Monsters and Marvels

The monster and marvels exhibition is very interesting. The exhibition interest me because I have the same observation. When iron man 3 come out , and I heard the villain’s name is mandarin, I thought marvel, you really are going to make a movie that will be seen everywhere including china, and have it’s villain’s name be mandarin.

I think the ones I found really interesting are the brain and the lotus blossom. The brain is usually a math or science whiz, a hyper intelligent genius with low social skills and no friends. The origin of this stereotype come from the fear that the western employer is afraid that the Chinese labor are plotting behind their back. And it evolved when a lot of highly educated Asian with skills in science immigrated to the western world. This make the impression that Asian are all intelligent math whiz deep into people’s head. The stereotype still exist. As a Chinese, I think that the western world has a misunderstanding of our math or science skills. Chinese students are generally good at math because we teach math differently. The math we learned are more difficult and students are helped by a lot of exercises and practices everyday day. This stereotype come from not understanding why Asian are better at science or math. Another reason could be a lot of the immigrants got immigrated because of their specialty in math or science. That’s what constitute a lot of the Asian immigrant community, so it left people the impression of the stereotype. Last but not least, Asian culture has a tremendous respect for education, which makes them more likely to be better at school. It still exist today. In fact, it is harder for an Asian student to get into an Ivy League school, because there are too many qualified candidates.

Another archetype that got my attention is the lotus blossom. The lotus blossom is basically the submissive Asian wives, and after being abused and exploited by the husbands, they are betrayed by them, and finally sacrificed themselves. I find this archetype interesting cause it has both gender and ethnic factors in it which makes it more complicated in my opinion. I think the majority of Asian woman today cannot be represented by this archetype. Although, sexist still exists, feminism has come a long way. Woman today has more power than before, and less dependent on man emotionally and financially. They don’t need a knight to save their life. I think this archetype comes from when the westerners were just beginning to explore eastern countries and it’s their first contact with the eastern culture. It’s the product of that time period -the colonial period. I don’t think this type of character exist today.

I never thought I would be considered any kinds of stereotype. My first roommate asked me math questions. And these exercise was easy for any Chinese students, but because of bad teaching, it didn’t seem easy to her. Therefore, she thinks I am good at math. But I am just average at math, and I don’t even like it. My other roommate who is from korea helped her with her Wifi, and she said “ oh, your Asian are smart.” The harm of stereotype is that when a person has talent for example in art, but as a Asian, one was expected to be good at math and school and he believes it too because of the stereotype. He wasted his talent. It kills talents , kills diversity. People have different talent. and it’s the out or within ethnic groups . I believe stereotype does more harm than good.

Research Topics

Research topic 1: stress

We all experience stress. I want to know what happen to the body when the person is under stress. And is stress good for people’s health or not. Does stress affect people’s cognition and judgment, how. I want to research stress because when I am stressed, I panic and my brain just goes completely blank. I don’t perform well when I am under stress. By knowing stress better, I can deal with stress better.

I Know that when people are under stress , they don’t sleep well , loss hair. However, I also know that stress has advantages. if you recognize that stress can be beneficial, and you handle stress better. When people are under stress, you brain release some chemical that makes you more social.

I need to find studies on body under stress. And the cases of people who is under a lot stress and their health condition. Studies on the advantages of stress.

Stress can be harmful and beneficial at the same time. Somepeople think we should stay away from stressful environment, and someone suggest that we turn stress into an advantages. By research these issues, i can maybe learn to handle stress better.

People of all ages deal with stress, and lot of them don’t handle it well. I want them to know about stress , and maybe could find a way to turn stress into motivation or production. They should care about what I have to day because, I am in the same place as a lot of people, we don’t handle stress very well. By researching stress, I hope I could help myself and others.

 

Research topic 2: parenting

I want to know how does parenting affect children, and how important is parenting in people’s life. is there a right way of parenting? I think parenting is really important in developing children’s personality. It affect what kind of people they turn out to be.

What I know? I know that raising a kid is a combination of nature and nurture. There no saying which one is important. I also know that there is a certain gene, if a children have it, parenting won’t affect them that much. And if a Children don’t have it , then parenting palys very important role in their life. I also think there’s no one right way of parenting, every children is different, you need to treat you children based on them.

I need to found the study on the gene, and more study on parenting.

There’s the big difference between “Western” of parenting, and “eastern” way of parenting. There is a lot of controversies on the subject of “Chinese parenting”.

People of all ages. I want parents to know more about parenting , and find out what’s best for their children. And children to understand their parents, why they do what they did. People should listen to me because I am really interested and passionate about this matter.

Research topics

1.Does UFO exist in the world?

