Tradition / Fiddler On Da RooooooFFzz

Tradition / Fiddler

Something I thought was very strange was how the people from “Fiddler On The Roof” separated their genders based on rules of the Jewish faith and tradition. Males were not allowed to dance with females, they were not allowed to date, and they weren’t even allowed to hold hands. In addition to staying away from the opposite gender, they also had to have arranged marriages. I think that having an arranged marriage is very unfair, I know it’s the tradition for many cultures, but I think that because of it, people are missing out on a lot of experiences. There’s no dating, or getting to know the person is safe and that you truly have feelings for them before you may, or may not, get married to them. Which is why I’m very thankful that in our culture we don’t have to have arranged marriage. We may follow the tradition of asking the father’s permission, but that’s a lot nicer / easier than being completely unaware to who you’re going to marry until the day you walk down the isle.

Erin's Jewish Tradition

The Jewish tradition I most noticed in the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" was arranged marriage. The matchmaker was there to arrange the marriage between the oldest daughter and the butcher. But, she did not marry the butcher, she chose who she married....which was very against this tradition. For a while, marriage was just a way to take care of issues: settle arguments between families, settle debts, come into money, even end a war. So the parents would arrange the marriage with a person of their choice to take care of this issue. Many were involved in economics, not love.

I would hate a arranged marriage. I think a person should marry who they want and that's that. It's such a big thing, I don't think parents should tell you who to love and start a family with. Arranged marriages just make me feel uncomfortable. I was so happy when the 3 daughters all decided to run off and marry who they wanted...even if it pissed off their family.

Erin

Arranged marriges

A big tradition mentioned quite often in Fiddler was the tradition of arranged marriages. It originated in ancient western cultures and is a part of many religious customs. In Fiddler on the Roof arranged marriages were proven to be common with Jewish customs. The thought of arranged marriages is traditional but meant for the past. Along with the marriage comes other traditional values like the woman staying at home while the man works all day. In today’s society people, or women, have so much opportunity to step outside the house and make careers for themselves. Many women enjoy the best of both worlds and can be a mother/wife at home but also juggle a career. With responsibility also comes with independence, for both genders. American’s embrace their liberties and independence so one’s ability to choose whom they date exercises their independence. Unless one is nothing but obedient, old fashioned, and traditional, I don’t think arranged marriages will ever be an option. The forced move of the children moving to America and the family being torn apart signifies their family traditions being lost and diminished.

tradition

The musical, Fiddler on the Roof, presented many traditions that are common in the Jewish faith. One of these traditions is the custom of asking the father of the family for permission to marry. The father's often choose their daughters future husbands to ensure they are a proper match. Throughout the musical, Tevye, the main character's, daughters continually defy his "right" to choose their husbands, by picking men that their father wouldn't necessarily have chosen for them. Many of these engagements are arranged with the help of a matchmaker, who informs the mothers of who is eligible for their daughter to marry. Tevye’s oldest daughter decides to defy her father and not marry the man he has chosen for her. She marries an old friend. Tevye’s second daughter marries a man who is not Jewish, which is against her father’s wishes. He decides to shun his daughter and tells the rest of the family not to contact her. This becomes incredibly hard for the family to do when they are uprooted from their home and are forced to move to America.

Tradition!

Finally, your topic for your third blogpost: We've focused a lot on tradition lately, so here's your chance to explore one. Take one tradition mentioned in Fiddler on the Roof and write about it's origin and the current practice. Talk about how it makes you feel, if you think it's antiquated, or the ways in which it is still relevant to us today. If you attended Fiddler, you have to do a tradition from the show and you only have to do 150-200 words. (If you have a problem generating an idea, we can talk together)


If you did not attend Fiddler, you may choose a tradition of your own interest, but not any of the ones we talked about in class. You will be expected to do the regular 400-500 words.
Please do not forget that you have to respond to a classmate's blog as well (75-100 words). All posts and responses are due by two Wednesdays from now October 27th at 11:59pm.

diversity event! Toys, toys, toys!

