Maybe I am stuck between east and west. I'm sitting in my grandparents apartment in L.A - in the Valley. The walls are painted a bright pink, the floors a covered in carpets - family heirlooms, heck there are even neatly framed carpets hanging on the walls. Family photos are everywhere, including a handful of old one's from Iran. My grandma is in the kitchen listening and signing along to the Persian radio. She is always in the kitchen and there is always a big meal that she insists on preparing. This time it's for a close family gathering in honor of my visiting, just thirty or so of my cousins will be crammed into this apartment.
Geejoo a parakeet old and fat after eating a diet consisting of way too much rice perched in the corner of the kitchen, she'll only let me aunt get near her, and is consistently adorned with lipstick marks from her kisses. My grandfather is a stubborn man. He rides around in a power scooter that he only recently acquiesced into buying. His hearing is bad, so he spends his days reading and watching Spanish network game shows - hey you don't need hearing to see Latina women bouncing around in bikinis.
Later tonight we'll have a Shabbat dinner with just my immediate family, who I see only twice a year. You see, I was raised in Florida far away from the hubbub of what is affectionately known as "Tehran-geles". That isn't to say that I don't feel a strong connection with my heritage, but it has necessarily manifested itself in a much more muted form. Sometimes I feel like a stranger here. I have trouble speaking the only language that my family speaks. This makes the majority of our conversations superficial. I wish that I could discuss politics with my grandfather or understand all of the love-driven advice that my grandma has to offer.
The gaps extend beyond language, to our differing world views, or to the ways that we engage with culture. They have managed to bring Iran with them, but I'm a first-generation American who is disconnected from the community that they have surrounded themselves with. I sometimes wonder if I will ever integrate into that world.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
New beginnings
I recently graduated from college and I am presently faced with a bit of a blank future. I have various jobs to occupy myself with over my self declared "gap year" that is without a foreseeable end, but this is the first time that I have been presented with such openness. It's daunting, as I'm sure many recent grads are experiencing. Currently I just want my life to have a positive impact. To do more good than harm for this world. I hope that I can still maintain this blog and nourish it with the various oddities of experience that I have in store for myself. For now, I'm of to Berkeley to work on an urban farm and then from there to Chicago.
I'd like to actually take this opportunity to tell you a bit about my plans for this upcoming year and hopefully enlist your help. (Assuming someone is reading this blog, which I have my doubts... but I why not try?)
Beginning in August I will be moving to Chicago for a year to participate in AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps. AVODAH strives to create the next generation of socially conscientious Jewish leaders. In order to achieve this, they have established a program involving three key components:
1. Working: Each AVODAH core member will be working in a different poverty-focused non-profit organization. Specifically, I will be working as an outreach worker for Faith in Place, which believes that faith can inspire environmentalism.
2. Living: I will be living in a house in Chicago along with ten other AVODAH participants. This should be an interesting (and hopefully enjoyable!) experience. Our house will not be the only one though; there are additional AVODAH sites in DC, New York, and New Orleans.
3. Learning: I will be attending weekly seminars, along with my housemates, regarding the intersection between Judaism and social justice. By combining all three-program aspects, I hope to gain a better appreciation for my responsibility to those in need, both as a Jew and as a human being.
AVODAH is an effective and reputable organization. I am amazed by all of the great work they do; however, AVODAH cannot function without monetary support. To that end, I have established a goal to raise $1,000 in donations for AVODAH this summer. Donations to AVODAH help support its 65 core members (myself included!) who will be working in anti-poverty organizations for the following year. This allows the non-profits to fill their staffing needs in a cost-effective manner so that they can continue to help populations in need. Moreover, AVODAH donations allow for the perpetuation of strong-minded Jewish individuals who are actively involved in social change.
If you're able, please donating whatever amount you are able to the cause in my name. Any little bit really does help and is greatly appreciated!
I'd like to actually take this opportunity to tell you a bit about my plans for this upcoming year and hopefully enlist your help. (Assuming someone is reading this blog, which I have my doubts... but I why not try?)
Beginning in August I will be moving to Chicago for a year to participate in AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps. AVODAH strives to create the next generation of socially conscientious Jewish leaders. In order to achieve this, they have established a program involving three key components:
1. Working: Each AVODAH core member will be working in a different poverty-focused non-profit organization. Specifically, I will be working as an outreach worker for Faith in Place, which believes that faith can inspire environmentalism.
