DLSC LITFILI - Marriage and what comes with it

Critical analyses, i.e comparisons and contrasts between Nick Joaquin's "Summer Solstice" and Aida Rivera-Ford's "Love in the Cornhusks" have reaped rich material for cultural, gender, and class studies. For your fourth blog requirement, compose an essay on cultural or political issues, occurences, problems, etc. related to relationships, sex and marriage.
Use the insights you have gained from our discussions of the above-mentioned stories as take-off points or writing prompts. You may focus on one or more characters, the conflict/s of each story, the theme/s, symbolism, etc. embedded in the stories. You may do a comparison and contrast between the social conditions then and now, or you may talk about cultural differences between regions, countries, religions, etc.
Whatever you choose to do, do some research on your topic. Cite concrete situations, practices, events, etc. and support these with sources.



Both these stories revolve around the idea of Marriage.

The Summer Solstice was set around, though only an assumption, during the time where marriage or the catholic faith was strong in the Philippines. I.e The Spanish were still playing a big part in the country. In this story it is seen that the main couple were of a decent background, socially, financially, religiously, stable. This is of course not the case for the rest of the populace or other characters in the story. Since the couple were of the normal upbringing, they of course acted normally, or at least normal in terms of western civilization of how couples act within a marriage. The same cannot be said of course for the other characters. Though mid-way of the story the main couple are made aware by the ways of the others, the so called fertility gathering or what not, if my memory serves me right. This in turn somehow, changes the attitude or state of this, normally "western" couple, who now embraces the more ritualistic tradition. The end of the story also plays an important role as it serves as a twist in say "gender equality", which was almost none existent during that bygone era, in which women  play a more submissive in a relationship.

In "Love in the Cornhusks", marriage is seen to be more of a simplistic concept in which marriage is a sort of crotch for the incapable. This of course is merely my interpretation and yet, is evident(?) i think in this story in which the woman choosing to stay with the marriage partner, this in turn reveals the fact that in today's society, no specifications in country, that marriage is indeed a way to share a burden  with someone else, so much so that love is no longer a factor, this of course may be a very cynical way in viewing the tradition and may be untrue in some circles and yet stories such as this portray this all too true fact of life, almost to the point that women are using marriage as a trap for the man, for the aforementioned conveniences. This once again, i stress is mere speculation but, is a notable opinion nonetheless. Though of course I DO NOT put the blame on women, no, at least not solely on women, nor do i blame the cultural background of these women. If ever i was gonna point a finger, id point it on the irresponsibility of people in general, and the attitude to blame something or turn to something to ease the blow. In the stories case its the tradition of marriage that's getting the slack.      


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage - MARRIAGE
http://cyberparent.com/women/womenmarry.htm - WOMEN on MARRIAGE (lol)

Divide by Two and The Bread of Salt. Individualism

In divide by two the way i see it, is more a division in the personality of the couple than anything else. It seems like they have conflicting attitudes which is far different from the typical, or in a sense ideal woman (LOL) from the earlier stories in which there is a sense of oneness of harmony between characters. In the bread of salt story, i feel that the boy is the individualist one, and that he tends to think of what to do and how to do it, how to accomplish etc. Like since he likes that girl, he figures out ways to try and swoon her. I also noticed that the role of the grandmother disappeared very early in the story, and i sense that the story is centered around an individual(the boy) rather than the boys family.   


I actually don't really know what culture that I will pertain to here, since I'm so heavily mixed. I'll stick with my mom's chinese side. I guess we are still predominantly collective. We all give respect to each other and we still "move" as one, always thinking of other family members before ourselves and even in my grandfather's business ventures, he puts a great emphasis on the company as a whole and not just individual workers. Apart from that whenever our family gatherings my family is always en masse much in contrast once again to my more western father side. I personally think that we are still a collective culture, evidence of this are in the form of our family gatherings(like our rituals during these times, i forgot the exact name)and our attitude towards consequences and stuff like that. Actually it can't really be helped because my grandparents are very traditional.

2nd blog entry: How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife / The Mats

2. Compare and contrast the dynamics or relations between families then and now, or between families of different cultures.

From what i read and understood. One element that i see that is in both stories is that Filipinos are very family oriented. This i guess is the biggest and most evident element of Asian culture and not ONLY filipino culture(of course, to the resentment of filipinos). Details put aside, my father's side of the family starting with my dad and his sisters are all Eurasians, that obviously making all his/their offsprings me included eurasians as well, 7 of my cousins are caucasian and we all grew up in a hot-pot culture of a family, my moms side doesnt get that much simpler either, starting with my grandmother, chinese blood is present, thus making my mom and her brothers yet another mixture of cultures. I lived in Singapore for a while and made good friends (them being chinese), being invited and such to their families, I too have noticed how the chinese treat families and guests. Much in contrast to my european side, though make no mistake europeans are very family-oriented as well, not just as tightly knit as the asians or filipinos in the stories' cases. I wouldn't really know if filipinos still retain such family closeness and bondings but i am fully aware that the chinese are still very much into it. Most festivities in the Lunar calendar are mostly for ancestors and departed love ones and even for the living relatives, they make it an effort to keep in touch with one another and such.Even for my korean friends, family is one aspect that even in a fast-paced society such as Korea, is one that will never disappear, for it seems to be engrained in the very foundation of their culture.  For my eurasian side, I feel it is a great event, because everytime we have a gathering in my father's side, it is a harmonious mix of cultures, ranging from japanese, spanish, italian, dutch and of course filipino. We usually adhere to the Philippine setting, but my relatives all get along and spend a whole day just talking, while i play with my cousins and such.    

Eurasian culture "best of both worlds":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasians_in_Singapore

Korean annual festival of thanksgiving "Chuseok":
http://2worlds1family.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/%EC%B6%94%EC%84%9D-chuseok-korean-thanksgiving