Thursday, 25 February 2010

Chinese Immigration

This website focuses on Chinese Immigration to the United States.
http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/kane98/kane_p3_immig/china/china.html
The website stresses the importance of the chinese immigration in the development of America. I praise this website for the depth of knowledge it provides, as a student based website. It mentions the traditional issue of American assimilation, used in order to civilise the so-called 'uncivilised' i.e Native Americans. It mentions here that it was not possible to undertake this process due to their different language and customs, yet this later became possible due to pursuit of 'Americanization' for the immigrants. It mentions about the 'chinatowns' (Chinese Ghettos) used to segregate the Chinese in 'major cities' and 'isolated areas' It also refers to the various contributions the Chinese made in developing America as a country including the 15,000 assigned with the task of building the 'transcontinental railroad 1869'. The immigration Act of 1964, opening the doors of opportunity for Chinese immigrants.
The website rather identifies the 'Chinese Americans' as a representation of Asian Americans. It somewhat overlooks the contributions of Japanese and Korean Americans to the country, it is also quite long-winded for students, yet there are pictures and a bibliography for reference.

The Irish-American Experience

This website gives an overview to the experience of Irish citizens coming over to America from 1700 to 1930. Further down the page there set pieces of work for students to complete, making sure the information set out is being retained. Some of this work is done in groups, allowing a more free flowing of ideas, or questions that might not be asked when work is done alone. It seems a good way to teach the children about a people's that used to comprise the largest influx group, and even today many Americans still relate to that heritage, falsely or otherwise.

There is a lot of information to be found, and lots of colour and links to pictures ma
kes the topic far less daunting for a younger audience.

"
Students will understand the collective experience of the Irish in early America and make connections between the reasons for leaving homelands and the treatment of Irish immigrants then and recent immigrants now."


Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Immigration

http://www.smfc.k12.ca.us/stage/lalosh/index.html

This website is a 5th Grade project (10-11 years old). Their introduction mentions the ‘melting pot’ of America and emphasises the fact that everyone in the US has an immigrant background from some point in history. They have focused on several countries, giving a little bit of the history and background of why people left for America. There is also some information about the hardship of the journey and the arrival at Ellis Island. The reason I chose this site was the contact that this school has with the Bridge program – the children meet with other children of recent immigrants and talk to them about their experiences of arriving in a new country and also help them with their English.
Whilst the project is a very watered down version of immigration history, it does give the children a basic idea that it wasn’t easy for those arriving in America. Their contact with the immigrant children would help their understanding of the problems faced by those arriving today – a lot of these not dissimilar to those experienced throughout history.

Thursday, 18 February 2010

women through the ages

image 1

My first image is Glenn Close playing the role of Teddy Barnes in the 1985 film Jagged Edge. Glenn Close in the film plays a lawyer who is hired by a man to prove his innocence in the murder of his wife. Her character, Teddy Barnes, seems to depict exactly the "power woman" image that women had in the 80s. However, Barnes is not a woman who both has the career AND the family, indeed she is divorced (and ends up have a relation with her client). She is not seen as a dangerous, psychotic woman, unlike Close's part in Fatal Attraction. Her only flaw is probably to have slept with her client.
So, even though she is not a family and career typical 80s power woman, she still has a good career as a lawyer.

image2

My second image comes from the american tv show Gilmore Girls. The picture shows Lorelai Gilmore (played by Lauren Graham) and her daughter Rory (portrayed by Alexis Bledel). Lorelai Gilmore is a single mother (she got pregnant at 16, left her house, found a job as a maid) who is a good example of a woman who has both, a career and a family. Indeed, from her job as a maid, she worked her way to the top and owns her own inn. She is happy with both and the only thing probably missing from her life is a steady relationship (throughout the 7 series, we do see different men coming and going). Compared to the power women from the 80s, it feels like Lorelai is nearly softer in her character. In the 80s, you had Sarah Connor (Terminator) as your single mother, a very different image in 2000. Also, it would seem that Lorelai doesn't have a "typical" power job. You do not see many Inn owners in films and series, and I do not recall a film from the 80s that pictures such a character. In the 80s, it's nearly as if they are trying to accent the power of the woman through her job : lawyer, editor, novelist and what not. Yet, she is still her own boss and completely independent.

