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"A child’s first teacher is its mother."
– Peng Liyuan
– Peng Liyuan
|
“Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg “Rabbi Alfred Bettleheim once said: 'Prejudice saves us a painful trouble, the trouble of thinking.'” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, My Own Words “Feminism…I think the simplest explanation, and one that captures the idea, is a song that Marlo Thomas sang, Free to be You and Me. Free to be, if you were a girl--doctor, lawyer, Indian chief. Anything you want to be. And if you’re a boy, and you like teaching, you like nursing, you would like to have a doll, that’s OK too. That notion that we should each be free to develop our own talents, whatever they may be, and not be held back by artificial barriers--manmade barriers, certainly not heaven sent.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, My Own Words  From left to right Yuri, Hyoyeon (blonde), Sooyoung (back), Sunny (front), Seohyun (back), YoonA, Taeyeon, Tiffany "Girls, do you know what time it is? It MUST be party time." And it is! It's Girls' Generation's 13th group anniversary! "Girls’ Generation is a miracle." - Tiffany Hwang (Tiffany Young) (2017) In honor of the best girl group of all time in the entire world, Girls' Generation, and their 13th group anniversary on the 5th, here is a tribute from 2007 through now: their first and most recent music videos as a group, their newest sub-unit "Oh!GG," their story and their latest solos. (Above) "Into the New World," Girls' Generation's debut track But if you're not a SONE (prounounced "Sew-One,"), a member of the Girls' fandom, why should you care? Many good reasons: 1) Girls' Generation is South Korea's "Nation's Girl Group" and the girl group with the reputation, credibility, public support, and image to change the landscape for South Korean women AND k-pop. 2) You know how most Western celebrities are arrogant, pampered, entitled jackholes? Yea, well, that doesn't fly in South Korea. While many "k-netz" (Korean netizens), as they're called, overreact in the opposite way, they also are refreshingly intolerant to the narcissism that plagues most Western celebs, who are often given a free ride because they're "popular rich and/or talented artistes." In SK, humility and gratitude are a must, and those found to have attitude problems are quickly shown the career exit door. They have standards, in other words. So you can love many k-pop groups openly and feel the ones you support are (mostly) decent people. That's a wonderful feeling. 3) The k-pop system is a mechanism unlike anything in the West. Trainees move out of their homes anywhere from eight years to late teens and live in groups dorms owned by their music agencies with their friends/fellow trainees. They train for years--generally, at least four--in singing and dancing (generally 8-15 hours a day), foreign languages, music composition, music theory, personal styling, skin care, hair & make-up, media skills, variety show entertainment and have regular psychological evaluations to make sure they can endure the stressful spotlight, long-term. They undergo video and performance evaluations, anywhere from weekly to monthly, depending on the agency. They have weekly group weigh-ins; diets are mandatory and trainees are cut who cannot achieve and maintain an ideal body standard, as they are trying to be "idol" performers and meant to be the highest standard in terms of talent, visuals, etc. If a trainee doesn't show regular improvement in terms of skill or breaks company rules (having a cell phone, dating within their early years, etc), they're almost always kicked out. Depending on the musical tastes and ever-changing climate, it's common for an agency to have "cast" members in a group, even record songs, then postpone or outright cancel the group. Members can also be replaced by new trainees at any time up until the group's debut (if there's ever a debut). If this happens, trainees either leave the company and hope and pray to find a new one, or wait another 2-4 years and hope the company debuts another group that will fits their image and talents. As an example, in the top photo, Hyoyeon, the blonde, trained the longest at her agency, for seven years. Sunny, the other one with pink hair, second from the left, trained the shortest, for five years (including another agency before her current one). In having spent their childhood living, training, and