Author: AKOSUA OMARI-DOTTOH

1. One thing I decided to revise after reading Lisa Ede’s text was to paraphrase a quote/area I read from the website The Week, in regards to a point I was planning on bringing up. Ede suggested that when you want to use an idea/ fact stated in a article, paraphrasing let’s the essay flow a bit easier. I also added in a summary for an exhibit source instead of paraphrasing because I wanted to introduce the main idea of the article, not a specific section or idea. I also decided to use the idea of synthesizing information from Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz by revising how I used the Chesterton source and making it so that it more aligns and supports my claim, even though I used it as a counterargument source. Originally, that source had a bit of a disconnect and unimportance to it because it didn’t stay quite focused to my research question.
2. Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz define Academic Integrity as a way to prove that you are knowledgeable about an academic area and able to represent that properly. This includes being able to use and cite sources the right way, when you are sharing an idea that wasn’t originally yours.  Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz also see proper citation as an ethical issue because it’s about being respectful towards ones work and giving credit to them. The importance is in realizing that they deserve credit for an idea that they had that you are now using to support your own, its a moral thing. As important as proper citation is in an academic sense, you don’t let that drive your reasoning for doing so.

 

Moving From Cultural Appropriation to Cultural Appreciation by Sandrine Han.

1.  Gives context about topic and definition of apporopriation
2. Talks social media and it’s connection to culture, along with using social media as an example for topic
3. Multicultural art classrooms- example and a look into these classrooms, what they teach, what they lack.
4. What is cultural Appreciation? definiton of cultural appreciation and examples to hekp better understand the phrase
5. What is cultural appreciation? coming back to original definition and examples
6. What is art appropriation? focused section of a form of appropriation
7. cultural appropriation? cultural appreciation? real life examples.
8. As art educators, what shall we do? solutions to issue.
9. Outside art class. what we need to learn.
10. conclusion, draws back to idea of appropriation and what we can do better

1. What is the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation?

• Are they different at all?
• Does the difference between the two matter?
• Is the difference between the two always subjective, therefore there is no way to clearly answer this question?
• Isn’t all culture appropriated? If so, how can you even begin to tell the right from the wrong way to appreciate a culture?

1. Jean-Pierre argues that the substantial growth of black men/white woman and white man/Asian woman marriages are the result of social connections and patriarchy, loosely relating to it’s accusation, and semi-truth, of fetisization. Pierre uses the example of having a “trophy wife.” One that gives you unconditional love and is looked at as the most desirable, which white women usually are. Another example used was of the fact that black men use white women as a way to reach a certain power that they could not have originally obtained as a black man alone. Black men, like many other men, crave power, but the amount that you can get as a black man is limited because of that racial difference. White woman give them the opportunity to get closer to that “white power” because of their race. Pierre uses numerous examples of black men leaving black women for a white woman when they have a high level of popularity/money. This topic is controversial because, as Jean-Pierre noted, the cause of this narrative of black men choosing white women over black women is always debated about. It’s looked at as a fetish, a way to assimilate to white culture in order to obtain a certain level of importance/power.

Jean-Pierre uses the quote “A fetish is a story masquerading as an object ” from the book Observing the Erotic Imagination. By examining this source I realized that Pierre’s main goal of using it was to first identify what a fetish is for his article. The article talks about fetishizing in a way to prove how the interracial relationships he mentioned were a result of that. By using this quote, saying a fetish is a story presented as something simple, allowed Pierre to go in depth into the reason why black men and white men fetishize white and Asian women. I think Pierre quoted this source fairly because the mission of this book was to better define and go into depth of topics like fetishizing and “erotic imagination.” The quote wasn’t used out of context of the book. Pierre also uses the article The New Trophy Wife by Ying Chu, using a quote that states that “ for white males, the Asian wife is usually the second or third wife.” This article centers around the relationship between white men and Asian women which directly relates to Pierre’s article. The article talks about why white men desire Asian women and how it relates to how Asian women are presented. Pierre uses this source to provide background on a mini argument within his argument. His use of this article was in support of what The New Trophy Wife was already stating. Pierre used a fair indirect quote from this article because it wasn’t out of context, just like the one he used in the beginning.

