1) The Civil War, 1861-1865
2) The 1899 December Philippines takeover
3) The Vietnam War, 1962-1975
4) The Iraq War, 2003-2010
...and many more that I'm sure I've missed in history, and many more that will come unless there is a big systematic and leadership change in this country.
Which means...there will be more. I just don't get why this keeps happening.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wow, really?
Happy 2011! Already the year is looking up, but given the end of 2010, it wasn't that hard to feel like things were getting better.
Have had some rough spots regardless, but am trying to make the best of my job, of my volunteer situation with All of Us or None and New Way of Life's Reentry Clinic, and of taiko. Each part of my life is slowly, but surely, getting better.
On the work front, I'm just getting a little more comfortable with the job, and coming to terms with the fact that while I'm here, with this organization, I'm not going to have much clout or responsibility or say in what goes on from a mission and vision standpoint. It's definitely a change from everything else I've done - anything in the community, even my jobs in Honolulu gave me a freedom to take the work in any direction I pleased - but maybe a good change, or at least I'm trying to live it out that way. I think there's a value in getting to know the kinds of folks in this org - who they are, what they do, and maybe most importantly (and most interestingly), what drives them. What are their motivations? Why do they do what they do, and how did they get there? I have to say, working in a place that caters to privileged JAs and Japanese folks can bring a lot of insight about a lot of things. I once blogged that I would be dedicated to my own community...let's just say it didn't play out exactly how I'd planned, but I think I will come away with it having some valuable experience, and, yes, valuable contacts.
I've even picked up the book Imperial Cruise by James Bradley - a book I bought to give me more insight into the US-Japan relationship and foreign policy today. I thought maybe the history lesson would help me with the work and perhaps become more personally invested. I don't think it's quite doing that, but at the very least, it's a very enlightening read. Speaking of motivations and power, I get to read about Theodore Roosevelt and his Aryan-oriented reasons for carrying out conquests of first our lands, and after today's lunch reading session, the brutal capture of the Philippines. Seriously, our country is super fucked up, and the worst part is that a lot of the things they were doing back then aren't much different from what's happening now. We think times have gotten better - we would love to believe that, as some unfounded indication that we are an evolving, progressing people - but when I read the section on how waterboarding, other forms of torture, plus rape and massacres of the Filipino people were justified in much the same way some of these activities are today, it made me feel so frustrated with so many things. As the author quoted one "Medal of Honor recipient,"
I am afraid some people at home will lie awake nights worrying about the ethics of this war, thinking that our enemy is fighting for the right of self-government....They are, as a rule, an illiterate, semi-savage people, who are waging war, not against tyranny, but against Anglo-Saxon order and decency.
Tell me that doesn't sound like what some people actually believe today. Although it may be put in slightly different terms today, it really just sounds like something Fox News will broadcast to their believing viewers.
So sure, one plus about this job is that I found a great book. Other than that, I've accepted that the work here will be forever frustrating, in a lot of ways, and I just have to learn to suck it up and continue to be proactive about it all.
On the volunteer front, I love doing the monthly Reentry clinics (as a volunteer I help clients expunge their criminal records so that they can finally get jobs and stay out of the prison system for good) and All of Us or None meetings. The All of Us or None group is currently running its Ban the Box Campaign, which would get the targeted city or county to take off the "Have you been convicted of a felony?" check box and question off of job applications. There is so much stigma attached to folks with criminal backgrounds that they are often cast out of society and prevented from getting jobs, which, yes, means that they end up doing something to get them back into prison. To be real, it's the system's fault that recidivism is so high. The checkbox is an unnecessary barrier to getting folks fully integrated back into society, and with the success of the campaign, will come the success of so many people who are currently unable to start over with their lives because of the way the entire system is set up to begin with. Without a job and means to start over, what are they supposed to do?
