Are Women Necessary?

Darn you! Seducing us with your pizzas!

Buahahaa! I have your attention now, don't I? In the words of a famed "Onion" columnist, "It's been a while since I last rapped at ya." Whatchu want, a brownie?! I make no apologies!!

Months of bitching have bourne fruit: Last week, I finally recieved my own classroom. Now my students have a new location in which to be unruly, disrespectful, and rude.


Yes thespians, despite what you may believe, I cannot rule a classroom based on sheer force of personailty and skill. Classes can be chaotic and devolve into glorified babysitting. Here are some the usual suspects:



Class Clown-- Class clown is usually a boy too silly to be in class. Needs to be at home drinking milk.

Miss Needy--Cries daily. She needs constant coddling and attention. Another calcium-deficient infant.

Mr./Miss Cool--Better than the other kids at English. Think they're the hottest things since Rain's chicken breast -sculpted abs.

Pet Peeve--repeats everything you say in a mocking manner. Smiles cause he knows you can't strangle the hell'outa'm.





So, those are some of the bottomless pits you can pour your efforts into, if you so choose. Still ,there are those who are enthusiastic and want to learn. If only we could just teach them!

If you would be so gracious as to call anything I do "teaching." I do try, and it's encouraging to see one's work appreciated. Of course, the opposite is discouraging.






As I may have mentioned before, I'm fascinated by the ideas of masculitnity and femininty, and how they are represented in culture. One sees a lot more overt femininity here in Korea. Girls here act "cuter". They make more of an effort to look cute. But I've been wondering for a while; ARE WOMEN NECESSARY?

What I mean by that is, are what society generally agrees upon as being "feminine" traits of behavior or style essential for survival? What value does being feminine have other than guys think it's cute?

Cause I've been hard-pressed to think of anything that would be considered exclusively "feminine" that has any practical value other than people thinking it's desirable for some reason, but it's benifits aren't particularly quantifiable.

For instance, hunting, being able to win a fight, and getting a promotion to a high-powered job ( considered tradtionally masculine achievements) are all quantifiable. You can eat, you can survive, you can get rich. People who don't even know you will admire you for accomplishing those things. They're glorious.





Scrubbing the toilets to a glossy sheen is nice, but nobody will congratulate you for it.





Not that I believe that just because something isn't immediately quantifiable, it has little value. Quite the opposite. For instance, art and music. They improve quality of life exponentially. But they have little to do with you eating, having shelter, food, or clothing.--which is precicely why schools cut art and music programs when they're looking for ways to save money. Lord forbid they cut sports... games sell tickets, and victories against rival schools are glorious. Star players become heroes. And most men want to be heroes.


I've been thinking for a while what a pain it is to be a woman. As a woman, you have to constantly be worried, subconsiously or not, about your own safety. Yes. there's always that spectere of rape or physical violence in general in the background. Also, you gotta put up with crap your body does every month. And of course there are the "joys" of pregnancy and childbirth.

Sheesh. Am I sounding like some non-armpit-shaving, shrieking feminist that resents her own gender? Or maybe a lesbian? I don't mean to. I've just been wondering (as I'm surrounded by a culture that seems to value femininity more) perhaps because I'm on the outside. I feel distinctly un-dainty, dumpy, and unfeminine at the moment, I must admit.


What do y'all think? Are women neccessary?












































Even peeing is inconvenient!! Gah!


SUBISU

I Believe in Little Things

Lonely English-speaking foreigners living in Korea!

Take comfort in the small certainties:   

• You're not short
• Your music isn't nearly as wack
• Your Mother tongue is the most widely spoken in the world

Speaking of music, I've more or less kept up with the general buzz from the world of kpop.   I figured learning Korean through music might be more pleasant than books.  The website popseoul is entertaining sometimes in just its general sarcastic tone.  

It's a subject for a much longer post than I have the resources to write right now, but it's really interesting looking at the subject of masculine and feminine ideas in Asia.  For example, most male pop stars in Korea,  their look would be considered "gay" in the states--and a great deal of their music too, would simply be interpreted as a derivative imitation of what's already done in the states.   Hence my skepticism at any native Korean pop music artist *ever* making a big breakthrough in the West.   I could see perhaps a rap artist like that dude from Drunken Tiger (because he's good and can actually speak English), or some kind of indie rock group.    They though, would still have to somehow be exiting or unique.   But pop?  the West is already drowning in enough mediocre pop acts of it's own--we don't need anyone else's.  

Er...though, I'd have to admit that most of that gender role stuff is true.   America is so...obsessed with the swaggering, chest beating, crotch grabbing, cap-popping kind of aesthetic.  *everything* not full of this attitude is considered gay.    Meanwhile a lot of Asia's pop culture seems to be obsessed with young men and women who look like delicate dolls.   Personally, I find sometimes that simple fact to be a welcome break.  Ultra femininity over Ultra masculinity for a change of pace.      

I'd like to hear some Korean indie music outside of the usual processed, prepackaged stuff one hears around, but it's hard to find.   And what's with the Korean music industry making it so hard for non-Korean fans to get a hold of their music?  You'd think you'd need all the fan base one can get.   

Typical example,  this video by the kpop group SHINee, Sansogoteuneo (Love Like Oxygen).   Only their second single and they're already doing a cover.   A cover of a song that the "original" songwriter already stole mostly from Michael Jackson:   

SHINee--Love Like Oxygen

 

And the "original" song performed by Martin Hedagaard, Danish singer, and winner of the televised singing competition, "X-Factor",  Show the World

Sigh.  How derivative can one get?  Although, in defense of music today, I don't think that there's anything left to accomplish that hasn't already been done.  

To end yet another entry on a tediously trite note; it's all just a little bit of history repeating.  

SUBISU