Joyce Weng

January 26, 2009

Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
O’Driscoll journal Entry

“Ways to Think About Gender” can be an encouraging article for

anyone who reads it. The article may focus on a slice of the national

population (those who do not fit in the traditional male and female

roles) but it addresses everyone to “think from a fresh viewpoint.” (6)

O’Driscoll is talking about how people cannot be limited in set

categories. She calls for everyone to grow beyond an inadequate way

of seeing people that our culture has instilled in us. Lastly but most

important of all, the author asks us to allow ourselves to be aware and

accepting of other people’s differences. People cannot resort to

violence over other people’s found identities and lifestyle choices. If a

woman decides to be open and honest about her own gender, which

does not fit into the stereotypical female image, then that is her

choice. It is one decision that she should be applauded for and not

condemned.

O’Driscoll brings up some tough questions for those who are not

exposed at an early age to the issue of “sex vs. gender.” The article is

also a good reminder for those who are familiar with this topic because

sometimes people forget that with the freedom to pursue life, liberty,

and happiness, comes the weight of obligatory duty to maintain such a

freedom. If an individual was to see a violent act committed out of

ignorance and hate, then action must be taken. This responsibility to

act and fight for other people’s rights needs to be addressed, whether

it is discrimination of gender, sex, race, or class, etc.

Joyce Weng
January 26, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Text-Specific Question

We all use clothes to say a lot about ourselves: we can

telegraph facts about how much money we have, how
conservative or liberal we are, about race, about our
professions and jobs, about whether we are sexually
available and whom we wish to attract. (O’Driscoll, 3)

When did the notion of expressing one’s self through clothing

and accessories first appear? How can this seem like a desirable trait
but actually put an individual at a disadvantage in relations to others?
Why do people choose to reveal such information about themselves
when most people will not accept a different image from what they are
familiar with? Or aren’t willing to help defend other people’s
differences to those who are more ignorant?

“This is what Adrienne Rich has called “compulsory heterosexuality”:

to be properly female or properly male is, in our society, to be
heterosexual.” (O’Driscoll, 4)

Why is the default sexuality of heterosexual orientation in the

United States? Was there a time or place when the default sexuality
was something different? Why do Americans have this “compulsion”
to be straight? Explain what Rich means by “compulsory
heterosexuality.”

Joyce Weng
January 29, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Christensen Journal Entry

It is true that racism and sexism is not a “personal problem.”

The resistance for minority groups to compete with the majority white

male comes from behind closed doors. Christensen made many crucial

points in her article, “With Whom do You Believe Your Lot Is Cast?” It

is understandable that she, the author, is calling for all women to listen

to those who experience racism because those who do not know what

it is like will never know. This is completely logical. (620) It is

depressing and can anger a person to acknowledge what Christensen

so rightly acknowledges in her article about the origins of racism.

(How is was to justify financial/land gains.)

This definition focuses almost exclusively on the individual

or attitudinal aspects of racism while virtually ignoring its

 historical origins and institutional components… Racism is

about the unequal distribution of economic wealth and

political power in this country (and around the world) along

lines of color, class, and culture. (Christensen, 621)

Can different groups of people have different definitions of the word

“racism?” Even though, this is a pretty clear definition, would

someone who actually experiences racism come up with a different

definition?

Joyce Weng
January 29, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Course Free Write Questions

What is the relationship of writing and life?

Writing is the expression and written record of all aspects of life. An

individual can write about anything pertaining to her life from love to
death and about the everyday life in between. It can help an individual
discover what is within herself. The disconnection in a person can be
rejoined with writing and provide a better quality of life. Writing can
emerge in many forms from lyrics to poetry to prose, etc. The actual
activity of writing can be direct or indirect, as with many things that
appear in life. It varies as much as life does because it is the thought
process by which people live their lives revealed for others to see.
What propels these ongoing transformations of self?

