“BAD” girl!

In Mario Vargas Llosa’s book, The Bad Girl, the force of man’s love for a extremely free-spirited woman never expires. Lily in their home country Peru captivated the main character Ricardo. Ricardo always remembers Lily for being an awesome dancer, and an intriguing person. He knew that it was not just her simple beauty but also something about chasing her, made him love her more and more.

Since the beginning of the book, the character of Lily was not innocent. Lily lied to him by saying she was from Chile, she was ashamed of being a poor girl in Peru. Well years later pass, and Ricardo was working as translator in Paris. To his surprise and happiness, he encounters Lily in Paris. But Lily had changed her name. They were able to have a short-lived relationship that was halted by her work. Ricardo advised her to put her work first and he will wait for her return to Paris. Some years later pass by, and this time she is back. Now the Peruvian girl is back as a married woman. She married a rich European guy that provides her money and therefore she stopped working.

Even though, there was a repetitive cycle, the book was not easy to put down. I had to keep reading to know what Ricardo will do every time the ‘Bad girl’ would come back to him. She for sure made clear that she was after money; love was not something she was looking for. Ricardo tried to prove her wrong, and all time she failed him by tossing him aside.

In class, we discussed the title and the meaning that it sends to people. True, Llosa did put this title to classify some women. What kind of women? For sure, the girl was not a submissive, simple, or a traditional kind of woman. She was doing whatever she wanted with her life. She was going to be independent when she wanted or she was going to get married to whomever she wanted. The flaw she had was that she did not want to love. Since she did not want to be emotional, she was “bad” and -well she had to suffer at some point in her life.

-RA

Cooking and Love!

Now reading the book of Esquivel, Como Agua Para Chocolate, gives great insight as to why the movie was made; to show the passion of Tita and her lover, Pedro. Tradition still is the basis to the book and the movie. The book uses food recipes that have been in a family for many decades to tell a forbidden love story. However, the main purpose is the realization of the young women and breaks the tradition that is limiting their lives.

The story starts with a single mother with 3 girls that were of marrying age. The option of love for the youngest girl, Tita, was not one. The Mother had decided that Tita would live to serve her until she dies. Pedro was in love with Tita, but had to marry her older sister. The two lovers could not enjoy their love in the eyes of society. The mother had a lot of influence over her daughters. Doña Elena had already decided the lives to be lived by her daughters. Except that, Tita had other plans in her mind for herself.

The book loads itself in a traditional history of Mexico. Knowing and hearing the typical life of the old revolutionary times for Mexican women can be boring. Yet realizing how far along in society women have come can be an awakening to most. In a sense, the ‘American’ women might have been more outspoken sooner than Mexican women might have been in the past. ‘A way to get to a man’s heart is through his stomach’, Tita certainly proved this old saying to be true. The story told in this movie, desires to illustrate that step of independence for Mexican women.

-RA

Dopamine- addictive?

Does Love exist? Does it…??? And if it does how can you tell if it’s real love? From this movie we can get ideas as to why we can think and feel love. They did a pretty good job at presenting some situations that most can experience. The one night stand is something that is becoming more common among young people. The simplicity of intercourse with others is now more accepted with a growing number of people. To the public, sex is now just sex. Before the notion of making love was of being intimate with someone you were in love.

Now to understand real love and know how to recognize it can be the tricky part. The beginning will be the known attraction of course that two people have then is interacting with each other. Other biological steps follow like sensors, hormones, reactions that happen through the senses of sight and smell- reactions detected in the brain, neurons, substances release and blah blah  blah…

The movie wanted to reinforced that, it has been scientifically proved that there are certain sensory- chemical reactions that have to happen to know there are the feelings of love. Now knowing cannot be easily understood- if some people do not even understand themselves how are they to identify love? No matter what-> ‘One for sure will know’ if they are in love. Then follows the bigger question to ponder- if True Love exists? What to do? On this one personally I will be more pessimistic, pretty much now I don’t think that it does. Even the main character had that thinking- well he had just mostly questions/ doubts that needed answers. Surely, questioning can be also understood as a pessimistic attitude- right?

One conclusion the movie has, is that we have to accept that love does not have to last forever. But being content with a person that will understand your needs and being able to live together can be sufficient for two people. Almost everyone knows that love is not easy to find it. For me, I can only hope to recognize real love….It seems that the movie ended with a more conformist view of love.

-RA

For a Million Dollars- What is Love?

