fAstrit has 14 post(s)

In Sara Ahmed’s article, “Affective Economics,” she discusses how emotions such as love and hate play a role in defining the person that we become and how society perceives us. These emotions often take us to new boundaries and make us do things that we wouldn’t do if we thought it through, but these feelings often make us act out of emotions instead of rational thinking. She explores how love and hate are correlated, more so than we know of. When people act in situations based off of hate, they usual do for a particular reason. When Ahmed, talks about people acting out of hate such as child molesters and rapists she talks about them acting out due to threat of loss. People often see hatred as an emotion that is a psychological nature, but it is important to see how they work and how they develop. There are certain economies of hate that she discusses, such as how emotions reside in objects and subjects, rather than how another person makes you feel. She also discusses how capitalism plays an important role in our emotions, how people strive for success and money often makes us think about ourselves only. Certain emotions are motivated by other feelings. The feeling of fear often makes a person act off of instinct. Fear is strong emotion, because it is what you are afraid of what is coming, but not what is actually going to happen. Fear can often take over your whole body both physically and mentally. It is not necessarily about overcoming the fear because often times even when you face that fear, it still never leaves your mind. The discussion of how a white boy was scared by a black man, shows how fear does not reside in the subject. The white boy begins to shiver and recognizes his shiver as a fear, while the black man himself feels fear, because his existence is threatened. People are not scared by others because they are fearsome, but rather fear is contained in the body. This leads to people acting involuntary due to the fact that the brain sends signs that the body is afraid. It is often that people’s emotions are based off of a related subject and for that reason together we feel and these emotions are what bring us together.

In the piece “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving” by Lila Abu-Lughod discusses the ethics about the current war on terrorism. She also explains how cultural difference causes a strong divide in people and causes people to judge others based off of what they believe in. Ever since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Muslims have been attacked for their beliefs and are the cause to all terrorist activities around the world. The kind of questions that news programs posed on women after 9/11, showed how they were being magnified for everything they believed in. Did Islam allow this activity? What did Muslim women believe in? The question being posed is why are people looking into the culture of a region, particularly beliefs and religion, as if it would help explain why these terrorist attacks occur.On the topic of the cultural mode of explanation, she explains how Muslim women were symbolic of the war on terror. In the speech given by Laura Bush, she wanted Muslim women wanted to justify American bombing. This would allow women to live in fear without punishment, and how the war on terrorism also involved the fight for the rights of Muslim women. The discussion of the veil or burqas displays the importance that this holds to women in Muslim society. The wearing of the burqas is a big sign in the oppression against women. Although, it is sign of oppression against women, it is also a sign of respect to the Muslim religion. Muslim women are not gonna throw their burqas on the floor to symbolize rebellion. Taking off the burqa does not give them freedom. The Taliban did not invent the burqa, it was meant to symbolize a women’s modesty. It protected women against the strangers in society. A women throwing off a burqa would essentially cause a woman to disrespect herself and lose her modesty. The culture is essentially voluntary, not forced on women. The certain cultures such as wearing a burqa is a choice made by the Muslim women and not by society.

In Amalia L. Cabezas, piece “Between Love and Money,” she discusses the importance and globalization of sex. Sex in history, goes back to the breeding of slaves, the trafficking of women, and the hiring of wet nurses. The globalization of sex created conditions which allowed sexual identities to develop. Cabezas tell us how workers challenge the labor process through their expression of sexual identities. Her perception that people flee to these countries to take advantage of these sexual laws allows to create the idea that characterizes all sex tourism as sex work. Some people such as Martin Opperman and Chris Ryan believe that sex tourism is a form of victimization. Opperman believes that it is a form of victimization because the motivation for sex tourism is to travel to a foreign countries for the sole purpose of partaking in sexual activities. These women are being taken advantage of by men looking for an easy way to have sex. The research done by Cabezas portrays the idea of the exchanging of money for sex as acceptable. Sex tourism brings money into an economy that is struggling to stay afloat. It represented the reliance on outside forces to provide for them and gain economic stability. While, the idea of a sex worker is where one exchanges sexual activities for money. That definition is a bit construed because a lot of people in the Caribbean do it for the romance and leisure. The idea that sex tourism is more than just sex and money is becoming more widely known. It involves behaviors that are deemed acceptable, therefore it is more than an illicit activity. Although, some blame the absence of sexual rights on tourism because of their ability to take advantage of women, others blame it on the women for their greed, vain, and lack of moral values. These female sex workers could be seen as deviants and as a shame to society. Cabezas challenges these views because she believes that these women should identify themselves as sex workers, instead of hiding it. Countries such as Cuba, believes that these sexual acts by women taking place for money, are shaming their country. It creates a bad name for them and it portrays the idea that the only reason people travel over there is for sex.