2. Living: I will be living in a house in Chicago along with ten other AVODAH participants. This should be an interesting (and hopefully enjoyable!) experience. Our house will not be the only one though; there are additional AVODAH sites in DC, New York, and New Orleans.
3. Learning: I will be attending weekly seminars, along with my housemates, regarding the intersection between Judaism and social justice. By combining all three-program aspects, I hope to gain a better appreciation for my responsibility to those in need, both as a Jew and as a human being.
AVODAH is an effective and reputable organization. I am amazed by all of the great work they do; however, AVODAH cannot function without monetary support. To that end, I have established a goal to raise $1,000 in donations for AVODAH this summer. Donations to AVODAH help support its 65 core members (myself included!) who will be working in anti-poverty organizations for the following year. This allows the non-profits to fill their staffing needs in a cost-effective manner so that they can continue to help populations in need. Moreover, AVODAH donations allow for the perpetuation of strong-minded Jewish individuals who are actively involved in social change.
If you're able, please donating whatever amount you are able to the cause in my name. Any little bit really does help and is greatly appreciated!
Here is a link to my fundraising page where you can make a secure contribution: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/leilashooshani/donate
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so grateful for all of your continued interest in my progress and I will happily keep you updated on all my happenings!
With love,
Leila
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so grateful for all of your continued interest in my progress and I will happily keep you updated on all my happenings!
With love,
Leila
Thursday, June 2, 2011
The Perfect Woman
Upon hearing the latest Radiolab episode: "Talking with Machines" I was intrigued to see for myself what AI looks like today. I was almost half-shocked to realize that the vast majority of humanoid intelligent androids are built to look like… you guessed it! Attractive women. In fact, in my quest to hopefully discount my initial observation, I only came across a handful of named male androids. None of which I might add, possessed the same hyper magnification of those qualities that we deem to be the most beautiful.
I say that I was half surprised about this realization, because popular culture and science fiction has prepared me for this reality. The earliest example that I can think of in my young mind, is Seven of Nine from Star Trek. True she was only half borg, but her appearance certainly reinforces the notion that there is just something hot about a female robot. I think the underlying question here has not to with looks, but why when we are building or even portraying robots we choose the female sex?
My impulse is to declare that it is because women are often already reduced to the robotic level, programmed by the patriarchy and expected to carry out their instructions. I want to say that it's because we tend to not view women as whole and complete humans, with complex self-reflective capabilities that inform their own selfhood. I want to say that the idea of a subservient and desirable woman android is sexually arousing in our society.
But really, I don't want to have to say these things. They seem such an archaic backdrop against modern innovation. To think that humanity is at the point when humanity can talk to computers, intelligent computers, but what we want from them is still of the most unprogressive content. Sure the majority of the work underlying AI pursuits has sincere scientific motivations; however, for whatever reason (whether it be the possibilities I suggested above or something other) we have collectively chosen to represent robots as hyper-feminine creatures, with bodies that do not represent the majority of human women.
It's sad to think that in some areas humanity has come so far, but then there are these ever present beliefs that we are plagued by. I would like to see a more androgynous machine, one that reflects its mechanical being and doesn't attempt to skirt over the complexities of human gender and sex formation.
I say that I was half surprised about this realization, because popular culture and science fiction has prepared me for this reality. The earliest example that I can think of in my young mind, is Seven of Nine from Star Trek. True she was only half borg, but her appearance certainly reinforces the notion that there is just something hot about a female robot. I think the underlying question here has not to with looks, but why when we are building or even portraying robots we choose the female sex?
My impulse is to declare that it is because women are often already reduced to the robotic level, programmed by the patriarchy and expected to carry out their instructions. I want to say that it's because we tend to not view women as whole and complete humans, with complex self-reflective capabilities that inform their own selfhood. I want to say that the idea of a subservient and desirable woman android is sexually arousing in our society.
But really, I don't want to have to say these things. They seem such an archaic backdrop against modern innovation. To think that humanity is at the point when humanity can talk to computers, intelligent computers, but what we want from them is still of the most unprogressive content. Sure the majority of the work underlying AI pursuits has sincere scientific motivations; however, for whatever reason (whether it be the possibilities I suggested above or something other) we have collectively chosen to represent robots as hyper-feminine creatures, with bodies that do not represent the majority of human women.
It's sad to think that in some areas humanity has come so far, but then there are these ever present beliefs that we are plagued by. I would like to see a more androgynous machine, one that reflects its mechanical being and doesn't attempt to skirt over the complexities of human gender and sex formation.
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