Informal Writing Assignment #4

Over the past two weeks the class has looked at blogs and websites that take a look into news not reported by mainstream media sites, ideologies that challenge the norm and that have an alternative opinion on popular culture current events.

The site I chose to follow was the Angry Asian Man blog. This site is home to Phil Yu, a Korean American who reports on all things Asian. Although the title suggests that the author is angry, he takes a candid approach to Asian stereotypes and reports things good and bad about Asians in pop culture. Although some topics have serious subject matter, it seems that most of what is reported on is Asians who make news and somehow either epitomize an Asian stereotype or do the opposite of what a normal Asian person would do. The author’s perspective obviously has a biased position in terms that he only reports on Asians but even though he only reports on Asian events he does not limit himself to only pro Asian topics. What I found interesting about the blog was the wide range of topics and opinions offered to its readers. I think the Angry Asian Man blog as well as other blogs perspectives are important because the majority of the information they put out would not be reported on through the mainstream media.

One of the few stories that got my attention was the reporting on the judicial nominee Goodwin Liu’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee for appointment to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals. The story initially takes on a biased position by stating “here we go again… this should not be taking this damn long.” It is almost suggesting that it is because the nominee is Asian, that he has not been appointed to the position. The story goes on to provide a statement by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association stating how Mr. Liu is more than qualified and noting that there are only 13 Asian Pacific American judges out of 875. Now what impressed me about this article is what came next, a summary and a link to a news story on Mr. Liu’s most recent confirmation hearing and why has been having trouble being confirmed. I thought this was important because it provided the reader with full disclosure and it did not appear to be biased by leaving the information out of the story.

Another blog post that I read was about bringing attention to the upcoming National Problem Gambling Awareness Week. This caught my eye because it didn’t come across as something inherently Asian. It wasn’t until I kept reading and found that gambling addiction is disproportionally higher among Asian Pacific Islanders and this story lets people know that there are available options for help with gambling. To me, this is more of a public service announcement that a rant of some sort but obviously it is an important issue that not only affects the individual gambling but their friends and family as well. The only other place I have seen advertisements for gambling addiction is in Las Vegas. It is not an addiction commonly discussed.

This assignment game me an opportunity to view subject matter that is not discussed in the news that I usually watch in the mornings. Although there may be some criticisms and some limitations to these sites it is important for these authors to keep information unfiltered and to challenge the status quo.  

Informal Writing Assignment #3

The Valley Fair Mall is similar to many other malls that I have been to whether they have been in different cities within California, other states or even other countries. Almost all malls follow a simple rule. Give the consumer multiple options on buying clothes, shoes, accessories, electronics, gadgets and even furniture. Malls offer a safe environment for shoppers to browse the items that stores have on display. Now what these malls do not disclose is how these “options” are set up.

I’ll admit, after leaving our last class I left feeling like my conventional beliefs were challenged. I sat in class thinking that I can’t believe that I didn’t see most of this stuff before. Where I see a mall just attempting to be ascetically pleasing is just hidden symbolism separating the rich from the poor, the young from the old and the thin to the plus sized.

For better or worse I can easily comprehend why a business such as a mall and its tenants would cater to a particular demographic: for profit. Before arriving at the mall for our assignment, I was fully aware that the mall is set up for women. Most of the stores cater to women. That statement is easily proven by looking at directory for the Valley Fair Mall and seeing how many more stores there are for women than for men. Obviously looking at the statistics for the city of San Jose, one can take a closer look and see that the mall is set up for the minority of San Jose’s residents, rich white women.

I’ll admit, I initially failed to see some of the symbolic aspects of the mall. I had trouble connecting the architecture of the mall to Greek temples and the western idea of heaven. I think I kind of take that stuff for granted. Although, when I go to an older mall such as the Valco mall in Cupertino, I am more likely to notice that those things are missing. I also didn’t notice that mannequins were depicting leisure activities. I was able to see that with few exceptions, most mannequins were displaying small sizes of clothes that only a small percentage of people are able to fit into. Even the stores that were supposed to be the exception to the “standard” size mannequin did not accurately display the size of clothes in comparison to the average patron of that particular store.  

