Mar 5, 2017
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FINAL ZINE
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FINAL ZINE
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Assignment 3
Alfredo Arriola
ETHN 2, A05
TA: David Sanchez
1. Focus or changes: I have not changed my focus on the fifty-dollar bill my grandmother carried with her every time she migrated from El Salvador to Los Angeles, California. I did ask my grandmother if she kept the fifty-dollar bill with her after she had finally settled in the San Fernando Valley, but she spent the money once she needed to use it for necessities.
Davis, Angela. “The Approaching Obsolescence of Housework: A Working-Class Perspective”
in Women, Race, and Class. New York: Vintage Books, 1983. Print.
García, María Christina. “The Wars in Central America and the Refugee Crisis.” Chapter 1 in
Seeking Refuge: Central American Migration to Mexico, The United States, and Canada.
UC Press, 2006.
Luibheid, Eithne. “Immigration” in Keywords for American Cultural Studies. New York: New York University Press, 2014. Print.
2. The theme of “War and the Figure of the Refugee” can offer a relational analysis to my object and my grandmother. Through U.S. intervention in Latin America during the 1980s and discriminatory policies and practices, Central American populations were forced to migrate and become a marginalized population in the U.S. and other parts of Latin America, thus subject to economic vulnerabilities. To migrate implies a lack of permanent settlement, which occurred with Central Americans due to economic instability (Lubheid 125). The U.S. covert military intervention and fear of communism in Central America can be linked to the dire economic conditions that Central Americans suffered and mass migration or movement of Central Americans to the U.S. The economic disparity in Central America caused by military leaders and wealthy families is what led to the increase of refugees migrating to the U.S., but many migrants like my grandmother would face difficulty in finding refuge and economic support from other countries. The U.S. labeled these refugees as “economic migrants,” stating that their claim to enter the U.S. was economically motivated rather than political. It is odd that my grandmother would not be classified as a refugee even when the international press recognized her as a person seeking refuge due to political events playing a role in the violence and economic hardships that occurred in Central America. There happened to be a criteria that labeled migrants as refugees, but “most Central American migrants did not meet the strict UN definition of refugee status, having fled their countries because of the generalized climate of violence rather than a ‘well-founded’ fear of persecution for the listed categories” (Garcia 32). The lack of support for Central American refugees from the U.S. and neighboring countries depicts how many Central Americans were left to die economically. Migrants were unable to live and work in their own home-countries and they were unable to receive economic support from other countries. My grandmother would join the economic-capitalistic world of the U.S., which painted a picture of the U.S. intervening in her country in order to “help” and then later “welcome” her to the U.S., but on the basis of her economic productivity and value. Central American migrants would be put in a situation where they would have to join the capitalist economy that would be “structurally hostile to the industrialization” of invisible labor (Davis 194).
3. Zine cover:
4.
Colonialism connects to the fifty-dollar bill because the U.S. dollar would later become the official currency for El Salvador. When my grandmother left her home country U.S. intervention introduced war and destruction in the country, which would leave El Salvador in economic and political ruins. El Salvador would have to seek the “help” from the U.S. by introducing the U.S. dollar in order to stabilize the country’s economy.
Assignment 2
Alfredo Arriola
ETHN 2, A05
TA: David Sanchez
1. Focus: My focus will remain on how my grandmother, Martha Alicia Juarez, carried a United States fifty-dollar bill the three different times she migrated from El Salvador to California. The transnational context will relate to how the monetary bill changed meaning for my grandmother based on which country she was in.
2. Sources and details:
· “However, since the poorest Salvadorans have very low incomes, a fraction of a dollar comprises a larger part of their income than the average Salvadoran”. <https://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/ten-years-later-the-impact-of-dollarization-in-el-salvador/>
· “The flight of Salvadorans from their own country was the most dramatic result of El Salvador's civil war, draining that country of between 20 and 30 percent of its population”. < http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Pa-Sp/Salvadoran-Americans.html>
3. National binds. As described in lecture, some of the national binds in the United States are:
· Colonialism – This bind connects to the fifty-dollar bill because the U.S. dollar would later become the official currency for El Salvador. When my grandmother left her home country U.S. intervention introduced war and destruction in the country, which would leave El Salvador in economic and political ruins. El Salvador would have to seek the “help” from the U.S. by introducing the U.S. dollar in order to stabilize the country’s economy.