growing together, they bonded deeply. This is evident in the clip below, when Tiffany, on a segment about mothers, revealed for the first time to anyone outside of her agency and group members that her mother died (she revealed last year, the cause was suicide): 4) They had comebacks cancelled when their debut didn't perform up to expectations. So, when they finally started to gain some success after years of struggle, they faced a new challenge--female k-pop fans jealous of the Girls' being backstage near or performing onstage with the male groups they loved. The hate against the Girls' was so intense, boy group fans groups plotted online to give the Girls' a "Black Ocean," during a concert where they performed with top male groups. You see, lightsticks are a huge part of k-pop fan culture, so when the Girls' stepped onstage to perform, everyone turned off their lightsticks and went silent. Another time, boy group fans made lightstick "X"'s when the Girls' performed, meaning the Girls' were "X'd" out from the show, because they are "bad." For a Confucian-based culture, "saving face"--not publicly embarrassing others or yourself--is extremely important, so this was extremely demeaning and insulting. 5) They work their tails off. ALL the Girls' are the faces/spokeswomen for many brands, have appeared on countless variety and talent programs, been in many CBs, modeled for various companies, hosted numerous TV programs, award shows and radio shows, etc. have become actresses, DJs, soloists, U.N. ambassadors. 6) Their songs have been soundtracks for trying times in South Korea, like when their terribly corrupt (now-former) President Park Geun-hye was impeached on the 9th of March 2017, protestors celebrated the historic day by dancing to their debut, "Into the New World." Students also used it to protest for educational equality: 7) They released "Gee," the song South Koreans voted "Top Kpop Song of the Last Decade." 8) They are absolutely hysterical. 9) People applaud Girls' Generation continued success because you feel their goodness, and their doing things for the right reasons. They radiate genuine love and that's why we SONEs are diehard--we reflect their love back to them and have this gorgeous, simple give-and-take of love. They came to the USA in 2012 to break new ground for upcoming South Korean kpop artists when it wasn't common to do so (go Wonder Girls for also blazing this path!!!) Here they are in 2012 on the most popular American late-night show Late Night with David Letterman, right after the Super Bowl (the biggest sports competition for American football, one of the USA's biggest sports, with high TV viewership, for foreign readers who may not know), singing in ENGLISH, which only two of them spoke. 10) After they lost 1 member... Remember the North Korean defector from two years ago who drove into South Korea through the military blockade? Yea, he's a Girls' Generation fan too (from smuggled in music, no doubt, as North Koreans can't legally listen to anything other than North Korean artists their "Great Leader," Kim Jung Un endorses [whose songs are all about him and North Korean greatness, unsurprisingly) Now for some more music--because it should boil down to that, right? (Above) Their latest group single, "All Night." (Above) Oh!GG, their newest sub-unit, featuring YoonA, Hyoyeon, Taeyeon, Sunny, Yuri (Below) The Girls' newest music releases (above) ^^^Sunny sings at 1:28 in this special song benefiting UNICEF "Jigeumeun SNSD
Appurodo SNSD Yeongwonhi SNSD SNSD saranghae!" English translation: "Right now, it's Girls’ Generation Going forward, it's Girls’ Generation Forever, it's Girls’ Generation Girls' Generation, we love you!"   "Girls’ Generation is a miracle." - Tiffany Hwang (Tiffany Young) (2017) In honor of the best girl group of all time in the entire world, Girls' Generation, and their 12th group anniversary on the 5th, here is a tribute from 2007 through now: their first and most recent music videos as a group, their newest sub-unit "Oh!GG," and their latest solos.  Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com / Mohammad Metri "(The women) said, 'You are very, very lovely. Do us a favour and don't come out because the Basij (Iranian government militia) men target beautiful girls, and they will shoot you.' And one of them said, 'I am also a psychologist. I know the danger of beauty to these men." - from the documentary, For Neda (English), For Neda (Farsi), the 2010 documentary about slaughtered protestor Neda Agha-Soltan's unintended role in Iran's 2009 pro-Democracy/anti-election fraud Green Movement. "On June 20, 2009, Neda Agha-Soltan was shot and killed on the streets of Tehran during the turmoil that followed the Iranian presidential contest. Within hours, images of her dying moments, captured on cell phones, appeared on computer screens across the world, focusing the world's attention on mass protests against the rigged elections in Iran. Featuring previously unseen footage of Neda with friends and family, as well as exclusive video of her recorded the day she died, For Neda debut(ed) just before the anniversary of her death." - from HBO Publicity (Just to clarify, this is posting in support of the Iranian (Persian) people's pro-Democracy Green Movement and ongoing (2017-current) economic & regime change protests only, not any of the government's current potential political/military/nuclear shenanigans/(attacks?). Governments are not their people.) To: Hong Kong  Photo by Joseph Chan on Unsplash “Democracy, freedom and happiness are the only goals of modernisation. Without this fifth modernisation, the four others (science, industry, agriculture and defence) are nothing more than
a newfangled lie. Dissent may not always be pleasant to listen to, and it is inevitable that it will sometimes be misguided. But it is everyone’s sovereign right. Indeed when government is seen as defective or unreasonable, criticising it is an unshirkable duty.” - Chinese Electrician/Pro-Democracy Advocate, Wei Jingsheng (So it's not misunderstood, this is not against the Chinese people; I quite like the intelligent, lovely Chinese I've had the pleasure of interacting with <3 and appreciate much of their cultural beauty, fascinating & dynamic history and immense diversity. However, I do strongly disagree with the authoritarian Communist Party of China's ban on democracy; freedom, religious observation [jailing Christians and rewriting the Bible; jailing Uyghur Muslims for no reason]; kidnapping, jailing, executing dissidents who speak against the government; stealing organs of dissidents and possibly Uyghur Muslims while they're still alive; allying with Russia and its fellow dictator, Putin, on weapons and dictatorial rule; Communist Party propaganda erasing history and truth for a generation; and their terrifying digital dictatorship, along with their creeping authority in Asia, including their overreach in Hong Kong, which China has agreed since the 1980's has a "one party, two systems" rule. To me, governments and their people are distinctly different. China's government needs to realize that real power comes from allowing contrary opinions and unique thoughts. This isn't an anti-East bias; the Chinese people and the nations under their power deserve their own liberty. I hope someday they will have the freedom all human beings are worthy of.)  Photo by Christopher Sardegna on Unsplash "The true strength of a man lies in his ability to hold up all the women of this world in respect and honour." - Wilbur Sargunara Remember, God Friended Me, season 2, is back, on CBS, Sundays 8/7c! In case you missed it, you can catch up here :D
From CBS.com: "Miles Finer is an outspoken atheist whose life is turned upside down when he receives a friend request on social media from God and unwittingly becomes an agent of change in the lives and destinies of others around him. After repeated pokes by God, Miles' curiosity takes over, and he accepts the ultimate friend request and follows the signs to Cara Bloom, an online journalist. Brought together by the mysterious account, the two find themselves investigating God's friend suggestions and inadvertently helping others in need. Miles is set on getting to the bottom of what he believes is an elaborate hoax, but in the meantime, he'll play along and -- in the process -- change his life forever."  Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash "I worry about, as a country, where we go from here. I don't know if you've been married before or had a girlfriend and said something in a fight that was so wrong...and then, after that, we still family, we still around each other, but man, I sure did say all that shit, didn't I?" - Dave Chappelle Please remember that tomorrow, 11-11, marks 100 years since the WW1 Armistice. Remembrance Day remains a powerful reminder of the cost of war. Don't forget!: The new CBS show, God Friended Me, airs tomorrow, Sunday, at 8:30 p.m. ET.