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

http://www.ellecanada.com/home/fashion/lights-camera-fashion/a/28965/4

The first picture is a scene from the film, Working Girl from 1988 showing Melanie Griffith in her power suit. This image is a good representation of the woman trying to make her way to the boardroom – the padded shoulders and the masculine cut of the suit which gives the feeling that women have to have a slightly less feminine look in order to be taken seriously. The film is all about breaking out of the stereotypical view of the woman as the secretary rather than the boss.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/jodie-allen/2010/01/07/working-women-ascendant--but-ambivalent
The second piece is an article on the US News website which has the results of a poll on people’s attitude to working women. What I found interesting was that 62% of the women polled would prefer to work part time. It seems that despite fighting for the right to ‘have it all’, many women don’t really want it all. The survey also shows that by a ratio of two to one, Americans think that men have a better life than women and women support this view, according to the survey.

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Representations of Women

http://sbccfilmreviews.org/?p=6569
My first website depicts the representation of women in 1980s American film. It addresses the movement in feminism and how it brought 'action' to the screen.
It lists examples of films, that depict the female character as the strong character. Genres such as action and science fiction films: Aliens (1986) depicting the character of Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver), who as from her previous films, proves to be the dominent character. In 80's cinema, the independant woman is the lead character, a female audience 'no longer wants to see the traditional female protagonist who is passive and hysterical in the face of attack'. The independant female character in the 80s is 'the worker', 'the decision maker'.
http://dominantroles.blogspot.com/
My second website is an essay that looks at portrayal and representation of women in action films, particularly referring to Laura Mulvey's theory of male objectification and voyeurism of women. The question is: does this still apply today? The author looks at years of female objectification in films throughout early parts of this century such as 'Rear Window' (1954). Yet in present day, the author concludes that female characters have become stronger; films such as Kill Bill vol 2 (2004) depict a female character hunting down her (ex-boss) male character. Women in present day have become 'less apparent as the subject of the male gaze'.

Thursday, 11 February 2010

American Masculinity


I have chosen Esquire Magazine, as I think it shows well the way in which masculinity has been forced into a few select niches. This could be explained by the increase, all be it right, of women into what was customly male dominated areas. These include the workplace, but now expands into sports, such as American Football. The magazine includes sections named 'Women We Love Gallery' and 'The Best Bars in America'. These could easily be classed as typical masculine areas and the magazine is heavily based around it. There is a link titled 'Women', which for a moment I believed to be a women's section, but found it to be a page in which the male reader is told various ways to woe and charm current and prospective women.

It is this notion that a man must be told where to go and what to do which is also changing the field. For me, what is seen as a women’s ma
gazine transposed into a man orientated read fails to grab my attention. What masculinity means is changing, and ultimately the crossover of women moving into male roles, as well as biological advancements such as stem cell research, could lead to the male role, and even the form, lost completely.

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

American Masculinity

The website I have chosen is Men Can Stop Rape www.mencanstoprape.org
This is an organisation working to get men to use their strength to create a culture free from violence – particularly men’s violence against women. They say they are trying to redefine masculinity – to encourage men to use their strength in more positive ways. The program is aimed at younger men (particularly college students).
This organisation seem to be challenging the very traditional views of masculinity and asking men to rethink their relationships with women but there is limited information to see how they are doing this. If the work they do can reduce the amount of violence against women then that can only be a good thing but it will be a difficult thing to change the long held view of many men that it is not ‘manly’ to discuss feelings – especially with other men.

American Masculinity and The World's Strongest Man

http://www.theworldsstrongestman.com/mariusz_pudzianowski.php
My chosen site in representing American masculinity is an interview with previous World Strongest man champion Mariusz Pudzianowski. As the interview suggests; the sense of masculinity comes from the idea of being the best at your profession, particularly in being strong and muscular. Mariusz Pudzienowski identifies himself as the 'real man'; the idea of success, power and work. He is asked of the advice he would give to someone who wants to become a strongman in which he answers: 'train hard, eat and train', reinforcing the notions of work ethic and eating (like a man). Mariusz is naturally competitive and possesses a certain arrogance associated with masculinity as he doesn't seem to admire any other strongmen apart from 'himself'. He has an interest in expensive and fast cars as he drives a 'hummer' and 'mercedes'. Fundamentally bodybuilding represents the essence of masculinity, this idea is proven in the interview; he is Americanized in that sense, despite his Polish heritage, he is taking part in a sport that has been popularized in America as the peak of manliness.

Small Groups

Hi

Just to let you know our group will meet on Fridays 10-11 in SEB2 (ground level of St Edburga). Looking forward to seeing you there.

Denise