Blog 4: Indigenous Culture

Gender expression reflects how an individual decides to represent themselves, in other words, the exhibition of a person’s identity. It involves one’s appearance, choices, behavior, social roles and it is heavily influenced by culture. Someone’s culture shapes their gender expression with the norms and expectations, the level of acceptance of their community, their social lives etc. The indigenous culture is very open about gender representation, it takes a spiritual step which means it’s far beyond a person’s physical self. Gender expression varies across cultures, there’s a big difference between Indigenous beliefs and Europeans views. Their practices were unfamiliar to the Europeans which ended negatively .These differences are well explained in the chapter “Gender and Cultural Diversity in the Early Contact Period” by Keough and Campbell, which takes a step back in the pass, the documentary “Trans in Trumpland: Idaho”, that describes the current issues of gender in North America and Glenn Gear’s presentation that unfolds the importance of culture. In this text I will compare the worldviews of both cultures and talk about the effects of the genocide on today’s population.

In Indigenous culture, both men and women have an important role for the stability and the development of their community. For example, men hunted and did most of the heavy labor while women would go fishing, collect nuts and berries, transport game and set up the camp. Both works are needed for the coordination of their tribe. In the chapter “Gender and Cultural Diversity in the Early Contact Period”, it explains how the cooperation and consensus was demonstrated by gender relations and how the united roles are complementary and essential. Sex division wasn’t as discriminatory as the European view, for example the important role of the shaman, both men and women can have this high status and influence. Many aboriginal communities have inclusive beliefs on sex-gender systems, “two-spirit”. It’s a sacred identity that involves masculinity and femininity within one body. These individuals assume both masculine and feminine roles, dress as they please and embody whichever gender they want. This diversity goes as wide as same sex relationship and sexual relations. There was no need for acceptance because they are important and sacred individuals, they are the norm.  

Compared to the European Colonists, upon their arrival in North America they perceived “two-spirit” individuals as unmanly, soft and passive homosexuals while using derogatory terms to describe them. Mainly because their norms were completely different, to them, these sexuality systems were considered sins as they don’t follow Christian beliefs. European males played a major role in the development of their community, women would have minor roles such as cooking, cleaning and forming families. The sex division was exclusive and important roles were male dominated. Religion was the base of it all, the Catholic church was significant to the function of their community. Considering that the Europeans had an advantage they started assimilating the Indigenous culture because they believed that their view and religions were all there is, which ended in a genocide. These events made it near impossible for the current Indigenous to continue practicing and a major lack in the representation of Indigenous as many of them are still healing from this trauma.   

Today, these differences have an even bigger gap as society adopted the European view. In the documentary “Trans in Trumpland: Idaho” Shane, a transgender veteran, explains the impact of Trump being president and the transphobia/homophobia of people with power. Society has come a long way when it comes to certain topics, sadly, the hate towards people from the LGBTQ+ community is still heavy. In the documentary, they showed that ex-president of America Trump put up an anti-trans military ban which affected many transgender individuals including Shane. This is an example of society moving backwards and adapting the exclusive ideologies of the Europeans. Indigenous beliefs stayed within their community even after the assimilation done by the Europeans. It’s possible to say that the beliefs of the Native community were ahead of their time, they were embracing individuals for being themselves and inclusive. Many people embrace their ideology, for example, Shane finding peace in his own culture and embracing the fact that he’s a sacred being, despite society’s norm.Glenn Gear, an Inuk artist, explained that it took many years for him to be connected to his culture knowing that it’s not represented in today’s society. He had to explore, travel and look for something that was once everywhere. Indigenous representation decreasing is one of the many results of the assimilation. Finding his culture was a major event for Glenn Gear, like a missing piece of a puzzle. He started making art that represented his culture in order to reconnect with all that he missed. 