Much to my dismay, I found out that the CDC (California Department of Corrections) has now become CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation), which is total bullshit, because you know that the state is not going to do all it can to rehabilitate its prisoners. Nothing has actually changed, except maybe another reason to get cities and counties to deny the Ban the Box Campaign because "things are already being done." And anyway, if that were true - if the state was really going to truly work for prisoner reentry back into society, a bunch of corrections officers would be out of jobs. As one of THE most powerful labor unions in California, you know that ain't gonna happen.
There is so much to the prisons issue, and the hardest part is that even Progressives are split on anything "criminal" related. Even in cities like Compton and Inglewood, which are our starting target cities, we've learned how difficult it is going to be to pass something like this. Logically, of COURSE it makes so much sense to
1) hold employers accountable for their hiring practices (often background checks are not correct or incomplete, and so work against the applicant, but unknowing applicants do not challenge the flawed process because of lack of resources; employers also will toss an application if that box is checked, regardless of whether the conviction is related to or affects job performance) and
2) reduce recidivism by helping folks stay out of the system and become healthy contributors of society.
But of course, because of the stigma attached to this community, people are quick to turn them away and dismiss them as "vicious" or "criminal." It's probably one of the most messed up things I've heard of.
Even in Inglewood, an incumbent mayor was voted out this past election because of campaign smearing of a staffer who was helping him get re-elected - and yes, she had a past criminal record. But she had put that behind her and had become a contributing citizen. I mean, really?? To make it better, the camp that did the smearing was supported by someone who had been convicted of shady political dealings himself. Go figure.
But the biggest question for me, personally, is WHY am I in this work? There aren't many Asian Americans involved (the head attorney is Korean American and super awesome), but other than that, I don't really have experiential or personal connections to the work. I mean, sure, I worked with incarcerated youth in Honolulu and that's how my interest started, but I think it's hard to be taken seriously in the space when I'm simply a volunteer in a circle of organizers, formerly incarcerated community people, attorneys, and community members from Inglewood and Compton that are directly affected by the work. I don't have any of that. Yesterday the meeting was incredibly intense and I learned a lot, but I began to wonder if I'm in the wrong space.
Feeling like you're a triangle block trying to fit into a square hole is unsettling. Especially when that feeling applies at work AND volunteering.
To try and be positive though, I do get that progressive outlet I need. Perhaps with some more time I'll understand why I'm REALLY there.
I guess there was just a lot on my chest about all of that.
Taiko has been getting better, though I know it'll never be KETE and there isn't much more to say about that. It's just a matter of getting to know everyone on a more personal level, I guess.
So that's life! And I should really do this more often...because now I feel like I can breathe a little easier. Articulating what's been bottled up for a while is incredibly cathartic. Thus the emergence of blogging to begin with, I suppose.
I leave with this quote from Mark Twain (in the James Bradley book):
There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages.
Edit:
Plus, on the prison piece, when shit like this goes down regularly, how can we all be okay with it!?
Coming up (possible future topics):
- White people and the Malcolm X Process
- How community and non-community people communicate (or don't)
**From now on, to provide things with a little more direction, I'm going to list out topics that have been swirling around in my head and that I've been meaning to post about, but haven't quite thought out enough yet.
Have had some rough spots regardless, but am trying to make the best of my job, of my volunteer situation with All of Us or None and New Way of Life's Reentry Clinic, and of taiko. Each part of my life is slowly, but surely, getting better.
On the work front, I'm just getting a little more comfortable with the job, and coming to terms with the fact that while I'm here, with this organization, I'm not going to have much clout or responsibility or say in what goes on from a mission and vision standpoint. It's definitely a change from everything else I've done - anything in the community, even my jobs in Honolulu gave me a freedom to take the work in any direction I pleased - but maybe a good change, or at least I'm trying to live it out that way. I think there's a value in getting to know the kinds of folks in this org - who they are, what they do, and maybe most importantly (and most interestingly), what drives them. What are their motivations? Why do they do what they do, and how did they get there? I have to say, working in a place that caters to privileged JAs and Japanese folks can bring a lot of insight about a lot of things. I once blogged that I would be dedicated to my own community...let's just say it didn't play out exactly how I'd planned, but I think I will come away with it having some valuable experience, and, yes, valuable contacts.
