Tattoo Three

Societal elements are present throughout the tattoo.  In the latter third of the book we are more closely tied to the characters and have the ability to follow the writer in greater detail into the lives of Ken and Koa. 

Brothers, through the extended family style living that is fostered here in Hawaii, related though not by blood.  We see Ken and Claudia’s return to the east side as something that is ever so natural for Ken, at first.

The beauty of the east side surroundings is initially a mask to the pain that hides behind the faces that inhabit the lands.  Ken refers to the lands of his childhood as God’s Land. Claudia can see it now for the first tim. 

Differences between the sides of the Ko‘olau mountains are apparent in the environment.  As the story moves on into the characters we see different cultural patterns that emerged between Claudia and Ken’s family and friends.

Can attribute Claudia and Ken’s dads differences to gender roles, social stratification, or even generational gaps.  Dad expects Claudia to take his put down remarks.  Strong willed as she is, Claudia cannot belittle herself to let the comments pass without a reaction. 

Cultural differences emerge through the language used and derogatory terms passed from each of them.  Eastern Asiatic wars stimulate negative backgrounds between Korea and Japan. Wounds still sore are burnt with Claudia’s salty attitude.  Dad and Claudia cannot see past it to get along.

Kahala and Claudia differ in a few ways.  Claudia stands out as more of a feminist and seeks equality for women.  Her attempts to help Kahala are not necessarily what is appropriate regarding the situation and social schemata.  Kahala and Koa have a dynamic within their relationship that has in place long before Ken’s return with Claudia. 

Subservience is not a great role to play as a woman, however, that is where Kahala stands for the maintenance of her family.  She vowed to Koa through their marriage and along with the rest of the family they hope for the best despite the reality of the situation. 

Aware of the two differing places, Claudia is in a social disposition between what she knows is right and what is right for the situation.  Experience with her strong willed and powerful mother give a false idea as to what to do in this situation.  The social structure is a bit different and Ken helps her to realize how different it really is.

Koa goes nowhere far from what he was doing through his high school years, left to the devices of substance for the numbing of experience.  The opportunities available for him leave little room for success or worldly gain.  His family suffers as they promote the system that exploits them. 

Life on the eastern side of Oahu is a step back in time for Claudia and Ken.  Fast paced living over in town does not compare to the country life.  Real life problems are impossible to run from.  Where was once pristine and beautiful is muddied by the trademarks of capitalism.  Money along with weapons, drugs, and violence. 

People, victims of society, under the false consciousness are more likely forgotten or left behind in an industrial city.  In the tattoo, we are able to delve into the life of an entire family and see how they are all impacted by the constructs of society.  The blame of the actions in the story is not left up to one individual.  There is a movement greater that they each are influenced by.  This story is present in the many families that are here. 

Suffering due to what the system leaves for you is a sad ending to many peoples lives.  Unfortunately the capitalistic system takes advantage of many and exploits them and makes the life experience less than pleasant.  Here we see and example first hand.

Cosmo

 Popular culture despises the old and worships the new.  The frightening aspects of popular culture is that the modern generation is so consumed with what is in front of them that they cannot connect with the distant past and nearing future.  One of the greatest marketing tools today has developed for decades is the magazine.

Particularly, Cosmopolitan, one of the leading female magazines in popular fashions and trends has greatly influenced the females of today.  Readers of this magazine are exposed to an array of information that encourages women to act out and dress up in the style of the season.  Fashion trends and make-up techniques are arranged in step-by-step instructions on how women should piece themselves together. Interviews each month tell the stories of celebrities, athletes, models, actresses, and real women (victims of trauma overcoming adversity).  Horoscopes give hope to finding new romance.  Relationship advice explains how to deal with issues with friends, boyfriends, and friends with benefits.  Sex advice reveals the ‘techniques of the pro’s’ with all of the how to’s in the sack to please any man.

Magazines were initially intended to advertise and share propaganda.  The growth of the industry allowed for much more information to be shared with readers.  We see magazines informing readers on everything from gardening, cooking, parenting, to sports and more.  Development in the fields associated with reporting capture the eyes of the viewers.  Photography especially has catapulted magazines to a new level.  Images of beauty, pleasure, and good times are enticing propaganda for any product.

