What I learned from this course…

“Pandora’s Box“

Regarding the topic of the objectification of women I included an article titles, “Five things about Women in the Press” relating to one of the main themes in the story.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20554942

One of the main themes of the story, “Pandora’s Box” by Arturo Arias is objectification of women. The narrator of the story Juan, is struck by the looks of his friend Walker’s girlfriend, Pandora. He sees Pandora not as a thinking individual but just as a pair of breasts and ass as he explains, “It had never actually occurred to me that she had a mind. She had always been just a body to me, and only now did it dawn on me that she fought the experience of being essentialized as a woman while paradoxically essentializing herself with her looks.”(12) The newspaper article included speaks on the issue of women being portrayed as sex objects in the media, not glorifying women because of their skills or intelligence but for the shape of their bodies. In the beginning of Pandora’s Box Juan describes himself as a ladies man and only going out with women to have sex. When Juan changes one morning into a female although unconsciously he is subjecting himself to the same views as he would any other girl. I find that he gains confidence with turning into a women and finds that there are more to women than just their bodies.

Relations to “La Guera”

“Kimberle”

In the story, “Kimberley”, the author Achy Obejas tells a story of two girls of the latinx and lgbtq community. She tells a story of depression, misplacement and finding ones true self.

The first song I chose was “The A Team” by Ed Sheeran because his song is inspired by a young girl on the edge of homelessness struggling to make ends meet like Kimberle before the narrator took her in. Kimberle is struck by grief and agony by her position. She turns to the narrator as a cry for help as she talks her out of suicide. “I have to be stopped,” Kimberle said.”(1)

Second on my playlist is “Two Queens in a King sized Bed” by Girl in Red. This song reflects the relationship of the narrator and Kimberle and their on going sexual relations with women that Kimberle brings home. While Kimberle sees it as a way of distracting herself and having fun the narrator relates to the song in a way that she starts to form small feelings towards Kimberly when they are together like the song says, “All my time is yours to spend, let me wrap you in with my skin” declaring her feelings.

I also included the song “Havana: by Camilla Cabello. This song speaks of the artists longing for Havana looking back from which her family came. Both girls in the story came together from Cuba and still think back from when they first arrived to America. The narrator states, “In all honesty, I don’t really know when I met Kimberle. It seemed she had always been there, from the very day we arrived from Cuba.”(8) Kimberle and the narrator are bonded from their origin; while they are not considered friends at first they are brought together from having known each other for such a long time.

Correlating with the end scene of the story the final song on my playlist is “Serial Killer” by Lana Del Re. Looming over the story from the very begging the narrator foreshadows the event of their deaths when she mentions, “Once the psycho got his girl, he seemed pacified, so we listened with a little less urgency to the footsteps behind us in the parking lot, worried less when running at damn.”(2) The song relates to the killer’s psychopathic tendencies and repeated murders defining him as a serial killer.

Comparison-

“Mexican Heaven”

by  José Olivarez

“St. Peter lets Mexicans into Heaven
but only to work in the kitchens.
a Mexican dishwasher polishes the crystal,
smells the meals , & hears the music.
they dream of another heaven,
one they might be allowed in
if they work hard enough”

In the book, “Citizen Illegal” this poem can be found on page 28. I chose poem because in this blog I am focusing on idea related to how people conventionalize another group of people whether it be another gender or race. An example portrayed in this poem is how people conceptualize Mexicans coming to America to make an honest living. The line that states, “But only to work in the kitchens” is a role that is cast upon many Mexicans from the lack of jobs presented to them but not all work in food establishments. The line, “They dream of another Heaven, one they might be allowed into if they work hard enough” really captures the thought that a great deal people say that immigrants steal jobs but in reality they take the jobs that no one is willing to take. They are more driven to help their family and be apart of a country that’s suppose to be for all people. This heaven spoken about is an America that accepts all races and cultures without stereotyping or discriminating. The movie clip below shows a scene from clueless where the main character calls her maid Mexican when she is actually from El Salvador. This scene relates to the conventionalization of Mexicans only holding labor positions.

Rewriting of “Porcupine Love”

The short, “Porcupine Love” by Tatiana de la Tierra is a about a women who is stuck in love with a women she had been with in the past but pushed away. One day her love moves away for good not being able to handle the back and forth of the narrators coldness towards her. Fourteen years later the narrator discovers her past love on a vacationing website and reaches out reconnecting the bond they once had. In doing so she faces her faults and anxieties that fuel the cycle of her “porcupine love”. In search of bettering herself for her lost love she joins a medium and finds herself spiritually. In the end her job does not grant her the time to go to New Zealand where her love is but prays to be united once again. Here is my ending:

I am in New Zealand, surrounded by a bustling crowd and sounds of rolling suitcases. Never would I have thought that life would take me back to her. I lived all these years in loneliness and regret for how I treated Antenna when I still had her in my reach. No amount of apologies can undo the damage that I had left her with but now I have a second chance to show her that I am here to try again. I will no longer mask my fear with quills but now allow her in my heart where she has stayed for the last fourteen years. She showed me how it felt to really live and now I will return that favor with every breath I have left.

I grab my suitcase and make my way down towards the escalator. My mind is ecstatic and dizzy with excitement. I reach for the pocket sized mirror I had stuffed in my purse back at home. I pat down my hair and reapply my lipstick. A wave of worry washes over me as I take notice of lines and wrinkles taking form on my face. Oh how I’ve aged since we had last been together. One by one people file off the steps and join the crowd of families and old friends happily reuniting. I look frantically for Antenna fearing that she wont recognize me in the chaos. Just then a hand taps lightly on my right shoulder. I swing around so fast that a lighting of pain shoots through my head. A pair of bright blue beautiful eyes joyfully lock into mine. “I’ve missed you”.