I've even picked up the book Imperial Cruise by James Bradley - a book I bought to give me more insight into the US-Japan relationship and foreign policy today. I thought maybe the history lesson would help me with the work and perhaps become more personally invested. I don't think it's quite doing that, but at the very least, it's a very enlightening read. Speaking of motivations and power, I get to read about Theodore Roosevelt and his Aryan-oriented reasons for carrying out conquests of first our lands, and after today's lunch reading session, the brutal capture of the Philippines. Seriously, our country is super fucked up, and the worst part is that a lot of the things they were doing back then aren't much different from what's happening now. We think times have gotten better - we would love to believe that, as some unfounded indication that we are an evolving, progressing people - but when I read the section on how waterboarding, other forms of torture, plus rape and massacres of the Filipino people were justified in much the same way some of these activities are today, it made me feel so frustrated with so many things. As the author quoted one "Medal of Honor recipient,"
I am afraid some people at home will lie awake nights worrying about the ethics of this war, thinking that our enemy is fighting for the right of self-government....They are, as a rule, an illiterate, semi-savage people, who are waging war, not against tyranny, but against Anglo-Saxon order and decency.
Tell me that doesn't sound like what some people actually believe today. Although it may be put in slightly different terms today, it really just sounds like something Fox News will broadcast to their believing viewers.
So sure, one plus about this job is that I found a great book. Other than that, I've accepted that the work here will be forever frustrating, in a lot of ways, and I just have to learn to suck it up and continue to be proactive about it all.
On the volunteer front, I love doing the monthly Reentry clinics (as a volunteer I help clients expunge their criminal records so that they can finally get jobs and stay out of the prison system for good) and All of Us or None meetings. The All of Us or None group is currently running its Ban the Box Campaign, which would get the targeted city or county to take off the "Have you been convicted of a felony?" check box and question off of job applications. There is so much stigma attached to folks with criminal backgrounds that they are often cast out of society and prevented from getting jobs, which, yes, means that they end up doing something to get them back into prison. To be real, it's the system's fault that recidivism is so high. The checkbox is an unnecessary barrier to getting folks fully integrated back into society, and with the success of the campaign, will come the success of so many people who are currently unable to start over with their lives because of the way the entire system is set up to begin with. Without a job and means to start over, what are they supposed to do?
Much to my dismay, I found out that the CDC (California Department of Corrections) has now become CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation), which is total bullshit, because you know that the state is not going to do all it can to rehabilitate its prisoners. Nothing has actually changed, except maybe another reason to get cities and counties to deny the Ban the Box Campaign because "things are already being done." And anyway, if that were true - if the state was really going to truly work for prisoner reentry back into society, a bunch of corrections officers would be out of jobs. As one of THE most powerful labor unions in California, you know that ain't gonna happen.
There is so much to the prisons issue, and the hardest part is that even Progressives are split on anything "criminal" related. Even in cities like Compton and Inglewood, which are our starting target cities, we've learned how difficult it is going to be to pass something like this. Logically, of COURSE it makes so much sense to
1) hold employers accountable for their hiring practices (often background checks are not correct or incomplete, and so work against the applicant, but unknowing applicants do not challenge the flawed process because of lack of resources; employers also will toss an application if that box is checked, regardless of whether the conviction is related to or affects job performance) and
2) reduce recidivism by helping folks stay out of the system and become healthy contributors of society.
But of course, because of the stigma attached to this community, people are quick to turn them away and dismiss them as "vicious" or "criminal." It's probably one of the most messed up things I've heard of.
Even in Inglewood, an incumbent mayor was voted out this past election because of campaign smearing of a staffer who was helping him get re-elected - and yes, she had a past criminal record. But she had put that behind her and had become a contributing citizen. I mean, really?? To make it better, the camp that did the smearing was supported by someone who had been convicted of shady political dealings himself. Go figure.