The question that sticks in my mind from the diversity event is the one about the toys. It asked something about how little boys should only play with trucks and cars and other boy like stuff and girls should only play with things like dolls or girly things. I thought this was a very interesting and funny question, but I didn’t agree with it. This question was not very clear, but aren’t action figures not like dolls? Some would argue that dolls are for dressing up and playing house, but when I was a child my dolls would go on life threatening adventures. Not to mention the fact that I played with trucks and cars just as much as any boy I knew at the time, given the fact that my toy cars where fancy and looked way girly it doesn’t hide the fact that I was playing with toys that where supposedly made for boys. When it comes to toys it is very hard to classify if it is a boy toy or a girl toy, but I do think that the way a toy looks has a lot to do with it.

neighborhood living as the minority

Attending the diversity event was an eye opener for me and because we had to choose one side or the other it made the event all the more interesting. The topics brought up were based on issues that society deals with everyday but avoids taking about because of its controversy. The one question that comes to mind when I think about the event was about one’s comfort level when living in a neighborhood with people of their same race vs. living in a neighborhood and being the minority. Most people said race wouldn’t affect them but a few lingered the other way. With the progress in society on racial issues, people shouldn’t feel uncomfortable around other races to the point where it would determine their living arrangements; however I do understand the other perspective. When white kids hang out with white kids, and black kids hang out with black kids, it doesn’t mean they’re necessarily racist, it just means they are more comfortable around each other, being the same race, possibly having the same values, and sharing the same traditions. A Hispanic community would celebrate customs and holidays that they share, but if a family of another race were to live in this community they may feel left out or uneducated about the Hispanic customs. Depending on the family, this may or may not play a role when a family is deciding on where to live. Growing up in Chicago with this perspective, it was easy to enjoy and understand places like China town, the polish community, or Devon( dominantly Indian community).

Blog #1: Diversity Event

“Wearing a culture’s traditional clothing as a costume is offensive.” This was a statement I found particularly hard to respond to at the diversity event. I have always found the way in which Americans generally respond to other culture’s clothing to be obnoxious and insensitive. We call kimonos and saris “exotic,” but to someone from Japan or India they are as common as pair of crocs. If a girl wears a kimono to a costume party and claims to be a geisha, or if she wears something similar to a sari and claims to be a harem girl, she perpetuates the quixotic, other-culture mentality that adds to the social distance between the United States and other nations. At the same time, it seems restrictive to limit costume possibilities. What about those who choose to dress as American Indians for Halloween? Such costumes generally have little to no tribal affiliation and may even represent movie characters, such as Tiger Lily from Peter Pan. However it is undeniable that costumes based on traditional American Indian clothing insult the pride and honor of those who wore and still wear the real McCoy. When choosing a Halloween costume this year, I will stick to something less controversial.

Hitler in History

"I think Hitler has been the most influential historical figure in the last hundred years."

I completely disagree with this statement. Even though navisism, the holocaust, and world war two have been traumatic events I think the main reason people would see Hitler as so influential is because of how much press is given to these topics. This is not to say that what happened was not horrific but it is not the most horrific by standards of the time. Stalin is responsible for the death of 17 million Russians. Hitler on the other hand killed somewhere between 11 and 14 million people. Although both horrendous, Hitler is seemed to be considered more villainous character in todays interpretations of history. I would personally expect that this discrepancy is a result of Hitler killing both his own people and the people of several other countries. Alternatively Stalin was killing mostly his own people who in the modern day would prefer not to bring attention to their horrific rulers genocidal tendencies, considering much of the Soviet Union is still pereserved today in Russia.

Diversity Event

I thought that participating in the diversity event was very interesting. It really made me think about controversial issues and my opinion on them. For some of the questions it was hard to pick a side because I didn’t really agree or disagree with them. They were over very hard topics that were more complicated than just agreeing or disagreeing. One question that I thought was really interesting was the question about whether or not most stereotypes were based on some truth. I went to the agree side, not because I think that stereotypes are always true for all people of a certain group, but they wouldn’t be there unless they were based on something. Not everyone in a group is the exact same, everyone is their own person no matter what group they belong to. However, groups are groups because they have certain characteristics in common with one another. A stereotype is a generalization about a group; it doesn’t mean that everyone in that group is a certain way. Stereotypes are always going to be there for every group, it’s whether or not you base your actions and thoughts on them that matters.

FIG DIVERSITY EVENT

Fig Diversity Event

"I would be more afraid to fight an African-American than a Jewish person."

