The Tattoo #3

In the final chapters of "The Tattoo", we see the dynamics that make the characters Ken, Claudia, Koa and Kahala so strong collide together. Ken and Claudia flee to the Windward side of the island after Ken has a run in with Mama-san and her crew. At this point in the story Claudia is pregnant which upsets Mama-san and perpetuates there leaving to other side of the island. While on the Windward side there plan is to make enough money to support themselves, and the child, and head off to the mainland where they can start over. When Ken and Claudia meet up with Koa and Kahala for the first time at their house Claudia is reluctant to find out that Koa has been abusing Kahala. Ken, knowing Koa, is not too surprised. Koa ultimately tells Claudia to not get involved with there problems much to her dismay. Unfortunately, the gender expectations in today's society are for women to be complacent and inferior to men in every aspect. Friends and family can safely intervene to help women they know in violent situations by first and foremost letting them know that there is help and they do not need to stay in there current situation. Friends and family of the victim is there best asset in this situation. The victim needs to be aware there is help and in a dire situation be physically taken by a family member, or friend, to a shelter away from the perpetuator. I wouldn't advise anybody to confront them both, namely the perpetuator, in fear that when that person leaves the violence could escalate.

In order to prevent gender-based violence there needs to be a shift in the gender-role expectations in society. The United States has come a far way since the days before 1920 when women did not even have the right to vote. The problem is that many people, specifically men, are stuck in the traditional mentality that men are superior to women. Women need to know that they have a voice regardless of the situation they are in. A big component of this is understanding that information equals power. As a society, we need to spread the word about resources for help and rights of women in violent situations.

Taking into account how much the perception of race impacted the social dynamics in the novel I think that the book dispels stereotypes. In the end of the novel, Ken reflects on his past while talking to Cal and says, "It's funny, I think about race and sometimes feel that it would be a lot easier if we were actually that different from each other. I ain't here because of race, I'm here because I'm human. (McKinney, 217)" The ethnic stereotypes of groups play a big part on the dynamics in which the characters see themselves and others. For example, Koa and Ken would cruise around Kailua on a mission to be beat up haoles and Koa even had aspirations of beating up so many that they would one day leave the island. Another example is the dynamics between Claudia and Ken's father that play out when they move into his house on the windward side. At the dinner table Ken's father tells her, "You know, once da Japanese learned how fo' build da boats, dey built one of da most powerful navies in the world. What did Koreans do? Dey just kissed our asses and made more kim chee. (McKinney,198)"  His motives for not liking her are purely based on racial stereotypes. In order to diminish racial inequality in today’s society it is going to take some time. Racial inequality typically comes from historical events that happen between races. The dislikes for haoles comes from the time of Captain Cook when he arrived on the islands in 1778.  In a fight with Hawaiians Captain Cook died in 1779, but over the course of time haoles slowly took control of Hawaii. As a result of feeling oppressed by haoles over the course of these years, haoles are perceived by native Hawaiians to be arrogant and to not care about the people around then. To diminish racial inequality we need to educate each other on our differences and make people realize, as Ken said, that everybody is purely human.

I enjoyed reading this novel because it gave me insight into the side of Hawaii that I would have otherwise not been introduced to. It was interesting to read about the racial dynamics between the people living on the island. I had always heard that the locals, and native Hawaiians, have a distrust of haoles however I was not aware of the dislike they had between each other. As seen with Claudia and Ken's dad, Ken's dad was Japanese and did not like Claudia because she was Korean however to an outsider they would all appear to be locals. I found it useful for this course because it touched on everything we covered such as gender relations, ethnic stereotypes, and violence.

References

McKinney, Chris. The Tattoo. Mutual Publishing, 2000.