In conclusion, the exploration of gender expression of the Indigenous and European culture displays different perspectives, acceptances and societal norms. The worldview of Indigenous people is distinguished by inclusivity, spirituality and an equal distribution of power. Compared to the strict and exclusive gender roles set by  European colonists. Many events had to unfold for our society to recognize what they’ve done wrong, till the day many Indigenous people suffer as they are still neglected.Today’s society is not where it should be as people of power continue to progress with exclusive rules. 

Blog 3; What is it about skin color

Everybody knows the meaning of racism, we’re exposed to it on social media and in our day to day lives, honestly way more often than we should. “The Skin We’re In” by Desmond Cole and “Get Out” by Jordan Peele are one of many cultural examples that demonstrates a black man’s perspective and experiences. They talk about systemic racism, discrimination and the exploitation that Black men go through. Properly demonstrating their pain and fear to the public.   

Most people believe that Canada isn’t as racist as the United States, probably because most cases of police brutality happen in the Sates and social media doesn’t seem to mind Canadian police brutality cases as much. In “The Skin We’re In”, Desmond Cole explained that Black people exist everywhere regardless of the fact that other people may not want them to. Therefore, it’s not about the place but about the people around and the authorities. I can’t seem to know the reason why Canadian and US society still tend to hate on Black men. History is probably engraved, and some people can’t wrap their head around the concept of change and acceptance. In the movie “Get Out” we can see that Rose’s family still had black people serving them and doing their chores. It was said that they were part of the family, but truly they were dressed differently and had a purpose. 

Cole’s book title reflects on the experience of Chris and the other characters of the movie considering that they were targeted because of their skin tone. Rose’s family had an obvious pattern for their victims, they were all black and I believe that they knew that society and the police wont focus on their disappearance as much as if they were white. The media attention would not be as big, and their case will be forgotten or classified as runaways instead of a kidnapping. Their skin color is the only reason why they were selected. Taking into consideration Desmond Cole’s memoir, the police associated black folks with criminals, patiently waiting for a reason to arrest them and taking the smallest thing like a noise complaint to apply force.  

Which brings the subject of stereotypes surrounding black men. John, the art gallery owner in Cole’s text, was suspected of selling drugs without evidence just for being black. Chris, Georgina and Walter in “Get Out” were chosen by the Armitage family. They had this idea that black people are “properties” and that they have a right to detain and control their consciousness, comes from the fact that we were once servants. The Armitage believed that they could steal someone’s soul and body for their own good, just like the slave owners believed that black people have no rights and are only good for certain things like chores.  

In conclusion, Desmond Cole’s memoir and Jordan Peele’s movie displayed what black men go through and the injustice, discrimination and exploitation that stuck with them after all those years. 

Blog Post

Moonlight 

 

Masculinity can be interpreted in many different ways. In the movie “Moonlight” directed by Barry Jenkins, it takes a complex step as many themes were seen, such as sexuality, identity, masculinity, family and societal expectations. The movie is separated into 3 timelines which explain the main character’s life.

I. Little 

This chapter was about Chiron’s childhood. In the beginning we were introduced to Juan, a drug dealer that soon became Chiron’s role model and the father he never had. From the start Juan found peace in taking care of Chiron, who was also nicknamed “Little” by his bullies, and made sure to teach him a couple of things about life. At that time, Chiron had trouble with his identity, he was always quiet and picked on by other kids. Chiron’s mother, who was one of Juan’s clients, did not like the fact that he was around her son, but she never really paid attention to him and never took her role as a mother seriously as she became a heavy drug user. Paula emotionally abused Chiron as she chose drugs over her son, which explains why he found comfort in Juan. One of many significant moments in this chapter is when Juan told Chiron “At some point, you’ve got to decide for yourself who you gonna be, can’t let nobody make this decision for you.” 