When I was young, I heard many stories about UFOs from the reports and movies. In fact, since ancient times,there have been many rumors about UFOs and confused people.Human beings are always curious to know if there is any life beyond planet earth, or earth is the only planet holding life in the entire galaxy. As such, the existence of UFOs has always been a debatable subject.I want to use scientific knowledge to analyze this phenomenon which has often been associated with extraterrestrial life. Some people still firmly believe it exists today because UFO sightings gradually increase.In my research,I want to explore the history of UFOs, and analyze the reason why people believe the UFOs exist, and why UFOs are pseudoscience. What I already know is that the majority of UFO observations are misidentified conventional objects or natural phenomena—most commonly aircraft, balloons, noctilucent clouds , nacreous clouds , or astronomical objects such as meteors or bright planets with a small percentage even being hoaxes. My audience is supposed to be lack of scienctifc knowledge and trust pseudoscience blindly
2.Clone human beings.

Cloning a person who 100 percent looks like myself sounds cool.What will happen if I meet myself? Will it bring any trouble ?I have been cruious to know the answers for them. When Dolly the cloned sheep was born back in 1997, the possibility of cloning human beings became an imminent ethical concern for some and an attainable goal to others. It may prompt dozens of  questions, some of which may begin with “can cloning really do this?” or”should we clone human beings”. Some scientists disagree with cloning human beings due to ethical implications. However, human cloning also contributes to future medicine. My research is going to explore how  human cloning works and what their advantages and disadvantages are.

 

3.Does Rubik’s Cube effect intelligence?

Rubik’s Cube is becoming the most popular toy at any ages.It was also  my favorite toy in my childhood. It is a  colorful puzzle, consisting of small blocks rotating on a central axis.Each of the six faces is covered by nine stickers and  each of one of six solid colours. Someone has said that the little cube can change the big world. Therefore, it is not a simple toy. What I already know is that the Rubik’s Cube has long been touted by scientists as a phenomenal brain-training game.  It’s primary effect on the brain is developing and improving Spatial Intelligence.  I want to know if people who play Rubik’s Cube are really smarter than who do not play ,and explore how Rubik’s Cube effects intelligence.

Possible Research Topics

Single-sex schools

This topic is rather close to home for me. I am the eldest of six children, all of whom have different personalities, strengths, and schooling. I have gotten into many arguments with my siblings, defending my all-girl’s school and stating that it has made me a better person. They, in turn, defend their co-ed school by pointing out the social and real-world advantages. The issue in my family is larger than I can say, because our arguments can sway our parents’ opinions on where they should send the younger children in high school. Should they send us all to similar schools? Can we all get into similar schools? Should they play it by ear and listen to each of our voices? Why can’t we just go to public school? Through debating with my brothers, I have heard both sides of the story. I went to an all-girls school, my brother went to a private co-ed high school, another went to a public co-ed high school, and lastly my other brother went to an all-boys high school. We all try to convince the younger siblings which one is best, because it is truly up to them. What I need to research is statistics that reveal differences in academic success, social skills, and personality changes, if any. Perhaps there are other topics about different methods of schooling that I have not heard of. I’m not sure if I should go into home schooling, because I don’t know much about the topic. My audience would be adults who are trying to decide what type of school to send their children to. There are many rumors floating around about the lack of social skills and even prevalent homosexuality of children who attend single-sex schools. I am looking to disprove those rumors and shine light on the many pros of attending a single-sex school.

 

 

 

Effect of Technology Use on Young Children

My youngest sibling, Rachelle, created her Facebook account in kindergarten. She was five years old. She walks around with a 3DS in hand, constantly begging to use my laptop or smartphone. She knows how to use my mother’s smartphone better than she does. Rachelle uses Xbox more than I do, playing videogames with her friends in school. Did I mention she is 8 years old? She rarely sees her friends in person outside of school, but constantly texts and plays videogames with them through social media. I have seen, first hand, the bad effects of technology on young children. On the other hand, I have seen the good ones. She enjoys reading through websites that contain animations that go along with stories. She (occasionally) plays educational videogames and watches YouTube videos on how to cook, how to draw, and so forth. I would need to research statistics that can reveal negative or positive impacts on technology and social skills. With the world going “paperless,” people encourage the use of laptops and technology to replace books. They believe in the use of technology to advance learning. But, I believe technology should be limited and controlled. My sister focuses far too much on the social aspects of technology. I would target adults with young children who may fear that technology is ruining their child.