It looks and sounds interesting, and is receiving good reviews. According to its synopsis, "Miles is an outspoken atheist who, ironically, receives a friend request on social media from God. When he accepts it, Miles is led to Cara Bloom, an online journalist who also receives a friend request from the 'God Account.' This experience transforms Miles and Cara into agents of change in the lives of those around him. Deep down, though, Miles is still convinced that the whole thing is an elaborate hoax. Until he can actually prove that, Miles is content with playing along and changing as many lives as he can." Miles' father, a pastor, tries to convince his son to return to his Christian faith and stop pushing atheism on his radio program, which he says is leading people to have no hope in life. The cast of the new CBS show says the series explores all sides of faith and science as the plot follows the young atheist whose beliefs begin to be challenged after he receives a friend request from God." So, let's give it a try. <3  Forgive my indulgence, but the 5th is Girls' Generation's 11th group anniversary!!!!!!!!! But if you're not a SONE (prounounced "Sew-One,"), a member of the Girls' fandom, why should you care? Many good reasons: 1) Girls' Generation is and was the girl group with the reputation, credibility, public support, and image to have changed the landscape for South Korean women AND k-pop. 2) You know how most Western celebrities are arrogant, pampered, entitled jackholes? Yea, well, that doesn't fly in South Korea. While many "k-netz" (Korean netizens), as they're called, overreact in the opposite way, they also are refreshingly intolerant to the narcissism that plagues most Western celebs, who are often given a free ride because they're "popular rich and/or talented artistes." In SK, humility and gratitude are a must, and those found to have attitude problems are quickly shown the career exit door. They have standards, in other words. So you can love many k-pop groups openly and feel the ones you support are (mostly) decent people. That's a wonderful feeling. 3) The k-pop system is a mechanism unlike anything in the West. Trainees move out of their homes anywhere from eight years to late teens and live in groups dorms owned by their music agencies with their friends/fellow trainees. They train for years--generally, at least four--in singing and dancing (generally 8-15 hours a day), foreign languages, music composition, music theory, personal styling, skin care, hair & make-up, media skills, variety show entertainment and have regular psychological evaluations to make sure they can endure the stressful spotlight, long-term. They undergo video and performance evaluations, anywhere from weekly to monthly, depending on the agency. They have weekly group weigh-ins; diets are mandatory and trainees are cut who cannot achieve and maintain an ideal body standard, as they are trying to be "idol" performers and meant to be the highest standard in terms of talent, visuals, etc. If a trainee doesn't show regular improvement in terms of skill or breaks company rules (having a cell phone, dating within their early years, etc), they're almost always kicked out. Depending on the musical tastes and ever-changing climate, it's common for an agency to have "cast" members in a group, even record songs, then postpone or outright cancel the group. Members can also be replaced by new trainees at any time up until the group's debut (if there's ever a debut). If this happens, trainees either leave the company and hope and pray to find a new one, or wait another 2-4 years and hope the company debuts another group that will fits their image and talents. As an example, in the top photo, Hyoyeon, the one with long pink hair, third from the right, trained the longest at her agency, for seven years. Sunny, the other one with pink hair, second from the left, trained the shortest, for five years (including another agency before her current one). In having spent their childhood living, training, and growing together, they bonded deeply. This is evident in the clip below, when Tiffany, on a segment about mothers, revealed for the first time to anyone outside of her agency and group members that her mother died (she revealed last year, the cause was suicide): 4) They had comebacks cancelled when their debut didn't perform up to expectations. So, when they finally started to gain some success after years of struggle, they faced a new challenge--female k-pop fans jealous of the Girls' being backstage near or performing onstage with the male groups they loved. The hate against the Girls' was so intense, boy group fans groups plotted online to give the Girls' a "Black Ocean," during a concert where they performed with top male groups. You see, lightsticks are a huge part of k-pop fan culture, so when the Girls' stepped onstage to perform, everyone turned off their lightsticks and went silent. Another time, boy group fans made lightstick "X"'s when the Girls' performed, meaning the Girls' were "X'd" out from the show, because they are "bad." For a Confucian-based culture, "saving face"--not publicly embarrassing others or yourself--is extremely important, so this was extremely demeaning and insulting. 5) They work their tails off. ALL the Girls' are the faces/spokeswomen for many brands, have appeared on countless variety and talent programs, been in many CBs, modeled for various companies, hosted numerous TV programs, award shows and radio shows, etc. have become actresses, DJs, soloists, U.N. ambassadors. 