Sticky Bun Obsession

Many of us have that comfort food that we go to when we are have trivializing life problems.  Personally, for me, when I really need to indulge in food to compensate for my reality, I go directly to ice cream.  Something about comfort food just seems to reassure us that life goes on, and our troubles will subside.  In the novel the Dreaming in Cuban, by Cristina Garcia we find the character Lourdes seemingly always finding a friend in sticky buns.  It seems that whenever she is faced with a problem in life, she turns to these comforting sticky buns.  I will be the first to admit that there does seem to be reassurance in our own personal comfort food; but I wonder, do we over do it.  Do we confide to an excess amount in this food?  These problems that we could be talking about to others like trustful friends or family, we take out on food and when it comes down to it we usually do not feel too much better about our situation, or our appearance either.
I wonder while reading this novel, does Lourdes take this eating of comfort food to an excessive, unreal amount?  In the midst of her binges of sticky buns has she lost her family relationships?  Throughout reading the novel, I cannot help but notice that any time Lourdes has a "trivializing" problem in her life she heads straight for the sticky buns.  Her being a baker definitely does not help this eating problem.  Lourdes and her daughter, Pilar, have a dreadful relationship.  Unwillingly, Pilar moved to the United States from Cuba because of her mother's wish.  Now, while in the United States Pilar wants nothing more than to move back to Cuba.  They settle in New York where Lourdes opens up a bakery and forces Pilar to work there for her.  Pilar absolutely hates it and her mother has no idea why.  She feels as though it is Pilar's duty to work for her in the bakery.  Pilar has a passion for art and Lourdes does not even try to comprehend why Pilar loves it.  Obviously, it is clear to see that they do not see eye to eye on pretty much anything.  Because of these problems with her daughter, Lourdes turns to sticky buns to show her comfort.  These sticky buns seem to put Lourdes in a better mood and cure her of her bad symptoms.  But, are these sticky buns what is hurting this mother and daughter relationship?  Is Lourdes confining in this consoling pleasure when she could be conversing with Pilar about their problems?
I believe these "comforting" sticky buns are just the problem!  Without them, Lourdes would need to talk to Pilar to sort their differences out.  These sticky buns are a dreadful barrier between what could possibly be a positive mother-daughter relationship.  I believe that by Lourdes setting the sticky buns to the side, she could not only improve her appearance, but also the relationship she shares with her only child.

The Importance of Chocolate

As I read the book Chocolat, by Joanne Harris, I am starting to realize the importance of food in Women's Literature.  Up to this point, I knew that food had many different effects on the way a book could be portrayed in whether it was the characters, the plot, or even the tone that was being portrayed.  The book Chocolat, really enforced in me the way that food enhances characters personalities and emotions.  It not only enhances the characters, but it uses these characters to unravel and convey a plot line that grabs your attention.

I wonder if I am captured by this book from the way the food, which is chocolate, enhances the characters, creates a realistic plot, or if it is even the plot itself that is the basis of my fascination because of how "real life" it is.  Harris chose a topic that even if you're not religious or familiar with the old Catholic traditions, you seem to understand them effortlessly.  This constant battle between the "perfect" Priest Reynaud and outsider Vianne creates a plot around food and it's effect on religion.  But, is it these characters that make you not want to set the book down? Is it the way that Harris seems to create a little suspense at the end of each short chapter to keep you interested in how the next character react?  Or is it the way these characters react to the food that is presented in the book?

That is where I started to grab what I was searching for.  I believe it is the way that the characters in this book relate their emotions to food.  These emotions that are produced seem to create the overall tone for the book.  The constant battle back and forth between persistent Reynaud's text and innocent Vianne's gives the reader a sense of the struggle in the book.  Vianne, a single mother, looking for a place to call home has a special bond with chocolate and the way people can relate to it.  She has a talent that not many have.  This talent is that she knows what everyone's favorite novelties.  From their personalities and the way they carry themselves, in just a short time, she is able to detect their favorite pleasure.  The food here, perceives every single character's personalities.  She seems so generous giving away her novelties, many times, on the house.  Is this just her way of trying to fit in? 

