Gender Roles... In Relationships??

     Gender has always played a significant role in society, from the ancient times of the male hunters and the female gatherers, to the more recent dates with women expected to stay at home and raise the kids while the men go make a living. Gender does not only affect societal roles, however, but also relationships, as a male and female usually can't have a close, platonic relationship without people insinuating that they are together in a romantic way.
     For example, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, when Daisy begins to visit Gatsby alone, her husband Tom was "perturbed at Daisy's running around alone" (103), even before he had realized that they were in love. It can be assumed, however, that Tom would not have had the same suspicious reaction had Daisy been going off alone to meet a girl. Although Tom's suspicions turned out to be correct, this still demonstrates the great impact of gender on relationships and how they are viewed.
     Another instance of this is the new internet phenomenon, (which has also translated into the real world), "shipping". Shipping is mostly used in fandoms to mean that a person wants two characters, many times a male and a female, to get together in a romantic relationship, even if it has been made clear that the characters' relationship is purely platonic. An example lies in "The Walking Dead", (big surprise right?), with the "shippers" of the fan favorite relationship Daryl and Carol, dubbed Caryl (sorry to any Caryl shippers). According to the actors, some viewers of the show, and myself, Carol and Daryl have a deep and beautiful friendship rooted in shared experiences of abuse, but nothing romantic will come of it. (Because come on, we all know that Daryl is head over heels in love with Beth). Of course, it's 110% okay to ship your favorite fictional couple, platonic or not. It would be hypocritical of me to suggest otherwise. This is just another example of assumptions being made about male/female relationships.
     The fact that a male and a female can't have a purely non-romantic relationship without people wanting it to become something more is pretty frustrating and detrimental to those that it affects. It can sometimes cause uncomfortable situations and discourage platonic friendships between males and females, as they can't hang out without hearing about what an incredibly cute couple they could be. And I think that we can all own up to doing this, at some time or another. The question is, how can we stop? (Don't stop shipping though- shipping is awesome.)

Shipping, basically.

The Lies of Holidays

     When does protection become lying? This is a question brought forth in the poem "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins, who describes how a certain teacher's ignorance, although with good intentions to "protect his students' innocence", can hinder the understanding of history for his students, therefore causing the past to repeat itself. This is shown through his use of understatements, ("the Ice Age was really just the Chilly Age") and blatant lies ("The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more than an outbreak of questions"). Not only do his teachings delegitimize these important historical events, but also change the way these children view history.
     Naturally, this discussion lead the class into a debate of the ethics of parents teaching (or lying to) their kids about Santa Clause. I wasn't heartbroken like some people when my parents had finally admitted that yes, Santa Clause was, in fact, a lie. In fact, I had figured it out myself years before- the whole idea of it just wasn't logical to me. How could a man watch millions of kids at once and always know what you are doing? How could he travel the world in a sleigh in only one night? Not to mention the flying reindeers. And wasn't it unethical to make the elves slave away making toys for children? In fact, isn't the whole idea creepy? A fat man sneaking into your house at night and eating your food? And why do the poor kids get less presents from Santa than the rich kids? Clearly I was a joy to have around during the holidays. But anyways, what seems like a white lie designed to make kids behave well around Christmas does have its repercussions. The Santa lie teaches kids to associate the holidays with material items rather than the gathering of family. It teaches kids to be good only for the promise of a beautifully wrapped gift sitting under a tree, that being good is not something that should just be expected, but should be rewarded.
     Lies also can be found in other, more historically significant holidays. Take Columbus Day for example. A fact that we all know is that "in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." As young children, we were taught to idolize this guy, being told that he was the first explorer to discover America. Actually, Leif Erikson was. Columbus merely discovered the Bahamas, where according to Femspire.com, he spread plagues, demanded food and gold from the natives, enslaved them, and raped the women. If anyone failed to appease the explorers, Columbus would have the natives' noses removed as to remind them who was really in charge.
     Thanksgiving is another example of a holiday being glossed over with lies. The Pilgrims were not all that great and peaceful after all. Around the time of the first Thanksgiving, many of the Native Americans were being killed by deadly diseases, brought by, you guessed it, the Pilgrims. According to popularresistance.org, while the Indians were celebrating their annual green corn dance ceremony, the Pilgrims were actually celebrating the massacre of the Pequots, a Native American tribe. Now, of course, it can be argued that while the holiday had stemmed from such horrible events, it has evolved to mean something else. Sure, maybe. But when you're cutting into that turkey this Thursday, be sure to think about the origins of Thanksgiving.

