The Almanac of Expierence

           The novel Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Silko explores the rich history and final journey of the Native Americans in the North American Southwest. The novel displays the social interaction and assimilation of a new, young generation of Native Americans through the reflection of Calabazas, a Yaquis Native American residing in the city of Tucson, in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. Calabazas uses frequent references to the harsh reality of the desert and the oppressive nature of residing on the mountaintops with fellow Yaquis holdouts against the approach of the American and Mexican Armies. Calabazas gives a emotional account of the culture and society of the dominating White Europeans society and their relationship with the Native Americans whom they were subjugating. This is a story of the survival of dying society and the end to a historical saga spanning over four hundred years.
          Calabazas recalls the hiding out on the high ragged peaks dotting the Sonoran Desert. Calabazas refers to the migration and conquering European culture as the "blood-drinking Beast".(Silko 223). Calabazas recalls the story of Geronimo as he made guerrilla style attacks against the Mexican Army as he sought sanctuary in Yaqui strongholds.The blood-drinking Beast that represents the European culture, regardless of the language they spoke, were dangerous because they suffered "from a blindness to the world, unable to classify in depth any of the natural landscapes they encountered"(Silko 224). According to Calabazas, this weakness enabled the Native American scouts employed by the European armies deceived them allowing the escape of the Yaqui women and children. In addition, the lack of close inspection by the Mexican and American Armies led to the creation of "four Geronimo's", whom they sought fiercely. In a way, Calabazas views the hunt for the Four Geronimo as nothing but entertainment for the white masses, taking photographs of captured "Geronimo's". By recalling his past, Calabazas remembers the "pig-anus De Guzman, who hunted Yaqui to enslave for his silver mines"(Silko 234). De Guzman is identified as an Indian hunter being one of countless hordes. One of the key subjugating factors of American expansion West is the spread of Christianity. Calabazas realizes in a conversation with his wife's sister, Liria, that his wife "has become unusually devoted to the Church and to the altar society, she was in love with the monsignor"(Silko 239). This defeats Calabazas because he finally realizes the speed by which his culture is becoming assimilated and destroyed. Finally, Calabazas visits his Uncle Brito, a constantly indebted gambler, whose untimely death leaves Calabazas realizing that Brito's death leaves a chasm of power over all of them, unable to be replaced. The excerpts presented by Calabazas are meant to explain the painful reality that assimilating into the white European society produces.

Silko, Leslie. Almanac of the Dead: a Novel. New York: Penguin, 1992. Print.

Language as a Weapon

          Language plays the main role in human interaction. This interaction occurs in the public and private spheres of existence. According to the book Reinventing the Enemy's Language, the act of communicating for the Native Americans (First Nations or American Indians for the politically correct) is an extension of their historical culture and personal emotion blended together in a society. America's colonization process was often brutal for the Native American, who encountered many of the ills that occur when two distinctly opposite cultures are vying for the same geographical regions. Unfortunately, the conquerors were able to suppress the Native Americans through means technological and cultural. Often times, this suppression culturally would trickle down to the Native American women.
             The Euro-American conquerors employed many methods for suppressing the Native American culture including the enforcement of language laws and government funded re-education schools. The colonization process began with the elimination of Native American language. The Native Americans see English as the "enemy's" language and with good reason. The English settlers took advantage of the fact that Native American languages use many references to nature to convey a messages. Discovery by the settlers led to the taking of land, children, and livelihoods. In the Native American community, women have taken important steps to earn educations, trade-skills, and break ground for other aspiring Native Americans. However, educated Native Americans are given a "site of privilege" (28). This site of privilege means the authentic voices of the conventional Native American is not heard. By not including the voices of all Native Americans, they commit the same travesties that the Euro-Americans committed when they were busy conquering the plains of the Midwestern North American continent. The Native American women is at war trying to maintain "the traditions of the home from radical organizations, but they have not had to fight the Native American man for control" (30). Language provides conflict because it represents the basic means of the human interactive and communicative experience. The Euro-American took from the Native American an important and distinct tool of cultural identity. Alas, by removing this symbol of independence, the conqueror is able to assimilate and control the subordinated, the women.