Because of her past, Vianne feels the need to make a permanent home and although she doesn't quite feel accepted at all times, she acts as if she does.  I believe she does this for her daughter's sake.  She doesn't want her daughter to have to go through the same things she went through in her life.  But, I wonder, is this really her destiny?  Or, was she meant to be a traveler?  To never truly have a place to call home?  It seems that this is the constant question Vianna is faced with.  She feels as though so many items are working against her to keep her from finalizing a "home".  Therefore, I am constantly left with the wonder if Vianne and her daughter, Anouk, will ever find their "true home"? And if they do, where or what will it be? 

Craving to be Beautiful

Commercials, magazines, the Internet, and even celebrities today are all portraying women as being what all women want to be: beautiful.  They all make it look so easy!  Whether it is as easy as Sofia Vergara’s sexy appeal drinking Diet Pepsi or Kim Kardashian’s curvaceous toned body selling a chicken Caesar salad, every woman out there knows that it is just not that easy. 

Let’s be honest, by just eating Yoplait yogurt you are not going to have to convince the dry-cleaning lady that your clothes need to be let in.  For women, becoming beautiful does not just happen like that!  And for those of you who think it does, please eat a normal meal at any fast food restaurant and let me know how it goes.  Because of this constant battle between looking beautiful and eating what you want, many women have dropped the latter part of the battle to obtain this need to be what they consider beautiful.  As much as we try to look past it in today’s society, when a lady walks past you at the mall with her clothes looking more like drapery because her bones do not fill them out you cannot say you do not automatically consider that she is anorexic, bulimic, or any other eating disorder.  I believe that through advertisements, society today is making it difficult for women to be what they consider beautiful.  Not only is this seen in real life, but it has also been portrayed in novels as well.  In Women’s Literature, food is often the center of all the action.  This reaffirms that “the crave to be beautiful” is a constant battle for women.

 

First, let’s start with the question, “What do women consider to be beautiful?”  Is it that sensation of feeling good mentally?  Or maybe it is how you feel on the inside?  Possibly it has to do with thoughts and actions?  It is more than that though.  Although those “feelings of beautiful” may be on the inside, more people today, I believe, focus on the outside.  We, as humans, judge before we really know, and with people, that means we often judge their appearances.  Is this what has caused women to feel the need to crave this worldly, pleasing to-the-eye, “acceptable” image?  What really is it that pushes women over the edge to feel the need to be beautiful? 

I believe the answer of this to be our emotions.  Emotions play a huge part in our lives.  They build up from the pressure of both ourselves and others.  This pressure from the outside world to be beautiful causes emotions to boil over, leaving us with one of the only things we can control, our body image.  While reading The Edible Woman, by Margaret Atwood, I realized that emotions affect everything in women’s lives.  Often, women are overwhelmed by all the priorities put on them, like being the supporter and nurturer of their own family.  This novel was able to portray that sense of overwhelming priorities to its readers.  Marion, the main character often feels overwhelmed by pretty much everything going on in her life.  She first feels stress from her immature roommate, Ainsley.  Then at work, she sits at her impersonal desk surrounded by her self-centered women co-workers.  At work she feels completely worthless, like anyone could fill her undesired position.   When she feels as if she has had enough with those issues, Marion is additionally confronted with the problems of her controlling boyfriend.  This part is not even his fault though because she willingly lets him control her.  For example, when eating out, Marion lets him decide their meals.  She feels safer this way.  It is only when she meets an adverse person named Duncan that she realizes she has no control over her life at all.  This is when her unconscious emotions take over her life.  Slowly and unaware of it she stops eating almost all food by omitting any food from her diet that she imagines to still be alive.  She, herself, cannot understand her odd motions and is hesitant to tell anyone else in fear that they will not be able to understand her situation either.  Deep down, her emotions had taken over, and now, her sub conscious was consuming her physical aspect, as well as her mental control.