Cosmopolitan magazine has taken many of the techniques of reporting to promote the modern day popular notions of sexuality.  Clothes are ranked by what’s hot and what’s not.  The new looks are inspired to “get his eye”.  Looking great to attract great looking men.  The horoscopes that are given for the reader share not only for themselves but for significant other and how to turn on your man that month.

Often times the front cover announces boldly, font, color and all, the newest sex tips to take to the bedroom.  The fact of the matter is, and what is left out of there, is what to do when you are not in the bedroom.  Sex is what sells but it doesn’t seal the deal.  There is much more to relationships other than physical pleasure.  When young women are focused solely on sex they miss out on what is important in maintaining relationships.  Things like honesty, trust, and communication are thrown out of the window.

Growth and development of the individual is quite an important aspect of personal development.  Straying from the sex tips, readers of Cosmo may flock to the mall compelled to invest in the latest fashions.  However, that only brings content for the season, or until next months issue.  It seems that all too often we are lead by the images between the pages to seek happiness through material possessions and there is all to little in regards to spiritual and mental development.

The media is a very powerful and important tool to be utilized today.  Not all of the images are provocative, however, not all are suitable for the general public.  While things are flashy, attractive and sexy, we must recall the young women and girls for whom we are role models.  When elementary students are already exploring their sexuality or the fact that they can have sex, it is really important that we give the right example and information.  Judging what is right and what is wrong is not something that I personally can decide.  I bring attention to this because I feel that it is an exploitation of the act of procreation. Without understanding the undertakings of childbearing and childrearing, the youth are at a disadvantage to enter into a predicament they may not fully understand.

Stratified Melting Pot

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/11/14/the-new-u-s-racial-ideology/

The racial divide that was once so clearly black and white has now shifted with the new waves of immigrants to the US.  Following changes and new allowances of immigrants, greater numbers of people started to immigrate to the US from Hispanic and Asian lands.  The browns and yellows have put the black and white system in flux as the bigots do not know how to classify them. Population growth has shown rise in sectors that are neither white nor black.  Jennifer Lee proposes a new system that does not base race off of white or not white, but rater black non-black.

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/11/07/spanish-and-english-versions-of-a-public-advisory/

In attempts to accommodate growing populations of languages other than English, signs such as these have been erected in public places.  Interestingly enough, people speaking one language may not readily interpret the other.  Bilingual speakers, on the other hand, find messages to be misleading.  Translations in this instance are not only inaccurate; the messages have totally different meanings.  In Spanish it reads:

“Notice to the Public: Please, we need your cooperation.  Help us to maintain this clean historical museum.  All of the people who com and visit, abstain from taking anything, cutting or writing names on the cacti.  Also no eating, no drinking, no smoking, no taking shells from this whole visiting area. No admittance for children without being accompanied by an adult.”

It is important to note that there are grammatical errors in the Spanish as well as the English.  It seems as though whoever wrote the notices was not highly educated in either language. Making whites look bad to Spanish and Spanish look bad to whites.
I feel that since the museum is located in the US it is uncustomary to have the English below the Spanish.

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/11/18/when-both-sides-arent-enough-reporting-on-weavers-blackface-pic/

A Halloween costume goes too far.  A white female Republican of Tennessee was greatly criticized by the media and surrounding black community for her photo taken with friend, a white pastor in black make-up, on Halloween.  Following her facebook upload and quote of the photo (“Aunt Jemima You is So Sweet”).  The inappropriateness of her comment and of the decision of the pastor to dress up as a black man were ridiculed by the outlying black community.  Apparently the woman meant no harm, but the interpretation was not taking so sweetly by other political members.

Defining people by their place of origin and skin color is such a commonplace practice here in the US and throughout the rest of the world.