America's Next Top Model

            For this paper, I have decided to review and analyze the reality television show America's Next Top Model. The participants on the show compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and the opportunity to start their career in the modeling industry. The show is currently in its 16th cycle and has anywhere from 9-13 episodes a cycle. There are typically 10-14 women competing with one, two, or none of them getting eliminated in each episode. The judging panel consists of the editor for Vogue, a fashion photographer, Tyra Banks and in the past, models Janice Dickinson and Paulina have been on the show among others. All of these judges have background in the fashion or modeling industry and critique the contestants based solely their appearances. The consequences that are intended in the show are to make the contestants of the show have negative self-images in each episode in order to strive for more during the next week. Expressing her dislike for a photograph that one of the contestants took, Janice Dickinson said, "This looks like she escaped from a mental institution! This is the worst photograph I've ever seen! You look deranged. Your arms look amputeed, your legs look amputeed, and it looks like you have a penis! I'm sorry. (1)" This statement made by a well-known American model is intended to degrade the model who took the photo however the latent consequence of this statement  is that it makes those who are watching the show feel very self-conscience. The women watching the show start to think negative things about themselves since the contestants, all good looking, are being harshly criticized. Whitney Thompson, a plus-size America's Next Top Model winner, made this unintended consequence clear in a recent interview, "The reason I went on [Top Model] though is because I wanted to change the fashion industry. Because it obviously affects people and the way that they view themselves. I mean, when the majority of all 9-year-old girls have been on a diet, we're doing something wrong…it's obvious that the industry is affecting people and it does make women feel bad about themselves, or worse. (2)"

            There are a few different societal trends that affect the development of America's Next Top Model. One of these trends is the growing popularity of social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Fans of the show are able to follow the contestants and judges through these websites which make them more accessible for the viewers. People across the world are able to tune into these social networking sites and see what it going on with their favorite contestant or past winner. I think that social networking sites had a big impact on getting versions of the Next Top Model show in 17 countries and in 170 markets worldwide (3). For example, on Tyra Banks website you must be a member of Facebook in order join her "Inner Circle" which gives a person inside information on contestants, shows, and photo shoots. Another societal trend that has affected America's Next Top Model is the recent flux in other reality television shows based on appearance and weight loss. Shows such as Biggest Loser, Bridalplasty, Heavy, and MTV's I Used to Be Fat give viewers insight on the process of what people are going through to be content with themselves. In order to be content with themselves, many Americans strive to have the look that is seen on America's Next Top Model. This show is only reinforcing the pressure that is put onto women by society to look a certain way. It is common sense that to become a model in today's society you must be good looking. The problem is that a majority of the good looking contestants on the show are all tall and skinny. This gives the impression to the public that to be beautiful you must be tall and skinny. This show only enhances the problems that women already go through such as anorexia, eating disorders and depression. 

References

1. http://www.xehra.com/MovieQuotes/americas-next-top-model.html

2.http://fitperez.com/2010-10-13-plus-size-americas-next-top-model-winner-talks-body-image-issues

3. http://www.tyra.com/view/ANTM_AROUND_THE_WORLD

Tattoo #2

In pages 94-159 of the novel The Tattoo, we are introduced to a character named Mama-san and her daughter Claudia. After witnessing an aggressive gentleman attack a stripper at Club Mirage that Ken was visiting in town he decided to take action. Ken had successfully detained the big aggressor and was offered a job as a bouncer by the owner of the place, Mama-san. Ken worked there for about four years and while working there he was introduced to her daughter Claudia. Ken and Claudia started dating which was fine with her mother until Ken got Claudia pregnant. As Ken and Claudia’s relationship progresses in the book we learn more about Mama-san and her relationship with her daughter Claudia. Claudia tells Ken about her Grandmother who was, "forced into the role of comfort woman for the Japanese during the occupation before the end of WWII. Raped by hundreds of soldiers. (McKinney, 129)" Unfortunately, 80,000 to 200,000 women are estimated to have been forced into this position during the war. The Korean women were tricked into this form of slavery the same way modern-day human traffickers trick their victims. Recruiters would promise these young Korean women, most of them under 18, employment in jobs such as factory work or nursing.  A majority of these women only realized what there true occupations were after they were brought to the comfort stations and raped. Having been the spawn of this woman, Mama-san was subjected to the same type of thing. Having fled to Korea she was raped by an American soldier while living in a brothel.