I recognize this feeling that Marion exhibits of not having control.  A couple years ago, I had been feeling overwhelmed by working two jobs and coaching different teams during the summer.  What happened is that I worked odd hours that were inconvenient with my eating schedule.  Therefore, when I stopped home for my couple rushed minutes before hurrying to my next job, I ate whatever was handy and available, and that was not much.  Over the course of a couple months without me even realizing, about twenty pounds had vanished from my physique.  I was so caught up in my hectic life of constantly being occupied with something that I hadn’t recognized my weight loss.  Others noticed it for me.  Once I heard the compliments of how great I looked, I really started feeling “beautiful”.  This feeling that Marion reveals of not having the control over her body and mind was set off by her emotions.  Just like in Marion’s case, I also believe that through my experience, emotions were the key component that controlled my body and mind. 

This leads me to wonder, are emotions completely to blame for woman craving to be beautiful?  Could other items like peer pressure or just the stress of life be to blame for this crazy thinking that our body image is all that counts?  Are those items just as guilty as our emotions or do those items just contribute to our emotions that rule over it all?  Through my research and critical thinking I am led to believe that all items, whether it is stress or priorities in our lives, add to our emotions.  Our emotions are the center of our lives and they rule over and control us.  Emotions are completely to blame for us women craving to be beautiful.

Imagery of Anorexia

In Appetite: Food as a Metaphor, Alice Jones poem, Anorexia ties in all the feelings of being anorexic and the seriousness of it.  More importantly though, Jones is able to portray the look of someone who is anorexic by executing imagery.  I believe Jones creates this realistic imagery with her word choice. 
She starts out by calling anorexia an "ancient art", or being able to "exist on air", and "refusing the burden of flesh".  By using those strong word phrases Jones is able to create an image in my head where as if she would have primarily described it any other way, I would have probably not understood that she was describing anorexia.  This word choice really produces this realistic picture of a girl being tortured by her body, trying to rid her self of the burden and exist on what she wants and thinks is pretty.
From here Jones describes this burden in disgusting tones by referring to fat as yellow globs.  She gives the tone of depression by saying they pad and cushion her body in undesired places.  These descriptive words are able to set her tone.  This depressive tone is conveyed throughout the entire poem through Jones word choices.  Later on Jones describes the body after it has been "honed" down.  She then does the item that I believe is most effective in her poem.  She compares this "honed" body to a bird.  This comparison is exquisite!  Jones gives me something to picture when she describes this "bird" being held together by only silk, liquid, and air.  She doesn't fly because she does not have the strength but instead she floats, yet she is flightless.  From this point Jones carefully describes the most dangerous part of anorexia.  She does this in a subtle way.  Jones refers to death as the black cold and gives it the characteristic of deadliness.  Even with death Jones is able to create imagery with just her careful word choices.
Alice Jones portrays anorexia in a way I have never heard before.  With her word choices she is able to create imagery that is so realistic I could picture every scene she created.  Not only did her word choice create imagery, but it also was able to convey her tone.

Picking Your Passion

After reading Anne-Marie Slaughter's article titled, Why Women Still Can't Have It All, I realize that I believe that no one, whether they are a woman or man, can have it all.  It is just not possible.  Those that think they do have it all better be thankful, because many people are striving for it and falling short.  Slaughter brings up many great points on why women cannot have it all.  I do not think that this only applies to women, but I think it pertains to men as well.  Women are often seen as the ones of the family that take care of the household items including meals and cleaning, while also being the child-care giver.  In addition to those items, today women are often pursuing jobs outside the home.  It is getting more and more difficult for women to balance everything they want to be able to do.  This is what Slaughter touches on in her article, Why Women Still Can't Have it All.

What I believe it comes down to in today's world is that women need to be able to balance everything in their lives and they need to be able to balance it well.  Slaughter's article made me realize that women are constantly getting bombarded with more and more responsibilities.  They are still seen as the one who is to take care of the children, take care of the household items, and be the social center for the family.  On top of that, women are now more likely wanting to pursue their career.  They are searching for work outside the home.  They are not just looking for any type of work, but they are looking for higher paying jobs.  They want to reach their full potential, not only at home but also in the workplace. 

This requires an extreme talent for balancing.  Slaughter had a prime personal example of this balance.  She displayed her battle to balance her struggling family while still being able to carry out her dream job.  When she picked apart her problems she found that she was not able to balance those two items.  She realized that she needed to prioritize.  She decided what was important to her and took items from there.  She is now happy with her decision to step down from her dream job and found that she has been able to prosper from other items in her life, like the happiness of her family.

