Cultural Differences

Reading Strayer’s last chapter, Accelerating Global Interaction, hit close to home in multiple ways. In the chapters opening paragraph, Strayer beings with a quote that sparked my thinking, “I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile” (Pg. 723), said by an Iranian toy seller. I was caught between agreeing and disagreeing with this idea of Barbie being harmful to that extent, but when you really look at Barbie in a cultural perspective, it makes you wonder how other cultures around the world see Barbie and what they think about the American culture. I’m Mexican-American and I was caught between both cultures and when I played with Barbie all I wanted was to have everything she did; a nice house, pretty hair and clothes, a pet, a nice car, etc. I thought that that is what it meant to be successful and pretty. When I would visit family in Mexico during the summer, I would play with Barbie’s with my cousins and all their dolls looked like them, dark hair, brown eyes, but still displayed the same body type. Their clothes were different and careers as well. When we would play my cousins would tease me by saying that my Barbie was stuck up and all she cared about was money and looking pretty. I was confused on why they thought that; could it be that that is how Americans are perceived? Are we destined to be seen that way because of a plastic Barbie doll? If so, why does Barbie represent all of America and our culture? I kind of disagree with him because I think no one should compare cultures with their own because they are exactly that, different cultures and different ideas. Strayer points out that this toy seller, Masoumeh Rahimi, welcomed a set of dolls by the name Sara and Dara who are brother and sister. These two dolls represent Muslim culture and represented as helping each other through problem solving. Also, to add to this equation, Sara and Dara come complete with both parents, a perfect picture of family support. Now, from what I have learned about the Muslim religion and culture, would it be right to say that these two dolls can be bombers? Does the father have more than one wife? What I’m trying to get at is that no one should judge each other’s cultures because we are all different. The only think we are doing is continuing the cycle of judgments, hatred and misunderstanding.

            Another thing that Strayer hits upon is when he talks about the migrating laborers that have come to the United States. This really hit home because as I have mentioned before, my family comes from Mexico and I have lots of family members from my father’s side of the family who have had to leave their families behind to look for work in the States. Usually, my family doesn’t stay long and when they feel they have saved up enough money working dead end jobs, they return home. It’s a constant thing that they have done over the years just to be able to survive. I have an uncle who is a doctor in Mexico who decided he wanted to practice in the States, but when he got here he had to go back to school and he decided that that was not what he wanted to do so he returned back to Mexico. I have other family members who have made the States their “home” but end up in low paying jobs. I can only be grateful that I’m getting an education and have the ability to one day hold a job without having to face the same issues as my family.

Chapter 21

   Talk about an eye opener! Chapter 21 was full of so much information that it was scary to read and remember that the United States has experienced not just one World War, but two. We have also have experienced the Great Depression (perhaps we have gone through another one?), numerous “smaller” wars, and still currently in one. Of all the information Strayer provides about the history of the United States, what stood out to me the most was how Strayer expressed himself about the Great Depression. I remember taking a US History course during my time at the community college level and learning that Roosevelt’s program: New Deal, was what got us out of the Great Depression and how these new programs offered more jobs and opportunities for restoring prosperity back into our country, but while reading this section in our class textbook, strayer points out that, “ultimately, none of the New Deal’s programs worked very well to end the Great Depression” (Pg. 636).  Instead, Strayer continues to say that the onset of WW II and the spending needed for the war is what got us out of the Great Depression. Is this a matter of fact or opinion?

      As I continued reading, another section that caught my attention was the discussion about the details of WW II. Again, I remember growing up and learning about how WW II was started by Japan attacking Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and due to that attack, the United States declared war on Japan. I was surprised to learn that WW II was begun first as a battle between China and Japan and eventually made it to the United States. Also, Strayer briefly talks out the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but doesn’t go into details about the aftermath of the atomic bombing it had on people. What bothered me the most was that strayer made it sound like the war didn’t affect the United States as much as in other parts of the world and didn’t even mention the discrimination that was going on in the U.S. due to this war; camps were set up for Japanese people and international traveling was not allowed in or out of Japan. I guess history can be retold in so many ways and interpreted differently by different people, but I still believe that history should be taught the same way no matter whether it is at the elementary, community college, or university level.

Capter 17

           Chapter 17 was interesting in that Strsyer nicely described in detail all three revolutions-French, Haitian, and Spanish- and clearly spoke about the difference in each revolution. As I learned something new from each one, what caught my attention was the Haitian revolution as I had no knowledge of Haiti before reading this chapter. I wasn’t aware that during this time, slaves outnumbered white landowners by 460,000 and that Haiti had more than 8,000 plantations! What surprised me the most was that Strayer points out that, “In the only completely successful slave revolt in world history, “the lowest order of the society—slaves—became equal, free, and independent citizens” (Pg. 509). Surprised because growing up, I had only learned about the great struggle African American slaves endured in the United States to become free and equal, but had no idea that in Haiti slaves had overcome and accomplished such an amazing thing as freedom. However, Strayer does make it a point to say that although Haiti won freedom, this event caused and spread slavery in other places such as Cuba due to low production of sugar from Haiti and into the United States. So, although Haiti began to taste freedom again, in other places the battle continued for slaves to survive and win freedom.

