IRB Intro Post #1

         I chose to read Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger by Kelly J. Cogswell. To me representation in the media and literature is important, so I chose this book because I'm hoping that I see parts of myself in the book; either in the LGBTQ context or with Cogswell's activist views.

Bop 

     Langston Hughes was a poet and social activist. Hughes is most remembered for being the leader of the Harlem Renaissance in New York. In his essay Bop, Hughes creates the story of a narrator talking to their neighbor about the new be-bop music that has recently become popular. At first the narrator doesn’t understand the appeal to the music but once he learns the music’s back story he begins to appreciate it. Hughes uses narration and symbolism to explore the problem of racial inequality between whites and blacks.

     Hughes writes this essay for people who are unaware of black discrimination and the effects it has culturally on the black community. This is seen with the first person point of view; the narrator of the essay is very naïve and ignorant towards the topic of racial issues. When his friend, Simple tells him “re-bop was an imitation like most of the white boys play. Be-bop is the real thing like the colored boys play” (190) he complains that Simple always “bring race into everything” (190). The narrator doesn’t want to believe that race is this huge issue that affects everything in a black person’s life. He tries to remain ignorant at the beginning of the conversation and quickly tries to change the conversation topic so he won’t have to deal with it.

     Hughes then tries to show the contrast between white people and black people by using be-bop music as a symbol of their differences. He wrote, “the ones that sing tried to make up new Be-Bop words, but them white folks don’t know what they are singing about” (191). To white people be-bop is just a genre of music and form of entertainment, because of this every time they tried to recreate be-bop it didn’t end up working out. Then for black people, be-bop is their culture and their history. Simple says to the narrator, “folks who ain’t suffered much cannot play Bop” (191). White people didn’t have to deal with the same hardships as black people; this makes them unable to comprehend the true history behind the music.

Bopper's Delight Album Cover
(Indiana Public Media)

Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying

     Adrienne Rich was an admired poet and radical feminist from the 20^th century. Rich uses her essay Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying to encourage women to stop depending on lies to make their lives better. In the essay Rich explains the complex relationship women have with lying and their need to protect themselves through lying.

     Rich explains to the reader that women use lying as a way to keep control of a situation. She writes, “she cannot desire a relationship without manipulation, since to be vulnerable to another person means for her the loss of control” (413). When someone manipulates another person they don’t allow themselves to develop a complete relationship with them. They always end up hiding something from the other person which results in them leading “an existence of great loneliness” (413). Rich tries to get the reader to realize that if they desire a true relationship with someone, romantic or platonic, they can’t have any lies between them or else the relationship won’t be able to live to its fullest potential.

     She mentions how women feel that lying helps them get away from a complex situation. She says, “lies are usually attempts to make everything simpler” (414). Rich uses the diction of ‘attempts’ to point out to the reader that lying doesn’t actually make things simpler. If anything it makes the situation way more complicated than it needs to be. Lies have to be remembered and followed through. If there are multiple lies, women have to make sure not to mix them up. Lying adds an unnecessary stress to life.

     The organization of Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying helps Rich prove her purpose of women needing to realize how toxic lying is in their lives. She introduces a reason why people lie and then she explains how it inevitably stops any type of healthy relationship from occurring.  

Lying Ruins Relationships
(Pinterest)

Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away

S. J. Perelman was a well-known satirical author and screenwriter. He was known mostly for his essays that have appeared in The New Yorker and for co-writing screenplays with the Marx Brothers. His essay Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away follows the story of a father who helps his children put together a model truck.

During the 1940s, around the time this essay was published, there was strict gender roles placed on families. Women had to be the perfect housewife and mother, while men had to be the strong and masculine figure for their children. In Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away Perelman wanted to show people that if they continued to shove themselves into society’s unattainable mold they would eventually drive themselves crazy.

Perelman achieved his goal by using first person point of view. When Perelman used first person he allowed the reader to watch how the father went from calm and determined to manic and defeated just because he couldn’t be what society wanted.

In the beginning of the building process the father was very calm, he even said, “I was ready for the second phase” (187). Although, once he discovers that the pieces don’t fit together he starts to lose his patience. Perelman writes, “I set my lips in a grim line and (…) pounded the component parts into a homogeneous mass” (188). The children don’t accept this “mass” that their father produced and they force him to try and actually build the truck.

At this point the father is more building the truck just to prove to his children that he can. He says, “I determined to show them who was master” (189). The father is unable to separate himself from the role society put on him to be the man of the house. As a result he feels like he can’t let his children down and give up on building the toy. When he ends up incapable to fulfill this role he goes mad. 

Common Characteristics Associated With Gender
(Pinterest)