The slavery that Mama-sans mother went through had both a physical and psychological impact on Mama-san. Not only did she have to endure the same thing in a different context (Americans rather than Japanese) but also nurtured the idea of exploiting woman and profited from the idea. She ran three different businesses while in Honolulu, one being the strip club, another being a "massage" parlor and the last one, a loan sharking business. Mama-san would presumably trick women into working in her massage parlor only to have them solicit themselves for prostitution. Her loan sharking businesses would bring her lots of money from the recent Korean and Japanese immigrants looking to start their own businesses and those people who couldn't pay paid for it physically. While in her working life, Mama-san was really no better than the Japanese government who exploited her Mother, but in her personal life she was very protective of her daughter Claudia.  She made it clear that she did not want Claudia to come around the strip club, or get involved in any part of the business, and had very high exceptions for her. Claudia was expected to graduate from Stanford University and become a doctor or a lawyer. Having been fed up with living with these high exceptions her whole life, Claudia decided to stay in Hawaii and go to the University of Hawaii for an Art History degree. Mama-sans past carried over into her professional life and she profited off exploited woman even though you can see through her relationship with her daughter that she knew it was not right.

Racial stereotypes of ethnic races also come from social forces of the past. The stereotype of African-Americans being devious and law-breaking had been around since the days of slavery. This stereotype was reinforced in the minds of racist people during the new activism of the Civil Rights movement. During the Civil Rights movement, tens of thousand of African American people would gather in public places to make their cause known. Even here in Hawaii the stereotype of white people being greedy and only caring about themselves derived from the time of Captain Cook. To make a long story short, the newly arrived haoles went from landowners to essentially ruling the state in the last 200 years. This stereotype of haoles was only deepened during the Massie Affair of 1931, and in 1959, Hawaii was annexed into the United States to much the dismay of Native Hawaiians.

References

McKinney, Chris. The Tattoo. Mutual Publishing, 2000.

Global Poverty

Poverty is an issue that affects millions of Americans and even more worldwide. Poverty is defined as the state of not having enough money to take care of basic needs such as food, clothing, and housing. According to the US Census Bureau, 35.9 million people live below the poverty line in America, including 12.9 million children. There are three different sets of numbers that determine if someone is at the poverty level or not. The first set of number is for those living in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. The other two sets of numbers are for Hawaii and Alaska. In August 2008, the World Bank changed the international poverty line to $1.25 a day from $1.00. At the poverty line of $1.25 it is estimated that 1.4 billion people live at this poverty line or below. Poverty can be seen predominantly in third-world countries where more developed countries seem to do a better job at hiding there problem. Unfortunately, those who live at or under the poverty level have to deal with the lack of things most people take for granted.  Given this information, it is not hard to believe that the wealthiest 20% of the world’s population consumes 76.6% of the world’s goods while 80% of humanity gets the remainder (1). In developing countries some 2.5 billion people are forced to rely on biomass—fuelwood, charcoal and animal dung—to meet their energy needs for cooking. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 80 percent of the population depends on traditional biomass for cooking, as do over half of the populations of India and China (1). Literacy is another problem that goes hand in hand with poverty. According to the United Nations Children's Fund, nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their name. In a world where it is nearly essential to be able to sign your name on a document for income it is important to be literate in order to get out of poverty.

The socialization process is the process in which people adapt to their surroundings and acquire the social class and beliefs of those around them. This is one of the reasons why I think many stay in the situation that they are in. Obviously, there are many factors that contribute to those that stay in poverty but I think it makes it harder for those who have gone through the socialization process because poverty is the only thing they, and the people around them, know. People start the socialization process with an ascribed status, they are born into it, which lends the hand that being born into poverty not only makes it hard on the individual but on the family and community who are going to have to support that individual with the limited resources they have. Those who live in poverty typically rely on a nonmaterial culture to keep them motivated. Things such as beliefs, customs, ideas, and languages are examples of what keeps a nonmaterial culture striving.  Since material goods are seen as high luxury items to those in poverty they must depend on things such as religion and the support of others in their situation to make them feel like they have a purpose. 

