The Original woman today has behavior patterns that are unmatched to other times in history. It is not what has been described as “urbanized” ways of acting or socialized behavior, which is culturally based. It is one rooted in both the societal conditions that partly dictate the mentality and behavior of people, and the scientific elements within the woman’s biology that leads to her ways and actions. This combination has morphed the original woman into an angry, daily frowning, self-hating, thoughtless individual that commits erratic, compulsive actions that further takes her from righteousness and from being other than who they truly are. For other women, it can morph into behavior patterns where they are extremely submissive and hardly talkative. Their experiences, rather are internalized deeply without an ability of expression. All these women carry a broken soul reflective upon the dimness of their inner light inside their eyes. One such contributing biological condition is menorrhagia, related to the unbalancing of hormones within the woman’s body.
Menorrhagia is when an overflow of blood occurs and will not stop for a prolonged period of time. It can be physically draining and weakening for women who experiences this condition. Doctors have described that women who have this condition sometimes view themselves as a victim to various circumstances, overworks herself, and keeps pouring out her energy, spreading herself thin, without any form of conservation. Chinese medicine has pointed to the causes being an excess in toxins and an overheating in the blood. Foods containing high amounts of preservatives, additives, which are put into synthesized foods to preserve them, are filled with destructive elements that lead to a hormonal imbalance. This means that unnatural foods and chemicals harm the body. Other important factors that may be affecting blood flow are thyroid problems and a hormonal imbalance.
Hormone Imbalance
In her body, the woman naturally produces progesterone and estrogen. Both these hormones work together; balance each other out, to undertake all cellular processes in the woman’s body, which include the sexual organs. The estrogen hormone is used to stimulate tissues and cells that are estrogen-based, or are related to organs that are only prevalent within the female biological prototype. These include the breasts, ovaries, and uterus, all parts of the woman’s reproductive system. This hormone also forms the overall curviness of the woman. These are the equivalent of the phenotypical markers that defines “femininity,” the label given by society to describe this scientific difference of the woman from man. Estrogen is then, the hormone that enables the development of cells, tissues, and organs that are for female function only. Progesterone works alongside estrogen, to provide the stability of mature cells so that they do not overgrow. Therefore, while estrogen allows the growth and enhancement of cells particularly involved in reproduction, progesterone controls and manages these processes to not cause overproduction.
During the woman’s ovulation and menstrual cycle, both hormones are present and work in a rhythmic pattern to ready the body for possible reproduction and cleansing. The first half of the cycle is filled with ovarian estradiol, the name of the primary estrogen hormone within the woman’s body. When the levels rise, the ovary prepares the sac that becomes the egg released during ovulation. It is at this time that progesterone levels rise significantly to form a gland around the surface of the ovary, to regulate its function before fertilization. This means that progesterone is very important in maintaining the regulation of the ovary in case it is to be inseminated with the male sperm. If the progesterone doesn’t do this, then the woman cannot ovulate. The ovary will not release an egg. In a normal case, when the progesterone is produced, the estrogen level rises, but not as high as in the first half, and when the egg is not fertilized, both levels drop again. The body then lets out the lining of the uterus and starts again.
Menorrghagia is caused precisely because there is a progesterone deficiency that doesn’t provide a control to the blood flow, therefore allowing the estrogen to continue to take a strong hold and inform that body that there will be sterilization, while the body still bleeds. It becomes a disconnection between body and brain that doesn’t allow the control of the blood flow.
Prevention and Regulation
Diet: As mentioned before, a diet that is high in artificial flavoring, additives, preservatives, as well as animal proteins, dairy, will throw out of balance the hormone levels in our bodies. This is because meat is already embedded with hormones and man-made antibiotics that are not needed and are not compatible to the human body. Coffee is not good either. It will not allow the acid that makes the body’s natural hormones to get made. Alcohol does the same thing and it drains out all the water needed from the circulation system (blood) to transport the necessary nutrients to our cells. Alcohol breaks up the bonds between the electrons in the cell, and in turn, forms free radicals which toxify an entire area of cells, making them reproduce illogically, possibly leading to cancer. This is why the blood heats up. Foods that contain phosphates and polyphosphates (meats, dairy, soft drinks, and processed foods) are not good for the body because they prevent the cells from absorbing important nutrients. Sugars are also not good for the body. They prevent it from absorbing B vitamins and do not allow for the hormones to reach their points of destinations. They are literally blocking agents for the hormones.