But the biggest question for me, personally, is WHY am I in this work? There aren't many Asian Americans involved (the head attorney is Korean American and super awesome), but other than that, I don't really have experiential or personal connections to the work. I mean, sure, I worked with incarcerated youth in Honolulu and that's how my interest started, but I think it's hard to be taken seriously in the space when I'm simply a volunteer in a circle of organizers, formerly incarcerated community people, attorneys, and community members from Inglewood and Compton that are directly affected by the work. I don't have any of that. Yesterday the meeting was incredibly intense and I learned a lot, but I began to wonder if I'm in the wrong space.
Feeling like you're a triangle block trying to fit into a square hole is unsettling. Especially when that feeling applies at work AND volunteering.
To try and be positive though, I do get that progressive outlet I need. Perhaps with some more time I'll understand why I'm REALLY there.
I guess there was just a lot on my chest about all of that.
Taiko has been getting better, though I know it'll never be KETE and there isn't much more to say about that. It's just a matter of getting to know everyone on a more personal level, I guess.
So that's life! And I should really do this more often...because now I feel like I can breathe a little easier. Articulating what's been bottled up for a while is incredibly cathartic. Thus the emergence of blogging to begin with, I suppose.
I leave with this quote from Mark Twain (in the James Bradley book):
There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages.
Edit:
Plus, on the prison piece, when shit like this goes down regularly, how can we all be okay with it!?
Coming up (possible future topics):
- White people and the Malcolm X Process
- How community and non-community people communicate (or don't)
**From now on, to provide things with a little more direction, I'm going to list out topics that have been swirling around in my head and that I've been meaning to post about, but haven't quite thought out enough yet.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Lots of thoughts and expectations for the New Year.
I know it's still premature to go into a reflection of the oh-so-interesting 2010 year, but I feel like I need to do this, though briefly.
Here's to a great Christmas that I will try my hardest to appreciate, but I'm basically just waiting for this year to be over.
Between moving and readjusting to LA life, studying for the LSAT, learning more about relationships, gaining 10-15 lbs whilst studying for the LSAT, struggling with taiko in this new city, entering a new and unexpected job niche, dealing with financials, and basically rethinking my whole game plan, it's been maybe a bit of a blessing, but all in all? A Real Bitch.
Seriously. It was my Chinese zodiac year - the year of the Tiger - which I thought was supposed to be good luck and fortune and good times all around.
Boy was I in for a surprise. I can't even really express here now what a rough ride it's really been, but trust me when I say it has. This is definitely a year that will change me forever, I think.
It's the first time maybe, as much as I hate to admit even a shred of it, that real life has kicked in. It's a whole new set of challenges and troubles, and I obviously didn't handle it all very well. It was like all at once, my life was turning and changing directions in every way possible. College was a blast, Hawai'i was an amazing, dreamy transition, and now LA wakes me up with a huge bucket of cold water to the face.
I blame my weight gain on the LSAT - I'm still horrified and surprised all at once that I've let it physically get this far - but really I think eating became my way of coping with all the stress that I had to deal with in ALL aspects of my life, really. I just didn't know how else to handle it. I know that will pass in time, but geezus! Reality is cruel. On my body.
I know this is all a part of that "journey" - I do still know that it's all for the best because I will make it that way - but goodbye for now to all that idealism I came out of school and the islands with. Things just don't work out the way you want or expect, at least not all the time and not always in the short term.
In any case, going to focus tonight and tomorrow on appreciating all the great things in my life and the amazing people and support I have around me, because without that and them I never would have made it through the year. Without a doubt.
So with that, I hope that everyone enjoys this holiday season. I know I will be celebrating the end of one chapter and the beginning of the rest of my life! Like in Tangled. harhar. Merry Christmas, world. Hope it's a happy season for everyone because that's the true nature and spirit of Christmas, after all: being with the people you love and cherish the most, and appreciating all of the great things around you.
I know it's still premature to go into a reflection of the oh-so-interesting 2010 year, but I feel like I need to do this, though briefly.
Here's to a great Christmas that I will try my hardest to appreciate, but I'm basically just waiting for this year to be over.
