Final Paper Proposal

What are the social and psychological impacts of transsexualism on the transsexual, the people close to them, and society as a whole?
 This isn't like a thesis....this is kinda what I want to focus on...I'm kinda thinking out loud.
I aim to focus on the socio-psychological impact Dana Stevens' decision to undergo a sex-change operation had on the characters of the book Trans-sister Radio, and if that is an accurate depiction of how it effects other parts of society. The townspeople of Bartlett were outraged by Dana's decision to undergo the operation, and were equally upset by the fact that Allison decided to stay with her. Allison's reputation as a teacher and as a member of the community were at stake throughout most of the book due to irate citizens. Allison and Carly begin to question their own sexualities, as does Will, who ends up living with Dana. Dana, throughout her whole life, struggled internally with her gender dysphoria, wondering if he was just gay, or if he truly was a woman trapped in a man's body. With research, I will look at other stories of real-life transsexuals and compare/contrast them with Trans-sister Radio. I will also explore research about transsexualism, to see if I can get a better understanding of the biological and psychological components, if any, that exist within the brain and mind of a transsexual. I'm not entirely sure of the question I want to ask.....but at least I know what I want to talk about!

Blog Musings

My blog postings have been decent over the semester...except for the fact that I've already had to take a blog holiday and I didn't really contribute on the last one because I hadn't read the book yet =/ I found that I really focus on the more direct aspects of what we are talking about. I look at the language of what we read, rather than imagery or symbolism. I guess that surprises me a little because normally I am good at discussing that stuff, but it hasn't really caught my attention as we've been reading. See, look. Right now I'm discussing what I've said rather than trying to delve into some deeper meaning behind what I've said. I've also noticed that my posts are not particularly long...which is something I should maybe fix.

My favorite post was the one about the paintings, which also surprised me, because I am not a artsy person. I actually do not see the point in most forms of art, so it surprised me that I was able to invest so much in the paintings we looked at. I also feel like this is my most intelligent post; I was able to get my point across while using good language and being clear. I would love to go back and be able to talk about those more.

I think blogging for this class is helping immensely because it's giving me an insight into what other people are thinking that I might not necessarily hear from in class. It's also a place for me to talk about things outside of class that I maybe didn't get to talk about in class. I like hearing from everyone else, and it gives me a different perspective on what we read or watch or look at in class.

Trans-sister Radio

I actually haven't started reading the book...sorry guys! It hasn't come in from Amazon yet...I'm still waiting on it. From what I remember from the back cover though, it sounds like a really interesting story. I think it would make an awesome movie! I feel like transgenderism is still a touchy subject in society, so for there to be a movie about it in such detail would really turn some heads and enlighten some people. I'm sorry I don't have more to offer...I'll get started on it as soon as it comes in!

Tyler

Fernando Botero

I picked the 6th painting to analyze. What drew me to this painting was the expression on the prisoner's face. Although we cannot see his eyes, the horrible drawing-down of his mouth expresses everything that he is feeling: pain, dejection, degradation, humiliation. Almost as striking and haunting is the single, blue-gloved hand that come in on the left hand side, holding the leashes of the dogs. It represents the "separation of self" we talking about in class today; the disjointment of the hand from the prisoner represents the complete stripping of humanity the soldiers in Abu Ghraib must've put themselves through in order to commit such atrocities.
The background of the painting is very dark, depicting stark iron bars against an "abyss" of darkness behind the prisoner with a solitary half-window in the background. The lightness of the skin of the prison, along with the brightness of the blood pouring from his many wounds, bring the prisoner into the foreground, forcing the viewer to examine everything about him. The prisoner is simultaneously being bitten on the right knee and clawed on the chest by two large, ferocious dogs, while a third dog seems ready to pounce. The prisoner is leaning forward into the dog clawing him in the chest, which seems to show just how helpless he is; he has no idea where he is; the only thing he knows is pain.
Paintings, especially these paintings, are meant to invoke certain reactions and feelings within its audience. The artist has the right to manipulate what he sees into a message he wants to get across; a photographer has to do so with what is physically in front of him. These paintings provide a more horrible image of the Abu Ghraib prison tortures because of their cartoonish features. The prisoners are depicted as almost comically overweight, and they are so almost to the point where you want to laugh, but then you remember what you are looking at, and the horror of what you see hits you twice as hard.