A diet that will help in balancing the hormones within the body is one high in natural foods. Not ones already cooked in the frozen sections of the supermarkets. Beans and legumes are high in proteins. They are also high in gammalionelic acid, which is the natural chemical that produces the hormones in the body. Fruits, vegetables, natural rices, can all help in bettering the hormone balance in the body. If you are a big meat and dairy consumer, try to diminish these for organic, natural foods. Try not to buy processed foods, artificial condiments. There are also natural condiments for seasonings in health food stores.
Lifestyle: Stress is a big contributor to the imbalance of hormones. Altercations in the nervous system cause the rapid release of hormones and a decline in its production, therefore, leaving the body with hardly any hormones. Taking Birth Control Pills as a way to regulate one’s blood flow and hormone production is detrimental to the body. Not only will they destroy all major processes of the reproduction system, they will drastically weaken the uterus wall. Birth control pills are literally little atomic bombs for the woman's womb. They destroy everything inside the uterus (the wall, the egg) and its why some get their periods irregularly or none at all. It can lead to sterilization and/or death.
A lifestyle with less stress combined with an exercise routine of cardio (30min/day) and meditation can help. Deep breathing exercises are extremely beneficial.
Supplementation: Aside from adequate eating and exercising there are some nutrients and vitamins that one should be taken daily as a way to strengthen and maintain hormone balance that will prevent blood overflows. Buying Vitamin B12 pills, making sure they are vegetable capsules, which help build up and strengthen the uterus wall, is a good start. If one buys the B-Complex capsules, one gets all necessary B vitamins, as there is more than just one, for a cheaper price. I also use a brand called Eternal that contains a combination of herbs that are beneficial to woman's hormone growth and balance. These include chastetree berry, Passion flower, Don Quai root, and many others.
Peace!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Exercises for the Young Earth
The following exercises can serve of great help, especially the journal writing, for young Earths getting knowledge of self. Journal writing is essential to the experience of growth. One should start with simple exercises that can get girls comfortable in talking and sharing moments of their life. This will instill within them the idea of sharing, documenting, and exploring themselves. All processes natural when gaining knowledge of self.
Asset Building Activity: “Self-Awareness through Journal Writing”
Asset to work on this workshop: Sense of Purpose, Positive view of Personal Future
Facilitator: Izayaa Allat.
Objective: In this training, the girls will be able to begin to develop their own “personal story” and use their life experience/expertise to find their “VOICE.” Using a number of exercises/discussion they will become familiar with the concept of self-awareness, getting to know who they are. They will learn how to get in touch with their inner voice through meditation techniques and use journal writing as a way to document their life experiences.
Materials: pens/pencils, paper, life story handout, journals, binders, and yoga mats.
Step One: Opening circle—Participants will make a circle and say one word that reflects their state of mind. Facilitator should start as a way of providing an example to the kind of words that accurately express our feelings. (i.e. “Today I feel excited about what I can learn.”)
Step two: Ground rules—Participants will draw on their experience to list 5 essential rules that will apply to all following workshops/trainings.
Step three: What is Self- Awareness? The girls will start to explore the concept of “Self-Awareness” and what that means. In small group formation, girls will write down their thoughts on the concept. Through group discussion, the answers will be explored to arrive at one concrete definition.
Step Four: Presentation of Journals—The girls will be presented with their journals.