The dominant ideology in the US has put Caucasians and their beliefs on a pedastal above the others.  Today the data is hard to shirk.  It is unrealistic to see whites as a majority when the “minority” populations are soaring.  Elements of uneducated assumptions are relevant in the case of the misinterpreted Spanish/English public notices as well as the misunderstood politician whom posed with her friend on Halloween.  There is a culture lag amongst the languages of communication here in the US.  Not only is there not a dominant language, the messages communicated through the means of different languages allow for different interpretations of messages. Although the example at the museum is minor, it only opens my mind to imagine what else there is that is not properly translated.

Human rights are exploited through many types of discrimination and abuse.  Migration of minority groups allows for the patterns of exploitation to follow them from their homeland.  The development of multinational corporations has opened up new means of discrimination, from skin, ethnicity, socioeconomic scale, and language.  Today as a nation we struggle to differentiate one from another.  We create borders and break down information to set us all apart when we really need to work together.

Never Date Your Boss' Daughter

When Ken moved to town, he moved to the other side of the world.  Everything changed, though not much was different.  Driving over the mountain was not an easy task, Ken nearly lost his life.  He managed to make it over and landed in Makiki.  Oftentimes the occurrences in his life seem like sheer providence, it is easy to see how small decisions can make a big impact on a life. Moving to town was certainly one of those highlighted moments for Ken. 

            Immediately following his migration over the Ko‘olau’s, Ken is following the path of his mothers dream.  He conforms to her hopes of seeing him receive a collegiate education.  Studious and hardworking, he landed a minimum wage job at the KCC Library to help offset his expenses.  Ken cut was two months shy of his associate’s degree when he found himself in Mama-San’s Club Mirage.  The display of his ‘heroic’ actions by saving the dancer from the Samoan was the deal clincher that landed him a job working at the club.

            There are direct ties that display Ken’s strong sense of familism.  He acts out in ways similar to that show his sense of obligation to his mother and father.  The desire to make his parents proud.  Ken has strong cultural ties to his Japanese heritage.  He is proud to be Japanese and his painting of Miyamoto Musashi screams it. 

            The sense of family loyalty is something that I can relate with.   Parents instill within their children that their progeny will do better, be more successful; or at least my parents did.  My mom told me that she will know that she is a good mom when her children all have bachelor’s degrees.  Each of my parents went to college and they believe that their children need to as well to establish any kind of credible career in the ‘real world’. 

            Ken worked his way up the class system while working at Mirage.  He started as a bouncer and worked his way up to doing some loan collections from bankrupt business owners.  He would beat people but never killed, that was left up to “the evil-looking Koreans Mama-san owned” (116).  Reconnecting with his old drug dealer, Freddie, Ken made capital by skimming from the top.  Parties, drugs, and sex consumed Ken’s newfound lifestyle.  His once scholastic endeavors were cut away as his books were hollowed out to store the hundreds of thousands of dollars that filtered through his hands.  There were no limits to his lifestyle, not even intimidation from the law; as two of Club Mirage’s regulars were a couple of Honolulu’s finest.

            Desensitized to the world around and the norms that barely ever existed for Ken.  His lifestyle of luxury stemmed from deviant acts of all sorts, he was just another branch on the tree. Ken’s behavior follows a pattern of cultural transmission.  He learned how to behave in his environment from the criminal behaviors that he experienced through social interaction. Ken became a product of his environment. 

            The rules of the land did not stop either.  Once he started dating Claudia, he seemed to lose motivation and interest in his work.  Claudia took up much of Ken’s time, thoughts and energy.  There is, however, an informal norm that Ken and Claudia did not take seriously, NEVER DATE YOUR BOSS’ DAUGHTER. The fairytale quickly came to an end.  As Ken said himself he was “knighted into a kingdom [he] was not born into” (115). Though he gained some prestige by moving up in the ranks, he would never be a part of the family.  He would never be Korean, and as Claudia explained the long term diplomatic history between Korea and Japan was not such a pretty one.  Ken could never be part of the in-group.

            Claudia’s pregnancy and relationship with Ken almost cost him his life.  The ties of a mother and daughter were clearly demonstrated here.  Claudia’s esteem and confidence seem to be better understood after this.  She must have known that her mother’s daughter could not be touched.  If I walked around knowing my mom had a few hit men that had my back I would be just as confident and fearless.