I was unable to attend the Diversity Event, so I haven’t heard all the options. However, the ones that were emailed to me were all pretty shocking, thought provoking, and all could be answered in an unavoidable offensive way. It’s difficult to answer any of them because I feel like any position I take is going to seem racist. Out of my options I chose “I would be more afraid to fight an African-American rather than a Jewish person.” My opinion on this would be, Yes, I would be more afraid to fight an African-American than a Jewish person. I’d be more afraid to fight an African-American person based on their physical appearance, compared to the average Jewish person’s physical appearance. However, it’s difficult to make a decision on this topic because African-American is a race, and anyone of any race can be Jewish or any other religion. But in most cases (in my stereotypical opinion), an African-American will probably be more physically fit than a Jewish person. Most African-Americans are more physically fit than others and have the stereotype of being “tougher”. I also believe that they have a more known reputation of being involved with physical violence.

I was not present at the event, but I was told that the opposing viewers basically said that they disagreed because it would just be giving into a stereotype, and they didn’t want to do that. But, seriously? I think that their positions might change if they were actually put into the situation.

At the same time though, I feel like there is no correct answer to this scenario. Ignoring stereotypes, it’s basically asking me who do I have more “hatred” for?.. African-Americans? Or Jewish people? To make an argument out of this you have to use stereotypes because otherwise it wouldn’t matter who you fought. So technically, it would be fair. But in my in my opinion, based on stereotypes, I would still rather fight the Jewish person rather than the African-American person.

Diversity Event

The diversity event was very exciting. I was surprised by some of the questions that were asked to us. One of the statements during the event that was asked was if we agree or disagree with “Women who wear revealing clothes want to be raped”. I disagreed with this statement as well as the majority of other people if not all the people participating in this event. I believe that no one wants to be raped or deserves to be raped no matter who they are or what they are doing. I believe that the impact from society has formed this statement.. In our society today, nudity has become a comparison to sex because of the way women dress. In different cultures of the world for example, women are to keep their body covered head to toe because of the fear of being raped. Whereas in the United States people wear whatever pleases them even though it has given people the mindset that they want sex. Most women who wear revealing clothing have no intention in mind to look for a male but only to boost their self-esteem and make their feelings better about themselves or help them feel more attractive.

Diversity Event

The Diversity Event was a unique way to allow us to express ourselves and our thoughts on many of the current issues. I liked the event because it gave everyone a chance to make a decision, without necessarily speaking, and choose a side that they felt interpreted the way they felt. It gave a broad, eye-opening, prospective on most of the intellectual feelings within just a few floors of a residential hall. However, I did find one situation provoking. The question along the lines of “fighting an African American is much worse than fighting a Jewish person,” I felt, was unnecessary because it had already depicted between two previously minority groups. I just don’t think that was a proper question.
Unfortunately, I still had to pick a side. I agreed to the comment that fighting an African American is much worse than fighting a Jewish person simply because of stories from friends that I’ve heard, but no actual experiences. I haven’t heard a situation with a rampaging Jew. I could not bring any statistics to the discussion about this statement because I most definitely don’t know enough to improvise one or the other. One side says that, from personal experiences, African Americans would most likely win a fight because they know some brutal African Americans. On the other side there was a comment arguing the previous statement but sadly I did not catch it. Conclusively, I say that you cannot decide the basis of winning a fight on racial/ethnic backgrounds.

Discussion

One of the questions I found interesting in the diversity event was whether dressing in the attire of a person from another culture for a costume party or Halloween was offensive. I do not think it is because people do it all the time, and I believe it is more of a way of celebrating that culture than making fun of it. In fact, I’ve taken a few hula classes and the instructors encouraged us to dress in hula attire, even though I’m not Hawaiian. But we were celebrating Hawaiian culture, and I think that that’s what people are doing when they dress like that for costume parties or Halloween too. I don’t think it has anything to do with being racist or mocking other cultures. I think many people just like experiencing other styles and cultures, and doing something other than what is ordinary for them. I think the diversity event was very informative about teaching us other’s views and some ideas that are prevalent in society. The discussion afterwards was also very insightful because I learned other people’s opinions on the questions, since we weren’t able to speak during the activity.