Step Five: The Game Story—participants will pair up and have a few minutes to tell each other their “Life Story” then the group comes together. Facilitator will pass one handout to each girl and explain the handout. The handout is in a timeline form and girls are expected to fill out each space with significant events in their life up to present time. Facilitator will provide examples of the kind of events to write in their timelines. Once timelines are completed, each girl will choose an event they remember vividly and would share with the rest of the group. They are to write about this event in their journals with details. Facilitator will say, “talk about an event where you were able to grow as a person, learn something new, or that impacted you? What did you learn from this experience?” Facilitators should aid those that are having problems talking in details. Girls will then get with a partner. The partner is responsible for reading the other’s work and to provide feedback on what other information she thinks her partner should add on. By asking questions to each other about their events, the partners will be able to complete their narrations. After, the whole group will unite in a circle. Each girl will share their own stories.
Step Six: Mindful meditation—participants will learn how to meditate. By sitting or laying on the floor they will be guided to relax and begin to monitor their breath, body, and mood. This exercise will aid their self-awareness and to be present at all times. This meditation will allow the girls to also become in contact with their inner voice (being self-aware) so that they can then document it in their journals. Facilitator will ask, “How did you feel when doing the mediation exercise? What kind of things were going on with your body? Did you get sleepy? Did you have trouble relaxing? What do you think meditation does to the person that practices it? Girls will write in their journals.
Step Seven: Closing Circle— the girls will come together in a circle (if not in one already) and will talk about one word that reflects their state of mind as the session ends.
Peace!
Monday, August 9, 2010
What Means Switch: The Blackness of the Asian in Contemporary Literature
Although born in the United States with an impeccable fluency in the English tongue, better than Chinese which she can’t hardly pronounce, Mona’s friends look to her as an "other" because her way of living out Americanism is not quite like theirs. She’s recognized as American, but not fully, due to her connection to a culture that is other than Caucasian. She becomes a sort of coon whom the rest of the kids come to hear “unbelievable” stories about. Her teachings in Karate, how her mother cooks dishes that are not in the cookbooks, and has to explain to them what Tofu is. Through her circle of friends Mona becomes racialized for being Chinese. When describing her enthusiasm with her neighborhood (Scarsdale, NY) Mona says, “Scarsdale is a liberal town, not like Yonkers, where the Whitman Road Gang used to throw crabapple mash at my sister Callie and me and tell us it would make our eyes stick shut.”(1) Moving into a neighborhood of higher economic strata changed the experience of racialization, but did not stop it. In Yonkers, the experience of difference is expressed through violence, as its most common in poverty stricken areas. Not welcoming to new groups of immigrants, refugees, settlers, gangs (formed a means to protection) usually attack those groups within the area. Whereas in Scarsdale, it is manifested through cultural variance.
The racialization of the Chinese(2) and their experiences as an oppressed minority group has a historical context, which has been documented by Gary Okihiro who wrote “Is Yellow Black or White?” Yellow certainly seems to be a fluctuation between both, leaning towards the Black side of the spectrum. Okihiro provides a historical analysis in the many different ways that Chinese, alongside Filipinos, as well as other Asians have come to the United States and have been groups traditionally oppressed alongside African Americans. The Chinese were brought to the United States, after the slave trade, as part of the coolie trade. They were brought with contracts as a form of cheap labor by labor agents from places like Cuba, California, and China (3). The coolies were brought to the United States in similar conditions as the African slaves, on ships where more than the capacity of people were carried under the deck. Many died of suffocation and other causes (4). Once brought here they were put to work in replication of the African slaves. This relates to the one of the lessons memorized and learned by a person getting Knowledge of Themselves in the Nation of God and Earth, called English Lesson No. C-1, the 1-36. The 28th degree says, “Yes, a trader made an interorientation that they would receive gold for their labor, which was more than they were earning in their own countries.” In the movie Once Upon in a Time in China, starring legendary Martial Arts Master Jet Li, at 45 minutes, 27 seconds of the movie, we are presented with the trader who fools the people. In this scene the trader tells the people interested in finding better work, “In America, people have to walk carefully because they trip on Gold. Wash your face in the river and you’ll find Gold. One visit is worth a lifetime of work in China. Have some leaflets, one for everyone. People there wear dark glasses day and night. The shining Gold will hurt your eyes. You can’t pick up Gold if you’re blind.” This is the blatant fooling of a people by a trader promoting American interests by gathering up a group of people who would be used as cattle when transported to the United States. Clearly, that scene shows the “interorientation.”
