From Prada to Nada and Old El Paso

source: http://www.daemonsmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/from-prada-to-nada-movie-photo-04-550x309.jpg

I recently saw the movie From Prada to Nada, a movie about a pair of Mexican American sisters who live the high life until their father dies. When the father dies they discover they are in debt and in turn are forced into moving to their aunt’s home, who lives in a low-income neighbourhood with a high Latino population. During the duration of the movie I really did not know if I should laugh or cry. This movie is a parody of Mexican culture. It is built of stereotype after stereotype.

You can watch the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvY6WPO5DMc&ob=av3e

First one of the daughters claims she is not Mexican. This reinforces the image that Mexicans are ashamed of being who they are and that they wish to be American.

There is, however, one well-educated Mexican depicted in the movie (which I appreciate) – he is a university professor. However, he is the Mexican with the lightest skin in the movie, reinforcing the belief that lighter means better education, more money, and overall wealth. I want to note that I appreciated a light skin Mexican was included in the movie, to show that we do not just come in one shade (an issue I mentiond in my other post here: http://the-needle-in-the-haystack.blogspot.com/2011/07/little-to-think-about-when-it-comes-to.html).

Even though I was drooling at the sight of our delicious traditional foods, I had to laugh at the fact that every woman in a house party was dressed in traditional Mexican clothes. Nobody really does that in any of our parties. Yes, there are always the extra enthusiastic people who dress up for Independence Day, and it is a lot of fun, but nevertheless it is not the norm to find a whole party dressed up.

What I found most offensive was that the aunt seemed to be running a type of sweatshop in her house with a bunch of ladies working making clothes and whatnot. To add to this, when a well-dressed individual knocked on their door they immediately hid all their work because they believed it was la migra (immigration), who was there to deport them.

At the end the “good” Mexican heartthrob, was depicted as handsome, rugged, poor and with a macho attitude. This “good” Mexican ends up with the sister who did not like to acknowledge her roots. The second sister, who is studying to be a lawyer, ends up with the handsome, rich and white lawyer. Because of course in a movie full on Mexicans, if there is a successful and good person he has to be white right? He cannot be Mexican as well.

What also annoys me is that the half-brother of the sisters, who in fact is the one who buys their home, is married to this mean white woman. Why couldn’t he be married to a mean Mexican, or a mean black, or Chinese woman? It reinforces the stereotype that Mexican have this messed up dream to find a white person to love even if they are horrible people. It is ridiculous that to end up with a white person is somehow a “success.”

I hated that movie and I hated the fact that Televisa (a major Mexican television company) was part of the production. But I will talk about that next week.

To end this post I would like to invite you to watch two short commercials which air daily here in Canada. It is advertising Old El Paso Tacos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3KXaF2_UzU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSTJ5Xe-E8c&feature=related

First of all, I do not know any fellow Mexican that eats that food. Real tacos are not that crunchy nonsense. There are all types of tacos and the only “crunchy” tacos we have are not even crunchy. They are called tacos dorados, and they basically consist of rolling your chicken (or whatever you prefer) in a soft tortilla and then frying them: all fresh and all delicious.

Not only do we not eat that food, they are trying to make it seem like it is all we eat. Then they depict everyone as being less than intelligent and having these huge dilemmas over soft or hard tacos, over how not to make them fall over. They also show us as all being rural and again in traditional clothes. In fact the real rural people of Mexico are the ones who eat the best and most delicious food one could find in Mexico.

Ask any Mexican you know, we do not eat that stuff and neither should anyone else because it’s really unhealthy and looks disgusting. I think it’s really unfair not only to our image, but to the public who thinks that they are eating Mexican food.

Moral: Make a real Mexican friend and go to their mom’s house to eat some delicious food, or better yet, come to my house; I’ll make you some great tacos dorados.

With love your Mexican blogger,

Belisa

Birth control and the Pressure on Women

I have decided to look at something that everyone sees as “normal” in today’s society.

Before you immediately jump to conclusions about this article, please note that I am not advocating premarital sex, taking the pill, or anything of the like.  I am merely saying that if it is out there, it needs to have adequate research.  I also hope that those of you who are against the whole idea remember that some women are forced to take the pill for reasons unrelated to sexual activity, out of medical necessity.  Some women have irregular periods and experience hormone fluctuations which affect their body in negative ways and are thus prescribed the pill.  If it is being given out for medical reasons as well, that is even more reason to provide adequate research on its effects and risks.  Finally, I just want us to examine what we all consider "normal"; we are in a society where it is "okay" for women to take more responsibility, risk, and even sometimes, stigma, to avoid getting pregnant.  We are responsible as if a man has no role in pregnancy at all, and he does not have to face any additional health risks or trouble.