In the article “Global Care Crisis” by Arlie Hochschild, Lise Widding Isaksen, and Sambasivan Uma Devi, they discuss the extents that women go, to provide for their families. The discussion of how mothers migrate from foreign countries such as the Philippines, to America, in search of jobs, is prevalent in the discussion of the “commons.” The “commons” can generally referred to as resources held in a community, and what the person gives and receives from that community. These mothers who often leave many children back in their own country, face a difficult decision of whether or not to leave to a foreign country to look for work. Many mothers feel proud of working overseas, but feel terrible about leaving their children without a mother. Mothers often face a backlash, being accused of being a bad mother and selfish for leaving their kids without a mother. Mothers from foreign countries often become caretakers, nannies, nurses, and housekeepers. This is considered a global chain because they leave their children to go take care of other children. The children that are left without a mother to care for them affects the system of the commons. The community of children are left with this hole in their life without a mother. In the commons, where communities are very close and rely on each other, often fall apart due to the large amount of children without mothers. A potential solution to this problem is allowing these children to join their mothers in the journey for work. It would allow for a better relationship along with being able to care for your own children. Although, it creates imbalance in society, when there are so many children left to fend for themselves in a foreign country. It could also cause mothers to potentially lose money if they were to bring their children with them. The cost of caring for children is vastly high, nowadays, and it creates another imbalance because even if mothers are making more than they did before, they will still struggle caring for their children at a low paying job. This is a problem that will require research and a lot of potential solutions.

Being an outsider is something that one experiences at one point in their life. It makes you feel isolated and it often makes you feel a variety of emotions. This moment in my life when I felt like an outsider was in middle school. As a non-catholic going to a catholic school, it was very awkward when teachers used to talk about religion and as a class when we went to church. In middle school, we used to have a religion class twice a week and it was odd to see classmates participate in discussion about God and share their own personal views. I didn’t feel very comfortable sharing my views on God, because I thought it would offend my classmates. We also used to go to church as a class and I dreaded that because the students would have to kneel on the stand and pray, while I just sat and watched along with a couple of other classmates. At the end of the mass, the students would go up and receive bread along with drinking wine. Again, I would watch the students and it was very uncomfortable because of the non-participation in these religious activities. Although, I do not regret going to this school, I felt like an outsider any time religion came up in discussion. In Patricia Hill Collins piece, she explored how being an outsider made black women learn about oppression and inequality. She mentions black women being mules, the white women were dogs, and white males would never treat them as humans. Collins mentions how these outsider experiences allows these women to go through the pain of struggling to fit in, but also allows them to overcome adversity. Black women naturally have this bond with each other because of their ability to share past experiences of being an outsider. It is important to stick together as people and treat each other as equals.

In chapter 4, of “History of Sexuality”, Foucault discusses a ‘technology of sex.” He puts a strong emphasis on the fact that it affected the whole state and not just the church. Society often forced people to abstain from sex and it seemed as if all eyes were on people partaking in “illegal” sexual activities. The technology of sex was used as a way of controlling sex and measuring its impact on society.

Medicine was being used to cure sexual “diseases.” Knowledge of medicine was being used to progress the eugenics movement, which would control breeding and control the genetic quality of the population. The technology of sex began taking the church and religious aspect out of sex and began instilling a more fact and scientific based approach on people. The idea that people could control certain hereditary characteristics of society made people more interested in sex. Studies in hereditary made people more knowledgable and allowed them to carry a certain biological responsibility with regards to future generations. The possibility of transferring diseases and un-normal hereditary traits made people more aware of the consequences of sexual activity. Medicine was being used to make sex more about life and people. It took the shame and punishment aspect out of sex, which made sex a more plausible topic.

Foucault mentions that certain hereditary traits such as homosexuality was passed down and that it could not be controlled. It is a disability that hinders the views that society holds. Foucault tries to imply how society characterizes sexuality highly changes the way people view sex. When discussing the characteristics of sex we see how society held the lower class to a little to none standard when it came to sex. The lower class were seen as people that did not have sex and had no knowledge of it. The lower class had no worth and that the bourgeois controlled the sexual aspects of women and children and to eliminate any hereditary traits that would harm the future children of society. The technology represents an improvement over past beliefs on sex, but it is still a very flawed idea.

In Michael Foucault’s piece, “The History of Sexuality”, he discusses the discourse around sex. Sex is often a subject in which people tend to not speak about it publicly. Sex has this way of making people uncomfortable and thought of as more inappropriate act instead of a natural act. Sex in the 17th century was a shameless act and people were liberated based on their sexual activities. It was considered an activity only done inside the home between husband and wife. This was thought of to eliminate any discourse regarding sex. Foucault questions why sex is so shameful and why people are so afraid to speak of it. Sex in his eyes was a natural act between a man and a woman to show their love and intimacy for each other. The repression of sex was a focal point in this piece and Foucault goes on to discuss the rise and publicity of sex throughout time.