The racialization of the Chinese was furthered reinforced after the decision in “Plessy v. Ferguson", which set forth the "‘separate but equal’ doctrine, affirming the state Supreme Court’s ruling that Chinese were non-white and hence ‘colored’ and thus could be barred from schools reserved for whites (5)." This Supreme Court case established the identity of Asians as a non-white group. The categorizing of Asians as an Ethnic group within the U.S., regardless of class, is seen throughout the story of Mona. The constant subtle racialization of Mona in the story is seen again when a friend says, “You should be glad…that you have something people value. It’s like having a special talent, like being good at ice-skating, or opera-singing…you could probably make a career out of it.” The friend is referring to Mona’s culture and way of life. She’s referring to the karate, homemade Chinese food, her language. And the irony, which Gish Jen points out, is that she does make a career out if. She made a career as a writer and writes about her experience as she is made “the other” by her friends and their families. In this case, the Asian becomes one that can never be like whites, she/he moves within mainstream space as a person much different than what is defined as American. Thus, the story of the Asian is not too much different than that of the African-American or Latino.
Another reading that focuses on the issue of racialization is the poem by Willie Perdomo “Nigger-Reecan Blues” and the writing by Santiago “Black and Latino.” In this poem Willie portrays the harsh realities of being a Puerto Rican, but on top of that being a black Puerto Rican. People are not sure what he is. Is he black? Is he Puerto Rican? Is he a black man with an accent? In this poem one sees how this man becomes racialized. He has to reaffirm his Puerto Ricaness because people confuse him for being black. But then again, he is black right? But to him, he feels, that he “ain’t even Black and here I am sufferin’ from the young Black man’s plight/a Black man/I am not/Boricua I am (7).” In this way, the man is racialized as being black although he is a ‘spic,’ a Puerto Rican. Within this example, we see that in this country you are forced into categories that must go in either ends of a spectrum. You are either Black or White. For Puerto Ricans, it was like a schizophrenic choice to make. Why? Because they were all Blacks who spoke a different language. The same idea is expressed by Santiago when he says that although he’s not black he can always expect the white people to treat him like he is. Thus, when Santiago says he’s not Black, he’s meaning not African American, but the whites do not understand his background of blackness. To them, he is colored regardless. In School, Mona, although an American, is treated in a “special” way. She’s reminded everyday of her life when she has to talk about karate and food not allowing her to express who she is freely, without having to conform so that she seems more American.
Besides the issues of racialization, the story also portrayed issues of cultural boundaries. Mona’s experience living in an all white (Jewish) neighborhood is varies greatly from the rest because of her traditional culture; her Chinese Culture. Simultaneously, Mona was as American as her friends in school were because mentality she was being reared into their ways and forms of thinking, talking and behaving. One can see that she is neither fully Chinese nor fully American. Her inability to fully immerse herself in either space, won’t allow her to fully incorporate herself into neither of her cultures (Chinese and American). This is living in the borderlands, as Gloria Anzaldua describes. It is like not being able to be fully Black because the society dictates that living well and peacefully requires a full level of assimilation into white mainstream society. Indeed, Mona lives within these cultural boundaries. This relates to the article, “What is Indian About You?” by Monisha Das Gupta, where she argues that by constructing the identity of immigrants within the U.S. context it doesn’t take into account the continuous relations of those immigrants to their countries and how that also shapes their identity within the United States. She also argues that by looking at the issue through a feminist perspective it shows the racial and gender differences, which are not shown because of the Eurocentric language used by writers when they argue about Ethnicity in terms of assimilation and pluralism (8). Women have a much different experience, but the experiences of women do differ from each other as well. In the story, when Sherman is drawing what he identifies as being Japanese, the people he draws are all males. He connects being Japanese with men figures. There’s also a sense of nationalism that is being portrayed by him. When he draws the Japanese flags it shows how proud he is of his nation and that he hasn’t become influenced by American culture, like Mona. With Sherman, we see more of a connection to his immediate history and culture of Blackness. He is not conflicted with who he is, nor desires to become conflicted by exploring white mainstream society. He is a step closer to realizing who he is as a Japanese man. In our lessons, the 1st degree in the Student Enrollment 1-10, it says "Who is the Original Man? The Original Man is the Asiatic Blackman, the maker, the owner, the cream of the planet Earth, father of civilization and God of the Universe." Sherman, might not understand the deep sciences of who he is as an original man of Japanese descent. However, his sort of rejection for Americanism allows him to express what he has known to be original as learned in his homeland.