Borderlands Conciousness

            Anzaldua is trying to understand the perplexities of the white conventions of immigration. In an attempt to cross the shores of two mortal combatants. Through tolerance of opposing views are we able to understand and appreciate the psych of opposing forces. Analytical reasoning uses westernized thinking to diverge thinking and to juggle social personalities. In this exploration of the immigrant, the mestiza or consciousness of the duality of the immigrant is broken down to expose the subject-object of subordination. Anzaldua believes that ending the idea of duality could bridge the foundational split that originates in all of our lives; bringing an end to rape, violence, and war.
            So long as humanity as existed as there been a system of conflict. It takes more than simple ideas of social personality to break these bonds that are holding us down. Through our social culture are we able to produce these visions of a world and our participation in it. I disagree that simply understanding and breaking the idea of dualism can bring an end to conflict. When Anzaldua says that "her first step is to take inventory of the Indian ancestors to access how much baggage they carry" (Anzaldua 104), I suspect she is trying to create a divide between the experiences of colored women. There is no divide of experience between anyone of color. Every colored women in the history of America or the world has experienced a system of opposition, even in the  "white" culture. Anzaldua is trying to separate the experiences of one culture over another. We all have experienced the same hate and division. She is the victim of her own concepts of duality. When Anazaldua states that "You're nothing but a woman means your defective." (Anzaldua 105), she is assuming that the term "women" is nothing but a negative connotation. Anzaldua proposes the end to a dualistic society yet she continues to propose their is inherited weakness in the female. Anzaldua then goes on to blame the "macho" man for becoming "lost in dignity and respect, resulting in putting down women as inferior; going as far as to brutalize them" (Anzaldua 105). Anzaldua then states that the man resorts to the "mirror, bottle, snort, needle, and fist" (Anzaldua 105) to express his frustrations. Well, I believe that Anzaluda resorts to an aggressive and depressing imagination to view the relationship between men and women in such a manner. If I were you, I would avoid the ramblings of Anzaldua and look for the solution to the the disparate relationship between man and women elsewhere.

The Dirty Business of Prostitution

             In the short novel, Rent Girl by Michelle Tea we are introduced to the main character. Throughout much of the story, we explore the society of prostitution; its dangers, its consequences. Prostitution is displayed throughout the story as an unhealthy exploration of human sexuality. The main character, Michelle Tea, contracts pubic lice when she uses an unclean restroom. In addition to the unsafe environments, Tea is exposed to unsafe sex practices when working as a prostitute. Prostitution throughout the story is portrayed as a legitimate means of female sexual exploration.
            Prostitution is a business of sex, defined by women selling themselves to men. One of the major issues caused by prostitution is the infestation of pubic lice. By displaying inadequate hygiene, the main character and her lover/roommate Steph are introduced to one of the many dangers of prostitution; the contraction of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The main character is also very unhygienic in regards to her physique. In addition to the health dangers that a prostitute faces, the "john" or buyer of sex faces extreme danger as well. For instance, when the main character is visiting a "john" in Tucson, Arizona she remarks that "she wanted to beat up and rob John, but the most I got to do was humiliate him." (Tea 121). Being used for sex displays, the main character has lost some of her humanity when she wants more from these men. Michelle Tea begins to want "their blood, their homes, their self-esteem lying wet in the waste-bucket like a shucked condom." (Tea 129). Tea works to serve men by selling her body, but she is in a way selling her mind as well. Consequently, Tea also has major self-esteem issues.  Michelle Tea is very withdrawn from reality, stating " I was detached from myself, sort of split and watching it like a great movie: my life." (Tea 150). In order to establish an identity, Tea gets tattoo's to convey certain messages regarding her life. One of these tattoos is a bare heart on her chest. The tattoo is meant to portray a heart devoid of life. Prostitution is a devastatingly unfortunate career choice for Michelle Tea.