Ladies, if you do not want to get pregnant then you have to take birth control.  Just go to your doctor, tell them you are sexually active, and they will do a few tests and give you the pills.  You take one every day around the same time, and there you are.  In fact it even regulates your period!

Sounds great right?

Wrong. 

Health risks

There are other countless health risks such as high blood pressure, hypertension, changes in vision, increased risk of heart attack, blood clots (sometimes fatal), gallbladder disease, gallstones, resistance to insulin, immune system suppression, strokes, tumors, ectopic pregnancies, cervical cancer and even jaundice.

Then there are the “regular” side affects such as changes in mood, including depression.  Obviously it’s perfectly fine for a female to experience things on a daily basis since we are “more emotional” already anyway right?  It’s fine, we deal with it all the time.  There’s also the unpleasant 1-2 weeks of vomiting at least one of your meals out while your body adjusts to birth control.  Very nice.

Lack of Research

There is not nearly enough research on the effects of birth control or even what interferes with its effectiveness and what does not.  For instance, did you know several supplements, even natural ones, can make birth control less effective?  One such example is St. John’s Wort.  No doctor ever told me this, and it is not even widely-known in research.  This was through my own research that I later found this out.  I had to go out of my way to check; nobody told me when I was buying it, there was no warning on any labels, and nothing to even make me suspicious.  These kinds of things should not be hidden and hard to find; they should be out in the open for all of us to know.  There also needs to be more research as to the effects of smoking either nicotine or even marijuana and how that might interfere with birth control.

Still, we need more definitive answers.  Telling me what “may” or “may not” happen does not really help me.  Tell me why something might happen, what is more likely to happen, what is less likely to happen, and for what reasons.  The fact that these really serious issues are brushed over like they are nothing means that people are not taking the risks seriously in accordance with their own bodies.  When you hear “may happen” you think “probably won’t happen” and never think about it again, until you’re in the hospital and you lose your life and the whole thing comes as a shock to everyone around you.

Sexism

The main issue that lies behind this lack of research is the fact that this is a female-related issue.  This makes it both i) taboo as women should just be quiet and deal with whatever is thrown their way quietly, and ii) sexism in the sense that female medical issues are never taken as seriously or as widely-researched as male medical issues; just look up the differences between heart attack symptoms for males and females; I bet you didn’t know that the symptoms will be different; oh wait, that’s because nobody educates us on this).

Additionally I’ve noticed that it is women that have to worry about taking the pill on time, women that have to worry about missing one or two, women that have to go to the trouble of making sure to go to the doctor regularly, women that have to deal with all of the symptoms that they hardly even know about.

What I would like to know is why there has never been a “pill” for men.  Something to control the flow of sperm perhaps; something to prevent it from impregnating a woman.  But no.  Instead, a woman is faced with the burden alone.  Doctors don’t even think that such a thing should be developed because women got it covered.  Why should men worry?  It’s the woman that gets pregnant.  Not like it takes two people to make a baby or anything like that. 

All men have to worry about is slapping on a piece of latex and then taking it off, and sometimes if they are aware a female is on the pill, not even that much. 

-Nancy L.

Have Some Respect for the Dead

I am not sure if the rest of you are aware of these trends, but I have been seeing a lot of videos around where the head has been removed from a frog or a squid (thankfully they do not show this process) leaving the rest of the squid and basically the frog’s legs.  The “cool” part starts when they pour either salt or soy sauce (high in salt) on to these and the squid’s tentacles or the frog’s legs begin to “dance.”

If you want to see what I’m talking about or don’t understand, watch the following video (I warn you, if you have a problem with watching these sorts of things do not watch the videos; I personally found them disturbing).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YZJt_Bw3eo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RcZkrz3lmY&feature=related

I did not really know anything about this but according to the info on the second video with a squid the user writes: “This Japanese delicacy known as odori-don or "dancing squid rice bowl" is a variation on traditional squid sashimi and uses soy sauce to create the disturbing illusion of bringing a dead squid back to life. The dish comes with the head cut into small sashimi slices and the rest joins as a side plate once the "performance" is complete. This controversial method of preparing sashimi while it's still alive is known as ikizukuri, and is banned in Australia.”