What is love? It has always been a common question. We as humans long for a significant other. Being lonely is not a great option to be in life. But the trick is- knowing what or who to look for in this life to share the rest of your life. When I was little girl, wanting or liking a boy was nice. It was nice to think another boy was really cute, funny, and kind. Wow all the butterflies in the stomach one gets when knowing about spending time or that first kiss with the boy. When I thought of my first kiss, I wanted it to be with someone I really had ‘feelings’ for and well someone who was going to have a relationship with for a long time. Later in my teen years, my first kiss was a sloppy one and the boyfriend only lasted a month! Still none-the-less it is simply nice to think with that innocence and perfection. There are relationships where a couple were each others ‘first’ in all senses and have been together for all their lives. While many other people have other stories to tell that are not of love lasting a life time.

For most finding that special someone is a main goal in life. Personally, just living my life and enjoying it in all sense is not that bad at all. Love can be experience through many people in your life. Of course a romantic love is not the same as love of a family or a friend. Usually I would know people that being without a girlfriend or a boyfriend was a bad and depressing time for them. The romantic slow songs always talk about how much love exists, needing one another, missing someone, and even hurting. For sure there is a lot involve in loving; a lot of emotions and even effort. The phrase of ‘the other half’ is used to address the people in a relationship. For most the ‘love of their life’ means having someone in their lives that completes them. The senses of needing, depending, and I guess the company more than anything means to love someone.

Lately I have been more aware of people who seem to be totally ok; going through their youth and later years without having someone by their side. It is rare to talk about not wanting to marry or even have a relationship. I think knowing what love is or being ‘in loving’ with someone does entail many aspects of emotions and decisions. It sure helps if one knows oneself, knows what one wants in life, and/or a purpose. Now and again, I see people who tend to ‘love’ someone that tells them what to do in life. Or some just ‘love’ someone who is just attractive and don’t really care about their personality or attitudes in life. It has been interesting to ponder the question of ‘what is love?’, because even I have noticed how my own answers have changed. Love does not signify having a simple attraction to looks or being an insincere relationship. I know that love does involve some physical attraction, then understanding, and also varied emotions. Love can be about adjusting to their company, complementing each other, and knowing that not everything is perfect all the time. That many experiences could be shared and be used to grow as better people.

-RA

Miwa Yanagi’s Art & Denise Chavez’s Novel

Last week, I had the pleasure of reading through Denise Chavez’s Novel, “Loving Pedro Infante” and attending a lecture at the MFAH that discussed Miwa Yanagi’s insightful art. What a week! I was catapulted into a world of reality, where women all too often make men the center of their world (as is the case with Tere, the main character in Chavez’s novel) or try to become what society mandates, thus losing indiviuality and natural beauty.

In Miwa Yanagi’s Elevator Girls, all the girls look the same. They are all beautifully polished, and look almost fake. the image makes me think of the increased popularity of plastic surgery among women. Society is constantly praising a certain look and all the meanwhile, women are beginning to conform more and more. I wonder, will everyone look like elevator girls in a few more years?

In Denise Chavez’s novel, Tere, the main character is obssessed with Pedro Infante and old cinema. She preoccupies herself by fantasizing about novela-like romances, until she finally gets one in real life. She becomes a mistress to a man who fits the role that Pedro Infante played so many times. He is unloyal and aloof. Reading the novel made me realize that novelas, love stories, movies, all seem to dictate what a woman should look for in a romance. Similar to plastic surgery, these fantasies, for lack of a better word, have affected women’s thoughts and behaviors, deeming it unacceptable to engage in a relationship that does not resemble the ones seen on the silver screen.

It saddens me to think that this is the future women have to look forward to. Carrbon copy bodies, faces, and romances.

LG

Amor, solo para Pedro… y para otros “como” Él.

Each individual, each person, each woman, etc.. has their own way of dealing with love situations. Or so we want to think. We can surely generalize what can or could happen in a given situation. For Tere, in “Loving Pedro Infante” by Denise Chávez, being in love was everything in her life. She had her own ideals and dreams for her life. Her dream of a happy life was to have ‘her’ man, her kids, and her jacalito. Quite simple dream but at how far she could just settle to be close enough to her happy life. Her thoughts with her comadre Irma, were of an independent mujer Mejicana. But then when she was with her lover Lucio, she pretty much throw out her ideals and morals out the window. ‘Una Mujer Mejicana’ usually to most is the exotic strong woman who drinks tequila and well has a curvaceous body. Tere sure did not only considered her self one, but was one to Lucio and other men. Tere brought up other issues of life she had to deal with in her town. In the end she matured enough to understand most of what Irma and her talked about. And to let her lover live his life instead of trying to force herself in his.

-RA

Your typical love story?

If you are a heterosexual (at least) middle-class teen girl that will only express her ‘love’ when the boy kisses her…. Then yes it is your typical love story. Other deviations from this are not within the norm according to most teen romance novels (between 1942 and 1982). Linda K. Christian Smith wrote “Young Women and Their Dream Lovers: Sexuality in Adolescent Fiction”, where she examines how teen romance novels served to shape their femininity and know their ‘place’ in the structure of society.

 

-RA