            Another part of Chapter 17 that caught my attention was that of the feminist movement. I had earned about the feminist movement in other history classes, but it was nice to be reminded about the struggles women have gone through in order for women to have the rights we have today. Although we have many rights, I still believe that we, as women, deserve more than what we get. Yes, we have rights like voting, working, etc. but we still continue to lack behind the men. Women are now more in the workforce then men and we still get paid less than men and still recently, government and other States are fighting for women not to get abortions or to use contraceptives. The feminist movement began in the late 1900’s fighting for the right to vote, reproductive rights, equal pay, maternity leave, etc. and we are now in the 21^st century and still dealing with some of these issues. If we haven’t completely won women’s rights by now, when will we? Lastly, it was nice to learn towards the end of the chapter that Brazil had established an overly feminist newspaper in 1852 and that Mexico had established an independent school for girls in 1869. Again,  I had only learned about the feminist movement in terms of what happened in the United States but wasn’t aware of the attempts of similar movement around the world.

Chapters 14 & 15

As a child, I remember learning about the Native American Indians and how Columbus “discovered” America. I also remember learning what a smart man he was for making such a great “discovery”. Many years later, I understood the above was incorrect—how can someone make the claim of discovering something when others had, in this case the American Indians, inhibited the area way before Columbus’s arrival? At the beginning of chapter 14, Strayer points out that in 1992, many Native Americans objected to any celebration of the 500^th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the Americas (Strayer 403). In my opinion, I too would resist to celebrate with the simple fact that Columbus didn’t make any significant discoveries and therefore should not be credited or be honored for such false statements. Also, if I were of Native American decent, although, I am of Mexican descent, I wouldn’t want to celebrate in honor of a person who opened the gates to so much devastation and suffering to the human race. In addition, the President of the Indigenous Women’s Network, Winona LaDuke, powerfully declared, “Columbus was a perpetrator of genocide…a slave trader, a thief, a pirate, and most certainly not a hero. To celebrate Columbus is to congratulate the process and history of the invasion” (Strayer 403). With the European’s entry into the Americas, old societies that had already been established were soon destroyed and new ones created. Columbus undoubtedly was seen as a bad person and for all a good reason. What surprised me the most was the vast death toll of the American Indians. Strayer points out that in pre-Columbus time, the population of the Western Hemisphere was around 60-80 million (Strayer 407). As Europeans continued to make their mark in the Americas, they brought with them new diseases that the Western Hemisphere had never been exposed to and as a result, a staggering 90% of Native American Indians died. Not only was there a devastating decline with the Native Americans, but also with those in Central Mexico where the population stood at 10 million before the arrival of Europeans and then declined to 1 million by 1650 (Strayer 407). How sad to learn that the Native Americans and Central Mexicans died innocently all because of other peoples greed to take over more land. My question is, what would life be like if the Europeans didn’t make it to the Americas? Would this world devastation still exist?

               To add insult to injury, as the decline of population continued, it created room for immigrants and African slaves to come to the Americas and continue the brutality of human kind. Not only did the Native Americans and the Mesoamerican population suffer, but now Europeans turned to Africa and began human trafficking over the Atlantic Ocean. In chapter 15, although I have learned this in other history classes, learned about the power the Europeans had over Africa and also the Philippines. It seems as if the more we discover and advance, the more savage we become as a human race. Will there ever be an end to all the madness in the world?

Chapter 11: Muslim religion and women

     No other chapter, thus far, has evoked so many different emotions in me like Chapter 11 has. Reading about the Muslim religion made me question why people believe what they believe. Please excuse my ignorance in advance, but I just don’t understand how people believe in getting closer to a higher being or place and still inflict pain and suffering to others. While reading the section about the Quran and the Muslim tradition, I was so surprised to learn that women in this religion are allowed to be beat by their husbands if they don’t obey them. That word alone, obey, makes me uneasy. Even when said in the Christian and Catholic religion when saying ones wedding vows, I shall obey” makes me feel so little as a woman and makes me feel angry at the same time. The above reminds me of the discussion we had in class about subjugation and whether we could avoid it and I can safely say we cannot. Even in religion, subjugation is evident in that Buddhist follow the teachings of the Buddha, although he doesn’t consider himself Divine, his followers are learning to be like him. It’s also evident in other religions like the Muslims who follow the way of Allah and what Allah says, Christianity, and Catholicism, just to name a few. As a non-practice Catholic, I try to avoid talks about religion for the reason that I don’t fully understand my own, let alone someone else's point of view. I find myself questioning who is God? Why am I following in the words of someone who I don’t know? Who really knows what God’s real words were and are? I know staying away from religion won’t answer these questions, but it sure avoids arguments and misunderstanding with those who are deep believers of their religion.

     Besides having so many feelings about the role of women in the Muslim religion, I found it interesting how women had the right to divorce their husbands if they were unsatisfied with their sex life or hadn’t had sexual relations for more than four months.  I also found it interesting that women are allowed to own their own property and business. Again, excuse my ignorance, why are men allowed to beat their women if they don’t obey but women are not allowed to beat their men if they don’t fulfill their husband roles? I’m sure there is no clear answer to why, but I hope that one day traditions will change for the sake of everyone, not just for specific people or religions.