So! Again, this blog, QuickJam, died as I became too busy for it. =(
I’ve been very active on my Japanese language blog, however, because the content is also part of my course, so it works quite well as part of my University activities.
I miss this blog though~! I shall have to try and make the time to post at least occasionally.
窓際族（まどぎわぞく）とは、日本の企業や団体の職場において閑職に追いやられた、主に中高年の社員・職員を指す言葉。
Due to many factors, people don’t tend to get fired from Japanese companies, instead they get pushed aside and placed at “the window ledge” (まどぎわ – 窓際) – the term for these workers are “window ledge tribe” (まどぎわぞく – 窓際族).
What it means in reality is that they get placed somewhere in the company where they don’t get in the way, don’t get any work to do, but still receive salary. They are completely frozen out of the community and by their peers, leading to either a) they leave the company voluntarily, or b) they stick it out until the bitter end (i.e. retirement, as there is no, absolutely no, way back into the warm company family). There is of course a c) as well – although it’s very drastic and I would hope that it’s decreased recently, and that is the suicide option. Being placed by the window ledge can mean so great shame to a person that he/she feels that taking his/her own life is the only option. [Source].
例：
いつ首を切られるか分からないなんて、窓際族はつらいね。
→It’s tough for sidelined employees, never knowing when they’ll get fired.
トムはもう窓際族の１人だ。
→Tom is now a member of the dead wood.
“The first human applied clinical study (SAV CT 01) using a genetically modified killed whole-virus vaccine (SAV001-H) to evaluate its safety and tolerability was initiated in March 2012. This study is a randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled study of killed whole HIV-1 vaccine (SAV001-H) following intramuscular (IM) administration. Infected men and women, 18-50 years of age, have been enrolled in this study and randomized into two treatment groups to administer killed whole HIV-1 vaccine (SAV001-H) or placebo. Sumagen announced today the patient enrollment has progressed smoothly and there have been no adverse effects observed including local reactions, signs/symptoms and laboratory toxicities after SAV001-H injection in all enrolled patients to date. With these interim results, the SAV001-H has proven safety and tolerability in humans and given Sumagen confidence for the next clinical trials to prove its immunogenicity and efficacy evaluation.” [Source].
Just to clarify, Phase I of tasting is to verify whether or not it’s safe to go ahead with Phase II, of which is for seeing if it is effective as a treatment. So passing this stage doesn’t really mean much right now, but let’s hope it manages to go further!
Related topics:
Within the Stone Age, it was found that the amount of those who were left or right handed were very equal. This was determined by finding out which hands they prioritised their cave drawings with. However, once tools became more sophisticated, it seems to be that the right hand began to gain more preference over the left.
There are several theories surrounding why this might be, such as having to hold a shield with your left hand to protect your heart (which is also usually on the left-hand side), thus using your right to wield your sword.
Then some negative opinions surrounding left-handedness arose within Christianity, whereas the right-hand became referenced more and was often praised [Source].
The statistics showing the population of the left-handed today vary greatly depending on which country you look at. This is said to be caused by learnt handedness. Countries with formal restrictions regarding handwriting have lower rates of left-handedness than countries of which have no formal restrictions. For example, 2.4% are left-handed in Mexico, compared with Canada’s left-handed population counting for 12.4% of the population [Source - PDF].
Although there is no genetic cause of being left-handed, children who are left-handed are more likely to have left-handed parents. The left-handed community also appear to have a lower life expectancy by nine years.
It is thought that their increased likelihood in having accidents and immune deficiencies, amongst other things, contributes to this. However, due to death certificate records not including the handedness of those deceased, the reasons for the higher mortality rate are uncertain. Therefore, the issues stated above are merely a correlation.
It still might be interesting to hear that those who have had stressful births, have smoked during pregnancy, have had a baby prematurely or who’s baby had an extremely low birth weight are almost more likely to produce left-handed children.
There is no evidence to say that left-handed people are more gifted in things like creativity, as some think. However, small studies have suggested that they tend to be better at topics such as geometry, as well as more likely to earn more money if university educated. They also say they more likely to be homosexuals, as well as also have gender identity problems.
The left-handed are also in higher number within the field of sports (e.g., in fencing, the left-handed account for 50% of the players). There is an advantage in being left-handed, especially in particular sports, as their opponents are less likely to be able to predict the movements of a player who is left-handed than they are with a right-handed player. [Source].
It would be good to note that not all left-handed people have the problems that have been listed, and due to some of the information being based on small studies, it is not to say that they are widely accepted conclusions. Other factors could play a role in the reason for various issues, such as the reason for their success within sports [Source].