 For those living in poverty who have jobs, there is little or no occupational mobility. The types of occupations that are held by those living in poverty are agricultural jobs and others like it with a fixed income. People living in poverty do not usually have the resources to find better jobs or to be higher paid within the one their already working in. Those who are living in poverty constantly deal with both social and institutional discrimination. In India, there is a caste system and so those who born into the Pariah group are known their as outcastes, or "untouchables". These people face social discrimination from those in other classes by not being even given the esteem to be able to associate or talk to them. The slums that the Pariah group live in and their type of lifestyle can be seen in the movie, "Slumdog Millionaire”. Those who live in poverty also face institutional discrimination in areas such as health care, education and housing. For example, about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005 and 57 percent of them were girls (1). In Afghanistan, it is forbidden by law for girls to go to school. Hopefully this changes, but for now girls and others living in poverty have to deal with an extreme amount of setbacks before they can consider themselves equal to those in other classes. 

References

1.      http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

The Tattoo #1

In the first three chapters of the novel The Tattoo, written by Chris McKinney, we are introduced to the characters Cal, Ken and Koa. Cal is a haole tattoo artist who can longer speak due to a knife to the throat that he received during a prison fight. Ken is Cal's new bunkmate in the prison and while receiving a tattoo from Cal he tells him his life story. We are introduced to Kens best friend, Koa, while Ken is recalling the events that led him to where he is now, prison. As Ken is telling his story to Cal, we are simultaneously given a glimpse within the prison walls. As the story starts out, we find that Nu'u runs the prison. Cal is friends with Nu'u and during a conversation with Cal and Ken he talks about another prisoner, "Dat's Johnny Lazario. You read about him in da papers? Fucka raped dat chick on da Big Island right aft he went kill her boyfriend. First week he wuz hea, I made him my bitch just on principle (McKinney, 37)."  We see the social stratification of the prison develop as Ken fends for Nu'u's position in the prison by threatening him with the handle of a spoon and grabbing his manhood later in the book. As a haole, Cal takes a lot of heat from other prisoners and hears the racism against him, and others on the island, during Ken's story. Haoles, or white people, are considered to be the outgroup of the prison and of the island. The ingroup of the prison, and the island, would be considered the "locals".  The social identity theory is prevalent as Ken tells his life story during his time spent with Koa. The social identity theory holds that ingroup members almost automatically think of their group as being better than outgroups because doing so enhances their own social status or social identity and thus raises the value of their personal identity (Parillo, 18). Koa and Ken spent many of their days during high school summers trolling the town for haoles to beat them up for the mere fact of them being haole. In one part of the book, before Ken and Koa get sent to prison, Koa comes up with the plan to steal dog tags from the military guys who they beat up and has aspirations of collecting "over a hundred dog tags".

The thoughts that Ken has about going to town and leaving the Westside after his high school graduation are something that I can relate to. He knows that the Westside is all he knows however he also knows that he wants something more. In a conversation with Koa's soon-to-be wife about the future Ken feels at ease, "I decided I liked her even more. She worried about the future, and it made me feel like I had a partner, like I wasn't the only one. (McKinney, 87)" Ken knows that he could assimilate with the others in town however he is scared to leave Koa and the life he had made for himself behind. The characters of Ken and Koa are very opposite in terms of their ability and willingness to assimilate with others. Koa does not understand why leaving the Westside is so appealing to Ken however Ken knows that school is his only "ticket" out. After graduating high school in 2004 I knew that I wanted more for myself than staying in San Francisco my whole life. At the same time, I also knew I wasn't ready. After evaluating my options I decided to take a few years off of school and stay in San Francisco to work full-time. When I went back to school not only was I more than ready to get out of San Francisco but I was also a much better student.

References

McKinney, Chris. The Tattoo. Mutual Publishing, 2000.

Parrillo, Vincent. Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations. Pearson, Print.