Women, Subordination, and American Society

                Women are a subordinated subject class in American society. According to Evelyn Glenn in her article "The Movement to Reform Women's Caring", Glenn examines women and their historical chastisement in American society. Women have always been the issue of "gender assimilation". Thus women have always maintained a place as subordinated subjects of the dominant male population. Glenn brings to light this injustice when she states that "Gender was a central organizing principle of assimi1ation programs. As noted previously, men and women would have to be trained to assume specific gender-appropriate duties and obligations." (Glenn 46). In those obligations, women are expected to always make way for a male when considering positions of social power or control. I believe that women used to strictly serve the male population. One of the best examples of this subordination is the Native Americans' Boarding School System of the late 19th century.
                  This Boarding School System that absorbed the Native American girls of the United States were being subordinated as soon as they were placed in the system. Glenn researched into the administrator of this program, a fellow by the name of Captain Pratt. This Captain Pratt is said to have "saw the education of native girls as supportive of the more important work of Americanizing native boys: "Of what avail is it, that the man be hardworking and industrious, providing by his labor food and clothing for his household, if the wife, unskilled in cookery, unused to the needle, with no habits of order or neatness, makes what might be a cheerful, happy home only a wretched abode of filth and squalor?"(Glenn 51). These civilized schools actually were abusive prisons for the boys and girls interred there. Helen Sekaquaptewa, who attended a Phoenix boarding school starting in 1915, reportedly remarked that "Corporal punishment was given as a matter of course, whipping with a harness strap was administered in a room to the most unruly." While boys were subject to more severe physical punishment, girls were as likely to be subject to humiliation as
boys by having to stand in the corner or dress in boy's clothing." (Glenn 55, 56). These schools main purpose was to "civilize" the Native American into American society and culture. The Native American boys were taught duties that pertained to their status in society much like how the women were forced to perform their duties as maids and servants. I believe that these injustices is but one of many throughout our short American history.

African American Consumerist Culture

             In the documentary "Good Hair" by the comedian Chris Rock, we are introduced to the African American hair culture. There is a consumerist culture in our society in which an obsession of beauty is determining that culture's abilities to interact. Throughout the documentary "Good Hair", Chris Rock is exposed to one of the most sensitive issues for African American women. These issues include the idea of beauty, what is beauty, and who gets to determine what is and is not beautiful?
             Chris Rock visits multiple hair and beauty parlors in order to discover more about this culture. In the nine billion dollar a year African American hair industry, there is replacements hair and expensive weaves. These hair styles and products are mostly made by a white dominated beauty industry. Therefore, most beauty products even for African Americans expresses the white dominated beauty industry's' concept of beauty. However, the African American community throughout the show is adamant that they feel beautiful by succumbing to this social norm of weaves and wigs. African American women spend huge sums of their resources to make themselves more beautiful. This fascination with beauty is ingrained into the society so much that when Chris Rock wants to sell legitimate black hair extensions; he is turned down because "black hair is ugly" and "black hair is unfashionable". Fashion is considered an always changing aspect of society. Ugly is the stamp of disapproval used by a society to select individuals that represent the "others" in society. The business of designing beauty products is the system of supply and demand. Businesses that build a product for beauty are not necessarily attempting to alienate the group of people they sell the product too. Obviously at nine billion dollars a year, African Americans are obsessed with beauty products like weaves and hair extensions. What should be analyzed is the social norm of beauty. Whoever said that natural black hair is ugly or inappropriate for formal occasions?

