Taboos in Tattoos

Below is my article that I did for my literacy class as we started to learn about gender issues across the world and especially in Cambodia.

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Taboos in Tattoos 

“Why?” “Why?” “Why?” A question that always formulates in Cambodian minds when they see a tattooed Cambodian woman. Some people view it as art, while others strongly condemn this practice against her.

In our culture, tattooed Cambodian women are “not common as wearing jewelry.” There are so many perspectives and assumptions of her before they​ even interact with each other.

The majority of Cambodians have developed countless taboos when she embroiders her skin with permanent ink. They label her as a “bad girl,” who may be involved in the sex industry or using drugs. Additionally, this stigma revolves around the idea that she is uneducated and does not obey her parents. They refer to her as:

  • promiscuous
  • gangster
  • rude
  • over the top
  • too stylish
  • sassy
  • brainwashed

She does not respect our Khmer culture,” said Sokha Nen, a Khmer Learning Facilitator at the Liger Leadership Academy, thinking about when he first sees any tattooed Khmer woman. He went on explaining that we have a code of conduct called “Chbab Srey,” which are the Rules for Women that encompass attitudes and behaviors that she should follow. It is expected that she should be polite and gentle. That is why most of our elders believe that it is necessary for girls to be beautiful rather than displaying her strength and aggressiveness like boys.

“Why does she do like that? It is supposed to be only for men,” described Sythong Run, a Liger Leadership Academy student, explaining the mindset of our people. This is where we urge her to embrace her beauty rather than her strength, since tattoos can be seen as a depiction of toughness.

Sokha also explained how tattoos were used in our history. During the war period, many soldiers and police got tattooed with animals and magic tattoos as protection. They believed that it has the magic to shield themselves from gun bullets and enemies. Additionally, they felt more powerful because their tattoos gave them more strength. Even now, there are still so many tattooed soldiers and boxers. “It made a huge difference. It increased the number of victories and reduced the number of defeats,” claimed Mr Eh, a Cambodian National Heavyweight Champion that got interviewed by the Independent.

The society that we live in is less likely to denigrate tattooed men because they can show off their masculinity while she has to conceal her robustness and rather present herself with tranquility and tenderness. Tattooed men are less likely to be judged than her and get less thorny stares from other people than her. Sokha mentioned that it is the man’s nature to get tattooed. The society opens more path for them and are more open-minded if they do anything wrong. Whereas she, “anything that she does is always wrong.”

She looks terrible and she only wants to show off her beauty and sexiness,” said a 43-year-old Tet Channary when she first sees her.

“What the heck? Why does she get tattooed, when the society hates her?” said a 14-year-old Samnang Nuon when he first sees her.

“[She is] aggressive, weird, and not cute” this is how a 15-year-old girl, Phosreyneang Loeurng that has never seen a tattooed Cambodian woman describe her.

“Girls who go out at night,” said Sokha when he first sees her.

“They are slut [that will cheat on their husband and then leave him],” this is how Rathana Oek’s, 23 years old, mom and relatives describe her.

“[She is] brave,” said Sythong Run when she first sees her.

“[She is] cool,” stated Venghour Than, 14 years old, when he first sees her.

Tattoos don’t mean she wants to be sexy.

Tattoos don’t mean she wants to mimic a man.

Tattoos don’t mean she wants to show off.

Tattoos don’t mean she wants to be a slut.

Unfortunately, she lives in a society that constrains her from making her own decision. Rathana Oek explained that her tattooed niece needs to “put her hair down to hide her tattoos on the neck when she goes home.” She also mentioned that a tattooed woman can feel ashamed when she walks in front of the elders because she knows she has upsets them. Besides, in our culture, the groom’s parents are required to ask the hand of the bride from her parents. However, the groom parents will forbid their son from marrying her and vow to not even talk to her parents because all she has done, is getting tattooed.

She gets tattooed because of her love for art. She gets tattooed because she wants to release her anger. She gets tattooed because to remember the best and worst memories. She gets tattooed because she is not a robot that follows all the detailed code. She gets tattooed so that she can express her individuality. Most importantly, she gets tattooed because she does not need to try to fit in the society, and instead she lets the society fits her.

