Just Another Day in Paradise

The article was both an academic and informing in presenting analyses on location aware mobile media and its relations to the common Havana internet cultures. I found the fact that “location -aware mobile applications will increase communication and coordination, facilitate chance encounters and mobility, and increase user’s awareness of urban spaces” (Sutko and de Souza e Silva, 2010) very compelling in a way that many are witnessing the internet culture’s powerful influence at national level. The example with the HBO’s series Game of Thrones also grabbed my attention because the power of media and television shows is beyond measure because of the development in technology and the accessibility that people have with mobile media; the practice of immersing oneself into the part of the media circle of the contemporary online world is inevitable, and the experience becomes part of daily routines and patterns of many people in Latin America, in this case Cuba. As mentioned in the article by Grandinetti and Eszenyi, from different research around the topic of mobile media and the influence of the internet world, the reliance on mobile media to have a voice and ears for the internet is established and constantly developing into one of the main platforms that represent how the people of certain areas represent themselves and are represented in different streams of media. Factors such as “political, social, cultural and economic evolutions” are interrelated in a way that in today’s society, people have easy access to knowledge, important life lessons, and media that triggers different emotions of those audiences. Especially in Latin American culture, the access has been limited in the past for the majority of the population to have access to the online world, but the country’s history, infrastructure and the system of international relations are shared throughout the country through mobile media platforms and many of them became easier to be exposed to. The improvements in communication through location aware mobile devices in Cuba shows an increase due to the internet sensations and through this, recognition of different cultures around the world can be identified by those individuals living in the villages in Cuba and experience indirectly what the North Americans, the Europeans and those living in different cultures with a few touches and clicks on mobile devices. The web connectivity and the interwoven aspects of the internet culture is in motion as we speak, and the complexity of the system is hard to comprehend, but the equal opportunity for people around the world to have the tool to gain knowledge about how the world is run is necessary to utilize the true advantage of the world of internet and the media.

Class question: What is your experience with mobile media? Looking back, how does the developments and the changes in technology and media forms affected your own personal view on the society, the politics, the economy and your self?

Comics: Quino’s Mafalda

Comics are considered fun, but also meaningful form of entertainment that share particular messages to people; one of the most interesting parts about Quino’s Mafalda comics were the themes that relate to interactions between family members, teacher and students, and oneself. Interestingly, I feel that comics are produced for a wide range of age groups from children to older adults. The freedom of interpretation let the people decide to find humor within the comics; one of the comics in the Quino’s Mafalda, Mafalda 9 (1973), is a silent comic that does not include any words, but a boy walking towards a girl reading a book and then walks away without a chance to say hello. From my personal interpretation of this comic expresses the anxiety and shyness of the boy, but also I can see the difference in the dynamic of ‘how’ the boy ran towards the girl when he was in an excited mood, then how he walks with his head down and regrets not even trying to have the heart to introduce himself to her. This explains not only the fact that the boy is shy and not able to express himself to a girl, but this comic proposes different emotions that a young boy can feel during the process of asking a girl or a sweetheart out; to be honest, every youngster has felt this kind of emotion at least once in his or her lifetime and the comic expresses in a less serious manner. Another comic that I was very much interested in was the comic #1596, Mafalda 8 (1972) which was about the interaction between the mother and Felipe.This comic strips show how Felipe is not enjoying his school as it was imagined to be torn down in his sleep; interestingly, the comic proposes many students’ thoughts and ideas on how school is not their most exciting parts of life. I believe that comics are restricted in how long it can be to be presented to the public; many of the short comics are concise, but contains important messages for people to both enjoy and learn from the humors; especially in the latin American cultures, I feel that themes such as common dialogue between family members influence the young generation who enjoys comics to shape their thoughts about certain matters. From my personal experience, I am not one of those individuals who enjoyed reading comics, but thinking back, one of the most witty comics that I have watched was the Simpsons; the Simpsons, when I was young, was just a fun television that I have watched to laugh for fun animations, but now, I can see different political, and social issues raised by the cartoon. It is crucial especially for producers and writers of comics to be efficient with their words and illustrations because of how superficial their work can be read by people; however, comic is an effective method to intrigue younger audience to both have fun and enjoy important messages in life.

Class Questions:

What were some of your favourite comics when you were young?

