On Yilmaz’s Penis

*** this is in reaction to the video of Levni Yilmaz, “What Would Penis Do?”. An assignment I had to do for my Intercultural Communication course. I hope this makes sense.

In a world where the left brain is weightier than the right, there is a study they call sociology that deals with the social rules and processes that bind (and perhaps separate) people not only as individuals but also as members of associations, groups, and institutions. Basically, if we were to define man, he would be someone who is the protector, the “impregnator”, or the provider. All of these tags, although sounding antiquated already, define man in the society. But what exactly makes a man a man? And where does our perception of man, or gender in general, come from?

In “What would penis do?” Levni Yilmaz defined an average man (with average wants and desires) as somebody who is not entirely a creature of free will. He says that man has three governing functions, namely, the heart, the mind, and the penis. But of course our perception of gender would not come from the heart, the mind, or the penis. Instead, the society would be the one dictating who is who. In fact, because of the things we learned from textbooks (or from our family) we allow ourselves to be fenced in the behavior that would satisfy the expectations of those in the society. Therefore, many consider gender as just an idea, a social construction. And our perception starts there.

When we were still young, we were not as selective of information as we are today. In turn, the things we learn about gender, i.e. pink is for girls and blue is for boys, can make us surrender a portion perhaps of our freedom and free will. Some books would say that the idea of gender would begin at birth wherein figuring if the baby has a penis or a vagina would tell the parents what to teach their child about attitudes, thoughts, and behavior patterns that have been established by society.

Our perception of gender comes from the society, perhaps due to tradition, and the media, which influence society a lot. And in relation to the video, some of it would be true in Philippine culture. Many do think that the heart is an image associated to emotions; the brain is for logic, and the private organ (penis in the video) is for something sexual, and not desperation.

The part where Yilmaz tells about a man meeting a woman where things were not going well and the opposite situation are true especially what the heart and mind tell one to do, but I am not too sure with the penis. But for some reason I do agree that a penis is egotistical! In addition to that, I agree with what the penis said that there is no harm in chatting with randomly beautiful girls even if you’re off the market.

Personally, half of what the video talks about would ring true for me. I believe in the mind-heart conflict, although the heart or emotion is still connected to the brain scientifically. But I can never agree that the penis is pathetically desperate, well, maybe if I were about to die and have not been laid. The video seemed to have portrayed the penis as a voracious animal. But perhaps the horny men would agree to this.

This is Western culture, and I have seen movies almost similar to what the video is tackling, i.e. American Pie and Ants in the Pants. I’m not sure if I am amenable to all the ideas concerning the penis, at this age. But basically, the video reflects how society had an effect on Yilmaz. This is how he sees a man, and I am in no position to tell him he is wrong.

Untitled (Reaction to Philippine Folklore Classified)

I always write in english. If I could have things my way, I would’ve chosen English, but I had no choice! talk about democracy. But then again, it was a Filipino subject anyway which made more sense for me to write in my own language. While writing this, I felt I was learning the language again because the last time I really wrote in Filipino was in my sophomore year in high school. Anyway, here it goes. My 3- PAGE REACTION PAPER IN FILIPINO!

Ayon sa Philippine Folklore Classified, mayroong tatlong bahagi ang pang-agham na pananaliksik: pagtitipon (collection), pag-uuri (classification), at pagsusuri (analysis), ngunit ang pag-aaral ng Poklorikong Pilipino ay nasa bahaging pagtitipon pa lamang. Dahil dito, ang huling dalawang bahagi ay hindi pa lubos na nagawa. Bagamat nasa unang bahagi na ang naturang pag-aaral, nahaharap pa rin ito sa suliraning pagkakaroon ng tiyak na sistema ng pag-uuri. Paano nga ba natin maaabot ang huling bahagi ng siyentipikong pananaliksik sa konteksto ng Poklorikong Pilipino?