Photo Source:  http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lift/catherine-harry-tattoo-reflects-her-attitude

 

 

 

My Body Fills with Guts

Happy Halloween! So, as a part of our literacy class, we decided to write a creepy, Halloween story with less than one hour. But, there were some guidelines to how we created our story.  In my table, there were seven students, so I started off my story and then after a few minutes, we rotated our paper to the next person on our right side for them to continue our scary story. At last, I got to conclude my own story.

Please enjoy listening to my story below, which is about a journey of a pumpkin.

The Halloween pumpkin turns into a repulsive monster with dancing flames in its eyes, and pumpkin guts flowing out from its mouth. Suddenly, [……..]
 

AP Statistics

Currently, I am taking an AP (Advanced Placement) Statistics course, which is a college level math. With this being said, I have to work a lot harder than the previous year because there are a lot of new contents to absorb in. My class uses a text book as the main resource to help us and there are 17 chapters to get through before we do the test in May. Additionally, we have other resources to guide us to success such as a test book and online worksheets. Moreover, we use an advance calculator TI-83, which has a lot of functions in it.  Normally, I seek out help from my learning facilitator when I don’t understand the concept or my answer to the question is wrong.

Personally, even though that this AP class is very difficult, I still think that it is very worthwhile for me to challenge myself to get to another level. Being able to analysis the data and graphs is very important because sometimes, people can manipulate us with their data and graphs.

Kinematics

A few weeks ago, I just learned about kinematics, which is a way to describe motion. There are four kinematic equations:

Symbols

  • d = distance
  • t = time
  • a = acceleration
  • g = gravitational
  • Vi  = initial velocity
  • Vf  = final velocity

Notes:

  • Something starts from rest → Vi  = 0
  • Something gets dropped → a = g & Vi  = 0
  • Something comes to a stop →  Vf  = 0
  • Something falls down → negative acceleration (g = -9.8 m/s^2)
  • Slowing down/Deceleration → negative acceleration
  • When throwing object up and it comes back down at the same place without air resistance → Vi =  Vf

 

 

Research about Research

What is research? We need to research in order to know this word, right? This is actually we did in Khmer class. I and my teammates researched the definition of research/research paper from five different dictionaries. The common meaning of research is about discovering, exploring, and investigating. Then, as a whole group, we came up with different ways to gather our information. For instance, we can collect information through libraries, pagoda, ministries, dictionaries, ancient buildings, museums, and documentaries. It is very important to know where we can get valid information for our research paper.
 

The Broken Bond

Adult. The word “adult” is normally associated with coming of age. Many people define “coming of age” as the occasion for someone when they become an adult. For instance, I researched about a coming of age tradition in Japan, which is called “ Seijin-no-Hi.” The event is very important for Japanese, who just turn 20 years old. However, I describe “coming of age” as a time when you just realize something or stepping out of your comfort zone not necessary refers to becoming an adult.

 

LGBTQ+, regretful situation, and advice to enjoy your life. These are examples of my coming of age that I want to share with the rest of the world. But, I chose one to depict my coming of age, which is about something that I really regret. The essay below is about how I let go the bond between my father and me without putting efforts to maintain it. Nevertheless, before I get to this stage, I have to go through a very critical process, which is the writing process. After I brainstormed ideas, I began to write my draft. Then, I edited with my friends and then with my learning facilitators. Along the way, I also conferenced with my English literacy learning facilitator about my idea. Additionally, I learned a lot of mini lessons to help me to write a better essay such as: semicolon, comma usage, conjunction, subordinate, concision in writing, sentence structure, and sensory information.   

The Broken Bond

A sudden feeling hit me like a boulder falling from a mountain, causing my mind to go blurry. I realized the bond is gone. The bond between a father and a daughter. The bond that I did not care to loose. The bond that I threw in a deep, black hole without helping it to climb out. The bond that I have forsaken for so many years. It is my fault that this bond is broken and I must get my toolbox to fix this pain, dismay, and regret in order to re-establish this bond. But first, I must remember our most enjoyable moments that initially formed this bond, which was fishing together.

