Eng/Wom 279: Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy: Helva and her decision.: "As we read in The Ship Who Sang, I found it very interesting that Helva decided not to stay on the Courviki planet. After thinking and discu..."
This Blog is a response to the blog above :)
I actually wrote a blog post earlier that address that problem, that I would like to reference: http://adeepinsight.blogspot.com/2010/12/are-we-attached-to-our-bodies.html
I don't feel that it was that "if there was no ship, there would be no story" as the reason that Helva didn't make the change on the Courviki planet. As, truly, the story would follow Helva during her change and afterwards.
I think it, again, has to do with the familiarity of us to our own bodies. It's a bit scary to imagine ourseleves in another body, because we have been in ours for so long. After a bit of though, I'm sure that we could make that change if we wanted to, and we wouldn't have a problem with it. If you've ever read Stephanie Meyer's The Host, it tackles that issue pretty well. Where it tells the story of aliens that adapt and take over a body who becomes their host (see the tie in to the title? :))
Eventually, as we live longer, we're going to have to start replacing our body with prosthetic parts (we already are today, infact.) Who knows, one day, we may have to replace our whole body. It may be the time to start mental detaching ourselves from our body, so that we can cope with it when the time comes.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Are Women in Sci-fi and Fantasy Novels Always Set to Be Outcast?
This is a topic that I am struggling with in my final essay that I'm writing. After some research and thought, it seems that in all of the novels we've read, and many of the novels I've read, that strong women characters are ALWAYS outcast from society.
Katsa -- Outcast because of her grace
Princess from Deerskin -- Outcast because her parents ignore her AND later because she choses to be
Nell -- Outcast because she's a girl and because of her income level
Helva -- Largely outcast from main points in society because she's a brain ship
The alien from bloodchild I can't remember the name of - Outcast because of her race and because is of another society
So, as you can see, the strong women in the stories that we have read in class are normally outcast from society. If you look at other novels, strong women characters are also outcast. If you know of any novels where there is a strong women character who isn't outcast in some way, please leave a comment so I can look it up :) And it has to be sci-fi and fantasy!
It worries me a bit though how sci-fi and fantasy women are still outcast as women in our society are gaining better rights and status. These genres tend to be reflective of our world. So, if they're not changing in the novels, what does that say about our society today? Something worrying to think about :/
Katsa -- Outcast because of her grace
Princess from Deerskin -- Outcast because her parents ignore her AND later because she choses to be
Nell -- Outcast because she's a girl and because of her income level
Helva -- Largely outcast from main points in society because she's a brain ship
The alien from bloodchild I can't remember the name of - Outcast because of her race and because is of another society
So, as you can see, the strong women in the stories that we have read in class are normally outcast from society. If you look at other novels, strong women characters are also outcast. If you know of any novels where there is a strong women character who isn't outcast in some way, please leave a comment so I can look it up :) And it has to be sci-fi and fantasy!
It worries me a bit though how sci-fi and fantasy women are still outcast as women in our society are gaining better rights and status. These genres tend to be reflective of our world. So, if they're not changing in the novels, what does that say about our society today? Something worrying to think about :/
Are We Attached To Our Bodies?
There is a point in the Ship Who Sang where Helva asserts that her ship IS her body. (Note: We talked about this in class on Tuesday, and this is me getting around to writing about it ;)) This got me to thinking, why are we attached to our bodies? Sure, they're the shell that we inhabit, but I feel that we are similar to Helva, where that isn't what really makes us and that we have something put inside our body that is truly us.
So, for this blogs sake, let us assume that I am right that that is what we are made up of. Something inside of our body. So, what is it that attaches us to our body if that's not really us? After some thought, I think I've decided that it is familarity that makes us so attached to our bodies. Just as Helva has (almost) always had her ship body, and has become very attached to it, we have always had our human body, and this is the reason why we are attached to it. It does make me think though, how do people with some type of deformity feel about their bodies? Are they attached to these deformities because they've always had them?
So, for this blogs sake, let us assume that I am right that that is what we are made up of. Something inside of our body. So, what is it that attaches us to our body if that's not really us? After some thought, I think I've decided that it is familarity that makes us so attached to our bodies. Just as Helva has (almost) always had her ship body, and has become very attached to it, we have always had our human body, and this is the reason why we are attached to it. It does make me think though, how do people with some type of deformity feel about their bodies? Are they attached to these deformities because they've always had them?
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Eilis' Thoughts: Mixed Feelings
Eilis' Thoughts: Mixed Feelings: "As I finished the book I had very mixed feelings about it. While I was happy for Helva who seemed to have found a brawn she is compati..."
