Barbie Girl in a Middle Class World

  When you mix the works of Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen with that of William Butler Yeats from Ireland, one experiences such major style change. Each man had a point to prove and most definitely went about it in their own unique manner. Each author represents a common and substantial social dilemma that the author believed to bring atrocities into society and future regret if not dealt with immediately. For me, I relate the most with Ibsen's character.

     In Ibsen's "A Doll's House," readers can see a vivid display of middle class and some of its unchanging habits despite the different era. of time. So often, the obsessions with middle class possessions such as status, money, comfortability, community, etc.. make it difficult for this vicious cycle of middle class yearnings to subside. Too often, the middle class seem to consider themselves as moderate in there status, moderate in income, moderate in their comfort, and moderate concerning the level and quality of community. Although the middle class mindset may appear humble, their covetous nature seems never fulfilled. There is enough to get by but there is never quite enough to live fully satisfied because all around, there are people wanting new things are informing us of the new things we should be desiring. We also discussed the superficiality and child-centered culture that comes with middle class living. Personally, I feel that are obsession with our children has gone too far in many cases. Yes, children need to be loved and provided for in stable environments as possible as often but teaching our children entitlement rather than humility in most cases is a killer. Our children can learn to be thankful and grateful rather than selfishly thinking about themselves alone. I know some of my wording here is extreme but I seriously think it's possible to teach a child the importance in seeing others and loving others as equals to themselves (which is challenging for any person!) so that they might grow up into giving young men and women who don't see themselves above any one else.

     According to Nicholas Day in his article "No Big Deal, but This Researcher's Theory Explains Everything About How Americans Parent.," parents from all different cultures struggle with parental ethnotheories which can be described as society's belief in the right way to raise a child. Different is not necessarily less. When we take a look at the way Nora and Torvald raised their children, one can see the mother's fondness of her children yet the disconnection between the parents and the children as they depend on the nanny to raise these children. Regardless, Nora continues to buy her children the newest clothes and therefore, keep them supplied with what she considers the best for the best: her children. Children are a gift from God and should be cherished, loved, and told of their worth but there must be a limit to this self-indulgent attitude that breeds narcissism. By biggest concern is that people aren't thinking globally. Are we aware of the fact that what happened at Sandy Hook happens on a daily basis in many countries such as Syria? A child is a child no matter what background they come from. No child's life is more important that any other child's life. I desperately wish many parents could love their children with a humble love that recognizes that spoiling a child isn't love, but rather so, enjoying the time you've been given with them. So often, I think we believe that children are exempt from death and their death is unfair and yes, it does feel unfair but children as just as human as adults. We all have a limited amount of time on this earth. With that, we have to conclude, how will we raise out kids to make a positive difference? Will we teach them to love selflessly? I've seen this process go both ways so I know the potential is there.

    Nora, also known as songbird, decides to leave her family, including children as she experiences an awakening. This songbird, who once lived to please her husband, demonstrates the aspect of a Phoenix: dying in her beliefs and rising again as new to learn for herself. Was she wrong in her actions? Some would say yes, and others would say no. And that's the thing about parenting. It's so different across cultural divides. All parents are just trying to raise their children to the best of their ability when there's no perfect way to do so. Regardless, the way a child is reared WILL play a prominent role in that child's life. Is it worth having your child completely blend in with other kids to the point of sabotaging their ability to see others for who they are? I believe all cultures could learn a little something from each other in the case of parenting. I do hope that mothers decide not to play the role of Nora as runaway Barbie in the future though. Below are some very interesting articles I found and would like to share concerning child-rearing:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/09/01/vigilance_or_obsession_child_safety_across_the_cultural_divide/

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/how-parents-around-the-world-describe-their-children-in-charts/274955/

Fences.