The loss of innocence and ugliness

               Cast away the innocence of childhood and the answers you seek shall make themselves bare witness to your gradual downfall. In The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison, we see vivid images of the lives and personalities that make African American stereotypes. The main characters are Pecola Breedlove who is the daughter of a dysfunctional and poor African American family. The second main character is the perceived idea of "inherited ugliness" that plagues Pecola Breedlove's thoughts and self-confidence. Pecola believes that her ugliness is the fault of her personal and social problems. Pecola's desire to have a beautiful blue eyes is but placing a bandage on the wounds of reality. Pecola can not hide the fact she is African American, and throughout the excerpt read; we see a young girl living the nightmare of being black and a woman in America.
                Throughout the excerpt read, we are deluged in the complexities of being black, a woman, and poor. These attributes are best described by Pecola when she said "You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction. It was as though some mysterious all knowing master had given each one a cloak of ugliness to wear, and they had each accepted it without question."(Morrison 39). As it seems throughout the read, two distinctly opposite characters are presented. The stereotypes of the "religious, tough, black mother" and the "hooker Miss Marie". These two characters are the idolization presented to Pecola.  The idea of Mrs. Breedlove; "for the articulation of character, for support of a role she frequently imagined was hers-martyrdom." (Morrison 39) Mrs. Breedlove is the symbol of tough love, and brutal nature; putting up with little in the way of disrespect. Mrs. Breedlove is presented to us as a character trying to keep the "rickety bridge" of relationships from falling apart completely. The family life for Pecola is mostly broken and abusive; with a drunk for a father and a runaway brother. Pecola throughout dreams of having a mostly white dominated trait of blue eyes. Pecola goes to a shop to buy some candy, and throughout her exchange with the white store attendant, Pecola realizes "she has seen interest, disgust, even anger in grown male eyes. Yet this vacuum is not new to her. It has an edge; somewhere in the bottom lid is the distaste. She has seen it lurking in the eyes of all white people. So. The distaste must be for her, her blackness. All things in her are flux and anticipation. But her blackness is static and dread. And it is the blackness that accounts for, that creates, the vacuum edged with distaste in white eyes." (Morrison 49). Through her eyes, Pecola perceives herself as weak and incapable. When we are introduced to Miss Marie, we see the confidence that Pecola strives for. Miss Marie is but of three sex workers whom represent "Three merry gargoyles. Three merry harridans. Amused by a long-ago time of ignorance. They did not belong to those generations of prostitutes created in novels, with great and generous hearts, dedicated, because of the horror of circumstance, to ameliorating the luckless, barren life of men, taking money incidentally and humbly for their "understanding." but these women hated men, all men, without shame, apology, or discrimination." (Morrison 55,56). These women are independent, confident, and above all else, unapologetic feminists. Pecola sees these sex workers as devoid of ignorance and innocence. A troop of women with the single purpose to survive on their own, removed from the "evil man" and his hemisphere of control. Pecola's experiences with her own "family", the store clerk, and these sex workers provides but a glimpse into the mindset of the African American in America.

Works Cited

Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eyes. New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993. LMU ERes. Web. 5 Feb. 2011.

"Tiger Mother" or "Insane"?

          After reading the article on Slate.com by Ann Hulbert, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, I have deducted that Chua is taking over the natural cycle of Social Darwinism and replacing it with a nurturing cycle of control. Chua believes that taking control away from nature will enable her children to become productive members of society. Unfortunately for her children, they're going to become the victims of nature when there mother is no longer telling them what they can and cannot do. Society will step in and assert it's power and control over her children. Her children have no social lives, just complete and utter devotion to their work. Chua is hiding her children from society and taking away the control of her children to choose for themselves when she says that "her girls "were never allowed … not to be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama" and also never allowed not to play the piano or violin." Chua has not allowed her children to experience much in the way of  being social.
           The reasons for this upbringing of her children are very apparent. Parents like Chua really have their own agendas. When Hulbert states "They are stellar students with far-beyond-amateur extracurricular accomplishments—shoo-ins when it comes to that holy grail of hyper-parenting: Ivy League admission." we see that controlling and facilitating her power over her children was for one purpose, an Ivy League admission. Chua may want the best for her children, but what about her children experiencing life for themselves. Chua stole from her children the ability to experience their childhood, to see friends, sleepovers, to go the park, to have a dog. In a seperate but similar story in the article, we see another instance of tough child rearing with Norbot Weiner, the founder of cybernetics. Hulbert gives evidence of the dangers involved with imposing parenting when she says "Norbert Wiener, who battled depression to become the future founder of the field of cybernetics, was devastated as a teenager when, browsing in a magazine, he learned that his father, Leo, had claimed his son's successes as his own, while blaming failures on the boy." Hulbert is correct in stating that "Proselytizing and prodigy-raising are a fraught mix". Parents like Chua should be more observant and careful before breaking the balance of growth and development in their children. In the war of nature and nurture; nature always wins.