Have you learned an important life lesson through comics or cartoons? If yes, please give an example.

The first impression of the documentary was appreciation of music by people of Brazil. I appreciated the culture that the community has for traditional music and the meaning behind their expressions. The Indian culture in Brazil is depicted with strength and pride, which also tells the story of their history. The altercations with “The Whites” historically also give the community the sense to be stronger and bond closer to express their proud cultures; music is am important tool that helps the culture to survive and it becomes one of the main ways to express their ideologies out loud. As I was watching this documentary, I was very interested in different musical instruments that they had. I, myself, played the violin and the clarinet for a long time, and different percussion instruments are seen in this documentary; the shakers are constructed differently than those of used in the world of classical music in North America or Europe, and their use of tambourines are the signs that they love to make sure that the music has ‘beats’, and based on the beats sound produced by these unique sounds. Sounds and collaboration of the vibrant energy of the Brazil culture is a jam and butter combination to uplift both the people who perform and the people around them; the music is one of the ways that can touch people’s heart in an instant; the fast-paced beats get people to become energetic, show positivity and vibrant love, and the slow paced with meaningful lyrics have the emotionally attachment to give the people an indirect effect of spreading messages. The understanding of the power that music has in a culture especially in Brazil is crucial to continue their tradition and their ‘stories’ to upcoming generations. Interestingly, the way people treat music in Brazil has both the festive and socially meaningful factors that describe how people believe in music; music is as part of their daily lives which enlightens people from age that ranges from a small child to elderly individuals. Communities that are especially under influence by another culture, in this case the whites, historically have much connection with the music; music provides comfort, joy, entertainment, healing and bonding that can be a beneficial factor to share love and positivity in those who suffered from domination by another culture. I think that depending on where people live and see, it shapes how they view certain things; as examples, because of their scarcity to make technology as common as those in the North America, their dependence on the music shapes their daily lifestyles. Brazil is a country of vibrancy and importantly ‘history,’ and music is a critical part that shapes how the culture is presented to the world.

Class Discussion:

1. Is music part of an integral factor that makes up a culture? How is music portrayed in another culture? (I find the similar atmosphere with the African American culture and their connection with music)

Cholitas are identified as those who wear layered skirts, braids, and shawls, and those of the descents of the ‘Indians’ in Bolivia; these individuals are discriminated among the population, but the activity, the fighting Cholitas, has raised hope and future for these Cholitas to support for their families. The sport of wrestling gives Cholitas to express their own approach to the sport by wearing layered skirts, and also gives them an opportunity to express their own identities with pride. I was very much intrigued in a way that these Cholitas truly appreciate the sport and the training; they do not solely do it for money, but the meaning that the sport gives to Cholitas and their happiness of giving a show to the public was portrayed in the video. Yolanda “the lover” is a single mother of two daughters and she is working hard to give them health living, feed them, give them opportunities for education; she goes to training with one of her daughters which may also be a purpose to show how strong Cholitas can be. Cholitas are the Indian descents, and they are very proud of their history; the Cholitas wrestlers feel that when they are on the ring fighting other wrestlers, they feel the love and jeers from the public which make them feel alive. Even though it was quite surprising to see these Cholitas actually wrestle on the ring and passionately show their dedication even through injuries, I was very much appreciated on how they emphasize on their roots. Even though they realize the discrimination against them, they are proudly representing their own culture and through sports such as wrestling, they are able to continue to share their way of their representations through outfits. Not only these shows are done for financial reasons, but also the passion and the desire to share the strength of their particular culture to others. The wrestling aspect of the Cholitas meant more than sports; they are the activities that kept their culture alive and their pride up to the public. I was very much impressed on their dedication to the sport especially training as they have other jobs and tasks to do in their daily routines. Those professional wrestlers in North America today are paid much more and dedicated to the sport only, but these Cholitas are carrying out wrestling as one of the parts that help them put food on the table; these stunt-like moves such as falling, flopping are not the easiest to perform, and some can be dangerous which can affect their other duties. As an individual who came from a very small city in Korea, I definitely could understand their struggle as a minority in a community; their strength of continuous determination and passion to fulfill and appreciate whatever they can achieve and do should be respected by many. It was great to see that a sport can make them happy in many ways.

Class Questions:

Do you think that these fighting Cholitas present the appropriate representation of other Cholitas?