· Citizenship – The fifty-dollar bill essentially provided my grandmother a false sense of citizenship because when she migrated three different times to the U.S. she had to save money in order to pay the coyotes (smugglers) to take her to the U.S., and also the fifty-dollar bill she kept with her did not signify that she was a citizen. She risked everything knowingly that she can be deported any time, which did occur two times.
4. Intersectional analysis:
The fifty-dollar bill that my grandmother carried with her reveals how race and gender intersected. Racially the bill signified a sense of American-ness/whiteness for my grandmother, but the bill would not be able to mask my grandmother’s culture or skin tone. The bill would also signify the racialized labor my grandmother would have to do in order to save up to that point. Feminized labor of cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc. would reveal the gendered experience of my grandmother.
5. Include a list of sources with hyperlinks
< https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/understanding-central-american-refugee-crisis>
< https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/10/central-america-turns-its-back-on-hundreds-of-thousands-fleeing-war-like-violence/>
< http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/el-salvador-despite-end-civil-war-emigration-continues>
< http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-americans-and-asylum-policy-reagan-era>
This is related to Notebook 2. Response to marianismo: hembriso.
Notebook 2
I’m wonderfully excited because I found a way to incorporate mental health and my experiences to a more specific subject in Latinx culture. For this notebook I’m going to focus on marianismo and the effects that ideology has had on the present-day Latina.
Before diving into the meat of this paper, I want to define some terms. I’m going to use throughout this piece. First and foremost, let’s start off with marianismo. Marianismo refers to the cultural expectation that is placed on Latina women to be passive, submissive, and sexually pure. Women are encouraged to be spiritually strong, morally superior, nurturing, and self-sacrificing. Her priorities lie in taking care of the household, and devoting her life to being a loving wife and mother. The alternative gender-specific value in Latinx culture is machismo. Machismo refers to the cultural expectation that is placed on Latino men to be the breadwinner of the house. It is the man’s responsibility to provide for, protect, and defend his family. His priorities lie in maintaining the integrity of the family unit, and upholding family honor. It’s important to know both of these terms, especially because they are interrelated, however for my piece, I’m going to focus on marianismo.
Both marianismo and machismo are New World phenomena; their origins trace back to Spanish colonization of Latin America. Highly influenced by Roman-Catholic values, by the middle of the seventeenth century, the symbol of the Virgin Mary became a strong rallying point for nationalistic sentiments in New Spain. Conquerors who came to the Americas carried with them this idealized image of the “perfect woman,” and unfortunately, an accepted stereotype of how women should behave was established, and shared among social classes. Sacred duty to the family, subordination to men, subservience, selflessness, sacrifice, chastity, patience, humility: all traits revered by society; all traits expected from the “ideal woman.” Women were expected to mirror their life after the Virgin Mary, and any time they deviated from that goal, they were discriminated against, and seen as “bad.” For example, sensual women were thought of as “loose,” and possessive women who enjoyed sex were thought of as “whores.” The needs of others came before the needs of self, and women who were not willing to acquiesce were selfish. If we fast-forward to the twenty-first century, similar sentiments still ring true among traditional Mexican homes, and immigrant households.
When comparing first and second generations, first generation Latinxs are more likely to retain their cultural identities, and they are more likely to maintain strong Mexican values. In contrast, second generation Latinxs are more likely to assimilate and adopt American values, which stress individuality and independence. Both cultures drastically contradict one another, thereby placing the Latina woman, on either end, at a disadvantage. Regardless of first or second generation, the Latina woman is now in a position where she has to figure out how to appropriately navigate through both cultures, while still keeping true to her identity and to her home. She has to be careful not to overstep any unspoken boundaries with her decisions, and she needs to be sure that she’s able to handle the consequences that come with either putting herself or her family first.
As an individual who is currently going through her own ethnic identity journey herself, I can say that finding that balance between satisfying myself and my family is stressful. On one hand, I want to bring honor to my home, but on the other hand, I want to take care of myself and pursue my dreams. When you compare me, a second generation Latina woman born in the United States, to my mom, a first generation Latina woman born in Mexico, you can see obvious differences. My mom’s priorities lie in taking care of the house and the people living inside of it, and my priorities lie in taking care of and making something of myself. I value my family, yes, but I value myself more, and that perspective (a perspective that many Latinx youth can relate to) causes conflict because it’s counter cultural. As a Latinx, you’re supposed to care about the collective group more, not the individual. Your allegiance lies with your family, not with yourself, and all that you do is meant to benefit the whole, not just part. This strong emphasis on the collective is tied to another key tenant to Latinx culture known as familismo. Familismo refers to the cultural preference, and expected loyalty and devotion, of maintaining close connections to the family. The family unit is seen as key to one’s identity and to one’s protection for the hardships of life. Your family is your “rock,” and both men and women are expected to hold onto that “truth” when moving forward.