Another area of the mall that I never thought about, but once it was revealed to me, I was amazed that I hadn’t notice it before. That is the structure of the mall. Through all the discussions in class, this was the one area I did not have an immediate rational objection. For example, the mall is a loop structure with hidden exits that keep people inside for a longer period of time. Las Vegas casinos have a similar tactic by hiding the hotel elevators behind the casino floor and exits are not clearly visible when attempting to navigate through a confusing casino floor. Another area I found interesting about the structure of the mall was the separation of class from the first and second floor. How the first floor has marble flooring with large columns with almost all of the designer labels on the first floor. In contrast, the second floor is carpeted shorter in height with a lower ceiling level. The second floor houses stores that cater to middle to low income people and if you happen to be young and plus sized than most likely you shop on the second floor.

Uncovering this new knowledge of consumer manipulation makes me look at malls and other consumer driven institutions differently. Although challenging conventional wisdom can be difficult, the facts are undeniable.  

Informal Writing Assignment #2

In the film The Matrix, the main character Neo is confronted by Morpheus, a man he has desperately been searching for. During this meeting, Morpheus explains to Neo that he is trapped in a virtual prison and Morpheus offers to show Neo the truth. What Morpheus offers is a choice via two pills. The blue pill allows Neo to go sleep and wake up believing that he had a vivid dream. By taking the red pill, Morpheus will show Neo the truth which will answer some of the questions that have plagued Neo. Without much consideration, Neo chooses the red pill and Morpheus shows Neo what the Matrix is.

So the question presented in this particular assignment is, which pill would I take? A knee jerk reaction would make me say that I would take the red pill because who wouldn’t want to know the truth, right? And especially if it is viewed through the eyes of the Neo, who wouldn’t want to be the hero? After taking some time to think about it, I think that I would take the blue pill. I realize that, the statement is contrary to conventional wisdom so what would I contemplate in making this decision?  When I sat and thought more about this question, two things came to mind. First, am I alone or do I have a family and second, what would my life be like if I took the red pill?

Say for example that I was alone, had no close friends and no ties to a particular person, would that make it easier for me to take the red pill? I think it might. If I thought that there was something greater out there and someone offered me a chance or a choice to be shown this great unknown, I would jump at it. It would also make the decision easier if I had no one else to consider but myself. But on the other hand, if I have a family and close friends, would I be able to make that choice knowing that I may never see them again. So I started to take a devil’s advocate approach to this dilemma and I realized that even though I am trapped in a “virtual prison”, at least I am with my family and friends and we are all in it together. I don’t think that I could just abandon them.

I then started to think about if I was to take the red pill, what would my life be like? So I began to analyze the “real” world and I came up with a few unsettling details. First I would not be the “one” so I can’t stop bullets, I can’t fly and I probably will not do anything of importance for the so called “revolution” except probably sacrifice myself for the greater good. Let’s not forget that I would be entering into a war, be on a ship with a disproportional amount of women to men and eat what appears to be slop for the rest of my life. Maybe ignorance is bliss. For those that have seen the sequels, if I had my choice I would like to be one of the programs in the Matrix that are detached from the mainframe like the Merovingian. I think I am more intrigued at being harbinger of information and enjoying the finer things in life (even if it isn’t real).  

Implicit Association Tests

I took three Implicit Association Tests which were Native American, Weapons and Gender-Career. I understand that these tests are supposed to reflect our automatic thoughts but I felt that the test had more to do with the speed of answers than what you thought. Of the three tests I took, I felt that only the Gender-Career test results were close to my actual thoughts. My result for the Gender-Career test was that I had little or no association between female and male with career and family. I think that it is outdated to believe that males are only career oriented and females are family oriented. My Weapons tests results suggested that I have a strong association of black Americans with weapons compared to white Americans. I really don’t believe that those results are anywhere near my actual thoughts. The final test suggested a strong association of Native Americans with foreign locations and white Americans with American locations compared to the opposite. I thought that this test compared to the others was more a mix-up of my inability to hit the right button and taking too much time to respond. This was also the first test I took so maybe it had to do with the unfamiliarity of the format. I personally didn’t like the tests only because speed was heavily weighed. I felt like I was rushing to make sure I hit the right button fast enough which was causing errors.

Informal Writing Assignment #1

In the documentary film Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor highlights eight modern day philosophers that use everyday topics to debate age old questions about life, society, nature and morals. One of the philosophers I focused on was Judith Butler as she “walked” with the filmmaker’s sister Sunaura Taylor. I found that this clip is separated into two parts. The first part is about people with disabilities and how they function in everyday life. The second part was where the philosophical debate about how disabilities and human function can be compared to gender minorities. I must admit that I had to watch the clip a couple of times before I could connect the second half topic philosophically.