Creativity is at the root of all writing that allows an individual to

transcend everyday life. It is at the peak of Maslow’s ladder.
Originality, a sense of uniqueness, and the creative process to gain
and maintain such goals are necessities for individuals who have
achieved everything else in life. (E.g. food, water, sex, self-esteem,
etc. After all these aims are reached, then creativity is the only goal
left to sustain meaning in life.) The creative process of all artistic
endeavors is the main, truly cathartic outlet of expression and energy.

Of what does the self consist?

This question refers to the existential question, “Who are you?” There
is no answer to which one can answer fully. No matter what the
answer is, it will limit the true identity of the self. Whatever the
answer may be will undermine the significance of the self.

Describe/define the world to which these writers/you belong?

I do not know very much about contemporary women prose writers. I,

however, belong to a chaotic world both internally and externally.
There is war, famine, and a disconnect that can been seen globally, as
well as, within myself. I have gone through so much in the past ten
years. My own transformation is astounding and it is not always
pleasing to the eye. The world I belong in, however, is filled with hope
for better days.
What are the ways in which you/the writer are or are not a part of the
world?

My voice is silent. Perhaps, along with many women writers, our

voices are quieter than our male counterparts. Everyone is connected
to the world in their own ways, whether they like it or not. If they
choose to not be a part of one world, then they will fall into another
world. There are so many in life, that it is inescapable. The decision to
not choose is to choose something that might not always be the best
but it is still an option.

Joyce Weng
February 9, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Nin Entry

I love Sabina and her audacity to pursue what she defines as a

meaningful search for her identity. That is the ultimate catch-22.
Sometimes, people who gather up enough nerve and/or suffer from
enough need, still fall into the trap of allowing other people to define
what an individual’s personal search should preclude. Sabina, however
she may fall under criticism of pursing a “shallow” search embedded in
fleeting sensuality, will forever in Nin’s pages, have the ability to truly
follow her own personal drive.
 I believe (and I mean this to be said, in order to encourage a
Sabina character within myself) that each person is ultimately alone in
her own life. We are collectively alone. There is no one woman more
alone than another because in the end, we die alone without people or
possessions. Although, some may part with the illusion of company,
which I do not discourage but warn to be wary against because in the
end, how can we die with people? That would imply that we possess a
part of others, which again, I honestly believe is only partially true.

I am willing to venture that whom we possess or have with us

when we depart are the people we allow into our lives, as well as, the
people we create in our lives. Sabina’s encounters were not shallow in
my opinion because she treasured them deeply and I would make the
argument that those men will stay with her forever. The simple fact
that they are not physically there at that very moment has little to no
weight, compared to their presence when they were in demand and
made a memory possible to be relived and carried on by the only
person who matters in Sabina’s life, which is Sabina.

Joyce Weng
February 12, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Kimmelman Entry

“Until now we had our names; everything else had been taken
from us. Now we were mere numbers…”(58) Did the Nazis know that
they were proceeding with such a systematically, psychologically
damaging process of dehumanization? Did they think about what they
were doing? How did they justify what they were doing? And in the
end, did they really believe the story that they made up from
themselves?
We, as a people, members of the human race may have to face
that sometimes our evils come out in the fiercest ways. What we are
capable is not known in any other species. We have the capabilities to
lower members of our species, so that others have taken the level of
“sub-humans.” This might be an evil that is possibly naturally
ingrained in the collective human nature. When was the last time you
step on someone’s potentials to better yourself? It could be something
as simple as taking a promotion in the work place. But this trait at its
extreme is thankfully horrifying to the mass majority. The process of
dehumanization has occurred all over the world at many junctions in
history. Can it ever really stop?
How women see themselves can many times be a form of self-
dehumanization. How men see women can arguably be the longest
form of “tolerable” dehumanization in the history of the written record.
Can it ever really stop?