            Ken’s life is full of social variety.  The culture of Club Mirage is a world of its own.  There are norms and mores that follow their behavior and actions. The vigilant, Mafioso style takes things into their own hands.  Trust is within the group, outsiders walk a thin line.

Children of China

                Currently, in China, as many of you all know, there are strict guidelines enforced on it’s citizens regarding family planning. When Mao Ze Dong took control of the country in 1949, there were roughly 500 million people living in China.  On January 6, 2005 the population grew to reach the mark of 1.3 billion. Social conformity to population control in China has been adopted as the norm.  Most families in the city struggle to care for one child that they could not foresee dividing resources among another addition to the family.

                Social status plays a large role in the outcome of family needs and desires for children. Historically male children were looked upon with great esteem.  Males were anticipated to carry on as the family heir and expected to care for parents in old age.

 There are several positive results that have stemmed from the strictly enfored population control.   The narrator of One Child Policy explains that since China’s population control there have been much better health services provided for women.  In the urban areas, women are applauded for their contributions to society and adherance to the policy by having one child.  Classes are offered at the work place for use of contraceptives as well as pre-natal care and preparation.  In rural areas women are visited by traveling aids that check to see that residents adhere to the law as well as examine the health of the mother and child.  Such changes in health policy shows “reduction of the risks of death or injury associated with pregnancy” (12 min).

Up until 2002 it had been legal practice to use physical for in preventing women to reproduce.  Abortion and sterilization were forced upon women not willing to obey the law.  This practice has now been outlawed.   Repercussions for families having more than one child include a fine, destruction of home, or loss of personal land and/or property.

China has the “biggest, most conspicuous,…and most organized family planning in the world, but it is not the only one that has any kind of coercion” (15:50). Methods practiced by the government prohibit the revealing of a fetus’ sex prior to birth.  In 1994, this was made illegal.  In the last sixteen years doctor’s have been bribed by the traditional token red envelopes of money to reveal a baby’s sex before birth.  Often times, when a female is identified the parents would go forward with an abortion. 

The live birth’s in china exceed 20,000 children per day and “for every 100 girls there are 120 boys” (17:30).  Such results leave imbalance in society. Hieghtened numbers of men in the population brings concerns from increased violence to lack of female suitors.

In recent day to combat with the inflictions on the unbalanced society, cities like Shanghai are opening up and allowing a Two Child Policy.  There is concern that the work force will not be met adequately since one out of five citizens is over sixty.  The issues being pressed are labor shortages and lacking care for elderly (1min).  A woman interveiwed explains that  “Here in Shanghai the aging of the population is a very stricking pehnomenon and a big problem.  The demographic structure of the city is uneven. There are big differences between the center and the edges. This imbalance between young and old has a major impact on economic development“ (1:12).   In order to combat and help balance out the demographic structure only specific families are permitted to have second children.  Parents that are both only children themselves, are permitted to have two children.  In some situations it is relaxed enough that if only one parent is an only child then the couple is permitted to have two children. 

Although this is permitted many families opt not to grow their family due to the fact that they do not have the desire or resources. Children are not cared for by their working parents.  Workdays span from around eight in the morning to as late as seven at night.  Children are left to be tended to by their grandparents or nanny, called an “ayi”.  Ayi’s are usually migrant women that have left the countryside seeking employment to earn wages to care for their own family that they left behind.  Children need money for school, clothes, and food, and that is what the mother sends home.  Children feel abandoned by their mothers and write letters and messages explaining that they don’t need the money, they want to have their mothers.

Countryside families are sometimes allowed to have two children to help with labor. Children are left in the countryside when a parent migrates because they belong to a different class.  They are not residents of the urban cities and therefore cannot attend the city schools.  In one instance a immigrant neighborhood shows a school being built to educate the children of the migrant workers that relocated from the country.

China has done well to maintain and enforce the population control.  With growth and development increasing exponentially it is something that is deemed somewhat necessary.  Cultural beliefs have influence not so favorable results though better healthcare and education for women is an added benefit. 

