J-Gender Issues

According to the textbook, until 40 years ago there was a lot of gender discrimination in the USA.  Although the situation has improved, it still exists to some extent day.

No one who follows the news can possibly be in any doubt that there are serious gender discrimination issues (against women) in Japan still.  To what extent, and in what ways is a subject you can think about.

For your next post, please write about either:  a) your own experience of being treated differently because of your gender, at school or elsewhere, or b)  what you've heard about the situation in Japan through news stories/ brief Internet research.

J-Subcultures

In our last reading from the main textbook, we encountered the term "subcultures", of which Japan has many. What subcultures spring to your mind when we talk about modern Japan? Otaku? Bosozoku?


Please write your next post about just one (any J-subculture), including information on things such as the clothing, attitudes, interests, behaviors, gathering places, and character of typical members etc. Also, what's your opinion of them? Would you enjoy spending time with them? Why?

Mango Street: Part 2

Pages 12-25 show Esperanza's early days in her new neighborhood.  She meets lots of interesting characters, and experiences or sees or couple of memorable incidents.

How about your neighborhood?  Describe IT, and the people in it.  Are /were there any memorable characters living near you? Try to tell an unusual or funny experience you had there while growing up.

Socialization

The textbook mentions how we are socialized by our families, schools, and peer groups.  For your next post, please give some examples of how you've been socialized by one (or all) of these social units.

How did your parents raise you?  What values did they teach you (and how)?  Can you remember any cases where you were disciplined by your teachers?  Why? What happened? etc

As a foreigner, I was surprised to hear about how much responsibility schools have to take in the upbringing of children in Japan.  In my culture, parents are the ones who take ultimate responsibility for the way their children behave.  It seemed to me that parents in Japan expect too much of schools.  The "monster parents" that Japanese teachers sometimes talk about are pretty scary.  I also remember a case a few years ago when a Kansai University student died because he fell off a balcony in Osaka somewhere because he'd been taking drugs, and the university president had to appear on TV and apologize for Kandai's "mistake". Unbelievable! (for me).

Comparison to Esperanza

Luckily, my life hasn't much resembled Esperanza's.  I didn't suffer such poor conditions as she did, even though conditions were very basic on my family farm.  The nearest neighbours lived a couple of kilometers away, so there was no problem with them.  I did feel a little lonely at times because I was the "mistake" at the end of the family, and we lived in isolation.  Of course I went to school every day and had friends there though.  My father seemed a bit cold, and I had a bad relationship with him in my teens, and longed to escape home (like Esperanza).  He was strict because (maybe like Esperanza's father) he never had a chance to go to high school, and wanted me to "succeed" in life (which meant "study hard and get a good job"). However, our relationship improved over time.  Now that he's dead, I sometimes wish he could visit Earth again and see his grand- daughter in Japan.