang out with them as much as before. Only due to our age difference and that I was the only girl who hung out with them so often. On the other hand, I don’t really touch all the stereotypes that a girl is expected to, I suck at cleaning and cooking, but I’m quite decent at sewing. That’s my personal experience with gender stereotypes, although I was never fully raised based on them I’ve definitely have gone through them many times. (Word Count: 685)

A look through the theme of Power and Powerlessness

Life is filled with people who have power over others, whether its a boss, teacher, or parents its everywhere we look and of course in many assigned readings. During the end of March and beginning of April, I was once again assigned many readings that followed the theme Power and Powerlessness. When looking through this theme I was able to see many works that showed both someone receiving power, and losing it. If I’m quite frank I was not excited for this theme just because I grew up with people filled with dominance. However as I began to read more readings, I began to get excited to read stories where the once powerless stole the power. Then again that’s a personal reason that made me want to continue reading more stories. Anywho the theme of power and powerlessness is quite as simple as it seems, it is about people who hold power and those who may not, but the types of stories that can hold it are definitely not as normal. It seems people would do anything to reclaim power, going as far as murdering their loved ones or even manipulating others. This theme was not as personal as the other themes but more a test of how far you would be willing to go, as it had murder, fear, anxiety, and overwhelming emotion. I think I would recommend this theme to others, only if they are fine with dark themes and endings. As many of these stories have this situation.

Welcome to the next paragraph where I recommend you two readings out of my assigned work. Unfortunately i,m still confused on this one no amount of in-class discussion will help me understand this poem. The poem in question is “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson, Its a very cute and short poem but I only got out of the feeling of being powerless to another one’s eyes. As I tried to gather clues to help me put this piece together, I fell in love with its weird rhyming and I definitely want to put this as a call for help. other than that I’m at a blank, please comment if you have read this poem so we can chat about it because Ill love to learn more about it. Next piece is “Power” by Edwina Matthews this piece speaks for itself, as it lists all types of things many may find power in. Although it may not be talking about a person themselves being powerful it shows that even if we are powerless we can find power in daily objects. Although I wish I could have talked about the readings in my paper as those were the ones that caught me off guard, these poems definitely helped me transition to this new theme. If you read any of these works or recommend any that fit this theme please comment down below Ill love to hear yall thoughts and opinions. This theme definitely is a little wilder depending on the assigned readings you get.

Now my personal connection with this theme, as said earlier I grew up around mainly male cousins. These males were around my age but due to society immediately deemed themselves to be better than girls (which I am). So I felt powerless pretty much my whole childhood, but there were times that I regained my power such as being the only one capable of riding a bike and being smarter than them. Feeling powerless as a young female is what society deems normal, as they believe males should continue to be the more dominant one. This situation caused me to grow a big ego in which I would then use to gain my own power. just like many of the works I had gone through years of feeling powerless and blew up. I wanted to have power, and at the time I found it in believing myself and pushing myself to be better than the rest. Of course, I grew up and began to lost that thrill I feel both powerful and powerless at the same time. These works were all unique and confusing in their own way, but I sincerely enjoyed it. I recommend you read the two from my recommended list, however, if you are interested in others that are more dark please leave a comment and ill do my best to share them with you. Thank you for reading, see you next week. (Word Count: 741)

A look though the theme of Rites of passage

Life is filled with choices and many kinds of experiences. Whether it is a good experience or bad, all depends on how we use it grow. During the month of March, I was assigned readings that used the theme of rites of passage, where I was able to take a look at many situations that caused someone to mature. Unfortunately, I entered this theme with a big ego, believing that I knew everything about rites of passage. For instance, I thought it would just contain stories about simple things like birthdays, weddings, and even virginity. My mind was focused on big events that cause people to grow, whereas I completely forgot about small daily things. Throughout these works, I was able to see both stories and poems that featured many different types of rites of passages. Many of these works, were not as simple as I originally have thought they would be as I am still figuring some of them out. Fortunately, I was able to experience class discussions about each of the works, which led me to be able to hear everyone opinions and what they considered to be the true rites of passage. A rite of passage is a ceremony or an event that signifies an important experience in someone life. This theme was more personal, as it contained works about love, puberty, depression, and overall maturing. I recommend when reading works from this theme, to keep an open mind because even if it may not seem like one, it most likely is a rite of passage.

Although I was assigned many works in this theme there was two that really stood out to me. Mainly because I was able to grasp the rite of passage pretty easily, and overall they were lovely works. The first work is a comic by Lynda Barry which is titled “Two Questions”. This comic is filled to the brim with artwork and doodles, leaving each detail either super important or just for fun. Nonetheless this comic contains the author speaking about two questions that followed her after every piece she worked on. This rite of passage is kind of difficult to understand but I believed it follows loving your own creations. Although that may seem like not a very important rite of passage it is definitely something that is very hard to achieve, but once you do it is extremely fulfilling and makes work super fun again. The last work I want to talk about is “Jinx” by Aimee Bender. This reading follows two young girls and their friendship, and how short relationships can be. These two end up splitting up at a shop, each girl doing their own thing. That overall puts a drastic change in their friendship leaving them awkward and not the same at the end. This could be considered a rite of passage, as I believed its breaking old bonds. Something that once was strong can easily be broken and that in itself is another rite of passage. If you read these works and have a different opinion please let me know in the comment section.

While looking into this theme I once again compared my own experiences. Fortunately for me, many things can be considered a rite of passage, and a lot of people also go through the same things. Which definitely made me feel a lot better about a lot of my situations. Growing up I had always had a close relationship with my family members. Unfortunately, a bond that’s closely connected only hurts more when it is broken. The year of 2018, was a year of sadness, regret, and definitely a new outlook on life. As I had experienced three family deaths back to back. To add on top of that year my grandmothers’ illness. Fortunately, we grow from experiences, this situation led me to be more positive about life, and towards the relationships I build. Spending every moment to its absolute fullest, although I do have regrets this to me is a rite of passage as I used to live life as we lived forever, being crude and believing that time will stop for me. I’m more mature after this situation and it definitely is one of the biggest moment changes in my life. This theme makes you analyze what may or may not be a rite of passage, but in my opinion, if its big enough to make a mark in your life, it definitely is one. (Word Count: 744)

“Life comes with a white sheet of canvas.
Be like the primary colors ,you will always have the chance with you to make out any color from it . 
Try to fill it with beautiful, vibrant colors because that is only what you gonna leave behind.”

– Praveer Prakash