“Rick Falkvinge of the Swedish Pirate Party blogs on the subject of freedom of the press and foresees how users of Google glasses could be charged for possession and distribution of illegal porn. ‘Child pornography is a toxic subject, but a very important one that cannot and should not be ignored. This is an attempt to bring the topic to a serious discussion, and explain why possession of child pornography need to be re-legalized in the next ten years.’”
Hatta: We can’t even get Cannabis legalized here, and the arguments for that are much more overwhelming. When children are involved, people shut off their brains.
Christian: Nobody says the way how unwanted possession of child porn is handled in some cases is the right way. But legalizing the possession of child porn in general as an answer is like allowing theft to reduce numbers on crime statistics.
[Source].
Child pornography is such a highly debated topic. When I come across this topic (incl. animated child pornography, etc), a whole ray of people shine out from different sides.
I think most can agree that child porn should not be legal, as the circumstances in order to create such footage or imagery are illegal, in any case.
It also includes youths taking pictures of themselves naked and putting them on the Internet, however. So that poses another issue within this bracket. Such an act would still be illegal, as the possession of child porn is what is in question here.
The questions surround whether banning the possession of it does any help to the victims, as well as the people who are charged (as - in Sweden - for example, you can be charged of the possession of your own nude pictures if you’re under the age of 18).
The article is very interesting. Please read it, if you ever have the time.
Native Americans have often held intersex, androgynous people, feminine males and masculine females in high respect. The most common term to define such persons today is to refer to them as “two-spirit” people, but in the past feminine males were sometimes referred to as “berdache” by early French explorers in North America, who adapted a Persian word “bardaj”, meaning an intimate male friend.
Rather than emphasising the homosexuality of these persons, however, many Native Americans focused on their spiritual gifts. American Indian traditionalists, even today, tend to see a person’s basic character as a reflection of their spirit. Since everything that exists is thought to come from the spirit world, androgynous or transgender persons are seen as doubly blessed, having both the spirit of a man and the spirit of a woman. Thus, they are honoured for having two spirits, and are seen as more spiritually gifted than the typical masculine male or feminine female.
Therefore, many Native American religions, rather than stigmatising such persons, often looked to them as religious leaders and teachers.
Most of the evidence for respectful two-spirit traditions is focused on the native peoples of the Plains, the Great Lakes, the Southwest, and California. With over a thousand vastly different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, it is important not to overgeneralise for the indigenous peoples of North America. Some documentary sources suggest that a minority of societies treated two-spirit persons disrespectfully, by kidding them or discouraging children from taking on a two-spirit role. However, many of the documents that report negative reactions are themselves suspect, and should be evaluated critically in light of the preponderance of evidence that suggests a respectful attitude. Some European commentators, from early frontier explorers to modern anthropologists, also were influenced by their own homophobic prejudices to distort native attitudes.
Two-spirit people were respected by native societies not only due to religious attitudes, but also because of practical concerns. Because their gender roles involved a mixture of both masculine and feminine traits, two-spirit persons could do both the work of men and of women. They were often considered to be hard workers and artistically gifted, of great value to their extended families and community. Among some groups, such as the Navajo, a family was believed to be economically benefited by having a “nadleh” (literally translated as “one who is transformed”) androgynous person as a relative. Two-spirit persons assisted their siblings’ children and took care of elderly relatives, and often served as adoptive parents for homeless children.
A feminine male who preferred to do women’s work (gathering wild plants or farming domestic plants) was logically expected to marry a masculine male, who did men’s work (hunting and warfare). Because a family needed both plant foods and meat, a masculine female hunter, in turn, usually married a feminine female, to provide these complementary gender roles for economic survival. The gender-conforming spouse of two-spirit people did not see themselves as “homosexual” or as anything other than “normal”. [Source].
“Signs of autism — such as impaired social skills and repetitive, ritualistic movements — usually begin to appear when a child is about 18 months old. Autism is thought to result from miswired connections in the developing brain, and many experts believe that therapies must begin during a…
The comparison between curing Autism and impaired vision is not an equal one. People do not go around saying those who need glasses are burdens, that they will cause families to end in divorce if they are born to them, or that they are drains on society. People do say these things about people with Autism.
I didn’t mean to say that physical disabilties are the same as mental ones, nor that the treatment of either are the same. I think those with eye problems are fortunate in that many - within countries such as the UK at least - are treated not as having a disability at all.
I suppose that’s because we can ‘fix it’ with things like glasses. Someone who has bad vision or is blind in places where they cannot get the help may be more of a ‘burden’ then. In developing countries, many people struggle to survive or to make a living for their families.