Ang pagkakaroon ng tiyak na sistema ng pag-uuri ay makatutulong upang mahiwalay at malinaw na makita ang pagkakaiba ng iba’t ibang pokloriko sa bansa. Idagdag pa natin dito ang mga maaari nating matuklasan tungkol sa kulturang Pilipino dahil ibinabahagi din ang pokloriko sa bawat salin-lahi. Madali mang tukuyin ang mga magagandang bagay na maidudulot nito, ngunit napakahirap naman nitong gawin dahil sa heograpiya, mga wika, at maging sa kasaysayan ng bansa.

Paano tayo magkakaroon ng tiyak na sistema ng pag-uuri? Mahirap ngang pag-uri-uriin ang pokloriko sa Pilipinas dahil sa pagkakaiba nito sa maraming bagay kaya naman magiging mas mainam ang ating pananaliksik kung sanguniin natin ang mga taong pinag-aaralan ang mga ito. Hindi naman makasasama kung tatanggap tayo ng tulong mula sa mga banyaga sapagkat hindi ito maituturing pananakop. Sa katanuyan, pinag-aaralan na sa ilang pamantasan sa labas ng bansa ang Poklorikong Pilipino, at may ilan na nais ayusin ang pag-uuri nito. Tulad ng mga pag-aaral sa agham, magiging mas mainam ang kinalabasan kung isasangguni natin ang mga ito sa isang komonidad kung saan ang pinag-aaralan ay ang iba’t ibang klase ng pokloriko. Sa paraang ito, unti-unti nating maaabot ang huling bahagi ng siyentipikong pananaliksik.

Sina Damiana Eugenio, Juan Francisco, at E. Arsenio Manuel ay ilan sa mga nakagawa ng mga batayan kung paano pag-uri-uriin ang mga pokloriko sa Pilipinas, ngunit magiging mas mainam ang mga ito kung ang pag-uuri ay gawing pangkalahatan tulad ng ginawa ng manunulat ng Philippine Folklore Classified. Nagawa man niyang pag-uri-uriin ang mga Poklorikong Pilipino, nangangailangan pa rin ito ng iba pang detalye tulad ng pagkakaroon ng mga “subtypes”. Sa ganitong paraan din natin mauunawan kung bakit may mga klase ng pokloriko na nasa iisang pag-uuri at ang iba naman ay magkahiwa-hiwalay tulad na lamang nang matutuklasan kapag inihambing natin ang mga nagawa nina Eugenio, Francisco, at Manuel. Bukod ditto, mas mainam kung mayroon tayong isang tiyak na sistema kung saan sang-ayon ang lahat.

Paano makatutulong ang pagakakaroon ng paraan ng pag-klasipika ng Poklorikong Pilipino upang maabot ang pagsusuri? Ang unang makikinabang kapag nagkaroon na ng tiyak na sistemang pag-uuri ay ang mga taong pinag-aaralan ang pokloriko hindi lamang sa bansa kung hindi ang mga nasa ibang bansa rin. Kapag nangyari ito, mas marami nang pagsusuri tungkol sa pokloriko ng Pilipinas. Dahil ang siyentipikong pananaliksik ay isang proseso, mas magiging mainam at maaari ring madali ang pagsusuri kapag nagkaroon na ng tiyak na paraan ng pag-uuri.

Bukod sa makatutulong ito sa pag-aaral ng pokloriko, ito rin ay makakadagdag sa kaalaman tungkol sa mga tao at kultura ng bansa. Sa pamamaraang ito rin ay makalalahok ang Pilipinas at ang mga Pilipinong pinag-aaralan ang pokloriko sa isang “intellectual exchange” sa pagitan ng Asya at sa iba pang bahagi ng mundo tulad ng nakasaad sa layunin ng Asian Ethnology na isang pahayagan (journal) na sumusulong para sa paglalaganap ng karunungan sa pananaliksik ng mga tao at kultura sa naturang lugar.

