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There is something nice about being wrong. In the past, I have been ashamed of my “wrongness;” I have been embarrassed after I write a flawed essay or define a word incorrectly. However, throughout the past couple of years, I have felt more and more comfortable with “wrongness.” There are two ways I could look at it; I could worry that I am not as intelligent or as capable as everyone else or I could revel in the fact that I do not know much. The latter is not only kinder to my ego, it makes me more open to learning. 

When I chose to take this class, I was completely wrong about what it was. I believed that it was a series of trips into the city paired with written reflections on the physical structure of the city. Although we have discussed this, I slowly realized that this course is not based off of topics, but lenses. I am not merely describing experiences, but using class discussions and papers as ways to interpret the city. This is not easy, but it helps me to play with ideas. Taking these influences into the city (Simmel’s, Flanagan’s, Zetkin’s etc.) and combining them with startling discoveries (for example, that there is a place that sells sparkly penis headbands) is the recipe for “wrongness.” My interpretations may be wrong and my further revelations may be wronger. But, this is where the fun is. 

Self Representation vs Self Presentation

How do I present myself to the outside world? I present myself in the way that I dress, talk, act, and interact with others. What does this have to do with self-representation? I initially misread the topic of our papers as self-presentation, rather than self-representation. They sound the same, and could be dismissed as practically the same thing without consideration. However, realizing my error made me also realize that self-presentation and self-representation are very different things. To represent myself means to speak my opinions, act as an individual rather than simply part of a larger group, and reveal my personality, values, and beliefs through my actions, words, and appearance. I can use the different ways that I present myself to the public to represent who I am on the inside, and to portray different aspects of my personality and my value system.

This popped up in my Twitter Feed after class on Tuesday: 

http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2013/10/07/book-excerpt-gender-more-performance

I think this article is really relevant to our class.  I also tweeted the author and she tweeted me back! :) 

RCF class, 10/25/13:

Materials: name tags, books, pads, pencils, large paper (3 sheets), tape, paper 8x11 (20 sheets), markers, crayons

1.  SARA? Introductions:  Each person names herself and says something about why she's here.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tTz0nm7KlbtLsn_mQ_hvF9UNPVM2NhVMEblovkxkplw/edit?usp=sharing

I was just reflecting a little on this evening's events and wanted to make a post about it.

At Zadie Smith’s talk tonight, I really wanted to ask her about her views on failure as a part of the creative process. I’ve always thought that the ability to fail but continue on despite that is one of the most important parts of a creative process and creating art. I mean, it stands to reason, because if you’re great at something from the very beginning, what’s the point of continuing to work at it? And, conversely, if you fail and give up, of course you’re not going to make something that matters to the creative world, because you’ve given up.

Basically, for me, the constant reality of my own failings and shortcomings are what keep me constantly striving to improve at something.  I write a lot, hate almost all of it, and don’t show it to anyone. I have a lot of comedy sketches and sci-fi stories saved on my computer that are never going to see the light of day again, and plenty of art pieces that are only still around because my mom wants to meticulously archive my childhood and teen years.

“Subversion in the City”

In the first paragraph, tflurry gives story-like examples of subversion. Then, she delves into more serious definitions of it (that of the OED, Flanagan, and her own). With her own definition of subversion, tflurry argues that subversion is “the means and result” of any sort of deviation from the norm. To me, tflurry’s first paragraph is both playful and critical. In the beginning, tflurry playfully draws me into her interpretation of subversion; she excites my imagination and then surprises me with several definitions of subversion. These definitions provide a buffer zone for tflurry’s next pursuit: to both analyze subversion and provoke the reader to analyze it as well.

“Playing for Power”

In mmanzone’s first paragraph, mmanzone references a previous paper and reflects that her experiences mirror both Flanagan’s “critical play” and Smith’s “four different types of play.” The first paragraph arises my curiosity because I do not know mmanzone’s earlier paper and Smith’s different types of play. Mmanzone makes me play by stating these various forms of play and, in doing so, asks me to play with play; mmanzone leads me to consider all of these types and wonder if play expands much further than I previously thought.

After our class discussion on Tuesday about the situation involving an application to Smith College from a transwoman. Her name is Calliope Wong. She was denied admittance to Smith simply because her FAFSA utilized male pronouns, even though of the rest of her application materials: letters of rec, transcript, and all other paperwork uses female pronouns. According to one source I found, she had been in contact with the Dean of Admissions prior to applying to Smith. The dean told her that as long as her paperwork used female pronouns, her application would be considered. However, the FAFSA used male pronouns for Calliope Wong. In response, Smith sent out this letter stating "Our expectation is that it is consistently reflected throughout the application that the student is a woman. Upon reviewing your file, this is not the case. Your FAFSA indicates your gender as male. Therefore, the college cannot process your application."

During our discussion, I thought so many people had so many great ideas and I just wanted to share my here because I was not able to during class. When we were saying what people have said to us when we tell them we are going to Bryn Mawr, I did not get any lesbian comments (maybe because they assumed I was already a lesbian because my parents are, or because I wanted gay rights); but one guy told me that Women's Colleges were sexist. I at first did not even know how to respond. I could not believe he had just said that. He said it was because they did not allow men to attend. I don't think I even tried to respond to his statement. But it is an interesting idea since Bryn Mawr does not allow transwomen to attend, but it does allow transmen. So, someone who is assigned female at birth, but identifies as a man is allowed to attend, but not men. I believe that transwomen should be able to attend because anybody who identifies as a woman should be able to go to a women's college.