Single Mothers

"It is impossible for a mother to have a job and take care of a family." This statement was the one that had the biggest effect on me. I went to an all girl high school that instilled empowerment in our minds. The teachers encouraged us to believe that we could do just as much with a man than we could without a man. Also, my mom has been a single, full-time working parent for 15 years. Therefore, I strongly disagree that it is impossible for a mother to raise a family and have a job at the same time. Yes, it might be a difficult task for a mother to devote time to her job, her family, and her social life, but it in many cases has proven to stray from the word impossible. For instance, my mom works twelve hours a day, five times a week, and both my brother and my sister have graduated college, never gotten in big trouble, and are successful with their careers. After managing to do all of this, she has also found time to go out on the weekends with her friends. I love my mom to death, but she is an ordinary woman, therefore any other female has the potential to achieve just as much as she has.

Diversity in Views that Don't Respect Diversity

The most shocking question within the Diversity Event (to which nobody said Agree to) was the one which posed the question, “Do homosexuals go to hell?” The obvious response was shock and awe, though there are many individuals within society that do believe that this questions an obviously true statement.
In discussing the veracity of such an ideal, it’s best to analyze why individuals see the world in such a light and what can be said to refute said thoughts.
The crux of the notion is seen in the claims of Fundamentalist Christians who distort the teachings of Leviticus, which see homosexuality as immoral. Key responses (in line with a Fundamentalist Christian chain of thought) include: 1) All humans are sinners, yet sins do not doom anybody to a lifetime in hell. 2) Leviticus also condemns other things such as shellfish and mixed-thread clothing. It makes no sense to pick and choose what to follow. 3) Teachings of Christ (that of love) offset much of the hatred that was followed by the early civilizations of the Old Testament.
Clearly, there is no reason to have such a viewpoint (even from the standpoint of those who hold the belief).

Diversity.

Throughout the diversity event, the discussion of controversial matters with the combination of either definitive agreement or disagreement with the statement created a well presented representation of two differing opinions. One specific question dealt with whether African Americans should still be upset over slavery and I had to disagree with this statement. Although everyone has the right to feel however they choose, animosity over past events that have been dealt with only creates further and unnecessary separation amongst people rather than a collective society in which we all belong as one. When one group has felt victimized by another for a long time, hatred is somewhat justifiable, however, once the problem has been resolved, resentment should eventually fade away instead of being fueled by more negative thoughts. Many would say that years and years of turmoil and unjust action supplement African Americans with the right to remain upset, but never-ending frustration and remaining hurt won't change the past, all we can do today is work towards changing relations among different races to create more positive situations and interactions.

Kate Egan Diversity Response

I really liked the diversity event. I was surprised by how controversial the topics were, but it gave us all an idea of how harsh the real world is. All of the questions made us think of what we believe. One of the questions that caught my attention was about it being ok or not okay to dress up in a costume depicting another racial group. Personally I think it depends on the situation and the person who would be wearing the costume. As long as the person wearing the costume isn’t doing it to be offensive and isn’t making fun of the group I believe it would be ok. However I know there are a lot of immature people who wouldn’t be able to handle the situation and would give offense to certain people. For Halloween I dressed up as an Indian. I was NOT doing this to make a scene or make fun of anyone. I was dressing up as Pocahontas. This question separated the group & even though we weren’t suppose to judge each other, I could kind of sense people were doing that. I guess I see it is okay if you dress up as a character. For example Pocahontas, mulan, or Michael Jordan. I do see where people could get the wrong idea when someone is dressed up and they may be offended, but we do have a choice. I just thought this was an interesting question, and I don’t mean to sound like I don’t care about these groups of people. Anyway I liked the diversity event a lot and it really made me see what I believe versus others.

Diversity Event Reflection Blog

I believe last week's diversity event was not just fun, but also extremely informational. It brought us together as a community in a way that helped us understand each other on a much more personal level. This is especially true when we are faced with issues that divide us on political, and even religious lines. One such question that I felt divided the group was the one that dealt with immigration raising taxes (I think that's what the question was directed at, but I can't remember it explicitly). When looking at this issue, almost all of us immediately jumped to illegal immigration, but I found it permissible to view the question on two front. The first being that any immigrant coming into our borders will cost the country money and raise our taxes. That being said, I view legal immigration as something that we should support, being that we are America (The melting pot of the world), even if that does mean that our debt and taxes are raised. On the other hand, I do not feel the same way about illegal immigration. My opinion holds that if our taxes are going to be raised by an immigrant's entrance into the country, then they should also bear the burden of that tax, which an illegal does not. Perhaps this is just me rambling about politics, but I found it funny that almost everyone in the group only saw the issue of illegal immigration, without ever acknowledging that legal immigration costs us money as well.