Look Back at this Semester

For me, sophomore year is when one truly finds themselves. Freshman year is meant for adjusting and learning, but as a sophomore one really needs to discover and establish himself or herself as a scholar. Taking English 102, with Professor Brady, made that transition smooth and exciting. During the course of this semester, I can say with confidence that  I  have discovered myself as a writer. The curriculum was intimidating at first, but the classroom dynamics made writing and researching enjoyable.

I entered this class with the basic fundamentals of essay writing and was taught  how to apply them to topics that matter. The most important  part of this class was learning that my writing is my voice and it needs to be heard. I found myself learning important social issues and was able to express my opinions in my work. In every other class that I have taken, I was only writing for my professor.  However, in Professor Brady’s class, all of my peers were able to read and comment on my essays. This larger audience increased my dedication to become a better writer.

In the beginning of the year, I lacked  confidence as a writer since I had not taken a college level English class in over a year. The fishbowl seminars, the in depth lectures, and the published writing pieces encouraged me to write my best work. I truly feel that being challenged every day in class made me become a more educated and experienced writer.  I know I will reap the benefits of this class throughout my college experience. The communication, literature, and research skills that I acquired in this class will help me in my new university next semester.

Inequality for all!

 I think it is extremely important for students to understand the concept of egalitarianism. In class, we defined egalitarianism as the belief in human equality; a philosophy that promotes for the removal of any inequality among people. A complete understanding of this concept was vital to this class  because many of the pieces that we read  depicted  examples of inequality and oppression.  This lecture taught me that egalitarianism can never be achieved. It is a comforting theory, however pieces like The Storm, Antigone, A Street Car Named Desire, White Woman of Color, etc.  proved that society will never be equal. Yes, we are continuously making strives to achieve equality, but the fact that there is a campaign reminding people that black lives matter shows how far we are from it.

The Anti-Hero

The lecture on tragic heroes was both inspiring and motivating. Anyone can memorize and regurgitate the definition of  a tragic hero. However,  for me, a true understanding came through examples that I was  able to connect to everyday life. During this lecture, we were asked to think of current day tragic heroes, and as a class we came up with Jay Gatsby, Robin Williams, Caitlyn Jenner, etc. While studying a playwright like Antigone, which was written in 441 B.C., it was interesting to note the similarities between characters in the play and people that I am more familiar with today. Overall, I was able to understand that a tragic hero is doomed to make a serious error in judgment, eventually leading to his or her own downfall.  It is also important to note that tragic heroes affect the audience by making them feel pity or fear.  By creating parallels to current day, I was also able to understand that tragic heroes still exist today even in the postmodern era.

"Always desire to learn something useful."- Sophocles

The lecture on desire was one that I found extremely important and inspiring.  Many of the the pieces that we read in class contained the theme of desire, and this lecture increased my schema. During this lesson, we distinguished between inherent and created desires.  My eyes were opened to just how similar people are in our society. This discussion taught me that everybody has  desires to be accepted, useful, loved, wanted, and successful. Understanding this concept made me look at our society in a whole new light. Maybe, we are not as unique as we would like to believe or maybe these similarities are what bring us together.

"If one man can destroy everything, why can’t one girl change it? — Malala Yousafzai