They might lose their job, which may cause a reduce in income, leading them into extreme poverty, it may also burden their children with having to care for them, causing the children to lack an education, reducing their chances of a decent standard of living. As well as many other issues that come with having poor vision, for the adults and/or the children.
[Here’s an interesting read on it, if interested].
I don’t want to downplay the seriousness of losing/not having good eyesight. It can most definitely be seen as a burden, particularly to those that live in poverty.
However, I am very sorry to all those who have been talked to in such ways regarding whatever disability they may have. I sincerely hope things are getting better for the autistic community, as well as for many other communities.
I know someone who said she was considering never having children because she didn’t want to give birth to someone who was dyslexic (her herself being dyslexic). It made me feel terrible for ages, and I couldn’t believe it - seeing as I never even considered such things before she mentioned it. To me, it’s like the argument of aborting children who will have cleft lips (I cannot believe that’s even an argument, to be honest!).
Now that I am aware of it, I want to support the disabled community. As I always say, I think people focus far too much on the potential negative aspects of being disabled and not nearly enough on the positive and/or neutral points.
No one should ever feel bad for having a disability, nor be treated badly for having one.
Source: quickjam
“Signs of autism — such as impaired social skills and repetitive, ritualistic movements — usually begin to appear when a child is about 18 months old. Autism is thought to result from miswired connections in the developing brain, and many experts believe that therapies must begin during a ‘critical window,’ before the faulty circuits become fixed in place. But a new study (abstract) shows that at least one malfunctioning circuit can be repaired after that window closes, holding out hope that in some forms of autism, abnormal circuits in the brain can be corrected even after their development is complete.” [Source].
BenoitRen: Great, now we’ll be able to fix all of them! We really need that! /sarcasm I for one find this very offensive. It’s like telling all autistics they’re malfunctioning.
Anonymous Coward: Preface: I’m diagnosed with asperger’s, a form of high-functioning autism, and I do a lot of work relating to autism advocacy.
That being said, the language might need a little work, but we don’t try to pretend a person with a deformed arm doesn’t have a deformed arm. … There’s really no question that autism has a physical element. It’s somewhat disingenuous to try to talk as if autism isn’t a “malfunction” in the human body.
If someone is missing a leg, and goes on to lead a normal life anyway, you don’t pretend like it never happened, you stand proud of them for overcoming it. If you want to support those on the spectrum, be proud of those who accept that there’s something malfunctioning in their body and find a way to make life work despite that. Don’t try to pretend like there’s nothing malfunctioning, because the first message that sends is “if you can’t do it, it’s all your fault” and you’d never tell that to a person who couldn’t walk because they had a deformed leg.
I don’t know what’s normal. I don’t know what kind of brain is functioning, so I can’t determine the malfunctioning ones. All I ever seem to gather is that we’re all malfunctioning to various degrees.
I have always agreed with the idea that those with disabilities, developmental disorders, etc, should not be treated as if they cannot live a normal life to any degree. Having bad eyesight is sometimes not considered as a disability by many people, even though they may wear glasses or have to do something else to help them see.
However, it is. And although we can opt for people to have eye surgery, to eradicate their issue, many choose not to do so. I think similar treatments should all be optional. It’s not a necessity if those with these problems are able to live decently regardless.
Regarding people who are parents being faced with the decision to either keep the child the way they are or to put them through surgery (for example) to ‘fix’ things, I suppose that’s up for them to decide.
This argument highly relates to that surrounding the cochlear implant, of which some people get or do give to their children. Some of the deaf community feel it is a threat, of which looks to erase the deaf community or put being deaf under negative light.
Related topics:
Nearly 44,000 hate crimes took place in England and Wales in 2011-12.
• 35,816 (82%) were race hate crimes
• 1,621 (4%) were religion hate crimes
• 4,252 (10%) were sexual orientation hate crimes
• 1,744 (4%) were disability hate crimes
• 315 (1%) were transgender hate crimes
The data shows that the majority of all hate crimes (83%) involved violence - and the worst proportion for that was race hate crimes - 85% were violent offences. The next most common was criminal damage - but theft, burglary and sexual offences were involved too.
Take a look at the breakdown of the data:
• Interactive map
• Download the data
• Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian
[Source via chrismcmahon].
“FAT FOR AN ASIAN:” THE PRESSURE TO BE NATURALLY PERFECT
by Noel Duan
I’m not fat — by American standards. I am considered slightly chubby for an Asian in China. I’m 5’1” and about 100 pounds, give or take five pounds depending on whether it’s New York Fashion Week or final exams week at Columbia. Everyone assumes I’m naturally petite because of my Asian genetics, but the truth is, I count my calories like Ebenezer Scrooge counts his gold coins and run and do yoga like Lululemon is paying me. The moment I “let myself go,” the weight bounces back.
