Warriors, Hunters, and Bruce Lee Q's by Gordon Yeung
1.
In
the text, what do you think influenced the adults and elders to adopt the
mentality
that giving whippings to their children will increase their tolerance for discomfort?
2. The young men see Bruce Lee and Rambo as role models. Why do you think the
young women do not see them as role models as much as the men do and why do you
think these movies do not have as much of an influence on them?
3. Why do you think men have more trouble achieving their expected gender roles than
the women?
4. In what ways do you think civilization has affected the shifting masculinities of what
men are expected to do and possibly how they view masculinity?
5. How do you think the Waorani people can find ways to preserve their old hunting
culture and identity despite more frequent exposures to civilization?
1. I think associating whipping with knowledge and power instead of punishment is what influenced adults and elders to keep this tradition going. Although it causes great pain, it is viewed in a positive and beneficial light. Using it as an experience or a transformation as an individual and gaining the skills of their elders is highly praised and influential.
ReplyDelete2. I think women do not see them as influential because they focus more on providing for others which creates their own sense of female agency. Men and women have their own ways of having power and independence; the men are just influenced through movies.
3. I think men have more trouble achieving their expected gender roles than women because they are often compared to their past generations which can result in a lot of pressure and criticism
4. Civilization has affected the expectations and views of masculinity in some ways. In the U.S., I think men are still pressured and criticized if they show feminine qualities, like emotion. On the other hand, I think some of those expectations are decreasing and I have seen people encourage emotion from those who do not like to show it. I think the younger generation has more of an open mind when it comes to masculinity and are learning to be their own person.
5. I think Waorani people can find ways to preserve their old hunting culture and identity during frequent exposures to civilization by continuing their warrior performances and creating more martial arts clubs; These activities can still create connections to their ancestors. Opportunities to continue expressing their own ways of being men is the key.
1. I think its a sense of "power" as it's purpose is to teach the children about consequences when in reality whopping is a way parents express their stress of parenting and pass it off as a lesson for the kids who don't pay attention.
ReplyDelete2. Men tend to see strength as masculine and feeds into the envisionment of what a man is supposed to be. Women/ girls don't have the mentality of the expression "man up" so it doesn't call to their attention.
3. I think there is too much pressure on what the "ideal" man is supposed to look like that the men can not express themselves or their interests openly without the judgement of society.
4. The toxicity of masculinity is present in any civilization where the men are still considered the "dominant" gender. As the newer generations becomes more accepting of an open male then we would be able to see a shift in the way men express themselves to the world.
5. The Waorani people can continue their ceremonial performances as well as having open classes where people could come in and learn about their culture and spread their beliefs.
1. I think the reason the Waorani believe the whippings are seen as successful in rearing their children is because for them they see this ritual as strengthening their children for the real world or the adult world in which they believe their children needed in order to successfully hunt and perform other laborious tasks. I think that this lack of the ritual it is saddening for Waorani because now it appears to them as though the younger generation is unprepared for the world.
ReplyDelete2. I think the women do not look up to Bruce Lee and Rambo simply because these actors' tasks within their movies do not reflect the roles that the Waorani women have to do in their daily lives. The Waorani women are not expected to hunt or fight so therefore Bruce Lee and Rambo do not reflect or may not necessarily impact how these women view themselves at all.
3. I think men have had a harder time then women in achieving their expected roles because they have had to adhere to numerous conflicting parties who are imposing their own views of masculinity on them. Although, the Waorani women's roles have changed it has not been nearly as changed as the men from pre-colonial to modern times within their community. The Waorani men on the other hand, must stop hunting because they need money to support their families and must engage with outsiders and their different culture to survive so they are unable to fulfill the expectations of both parties: The Waorani community and outsider community.
4. I think modern civilization has changed gender norms for the Waorani men in that now they are expected to act as modern civilization dictates or they will be seen as savages or unintelligent. The Waorani men must abide by not only their own community's expectations but also by modern civilization because that is the only way they can safety navigate in their world.
5. I think that the Waorani's history can be kept alive simply by the community continually teaching younger generations the old practices or just by keeping the memories alive by telling the younger generations about it.
1. I think it is mostly that whipping children has been a part of their culture for so long, that they believe it is effective. If those that were whipped felt like it made them stronger and better at performing certain tasks, then they would also want to whip their children.
ReplyDelete2. I think Waorani women do not see these characters as role models because women are not expected to be the ones that are violent and strong. The young men are expected to be the hunters and perform more violent tasks, so they look up to these characters more than the women do.
3. I think it is because fewer Waorani men can perform the roles that they were once expected to perform. Now, they have to perform other jobs to provide for their families, while the women aren’t expected to change much.
4. I think they still view masculinity the same way, but I think the urban life has definitely affected the way they can perform their gender roles. I think this has changed the way the older generation views masculinity in the younger generations.
5. If Waorani men are not able to continue hunting and performing their durani bai gender roles, then they can possibly do it every now and then, while still shifting their roles and work. They can also continue to teach their tribe about the ways of their ancestors and the importance of their culture.
Wrap Up comment:
ReplyDelete1. It is interesting for me to see that the comments do generally seem to agree that the adults believe that whipping their children is for their benefit.
2. These comments made me think of how the social construction of gender of what society expects of different genders can have on people's thoughts including who they like or look up to.
3. I gained some new insight, I had not thought much that older generations can have a large influence and put pressure on people even today when it comes to masculinity and gender roles.
4. I had also not considered that we see men being expected not to show emotion as a possible factor in how we still view masculinity.
5. There are some good ideas in the comments that I had not considered such as ceremonial practices or clubs.
1. I think the mentality of whipping, is something that certain people believe is a way to enforce discipline, so eleder and adults are utilizing displicine through whipping to make their children uncomfortable and "more tough".
ReplyDelete2. I think that we like to see ourselves especially in movies, so the young women don't see them as role models probably because they feel like they can't relate to them, where as these men are the ideal type of masculinity to the young men so they look up to them.
3. I'm not sure I think men have more than women achieving their expected gender roles, I think that they can face difficulties of feeling "manly" enough.
4. Reading the article, I felt that the younger men who visited the cities had a divide between gender that was less present in the older generations, the elders seems to have a more cooperative community. Going to the cities to work and becoming "civilized" may have made the men feel that had more responsibility in society and made them feel pressured.
5. The Waorani people preserve their old hunting culture and their identity through performance and also passing down stories and understanding their identity, this is exemplified through "durani bai".