Do you have any experiences when you were part of the population whom were discriminated against, but through certain activities, you have gained respect?

The book, Futbolera: A history of women and sports in latin america, presents views on the relationships of the history of women and sports in Latin America; more specifically, the focus of this blog is on the introduction section of the Futbolera. My interest in observing the popular culture of sports in Latin America led me to investigate one of the most popular and commonly played sports, football, and its influence on the sexuality, gender and social issues relating to the lives of the ordinary people growing up  in latin american regions, and aspiring to become football players as their careers. Especially, decision and commitment to continue the careers of professional athletes as women can be difficult regarding their financial support system and financial gains to be reasonably sufficient for them to continue and enjoy the process of becoming ‘great players’ as professionals. The term Futbolera, according to Elsey and Nadel, can be defined as “ a deceptively straight-forward way to refer to a girl or a woman who plays football, or soccer.” The term has a history of constant neglecting and ignorance by the latin American societies; even though in today’s world, international and national athletic organizations approve their false  actions of their mistreatments for women athletes in the past, the book discusses women athletes’ influence and their important contribution to the current perception on sexuality, gender, class and race in Latin America.

From the introduction section of this book, which explains the history of different limitations and adversities that women who played football faced in Brazil, Mexico, and Central America, I was able to draw similarities with those of the current situations of some professional women athletes who are desperate to succeed in the ‘bigger stage’ of sports in general. These women did and never gave up on their dreams. Even though the media and sports organizations have poorly represented these women athletes by naming them to be “aesthetic” and ‘weak’ to play football, women’s football continued to be active in capital cities such as Rio de Janeiro; because many had almost no interest in watching, cheering and supporting the women’s football throughout 1900s, less opportunities were offered to those female footballers to even think about going to play professional in the European or North American leagues. The sexual stereotype of certain activities matching specific gender definitely played a huge part in limiting women to activities such as dancing, gymnastics, volleyball, and other ‘less rough’ sports. We realize that the involvement of women at a high level of competition in sports such as football has been around historically since the early 1900s, but the exposure of them playing for the public definitely was hidden behind the shadows of the men’s competitions and male individuals.

One of the key ideas that I have earned from the introduction is to look into those individuals who inspired other women to not give up and continue to follow their dreams of becoming professional footballers, wrestlers, MMA fighters, and athletes in general. Today, because of technology, social media platforms, and the social capability of sharing one’s story quickly around the world, I am hoping to dive into exploring latin American athletes from those we call legends to those athletes who are on the process of becoming even greater; influential figures such as Pele, Messi, Marlen Esparaza, Lorena Ochoa, Jose Aldo, and many others who inspire the upcoming generations can become part of the popular culture now; what they say and how they say certain statements can become parts of the latin American culture and the representations of where they come from. Interestingly, I hope to gather more research on the relationship that deals with how athletic public figures are changing the contemporary popular culture for the younger members of the society through diverse social media platforms; the success of these influential individuals in their fields and their endless effort to hone in on their craft may give those children in latin American neighbourhoods the hope to dream big.

The class questions:

Do you recall any Latin american athletes that you were inspired by? Why? How did she or he move you?

Do you belive that sport stars, through their social medias such as facebook, instagram, twitter and tik-tok, are sharing strong ideologies and change people’s views on cultures? If yes, it would be awsome if you can provide me with some examples.

Thanks for reading.

“I made it this far, you can too.”- anonymous (Brian J)

The Cultural Life of Coca by Alison Spedding was a very symbolic piece which offered me a different perception of “coca” which is the plant that consists of numerous meanings to different people. At first, before reading this, my understanding of the coca was quite basic; the ‘drug’ aspect of cocaine from the coca plant is the first idea that comes up to my mind. This was also described in the article as “The juice contains appreciable quantities of vitamin A as well as a variety of alkaloids, and calcium from the lejía ( a paste of vegetable ashes) which, in combination with saliva, releases the active principles of the leaf. ” (Spedding, p.590) The detailed description of how the coca is planted, taken care of, and revisited with either  “surviving old and knotted plants known as awicha, or dead. After reading the piece, the factors such as spiritual approach in “Coca” was very interesting.