I found the first half of this clip to be fascinating as Judith travels around the San Francisco neighborhood of Sunaura. The two start out focusing on what it means to take a walk. For me and probably the average everyday person, taking a walk is something done out of leisure with not much thought put into it other than the route one wishes to take. For Sunaura, who is bound to a wheelchair, taking a walk is something she does proudly. She also emphasizes the word “walk” as to give meaning that she just wants to be like everyone else.

I was stunned when Sunaura stated that she felt that San Francisco is the most accessible city for disabled people. I realize that she puts it in terms of public transportation, curbside cutouts and social acceptability. I just figure that it would be a challenging city to live in due to the steep streets and older buildings that usually don’t have handicapped access or elevators. Although I don’t live in San Francisco I have used public transportation there many times and it does offer multiple options to get from one side of the city to the other. I have not given much thought to the curbside cutouts on the corner of streets for people in wheelchairs. What I barely think about is crucial to disabled people so they know what streets they can use and maybe some streets that they should avoid. Sunaura talks a little bit about social acceptability for disabled people and how common it is for society to interact with disabled people. She also talks about able bodied people being more understanding. There is truth to that statement but my question would be how can able bodied people view disable people without seeing their disability as a result of a negative action or a result of misfortune? I can interact with disabled people without prejudice but is empathy equal to apathy?

Now the second half of this clip is where I feel the philosophical debate really takes off but I also feel that it is slightly contradictory to the first half about social acceptability. Sunaura and Judith engage in a conversation about how disabled people are socially isolated and are somewhat restricted to or have limited options for housing and employment. I understand that based on sheer physical ability, there are some jobs that disabled people are excluded from but one can make the argument that there are many able bodied people who are excluded from certain jobs based on size and weight. As far as being socially isolated, I think that is a harder argument to make only because of social networking sites and different groups of people are able to interact on-line and are able to meet in social settings. The part I found to be the most interesting is the idea that being disabled is not just simply being impaired but more of an abnormality of normal human function. Sunaura brings up a situation about if she is at a coffee shop she grabs her coffee with her mouth and since a person’s mouth is not usually used in that manner, she is started at because it is not normal. Judith doesn’t specifically state why she believes people view this differently but she alludes to society’s perception of not fitting a normal standard and gave an example about a male teenager being killed for appearing feminine. It’s almost suggesting the idea that people fear what is different and will treat it accordingly. I understand that there are too many examples that show the ignorance of people but I feel that those examples do not represent the majority of society.

The Scavenger Hunt

I thought the scavenger hunt was a clever way to get through the (generally speaking) awkward first day of class. Although only one or two, I did have my own critiques about it. Even though we kind followed other students I felt like I was somehow cheating by obtaining so much off the internet. Now I understand that that a 35 minute scavenger hunt at night, at a community college can have its challenges but unfortunately for me I take things literally. So as the hunt started, our team attempted to strategize on how to obtain the “easiest” items first. We multitasked by walking in the direction of the library with other people figuring other people were going for the book, The Fire Next Time. As we got to the library, every computer in the front area was occupied by other teams so one of our teammates used the directory to locate the book in the library. As he was busy with that task, my teammate and I noticed that everyone was taking pictures of the objectives on the computer screen. I think that is when we altered out strategy and took the path of least resistance. I guess the strategy worked a little as our team was able to complete nine of the fourteen tasks and if we had to go the hunt again, I would have got more off the internet.

Based on my few experiences with scavenger hunts, I would say that this scavenger hunt was based more on creativity than problem solving. Maybe that is a weak spot for me and probably why I followed other groups for ideas and did not come up with as many on my own. None the less I still enjoyed the scavenger hunt even though it was a little cold outside. But what scavenger hunt reveals about individuals and society is that it is an unbiased game that does not give any particular demographic an advantage.  A good example of this is the questions that were asked at the beginning of class and how the class has such a diverse group of people. It is that particular dynamic in which the scavenger hunt was created. To make sure that anyone and everyone who wanted to participate were able to. It transcends socioeconomic classes, gender, race and any other idealism that one can think of.

                                                             Bus Stop

                                                 Creative Minds Website

                                          De Anza President Brian Murphy

                                                               A Duck

                                               Euphrat Museum of Art

                                                A Guy Wearing Converse

                                                      Jamba Juice Cup

                                          Student Sleeping in the Library