My response is to the latter half of the blog post that I have linked, which mentions the mourning of the ships.
It would be incredibly hard to condition anyone on how to deal with loss of a loved one. Once you lose a love one close to you, especially your partner or a parent, there comes a point where you'll feel like everything is over. However, usually, people will be able to cope with it. Although they will never be able to forget this person and they will ALWAYS be sad about it in some way. The problem with saying that someone should be able to be conditioned to mourn is that mourning is an incredibly personal experience and that no one does it in the same way. For instance, some people try to forget the pain, others celebrate their lives, and others cannot forget the loved one and will always remember them.
Also, you need to remember the Central isn't flawless. There is a point in the book, where Hevla visits the planet where the religion celebrates death, that Helva is talking about how some of Centrals conditioning is flawed. For instance, she comments on the Brawns (whom I forget the name of at the moment) conditioning to not allow her be conditioned again -- which is why they were not able to condition her to not kill herself. You need to remember the Central has NOT perfected their methods of conditioning :) I'm sure it is something that they've thought of, but just haven't found a solution for.
My response is to the latter half of the blog post that I have linked, which mentions the mourning of the ships.
It would be incredibly hard to condition anyone on how to deal with loss of a loved one. Once you lose a love one close to you, especially your partner or a parent, there comes a point where you'll feel like everything is over. However, usually, people will be able to cope with it. Although they will never be able to forget this person and they will ALWAYS be sad about it in some way. The problem with saying that someone should be able to be conditioned to mourn is that mourning is an incredibly personal experience and that no one does it in the same way. For instance, some people try to forget the pain, others celebrate their lives, and others cannot forget the loved one and will always remember them.
Also, you need to remember the Central isn't flawless. There is a point in the book, where Hevla visits the planet where the religion celebrates death, that Helva is talking about how some of Centrals conditioning is flawed. For instance, she comments on the Brawns (whom I forget the name of at the moment) conditioning to not allow her be conditioned again -- which is why they were not able to condition her to not kill herself. You need to remember the Central has NOT perfected their methods of conditioning :) I'm sure it is something that they've thought of, but just haven't found a solution for.
English 279: I wonder how important physical touch is for a per...
This blog is a response to:
English 279: I wonder how important physical touch is for a per...: "I wonder how important physical touch is for a person mentally and physically. I guess being a very touchy person myself it is hard to..."
I'm responding to this blog of a very personal level. The above blog post refers to the Ship Who Sang, and how she cannot physically touch people, because, for all means, her body is literally a ship. Sure, she can "experience" touch, but, it's not really with her body, and thus, it is not satisfying. We can see this when she thanks a woman for crying for her.'
Anyway, I wanted to go out and state that physical touch is EXTREMELY important for intimacy. I have been in a long distance relationship for around 4 years now, and I can tell you that there is something lost when you don't have that physical touch aspect. Even being able to give a hug to someone, look them in the eyes, or the rest a hand on their should allows a special form of intimacy that cannot be reached without touch. When that touch is lost, there's a sort of need for it. And while it's possible to cope and find other ways to try to replace that, eventually, it ends up making your relationship suffer. This is why it is recommended to LDR couples to see each other every other weekend usually. It allows them to keep this intimacy. I also cannot imagine never having physical touch. Only having it occasionally it hard enough but, I think it's built into the body to NEED it. So...never having it, must be unimaginable. The only thing that must be stopping Helva from destroying herself with this knowledge is her conditioning.
English 279: I wonder how important physical touch is for a per...: "I wonder how important physical touch is for a person mentally and physically. I guess being a very touchy person myself it is hard to..."
I'm responding to this blog of a very personal level. The above blog post refers to the Ship Who Sang, and how she cannot physically touch people, because, for all means, her body is literally a ship. Sure, she can "experience" touch, but, it's not really with her body, and thus, it is not satisfying. We can see this when she thanks a woman for crying for her.'
Anyway, I wanted to go out and state that physical touch is EXTREMELY important for intimacy. I have been in a long distance relationship for around 4 years now, and I can tell you that there is something lost when you don't have that physical touch aspect. Even being able to give a hug to someone, look them in the eyes, or the rest a hand on their should allows a special form of intimacy that cannot be reached without touch. When that touch is lost, there's a sort of need for it. And while it's possible to cope and find other ways to try to replace that, eventually, it ends up making your relationship suffer. This is why it is recommended to LDR couples to see each other every other weekend usually. It allows them to keep this intimacy. I also cannot imagine never having physical touch. Only having it occasionally it hard enough but, I think it's built into the body to NEED it. So...never having it, must be unimaginable. The only thing that must be stopping Helva from destroying herself with this knowledge is her conditioning.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Women in Literature: Star Trek
Women in Literature: Star Trek: "I would like to first say that I HATE Star Trek!! So Data, what is his role? I know that he saved the captain and then the captain went back..."