           There has been a common theme throughout mankind, and it is simply that men are the superior gender. Of course it is more noticeable the farther you go back in history, so it is fair to say that this theme was alive and well during Sophocles’ era. Antigone’s natural rebellious nature and strong moral compass are what undoubtedly create the feud between Creon and Antigone, but it is interesting to think whether the conflict would be the same if Antigone were a man. The ideology that women are the inferior gender intensifies the conflict between Creon and Antigone throughout the play.  
         Throughout the entirety of the play, Creon proves that his character is misogynistic and cruel. Creon’s misogyny is first seen when he automatically assumes that whoever buried Polyneices was a man when he states, “Only, if you don’t bring to light those men who have done this...”(Creon 359-360). This line in the play is key evidence to just how angry Creon is when he eventually finds out that it was a woman who disobeyed him. Objectifying women is normal for Creon so when he is faced with a strong independent heroine like Antigone, it is obvious that there is going to be conflict. This is transparent when Creon states, “when I am alive no woman shall rule” (Creon 577). Antigone, being such a powerful and confident woman, is just adding fuel to Creon’s fiery rage. When Creon says to his son Haemon, “No. Spit on her, throw her out like an enemy, this girl, to marry someone is Death’s house” (Creon 704-705) he is demonstrating that he is not only more powerful than Antigone, but every woman in Thebes. This misogyny and brutality that Creon exhibits creates such a strong conflict between him and his niece, Antigone. 
           The fact that Antigone is a woman infuriates Creon and in turn magnifies her offense. Antigone has so many motives for burying her brother, Polyneices, including respect for her family, religious responsibilities, and living to her morals. One of her main motives was not to defend women’s rights. Nowhere in the play does Antigone convey that she is doing this as an activist for the women of Thebes. Even if this was the case, I still consider Antigone to be a feminist. In her time period, it was unheard of for women to stand up to men or to have any input in politics. Due to her high morals, she disregards this ideology and does what she knows to be right. In Antigone’s eyes, morals hold greater weight than gender. She does not listen to her sister, Ismene when she told her, “You ought to realize we are only women, not meant in nature to fight against men, and that we are ruled, by those who are stronger, to obedience in this and even more painful matters (Ismene 70-73). Ismene is submissive to men and definitely knows her place when it comes to her gender. Creon’s anger is so unyielding because Antigone is a woman that he threatens to have Ismene killed for the sole fact that she is a woman. If Ismene is so submissive to men, why is she being sent to die? Creon wants to demonstrate to the people of Thebes that women will never stand up to him or threaten his power any more.
           There is no doubt that Creon’s gender bias plays a significant role in the conflict between Antigone and himself. Antigone standing by her morals and burying her brother illustrates her disregard for the gender role given to her by society. Antigone’s conflict relates to one of the most popular feminists in today’s society, Malala Yousafzai. Malala is an 18-year-old girl who grew up in Pakistan. Living under the harsh rule of the Taliban, Malala is no stranger to gender bias. From a young age, Malala believed that all children, boys and girls, should be given equal education. Drifting from the ruling that only boys should be educated, Malala attended school and paid the price for her conviction when the Taliban issued a death threat against her. Being a woman worked against both Antigone and Malala making their conflicts much more severe. It is unfortunate that gender bias continues to plague society today, as it did in Ancient Greece so long ago.

Fantasy&Corruption

              Dealing with inconvenient truths of reality and solving problems with vigilance are often scary and daunting tasks. People would sooner create an illusion that conveys the impression that things are copasetic, rather than face their problems head on. This method, although easier and more appealing, frequently creates internal conflicts that are harder to rectify. This “delusion method” is prevalent in classic American literature such as A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, as well as, in current day American politics.  
            In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella learns from her sister, Blanche, that it is more convenient to create a world of delusion and magic, rather than to live in a world of realism and distress. When Blanche accuses Stanley of raping her, Stella attempts to resolve the conflict by telling herself that her sister is lying. Stella states, “I couldn’t believe her story, and go on living with Stanley” (Stella 1232). If Stella allows herself to believe that the rape took place, her life would collapse. Stella wouldn’t be able to stay with her husband and for that time period, that was not an option. Stella simply chooses not to believe her sister even though Blanche’s accusations hold some validity. Stella is very aware that behind all of Blanche’s fabrications, there is a degree of truth. Stella finds it easier to send her sister away and remove the entire situation from her life. Stella chooses to go back to the way things were before Blanche ever arrived in New Orleans, rather than face reality and leave her husband. 
            This same concept of averting reality is demonstrated in the approach that the American government uses to handle illegal immigration. The phrase “the land of the free and of the brave” is one of the biggest illusions. How can our land be free when we consider so many individuals to be illegal? Most politicians conceive that this country has an immigration problem. It is obvious that it is extremely difficult to get legal citizenship in the United States. Often times, families are forced to wait many years, and sometimes decades to be approved. According to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the average wait time for a United States visa for a Mexican citizen varies between 3 to 20 years depending on marital status, education level, work skill etc. (The Immigrant Visa Process 1). In America, the reality is that there are millions of undocumented citizens. Solving this dilemma in a realistic and humane way would be to aid and assist these individuals who are struggling for a better life. Like Stella’s idea of simply removing the problem, the American government deports thousands of immigrants every year. Deporting these individuals often separates families and ruins their chances of ever having a normal life. The reality is that this country is a melting pot built by immigrants, but the American government believes that it is easier to send these people back to their native countries. 
            Deep down, Stella knows that Blanche’s claims hold some truth however, she decides not to believe them and avoids making life harder for herself. This is comparable to the American government deporting undocumented immigrants. They know that sending them back to their countries will diminish any chance that they have for a better life however, facing that reality is hard and unsettling so it is easier to just remove the problem. Blanche came to New Orleans out of desperation and with the hope for a better life and a fresh start just like most people immigrating to America. Both Stella and U.S. politicians find their situations undesirable so they both choose to sweep the issue under the rug, rather than to deal with it. The illusion that America is a free and accepting country is a nice thought, but it is not entirely accurate. Just like the illusion that Stanley did not rape Blanche is a comforting idea, but not necessarily true. 