I try not to talk about it, though, because the moment I do, someone always says, “Shut up, you’re Asian. You have genetics on your side.”
That’s the problem — Asian girls are suffering from body image issues and eating disorders because they try to hold themselves up to the expectation that Asian girls are naturally slim. In fact, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Diane von Furstenberg said, “It is great to design for Chinese women, because they have great bodies. They are slim and have tiny waists, so it’s nice.”
Elizabeth Harker recently wrote the most amazing piece about being a fat foreign girl in China, in which she discovered the difference betweenpang, which means fat in an almost affectionate way, and fei, which is the adjective my mother uses to describe fatty pork dishes. Asians are open to talking about weight — they’ll force-feed you when they think you’re too thin and they’ll shame you when they think you’re too fat.
When I came back from my first year of college in New York, my mother whispered to me, “You’re a little fat now.” When I fell on my butt during cheerleading practice, my dad said to me in the car, “I wonder if it’s because you’re fat for an Asian.”
The first time I realized I was “fat” for an Asian girl was when I was 10 years old, on a trip back to China to visit relatives. A distant cousin whom I had never met before grabbed my arm and said, “Hao fei,” which, roughly translated, means, “So porky.” Since that day, I stopped wearing short sleeves whenever possible because I was afraid others would notice my “porky” arms.
In Chinese culture, eating is seen as a form of affection and commitment to the family, so I always ate every meal, every single kernel of rice in my bowl. But I also felt fat and unfit to be the “perfect” Asian girl, as I compared my body to those of my fellow Asian American girl friends. When we would go out to eat and drink — a group of petite Asian girls — I knew I had to work out more and eat less the next day to make up for the amount I ingested with my friends. I’ve spent countless Friday nights in college, feeling completely inadequate because every single Asian girl I met was thin and beautiful with porcelain smooth skin, like Asian girls are supposed to be. I started to wonder if I was the only Asian girl who felt this way.
My metabolism just can’t keep up, but no one believes me.
“Asian girls eat like football players but they just don’t get fat — it’s great,” remarked a guy friend, as I picked at my spinach salad.
This past summer, over cocktails (400 calories, I counted), a fellow Asian girl confided in me, “When I was at my lowest weight, 98 pounds, I ate only two yogurts a day. I was so miserable, but I had to — how can you be Asian and not be thin?” For many Asian girls, being thin is imperative; being a fat Asian — or even an Asian of “normal” weight — basically implies you’re a glutton who managed to out eat your own superfast metabolism. To be an attractive Asian girl, being thin is supposed to be a given.
All Asian girls are supposed to look like Korean pop stars, right?! P.S. These are the Wonder Girls and I really like them.
I spent much of my life hating my body because it felt imperfect for both Asian standards and Western standards. I wasn’t skinny or tall enough to look like a fashion model or busty enough to be a swimsuit model, and I wasn’t petite and cute enough to look like a Korean pop star. As a little girl growing up in an immigrant Chinese household in America, I never thought I was pretty. I wasn’t considered beautiful in either of the two cultures I considered part of my identity. I spent the first half of my life wishing I were a beautiful white girl, and the second half of my life wishing I were a beautiful Asian girl.
My friend Elaine Low wrote an article for Mochi (an online magazine for Asian American girls) called “Diagnosing the Asian American Disorder,”which explains: “‘It’s meaningful that a white woman can turn on a TV and find a broad range of characters, but Asian Americans are portrayed the same way over and over again,’ said Dr. Teresa Mok, a clinical psychologist who treats a lot of college students. ‘For someone struggling with self-esteem issues, this reinforces the feeling of invisibility.’”
I’m aware that body image isn’t an issue specific to Asian women — but the interesting thing I’ve discovered is that being Asian — or any minority — makes you harshly critical about your own image. You don’t get to see yourself much on TV or in magazines, and when you do, you get frustrated if you don’t fit into that perfect airbrushed image.
I’ve done my best to be the perfect Asian daughter — getting straight As in high school and attending an Ivy League university, for example. I, and many of the Asian girls I’ve talked to, have expressed the pressure to be “perfect” in every single way — whether it’s because society expects you to be as the “model minority” or your parents expect you to be as the “precious daughter.” I never let myself be happy with the way I looked; after all, if I could work for perfect grades, why couldn’t I work for a perfect body?
