From "Who's Irish?" by Gish Jen

I can't get this smart, complicated story out of my brain.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"You think the Opium War was bad, how would you like to live right next door to the British"

"I am so fierce, the gang members who used to come to the restaurant all afraid of me, but Sophie is not afraid."

"A daughter I have, a beautiful daughter. I took care of her when she could not hold her head up. I took care of her before she could argue with me, when she was a little girl with two pigtails, one of them always crooked. I took care of her when we have to escape from China. I took care of her when suddenly we live in a country with cars everywhere, if you are not careful your little girl get run over. When my husband die, I promise him I will keep the family together , even though it was just two of us, hardly a family at all."

I respected this story and the mother narrator for always telling her truth. Jen captures the characters voice so convincingly, I never questioned it. The emotions are raw and exposed, not always pretty or agreeable, but deep and real.

It Starts so Young...

One of the things this class has made me ponder is what is a woman and how do women become women?

A couple of weeks ago, my fiancee and I went to a basketball game at the Oracle Coliseum. Seeing as we were not rooting for the home team, we felt the need to keep our cheers to ourselves. This created a voyeuristic sort of experience. To make sure I wasn't being disrespectful, I found I was watching myself from other people's perspective. Because of this, I also ended up watching people. To my left was a sweet family: mom, dad, brother, sister. The young girl was 3, 4 years old at most. She was sitting on her dad's lap. Sweet right?

Okay, I know this probably isn't cool, but I couldn't help myself. I totally spied on the conversation this dad was having with his little girl.

I was horrified.

He was talking to his daughter, not about the game, not about the sport, but about the cheerleaders. He was saying to her, "Maybe someday you'll be a cheerleader." He was holding her hands and making her clap them like the scantily clad women down below.

He continued, "They are so hot. Don't you want to be hot like them?" I was horrified.

First of all, the cheerleaders at sports events generally disgust me. Their moves and the way men ogle them, aren't exactly family friendly. Second of all, imagining this young, impressionable girl encouraged to do those moves was not just sleazy, but distressing.

Worst of all, was this father, in front of his partner, encouraging his young daughter to become a cheerleader. Why should she question what her father encourages her to do? As a 3 or 4 year old, she just accepts it as true.

Talk about constructivism. It was so clear to me how this little girl was being taught how to be a woman.