1. I remember having a political debate with someone about our former president Donald trump. At one point in the conversation it was argued that donald trump couldn’t be racist because inequality and discrimination simply didn’t exist. At that point I kind of realized that this conversation wasn’t going to go anywhere based on that statement. The person showed a level of ignorance towards racial issues that made the debate one that couldn’t even be done correctly, because opinions were shaded by ignorance. There was inept communication in the way that the debate could not go through cause there was no real fact based argument but the continuous line of “it’s just not true.” There was also no attempt in hearing the other side/opinion which made counterarguments weak.
2.  One new tool they offered was that of looking at the audience of the article. Seeing the type of audience the author is trying to talk to can shift the whole attitude of the article so it’s something I definitely have to pay attention to. 
3.  One past rule I learned about writing was to always write for your audience. I think the point of writing is to express yourself and say what you need to. So a new rule I found that I find useful is to first write for yourself, and then worry about your audience, go back and edit it in a way that can cater to them, but always put yourself first.
4. My unpopular opinion goes against the idea that you should wear what your body allows you to. There’s an idea that states that certain body types call for certain clothing styles and restrictions, and in order to look your best you have to match your style with that of your body type. I don’t believe this to be true at all. Everyone should wear what they FEEL they look best in and what makes them enjoy looking in the mirror more. I feel like this idea feeds off of the idea that people are dressing for the like of others rather than themselves. Like the argument that women dress for men and vice versa. But I truly believe that what you wear should be based on what you like no matter if it “doesn’t fit” your body type. I also think that when a person is wearing something that they feel confident and happy in, the glow they get while wearing that outfit is what makes it fit.

1. One process of inquiry I’ve pursued is traveling to Philadelphia during the weekend. Visiting museums and tourist sites there just for the pleasure of getting away from the college scene for a little bit, but on a budget. It was also a very educational trip but not one that felt forced, like I had to write about it for a grade or anything I just took it all in. Going with a group of friends allowed me to also bounce ideas and thoughts off them, off each other.
2. One question that was stuck with me lately is why do I feel so out of place? I am constantly surrounded by people like me in similar positions, like other college kids living in the same dorm as me. But for some reason I feel out of place everyday. One experience that has been stuck with me lately is when I ran into a “Karen” at the supermarket about a month ago. You see videos online about people like this all the time but seeing it for yourself is different, it’s not only very eye opening, but a bit scary. Another question/experience I have is how can there be diversity when there is segregation present? I went to a high school in Maryland, named one of the top diverse high schools in the country, yet going there you realize that for the most part everyone still stays with their own race.
3. I learned the idea that “evidence should match the time and place in which you make your argument.” This is an idea that I hadn’t previously thought about but the examples given made a lot of sense. This tool they talked about makes sense because it adapts to the idea that things are constantly changing and examples from the past may not hold any importance now because of that. It’s important to have the time evidence match the time and place because you don’t want your evidence to feel “outdated” or not credible. It’s interesting because at first I would assume that using evidence from the past might go to show why it’s important in the time that it is, like everything from the past is not negative and something can be used for times like this. But I think this idea is actually important because it keeps your essay controlled in a time and not all over the place.

Yablonovoskiy writes about the deeper meanings behind the show Nu Pogodi and the hard life in the Soviet Union. Coming from such communist and totalitarian community, this show created an escape for all people of this community, allowing them to feel a freedom they don’t necessarily feel usually. Yablonovoskiy goes on to talk about the outrageous life that was within the Soviet union at the time. They talk about the war and the grandfather’s stories about it, how life was hard at that time and even when it did get “easier” it was still super hard. One way the grandfather and friends began to relax was with this show. It was thought that the purpose of this show was to spread the ideology of communism and how good it can look. Yablonovoskiy talks about the shows rhetoric in different forms. Yablonovoskiy finally talks about how the show brought her whole family together, regardless of the now differences they had.

Yablonovoskiy’s essay was very persuasive. She talked about how hard it is to live in the Soviet Union for generations and generations on. All the examples she used like her grandfathers story helped her to prove that point to and gave a real insight to that life. I love her analysis of the bunny and the wolf and her take on both characters. There was a part where she talks about how sometimes she wants to complain about life in America but quickly reminds herself that it could be worse, and was worse for the people close to her, and that’s something I could relate to. Both my parents were born in Africa and there are just very simple ways that we are so privileged in this country.

1. Chau is addressing the mistreatment of Chinese immigrants in the early 1800s, and how eve though things are not as bad now, Chinese are still faced with mistreatment and a large amount of ignorance towards them from the American entertainment world.
2. This is a controversial issue because some people can and do devalue arguments like those of Chau’s. They say that everyone here is faced with stereotypes that other’s feed off of, and it’s not a big deal. It’s an argument of “what makes you so special?” vs. “why are we doing nothing about this.”
3. I’m most persuaded by Chau’s argument using the example of Crazy Rich Asian the movie. The line ” The movie only shows the lavish lifestyles of Chinese-Singaporeans, but fails to acknowledge that 80% of Singaporeans live in public housing (The Economist),” really stuck out to me. It showed the lack of understanding and representation in a film that was supposed to be dedicated to a certain culture.
4. The best argument I could think of is that of ignorance. One can argue that they simply do not know enough to be able to properly represent a culture in their film/tv show. All they can base what they create entertainment on is what is widely known, which in most cases, includes a bunch of stereotypes.
5.  I discovered that I also did not know much about this topic. As I continued to read I realized that I did beforehand realize a lot of the stuff that Chau pointed out, but failed to take the time to do more research on it.