Between moving and readjusting to LA life, studying for the LSAT, learning more about relationships, gaining 10-15 lbs whilst studying for the LSAT, struggling with taiko in this new city, entering a new and unexpected job niche, dealing with financials, and basically rethinking my whole game plan, it's been maybe a bit of a blessing, but all in all? A Real Bitch.
Seriously. It was my Chinese zodiac year - the year of the Tiger - which I thought was supposed to be good luck and fortune and good times all around.
Boy was I in for a surprise. I can't even really express here now what a rough ride it's really been, but trust me when I say it has. This is definitely a year that will change me forever, I think.
It's the first time maybe, as much as I hate to admit even a shred of it, that real life has kicked in. It's a whole new set of challenges and troubles, and I obviously didn't handle it all very well. It was like all at once, my life was turning and changing directions in every way possible. College was a blast, Hawai'i was an amazing, dreamy transition, and now LA wakes me up with a huge bucket of cold water to the face.
I blame my weight gain on the LSAT - I'm still horrified and surprised all at once that I've let it physically get this far - but really I think eating became my way of coping with all the stress that I had to deal with in ALL aspects of my life, really. I just didn't know how else to handle it. I know that will pass in time, but geezus! Reality is cruel. On my body.
I know this is all a part of that "journey" - I do still know that it's all for the best because I will make it that way - but goodbye for now to all that idealism I came out of school and the islands with. Things just don't work out the way you want or expect, at least not all the time and not always in the short term.
In any case, going to focus tonight and tomorrow on appreciating all the great things in my life and the amazing people and support I have around me, because without that and them I never would have made it through the year. Without a doubt.
So with that, I hope that everyone enjoys this holiday season. I know I will be celebrating the end of one chapter and the beginning of the rest of my life! Like in Tangled. harhar. Merry Christmas, world. Hope it's a happy season for everyone because that's the true nature and spirit of Christmas, after all: being with the people you love and cherish the most, and appreciating all of the great things around you.
Friday, December 10, 2010
What has happened to my life
This is a very bad time in my life.
Everything seems stressful, and to top it all off, I've gained an inexcusable amount of weight. Like, VISIBLY. This means at least 10 pounds.
I feel so miserable and mopey, and I have to take the LSAT tomorrow with all of this negativity on my shoulders. I just can't seem to shake it off. I can't even say I at least feel good about myself right now.
And then of course, amidst all the stress my body gives up and now I have a bad cold. If I feel too sick tomorrow (and I will still have to take the test), all the work I've done on this damn test for the past SIX MONTHS of my life is for naught. I really just feel like shit.
This is really the closest thing I have to any diary, and I haven't had nearly enough time spent here.
I guess some positives are that the holidays are coming up, the test will soon be over, which means I can diet and and exercise my ASS OFF, and the people I care most about are here for me. But if only I could just lose the weight right here and now. I can see the fat in my face and mirrors have now become my enemy.
Everything seems stressful, and to top it all off, I've gained an inexcusable amount of weight. Like, VISIBLY. This means at least 10 pounds.
I feel so miserable and mopey, and I have to take the LSAT tomorrow with all of this negativity on my shoulders. I just can't seem to shake it off. I can't even say I at least feel good about myself right now.
And then of course, amidst all the stress my body gives up and now I have a bad cold. If I feel too sick tomorrow (and I will still have to take the test), all the work I've done on this damn test for the past SIX MONTHS of my life is for naught. I really just feel like shit.
This is really the closest thing I have to any diary, and I haven't had nearly enough time spent here.
I guess some positives are that the holidays are coming up, the test will soon be over, which means I can diet and and exercise my ASS OFF, and the people I care most about are here for me. But if only I could just lose the weight right here and now. I can see the fat in my face and mirrors have now become my enemy.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
From my work blog, "US and Them"
I should have posted the original entry here, but I thought it would add some nice spice to my other one.
http://candiceusjc.blogspot.com/2010/11/progressive-rant-or-maybe-whine.html
Check it out.
http://candiceusjc.blogspot.com/2010/11/progressive-rant-or-maybe-whine.html
Check it out.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Where do I belong?