Fish is the main source of protein for my family because it is very accessible. It was on a weekend long ago, when my dad was off work from being a policeman and decided to go fishing.  He asked, “Do you want to come with me?” I was a kid that felt very passionate about playing in the water. So, I responded instantaneously, “Sure, I want to go!” I changed quickly into my old peach faded pants and a long sleeve shirt and headed to the direction of my dad. Then, I hopped on the back of his bike with excitement and immediately held on tight. At that moment, I was as close to my dad as I have ever been.

After a blissful ride, we finally came to a stop in a spectacular location. The green rice farms that went on into an endless horizon. Since that was during fishing season, there were a lot of other energetic fishermen too. There was gushing water running through cracked soil in order to escape to the other bank. I sensed a feeling of anxiety rushing through my veins like magma oozing from the top of volcano because I did not know how to swim. However, I had my courageous hero by my side, so he piggybacked me across that deep dancing creek. When we reached the other side, he quickly took out his handmade net and threw swiftly at the water just to see if there were any fish. Well, the truth was that he did not catch any fish except tiny rocks. So, we continued forward with our journey. As I walked along, I was talking about so many things with my father like my school, my siblings, my friends, and we never really ran out of topics. Later on, my father tried again, but it did no good and I could see misgivings in his eyes because my mom expected us to return with fish for our lunch. I turned around, so that my back was facing him and began to  pray and beg for the fish to show up in the net. Suddenly, my father exclaimed, “Makara, come here, we finally caught a fish!” I dashed through the burning air with a smile to pick up the flopping fish that was attempting to flee from the net and put it in our bag. After I finished, I was squealing and running around causing the bag of fish in my hand to dance along in every direction. Suddenly, he was chuckling and at that moment I felt like we were the only creatures in the entire universe. This was how our bond intertwined and it felt like nothing could ever destroy it.

I wish that feeling could have remained forever because an unexpected change emerged.  The change that I never dreamed that it could possibly happen. The change that had found its way to separate our bond. It occurred during my summer break when I went to fishing with him again. However, this time was extremely different because everything was turned upside down. The ponds were too far from our home so we decided to ride a moto. As soon as the engine started, I did not talk with my father. I did not hold on tight to him anymore. After a few minutes of driving that seemed like a decade to me, we arrived at our destination. We placed our moto on the road and began the uncomfortable hike. It was not the road that caused my discomfort, it was the silence.

The silence that kept growing louder and louder.

The silence that I could no longer bear.

Images, laughs, and smiles during my childhood of fishing with my father flashed through my memory. This caused an ugly lump in my throat that started growing larger and larger, then tears emerged in my eyes. I did not even know why they were running down my face like thick lava. Unexpectedly, I recognised that the relationship between me and my father was no longer existed.  I had let my five years living and learning at Liger separated him from me. I never took the opportunity to speak to him, whether it was by phone or when I went home. I never reminded myself that I still had a father. I never noticed that our connection kept disconnecting, until that moment. It was me. It was me.

I am so regretful that I just let this bond fall apart. At that time, I did not use my strengths to maintain our connection. Now, as I understand my mistake, I would like to glue all of the damaged parts back together. Time is the medicine that will allow me to strengthen our bond. Time will let me show my father how I love him, how I miss him, and how I want to be close with him again. I would like to douse him with my love and care.  I will start by attempting to talk to him more, whenever it is possible. I will call him more often, even though it will be awkward at first. I will share with him my hopes and dreams, my struggles, and my feelings.  I may not be able to recreate the same bond we had, but I can make a new one and who knows, it may even be stronger!

 

 

 

 

PSAT

Liger is trying to prepare our students to take SAT test in March, 2019 by taking PSAT. On October 14, all 50 students took the PSAT, it focuses on math and literature. We used Khan Academy to help us to familiarize the format. To ensure that we simulate the experience as close as possible, we could not ask any questions to our learning facilitators or even discussed among our peers. My biggest challenge was time management because when I reviewed my result, there were a lot of questions that I did not answer. So, that was one reason that drastically affected my overall score. However, I felt quite delighted with my contemporary PSAT score because it was my first try and I have a lot of times left to reach my targeted score. From now on, I will be conferenced with my math and literacy learning facilitators to set goals. I decided to spend at least 30 minutes of my own free time to work on SAT practices every week and I hope that my effort will pay off by seeing an increase in my score when I redo another PSAT in March.
 