The Danger of Stereotypes

Stereotypes and propaganda: two things that influence the perception of things that we truly do not understand. These things aim to reach a person before he or she has any knowledge of what is being exaggerated or altered. Stereotypes and propaganda can be about ethnicities, countries, and products: just about anything. In the exhibit “Monster and Marvels” presented at Stony Brook University, Asian stereotypes in American comics are revealed through the use of images and excerpts from these American comics. Because Asians are a minority in the United States, many people were unaware of Asian culture. These comic book characters may have been their only exposure to Asian people, and because comic books are targeted at youth, their influence increased exponentially. Some stereotypes are still present today.

Two stereotypes that interested me were the ones that focused on the personality of Asian women. The two stereotypes were Lotus Blossom and the Temptress. These two personalities are like two sides of a coin; one presented a submissive woman who lived to please her lover, while the other was a rather powerful, dominating woman who lived to please herself. Both include sexual stereotypes that seemed new to me and were not present in today’s society as much as it was in the past. There is still an image of a conservative, submissive Asian wife and mother and, even today, there is a bad reputation for Asian prostitution. But, the idea of an Asian woman willing to sacrifice her life for her husband’s wishes, or an Asian woman who uses her sexuality to gain power is not directly present today.

A stereotype that is present today is the idea that females are inferior in the math and science fields. It is a fact that there are fewer females in these areas in the world today, but that does not mean that women are intellectually inferior to men in this realm. I had the privilege of being able to attend an all-girl’s school during high school, and I never had suffered through this stereotype. This allowed me to continue of my pursuit of greater knowledge in math and science without being deterred by sexist stereotypes. Sadly, during college, I became more aware of this stereotype. I would notice that people would gravitate towards men to ask for help in chemistry or biology. I believe that women are fully capable of achieving the same things that men do. This stereotype is very dangerous because it may discourage women from studying math and science.

A situation where I have been perceived through a stereotype is a common one, and relevant to the exhibit “Monster and Marvels.” Throughout my life I have been constantly barraged with Asian female stereotypes, with people blaming things from my eyesight to my academic skill on the fact that I am Asian. In high school I was often approached because I was one of the only Asian people in the class, and, naturally, I would know the material best. Sometimes I felt like this Asian stereotype truly diminished my accomplishments. If I were any other race, would people praise my academic accomplishments? A common conversation would be: “You did well on your test!” “Well, duh, she’s Asian,” someone would chime in. Eventually, this stereotype became a part of me, raising my expectations of myself. Sadly, I began to blame my ease of learning on my race. Hopefully in the future, the stereotype changes.

Monster and Marvels

 

 

Monster and Marvels explores the portrayal of Asians in U.S.Comic Book, and also illustrates the United States’ racial and cultural perceptions of Asians .It is very interesting and causes us to think deeply about stereotypes.

I am interested in The Brain.In the 1800s, The Chinese  were portrayed as conspirators.Their high intelligence could not be trusted. In the 60s, Japan’s “economic miracle” increased the competition with the U.S. In addition, Asian immigrants came to USA for education and technology and gestated Asian” whiz kids“.Therefore,intellectual Asians were thought as suspect and  “sexless, heartless, friendless, a self-hating prodigy”. Their amazing achievements were viewed as inscrutable phenomenon , and nobody thought hard work behind them. Aside the academic achievements in the areas of math and science, Asians could not do else. Stereotype! This stereotype still exists today. Most Americans still believe that Asians are good at math and science, and lack of physical activities. The evident contrast is associated with different educations and cultural backgrounds, but not everyone acts the same way. Today, we can see more Asian faces in athletics, and also they get great achievements.They are not people who “have hyperintelligent  mind without a body”. Due to the pressure of this stereotype, I will feel ashamed if I get a bad grade in math or science test.When I can not answer the math question, people around me usually watch me disbelievingly, like I am supposed to know the answer.

Stereotyping drags people to become narrow-minded, and the ideas they adopt are wrong and unfair. Therefore, stereotyping could lead to some problems, such as prejudice and discrimination in our life. Therefore,We are far away from the reality and misunderstand the truth. Even though it is hard to eliminate stereotypes,we should be aware of it and try to use objective point of view to think rather than limit our thinking about a group of people.

Potential Research Topics

1.Use of Nuclear Energy

I want to research this topic because of the energy crisis we have in our world today. We rely heavily on nonrenewable resources and we have to find alternate sources. Nuclear energy seems to be safe and efficient yet we have very little to no practical use of it. It effects everyone in the U.S and other countries that require  energy to live the live we want to live. I know that if there is a flaw in a nuclear power plant or nuclear waste, the consequences would be large due the large amounts of radiation that could kill and harm others. Its controversial because if done properly it can be very beneficial and efficient but the risk of human life if an error occurs is a deal-breaker for some. I would need to find out more specifically how nuclear energy works and the pros and cons. I would like to reach environmentalists and researchers to perfect the process of nuclear energy have politicians fund this new resource.