So what exactly is my problem with all of this?

Beyond being disgusted by looking at dead “food” moving (how cooked is it if it still has these capabilities?) I am equally disgusted by the fact that people are so entertained by it.  I am not disrespecting a cultural food or tradition but what I am trying to say is if you choose to eat animals/living creatures for food (which I do) I think that there comes some responsibility with that. 

You do not need to further disrespect the animal by having fun with its corpse.  Those that prescribe to religion will attest that while God has given us the right to eat other animals for our livelihood, we are to be thankful and not to let it have died in vain – that is, by not wasting it, and also by not disrespecting it by mocking it.  Whether you believe in God/religion or not the theory behind this makes perfect sense.  If you are going to kill an animal, do so respectfully.

These kinds of practices make me feel like we are all just animals ourselves with not an ounce of understanding. These things once had lives and why would anyone enjoy making a show out of its corpse? 

If you are going to take the life of a living thing to eat it there is no need to add further insult to injury.

-Malcolm

My Experience Donating Blood

Last year I donated blood for the first an only time. I stopped not for lack of altruistic spirit but because I found something within the procedure that offended me completely. For those who have never donated blood let me break it up a little bit, you basically go to a station at your school or a mall when the Canada Blood Services are up taking donations. They ask you if you ate today, and if you haven’t, they send you to eat something so you do not pass out. You also have to be a minimum of 110 pounds, again so you do not faint. They also ask you if you have given birth within the last six months or if you are breast feeding. This is all to keep you safe from becoming too weak when the blood is taken out from you. All this is perfectly fine…

After you are told to sit down and fill a questionnaire, the questions you are asked to answer alone also seem very much standard, such as; “Are you feeling well today?”. When you are through with that questionnaire you are called to speak with a nurse to fill out another questionnaire. This is where the problems start.

This part of the questionnaire is racist, homophobic and discriminatory on so many levels. You are asked if either you or your mother or grandmother were born in Mexico or Latin America. It asks if you have visited these countries for a significant amount of time. Yes, I was and so was everyone is my family, so? If they tell me we have some blood problems, then ok go ahead and believe that lie, but they are going to test everyone’s blood before putting it in a patient right? So what is the problem? Why do you have to make people feel like they are somehow inferior if all they are doing is trying to help?

The questionnaire asks if you have ever been a prostitute. It asks men if they have ever, even once had sex with another man. Excuse me how is this their business? How is this relevant? If they think homosexual men have aids and other diseases, good for them, they are going to test the blood first anyways. There is absolutely no need to be homophobic and ask these private questions to anyone.

Then the women are asked if they have had sex with a man who has ever had sex with another man. Huh? Who cares! You are going to test the blood! And honestly if you have you probably do not know anyways… They are also asked if they have been sexually active with anyone born in Africa. Wow… I feel like I being redundant here but they are going to test the blood! What is the need for this?

So not only are you giving your time to donate blood, being poked with a needle for around 30 minutes, but before all this fun begins your privacy is violated and you are expected to answer homophobic, racist and overall discriminatory questions.

That was the only day I donated blood and I refuse to do it again until these outdated methods are changed. I do not feel comfortable participating in something that is so discriminatory without the need to be. The blood is going to get tested before it is given to anyone; all of these questions are simply unacceptable. While I was being asked I felt like saying “Yes, I am a Mexican bisexual with a bisexual African boyfriend, oh and I have multiple tattoos and piercings”, just to see what they would say.

I want this to be changed because I definitely believe donating blood is something positive, and I like to help. We never know who needs the blood and what life we could be saving by donating. However, not in this manner, I do not want to be part of it. I also ask myself why is it that the first part of the questionnaire we answer by ourselves and then the racist part we do it with a nurse? Are they aware that people are more likely to walk out if they are seeing that? What do you guys think?

I leave you with the link so you can see the questionnaire for yourselves. Read it all over, the invasive questions are the ones shaded in grey at the last section.

 

http://www.bloodservices.ca/CentreApps/Internet/UW_V502_MainEngine.nsf/resources/Eligibility/$file/ROD2011-05-01.pdf

-Belisa