The repression of sex made people want to talk about a supposed “illegal activity” deemed by the church. It is natural for humans to go against their beliefs and challenge society or even God. Sex was an important topic in confession in church. It was highly privatized and sensitive matter. It was a way of relieving sins, but the discourse on sex focused on language. By creating appropriate language it would allow people to talk about sexual activities. It would make people more comfortable confessing in church. In my opinion, this was propaganda by the church to gain more followers.

Sex is still repressed today, sex education is rarely taught in schools, even if sex is discussed it is not talked about to the fullest extent. Parents are afraid of letting their kids know about the sexual side of life. They’re afraid that they might start experimenting. Improper sex knowledge can be very harmful for young kids. Sex should not be repressed anymore, by allowing to de-censor sex and educate people on sex it could have a beneficial impact on society.

In Bell Hook’s piece, “Eating the Other”, she portrays the “other” as a sort of commodity that people of opposite races want to experience. It offers a new way of feeling and and creates an intense event for people who are looking for different pursuits. Hooks creates the idea that the “other” can allow a person to bring their wildest fantasies to life. The “other” can be thought of as the opposite race, culture, or class. The main focus is sexual experiences with the opposite race. She describes white supremacy and how their desire for the other can be exploited. These exploitations can bring an end to racial domination. Some people fear the “other” for fear of exploring other sexual desires outside of their race. The racial difference essentially marks one as the “other” and it threatens to take over due to the amount of immense pleasure one can experience from the “other.” The seduction of difference allows mostly whites to exploit their sexual desires. They are essentially shopping for sexual partners based on race and ethnicity. It seems as if the more non-white girls they can have sex with, the more accomplished they feel. White people had this imagination that non-whites had more life experience and that because they were different they were more wildly sexual. The idea of having sex with non-white people was considered transcending and it had the ability to transform your mind. This relationship to the other is considered productive because it allows people to keep an open mind and bring in an end to the division of races and cultures. These young white men who openly expressed their sexual desires for black girls, essentially made them non-racist. It was quite different from slave masters who basically violated black women to assert their dominance, these men now wanted to have sexual relations with black girls. These men exploring the realms of sexuality, hope that their world will remain the same. These men don’t realize that they will re-enter the world a different man and that these thoughts will remain and most likely get stronger.

In C.J Pascoe’s book, he discusses a flashback that he had to when he witnessed a skit taking place during school. This skit defines masculinity and sexuality in society. He talks about how Brent and Greg, the all popular athletes in school were dressed as nerds. These two guys used high pitched voices as a way to describe a woman and to show they how they were not respected. The contest taking place was to crown Mr. Cougar and Brett and Greg both have their girlfriends kidnapped by men portrayed as “gangstas.” These gangsters define the hypersexual black man by wearing do-rags, baggy pants, and sports jerseys. These things define a hardened black man in black culture. The two develop muscles as a form of masculinity and to show strength. Then they rip off their pants to show their skirts which causes the audience to laugh at them. This displays how being a woman symbolized comedy and weakness. This skit portrays the idea that unmasculine nerds can not fight back in society. This forces men to hold this heterosexual and masculine appearance which society deems appropriate. Heterosexuality is the only proper sexuality for men any other sexuality such as homosexuality would force society to shame them. Society shames men for being gay by calling them faggots and the holding the idea that this act is disgusting. Pascoe creates the idea that lifting weights and working out is masculine and not doing so would cause a man to lose his masculinity. Society suppresses men from indulging in certain activities, which forces them to lead a lifestyle of little choices. This then in turn makes society homophobic, shaming any man who has any inappropriate thoughts or wants to be involved in an activity that is outside of heterosexuality. Society forces men to live in a dark world filled with people watching you. Any man that wants to lead a different lifestyle will face consequences from society.

The concept of motherhood is seen in both Davis and Morgan’s work. Black women were often seen as just reproductive bodies in society, more so than mothers. Black women would often be pushed to have more children in order to increase the slave population. In Morgan’s work, she discusses how females were being called devils for having too many children. If women were to give birth to more than one child, than their children would be considered monsters. Women never got too truly experience being a mother. Black pregnant women were being sold with no conscious. Morgan uses motherhood to discuss the division of races and how black mothers were being depicted as animals. Enslaved black women would often have their children sold so it was difficult to even be a mother at this point. They were looked upon as more of a breeder. Morgan describes motherhood as giving birth and increasing the population, not raising their child and caring for them. Davis introduces motherhood, stating how the perfect woman would be them becoming the perfect mother. Davis shows us how women would often be forced to become mothers making it an involuntary choice. Women would constantly being forced to have children to increase population. She discusses how white women were able to care for their children, whereas black women would give birth and have their children sold to slave owners. In other cultures, women were being shamed for giving birth and would often have their children killed and buried immediately after birth. Davis and Morgan’s work both show how women were dehumanized for having children and how their reproductive systems would often be used against them and make them as breeders and not mothers.