2.3-Parent Embryos

I want to research this topic because it could be scientific breakthrough that could help a lot of mothers that have a mitochondrial disease. It could effect many mothers and their ability to have a healthy child. I know it requires 3 parents (2 mothers and a father). It could prevent the passing of mitochondrial diseases from a mother to her child.  Through research, I would need to find out the process and the safety of this procedure and its success rate if possible. Its morally an issue to have three parents and scientists and doctors can be seen as playing God and designing babies. I would like to reach mothers, scientists, and politicians to continue research on this topic.

3.Human subject Research

I want to research this because researching ideas and hypotheses on humans for those hypotheses concerning humans would be the most productive way to acquire knowledge about such hypotheses. I know that there are certain rules and regulations to human subject research and if these rules are broken there are serious consequences for the offender. I would have to find the exact limitations scientists have and if these limitations are too limiting or not limited enough. People disagree about this topic because morally humans shouldn’t be used as experiments. The world countries have history of human subject testing gone too far. I would like to reach scientists and those that are against human subject testing to see its benefits.

 

Blog Post 2: Monster and Marvel

After visiting the Monsters and Marvels exhibit in Wang Center of Stony Brook, I feel the stereotype that caused by lack of touching and learning for Asians. People can almost only know how people on the other side of the earth are like. The exhibit divided into several parts with different theme. For example, the manipulator, the temptress, the brute and the brain, etc. But all these are hardly truth for Asian.

For example, in part of The Brain. Asian are defined as hyper intelligent mind without a body; sexless, heartless, friendless, a self-hating prodigy more comfortable interacting with machines than people. On the other hand, the way of drawing is somehow not that “good”. The result is that now Asian are see as people with  hyper intelligent but nothing else.

For the most important reason why Asian would be treat like this is the result of media’s  misreporting. Most of them will only report those will draw a lot of people’s attention and interest to see. They do not try to find to reason behind all these “characteristics” of Asian.

Marvels and Monsters

The Monsters and Marvels exhibit was interesting because it gave visual images to the different stereotypes of Asian culture. Each one of the stereotypes were magnified in to separate characters. The brain, the kamikaze, the guru, etc, all represented a different Asian stereotype. The character’s manner as well as the way the specific character looked reflected how society viewed this cultural group.

For example, the character “The Brain” is said to be “hyperintelligent” and other than that he has no personality. This exaggerates the stereotype that all Asians are extremely smart.

What I found the most interesting were the different shades of yellow used throughout the history of the comic to represent the characters. Using the color yellow to represent the characters is a stereotype in itself.

This exhibit is only an example of how the media can portray a specific group of people. The media usually only displays the stereotypes of specific groups and this becomes what the audience familiarizes with, causing the stereotype to spread. African-Americans are often showed as poor, violent, and unprofessional in the media. This would give the impression that all African-Americans are poor, violent, and unprofessional because the media portrays a negative image of the group.

Recently, I believe that images of the media have improved to decrease the amount of stereotypes. However, they are still present and will be difficult to eliminate because stereotypes have become a part of our society.  This exhibit brings awareness to the stereotypes we designate to certain groups and to try to change the way we think about others.

The MARVELous world of Monsters

With Comics being items of major interest and entertainment, especially during the latter half of the 20th century, they tend to have a large effect on the thoughts and perceptions of their readers. That being, the images, icons and even beliefs introduced into the comics were introduced to the minds, and often integrated into the readers’ own beliefs. However, comics are often influenced by the world and the events surrounding the creation of them. Because of this, the latter half of the 20th century produced comics filled with racist stereotypes, providing mass exposure and belief of them.

Being the last half of the 20th century, and multiple wars against Asian nations, Korea, Vietnam and most notoriously the attack on Pearl Harbor, American comics, especially Marvel contained massive amounts of racist comments and depictions of Asian stereotypes. Recently in the Wang center at Stony Brook University, an exhibit highlighting Asian stereotypes within Marvel comics was on display. Upon visiting this exhibit, and taking time to read about each stereotype found in the comics, I realized that despite not being at war with Asians for decades, and having them integrated into our culture for over a century now, many of these stereotypes still exist and are prevalent.

An example of these stereotypes still being prevalent, the Brain describes and depicts an Asian person who carries extreme intelligence and excels at all things educational, however they lack in popularity and physical prowess. This is still a very typical view of Chinese and Japanese students in America. They are viewed as geniuses in the areas of math and science and anything other than an A+ is an “Asian F”.