"The Immigrant Visa Process." The Immigrant Visa Process. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

My Stealthy Freedom

1.        
            That which society deems as normal often becomes so ingrained into everyday life that it is difficult to recognize when injustices exist. It is only when these ideologies are questioned and brought to the forefront that change is observed. It is shocking that less than a century ago ideologies such as “women are only good for cooking, cleaning, and having babies” or “men know best” were considered normal in society. It was not until oppressed women challenged these unfair ideas that they were considered to be equals in society. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." This profound quote means that oppressed individuals do not simply obtain freedom because they think they deserve it, they must fight for it. Women in the early and mid 1900’s were severely oppressed and change did not occur for them overnight. For decades, women stood up to the patriarchal world they lived in and demanded an equal voice. 

              The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, is an important piece of literature that fostered the women’s rights movement. This short story describes the hardships that a woman, suffering with postpartum depression, had to go through while being oppressed by her patronizing husband. “I did write for a while in spite of them; but it did exhaust me a good deal-having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition” (Gillman 316). Throughout the short story the narrator’s husband, John, constantly belittles and undermines her by saying things like “bless her little heart” or “What is it little girl” (Gillman 322). This demoralization can also be seen when he threatens to send her away to a mental intuition and when he cuts off her social and creative outlets. He locks her in an abandoned mansion and forbids her from touching a pen to paper. Then too, John forces her to take medication every hour, which makes her feel tired and strips away her optimism and happiness. It is obvious that the protagonist has no voice because she is a woman. Having no voice and no persona leads this character to insanity. She begins to see herself in the wallpaper of her room. In this wallpaper, she is trapped behind bars and is desperately trying to be released. This is parallel to how the protagonist is feeling in real life. She feels absolutely imprisoned by her husband and the way he is “curing” her postpartum depression. She also feels trapped by the gender role that she is inherently assigned. The narrator becomes obsessed with trying to free the woman behind the pattern and her mental illness worsens. Trying to fight for her freedom is extremely difficult under the oppressive strangulation of her husband and societal norms that she eventually breaks as a human being. 

                It is admirable when women are able to stand up and fight for freedom when they are being oppressed by both men and social norms. This type of fierce heroism is being seen on a Facebook page called “My Stealthy Freedom.” On this page, run by Masih Alineja, Iranian women are able to display photographs of themselves without wearing a Hijab, which is mandatory attire for women in their country. “One cannot obtain her rights without persistently campaigning and pressing for them. I hope the day when these freedoms will no longer be stealthy will arrive soon” (MyStealthyFreedom 2015). Similar to Martin Luther King Jr., Masih Alineja knows that equality will not just be handed to women in Iran, women must demand and battle for freedom. Masih Alineja also states, “when you don't control your own head, you don't control anything” (MyStealthyFreedom 2015). On this Facebook page, women are able to reveal themselves as real women, not their husbands’ property. These girls who decide to post their uncovered faces are fully aware that their decision will put them in danger with their husbands and their community. Masih Alineja comments on this, saying, “For these women, even without sending their pictures, they are already in danger. Being a woman is itself dangerous in Iran. Because you cannot sing, you cannot even travel without getting permission from your husband” (MyStealthyFreedom 2015). In Iran, women are beat, exiled, and imprisoned for protesting for equality. Unfortunately, without a fight, freedom will never prevail.
                Many countries are striving for an egalitarian society, however success has been slow. Women all over the world, even in America, are still being oppressed by men. Charlotte Perkins Gillman wrote The Yellow Wallpaper in order to reveal how doctors were hurting women with their misdiagnosis of mental illness. Perkins Gillman wanted to show the world that not wanting to dedicate your life raising children and cleaning the house did not make you mentally disturbed. She also wanted to advocate for women’s rights. Masih Alineja is fighting the same battle for the women of Iran. Today, Alineja makes it clear on her Facebook page that she is not trying to slander any religious groups, she simply believes that a law forcing women to only show their eyes in public for male appeasement is oppressive. This website gives women a voice and a purpose that they are not able to express at home. Charlotte Perkins Gillman, Masih Alineja, and Martin Luther King Jr., have all expressed that equality comes at a price. People will get hurt along the way and it will not always be easy, but the cause is worth the fight.           

   

   photo from:  https://www.facebook.com/StealthyFreedom/?fref=ts