I enjoyed learning about the main symbolisms that were mentioned: I was able to make the connection between as to how a coca plant’s cycle resembles one lived by a working (low to medium class) woman.  The first symbolism of coca as a woman can be seen as how a woman works hard throughout her life looking after baby cocas, and matures as a mit’ani; then after the woman devotes her effort into making the whole coca production boom and flourish, the aged coca or awicha (grandmother) is left on the fields. This was interesting in a way that a substance such as coca’s cycle of harvesting and replanting can be connected to how a married woman views her marriage as; Alison’s comprehension of the women’s suffering and myriad of consideration about life in general as to how they are living as married wives can be witnessed in the first section of the reading. Secondly, the spiritual stories of coca in relations to making sacrifices and ritual offerings was also fascinating; Matu, a useless part of coca for chewing, was used to store in a room of “where corpses lie in wake, and a person who has matu, like one whose relative has recently died, is obliged to stay home to dry it and cannot go to work.” (Spedding, p.590) But, I did not fully comprehend what the author meant by the sentence after the previous referenced quotation: “One young woman said… They ‘re holding a wake for the dead.” What does that mean? Why would a young woman say that to the mother and sister who were drying coca? Finally, cocas as a monetary use, a method of exchange, is the most realistic and common purpose that I knew of; however, I never realized that coca provides stamina, concentration, and much energy , and also used as a socially enjoyed substance such as coffee or tea. The use of coca, and the system of coca production includes diverse meanings that exercise bands of people and activities.Especially with the stereotypes that some may have about the word coca[ine] or cocaine, the story allowed for a wider interpretation of the plant and also lifecycle of a woman (wife) in Latin American culture.

Class question:

What did you personally think about ‘coca’ before encountering any of the reading this week?

Do you think that your impression of coca was affected by your ‘own’ cultural background or cultural roots?

What is Alison Spedding’s goal of her short piece on “the Cultural Life of Coca”? (maybe awareness of how working class women age in life)

“Cooking Lesson” portrays a married Mexican woman in a cooking setting in a household. Interestingly, the story deals with the symbolism of cooking which can be compared to the act of traditional feminine ‘role.’ The method of writing can be seen as passionate, dynamic, andSome of the details in the story shaped how the story is read by the audience: “…But I, self-sacrificing little Mexican wife, born like a dove to the nest, smiled like Cuauhtémoc under torture on the rack when he said, “My bed is not made of roses, ” and fell silent…” (Castellanos, p 347) include a sense of the wife’s rant on how her life is pressured and difficult to open up as a woman. Castellanos’ descriptive expressions are definitely noticeable as she uses the ‘meat’ as a symbol to expand on the concept of ‘women’ being just the wives rather than true members of the society.The role of being the wife is represented with a traditional lense of looking at gender, and the culture definitely plays a part in shaping this gaze notion that women, as wives, are restricted and limited to their ability to do more than household work.

I personally believe that food is a huge part of a culture both in the past and the present; food can be dissected as something that one buys the recipes, washes each ingredients, cooks with care, and prepares for others to eat. The whole experience is a culture and as one can witness in the “Cooking Lesson”, the relation to the meat the life of the wife is compared. As the meat’s features differ and change over time, different meaning is emerged. “Firs there’s the piece of meat, one color, one shape one size. Then it changes, looks even nicer and you feel very happy. Then it starts changing again and now it doesn’t look so nice. It keeps changing and changing and changing and you just can’t tell when you should stop it…So? My husband also gives the impression of being solid and real when we’re together, when I touch him, when I see him. He certainly changes and I change too…” (Castellanos, p 352) The reality of a marriage, the change that the wife and the husband experience, is met and witnessed; it cannot be certainly said the change is negative or positive, but the changes bring different dynamics in the household. I really liked the strong words of Castellanos: “On the level of my consciousness, my memory, my will, changing me, defining me, establish the course of my future.” (Castellanos, p 353) Being a Mexican woman and as a wife may have had the concern for not being able to make independent decisions and express wills in life. As women pursue great achievements, women, in some cultures, are still restricted to those traditional ideas of their roles in society.

I would like to quickly comment on the new Vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, who is an African, Asian American, who has a multicultural background, but has achieved a great position in our society. I truly hope that she provides reasonable and appropriate leadership skills to many young generation who looks up to her, and as a person who has diverse ethnic background, she performs with dignity and justice.