II. Chiron 

Second chapter was his teenage years, in which he suffered heavy bullying, and his sexuality became the elephant in the room. He was consistently getting picked on by his classmate, Terrel who was the “norm” or the ideal of a young African American male in high school. He was overly masculine and proved that with violence. Chiron found comfort in his friend Kevin who used to call him by the nickname “Black”. The two had an intimate moment at the beach but that quickly turned when Terrel pressured Kevin to beat up Chiron in front of everybody. With the pressure of the people around him and the desire to fit in, Kevin eventually punched Chiron. At that point, Chiron was alone and wronged, it’s truly unfair that he had to stay strong when all he needed was somebody to at least care for him, to be able to experience things like other teenagers and to be able to find his identity. The environment and the people around him left him no choice but to become someone he’s not and he got arrested for hitting Terrel in the back with a chair. 

III. Black 

The last and final chapter was about his adulthood, he moved to Atlanta and took after his role model Juan because he was the only one who truly took care of him. Becoming a drug dealer was his new sense of masculinity, he started working out and dressing up differently. In this timeline, Chiron was pictured as the societal tradition related to his community. This new look was far from who he was and who he truly is, because that way nobody can question his sexuality. Although, creating this false reality was not an effective escape. 

Blog 1 : Society’s Definition of Masculinity

February 19, 2024

Everybody experiences things in different ways and when it comes to masculinity, which can be a complex topic, many factors come in place. Such as the outside influence and how an individual expresses themselves. In this text, I will discuss how masculinity is experienced and how the world around us is somewhat the cause. From the text written by Carlos Andres Gomez (Guy’s Club) to the short film “Invincible” by Vincent Rene-Lortie 

Starting with Carlos, the main character in the Guy’s Club text and how he experienced masculinity internally. At the beginning of the story, when Carlos was six years old, he didn’t know much about gender norms and that’s why he wanted to get his nails painted. To him, it was just nails, but as soon as he went outside, he got made fun of. He went from being a happy little boy to being ashamed. After that incident he couldn’t understand what he did wrong. To be faced with something like that at such an early age can be confusing. Externally, Carlos understood that he had to enforce his masculinity in certain ways like keeping up in the gym to stay in shape and satisfy his dad. Being “man enough” was an issue for him growing up since he was a sensitive kid. << Growing up my friends and I would always tell each other to stop being a bitch or a pussy anytime someone showed weakness and vulnerability.>> explained Carlos in the text. Having to adapt to these norms can often change a person and their morals.  

The people around have a huge influence on someone. In Carlos’s case it was his dad, society and again, the norm. For example, when he went on that trip to Zambia where he saw that not everybody lives like Americans. But the world around him influenced him so much that he felt uncomfortable with the actions of this new environment. I can’t help but wonder if his surroundings were different, would he still be the Carlos that he is now? If his dad didn’t enforce these masculinity norms into him, would he have felt more comfortable around certain topics? And it comes to the fact that society makes a person, tells them how to act, how to dress, how to feel and if they don’t, they will face judgment, isolation and bullying. 

Connecting that with Marc’s case from the short film “Invincible”. Throughout the film, I perceived him as a kind, thoughtful, loving and smart boy, from the way he carefully took care of that bee, from the way he wrote that heartfelt poem in class and from the love and affection he shows when he’s with his sister. But why is he acting that way on the outside? Why is he representing himself as a troubled and careless boy? And how did he end up in the juvenile center? I’m assuming it’s because the world doesn’t see his true self, but he’s hiding it from them as well. Marc found ways to cope with the circumstances, he likes being in the water because he feels at peace and free but tends to play with fire when he feels overwhelmed and sad. He never asked for help, maybe because he feared being judged for showing emotions. After all, all the boys in that center have strong characters, except one. He was known for crying himself to sleep and Marc helped him, I believe that he saw himself in the little boy. 

Finally, the institution robbed him of the thing he wanted the most, freedom. It also felt like the principal of the center was pressuring Marc by threatening him with taking away that freedom. I think that these influences were so strong that Marc had to take his life in order to be free. In my opinion, the similarity between Marc and Carlos is peer pressure and societal influence. Because of these factors, Carlos had to learn how to act, who to love and what to look like. Marc couldn’t ask for help and had to deal with everything on his own. All of that because society decided that a man can’t be weak and must act certain ways. 

-Ludovicka M.