Bastille Day

A childhood memory that I will never forget is being in Paris on Bastille Day. I remember being in the park next to the Louvre and looking up to see planes flying overhead creating red, white, and blue clouds in the sunny sky. In that moment, everyone stopped and stared up at the planes putting on a show. I also remember a feeling around me that everyone was really happy and joyful. I also strongly recall that same night millions of fireworks blasting off through the city. All of this happened almost a decade ago and I still remember it as just as clearly. I find it really fascinating how some things will stick with me forever, while other things fade into oblivion. It inspires me to try new things and go new places so that I will recall things that I do in this current time for decades to come.

The Coffey Blend

        My parents were born and raised in Ohio and Indiana. However, they later pursued jobs and started their new life in California, which is the place that I most closely identify with. Every other year, my cousins have a family reunion in the small town that my dad grew up it. Whenever I am there, I feel very different from my mid-west cousins. My grandma on my dad's side was white and had Irish ancestry, however my father doesn't identify with the Irish culture. My last name, Coffey, is Irish, however I don't really see myself as a person with Irish roots. Recently, my mom did an ancenstry.com cotton swab test which showed which countries that we derived from. Whilst reading the results, I was fascinated with all the countries that showed up. The thought that the blood of people living in places from England to South Africa somehow runs through my veins is very interesting. However, I couldn't help but feel like a Californian girl. At the end of the day, I think that if you make an effort to keep your heritage, it will stay alive and prominent for many generations. However, I think it is very easy to blend into new cultures.

        

Contradictions: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em

Personally, I think that I contradict myself a lot. I am always trying to live life while doing what I feel is best for me. However, when in doing that, I find that I have a lot of contradictions. I think that contradictions arise when what we morally believe is right conflicts with what we are actually comfortable of doing. For example, when doing my school work, I would be a lot less stressed and tired if I would not procrastinate. Overall, I think that contradiction is something in human nature.

Straying From Tradition

The practice of a woman taking a man's name is a bit outdated to me. I think by taking the man's last name it is somehow taking a way from the woman, because she if forced to ditch her last name. I think that this practice could be improved if either the man or the woman could grant their last name to their partner. And if both parties decide that they like their current last name, then I believe that they should keep it. All in all, I think that practice should be optional. I can't really understand why people would be outraged when a woman does not take a man's last name because 1. just because it is straying from the popular tradition doesn't mean that it is horrible and 2. it is not their business. I think that a lot of problems in society could be fixed if a lot of people just minded their own business. Overall, changing your name should be optional, and not shunned when the woman chooses to keep her own last name.

A Call to Action♀

Often times, the word "feminist" gets a bad reputation due to ignorance, and inevitably is seen as angry fanatical women who hate men. However, feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.The radical feminists are always publicized over the reserved and respectful ones, ultimately becoming the single story or stereotype of a feminist. Being a feminist is important to me because women are equal to men and deserve equal opportunities because we are just as capable and intelligent.

In response to the article about Kaley Cuoco claiming she is not a feminist, I see good and bad aspects of her decision. I see that it is fine that she wants to cook for her husband frequently because she personally likes to do it. However, where she goes wrong is when she says "I like coming home and serving him." The word 'serving" is a bit disturbing to me. That word choice shows that she is putting herself below him and becoming inferior to her husband just because he is the man. I also believe that she may not fully know what a feminist is, because if her male costar earned more then she did because he is a man, I think she may get upset. But, she may just like allowing herself to be lesser, and if that is true, I pity her. She also says that she enjoys taking care of her men because it is old-fashioned. I agree that taking care of men is old-fashioned, and also is outdated and should no longer be practiced because it promotes inequality of the sexes.

I think that we should concern ourselves with "the fight of feminism" because we must break the cycle of women being second to men. The world has been a patriarchal society for centuries and we must seek to break the trend. We must fight for gender equality because women all around the world are seen as lesser than a man, and in some extreme cases don't even have enough importance in a man's mind to have control over their own body. It is extremely unacceptable that women have been mistreated and forced to play a subservient role for so long, so this is why I believe that we must strive for gender equality.

Steps Toward A New Family Dynamic

In Confucianism, the family is most important. The men in the family have larger roles than the women in the family. In London, the family roles are not as rigid. When the Chen family immigrates to England, at first they are still very traditional in the interactions. Chen handles the money and finances while Lily and Mui stay at home and cook the soup and take care of Man Kee. However, as the story progresses, we see that Lily and Mui are the real dominant ones in the family. Lily later takes care of all the finances and drives the car while Mui communicates with the English people and finds ways to generate extra revenue, while Chen takes care of Man Kee. I believe that the Chen family has strayed greatly from the Confucian family model, and is taking steps towards a new family dynamic.

I'm Curious

Lily loves her dear Man Kee and get's excited when people request to have photos of him. However, when it comes to taking care of the child, Mui seems to be doing the most work. In the earlier chapter Man Kee fell, while Mui was watching him. Also, while on the public transit, Man Kee was strapped to Mui's back, rather than Lily's, even though Lily is the mother of Man Kee. Why does Mui take care of Man Kee more than Lily, even though she has enough time to do it herself? Does Lily truly love and care about her son?