Class question:

How does Rosario’ details of the cooking lesson resemble the roles of women in society?

What is a role of gender in society? Is it constantly changing for the better.. or worse? Why? What is an example of the situation like the wife in “the cokking lesson” in today’s world?

“The Pongo’s Dream” was an interesting read. The story of ‘a little man’ or also known as a pongo ( “a lowly house servant) may seem quite simple but is embedded with numerous symbolic scenes which relate to the strong sense of mistreatment in the feudal system where the identity of an individual determines one’s place in a society, and the inner ‘determination’ to desire for “independence and opposition (of the reality)” can be identified; for sure, many other representations are portrayed throughout the story.

When I read the first three pages before the pongo asked the master for a permission to speak about his dream, I was quite shocked at how the master treated the pongo with harsh actions and belittling words; from the way the master treats the pongo, the status plays a huge role during this time, and the detailed description such as “Stand on all fours…Walk sideways like a dog,” really showed how the servants and the pongos had to endure to survive under the rule of a master in a household. Until the pongo speaks up to talk, the master does not question, nor is curious about the pongo, rather the master commands the servant what to do. As the pongo shares his dream about the master and him laying dead together and comes into the judgement before the dear father, Saint Francis, he finally lets out his spiritual story; the two angels, one with the beauty (that was holding a golden honey cup), and the weak, feeble angel who brought along the gasoline, come into play, and the Father (Saint Francis) gave the order to let honey cover the ‘master’s’ body and the gasoline to the Pongo’s; then another order by the Father was: “Whatever the angels had to do with you is done. Now, lick each other’s bodies slowly, for all eternity,” and the old angel regained his strength and hope. I personally believe that in Pongo’s dream, the story of the pongo, represents that the outer side of a human means less than what is inside the person. Heart is more powerful and meaningful than the look; even though the pongo wears torn clothes, acts weak, and is obedient without questions, and does not talk much usually, I believe that he is constantly thinking and pondering about life and reality; this constant thoughts and prayers about the unfair treatment by the master and the pongo’s living situation may have led him to the dream of encountering the Saint Francis, the father who is ‘higher'(the position in life) than the master, making an interesting approach to show the master to straighten up and let the pongo know that there’s light and hope in any terrible situations and conditions. An interesting note that I wanted to add was that the master keeps asking the pongo “And then?” on p.g 277; this shows the side of the master that we have not seen before until the pongo started telling the story of the dream. The master is worried, interested, but actually curious about what happens next when the pongo tells the dream; this is the first time ever for the master to truly listen to the pongo. Secondly, another interesting point that I have noticed is that the pongo is influenced by the European approach for religion as we can witness from how he treats Saint Francis sacred; from this fairy tale, the clear feudal system and the European influence can be witnessed, but an important message that the strong heart and hope can be more powerful than materialistic factor such as being the master, rich and higher up in the socioeconomic hierarchy. I would like to go back to the last two sentences of the story: “[Old angels’] wings regained their blackness and great strength. Our father, Saint Francis, entrust him with making sure that his will was carried out”; a strong sense that even though the present situation of living through adversities is ‘real’, our father is still watching over us to bless us with hope and ‘dream’ for something different, but positive.

Class Question:  So, do you think that the pongo will be able to see light in his life? Did the writer, Arguedes, may have deeper meaning to the pongo’s dream? (Dream can be portrayed as his will or his ‘actual’ dream that he dreamt and shared with the master.) The dual meaning of the word dream…?

People may  view postage stamps and may be knowledgeable as to what they represent and signify, beyond their aesthetic side; however, many of the stamps may represent more than that. In the article by Jack Child, the postage stamps’ role can be identified as the representation for “advertisement or propaganda with themes relating to nationalism, history, politics, economics, art, cultural identity, and popular culture…” Since the postage stamps are confined to a small space to present aesthetics, representations, and  meanings, much thinking process is put to the effort to generate what ‘truly’ represents the communities’ popular culture. Therefore, Child describes how popular culture can be defined and how the meaning of popular culture should be not be restricted only to the ‘mass’ or the ‘people,’ rather “th[e] broad definition also can be extended to include a multitude of aspects of daily life among the majority of the population, that is, the things that ordinary people do for pleasure and to enrich their existence. Popular culture becomes, then, a mirror by which societies can grasp and perceive the entertainment, pastimes, pleasures and activities of everyday life which collectively contribute it the national identity of a people.” (Child, p.111,2004) This is very important in a way to see popular culture as not only within the realms of certain groups of people ( like folk, mass, or high), but a possible collective representation of the nation as a whole.