Now, when you intersect those binds, familismo and marianismo/machismo, the effects they can have on the developing youth can be detrimental. That is not to say that there are no benefits to the traditional values, there are, but together, it has been shown that high rates of depression and stress can be products of those factors.
One reality is that both cultural factors discourage seeking outside help. Familismo pushes individuals towards looking for solutions within the group, and marianismo/machismo pushes individuals towards dealing with their issues in very gender-specific ways, which generally includes emotional suppression on both ends. For women who adhere to the marianismo ideals, there is this unspoken pressure to be calm and collected during times of hardship. For women who adhere to marianismo ideals, there is an expectation to sacrifice one’s own needs for the needs of others. Unfortunately, what happens in these situations is that women who seriously need help, often shy away from those services because they are either trying to maintain the integrity of the unit, or they’re making sure everyone else’s needs are taken care of first. This makes it difficult for women to be taken care of, and it makes it nearly impossible for women to establish a strong self-esteem.
Just as any ideological movement, there are individuals who refuse to comply to the accepted “common sense.” For women who have chosen to take a stand against marianismo, the hembriso movement was born. Hembriso ideals reject the emancipation of others, and they refuse to conform to patriarchy. Women who embrace this mentality view themselves are strong, proactive players who are responsible for shaping their lives, and the lives of others. These women refuse to see themselves as damsels in distresses needing to be saved by a man, and they believe they are capable of making a difference on their own. These women are redefining what it means to be female, and although they recognize the system is set up against them, they’re still willing to fight the war.
Sources:
http://www.dimensionsofculture.com/2011/03/cultural-values-of-latino-patients-and-families/
http://www.nrchmh.org/attachments/AdaptationGuidelines.pdf
http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/counseling-psychology/personality-traits/marianismo-in-counseling/
https://modernlawomen.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/stevens.pdf
http://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/vistas_2008_jezzini.pdf?sfvrsn=11
http://www.elquintopoder.cl/genero/el-hembrismo-un-mito-producto-de-los-miedos-machistas/
The 2nd: Spilling the (Green) Tea
Some six or so years ago at Starbucks, a friend introduced me to the Green Tea Frappucino. It got me thinking, back then, because green tea was something that I had always associated with China and Japan, each for their different reasons. It was odd, I thought, that such a drink was available in a wildly successful American chain. I was used to green tea ice cream being served at sushi restaurants I rarely went to, so I was delighted that the Green Tea Frappuchino was so accessible. Fast forward to last Wednesday, and I hear a barista call out an order for a Green Tea Frappucino. In contrast to the me of 6 years ago, I gather no satisfaction from people ordering it. I don’t feel as if people are finally realizing the greatness of green tea. Instead, I feel a vague sense of >.>, over the fact that most of the history and culture is lost and/or omitted because of globalization and consumerism and capitalism.
As a disclaimer, I’m not saying that tea should be exclusively for Asian people to drink. Tea, while holding historical and cultural significance, is not particularly dangerous. A white person drinking green tea is different from a white person having dreads, because dreads are something black people are made fun of for and have lost opportunities because. Green tea, in it’s more “white” iterations, is not harmful to Asians. That being said, they share the same experience of being devalued because of their growing popularity in mainstream America. In becoming globalized, many items have lost their cultural and historical significance. The product exists, but has none of its history does. Green tea is no exception to this.
What strikes me as a little funny and a lot sad is the way that a Green Tea Frappucino/Latte (and by extension, many many Starbucks drinks) have a “basic white bitch” connotation. Let’s pick this apart. Basic: accessible, boring, insignificant. White: ditzy, stupid. Bitch: feminine. The western perception of Japanese tea ceremonies is usually of a submissive, silent woman serving men, when in reality, Japanese women started learning it in the early 20th century as a way to demonstrate their “economic and cultural(-educational) capital” in the face of gender inequality (Kato). It’s certainly a stark contrast to something that is said by POCs to express annoyance over typical white behavior, and by white people as a way to distance themselves from “uncultured heathens” aka other white people. Also, I wanted to add: why is the phrase about a “bitch” anyways? It’s a term, like many other female coded insults, that refers to their behavior towards men. (I could go on, message me if you want)
Another point of contention: why does drinking tea, green or otherwise, imply pretentiousness? For some reason, tea in America carries a sense of “Whole Foods” elitism. It’s consumed for health rather than a need of caffeine, like coffee. And healthiness, or rather health culture, can be argued as classist, because being healthy means having time to exercise and money to spend on meal plans and trainers and gym memberships. Not only is tea connotative of the elitism of health culture, it also implies that the person drinking it is “cultured” and “sophisticated.” And this itself is an indicator of exoticism. And exoticism is bad, despite the general positive meaning of “exotic”. As writer Rachel Kuo says, in an article about WOC but that is also applicable to objects, exotic things are “less normal, less human, and less real” than western things. In short, the cultural value of green tea is dependent on how “other” it is.
