[Zoey McKinney]

            I learned so much from the institute this year, both from the expert lecturers and field trips. I thought the topic of gender and generation was particularly interesting and relevant to today’s society. Looking at the development of gender roles and generational relationships over time gave me a better understanding of those dynamics in East Asia today.

I particularly enjoyed Brian Bernards’ lecture “Worlds of Chinese Literature.” It opened my eyes to the possibilities of using foreign, specifically East Asian contemporary literature for children and young adults in school. I had never considered the possibility before, but I saw so many themes in his presentation that would connect with my students, and I believe the material would be inherently engaging.

My curriculum project was most influenced by Jennifer Jung-Kim’s lecture, “Evolving Conceptions of Gender in South Korea.” It was fascinating to learn about the very strict standards of beauty in that country, as well as the countermovement “Escape the Corset.” I discovered over the course of the week that my ideas of gender in East Asia were missing important pieces. Ideas such as neo-Familism, “Super Moms,” and those expressed by women like He Zhen were all new to me.

Gender specifically is a topic that is often raised by my fourth graders (now fifth graders). They are beginning to explore gender roles and beauty standards throughout history, and questioning the ones that exist today. They are becoming much more aware of themselves as male or female, and I think it is important for us to explore what that means to them and why. Though many of the readings presented in this institute were too complex for this age group, I want to bring in images and videos from East Asia to help them both become more globally aware and examine how societies position men and women in relation to each other.

I also want to share that, because of the institute, I am planning a trip to South Korea with my sister next summer and have also enrolled in Chinese lessons. Overall, I found this experience valuable both personally and as an educator.

 

[Zoey McKinney]

I thought the article was really interesting because to me it showed how Yin and Yang gender dynamics show a clear division between the genders and set up fixed gender roles while not subordinating women to men, as you said. Professor Wang made reference to the Christian creation story as opposed to the Chinese. She said that in Chinese mythology, male and female were created at the same time, as one cannot exist without the other due to their dual nature. In the story of Adam and Eve, Eve is created after Adam and is secondary to him. I think this is interesting because the idea of Yin and Yang femininity and masculinity reinforces some traditional ideas such as the softness of women and strength of men that many would consider outdated today. However, this philosophy places equal value on feminine characteristics as it does on masculine. Therefore, even though it characterizes women as "soft," it demonstrates that softness is just as important as strength, and that they both must co-exist in order to maintain balance. This is different from the idea that feminine softness is "weak," causing women to be subordinate to men. 

[Zoey McKinney]

Hearing Mas's stories, then comparing it with the $20,000 in reparations he received really showed a stark contrast. $20,000 seems like such a paltry amount for the two (three?) years he and his family spent imprisoned in the camp, not even considering the trauma of uprooting their lives and losing their homes and possessions. Of course, you can't really assign monetary value to human life, and I know there are budget constraints, but it did make me think about what kind of reparations would be "enough" in my own personal view. 

I also definitely agree with your point about capturing the firsthand stories of survivors while we still can. I did a lesson on oral history and its importance that I think really speaks to that. It can also be a great opportunity to have students interview their older relatives about their stories and, if appropriate, introduce them to databases that exist online like the USC Shoah Foundation or this one about Japanese internment: https://www.tellingstories.org/internment/

[Zoey McKinney]

I think this is a really great point - that international fiction does not always *seem* international on a surface level. I think sometimes we read foreign literature expecting the characters to eat foreign food or wear foreign clothes or live in a setting vastly different from our own. In reality, what we often find is that there is more universality to our stories than we thought. Authors are more likely to focus on those universal interests than cultural differences (depending on their genre and purpose), reminding us of how much we have in common as humans. On the other hand, Professor Bernard's lecture demonstrated how "culture" goes much deeper than food, holidays, language, etc, though these are often the aspects that are easiest for us to fit into our curriculum. The ideas he brought up of mass mobilization, the relationship between religion and nature, and the utilitarian view of emotions and relationships are also part of Chinese culture, though they are less obvious. If we look deeper in our reading and teaching, we can help students understand this point about culture as well.

