sexist we men or sexist women?
Monday, November 26, 2007 (12:14 PM)
according to st dated 26/11/2007, business and professional women's organisations in singapore include:
- Association of Small & Medium Enterprises - Women's Entrepreneur Chapter
- DEW (Development of Economy for Women) Credit Co-operative
- Financial Women's Association of Singapore
- International Women's Federation of COmmerce and Industry
- PrimeTime Busines & Professional Women's Association
- Singapore Association of Administrative Professionals
- Singapore Association of Social Workers
- Singapore Association of Women Lawyers
- Federation of Singapore Business and Professional Women
- Association of Women Doctors
- Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Singapore Nurses Association
- University Women's Association
- Women's Business Connection
- The Women's Travel Club of Singapore
as much as this shows of emancipation of the female gender, there still seems to be some deeply entrenched ideology baggage that lingers. why is there a need to label Women Lawyers, Women Doctors but no need to label Women Nurses? why are nurses assumed to be women while doctors and lawyers otherwise?
at the same time, i'm wondering if there are associations that exclude women i.e.
- Association of Men Lawyers
- Association of Men Doctors
- Association of Men Nurses
- Financial Men's Association etc.
pardon me if i am wrong but it somehow occurs to me that many associations do not exclude either gender but it just so happens that more men dominate these establishments. i am just afraid that if associations are set up for each gender, we are subscribing to essentialism and ultimately mark the gender differential more clearly than ever. if fighting for equality is what we are all looking for, why the demarcation? let's rid the chauvinistic mentality and gender differences. may one day when we speak of nurses, we don't think of 'missy'.
something interesting for EL majors
Friday, November 23, 2007 (3:09 PM)
try this!
1) go to google
2) enter EL3255 exam paper
3) hit enter
4) click the first result on the page
5) VOILA!
what colour is that?
Monday, November 19, 2007 (10:03 PM)
it's not the first time; won't be the last time.
i was pondering about the rationale behind people's reactions (did i say unanimous?) whenever they come to hear that i am colour deficient. the reactions are almost always a point to something red or green and ask me what colour that is. and surprisingly (at least to them), i almost always get it right and they say "there, not colour blind what".
i've come up with a few possibilities:
1) they dun trust that i know that i am colour blind
2) they relish casting me as a freak in freak show.
trust me. i know i'm colour blind. unless... i am the few people who are not while most people are. too bad, i'm the minority, you guys call the shots. if you categorise me as colour blind, so be it. at least to my people, we see the same colours. =) if one day we outnumber you guys, trust me, i'll be the first to label you guys colour blind and ask you the same question.
what colour is that?
gender stereotypes
Thursday, November 15, 2007 (2:36 PM)
below is an excerpt from janice yoder's women and gender: transforming psychology. as you read the text, try figuring out the gender of the two participants.
At a singles bar, Pat watches Chris shoot pool across the room. Chris is an obviously aggressive player taking tough shots and talking trash. Chris has a tall, athletic build, and other players seem awed by Chris' play.
[- who's male? who's female? -]
As the game ends, Chris moves toward the bar for a beer. Pat approaches Chris, pays for Chris' beer, and asks Chris to dance. Chris doesn't know Pat and is a bit wary, but hesitantly agrees.
[- who's male? who's female? -]
As they dance, they chat a bit. They discover that they went to the same high school but Chris graduated a few years ahead of Pat. Pat now teaches at a local elementary school, and Chris is a firefighter.
[- who's male? who's female? -]
are you guilty of gender stereotype?
thank you
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 (6:28 PM)
before my final lesson with nus on friday, i'd like to say a few thanks.
firstLY, i'd like to thank ivle for handing me my assignments without fail 24/7
secondLY, i'd like to thank my f.r.i.e.n.d.s and all musicians for keeping me sane
thirdLY, i'd like to thank my friends for eating with me at the canteen
fourthLY, i'd like to thank the canteen for being so much spacious
lastLY, i'd like to thank 4 of my profs
let me sing you a (part of a) song
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
inspire
Monday, November 12, 2007 (11:59 PM)
i'm running dry on inspiration; though i haven't really been that 'wet' on it. it's been like eons ago since i last wrote something i'm really satisfied with. i don't have narcissistic disorder, nor do i have self-esteem so low that i strain my neck to steal a glance at sleepy's nostrils, but there's never really much to be proud of. the papers are drowning out the creative half of my cognitive capability.
the most amazing thing i read this past few days was an article on the genius again. rumoured to be the head of the prieuré de sion, his last supper revealed yet another revelation. is he really that genius? apparently, if you draw the staff on the painting, the buns and fingers actually fill in as notes and when played right to left (which is how da vinci is used to writing), it actually is a musical piece that is best played with some kind of pipe organ or something. it's supposed to be the most popular instrument during da vinci's time. sometimes, geniuses are really amazing. i would've been sceptical about all these hype over the paintings and stuff if not for the fact that a high percentage of his inventions on paper work in practice. i'm impressed. is he smarter than einstein? seems likely. afterall, the einstein lookalike guy in the m1 commercial looks retarded. what kind of answer is sticking out the tongue?
my music and i
Sunday, November 11, 2007 (11:50 AM)
after reading jx's post, i got inspired to write something longer in an apparently futile attempt to regain my loyal readers - if they existed at all.
no, i don't have any fairy tales to share. is that saddening? i have no idea. there's probably some pros and cons. to be honest, i have been typing quite a number of stuff without publishing because they are all what we do best - complaints. which was why i didn't publish. i think typing them out is an outlet decent enough and being my age, i probably know how to control my anger better. moreover, some of the complaints are quite unacceptable by my own standards.
enough said.
i came in with the intention of doing the same thing but by the time i sat down, all anger dissipated.
it's been a long time since i last did any composition. maybe it's due to the lack of inspiration. maybe it's due to laziness. i dread doing arrangements. it was until recently when a friend approached me for help that i started picking up my instruments again only to realise it isn't supposed to be a plug-and-play thing in its most literal sense. so i had to start figuring out how to work the new software and it sounded really bad initially till i realised most of its functions are the same as my keyboard, it started to get really easy then. though the quality still couldn't match my casio, i suspect its coz of my lousy monitor speaker. but its still tough to work out something i'm really satisfied with all those constraints. i'm still not very happy with the ending but i guess it'll do fine.
going back to jx's fairy tale, somehow i feel that the voyeuristic nature in us really crave to learn some of others' inner secrets and thoughts that i almost wanted to ask him about the princess in his fairy tale. though i'm like guessing and have a bit of an idea who this person is, i decided against asking because secrets are meant to be secrets and because of its very secrecy that it means a lot more to oneself to reminisce when the sky's dark and the stars shine. we aren't so concerned about the moon. i wonder why