Ang pagkakaroon ng tiyak na sistema ng pag-uuri ay makatutulong sa atin bilang mga Pilipino sapagkat lubos natin makikilala ang ating sarili. Kapag walang pag-uuri, mawawalan ng saysay ang pagsusuri, ngunit halimbawang mayroon na tayong tiyak na sistema ng pag-klasipika, ano ang maaari nitong maitulong sa mga Pilipino? Ang mga kaugaliang sosyal na madalas ay hindi gaanong maintindihan ng kasalukuyang henerasyon ay mabibigyang kahulugan at mapapahalagahan pa ang mga ito ng lubos dahil sa pananaliksik. Dahil mapapahalagahan ito, mapapangalagaan at mapapalaganap pa ang kulturang Pilipino. Kung mapapansin ang mga kaugalian ng mga kabataan ngayon, batid ng marami na malaki ang impluwensya ng mga banyaga sa kanila. Hindi lamang sa kanilang kaugalian kung hindi pati na rin sa kanilang sining na ginagawa at tinatangkilik at maging sa mga sinasalita. Iyon ay dahilan kung bakit kailangan natin magkaroon ng tiyak na sistema ng pag-uuri. Ito ay para sa mainam na pagsusuri at pananaliksik. Sa paraang ito, mas magiging makahulugan ang mga natuklasan at matutuklasan hindi lamang sa mga mag-aaral ng Poklorikong Pilipino kung hindi pati na rin sa mga Pilipino. Tama lang naman na malalim ang pagkakaintindi ng mga Pilipino sa sarili nilang pokloriko dahil sumasalamin din ito sa kanilang kultura at pagkatao.

Sa huli, ang pinakamatinding tanong ay paano? Paano maaabot ang ganitong resulta? Simple lamang, sumangguni sa komonidad ng mga mag-aaral ng pokloriko. Sa pamamaraang ito, mas maliliwanagan tayo sa  pag-aaral nito at makatutulong pa ito sa pagpapalaganap ng pokloriko at kultura natin sa iba pang bahagi ng mundo. Ang kailangan ay aktibong lumahok ang mga Pilipino.

P.S. I owe so much of my Tagalog to Bob Ong. Long live the king. He is Jose Rizal! LOL

Enrollment: The Reason I was gone

such an unfitting title for today’s rants.

I just got home. No kidding. I was expecting to finish my enrollment in a day, but knowing the system in my University, I need a miracle if that happened.

Yes, there are some who can finish it in a day, but I’ve never beat my record of two days. I was happy the Cashiers decided to have a hunger strike a few hours ago, which enabled me to finish the process before lunch time.

In addition to that, I was relieved I didn’t have to let my clearance signed by the OSA since clearances are now “ONLINE”.

I wonder when we will have an online enrollment, wherein I get to take the GE courses I’m missing out every semester. I want to graduate on time, but Madame Jeni insists that we either take it during summer or next semester (always the next one until we fail to graduate on time).

I hate my schedule this semester too because of FIL21, which is taught by one of the teachers I’ve not been too keen listening to. For some reason, I feel he is difficult to… comprehend. Furthermore, I hate it when my Fridays end at 5:30PM.  To tell you honestly, I think my Filipino subjects have been a mess since elementary. I’m Filipino, but it’s difficult to understand the subject because of some “nuisance”. (Maybe because they’re all scheduled as the last subject of the day)

O my, and I forgot to tell you I have the same professor for my Aesthetics and previous sem’s COMA 108! This will be a bummer. Perhaps I ought to do cut classes again, and manage to get 1.75 just because of sparking a debate in class. Or maybe not, let’s see.

Errr… I’ll be having 2 classes with ma’am jeni this semester. I have no choice.

And then, Ma’am Cruz’s subject which I have so far enjoyed since 1st year, I guess.

And I guess, I have one class with Ma’am Sheila. I hate taking notes in her class.

I am so tired.

I have to sleep.

but not just yet

Not until I’ve posted some pictures

these pictures

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