[Zoey McKinney]

I loved the Kpop songs too! Last year in this seminar we discussed how these pop stars are "manufactured," meaning they are chosen for their looks and talent, then heavily trained so that their singing, dancing, and language skills are perfect. There are such high expectations of them, and there are so many aspiring pop stars that it is very easy for them to be replaced if they are unable to handle the pressure. There is definitely huge emphasis on Kpop because of how many people it reaches. As you pointed out, Korea definitely seems to be focused on its soft power, especially cultural influence. It was interesting to hear how many people now are taking the Korean language classes because they started listening to Kpop and want to know more about Korea. It's almost like the Kpop videos are ads for the country (but I still think they are really fun to watch).

[Zoey McKinney]

I feel very lucky to have heard from our docent, Mas, today about his experiences being interned with his family during WWII. One thing that really resonated with me was when he talked about how he distanced himself from his heritage after they were released from the camp because being Japanese was seen as a bad thing. He referenced popular movies where the villains were overexaggerated Japanese characters, which made me think about the importance of representation and the influence of media on children. I found this so heartbreaking, but I completely understood his reasoning - nobody wants to stand out and be different, especially when you were so recently labeled "the enemy" and literally imprisoned for your race. He also talked about how he didn't want to learn Japanese when he was younger, and, for different reasons, his grandchildren are not as involved with the Japanese community now. He mentioned that it becomes harder to maintain the Japanese culture and traditions in LA as each generation becomes more assimilated, which also got me thinking about how that problem can be addressed (I don't have an answer, other than that institutions like JANM and the Korean Cultural Center make a good start).

Finally, I was struck by his fond memories from his childhood, even though it was marked by tragedy - he showed a photo from a birthday party and talked about jumping off the roof of his barracks when there was snow on the ground. The way the Japanese people in internment camps created such robust communities and carried on with life as usual the best they could has always inspired me. It demonstrates such resilience and strength of spirit. 

[Zoey McKinney]

Interesting questions! I've heard similar discussions from the feminist movement in the U.S. Are makeup / attractive clothes / plastic surgery oppressive because they require women to sacrifice time, money, and comfort for the gratification of men? Or are they empowering because they allow women to feel strong, confident, and beautiful? It's a really difficult question (why does makeup give them confidence in the first place?) that I think each person needs to answer for themselves by really examining their reasons for engaging in these things and weighing the benefits against the required sacrifices. I think the fact that, in the US, we are allowed to choose for ourselves shows the progress we have made with respect to this issue. It's true that women who choose not to participate in that culture are treated a little differently even here, but it sounds like in Korea there is much more societal pressure to be concerned with looks. I think if someone is having plastic surgery because they are truly unhappy with how they look and the surgery will give them confidence and improve their life, all power to them, but when they opt for surgery because their society is demanding a very specific look from them, it is time to examine that particular value. I also acknowledge that I'm coming at this with my own Western beliefs about beauty and conformity, which of course are not universal!

And as to your point about blue collar work - that's often the point! Bound feet, pale skin, impractical clothing - beauty standards are often tied to a sign of wealth. It might be more subconscious for us today, but wearing nice clothing and perfect makeup are definitely signs of having money and time to devote to those things. I imagine that this causes anxiety for people with less money and time.

[Zoey McKinney]

On my second visit to the Korean Cultural Center, I really enjoyed the opportunity to listen to our docent's personal experiences in Korea. Most of this week is focused on studying East Asia through the viewpoint of an academic, which is a fascinating and thought-provoking experience, but I also like having a speaker who provides us with a more "everyday" perspective of Korea. Her emphasis on Korean people's interest in beauty and attractiveness was very interesting to me, especially in the context of our learning this week. I think it is interesting that this applies to both men and women, since beauty, skincare, plastic surgery etc. are usually gendered female interests. Of our three countries of study, Korea is the one I know least. The Korean Cultural Center is such a great resource for the Korean community as well as people looking to learn more about Korea in general. I am really interested in traveling there now, and glad I was able to get some pamphlets from the center!

