[David Ojeda]

I teach sixth-grade English and Social Studies. I chose to take the Gender and Generation in East Asia seminar to explore ways to enhance my current English and History curriculum. Additionally, I wanted to gain more exposure to Asia’s culture. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience in the seminar! Prior to the seminar, I had not thought about gender roles or expectations as they pertain to Asia and its culture. In the 2018-2019 academic year, the students and I briefly discussed Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. When talking about Confucius, I recall that the majority of the students agreed that his way of thinking and teaching was ideal. Last year’s textbook (History Alive! The Ancient World) barely touched upon Confucius and Confucianism (approximately two pages or so). The text stated that society works well when one respects all those above them within the five basic relationships (Ruler and subject; husband and wife; father and son; older sibling and younger sibling; friend and friend). The textbook does not reveal, though, how gender fits into these relationships. Within these five basic relationships, a female is mentioned once: husband and wife. The latter, to me, reveals that a female had one sole role: be a wife. A man, on the other hand, had the opportunity to have multiple roles and power. One leads (male) while one serves (female). The latter idea was perpetuated throughout generations.

The 24 Filial Exemplars were one way that gender roles and expectations were perpetuated. The tales focus on filial piety. However, there seems to be an undertone of gender roles and expectations. The protagonist tends to be a male; the females seem to have a docile, passive characterization that needs to be cared for. In #2 (“Her Son Tasted Soups & Medicine”), the mother is a queen who has been sick for three years. Though she has power due to the crown, her son is the one who shines because he looks after her. In #3 (“She Bit Her Finger & Pained His Heart”), the reader is introduced to Zeng Shen of the Zhou dynasty and his mother. The mother remains nameless, attaining identity via her son who has had verses written for him; he ached when she bit her finger. In this tale, the mother is at home while her son is out in the world. She receives a guest and has no ways to entertain him, which makes it seem like a woman’s role is tied to the home. The subtext might be that a woman is meant to entertain while a male is meant to go out and explore the world. The exemplars, though they promote filial piety, simultaneously continue teaching gender roles and expectations.

I envision using The 24 Filial Exemplars to enhance my unit on China. I think the tales are accessible for my sixth graders. I would like to take it a step further, though, and have the students create 24 tales of exemplar individuals to address the needs of our community, or perhaps address the needs of a specific group of people they connect with.

[David Ojeda]

I chose to watch The Bacchus Lady after it was brought up in, I believe, session 4 of the seminar. Directed and written by E J-yong, the narrative introduces the viewer to So-Young, an elderly woman prostituting herself in the Jongno area/district. To me, the film starts in medias res; it does not develop from the exposition how the protagonist grew up, or pivotal moments that lead her to prostitution. From the beginning, the director throws you into her life: So-Young walks into a clinic, where she is then seen explaining gonorrhea symptoms to a doctor. A few moments later, a woman stabs the doctor, and So-Young leaves the scene without receiving treatment (It is somewhat inferred later on that this is due to lack of money). This stabbing scene plunges her into Min-ho's life, the stabbing woman’s son. Min-ho appears innocent; he stays quiet and just observes. Since the mother is in custody, So-Young takes Min-ho home, nourishing him while introducing him and the viewer to her world. Unable to leave Min-ho with anyone (Do-Hoon, a neighbor, watched him for a moment until the boy escaped), she takes him to work, asking him to stay downstairs as she meets her client. Society condemns prostitutes. However, this narrative humanizes these women, showing us the reasons some partake in prostitution.

Lisa Chan's session touched upon the reasoning behind why some women, like So-Young, find themselves in this situation. The primary source Dr. Chan provided states women suffer mistreatment due to the importance of food; they are forced to rely on others to attain it. In The Bacchus Lady, So-Young is forced to rely on males to survive and for her child to survive (she states she sends money to the states, where he studies). This monetary reliance on others to purchase food, have shelter, and receive shots for health reasons is why she strolls the park for customers. On one of her strolls, she meets a documentarist who, like the viewer, wants to understand the reasoning behind the actions of the Bacchus Ladies. So-Young reveals she worked as a housemaid when she was young, and then a factory; she eventually ended up in a U.S. army base (Korean War; 1950s). Her details connect with what was discussed in the primary source: servant women depending on the master to survive; women workers depending on factory owners; prostitutes who must please the pimps and the customers.

In a five-act narrative or play, peripeteia takes place, causing the narrative to switch course; this commences the tragic hero’s downfall. I think the latter takes place during one of So-Young’s park visits. She receives information about a former client’s health, which causes her to make a choice that begins the domino effect.

The Bacchus Lady is amazing! Via the documentarist, it provides commentary on how the elderly are treated. One gains an insight into female expectations with the confrontation of So-Young and a woman she ran into who saw her the prescription for gonorrhea (the verbal battle looked like it was a fight between conformity and nonconformity; a battle with tradition). Due to the maturity of the film, I would not show it in its entirety in school. However, I would clip specific scenes that communicate the dichotomy of a woman (the verbal battle between So-Young and the woman, for instance). I would also choose scenes that provide students with the opportunity to explore how the essence of a tragic hero’s fall and Aristotle’s concepts of a tragedy are seen in the narrative. Lastly, I could see mature students (seniors) discussing the nature-vs-nurture topic by focusing on So-Young’s interview scene and the film’s ending.