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I am writing a response to the blog post that I linked above. Ignoring the "I hate Star Trek" part, as that's not important, but talking about women's roles in star trek, as well as the important of Data.
To clarify, Data began to have human feelings to an emotional implantation (I believe.) This is important because it is emotions that really make us human. By him having emotion, he can really understand what it means to be human and why the Borg need to be fought -- as well as why his other crew members are important. Without these emotions, to be honest, he would work off of what is logical. And sometimes, saving everyone on board a ship isn't logical.
As to why Lily is always running from the battle, what reason does she have not to? She's not trained in combat, at all. If you came acrossed a battle happening, and you had no training, wouldn't your natural response be to scream and run? I'm pretty sure mine would. I think it's important to think about these things before we immediately declare gender as the reason for something, because there are other factors as well. I hate to say this, but sometimes, it feels as if the gender card is thrown around way too often, and the same with racism. If we really want to promote health gender in society, then we need to stop declaring it so freely without reason.
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I am writing a response to the blog post that I linked above. Ignoring the "I hate Star Trek" part, as that's not important, but talking about women's roles in star trek, as well as the important of Data.
To clarify, Data began to have human feelings to an emotional implantation (I believe.) This is important because it is emotions that really make us human. By him having emotion, he can really understand what it means to be human and why the Borg need to be fought -- as well as why his other crew members are important. Without these emotions, to be honest, he would work off of what is logical. And sometimes, saving everyone on board a ship isn't logical.
As to why Lily is always running from the battle, what reason does she have not to? She's not trained in combat, at all. If you came acrossed a battle happening, and you had no training, wouldn't your natural response be to scream and run? I'm pretty sure mine would. I think it's important to think about these things before we immediately declare gender as the reason for something, because there are other factors as well. I hate to say this, but sometimes, it feels as if the gender card is thrown around way too often, and the same with racism. If we really want to promote health gender in society, then we need to stop declaring it so freely without reason.
Lily and StarTrek
I had the opportunity to finish the movie last night, and it again brought me back to something that the speaker had said in our class. She spoke about how they didn't mention Lily to the historians when they got back, thus keeping the women in their society to a lower post and not correcting one of the social problems of the past. However, I have to question if this is truely their motivation.
The Borg go back into the past to stop an event that has happened once already -- first contact. And they do this to disrupt the future and beat them in a fight without (theoretically) having to fight them at all -- until the Enterprise follows. Now, theoretically, the Borg can do this again sometime in the future -- as the Borg still exist in the future Star Trek episodes (I think. I haven't seen very many. I know. Shame on me.)
If the Borg have done this once, why wouldn't they do it again? If the Enterprise had Lily written down in history books, instead of the Borg focusing on stopping the doctor from launching his space ship, instead, all they'd need to do is kill Lily. And, from watching some of the scenes in the movie, such as the ballroom (?) one, it seems as if they were pretty close -- if they had noticed them.
Hell, if you've seen the new Star Trek movie, time is played with there as well. Although in that movie it creates a seperate dimension, it's very similar to what the Borg did.
Lily's role is too large in the future of the Earth, and I believe that by not having historians correct what happened, they are working to protect her, instead of it being an issue of social and gender issues.
The Borg go back into the past to stop an event that has happened once already -- first contact. And they do this to disrupt the future and beat them in a fight without (theoretically) having to fight them at all -- until the Enterprise follows. Now, theoretically, the Borg can do this again sometime in the future -- as the Borg still exist in the future Star Trek episodes (I think. I haven't seen very many. I know. Shame on me.)
If the Borg have done this once, why wouldn't they do it again? If the Enterprise had Lily written down in history books, instead of the Borg focusing on stopping the doctor from launching his space ship, instead, all they'd need to do is kill Lily. And, from watching some of the scenes in the movie, such as the ballroom (?) one, it seems as if they were pretty close -- if they had noticed them.
Hell, if you've seen the new Star Trek movie, time is played with there as well. Although in that movie it creates a seperate dimension, it's very similar to what the Borg did.
Lily's role is too large in the future of the Earth, and I believe that by not having historians correct what happened, they are working to protect her, instead of it being an issue of social and gender issues.
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