It's Not an Oxymoron

Sometimes the way we see certain things may not be the correct or true. This is what author Susan Darraj is trying to explain to her readers. Darraj is of Middle Eastern decent. When we hear Middle East, we immediately make a connection with camels, and belly dancers. That is exactly what Darraj says in the writing. Hollywood has depicted Middle Eastern as individuals with accents, women with veils, and women staying home doing house work. Further into the writing she begins to compare customs of white Western people and Arabs. First, when naming their sons after the father, it would proceed with a "Jr." or "the second." For Arabs, the sons would be named after their grandfather. When getting married, it is a custom of Western males to ask the brides father for permission to marry their daughter. The Western people say that they find it very romantic. It is the same customs for the Arabs, but their reaction is the complete opposite. I find that very confusing because of the similarity in the tradition. I do not think it is right for a person to judge another culture's custom if they are not accustomed to it. I believe it show how gullible people are these days.

Dutiful Hijas: Dependency, Power, Guilt

The Spanish word "Hijas" is translated to daughter in English. In this text, Erica Martinez describes the role of women, daughters to be specific, in the Spanish culture. When mothers were to have daughters, Martinez explained it as having a second life insurance. Basically, daughters were suppose to be there for their mothers and care for them around the clock. It seems like it was their job to do that. In the text she gave a scenario if the mother were to have a son. That son would be obligated to go to school, but the mother would start saving up cash for their well being. Since Martinez's mother has separated with her husband after a long marriage, and she has medical issues, Martinez and her sister took it upon themselves to care for her. It is only right for them to take care of her, but it is really a duty if they are okay with the amount of care the mother will need? I believe it would become a duty if they were forced to. But then again, it is all part of traditions. The mother will always seek the help of their daughters.

The Color Complex

In today's society, colorism has taken a new toll. It is practically effecting everyone. Colorism is a type of prejudice where certain features, physical features, are not to ones liking. It can be seen everywhere. Colorism is seen on TV, social media, and in public. Many commercials tend to consist of caucasian, light skin toned actors and actresses. And they would have have soft, curly, straight, long hair. Others that do not have the characteristics that they have begin to feel out of place. Some have of the mind set of "correcting" themselves to fit in. People with dark skin tones would use creamers and chemicals to change their skin, hair, anything that would allow them to fit in. When they do all that, they're not themselves anymore. Instead of being their natural selves, the pretending to be someone else. Why must they do this to themselves? I blame society. The growing trend of "light skin vs dark skin" are hurting people morales. Some people on social media are writing they're ideal spouse having fair skin and fair hair and so on. Many people must feel hurt, especially that ones that don't fit that criteria. I myself have felt that way. The path society is heading towards does not point to the end of colorism.

Little Failure

Reading Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart made me realize that this book must have made a connection with a certain group of people but also was an eye opener for other, especially for me. In this book, Shteyngart talks about the struggles of being an immigrant living in the United States, specifically New York City, a place filled with diversity. Shteyngart was born in Russia. There, the only people he would know were his family members and friends. He must have lived comfortably there because he was fluent in their native language and was familiar with the places he was going with. It was until he went to a local school nearby where he would begin to struggle. Making friends was an issue for him because of his native tongue. Similar to other immigrants, he would have to learn a whole other language to converse with children his age. His fellow peers were born in America. When he spoke, he would have a strong accent. So making friends was already an issue for him. Also the people around him would scare him. When Shteyngart first came, he was not use to seeing other races. He applied a comedic line to that situation saying, " The spanish with there radio transistors and swiss army knives. The blacks outside home ready to take something." Looking at his struggles and overtime how he learned to cope with them was actually a motivation for me. To see how successful he is, from going to one of the best high schools in New York and becoming a a famous author, made me realize anything is possible.