[David Ojeda]

Zoey,

I love the thought-provoking questions on gender (e.g. Why were men hunters and women gatherers?) you would ask your students! Throughout the seminar, I wondered how to properly incorporate the content we covered with my incoming 6th-graders who perhaps have not thought about or discussed gender. Some of the seminar’s content easily ties in with what we cover (Confucianism and Daoism in Social Studies; The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars in both Social Studies and English). It would be great if the class and I are able to maturely explore the gender roles that are found in these texts and discuss their connections to us in a serious manner.

In regards to your final question, I think it is best to normalize equality; however, voices have been marginalized for too long. I fear that by not addressing or acknowledging these voices, we continue to marginalize them, repeating the same mistakes from the past.

[David Ojeda]

I loved that Dr. Tran's session to be very engaging, especially because she chose a text that stirred a lot of emotions in the reader/audience. The primary source begins by reaching out to a female audience, stating that all the mistreatment women endure is due to the importance of food. Women suffer because they are forced to depend on a master for food (the master hits the women); women work arduously in factories to acquire food; women sell their bodies due to poverty; there are also concubines, widows, female farmers, and married women must also suffer because they depend on males to move them ahead in life (390-91). In “Destroying the Family,” Han Yi says the following:

The family is the origin of all evil. Because of the family, people become selfish...women are increasingly controlled by men. Because of the family, everything useless and harmful occurs (people now often say they are embroiled in family responsibilities while in fact they are all just making trouble for themselves). Because of the family, children...are made the responsibility of a single woman. (395)

I do not completely agree with this perspective. Looking at our society, I think families do more good than harm. The quote’s context, though, is a time when women were shackled to the home, unable to survive unless a man in her life lead the way. I can somewhat see her perspective that, for a woman, a family and family obligations can hold her back. If the author of “Destroying the Family” was alive today, I wonder how this essay would change, and what new findings of progress or stagnation the author would find while reflecting on our society.

[David Ojeda]

I was also in awe that Mas distanced himself from his culture at first. However, it makes sense considering the experience he and the Japanese community went through. It is unfortunate that, due to assimilation, we gradually lose aspects of our culture (customs, traditions, language, etc). I teach 6th-grade English and Social Studies. I try to find ways of validating and honoring a student’s culture by encouraging him/her to incorporate it into class assignments and projects. I believe it is important to create assignments that validate a student’s cultural upbringing, allowing him/her to take pride in the latter. At times it can be difficult, especially if we do not have a lot of exposure to an array of cultures.

[David Ojeda]

A week ago or so, I partook in a five-day PD at the Museum of Contemporary Art. At the Geffen, we were encouraged to visit JANM with our students if we had the chance. Today's visit showed me why the students would greatly benefit from the museum. Our tour was led by a docent who was in a concentration camp. These camps were called this way until the public became aware of them, which is when the name was changed. The latter demonstrates our country knew the horrors it was doing to a select group of people and wanted to continue without judgement from the public. Unfortunately, this reminds me too much of what is currently happening in our 'detention centers'. We teach history in hopes of learning and growing. Museums and monuments of remembrance are made to pay respect to those who have come before us and perhaps to keep the past alive in hopes that history will not repeat itself. Looking at the news, I'm unsure if we are progressing or simply repeating the same mistakes. Towards the latter part of our tour, Mas, the docent, showed us images taken by Dorothea Lange, Hansel Mieth, and Russell Lee. In some images, people are seen playing a sport; in others, they appear to be smiling. Mas revealed that the photographers were not allowed to take pictures of the soldiers, nor were they allowed to take pictures of the wires that separated the people in the camps from the life they were torn from. The photographs were censored, making it appear like nothing wrong was happening in these facilities. At the MOCA, we went over VTS (visual teaching strategies). I can see myself using VTS with the works of Lange, Mieth, and Lee.

[David Ojeda]

Today was my first time visiting the Korean Culture Center. I enjoyed hearing the docent's personal experience regarding her return to Korea (I believe she stated she was born in South Korea but was raised here in the states). Her comments reinforced what we had discussed earlier in the week: beauty is of high importance in Korea. She stated that beauty was a clear sign of wealth; beauty in Korea seems to be defined by one having clear skin, being stylish, and being thin. I wonder if, in addition to reading books and showing films, the center has speakers, like the docent, who narrate their experiences in Korea. The latter would be great as part of a narrative unit in ELA.

[David Ojeda]

Pride and Prejudice is set in the Regency Era (1810-1820), and Late Spring, I believe, is 1949. I think I would have the students explore specific years between these films and analyze female representation in film, paintings, and so forth. The latter would be part of an introductory week to both the narratives. Like Dr. Yasar, I would present students with documents pertaining to the historical context of the narrative and the film to see how author and director provide commentary and have the students discuss the Eastern and Western representation (e.g. similarities and differences). I think this would work best in a high school setting.