6) Their songs have been soundtracks for trying times in South Korea, like when their terribly corrupt President Park Geun-hye was impeached on the 9th of March, protestors celebrated the historic day by dancing to their debut, "Into the New World." Students also used it to protest for educational equality: Remember the North Korean defector from last year who drove through the military blockade? Yea, he's a Girls' Generation fan too (from smuggled in music, no doubt, as North Koreans can't legally listen to anything other than North Korean artists their "Great Leader," Kim Jung Un endorses [whose songs are all about him and North Korean greatness, unsurprisingly]). 7) They have Gee, the song South Koreans voted the top kpop song of the last decade. 8) They are absolutely hysterical. 9) They came to the USA years ago (2012) to break new ground for upcoming South Korean kpop artists when it wasn't common to do so (go Wonder Girls for also blazing this path!!!) Here they are in 2012, on the most popular late-night show Letterman, right after the Super Bowl (the biggest sports competition for American football, one of the USA's biggest sports, with high TV viewership, for foreign readers who may not know), singing in ENGLISH, which only two of them spoke. 9) People applaud Girls' Generation continued succeed because you feel their goodness, and their doing things for the right reasons. They radiate genuine love and that's why we SONEs are diehard--we reflect their love back to them and have this gorgeous, simple give-and-take of love. 10) After they lost 1 member... 10.A...) Now for some more music--because it should boil down to that essence, right? English translations thanks to nurulee_ for the All Night (Documentary version) MV above. (All Night without the interviews, is the middle MV, above.) "What should I say? My era of youth? These are the people I was together with since I was young. It's the most beautiful time to spend together. It's the time when I was happiest." -YoonA "Girls’ Generation is a miracle for me. Our message was, 'If you have strength, everything will turn out okay.' I saw my members say that message, and it comforted me, and I was able to get to this point." -Tiffany "Girls’ Generation is like a country for me. I originate from Girls’ Generation, I came from Girls’ Generation, and people end up going back to their homes and countries. I hope we remain with that feeling toward each other." -Taeyeon "Ten years is not a short period of time, so there were times we had to hold strong and withstand, but because we enjoyed it, we came through to this point now." -Sunny "There was an era when I thought, 'I am doing well alone.' But when I thought these are people in the same situations as me, feeling the same emotions as me, walking the same path as me, there are seven other people with the same identity as me, it became really bearable." -Sooyoung "Because of emotions, our motto 'Right now, it's Girls’ Generation; going forward, it's Girls’ Generation; forever, it's Girls’ Generation,' was created. It's very meaningful that we spent a generation together, and the meaning of spending a generation together going forward and forever, that sentiment remains in my memories and will always be there in the future." -Yuri "I remember when we first rehearsed very well. We practiced so much, we wondered, 'Is it okay to really practice this much?' So overall, the members were confident. The day we finally showed everyone, we wondered, 'What reactions will they have?' When we performed, we overflowed with strength, at least double compared to the practice and performed confidently. We overdid it a bit!" -Hyoyeon "In some ways, ten years feels long, but now that I'm thinking about it, it doesn't seem that long. But we've changed a lot from ten years ago, in every aspect. During the last ten years, we gave and received a lot of influence to one another, both knowingly and subconsciously. In many ways, we came to resemble one another. We grew a lot. In ten years, we went through a lot and had a lot of experiences, very precious experiences. I'm glad I was born to be part of Girls’ Generation--I always have thoughts like that (laughs)." -Seohyun "Jigeumeun SNSD Appurodo SNSD Yeongwonhi SNSD SNSD saranghae!" "Right now, it's Girls’ Generation Going forward, it's Girls’ Generation Forever, it's Girls’ Generation Girls' Generation, we love you!"   Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash "Women, too, need time for spiritual engagement in this special period (Ramadan/Eid),
which is supposed to be different from daily life. However, as unfair as it is, their housework, child care and other duties increase instead. Taking care of children, having a professional life and having to take on full responsibility of providing food for the family is physically draining...If they manage to do all their chores, they know they have to wake up early the next morning to prepare Eid food, clean the house and get ready to host guests, while the men simply get dressed in their best clothes and wait till the food is served. The women of the house must also always maintain a smile on their face and not show any signs of exhaustion or regret for having to spend more time in the kitchen. During our Eid celebrations, both men and women need to divide responsibilities around the house because there is absolutely nothing wrong with men offering to cook a meal for a change, because not only will that reduce the pressure for women to practically do everything, it will pleasantly give them some time off to focus on themselves. Eid is about coming together and celebrating our efforts of a long month of piousness and connection with God, but we also need to celebrate the women who work tirelessly to provide the very food with which fasting is possible for many people in the first place. They deserve a helping hand in preparing for occasions." - Purniya Awan, from the article "Give the Women a Break!" |
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