Joyce Weng
February 17, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Yamamoto Journal Entry
 How does Althea Conner explain what happened at the public
school? Why did she get pulled out of the public “space” and confined
to private school, if her presence was not seen as threatening? Would
her reconnection with Yamamoto cause a riff between the
neoconservative identity she has constructed for herself (“no victim
stance”) and the painfully humiliated girl in the memory that
Yamamoto has played out?
The relationship between Yamamoto’s father and their landlord is
similar to Althea and their teacher. Yamamoto makes this connection
but does not elaborate on it.
She also talks about “Truth.” I think I disagree with her here.
There is no absolute truth. Unless I misunderstood her, I think her
quest is too scattered and vague. I do not think she has answered any
of her own questions. She definitely created new questions by
discovering that Althea was a “bad subject.” There is definitely a twist
between the usage of “Good” and “Bad.” Maybe Althea is not so “bad”
after all. Who knows?

Joyce Weng
February 12, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Adrienne Rich Entry
 How can women prevent their bodies from standing in the way of
becoming united as a single power? Rich said she was white before
she was female. The inherent advantages some people get at birth
and in life, will always separate them from others. No everyone is born
equal. “We who are many and do not want to be the same.” (644)
We must accept that this is natural and love it. We must love our
differences and celebrate our similarities. Seeing the body as a
location is key to the women’s movement because it is at that place
where women have been subjugated to violence and forced into
submission by the patriarchal dominance.
What happens if we replace “communism” with “terrorism?” It is
terrifying to think that nothing has changed. The propaganda to keep
people in fear of themselves and each other remains the same. “Do
not trust others.” This is the sentiment that the male, Western powers
use as a tactic to keep others in check and under their power.
Rich’s article is sounds incredibly well in me. It strikes a chord.
We must look at our world as a whole of inter-related networks and
organs of a bigger body. We are not the center of anything because
there is no center.

Joyce Weng
March 9, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
 Alvarez Entry

It is so interesting to see how another, however, foreign account

of intimate sisterhood can play out. In reality, I am jealous. It was

possible for me to have three other sisters and not just one. I suppose

this is possible for anyone but I actually came close, knowing that my

mother was pregnant a total of four times. For reasons, somewhat

unknown to me, I seem akin to Minerva the most. I suppose it is the

significance of others to her that I see in her life. Therefore, I would

picture my sister most like Marie, even though the novel puts her as

the youngest and my sister would have been the third eldest. (I am

the oldest.) Marie seems the most sympathetic to the other sisters,

while engaging in her own conflicts almost usually clandestine.

I cannot imagine, however, a Dede-Minerva relationship with

another sister. Though, this might just be unrealistic and bias of me

too, being that in reality I only have one sister to have this chance

relationship with. It is too competitive for my taste. But I can also see

how I would fall into that “Dede-Minerva” competition, as seeing how I

can relate most with Minerva.

 Joyce Weng
March 23, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Faderman Journal Entry

What would influence women to silence the sexual experiences

of other women? I would like to assume that authors in the twentieth
century before the 1970’s were only trying to protect their lesbian
sisters from dual or added discrimination from men. Though, it is
troubling to think that even as recent as fifty years ago, women writers
are still so heavily guided by their male readers and literary
counterparts. The term that comes to mind is self-oppression. Could it
be that some psychological defense mechanism came into play? It is
possible that manipulation was used to struggle against additional
discrimination against women’s emotional and sexual capabilities. One
could think; men are going to reject homosexuality in women as the
dominant view treats homosexuality among men, therefore, we will
use our power to disguise lesbian love before men can judge it.
However, authors after Freud and before the seventies did try to hide
lesbian sentiments rather than smear it with hate. This leads me back
to my first conclusion that the urge to protect other women was a
factor that led female authors to avoid the revelation that women
could love women. This, however, is no excuse but actually tells of
another way in which men were able to indirectly suppress the
liberation of women. That is, however powerful are men’s ability to
influence women’s actions, it is still ultimately women who are directly
responsible.
 Joyce Weng
March 26, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
See Entry

I am ashamed of the type of tradition that I come from. I know

from my great-grandmother, who had her feet bound, that it was not a

kind tradition to women. Even though, she personally made it as a

highly respected female figure in my family. I can still see my own

mother would not have experienced such success because of the way

my father treats her, compared with the way he had treated my great-

grandmother.