The globalization of green tea has wrought several consequences on it. It has experienced both devaluation and inflation because it has been popularized in America. Devaluation, because it is sometimes seen as simply a way to boost metabolism or “purify toxins from the body.” At the same time, its value is inflated because of its association with “exotic” East/Southeast Asian culture. Green tea is both stripped of its history and culture and exotified because of it. People need to consider their actions and what they mean in the greater scheme of things. Tea exists outside of diets and foodie fads and consumerism. At the same time, its culture and history should not be used by Americans to elevate their social/cultural/educational capital. Indeed, this can be said of a lot of so called “ethnic foods.” The globalization of green tea and its subsequent development in image is but an example of a larger trend of white gentrification/stealing/hipsterification/hipsterilization of non-white foods (credit Laini Nguyen @not-a-foodie).
Links:
http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/01/calling-woc-exotic-is-racist/
KatoÌ, Etsuko. The Tea Ceremony and Women's Empowerment in Modern Japan: Bodies Re-presenting the past. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004. Web. https://books.google.com/books?id=E8wg9pbfkdAC&pg=PT169&lpg=PT169&dq=are+japanese+tea+ceremonies+held+by+men+or+women?&source=bl&ots=fHZdUU-2mT&sig=tN5356NqJM6RRsxCAqzBH_-N3HI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjV0O3i1ebRAhUFi1QKHSFhAtcQ6AEIVDAJ#v=onepage&q&f=false.
https://books.google.com/books?id=AGaTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://routledgesoc.com/category/profile-tags/cultural-capital
(credit Laini Nguyen @inkwingart)
Joel Valdivia
ETHN 2 A05
Stoning in Iran
I decided to change my object to the punishment of stoning, which is throwing rocks to the offender until they die. There is a film that centers around a particular person that is stoned to death. The Stoning of Soraya M focuses about a woman, Soraya, who was married to an abusive husband who was seeking divorce so he can marry another person. Soroya was offered a job to care for a widower since Soraya will be getting paid.The husband takes advantage of Soraya’s current situation since he doesn’t want to pay child support after their divorce; the husband concocts a lie that she committed adultery with the widowed man.She was helpless as the village decided to follow through with the punishment, which is being buried to the around the waist while men throw stones.
This object, which is the film about Soraya, falls under indigenous internationalism because it relates to a practice that is legally acceptable in some countries in the Middle East or still performed in areas ruled by an extremist regime. Stoning has its religious roots in Judaism and similar forms of punishment in Islam and it is legitimized as a punishment for crimes usually involving adultery. Victims of this punishment are mostly women and they are easily prosecuted, legally or not. My focus will be how this punishment affects women in particular while men use it as an advantage.
The film depicts how muslim women in small villages are poorly treated. Especially for Soroya, the village is dominated by men and corrupts leaders.The punishment of stoning really oppresses women and their sexuality is subject to law. In the film, the crime that was fabricated allowed the abusive husband to keep all of Soraya’s property that she held during their marriage. I'm not sure that it's required for a husband to pay the wife for child support, but that was the case for this couple. However, the evil husband would rather have the mother of their children dead instead of paying her. .The husband is now painted as a thief who only wants to gain more money and have the youngest wife. Soraya had no way to defend herself and prove her innocence. All that is needed to convict someone is just 4 witnesses for a crime relating to adultery.There is no justice, however, served to the abusive husband even though he lied about Soraya’s sexual affair. There is nothing wrong with a man wanting to marry another woman, but stoning women to death is acceptable if she is rumored to have done something wrong. That’s the danger that women must face in extreme islamic villages. There is no exile, banishment, or the stitching a scarlet “A” to their clothing. No matter the circumstances, if a woman is believed to have committed adultery, her life is in danger.