Resources:
One Child Policyhttp://www.youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/1/H4OWJlyaHt0
Two Child Policyhttp://www.youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/36/qS9TtKxFL4o

Other Links:
Kidnappedhttp://www.youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/39/lhEtYhS1gJM
The Dating Gamehttp://www.youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/35/cWYRaHX7yqw

The Otherside of Immigration

            Illegal immigration to this country is a problem.  US constituents will claim that the issues lie in the fact that they are bleeding the system.  Working under the table evading taxes, using medical care that should go to Americans, and infiltrating the school system holding back the kids of this nation.  In the documentary “The Otherside of Immigration” a group of emigrants of Mexico were interviewed on their perspectives as to why they would leave their lands to head toward this capitalistic nation far from their family, loved ones, and comforts of home.

            Interestingly enough, the reasons for leaving are far from the reasons for staying.  Economies in the agricultural market are forced to conform to the demands of the US.  Many of the arriving immigrants are previous land laborers that could no longer find work and decent pay enough to support starving families.  Prior to the new immigration laws, laborers were able to travel much more easily between the US and Mexico.  Since the strict ban on immigration many people who are here working do not leave, they fear that leaving would jeopardize the ability to provide resources to take care of their families back home.  Sojourners would work and save substantially to live off for some time.  When funds dwindled they would return to the US and work again.

            Bans on immigration forced many to stay here working indeterminately. What has happed in their hometowns varies but specific trends are developing.  Some extreme cases document towns that have not remaining residents below the age sixty five.  Many towns and cities have overwhelming populations of women and young children.  Husbands, fathers, and older children have all gone seeking employment to help those who struggle and are left behind.  The social dynamic is in flux.  Children, especially young boys, resort to violence and abnormal behavior without father figures to set examples.  Children surveyed in an elementary school all have family members living in the states.  They all anticipate the day when they too can move here.  The lure is more money, fancy clothes, and fast cars. 

            Tales of the struggle are left out of the memoirs brought back.  The long hours of work, close living quarters, and individual struggles are kept out of the victorious tales shared with eager ears of homelands.  Crossing the border is no simple feat, life is a gamble and the stakes are high.  Fortunate ones fight to achieve their dues.

            Enlightening are the tales shared with an audience that seldom has opportunity to listen from a source that rarely has the translation available for eager ears.  Through lack of communication and faulty interpretation we have been missing pieces for years.  Finally light is shed on the truth revealing the connection between the sacrifice of loving fathers, mothers, sons & daughters; the unfamiliar faces of strangers, not so strange, that clean our homes, landscape our yards, and build our houses.

            It’s funny, we are the United States of America, not the United States of the Lower Portion of North America. Somehow we “Americans” seem to forget the other “Americans” of Central and South America.  We couldn’t be here if they weren’t here either.

Tattoo Numba One

In Chris McKinney’s “The Tattoo” many sociological concepts are evident.  One of the key aspects of the social schemata is the influence that the prison environment has on the prisoners.  The Halawa prison in particular is unique to other national prisons due to the pluralistic nature of Hawaii.  Hawaii itself demonstrates structural pluralism, as Hawaiian culture is existent within the confines of the US though both cultures have very different structures.  Within the prison there is cultural pluralism between the prisoners and the guards.  Inmates mentioned were Hawaiian, Filipino, Samoan, Korean, Vietnamese, and haole (40).  The pacific culture were seemingly different yet respected.  In prison the cultural values all seem to stack up in unison when the stratification of prisoners is concerned.  The behavior behind bars and the crime that put them there ultimately determines the rank among other inmates(40).

            From the beginning of Ken’s story the components of society grow from his recollections.  His dreamlike encounter of his birth shares the strong connection that he has with his ancestry and the culture of which he is born a member.  The fishing trip, one of his earlier memories as a boy, demonstrates the elements of friends and family.  It is evident that the society is more focused on the ties of relations and the interconnectedness of families and people.  Today’s society seems much different as people exploit their own brother or sister or father or mother just to get ahead financially. 