BLOG HOLIDAY

Hey everyone,
This week I'm taking my blog holiday...just letting you guys know.
Have a good week!
Tyler

The Boondocks

Did you guys notice the difference in dialect between Granddad, Huey, and Riley and the New Orleaneans? You could hardly understand what Uncle Jericho and the rest of his family were saying, especially the oldest kid with the fro. It was interesting to see, because I am not black, therefore, I don't see the cultural differences between black people. There are definitely cultural differences that I see between white people, however, and that is one of my frames. My color and ethnicity determines what I see in people. In being exposed to just one example of the differences between two ethnicities other than my own, I am forced to broaden my horizons. For example, us white folk here in the North have preconceived notions about people in the South; that they are farmers and maybe not as intellectual as we are. The episode of the Boondocks we watched exposed us to the same type of difference that perhaps black people in the North have about black people from the South. It all comes down to frames. Each character represented a different frame people might view black people through: Riley was the stereotypical gangster; Huey was the activist; Granddad was the old curmudgeoney sarcastic black grandpa; Uncle Jericho was the laborer from the South; his mom was the Jesus-loving old black grandma. I feel like all these thoughts are just rushing around in my head and I can't figure out how to make them words...do you guys agree...or even get what I'm trying to say?

God, strippers and civil unrest

I was attracted to the two columns titled "God and Strippers" and "Civil Unrest." Chris Rose talked about a "return to normalcy" in both of these columns, but what struck me about them is that the signs of normalcy talked about were both negative aspects of life, so to speak: strippers and unrest within the community. Stripping for a living is widely regarded as a socially unacceptable way to make a living for women, and the sort of civil unrest described in Rose's column only sets the community back. In "Civil Unrest," the residents in the author's community were taking their smelly, dirty refrigerators and dumping them on the sidewalk after the cleaning crew had finally come through and straightened up the street. The other residents get angry, and some of them get revenge by bringing the fridges back to their respective owners and even blocking their driveways with them. At the end of the column on page 104, Rose says this:

                Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking: There are people in this town who lost everything. Their loved ones, their homes, their jobs, their pets, their precious photos and memories. And their refrigerators...You're thinking: You people didn't have the right to survive this storm...Maybe you're right...But consider this...Maybe this signals a return to normalcy, Maybe this is even a healthy sign of the human spirit.

I really liked this quote because it got me thinking. While I've been reading this book, I've been thinking that signs pointing toward normalcy for New Orleans would be the trash and debris being all gone, electricity starting to work again, people moving back. Those are signs of normalcy, but they don't encompass the human spirit. Humans have a nasty side too. Cleaning would've brought aesthetics back to New Orleans, but not the humanity. A combination of the good (people sweeping their front porches instead of cleaning crews pulling branches out of broken windows) and the ugly (fighting with one another over a smelly fridge) brings the humanity back.

In the other article, "God and Strippers," there is a similar quote on page 28. Rose says: "...a strip club opened up on Bourbon Street...and if that isn't one small step toward normalcy...then I don't know what is." Again, something that is considered in a negative light by society is bringing hope back to New Orleans and for the author. Debauchery and sin offer a signal of hope for the author, which is a kind of difficult image to comprehend, but I can chalk that down to frames. I was born and raised in New Hampshire, almost an entirely different world from New Orleans. There are no strip joints where I live. If one opened in my town, it would probably be a signal for despair, because I have been raised to stay away from places like those. It is a difficult image for me to comprehend that a strip joint can invoke that kind of hope in the author. 

These two examples of seemingly hopeless things causing hope to be instilled in the author is what drew me to both of them. Because I cannot experience something quite like this, it is interesting to think about.