PSAT Score 

The Danger of Toy Marketing Strategy on Children’ Perspectives

          Toys play an important role in children’s life from having fun to being creative. However, toys have a very strong impact on them, especially when the toy makers promote their products by using gender stereotypes.

          According to The New York Times, toys are being marketed based on gender between “boys” and “girls.” Walking into toy stores, there are rows of pink toys that relate to beauty and domesticity on one side for girls, whereas on the other side which is full of blue and black toys associated with building and violent stuff for boys. The New York Times reports that parents are buying gender-typed toys not because of their preference, but because their children had requested to. This indicates that kids are learning and adapting to how society designs. They have a mindset that certain colors represent one specific gender. Therefore, they believe that they should play with the colored toys that are right for their gender. Moreover, if this keeps happening, the future will be full of gender stereotypes, where girls and boys are totally separated from each other.

          The research in Teaching Kids News shows that “playing with building toys, blocks and puzzles helps children develop “spatial” skills.” That is why many parents buy the construction sets for their children, especially for their daughters since they have less experience with it. The number of construction sets that are now bought for girls is only 20 percent compared to the boys. An article in Teaching Kids News says that parents do not only buy construction sets for their daughters but also toy weapons. There is a study that showed that games that the kids play that relate to weapons, in fact can help them. It encourages them to be more powerful and less anxious when they are faced with problems. For this reason, it is important that toy makers are not using gender stereotypes, so that both genders can access to these toys.

          As it mentions above, this may seem a positive thing from having more girls interested in building to playing with toy weapons to be more confident when there are threats. However, Teaching Kids News affirms that all of those things are still come in with pink and purple color. Many people are complaining that the companies are still using gender stereotypes. Despite this criticism, the toy makers resist and state, “if the building sets are “girly,” girls are more likely to play with them.” In addition, the design is based on the response that they got after asking the girls on what they want. This demonstrates that toy makers’ marketing strategy is affecting their identity. They now know what color of toys that they should play with.

          When toy makers market their products on specific gender, it is very harmful to the children’s perspective. Therefore, people should take the action now to stop this from happening, all help from toy makers, parents, and the children.

Works Cited

“Different Toys For Girls And Boys?” Teaching Kids News. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
Sweet, Elizabeth. “Guys and Dolls No More?” The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Dec. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
“Toy Weapons For Girls: Too Violent, Or Too Pretty?” Teaching Kids News. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.

Famish Polar Bears

As the Arctic is warming faster and faster, it is also impacting the living organisms in that area, specifically polar bears. The author states, “Sea ice retreats in the Beaufort Sea off north Alaska into waters that can be too deep for foraging.” According to this quote, because of climate change, the ice is melting into the sea that makes it difficult for polar bears to find food. The only way for them to find food is on land rather than in water. The text states, “The natives have relied on these for more than 100 years to store whale meat, called muktuk. Now the freezers are open to hungry bear raids.” As you can see that they come up on land to villager’s houses to take food from them. However, this can be dangerous and people that live in that Arctic village are worried about the bear and their own safety. The author states, “But these meetings could grow more dangerous. The animals could stay longer and get hungrier.” This demonstrates that because of climate change, the polar bears are getting hungrier due the melting of sea ice.
 

Click here to see the original text: https://newsela.com/articles/polar-bears-alaskan-natives/id/23208/

Short Response Paragraph – Before Chicago

Currently, Native Americans have jobs to do to earn money to support their livelihoods. Even though that is the case, long ago they were struggled with the weather, getting food, and keeping warm. The author states, “Then in winter, they would leave the village and build homes in the woods. Each family would build its own home, and would take animal skins with them to help construct their homes.” According to this quote, because of the weather, they had to relocate their homes to other places. At there, they rebuild their homes by using branches to make tents and covered the walls with animal skins to keep them warm. One important reason why they had to leave their homes was because at there, they could find food easily. The author mentions, “They would be able to track rabbits in the winter, and there would also be deer.” As you can see that they could hunt animals easily at there. However, they would not have as much food to eat as in summer because there would be no plants growing in winter, except wild onions. But, even they needed a lot of food for their families to eat to have the energy to work, to find more food. This clearly shows that Native Americans faced a lot of challenges in that time.

Click here to see the original text: Before Chicago