East Asian Dramas

I LOVE LOVE east asian dramas.  I love Korean, HK, Taiwanese, and Japanese dramas! I remember the first Korean drama I watched with my parents, I've rewatched "Hana Yori Dango" a million times, and I've watched HK dramas for as long as I can remember.  All my closest friends know that my perfect "Jessie Days" are really just sitting in my room watching dramas all day.  I've never really had a problem with dramas but I started noticing that I'm having more and more issues with the kind of messages they often stress.
For example:

1. When you have a child out of wedlock, you have to do the "responsible thing" by getting married.  Regardless of the situation, parent's circumstances and needs.  As long as you get married and set up this "perfect" family for the child, you will be happy.
2. Abortions are the worst thing in the world because you're murdering a child.
3. Even if the man is terrible to you, as long as he "protects you" or "saves you" from a bad situation, then he is a good guy.
4. Men and women almost always have very strict gender roles.  Women must cook, clean, take care of babies, while men work hard, make a lot of money, and drives.
5. A women's greatest role is to be a mother.
6. If the man cheats in a relationship, the other woman gets slapped in the face.

These dramas tell women that in order to have this "perfect" romance that the main characters have, you have to be a loving mother, women, and stick to the strict gender roles given to you by our society.  It tells men that it's okay to be an ass, act violently or rashly, as long as you can come in a "save the day."

Fall for Heels

My senior year has started and like most seniors, my friends and I have made a conscious decision to go out and enjoy ourselves for the remainder of our college career.  To prepare myself for this year, my best friend and I went shoe shopping in search for "comfortable" going-out heels.  At the end of our trip, we each bought three pairs of shoes and we were so excited!
Later that night, I went out wearing a pair of those beautiful shoes I bought and had a blast.  However, even though I had a lot of fun that night, I couldn't ignore the soreness in my legs and my feet begging me to take off my shoes!  Once I got home, I ripped off my shoes and went to bed, hoping that enough sleep will heal me.  The next night, we went out again.  This time, I tried to wear the other pair of shoes I bought last night (4 inch stilettos) and I just couldn't.  My legs were already sore, and I knew that there was no way I could stand on my feet for more than 10mins.  I decided to trade my 4 inch stilettos with my 3 inch wedges.  At that moment, I was pissed!
Why did I have to pick shoes with any heels? Why are women expected to wear these uncomfortable things just so they can destroy their posture, feet, and legs?  So often, I hear women and men tell me that heels are cute and they make you look so sexy.  I can't say that I disagree because I own quite a few pair of heels and when I wear them (on a good day), I feel taller, more confident, and sexier.  Yet, aren't these all social constructs created to  make women less themselves and less comfortable.  Even though men might find a woman wearing heels to be sexier than those who don't, these same heels also give men the excuse to call women clumsy and make women more dependent on them.  Honestly, I can probably dance better and sexier without my 4 inch stilettos because they are really (what my best friend calls them) "standing" shoes.

Who's Celebrating Labor Day?

Happy Labor Day!

For me, Labor Day has always been a day that meant: hot sales, BBQs, last day to wear white (dumb rule) and a day off from school and work!  This year instead of going to a BBQ or hanging out with family, I took a mental health day and spent my day at home to knock some stuff off my "to do" list.  In the morning, I decided to get my eyebrows done because God knows it has been a long time and VERY high on my "to do" list.  To my surprise, not only was my eyebrow threading place open, so were most of the shops in my neighborhood.  As I was waiting for my turn to get my brows done, I looked out the window and couldn't help but question the real reason and meaning of Labor Day.  Yes it probably was a "Happy Labor Day" to all those who had off, hosted/went to a BBQ, hung out with friends and family, went shopping, or just spent the day chilling at home.  But what about to those who had to keep the shops open for the Labor Day sales, kept the MTA running, and had to do what they do every Monday?  Labor Day isn't the "unofficial" last day of summer for them.  Labor Day isn't a day off or a day to relax.  Labor Day is just every other work day. If anything, Labor Day is worse than any other work day because they probably have to do more to deal with all those people off of work "enjoying" this Labor Day.

If Labor Day was really meant to reward the people who had to work all year around to maintain our economy and country, shouldn't the working class be included?  If it's not possible to create such a day, than maybe we should rethink what we are really celebrating on this holiday.