Andrea Morales
PRLS3105 Blog
From taking this course I learned so much about how a trends or parts of history form cultures. One historical thing I learned was about Christopher Columbus. He did not just take away the indigenous peoples land, but he enslaved them and forced them into becoming Christians.
La Guera, Cherrie Moraga
After reading this story I can relate with Cherrie in the sense that I also grew up in a poor family. My parents valued e education because it is something they did not finish, and they would like my siblings and I to become someone in life. However, it was interesting to connect with Cherrie when she stated, “when I finally lifted the lid to my lesbianism, a profound connection with my mother reawakened in me. It wasn’t until I acknowledged and confronted my own lesbianism in the flesh that heartfelt identification with and empathy for my mother’s oppression – due to being poor, uneducated, and Chicana – was realized my lesbianism is the Avenue through which I have learned the most about silence and oppression. For me growing up I attended a school for the blind, and adaptations were always made for everyone, so no one would feel excluded in any activity. At school we barely spoke about racism or the discrimination toward people with disabilities. In college I had to learn how to advocate for myself and learn to speak up for myself when I felt discriminated. Once I graduated and came to college, I learned the silence and oppression that both people with disabilities face and brown skin people face.
Kimberly, by Achy Obejas
After reading this short story, I found a connection between two songs that can relate to this
Story. The first song is “Nobody’s perfect” by Hanna Montana. I would connect this to the reading because the author states, “I was still catching my breath when I turned around and saw Kimberly. The santoku had left to right and, imbedding its blade up right on the knuckles of her left blood seeped sparingly from between her fingers but collected quickly around the octopus pile, which now looked wounded and alive” (Obejas 18). Kimberly is a girl who suffers from suicidal thoughts, and she is trying to realize that she is not alone. In the song says nobody’s perfect you have to work it. This shows Kimberly that everyone makes mistakes, and it is up to her to make her own choices. Learning from mistakes is a process which is something Kimberly was doing. The second song is “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry. The story stated, “I don’t know how or why but my mouth opened to the stranger’s breast, tasting her and the vague tobacco of Kimberly’s spit” (Obejas 20) This song best connects with this passage because in the song Katy says she once kissed a girl, and she didn’t know why but she liked it. Similar to the story, when Kimberly kissed the girl, she discovered she liked it, and that when she learned she was lesbian.
Pandora’s Box
I could best relate this story with an article called Ellie and Now: From She to He- and Back to she Again by Linda Pressly and Lucy Proctor. Ellie once transformed herself in to a man. He realized he liked men, he wanted to transform himself back to a lady again. This might have been because of the discrimination he faced. In Pandora’s Box Juanita was beaten for asking for sugar as a lesbian. Although he was accepting of his new gender, she most likely did not want to be discriminated. Ellie from the other article probably couldn’t stand being discriminated and wanted to feel comfortable with her body.
Porcupine Love
In the ending of Porcupine Love, I find she feels disconnected to the world that she tries to imagine herself in many situations. This is almost her escape of escaping her sadness of not being with Antenna. This is how I would have ended the story.
Tomorrow I will be starting my first day working at the Private Mystic Sessions. I better prepare myself. I’m thinking I should wear my black leather skirt with my white top with ruffles around it. This could match my white sparkling stilettos with my blue and white sure and my blue printed purse. Now I better get a good night sleep; wouldn’t want to miss my alarm to catch the bus.
The next morning, I got up, dressed and quickly ran to the bus. I almost tripped as I was running. When I arrived, I met my boss Juan. I started translating for the Spanish speakers. When Juan stepped out, I remembered I wanted to email Antenna, so instead of continue translating to the Spanish speakers, I taught them how to use google translate. I created my entire session because best believe I wasn’t trying to sit here all day translating, only to have me keep repeating myself. It can get annoying at times! When these people felt comfortable using google translate, I immediately went on to the computer, created a new email account and starting emailing Antenna for hours. Now I was literally getting paid for showing up. I didn’t get caught until one month later. I was fired, but some office lady gave me a job in New Zealand which was perfect for me. I moved in with Antenna and we worked to settle in and get married.