By interviewing four South Asian women, Das Gupta was able to analyze how these women reinvented their identity by going back and forth between the American and Indian cultures. The dominant culture, which racialized them because they were Indian and the traditional culture, which only tried to prohibit any harm from the culture that saw them as being the Other. Some of the women interviewed by Das Gupta were controlled by their parents and some even planned out their whole lives. This same type of dynamic is seen in “What Means Switch” when Mona tells her mother she wants to move to Chinatown. Her mom asks her whether it has to do with school and then she proceeds to say that Mona doesn’t have to go to school everyday because it’s “no good for a girl to be too smart anyway (9).” A cultural clash occurs that is a product of the legacy of the grafted man’s ideological infusion into the original mentality. As Mona becomes fluid in navigating through the spaces of freedom provided by white women, it clashes with her cultural legacy classified as one of submission and obedience. The mentality of the white man as a natural hater of the woman, has made white women fight for their own societal freedom and equality. A freedom based under the same characteristics of savagery and devilishment of her root: the white man. This gained equality of the white woman is one where assimilated original women have been able to “prosper” from. However, it is in contradiction to the gender norms of their own societies. These norms have been adapted precisely from the same root: the white man. His dominations, for more than thousands of years, have led to an internalized behavior and thought by the original man about the original woman. Indeed, a mental grafting about building inequality with the woman. Inevitably, it is an idea that also becomes accepted and internalized by the original woman in their countries. This is what we see with Mona and her mother. It is two opposing cultural norms developed by the same root: the white man.
The conflict in levels of cultural infusion is seen when Mona tells her mother she likes Sherman and her mother gives her an explanation about the historical tensions between both Japanese and Chinese as an incentive for Mona to loose interest in Sherman. This long lived history of acts of domination and colonization was a behavior mimicked from the grafted man, which affected their own internal policies as well. In Japan, the Samurai, a respected and high ranking class of warriors immersed within the teachings of the self, Zen Buddhism, become eradicated as the government seeks to integrate Europeanized ways of governing. Inevitably, it complicated the relationships between the Chinese and Japanese. It became more complex when the element of acculturation into white mainstream society was added. The different levels of Black dilution both kids were at, varied based on their immersion into "Americanism." Being Chinese and American for Mona was very different from being Japanese. Because of their cultural differences throughout the story one can see the many times when both characters (Mona and Sherman) clashed. In one of their conversations Mona tells Sherman that whoever is born in the United States is American therefore making her American. She also told him that he could become an American through assimilation: “You could become American…sure you could…you only have to learn some rules and speeches (10).” Here one can see the disconnection there exists between Mona and her Chinese culture. She has been easily led in the wrong direction by following what other original people do to be less connected to their branch of blackness. Mona was becoming less black. To her being an American meant assimilating to the language and accent. A component she was not aware of is that her mentality was also changing as well and becoming American grafted. Sherman refused to assimilate and reaffirmed his ethnicity and culture by telling Mona that he was nothing more but Japanese. Japanese, in our context of knowledge of self, meaning Black. Eventually, Mona brings up the concept of switching. She switches from being American to being Chinese whenever any of the two was what she felt she needed to be/use. Clearly, there was a cultural boundary between Mona and Sherman. Sherman lives out his Japanese culture while Mona lived within the borders of two. It is like Gloria Anzaldua described in her poem “To Live in the Borderlands mean You,” where she stated, “In the Borderlands you are at home, a stranger (11).” As presented by Mona code-switching is when we are able to live within our own cultural norms, but change to the adapted culture whenever necessary. This is the reality of the most 85% who are of different branches of Blackness. This demand to belong into the society of white has divided the behavior of our original people. Oftentimes, they go from being themselves, to being other than themselves. It is precisely why our people have been led to believe they are different from one another. The more we conform to white mainstream, the more distanced we become from our true selves and the unity we all share as the one Asiatic tribe.
