#polthe2

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Resistance and conflict. We are all and always at conflict with everything and everyone. We are either fighting about class, race, gender, and several more. There are specific theories on each area; Marxism for class, Cultural studies on ethnicity, Feminism and Queer theory on gender. Everyday is a battle we have to naturally resist because it goes against our conviction. To allow oppression on to yourself is hegemony. If we are truly are political animals then we understand we cannot sit idle on our daily politics. For those who are not familiar with the concept of politics it is basically studying power. By understanding power we desire to use it more because we have the knowledge and understanding of power in our everyday lives. Now power is not restricted on selected few individuals, but everyone has power it just not as strong as the other. If we use it correctly it can be very effective. People have the ordinary forms of resistance using the venues of domination against itself, the weapons of the weak,  Parody and laughter, “Bricolage” (use of creativity to cope, survive and/or challenge the dominant). What this professorial talk gave me is that everybody faces conflicts very day and it may be very well caused by your identity. To win your battles you must know who you are are and what you stand for. If you do not know those then how do you know what you are fighting for is your fight? 

Game of Thrones is my favorite show. It blends fantasy and politics; fiction and reality. The politics makes the fictitious show feel real because it shows the power relations between characters. It does not sugar coat the situation of medieval times, its not all knights saving princes. We have to remember that medieval times are feudal so wars are not supposed to be a surprise. The feudal system also fosters patriarchy, having men as the forefront of everything. To say in other words men were the most important figures in that time. In the show, it started off with the politics of the feudal system. As the story progressed the women started to become more empowered. They started to be exhibit strength and leadership; things a king should be.  Lady Brienne of Tarth. A woman who exhibits strength that could best even the best swordsmen of Westoros. She can go toe-to-toe with Jaime Lannister and Sandor ‘The Hound’ Clegane and defeat them. We first saw her defeating the Knight of the Flowers, Ser Loras Tyrell, in single combat and taking a role of Kingsguard, a job which majority are male. Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen. Mother of Dragons, Queen for the first men and the Andals, Breaker of chains, and yada yada yada, too many titles. She shows both qualities of a king and a queen. She shows strength by amassing her army and exercising its power. If her power could manifest physically it would be represented by her dragons. She shows wisdom by listening to her council to weigh all the options that are available to her. Showing mercy to her subjects and ruthless to her enemies, correctly using her power.  All in all I am happy that the show is pursuing this direction of female empowerment. The shows the power shift from man power to girl power. Most male leads die off and women are there taking over now. As Daenerys said to Missandei, “All men must die, but we are not men”. 

I try to go to the gym at least two times a week and things are not always what we seem. We base our judgement on Western media. Western media portrays the gym as a temple for masculinity, where men can feel empowered by building their bodies to the image of Greek gods. If you enter the gym, you are at the mercy of the wolf pack inside; this is their territory and they will protect it. They can marginalize or oppress people if they want. This is their space of power. They can oppress fat people if they feel like it or objectify beautiful women just trying to workout in peace. Now I do not exactly like it how Western media portrays the gym, or it could be possibly only the space of the gym from the West that are like this. But here in the Orient, here in the Philippines, it is different.  In my local gym the context of space I have observed is different than what is portrayed in Western media. I have seen the men as taking a quiet role in the gym. They do not travel like packs of wolves, but the men I observe is that they are alone in their own world concentrating on their own business. The women act like the new wolves. They sort of become the image of strength in the gym. In the gym we even have female combat instructors. I have visited different gyms and that my gym has a larger female population. Its easy to see that women are empowered in our gym. They are opposite of how the West portray Oriental women. I am for gender equality and it feels great that women are getting stronger not only physically, but also socially. Women are becoming bigger voices now in society and some are proving to be valuable to society by being productive.  

Sometimes it just sticks. its really the people who has the power. If they automatically associate you with something, that is pretty much you now. You cannot just change how they see you. The information and association is already there, you cannot erase it. If you try then things are just gonna get worse. Take for example ‘careless whisper’, it has been used to ‘set the mood’, but if you listen to the lyrics its actually a sad song. It is used the opposite way than its intentional meaning. What I am trying to say is that people have the power. 

Do we shape society or does society shape us? We sometimes think of ourselves as unique, but how are we unique in our scene of identity? How do we make our self unique if the narrative of the past shape us? If stereotypes exists and misrepresent us? My answer comes from a character in Game of Thrones, Tyrion Lannister, and he tells us to make own it, if people see it as a way to oppress us then ‘wear it like armor’ so that it could not be used to hurt us. We cannot just simply change the world to our will. Sometimes things, stereotypes, just stick on to people. We should see our selves as special because our story contributes to the grand narrative that we all participate in. Hawaiian music are often misrepresented with the Hawaii five-o theme song and the meaning of Hula. These are caused by the interpretation of Western media. This misinterpretations can be offensive, and people can feed from their frustration and this would make stereotype stronger. If popular media misinterprets us, the whole world will misinterpret us.  

I support the He-for-She movement. it advocates for gender equality, not the domination of a single sex. Our society and history is already built on a Patriarchal narrative. There are a few women who would be remembered in history books and majority would be consisted of men. What I do not still fully understand is that the inequality still continues today. I mean I understand in like times of hunting and gathering when men actually have a physical advantage, but we do not exactly do the hard work now. We have transitioned to an age of information where the highest paying jobs require the least amount of physical activity. I still wonder why there such inequality exists? Is it just because it has been the norm for so long that we can just say we got used to it? We need to break the norms to change., we must not be afraid to go against the norm. I believe that women can be powerful, they do not have to be damsels in distress every time. They are capable with whatever men can do. Men are not a whole different species or being, men and women are human beings. Having a dick does not mean superiority, but just your function in procreation. Not only women are abused by men, but young boys are being abused too. These “masculine” men tell boys not to be sensitive, to always act tough, be an alpha. I find that unacceptable. Real mean know how to show emotion. We ask equal treatment for different races, heck even animals have rights now. Why is it so hard for women to be treated fairly in today’s society? We will not lose anything, we might even gain by receiving a boost in our economy for a larger labor force. If we really want to change, I think change should start from an early stage, we must show our daughters how to be already empowered. For the young boys, we should teach them to be also sensitive, this  would be empowering for men too because we do not have to be afraid of being marginalized by their fellow men. If a child grows to be empowered then they tend to become fearless and powerful people in the future.