Let's Eat Grandma! How Punctuation (Or Lack Thereof) Can Lead to Cannibalism

     Punctuation has been around for centuries, and while it has undergone minute changes, the basis for the rules has remained the same. Similar to an old house, the foundation of the punctuation rules must remain put, or the whole of it would fall apart. Punctuation rules as they are are used to make writing better understood and clearer, especially in pieces defined by logic and objectivity that cannot be left to interpretation (imagine a brain surgeon interpreting instructions on how to perform a dangerous surgery- that might not end well). The essay "Notes on Punctuation", written by Lewis Thomas, scientist and Harvard graduate, conveys how the adherence to traditional punctuation rules can "[clarify] meaning" (Punctuation, Social Media, and Evolving Rules of Communication) by serving as "indicators of tone" (Notes on Punctuation). Tone helps the reader to better understand the meaning of a piece of writing. If the correct usage of punctuation can convey tone, then it is useful in discovering the purpose of a piece of work. Each piece of punctuation has its own unique connotation. The semicolon has an especially strong connotation, as shown by both "Notes on Punctuation" and "Semicolons: A Love Story". What is special about the proper use of a semicolon is that it tells you "that there is still a question about the preceding full sentence" (Notes on Punctuation), which gives the reader a "pleasant feeling of expectancy". This can help to clarify the meaning of a sentence, therefore giving the reader a better understanding of what the author is trying to convey. In addition, even with following the traditional rules, semicolons have "pleasing possibilities" (Semicolons: A Love Story) in how they can "so compactly [capture] the way in which our thoughts are both liquid and solid, wave and particle" (Semicolons: A Love Story). This is a prime demonstration of how punctuation is not restricting, but instead another outlet with which writers can express themselves while still adhering to the foundation of punctuation rules. These rules of punctuation that the English society have upheld for so long are important to provide clarity and purpose to a piece of writing. Without them, understanding a piece of work might prove to be much harder, and many might go misinterpreted.

Follow punctuation rules- save a grandma.

"A Winged but Grounded Bird"

     "The damage done was total. She spent her days, her tendril, sap green days, walking up and down, up and down, her head jerking to the beat of a drummer so distant only she could hear. Elbows bent, hands on shoulders, she flailed her arms like a bird in an eternal, grotesquely futile effort to fly. Beating the air, a winged but grounded bird, intent on the blue void it could not reach- could not even see- but which filled the valleys of the mind." (Morrison 204)
     The passage starts out with irony- Pecola's "tendril, sap green days", which should be supple, unbreakable, with "delicate, showy hopefulness"(97) and wrought with life, are instead filled with the broken spirit of a girl who has lost her sanity. Her insanity is further described as she jerks her head "to the beat of a drummer" that wasn't actually there. Then, Pecola begins to exhibit birdlike qualities, representing her "futile" longing for blue eyes, for beauty in the eyes of white people, and therefore herself. The beauty of this passage lies in the vivid description of a young girl's insanity at the cost of her achieving the beauty she had yearned for, in the use of the purity of nature to portray Pecola's complete loss of innocence, and in the image of the rebirth of summer to show the falling apart of a child, cast out by not only society, but her own family. By using this imagery to portray something as ugly and horrible as the psychological destruction of a young child, Morrison is able to yet again provide contrast. There is something beautiful to be found in the metaphorical representation of Pecola as a flightless bird, still trying to reach "the blue void" that she could not even see.

This bird, like Pecola, is most often seen as ugly by society. It is also grounded, black, and has blue eyes.

When Dreams Don't Come True

     I can't be the only one who thinks that chapter two of "Spring" in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is one of the most (if not the most) saddening chapters we have come across in this novel so far. We get a name and a backstory to the character we had only known as "Mrs. Breedlove", Bad Mother and Wife. This adds new depth and dimension to her character, a woman whose tragic past has now been made clear to us.
     We all know what it's like to have a dream. Pauline dreamed for "a someone" (113), someone who "understood" (113) and would "lead her away ... forever." (113) Her dream was realized by Cholly Breedlove, and they "loved each other" (115). It was seeing this dream come true, a dream that Pauline had yearned for for years, then slowly get taken away, that was so sad for me to read, and really helped me understand the place she is in when we see her in "Autumn".
     While reading this chapter, I also noticed a similarity between Pauline and the mother from The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. Both mothers had a dream, one that was taken away from them. And while I don't agree with the way they treat their children, is it really that hard to understand where they're coming from? Is it that hard to understand how Jeanette's mom hid the "huge family sized Hershey chocolate bar" (174)  for herself, or how Pauline kept her life as a servant "for herself, a private world" (128)? Because sometimes, when things don't go the way you intended them to, when your dreams are in no way getting fulfilled, the small victories like chocolate or a clean house mean everything. And when you're living a life like that, sometimes you need to keep those small victories to yourself, so that you do not fall apart completely.

Carl from "The Walking Dead" clearly isn't living the life he had wanted to as a child- he's in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Here, he celebrates a much needed victory, however small, by eating 112 oz of chocolate pudding all by himself.