Had a karaoke session with Siseng(SS), cos (1) long time no Karaoke; (2) it was during my free time. So we spent like 2 hours in Clementi Partyworld singing, more or less having an equal share of the microphone(s). It should be a better experience as compared to what happened previously, where he was seen as "hogging the floor" - no such happenings this time round. I guess when there are times that one is unhappy, one can do things that may not be acceptable, such like that karaoke incident where SS was seen as been overly aggressive during the session and doing the "hogging." It wasn't very apparent till much later that the Commencement performance earlier before the incident had been such a wet blanket for SS, who had to perform (albeit as an ensemble) for the very people he had been slated to graduate with when he embarked on his tertiary education. Indeed, the feeling of marginalisation cannot be felt by anyone except the marginalised, the Other - I will never fully comprehend what it feels like to be Woman, the stereotypes she faces in work, school, home, the roles she is expected to fill in, simply because I'm not her (Ok, that sounds like a digression). Though its true that one's identity is constructed through one's performances and actions, it would be wise to make a judgement based on a more wholistic POV. As my History teacher, Mr "Tiger" Tan puts it, "forgive but don't forget." Hmmm maybe that's why
Went to Chinatown again with Dear over the Weekend; we swear we aint gonna go back there for the next week at least. The human crowds, LCG selling out their sliced pork Bak Kwa even before we had reached their shops, the sweat, the long distance to cover... lucky we made a getaway for Ikea - it started to pour while we waited for the bus. Ended up having dinner @ Ikea; Dear bought a clock, but still can't find the container she had wanted.
Sunday was SP band concert. Dear and I bought last minute tickets @ Raffles City, seats at Circle 3, first row, at the side. Met Ruixiang on the way to Esplanade. Long time since I've been to a concert (it seems long to me...), the feeling was not too bad; enjoyed Ride particular well for my first time listening to it, cos the band took the piece at a tempo and attitude that really swept the audience off their feet. The programme booklet, though, was ineligible at times... Dinner was @ Gluttons Bay; prawn noodles, some sucky Satay and Kaya fondue! The fondue is interesting and not a bad snack to try. Next we moved on to Marina Square, and I am still bewildered by the new layout. Hopefully they will wise up and place more maps of the complex in more strategic places; couldn't even find the @#%*&^%$ cinemas!!!
LGT discussion was led by our group today. First up was a video, The Gender Tango. Discussion centred on toddler beauty pageants and Billy/Dorothy Tipton (interview with the author of his/her biography here), a woman who decided to transcend into the world of jazz by dressing up as a man for the rest of her life till her death. Determination, interest, resistance - leading to a disguised truth that no one managed to uncover till her life ended. Next we touched on the different forms of feminism, and the possibilities of reconciliation of the different fields for the feminism movement in general. Our Kaufman reading (full PDF version here) is about men's power and feminism, how men's power are the source of his pain and alienation from other men and women, nad how feminism can help demolish this power and reduce the pain for men. My main point is that if men are going to relinquish their power, then women better be ready for it. (Hmmm do I sound ultra-chauvinistic here?), because apparently not all women are. This guy, R, pointed out in class that traits like being accomodating and non-assertive are not desired in males, while I voiced out that another way of viewing the paradox is the expectations of men nowadays as the FULL package that is able to reponse accordingly to how society wants them to perform. Plus the phenomenon that some women still prefer their men to be the Alpha-male type that have rendered their tear ducts invalid makes men even more confused. Where do guys stand? Do gays even come into the picture? Does crossing legs or holding the microphone a particular way really determinents towards the identification of a gay? Can men be minus-masculine, or is there a need for the categories male/masculine and female/feminine, or to differentiate beyond biological differences?
Signing off................. Gender debate rages on................
RC
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