[Zoey McKinney]

The concept of women’s history as opposed to gendered history is really interesting to me, because I had not really distinguished between those two in the past. My understanding is that women’s history is an attempt to correct the absence of female figures in our study of history by shedding light on them wherever possible. Gendered history is an examination of the structures of the past and questioning the ways in which they work and the ways in which they are taught. I think that the California standards are attempting to incorporate women’s history by adding more female figures to our Social Studies standards, but may not be addressing gender history. I think the latter calls for more critical thinking and a deeper study of society, which could be very challenging but very rewarding. For elementary students, I might pose some “simple” questions to get them to start thinking in the framework of gender history: Why were men hunters and women gatherers? When we study the American Revolution, why are all the people involved in the formation of government men? Why do we have comparatively little information about women’s everyday activities in the past? 

 

I also really enjoyed Professor Tran’s final quote: “When will it no longer be necessary to attach special weight to the word ‘woman’ and to raise it specifically?” I struggle with this myself because, as Professor Tran said, specially designating something draws attention to the fact that it is not “the norm.” For example, some people argue that we don’t need gendered words such as “actress” or “comedienne” to point out the gender of the person. By using gender neutral words, we might better achieve equality. Another example is offering a women’s history class, as opposed to just integrating the information into a class called “history.” This normalizes the fact that women’s history IS “regular” history. In education, I sometimes wonder about pushing messaging communicating things like “STEM is for girls” or “girls can do anything boys can do.” This is because it draws attention to the opposite messaging - girls are not otherwise welcome or capable in STEM fields, and girls can be seen as inferior to boys. I’ve heard stories of girls who never considered those negative possibilities until exposed to those messages that separate girls from boys. Is it better to work specifically at empowering girls to raise them up from historical oppression, or is it better to normalize equality and not draw attention to past inequality?

 

[Zoey McKinney]

I thought Professor Wang’s point that “biology is destiny” in Chinese culture was really interesting. The idea is that being born biologically male or female determines what a person’s role is in life from the time they are a baby. She contrasted this with “giving women’s nature free play” in Western culture, where women are allowed more freedom to break traditional gender roles. For example, women who choose not to marry or have children face much less social stigma here. Biology of course still influences destiny in the U.S. - we do have clearly defined gender roles, even though we might be more tolerant of people who do not adhere to them. This is an interesting idea when applied to transgender people, whose destiny might be said to go directly against their biology. Professor Wang touched on the stigma against homosexuality in China, and I wonder how visible transgender people are. As Professor Wang mentioned, gender is performative, not natural. Although men and women have different biologies, gender roles are not in themselves biological, but rather are socially constructed. I have had conversations with my students about gender roles in the past as applied to other cultures and the people of the past. They are always fascinated with the fact that gender roles can be so different from what they are familiar with. By demonstrating the fact that gender roles can and have changed depending on time and place, I can explain how gender roles are not "natural fact."

 

[Zoey McKinney]

I had never thoguht about the use of the term "comfort women," but you are absolutely right - it disguises the truth of what happened to these women. I looked into this term a little bit and found a lot of interesting information -

From https://newvoices.org.au/volume-2/who-are-the-ianfu-comfort-women/: "The term itself is translated from the Japanese abbreviation Ianfu,5 hereafter referred to in this paper. As the Chinese characters 慰 安 [i : an ] (comfort or solace) and 婦 [fu] (woman or wife) suggest, the women’s literal purpose was to offer solace and comfort to Japan’s Imperial Forces." It seems that the euphemism came from the Japanese word for these women. 

From http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120711001089: "Kim Dong-hee, secretary general for a Seoul-based civic group Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sex Slavery by Japan, said that in Korean, the euphemism carries the connotation that they are the victims of forced sex slavery. But, when translated into English, it seems to lose that meaning." So it seems something might be lost in translation. This article mentions that in 2012, Hillary Clinton apparently asked a State Department official to use the term "enforced sex slaves" instead, which is interesting. 

Finally, an article from December: https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2175903/comfort-women-anger-japan-newspaper-alters-description-second This one talks about The Japan Times' decision to redefine "comfort women" as well as "forced labor." An interesting quote: "Editors in the English-language division of Japan’s public broadcaster NHK are banned from using the term “sex slaves” and must instead refer to them as “people referred to as wartime comfort women." This level of denial so many years later is upsetting and frustrating to me. 

