[Nelson Ta]

After reading the second article, I thought it was interesting to see that there has been a shift in the way marriages are seen in China. From what I understood, there seemed to be larger emphasis on gender roles in past marriages. The newer generation are developing more of a romantic relationship that departs from the past. Although it may be a difficult culture, this reminds me of the movie, The Big Sick, which focuses on a Pakistanian family that must deal with the clashes between tradition and modern ideals such as love marriages versus arranged marriages. To me, it seems that marriages in older countries were primary practical purposes rather than love. I 

[Nelson Ta]

It was fascinating to see the anarchist and feminist ideas present in China during the early 1900s since it's a stark contrast to what I normally think about in terms of free speech in China. He Zhen presents many ideas that are present in today's thinking and philosophy. Much of the back and forth in the class consisted of trying to understand what He Zhen wanted after the dismantling of the current Confucius system. From what I understand, she is an anarchist and her belief system is built on tearing down the constructs and mores that exist with the capitalist realm and mindset. There is much after that is complete. Planning a structure after would be paradoxical. I would be interested in comparing He Zhen with other popular feminist thinkers in my classroom. I think students would be highly curious about various women's rights movements around the world.

[Nelson Ta]

As a developing film nerd, I was very interested in the lesson that was taught today and the method it was presented. Although we watched only parts of Ozu's Late Spring, I was able to quickly relate to the various characters in the story. It was fascinating to see how developed and layered the female characters were portrayed while the males felt (for the most part) stilted and cardboard. Besides the last scene where the father character sits in the room alone saddened by the departure of his daughter, the guys felt limited in their emotional and range. The female characters, all three that we see, all portray varying emotions and had identifiable personalties. It was interesting to see one of the character's willingness to date for love, divorce, and move to others. It's fascinating to see that these ideas were accepted within film while even in most western cultures, remarrying is frowned upon to an extent. This would be an interesting film to watch in class and compare the way women are portrayed in film throughout different cultures.  

[Nelson Ta]

Like the British invasion of the 1960s, there seems to be a worldwide takeover of Korean Pop music and dramas within the past decade. Just thinking back to 5-6 years ago where the biggest song in the world was "Gangnam Style", it is apparent that South Korea has ingrained itself into the world culture. While I enjoyed much Professor Jung-Kim's lecture, I did wish she touched more on the industry of K-Pop as it seems to be a deliberate industry rather than an organic development. While I do understand worldwide sensations like Backstreet Boys in the 90s and One Direction a few years back were built in the same fashion, all accounts of the Korean Pop industry that I have heard about illustrates an indentured servitude rather than the type of celebrity held by western musicians. I wanted just a bit more about the development of the music industry and the impact it has had on the youth culture. 
 

[Nelson Ta]

I have already incorporated several graphic novels in my unit, but I hope to explore mangas and animes as another source, especially as a comparison. The approach of animes and American cartoons in terms of art, characters, and story is vastly different. Professor Miyake made a point to say that there isn't a clear distinction of black and white within anime. Characters are never wholly good or wholly evil. There are ambiguities and ambivalence within the characters (which adds to the idea of blurred gendered lines).  

[Nelson Ta]

In Professor Miyake's lecture, she discussed in detail about the Kabuki dances and the onnagata that stylized "the woman dance". I found this interesting because there seems to be a continual inclusion of androgynous characters within various animes and mangas that I have seen in the past. When I was younger, I watched quite a bit of Pokemon and to a later extent, Naruto. In Pokemon, the main antagonists are members of Team Rocket, Jesse and James. There were many times where these characters needed to dress in costume and for whatever reason, they would also dress opposite of the conventional gendered norms; James would wear dresses while Jesse would wear suits. As a child in 1998, this was a very confusing experience. Miyake's lecture was very enlightening because it revealed a strange paradox within the Japanese culture (at least viewing through the ethnocentric America eyes). Obviously, gendered norms are very different in Japan. As mentioned later in the day in Jung's lecture, there is a softening of features for men in East Asian with the rise of "flower boy" culture.  The paradox I see is the acceptance of androgyny within art and culture, but the rejection of LBGTQ within the dominant society. 

[Nelson Ta]

Hello! My name is Nelson Ta and I am a 6th-year teacher at Huntington Park in Los Angeles Unified.  Over the course of my tenure at HP, I have taught 10th and 11th-grade language arts, AP English Langauge and Composition, AVID 9, 10, and 11, and Journalism. As an American-born Chinese who grew up speaking Cantonese, I have a love-hate relationship with China. I have met some great people during my visits, but I have also encountered many difficulties with the culture and sociopolitical structure of the country. I look forward to learning from the prestigious guest professors. 

[Author]

Posts