I told a white classmate about how casual it is for Asian parents to make comments about their children’s’ weight. She frowned and said, “That would not be okay in my household. That would not go over well.” It’s a cultural disconnect I’m still trying to grapple and understand.
I don’t think I’ll ever be thin enough to satisfy my family. I don’t think I’ll ever be thin enough to satisfy society. And unless things start changing from the inside, I don’t think I’ll ever be thin enough to satisfy myself. As of right now, I’m still spending hours every week, working off the calories at the gym and measuring my portions on the kitchen scale. I’m still trying to be the perfect student, daughter, and human specimen — as futile as that may be, I feel that it is expected of me. I know all experiences — and body types — are unique and I’m not speaking on behalf of all Asian women, but I know I’m not the only one.
I wanted to reblog this because it came up in the comments of my last ED post, somebody saying that they felt a lot of pressure to be thin because they were Asian. It’s something I completely understand, though I never had to deal with that specifically since even before my ED I was what people would consider to be thin.
But the “oh you’re lucky, you’re Asian, you’re naturally thin!” thing I’ve heard a lot. Along with “oh, you’re lucky, you’re Asian, it’ll be so easy for you to transition and be beautiful!” or the more transphobic version: “Asian men make the best women” (as an ex boyfriend told me right before I dumped him.) Or etc etc… because our media has this idea that all Asian women are thin, and feminine, and Asian trans women are cis-passing, beautiful and thin.
Even in the comments of this blog, somebody wrote that manga art was an accurate version of how Asian women look like because we all have baby faces. A Japanese pop star was offered as proof. And that’s generally, what people remember, because Asian people aren’t individuals in white western society, and we’re represented by only a select few aesthetics. So if people only see East Asian pop stars with child like faces and thin bodies, well that’s what East Asian people should look like!
Much like women, in general, in our pop media are represented by only a few body types. And it’s an extra pressure that women of colour, and specifically, in this case, East Asian women face. And all the assumptions and non-support we get because “oh you’re Asian, you don’t need to worry about that!” or how “lucky” we are to be Asian women (cis and trans) because of the exotification and stereotypes surrounding us.
While I don’t struggle with the pressure to fit this idea that all Asian women should be skinny, I do struggle with my fear of aging and my face looking old. I realized the other day my internalized racism, where I could see many kinds of beauty, young and old in white women’s faces, but in Asian faces, I could only see “old and wrinkly” or “young, puffy and child like”, and even though I know that’s not true, it’s just so embedded in how the society I live in views East Asian women.
And it’s obviously not just me, since as I said, I’ve had people say that, and people even comment on this blog arguing that this is the norm for East Asian women. And when you stereotype a “race” as being “naturally” like XYZ, no matter how positive XYZ is supposed to be, you’re also telling (consciously or not) every individual of that group that they need to measure up to that standard, since after all it’s how we should be “naturally.”
It also ends up creating an environment where any of the issues we face relating to the “positive” stereotype, gets erased and dismissed. For example, the woman in the above piece had her body image issues ignored because of the idea that Asian women have hyper metabolisms and we’re always super thin. And when I was early in my transition, I faced a lot of dismissal of my fears, body issues and dysphoria by white trans and cis women because of the idea that all Asian trans women are just super beautiful and cis passing.
Nobody’s “lucky” to be trapped in a box where we can’t be individuals.
Source: everythingbutharleyquinn
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![japanese-revision:
窓際族（まどぎわぞく）とは、日本の企業や団体の職場において閑職に追いやられた、主に中高年の社員・職員を指す言葉。
Due to many factors, people don’t tend to get fired from Japanese companies, instead they get pushed aside and placed at “the window ledge” (まどぎわ – 窓際) – the term for these workers are “window ledge tribe” (まどぎわぞく – 窓際族).
What it means in reality is that they get placed somewhere in the company where they don’t get in the way, don’t get any work to do, but still receive salary. They are completely frozen out of the community and by their peers, leading to either a) they leave the company voluntarily, or b) they stick it out until the bitter end (i.e. retirement, as there is no, absolutely no, way back into the warm company family). There is of course a c) as well – although it’s very drastic and I would hope that it’s decreased recently, and that is the suicide option. Being placed by the window ledge can mean so great shame to a person that he/she feels that taking his/her own life is the only option. [Source].
例：
いつ首を切られるか分からないなんて、窓際族はつらいね。→It’s tough for sidelined employees, never knowing when they’ll get fired.トムはもう窓際族の１人だ。→Tom is now a member of the dead wood.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/440a1153fbeba073ecd95a935ad3c461/tumblr_mg2ynuX3oY1rlz5m3o1_r1_1280.png)
