oh na na, what's my name?

With the movie Something About Mary lingering in my parents head, and seeing Cameron Diaz on the cover of a magazine in the delivery room, my parents decided to name me Cameron. Growing up with the name Cameron resulted in many encounters where people thought I was a boy just by reading my name, (cough cough Mr. Beller), and many nicknames: most popular being Cam, then there's cam cam, cammy, C Money, Cameroon, and my favorite that all the relatives called me, Cameroon the Baboon. When looking up the literal definition of my name I found its a Scottish surname that means crooked nose, which is ironic because I actually have a little bit of a crooked nose from a softball accident. I believe that your name is a part of your identity because thats how others identify you, or else we would all lose track of who is who, but I don't think that your names defines you as a person. A name is just a name, and yes certain names hold power in our society for example different celebrities or royal family names, but its more of what you do and who you are that gives your name that power and recognition. Your name is more of a personal choice that you want people to identify you as, but by no means defines who you are or what you do.

I am a pretty outgoing, loud person, that likes to crack a lot of jokes every now and then, (even though they aren't all that funny, but that's okay because I still laugh at them), anyways that is how I identify myself 88% of the time. The other 12% is left for awkward moments, classroom discussions, and presentations. In these moments I relate to Anna Quindlen's idea of "two me's" as I view myself as an outgoing person there are situations like trying to deliver a presentation or have the usual IB class discussion I clam up and get shy, in fear of saying something stupid and overall failure. What is weird though is that I dance and have no problem dancing on stage and expressing myself in front of others, but have trouble giving a 15 min class presentation, (SOS dreading the extended essay extravaganza).Though I am starting to participate more I still understand the point she makes about the different alter egos people seem to have, and exhibit in different life situations or events. I believe that these "two me's" depend on what larger whole you are apart of or surrounded by, and how comfortable you are around that group.

Just Syrup? Look deeper

Blog #1

Wing Young Huie, Still Life 2014, http://goo.gl/z4bkpH

This photograph has the setting of a store as the subject(s) for this picture is syrup, and its many different brands. We have Aunt Jemima's and its many sub brands/flavor, Karo dark and light corn syrup, Hungry Jack, Country Rich, Swedish Pancake mix, and different brands of molasses slightly cut off by the picture. The black and white of the photograph adds an aging affect to the picture and more of a familiar feeling to the viewer as though they have seen this before.When looking at the main focus of the picture, syrup, a craving inside arises to eat and enjoy delicious pancakes with warm syrup on top of it.

However when really looking at the photo the life and deliciousness of the photo begins to drain out like the color, as the purpose of this photo begins to sink in. The purpose being to show different classes and groups and othering created in a society in this case represented by syrup bottles and their brands. The syrup bottles are categorized by their labels, and as others come to buy/view these bottles of syrup they are categorizing each brand by its supremacy and hierarchy in the syrup world. Most people will buy the most popular brand, and others the less expensive type of syrup. Without realizing people use othering and alienate different groups of syrup based on societal understandings of their taste and type, people also do this and real life along with The Handmaid's Tale.

In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood uses othering to alienate different groups of people and uses social classes to define a persons role in society along with their power. In the Gilead your job/social class is who you are and referred to as, an example being the Commander, or the Commander's Wife. The Gilead society shuns all "sterile" women, who can't have children and are put into a group labeled as the unwomen. This is one example of othering that Atwood uses in her text along with her placement of social classes in the Gilead that associate with power. This idea corresponds and relates to Wing Young Huie;s photograph of syrup analyzed previously. Both texts relate labels to power, as Aunt Jemima's is ranked high in the syrup world as the most popular brand, and that label holds weight and there is power to it because more people will buy that brand of syrup, due to its name brand. This has a clear resemblance to The Handmaid's Tale, as the role/label of Commander holds great power in society and he who wears that position controls those inferior to his title.

Another connection from Huie's photograph to the book, would be that the more popular brands of syrup, or you could even say the syrup that is higher up in society holds more weight so it is more expensive. So because the Aunt Jemima syrup is the most popular brand it gets rewarded with being the most expensive one. Just like in the book the Commander is the highest role/social class in Gilead so he gets rewarded in a plethora of ways. As you can see Huie's photpgraph of syrup had a much deeper significance than you would first think, but digging into it you bring out themes of othering and definition by social classes that correlate to The Handmaid's Tale.