Works Cited
Hulbert, Ann. "Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother: Her New Book Will Make Readers Gasp. - By Ann Hulbert." Slate Magazine. 11 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2011. <http://www.slate.com/id/2280712/pagenum/2>.

Lowe Article Response

               The Lowe article speaks about the plight of Asian American citizenship and social inclusion in the American political sphere. I enjoyed learning that the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. was designed by a Chinese American Maya Ying Lin. Ms. Ying Lin helped to create one of the most standout memorials in U.S. History. However, Ms. Ying Lin encountered some stiff resistance from Veterans and Veteran's organizations. Lowe goes on to prove that the interaction from white dominated American society and America's historical exclusion of Asians from the discourse of American society has impacted positively on the Asian American community and negatively impacted the relationship of American interests in the Asian hemisphere. The reading reminds me of a topic of much discussion in my Sociology class at Santiago Canyon College. The topic it reminds me of, is that regarding the U.S. treatment of African Americans up through the colonization of the North American continent. The use of African American labor without the inclusion into American society or citizenship including harsh treatment is considered slavery. The treatment of Asian Americans through much of the developmental period of American history includes many of the same injustices.

                  This treatment of Asian immigrants by the United States is best described by Karl Marx in the 1860s:

"Theoretically, in a racially homogeneous nation, the needs of capital and the needs of the state complement each other. Yet in a racially differentiated nation such as the United States, capital and state imperatives may be contradictory: capital, with its supposed needs for "abstract labor," is said by Marx to be unconcerned by the "origins" of its labor force, whereas the nation-state, with its need for "abstract citizens" formed by a unified culture to participate in the political sphere, is precisely concerned to maintain a national citizenry bound by race, language, and culture" (Lowe 13). 

This says to us that the United States being a racially, ethnically, culturally diversified nation is at odds with the needs of the economic, political and societal systems. Marx mentions "capital: with its supposed needs for "abstract labor" is unconcerned for the "origins" of its labor force."(Lowe 13). Such abstract labor could be found in the abundance of immigrant workers. However, capital's need for abstract labor includes ethnically, culturally, and socially diverse people. Capital or the economic system becomes at odds with the society which in turn lends it support and control over the political system. Marx says "the nation-state, with its need for "abstract citizens" formed by a unified culture to participate in the political sphere, is precisely concerned to maintain a national citizenry bound by race, language, and culture"(Lowe 13). This definition lends itself quite well to the United States secular political system. The national citizenry controls and participates in the national political system which in turn looks to maintain a national identity encompassing race, language and culture. This is but the tip of the iceberg regarding the treatment of subjugated races and ethnicities in American history, but I believe that this explanation may shed some light regarding the American treatment of Asian Americans.

Works Cited:

Lowe, Lisa. Immigrant Acts: on Asian American Cultural Politics. Durham: Duke UP, 1996. LMU Eres. Web. 21 Jan. 2011.

Biography

My name is Dane and I am 20 years old. I am a History Major at Loyola Marymount University. I just transferred from Santiago Canyon College/ Santa Ana College where I was a studying to go into the fire service. In that process I earned my EMT certification.