I'm Asian.
Shocking, huh?
Upon reading Gomez-Pena's Chicano Interneta I think I finally realized what that means in a virtual world. This is something I never would have thought of before taking this class, because the internet always was just the internet, but Gomez-Pena brought an entirely new light to the situation. First, the use of Spanish words were frequently used. Though many times it was quite clear what was actually meant (Confieso: Confession) it still remained pretty confusing trying to differenciate English and Spanish to to pause to try to figure out what he meant by using Spanish words.
Then it hit me.
I remember reading an essay by Gloria Anzaldua in my English class called Entering the Serpent. Anzaldua purposely used the use of a foreign language to prove a point: she wanted the reader to understand what it was like for her to grow up in her society (confused and lost). Which is exactly how I felt trying to understand a sentence with a completely foreign word obstructing it. In a sense, that's what I feel Gomez-Pena was trying to do. He's trying to make the point that simply because he's "Latino", many people think he's incapable of knowing and learning digital technology. However, with the incorporation of his first language, he's making a humorous point that yes; he's Latino, but look at him knowing all about technology.
I'm sort of on the opposite side of the spectrum.
Since I'm Asian, it's pretty much assumed (mostly for males) that we're are technologically gifted and "game" all the time. While, I've encountered many fellow Asians who fit into that category very nicely, I was never so lucky. I only became good with the computer and all entails by pressing buttons and wishing to God my computer wouldn't explode. Not very "Asian" of me. Oh- and I'm terrible at math. I grew up with a white family, so I rarely spot differences on the web, but one thing I notice many times is that if I'm somewhere on the internet talking to someone it's always assumed I'm white. Could be because I've never really known any other world, but it's always amusing to see reactions when others see my picture or find out I am in fact Asian. I experience first hand what Gomez-Pena is writing about because he's used to the myth that "Mexicans, and by extension other Latinos, can't handle high technology" (Page 4), however my myth would go something like, "Asians can handle high technology."
It's frustrating, but I don't lost sleep over it. Maybe it's the environment I grew up in or how I was raised.
I am losing sleep over writing this blog. I'm going to bed, but there may be more to add later.
Goodnight!
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3 comments:
I really enjoyed your point about the use of spanish words enforcing a sort of sluggishness to the reading. You would have to stop and think about the word for a second before continuing on. It does sort of give you a sense of what it would be like to approach cyber culture from a different background.
I suppose part of the reason I missed this is that I'm taking spanish right now and chose the piece specifically because of that. I was kinda happy to be learning a couple of spanish words in the course or reading for another class. :-)
I think it's great that you found Gomez-Pena's use of frequent spanish words in his article kind of a way for him to get his point across. I am the kind of person that can't stand to move on with the reading if I don't know the exact definition of a word, even if I can pretty much figure it out by the context. So this text was kind of a struggle for me to get through....Just as it is a struggle for the Non English speaking americans to use technology that is tailored for us.
I kind of think the same way that you do, Asians are more gamey and technological and others like the Latinos are at the bottom. It is funny how we perceive the different cultures to be. Especially myself…I am at a double negative being Deaf and Latino descendent. Many think or get the impression cause I am deaf am slow and not smart…but that isn’t the case I am very much up with the times and good at what I do in school. How the Chicano piece kind of gives that idea although we may have access to technology we know what it is and know how to use it.
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