The production of these stamps, mostly controlled by the government, is not only an action of printing a small stamp with colours and images, but also an action of summarizing and condensing portrayals of culture on small stamps to share with the communities. The stamp signifies particular meanings, and also can represent a culture, history, politic, and the popular culture; interestingly, the article relates the semiotics aspect of the postage stamps with factors such as politics, economics, and international relations.  The semiotic messages that a postage stamp are identified as the following: first is the self referential which means it should be easily identified as post stamps, stamps should include the “identification of the country of origin,” and finally, the artistic and design aspect of postage stamps also influence the texture to give deeper meaning to the stamps. We are informed that these stamps provide aesthetic, cultural, and social representations of nations. The understanding of semiotics of postage stamps may be crucial to be discussed: semiotics, which is the study of signs and the messages they contain, definitely relates to how the postage stamps represent certain occasions. As examples shown in the article by Child, especially the figure 4, the stamp honouring Che Guevara in 1997 Argentina, shows not only the face of a Latin American revolutionary, guerrilla leader, military theorist, and an Argentinian citizen, but also by painting the iconic Che with the hat, the stamp may also presents historical glimpses of what Mr. Guevara stood for and fought for. The design of Che Guevara stamp, a clear portrait of the public figure filling the postage stamp, has the strong symbolism of what his idea represents and how important the person person was to the community. The article had much deeper analyses on the postage stamps, as small, but powerful icons of popular culture; in relations to politics, philosophy in identification of good citizenship, national representation, economics, and their role in the stage of international relations, the postage stamps are more than interesting to study for their extensive approach to share “what a given nation or culture thinks is of value.” (Child, p.136, 2004) The fact that these stamps can be acquired quite inexpensively and represent Latin American themes from the point of view of the governments and the public, the understanding and the use of postage stamps, if possible, should be widely shared, and hopefully, comprehend the complexity and the intimacy of the smallest icon of popular culture: Latin American Postage Stamps.

Question for the class: In today’s society, what can be considered something like the postage stamps that may represent particular cultures in a small platform? I believe the development in technology and online platforms offer people to represent their culture in their own unique way; social media platforms provide individuals with the freedom of expression which can very much be the culture of that person. Would the presentation of oneself in the online world be the modern day form of cultural expression? (less expensive, efficient, able to be shared throughout the world instantly, high resolution video recording and photos on the phones may provide clear images of one’s expression..) Much to think about as it comes to popular culture; personally, there is no single definition of popular culture, rather it is a collection of ideas, thoughts, and actions by unique individuals and groups that may be commonly understood and practiced among ‘people.’ I believe that this concept may always be open to changes as the time goes by, and truthfully, it is constantly changing as we speak. Something to think about…

The film, Black Orpheus, commences with the notion that he film influenced by European insights on the South American culture, by looking at the symbolic representation of the white sculptures (signs) ; “pale shadow of predominantly European influence” can be a simple description of the very beginning of the film.

Rio de Janeiro, the geographical area itself, is portrayed as the background scene with much dancing, exhilarating ambience to fulfill the set. When the one of the main female characters come into play walking across a ‘common day’ in the village, children playing and women carrying diverse objects, can be seen from the very beginning of the film: the mundane lifestyle of how the South American village community incorporates music, dances, positive vibes, and the way people uplift each other is portrayed. The scene in the city market is where the viewers are able to realize how the people in Latin America values festive ambience and positive vibe; events like carnivals are quite common in Latin American culture, I can definitely tell many people enjoy and appreciate the outgoing energy in the city. However, one scene with the loud, vibrant, and bright is contrasted with a scene that is quiet, dark, and rather sad ‘side’ of the society are visible; it may be important to dissect the dichotomous aspect of the dynamic of two very different vibes raises the social issues among the community. It was interesting for me to see that when Orpheus and his “soon to be” wife, Mira, walk into the official building where the office to declare marriage was located gave me an interesting code of humour by the officials in Rio de Janeiro. Right after the scene, the girl comes out dancing and enjoys the feeling of attention from others.