Having and sharing time with cousins, aunties, and uncles seems to be an important family element.  These aspects of the non-material culture grow in detail as Ken reveals.  Ken’s dad enforces from the beginning the vision he has for his masculine son.  This is evident when Dad throws him into the ocean when he didn’t know how to swim (17) and when he makes him touch the shark they caught that was still living when they brought it to shore (24).  There seems to be this expectation of his son to fulfill the characteristic role in society.  As Ken grows so does his father’s expectation.  Ken’s mom’s influence is not as strong as his fathers since she died when Ken was still a boy.  His mother was very fond of him and often in ways smothered him with motherly love.  The impact of his grandpa is tremendous.  Learning through his stories distinguishes them as immigrants and somewhat of a minority.

Education was an important aspect for Ken.  His father mentions a couple times not to speak pidgin and that he should speak properly like his mother.  The fact that she was a schoolteacher and read great literary works also rubbed off on Ken.  He tended to have higher aspirations and this sense of a greater enlightenment that he would achieve great things. Language plays a huge role in this factor.  The differentiation between proper English and Pidgin is also a part of cultural assimilation.  Ken in this case learned to speak both and used them accordingly.  As respect he was not to speak pidgin in front of his father, but in prison to gain respect he spoke it in front of other inmates.  Ethnophaulisms are also brought into picture through this example, the term haole and jap are used in derogatory means against the white and Japanese.

Power is a common theme throughout the story.  The power that Ken earns through his first fight, playing football and drug dealing has an effect on his development image of himself. Koa accompanies Ken through many of his momentous life experiences.  His best friend and affectionately deemed brother is his partner in crime. Koa blocked for Ken in football and when getting chased by a rancher.  Together the two young men sold weed and then cocaine.  Throughout these phases of life they were there for each other.  The emphasis on family is important here again as well.  The relationships established between them fostered great trust.

Social stratification is something that falls into several different parts of Ken’s life.  He usually seems to have power either by force and strength or through the resources he has.  There is prestige in his role in the ring of society of which he consorts.  Especially when he and Koa are selling drugs at the cockfights.

Many elements come together in this book.  The span of Ken’s life applies to many different scenarios, environments, and relationships.  There are many different aspects of socialization applicable to his life experiences and his biographical tale shared with Cal.

Domestic Issue

Katie Hafner of the NY Times submitted and article claiming "Texting May Be Taking a Toll on Teenagers".  The article brings up data from physicians and psychologists who have notice behavioral trends evident in this generation that were not previously as prominent before the explosion of the popular cellular devices attached to nearly everyone.

The devices were explained by psychotherapist, Michael Hausauer, as an "enormous tool. [Offering] companionship and the promise of connectedness. At the same time, texting can make a youngster feel frightened and overly exposed"(par. 12). Communication has been broken down into the nano second.  The need for instantaneous responses from peers or parents has become the status quot.  Parents are able to keep tabs on their children like never before.  Kids have yet to know what it is like to be 'disconnected'.

The article makes clear that proving any solid theories that disease or illness result from continued cell phone use are too soon to tell.  Several issues that have been correlated with the increased use in texting include but are not limited to "painful cramping...musculoskeletal disorders...anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation".

I find this article very intriguing, many of the concerns are physically identifiable yet there is neglect for the changes in socialization that have occurred in the past decade.  Routines have adapted so quickly and willingly to incorporate the new technology that its hard to imagine the world without it.  What once called for face to face interactions, was belittled to phone conversations, and now has been briefly stated in a few shortened words of a new hybrid English.

Social interactions have become minimal as people everywhere succumb to the temptation of delivering news through email and text messages.  Personality and concern seem to have been thrown out the window with symbolic interaction such as :), 143, 2n, 2m, g2g, ttyl, bc, l8r, k, u, r, tx, 2 (to, two, too). It is not a surprise that the communication on personal levels is reaction new heights of aggression.  People do not know how to express themselves and vocabularies are shrinking as grammar flies out the window.

first blog ever

what a monumental moment. who knew!

so big news! on cnn today they announced that blogger, facebook, youtube, and twitter are merging!

the new website is blogyoutwitface.com