That example from Slaughter is what made me come to the conclusion that to be able to "have it all" you need to be able to balance items perfectly.  Many people are striving to reach this perfect balance and in the midst of it are finding that they need to prioritze.  By prioritizing your interests and needs, you will find what works for you and what does not.  I do not mean to tell you to give up on your dreams; but rather, be realistic and balance by prioritizing.

Fulfilling the Need

As I am reading The Edible Woman, by Margaret Atwood I am constantly found questioning myself on why Marian keeps returning to Duncan, the lowlife graduate student with no push to ever make anything of himself.  I am conflicted with the facts of their contrary personalities and outlooks on life.  Marian seems to want to make something of herself.  She wants to find a new and prospering job, have a husband, and one day be a mother so it seems.  On the contrary, Duncan is a shriveled up, long past graduation, graduate student looking for nothing more in life other than another cigarette.

 In addition to their contrasting personalities, Marian is engaged!  This is why I am faced with the question of why Marian feels the need to return to Duncan again and again.  What is Marian's purpose in seeing Duncan?  Of course the first couple times they met it was coincidental.  In fact, after their first meeting I am surprised Marian did not refuse to speak to him when they ran into each other a second time.  Marian never truly states it, but everytime she thinks of Duncan she feels somewhat content.  She talks of hoping to see him out and even purposely goes to places where she has a better chance of seeing him, like the laundromat. 

The piece that really confuses me is that Duncan continually tells Marian that she does not mean anything to him.  She is what Duncan calls a "subsitute".  In this scene on page 156, Marian then contemplates to herself what he is a "subsitute" for then, in her case.  This is the scene from where my question resignates.  What need is Marian fulfilling with seeing Duncan?  Is it so she does not have to face her real friends (if she has any), her real fiance, or just her real life?

I believe that Marian is feeling like she is being taken captive in her own body and relationships.  She feels taken control of.  When her self-centered roomate Ainsley, is around, Marian is either being negatively judged or just ignored.  When she visits with Clara, her friend from college who now seems to just be wasting away in motherhood, all she hears about is Clara's life.  In the office, Marian gets caught up in the life of surveys and gossip from the "office virgins" that is completely irrelevant to her own life.  In addition to all this, when she is with her controlling fiance, Peter, he practically decides every move that she is going to make and if she does not do what he would prefer, he gets upset and disappointed.  To Marian, it seems like no one cares.  When Marian meets Duncan, I believe she feels that he is not holding her down or holding her back in life.  She is able to talk to someone who does not judge her.  Duncan temporarily fills her needs, just as she fills his.  No one cares about her: her life, her emotions, or her future.  Marian is slowly sinking into a depression and of which type no one is quite certain or aware of.  She cannot even determine what is going on with herself.  Marian's response to this is that her body and mind start rejecting food.  It is not that she is not hungry, she just cannot eat the food because she sees it still as living and remembers where it came from. 

I believe this rejection of food is her acting out on the uncertainty of her life.  Deep down, she knows her life is not going in the right direction.  This mindset is what causes theseactions in many people today.  People do not know what to do in their life.  They feel the need to be noticed, or to be understood.  I believe Marian's actions convey the actions of many in the real world.  People are looking to be helped or even to just be understood. 

I am taken back again to my question of why Marian needs to keep retreating to see Duncan.  What does he fulfill in her?  Deep down, I believe that Duncan fulfills all of Marian's needs.  Temporarily or not, he is able to do it somehow.  At this point in my reading it seems as if he is able to fulfill her biggest need, the need to stay alive and well: her need of mental food.

Welcome to Food and Women's Literature

I guess you could say I have an obsession for ice cream. You name a flavor, I like it! Not only ice cream, but any type of food is something I have always enjoyed. So much so, that when I was younger my older brothers made fun of me for how much and what I ate. As I have grown older not much has changed! I like to think of eating as my hobby!

I'm excited to start English 316 because it combines two of my favorite items: food and literature.  I'm looking forward to growing as both a reader and also hopefully in my knowledge of food and how we relate to it.