[Zoey McKinney]

I also noticed parallels with The Hunger Games, which adds to the level of engagement of this story. As you pointed out, both The Hunger Games and Folding Beijing speak to the stratification of society. I think this would spark interesting discussion about how this relates to income inequality in our own society. In many ways people of lower socioeconomic status do have higher physical risk, like in The Hunger Games, only instead of being in danger from the games, they are in danger of hunger, homelessness, and violence. They also do have less time in the day, like Folding Beijing, because they need to devote more hours to work, transportation, caring for dependents, etc. One thing I will note is that in Folding Beijing there is the possibility of social mobility, while in The Hunger Games this doesn't really happen. I wonder what students would think is more accurate to real life - how do they view social mobility in our society? Is it possible or impossible?

[Zoey McKinney]

"The Wandering Earth" could be an interesting complement to the current events assignment that my students work on. I ask students to read and report on articles from the news every week in various categories. I would be interested in seeing what parallels they could draw between the themes of the book and the things that are happening in our society today. For example, we go in depth on pollution and climate change, and the idea of using the earth's resources as fuel for the enginges in the novella could spark an interesting debate - are there instances in which our environmentally-damaging actions are justified? Do humans have the right to exploit nature for purposes of self-preservation? I could see my students arguing on both sides of that debate. We also talk about smog, living in Los Angeles, and I am interested in checking out the documentary "Under the Dome" Professor Bernards recommended. To relate back to the title of the course, environmental issues have kind of become a generational issue. We have students organizing huge protests against government inaction and the harmful practices of big businesses, young people filing lawsuits on the basis that their future is in jeopardy because of the actions of those currently in power, and children advocating for change all over the world. This is definitely due in part to increased knoweldge of climate change and better education in recent years, but it is also about who will be most affected by climate change. Young people will see serious consequences of climate change in their lifetimes, while older policymakers may be less motivated to enact change because they will not see those consequences. It is interesting to see how this issue, which is by definition global, has emphasized division between generations in some cases.

[Zoey McKinney]

As someone who just got married and moved away from my parents last month, Ozu's theme of the restructuring of families really struck a chord with me. We discussed the universality of the story, and I really think this is true. Although the style of cinematography and acting might seem slow or stiff to Western audiences, I think everyone can relate to the idea of painful changes within the family. When I moved out of my parents' house, I lived about seven minutes away from them. Now I live about an hour away. Relatively speaking, I didn't move a very far distance, but it was still difficult for both my parents and me to adjust to. Not only is that because we were used to the way our family had been structured, but also because, like in the movie, my parents are also getting older and planning ahead for when they need care. I think it's interesting that in the film, Noriko is the one to bring up caring for her father in his old age while the aunt has to assure her that he will be okay. With regards to this issue, we usually see the older generation with the expectation that their children will care for them, while the younger generation is less likely to plan for that. Noriko is demonstrating her filial piety through her insistence on staying with her father, but in this case she actually comes to the realization that it is not the right path for her. It's a very interesting take on generation and Noriko's duty to her father vs. her duty to get married.

[Zoey McKinney]

Professor Jung-Kim touched on K-Pop and how it reflects (or affects) standards of beauty. Like many of you, I have a lot of students (and a little sister) who are big fans of K-Pop. In fact, one of my students gave me this BTS poster as a gift, which I immediately thought of when Professor Jung-Kim mentioned "flower boys". I thought it was so interesting how feminine this poster was. The flower background is straight out of a romance novel, but the members of the group are not the masculine romance novel ideal. They are very "soft" and feminized, and display some of the androgyny that was discussed today. I think it is interesting how androgyny and gender non-conformity are also showing up in Western pop culture more often, and I wonder how much of that is due to the influence of East Asian pop culture. I'm also thinking about the intended audience of these K-Pop and K-drama androgynous celebrities. These products are definitely consumed mostly by women, probably young women and girls. I'm curious about music and film aimed at boys or men. Do those celebrities have the same soft look, or are they more traditionally masculine? 

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