[David Ojeda]

Nichole,

I like the idea of using the excerpt to focus on rhethorical devices. Perhaps the students could partake in a close reading of the text. For the first read, the focus could be pathos. The second read could be ethos, and the third could be logos. I could see this turning into a research assignment where students gather evidence from either our current society or perhaps from the historical context of the book.

[David Ojeda]

The discussion of androgyny also caught my attention. I wonder if it is acceptable and allowed in art, shows (you mentioned Pokemon), films, and so forth because these are mediums that are representative of life, giving an impression of it and not the actual reality. I wonder if we as a society are more accepting of androgyny, LGBTQ members, and differences in general when its a representation in lieu of a reality standing in front of us.

I would love to learn more about the unit you mentioned!

[David Ojeda]

Monica,

I see your perspective. One has to take historical context into play when discussing narratives and commentaries of the past. It can be challenging to partake in the latter when one reflects on the current norms, standards, styles, and what we have learned about, as you said, what was accepted in the past. Very challenging, and I wonder how we as educators can help our students understand that context.

[David Ojeda]

Kerim Yasar's lecture was great. The lecture reminded me that film can and should be taught as a form of literature/narrative. One is able to use visual narratives to dive into the historical context of a specific event and attain the director's commentary. I teach 6th-grade English and Social studies, so I envision myself doing what Yasar did:

1. Provide a text for students to attain the historical context of an event.
2. Provide a visual narrative (though a film was chosen, the visual could also be a picture, painting, or a combination of all mediums to attain different perspectives and see how the text compares and contrasts with the visual representations)
3. Provide three questions (1st would be personal experience, 2nd would be historical context, and 3rd would be style/technique)

What I found very interesting about Noriko's character is that she seems to start off somewhat as a nonconformist in the film's exposition. However, by the dénouement, she has accepted marriage. This reminds me of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Like Noriko, Elizabeth began as a nonconformist of the time; she did not care much about marriage, but all of her sisters and mother did (commentary on women in the Regency Era). When I taught Pride and Prejudice, students often argued over if Elizabeth fell from grace because she accepted marriage or if she ascended to grace because she married by the dénouement and was finally well established in society. It would be interesting to create a unit that compares both protagonists.

[David Ojeda]

The beginning of Robin R. Wang's essay discusses the ideal Confucian woman and the three womanly standards she should have: virtue, talent, and beauty. These standards are "exercised within three social roles: the filial daughter, the virtuous wife, and the good mother" (636). The latter female roles were taught, I believe, via stories, like that of Mencius' mother: Mengmu. Knowing the latter story would influence a mother, informing her that she, like Mengmu, needs to educate her children through personal example and sacrifice (move from place to place to find the best area to raise her son; cut the work she had woven an entire day to teach her son that it is self-destructive for him to give up hardwork; etc). There is also the story of a daughter saving her drunk, boatman father. The daughter uses guile and reasoning to convince a military general to let her father live. At one point, the daughter offers her own life. This story might teach women to sacrifice themselves for their fathers or men in general whenever they are unable to escape a situation, or that it is their duty to be intelligent and cunning enough to help others out of a situation. I appreciate that the stories, on some level, present powerful women in the sense that they are powerful and intelligent enough to save others. However, I wonder what these stories are teaching men. Do they teach men to care for females who will do anythhing for them or to do as they please since there will be a female around to help pick up the pieces?

These tales teach lessons and provide societal commentary; I believe my 6th graders would enjoy dissecting them and teaching their interpretation to the class (1st part), explaining its relevance to our current society (does the tale still apply today?), and discussing how they would modernize it to reflect current societal changes.

[David Ojeda]

In the poem, the speaker seems disconnected from the current land. The speaker states, "This snow-clad mountain, melting, is not my snow mountain" (1). To me, this first line immediately sets the touchstone of disconnection; this mountain in lieu of my, the posessive pronoun. The speaker also uses 'melted', as if to say the memories that were associated to the location and land are melting away into the past. In the second stanza, the speaker then says, "This lotus, withering, cannot be my lotus" (6). I believe the lotus flower is generally associated with the Chinese culture. Once again, there is a lack of a possessive pronoun; the speaker says this in lieu of my. Also, the speaker uses the verb 'wither,' repeating the idea that what was once there is dying out. To me, it seems like the speaker has begun mourning the past, which is gone. Lines 15-16 state, "But the host of divinites is long gone, now,/ The host of divinites is long gone." The past, the culture, and so forth goes from melting, withering (stanzas 1 and 2) to finally gone by the third stanza. Great poem!

[David Ojeda]

I agree, Joy. It seems the parents want the child to embody current standards: Western beauty standards. It's interesting how this is also seen in other cultures, like mine (Mexican). In T.V. novelas (Spanish soap operas), protagonists tend to have these physical traits. In school and at work, girls/yound ladies who have these features are popular and coveted. Unfortunately, it is instilled in a child that these features are desirable, which results with some children going to extreme lenghts to please their parents and society. These standards seem to be perpetuated on magazine covers, ads, posters, films, and so forth. I definitely believe we need diversity and our society seems somewhat aware of the problem at hand and seems ready to address it...Yet, I'm unsure what specific steps it needs to take to move forward.

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