Just watched a clip of an old performance by KETE (Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble)...and it made me long for Hawai'i and that taiko group again.
I've been feeling dissatisfied here in LA, to an extent that I can't quite figure out. In Hawai'i I felt like I had really found myself and figured out my life. I knew that my stay in Honolulu would be temporary, but I discovered my passion for taiko and was ready to reclaim my future in a law career once relocating to Los Angeles, a place I considered home, while also figuring out a way to stay involved in taiko through groups here.
But lately, home has felt...weird, in taiko, and socially. I don't feel comfortable or at home here. I think I'm discovering that everything I thought taiko would be here in Los Angeles isn't, and instead, despite its shortcomings, I really want to be back in Honolulu playing with TCP and KETE. I loved teaching there, I loved being with the group, and sure, it got unbearable and frustrating at times and I couldn't wait to leave, but it got me thinking. If one day I relocated to Hawai'i as an attorney, it might not be so bad. Perhaps start an ACLU chapter over there?
Okay, so it was hard for me to be politically active in Honolulu, which was part of why I was dissatisfied with that experience, so I'm definitely being idealistic here. Plus, I think memory has been kind to my time there, mainly because my time here has proven difficult and well, just different.
I think my taiko experience so far has been at the root of my feeling dissatisfied and somewhat unhappy lately, but there's just something else that I haven't been able to explain.
I want to say it also has to do with my closest friends being away and feeling like they're inaccessible for a while, and life now is just not what I thought it would be, causing a sensation of being unhappy or discontent with my situation now. In Honolulu I hung out with my close friends regularly, whether after practices or on weekends. Here, everyone in LA is away or too busy or inaccessible or I'm too busy or away or inaccessible, and so I'm left with that.
Dok has been wonderful though, in taking care of me despite his own hardships, so I really am grateful for that. I think Honolulu can always figure into my future law career (i.e. if not law school there, relocate to Honolulu to take the HI state bar exam after passing CA, crossing my fingers) in some way, and if I decide that's what I want, it's always a possibility. For now though, I have to stick with this and make it work.
In other news, this entry has been interrupted by a knock on my door. MY BUSINESS CARDS ARE HERE! WITH MY NAME ON THEM!!!
I love work.
I've been feeling dissatisfied here in LA, to an extent that I can't quite figure out. In Hawai'i I felt like I had really found myself and figured out my life. I knew that my stay in Honolulu would be temporary, but I discovered my passion for taiko and was ready to reclaim my future in a law career once relocating to Los Angeles, a place I considered home, while also figuring out a way to stay involved in taiko through groups here.
But lately, home has felt...weird, in taiko, and socially. I don't feel comfortable or at home here. I think I'm discovering that everything I thought taiko would be here in Los Angeles isn't, and instead, despite its shortcomings, I really want to be back in Honolulu playing with TCP and KETE. I loved teaching there, I loved being with the group, and sure, it got unbearable and frustrating at times and I couldn't wait to leave, but it got me thinking. If one day I relocated to Hawai'i as an attorney, it might not be so bad. Perhaps start an ACLU chapter over there?
Okay, so it was hard for me to be politically active in Honolulu, which was part of why I was dissatisfied with that experience, so I'm definitely being idealistic here. Plus, I think memory has been kind to my time there, mainly because my time here has proven difficult and well, just different.
I think my taiko experience so far has been at the root of my feeling dissatisfied and somewhat unhappy lately, but there's just something else that I haven't been able to explain.
I want to say it also has to do with my closest friends being away and feeling like they're inaccessible for a while, and life now is just not what I thought it would be, causing a sensation of being unhappy or discontent with my situation now. In Honolulu I hung out with my close friends regularly, whether after practices or on weekends. Here, everyone in LA is away or too busy or inaccessible or I'm too busy or away or inaccessible, and so I'm left with that.