When looking at Mona and Sherman through the eyes of their white peers and through the larger mainstream system where anything other than white, is different, other, and Black, one can see the interrelations between their cultures and ethnic identities. This is because groups that are non-white and whose cultures are different will experience similar situations because they become the "other." Eventually, original cultures can eventually trace back their branches to the same source of originality. On a contemporary level, this certainly occurred with Mona and Sherman. While Mona was known for her karate and Chinese people eating monkeys, Sherman became popular because he knew Mister Judo, the reason for this being that Sherman would show the rest of the kids how to flip people (a fighting method used in Judo). In this way Sherman becomes racialized as well. When Sherman first arrived at the school everyone assumed that he was also Chinese because the person they assigned for acclimation around the school was Mona. She herself thought he was Chinese, until she saw his name. Racial slurs such as “cuz you black, nigger” are also present in the story when Barbara who learns about the ‘relationship’ between Sherman and Mona, tells Mona “first comes love, then comes marriage, and then come chappies in a baby carriage (12).” This racial slur that combines Japanese and Chinese physical traits is racist. One can see that under one racial slur two ethnic groups are being spoken about in a negative connotation. When Sherman first got to the school, Mona stopped from being the center of attention. She no longer had to speak, for example, of ancient Chinese eating habits. Now she had to speak of Sherman and her connection to him. As if there had to be a connection because they were both Asian. The issue of how culture and racial identities relate can be seen here. The culture and racial identities of Mona and Sherman (although a bit different) are connected by the larger society, white mainstream society, and somehow it turns out their cultures are similar. This is the way in which cultures and racial identities were related throughout the story.
The story truly shows how there is not much of a difference between groups of original peoples. Asian, African American, and Latino/as alike go through similar historical processes of migration resulting from white domination, as shown through the 1-36. The issue of having to navigate through two different cultural realities because they are indeed Black people, surfaced throughout the story. The law of unalike attract and alike repel is very real as we see Mona’s character living it. She immerses herself within white mainstream society, but no matter what she is still seen as Black.
Peace!
(1) Jen, Gish. “What Means Switch” from Growing Up Asian American. Pg.237
(2) Although, in the story it’s not something that’s done as blatantly racist, but rather as “interesting” and “different” it is still racializing Mona. The reason why her friends don’t blatantly racialize her (although they did blatantly racialize during her stay in Yonkers) may have to do with class. They say upper-middle class Asians are more educated and assimilated, but at the same time they are still “interesting” because their Ethnic background.
(3)Okihiro, Gary. “Is Yellow Black or White?” pg. 47
(4)It is true, that Chinese were admitted into the United States as coolies, but this doesn’t include the later Asian immigrants that came after 1965, when immigration law lifted the ban on Asians entering the United States, which turned out to be the rich Asians. Also, the original Chinese that came as coolies, after facing a lot of racism, slowly entered into the middle class.
(5)Okihiro, 53.
(6)Jen, 239.
(7)Perdomo, Willie. “Nigger-Reecan Blues.”
(8)Das Gupta, Monisha. “What Is Indian About You?: A Gendered, Transnational Approach to Ethnicity” from Gender and Society. Volume 1, No.5, 1997. pg. 573
(9)Jen, 252.
(10)Jen, 245.
(11)Anzaldua, Gloria. “To live in the Borderlands means You.”
(12) Okihiro, 242.
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