As far as sisterhood goes, between Lily and Snow Flower, it is

what I imagine so typical of the Chinese, female psyche (That is to play

into the roles that men create for them, which is not atypical of women

around the world, I would suspect.) to uphold a superficial bond, even

among women, is all they really have to hold onto in a life full of

superficial bonds with others in their social networks. Everything

seems to have a practical purpose and the emotional psyche is

severely deprived of attention. It makes me really uneasy with the

term “Chinese.” That is, my reaction and shame is so deeply offended,

where a term can make me queasy. I am speaking to the offense that

Lily committed against Snow Flower. There is nothing but real shame

felt towards the women who were created as a product of the

institutionalized tradition.

Joyce Weng
April 20, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Ba Entry

In Ba’s writings I get a sense from her main character, a pain

that can be felt through only betrayal and a lack of options to break

through it. She relied heavily in many ways on her recently deceased

husband but she was truly hurt by him for taking advantage of their

marriage and common assets to marry a second woman. How could

women do this to other women? Isn’t there a code of ethics in man’s

world – “You don’t touch another man’s woman…” Isn’t that some

saying or another? How come women do not have something like this?

Why do we jump at every pretty present and luxury to give up our lives

and chance fate?

I feel bad for Ramatoulaye but not from a “high horse”

perspective. I would be no better. In a sense, I feel bad for my

theoretical me, as if I had been in her place, in her society. That

feeling, which one has no choice but to sabotage it all and having a

faith that prevents even that from being an option. It is stifling.

Joyce Weng
April 21, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Ehrenreich Entry

From a sociological point of view, Nickel and Dimed is an

incredibly valuable book because it proves the myth that anyone can

live on one minimum wage job is actually false. I notice that

Ehrenreich also focuses on the women’s plight, often using “she” or

“her” and talking of her female co-workers circumstances more than

their male counterparts. Therefore the book is an important account of

the feminist’s perspective within the sociological umbrella. And as we

talked about in the beginning of the semester, there is nothing more

menacing than the institutionalized prejudices that keep women and

minorities “in their places” among the job fields and other public

environments. A further explanation comes from the fact that I am

taking a sociology class called “Social Problems” where my professor

defines the feminist perspective as one that focuses of the imbalance

between the two genders along with a specific analysis of women.

However, with gender being a social construct and sex being a

“biologically predetermined state,” it is a bit intimidating to realize that

this inequality is based on a social construct rather than just pure

observable prejudices.

Joyce Weng
April 24, 2009
Women Prose Writers
Dr. Lewis
Morrison Entry

There are many layers to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eyes that I
feel is worth addressing on multiple levels. Everything from my own
personal kinship with the two sisters, Claudia and Frieda, along with
poverty and ugliness being a state of mind that is tied into being part
of the mundane, how people cope with this lot that they are dealt, and
most of all, the mass obsession with color. This ranges from the color
of people’s features like skin and eyes but also ranges to colors in
nature and furthermore to the internally visualized colors of words and
feelings.
The one thing I feel it is important to address here because
chances are that I will not get a chance to tie this in with my (final)
paper, is that people easily and are willingly eager to deceive
themselves. Claudia did not “fall for the trick.” She did not see how
one physical image could be worth so much, as to imply that her own
drastically different appearance would be somehow hold less value or
significance. And much in the same way, people accuse women of
being capable of being sexist, for example, which is impossible. This is
like saying Claudia is racist for disagreeing with the accepted norm of
beauty.
However, people are people. Despite the fact that I understand
the oppressed and/or discriminated are already on the bottom, this
does not mean that they are infallible to their own hatred against those
on “top.” Maybe this is just over semantics and I am just arguing with
myself over something that I ultimately agree with. However, I want to
be held accountable for my own discriminations against other groups
of people (even if they have more institutionalized and social power
over me), despite the fact that I am a minority in every way, as a
Chinese-American, bi-sexual, female. I want to be held accountable
because after everything else I am human with what I believe is the
cosmic duty to not judge anyone and accept people for who they are,
as valuable life and that I do not have to like or even love them, to do
so.