Dok has been wonderful though, in taking care of me despite his own hardships, so I really am grateful for that. I think Honolulu can always figure into my future law career (i.e. if not law school there, relocate to Honolulu to take the HI state bar exam after passing CA, crossing my fingers) in some way, and if I decide that's what I want, it's always a possibility. For now though, I have to stick with this and make it work.
In other news, this entry has been interrupted by a knock on my door. MY BUSINESS CARDS ARE HERE! WITH MY NAME ON THEM!!!
I love work.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Women
As a side note, I now have a work-related blog to place many of the articles and relevant thoughts that come across my desk. It's mostly US-Japan related topics of course, but with a global perspective, many other factors inevitably come into play.
Most recently, this topic of women in the workplace. It's one of the main topics our organization has been tackling, and there is actually a group of women affiliated with, or a part of, our organization, that are dedicating to researching and collaborating on this, figuring out how to work with Japanese women, how it affects both the US and Japan, strategizing, planning, etc.
But what frustrated me, mainly today, was a report I received via email regarding the trends that are affecting Japanese women today. These trends, no doubt, are affecting women, but the kinds of things that are attributed to women are so surface level, and not really delving into the real issues that cause women to bear social hardship, particularly in the workplace.
There's even a comparison drawn to "Eat Pray Love," and, admittedly, because of all the race-gender-class perspectives I read about on that movie, it made me think that we can't really talk about women without addressing the rest of those lenses.
Within the organization as it pertains to this topic, there are discussions on how corporations are helping women advance by taking into consideration their diverse backgrounds and needs, "challenging" the status quo, encouraging a progressive working environment....
Although at face value, and probably to most people, it sounds great and exciting and effective, when we really take it apart, it's not challenging anything. Sure, working within the system is great, especially for big corporations like Deloitte, but to say they're challenging the status quo especially is a longshot. Corporations are, inherently, not only a part of, but upholding status quo. This, of course, should go without saying.
So really when I see things like this "report" - which, it is worth noting, was put together by Japanese businesswomen and researchers but is being distributed and presented by a man - it's frustrating. Where is the real work to address these women, and why isn't our organization questioning these things?
Of course, as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization I suppose that would complicate things too much. It would offend our membership, our corporate sponsors (we even have defense corps donating major funds), and all those other important people who benefit the most from the status quo. Challenge the system? Are you kidding? It just goes to show how a non-progressive organization can sometimes just prove...well, ineffective for people like me.
Most recently, this topic of women in the workplace. It's one of the main topics our organization has been tackling, and there is actually a group of women affiliated with, or a part of, our organization, that are dedicating to researching and collaborating on this, figuring out how to work with Japanese women, how it affects both the US and Japan, strategizing, planning, etc.
But what frustrated me, mainly today, was a report I received via email regarding the trends that are affecting Japanese women today. These trends, no doubt, are affecting women, but the kinds of things that are attributed to women are so surface level, and not really delving into the real issues that cause women to bear social hardship, particularly in the workplace.
There's even a comparison drawn to "Eat Pray Love," and, admittedly, because of all the race-gender-class perspectives I read about on that movie, it made me think that we can't really talk about women without addressing the rest of those lenses.
Within the organization as it pertains to this topic, there are discussions on how corporations are helping women advance by taking into consideration their diverse backgrounds and needs, "challenging" the status quo, encouraging a progressive working environment....
Although at face value, and probably to most people, it sounds great and exciting and effective, when we really take it apart, it's not challenging anything. Sure, working within the system is great, especially for big corporations like Deloitte, but to say they're challenging the status quo especially is a longshot. Corporations are, inherently, not only a part of, but upholding status quo. This, of course, should go without saying.
So really when I see things like this "report" - which, it is worth noting, was put together by Japanese businesswomen and researchers but is being distributed and presented by a man - it's frustrating. Where is the real work to address these women, and why isn't our organization questioning these things?
Of course, as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization I suppose that would complicate things too much. It would offend our membership, our corporate sponsors (we even have defense corps donating major funds), and all those other important people who benefit the most from the status quo. Challenge the system? Are you kidding? It just goes to show how a non-progressive organization can sometimes just prove...well, ineffective for people like me.
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