  I thoroughly enjoyed hearing all the different presentations and listening to Nikki Giovanni share some of her poems. It's so funny how different, yet at times similar, our mind processes the things we experience in life which also affects how we share these experiences and feelings that make up the aftermath of life as we live it. A month or so ago, we discussed a thing called synesthesia in class. I found it cool but gave it little thought after that. That evening during my discipleship group, my discipleship leader told me she learned about this synesthesia something and whether we knew of it and understood how it worked. So, she tested us. As soon as she said a letter, a color would immediately come to mind so I would tell her and we would discuss it in awe while another one of my friends would shake her head and call us crazy. What made it even more comical would be the reasonings we had for certain colors coming to mind with certain numbers, days of the weeks, months, letters, etc. Each of us had a unique color or connection that at times would make sense to us all and at others times, confuse us immensely. These are the things I believe poets write about. Poets such as Nikki Giovanni have lived life and made connections with various nouns, adjectives, and adverbs and use these words to describe a natural part of them or the way they see a portion of life itself. This takes bravery and imagination that is so easy to lose in life. I'll never forget the moment I realized I couldn't play with dolls anymore because my "imagination" had diminished from what it once was. But I guess that's life.

     I also enjoyed a neat point that Kristen brought up in her presentation. We all think about American culture and laugh at our ability to be anal, tolerant, and greedy to the point that we are considered offensive, immoral, and subject to idolatry. Don't get me wrong. I love being American most days but I can admit to my American tendencies being unhealthy. In Peru, where Peruvians don't tend to wear watches or be prompt for normal day activities, a watch became a major stumbling block for my entire American team. We are so accustomed to molding our actions around some numbers on a wrist that I believe we do lose hold of what our body really wants and needs. The same goes for many students who feel the pressure of parents and teachers telling them to be this and that without providing an opportunity for a student to determine their strengths, weaknesses, and passions before embarking towards a degree or major that might be somewhat fulfilling, but maybe not their ultimate strength. There's no perfection with any of this but information overload happens daily in our society and it is OVERWHELMING. I literally began to have a mini panic attack before finishing this last paragraph as I sat and thought over all that I need to finish in a month and the amount of information overload it would take to process and complete the majority of these objectives. 

Poetry by Nikki Giovanni

Poetry is motion graceful

as a fawn
gentle as a teardrop
strong like the eye
finding peace in a crowded room
we poets tend to think
our words are golden
though emotion speaks too
loudly to be defined
by silence
sometimes after midnight or just before
the dawn
we sit typewriter in hand
pulling loneliness around us
forgetting our lovers or children
who are sleeping
ignoring the weary wariness
of our own logic
to compose a poem
no one understands it
it never says love me for poets are
beyond love
it never says accept me for poems seek not
acceptance but controversy
it only says i am and therefore
i concede that you are too
a poem is pure energy
horizontally contained
between the mind
of the poet and the ear of the reader
if it does not sing discard the ear
for poetry is song
if it does not delight discard
the heart for poetry is joy
if it does not inform then close
off the brain for it is dead
if it cannot heed the insistent message
that life is precious
which is all we poets
wrapped in our loneliness
are trying to say

In this poem by Nikki Giovanni, I feel that she describes the frustration many college students feel in trying to compose a future for themselves. Instead of trying to follow the many paths are made before us, if only we could accept our individuality and take the path that is designed for us that we will prove the most useful taking. I'm not encouraging young adults to be flighty and not stick it out through the hardships of life, but if only we were more comfortable with discarding what doesn't delight and intrigue us, sought joy in what we did in the moment, and allow our mind to explore the information we find that sparks our interest and makes us critical thinkers naturally. 

So, I REALLY enjoyed Nikki Giovanni. Once she started talking, it was easy to pick up on her temperance and the type of person that she is as an artist. Her poems were hectic which is a perfect representation of life in my opinion. When you think about it, artists are funny people. Looking at Ai Weiwei for instance, would you imagine the mischief he is able to bring to China just by looking at him? Never imagined I would see him jumping in the air while nude and holding a stuffed cat. Definitely shows my limited thought. Artists are such a funny group of people. They say the things we are scared to say or simply don't know how to say. That's a gift. My mind doesn't always work in a way that people would look at my words or lyrics and say "That is art! That is unique! That is beauty!" Regardless. I'm thankful that those people exist and that people like Ai Weiwei are bold enough to take a stance against the things that are unknown to me just to make a difference. I might not completely agree with everything he says or does, but like a form of alter-ego of mine, I can and so desire to relate to him. He is an anti-hero of such.