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Dear Jinghan Cheng and Haiping Shi,
Thank you for your comments! The background you provided about Chinese culture in the 1920's is very helpful. I just have one question. You used the term "high culture" and I wanted to make sure I understood you correctly. We sometimes use the phrase, "high society" or "old money" which refers to the tradition, stuffy, rule obsessed, wealthy upper class. We also refer to it as old money, because this type of culture isn't that prevalent anymore, but is only sometimes seen with people who have been wealthy for many generations. These terms are accurate to describe people in the 1950's, however, we don't use them to describe people much any more.

I believe this is what you mean by "high culture", but I want to make sure that I am understanding you correctly.

Also, I really like your advice about adding more to describe life in the 1950's after discussing how the women aren't true representatives of that. I will add this to my essay.

Sincerely,
Rachel

** I uploaded this response already, however I can only view it if I click to post another reply so I am sending it again incase you are having the same problem.

Dear Jinghan Cheng and Haiping Shi,
Thank you for your comments! The background you provided about Chinese culture in the 1920's is very helpful. I just have one question. You used the term "high culture" and I wanted to make sure I understood you correctly. We sometimes use the phrase, "high society" or "old money" which refers to the tradition, stuffy, rule obsessed, wealthy upper class. We also refer to it as old money, because this type of culture isn't that prevalent anymore, but is only sometimes seen with people who have been wealthy for many generations. These terms are accurate to describe people in the 1950's, however, we don't use them to describe people much any more.

I believe this is what you mean by "high culture", but I want to make sure that I am understanding you correctly.

Also, I really like your advice about adding more to describe life in the 1950's after discussing how the women aren't true representatives of that. I will add this to my essay.

Sincerely,
Rachel

Revised Cultural Essay:

Both “And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile” focus on the limited and subdued role women are often forced into. However, “And the Spring Comes” breaks out of the patriarchal world and portrays a life made outside of it. On the other hand, the events in “Mona Lisa Smile” do little to promote and exemplify truly feminist ideals. “Mona Lisa Smile” is set in the 1950’s, commonly known as a time where women’s ability to succeed outside of the home was greatly hindered. That being said, it was also a time of powerful feminist rhetoric, which was not expressed in the movie. “And the Spring Comes” takes place much later in the 1990’s, during a period of increased modernity in China. Overall, both “And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile” express their rhetorical message about female empowerment through their non-verbal portrayal of women and through topois (文).

One example of non-verbal cues is the dramatized and unrealistic actions of the women and their surrounding setting in “Mona Lisa Smile”. For example, throughout “Mona Lisa Smile”, all women are consistently dressed up and have exaggerated actions. One scene, in particular, is at the beginning of the film when all the girls are talking with each other in the room before they go to bed. Each girl has their hair and makeup done. In addition, they are all wearing outfits that lean more towards fashion trends rather than comfort clothes, which is more realistic for a night in. Along with the hair and clothing, all women are jumping around, screaming, and overreacting about simple comments. This is typically how women are portrayed in American films, especially in the 2000s. These exaggerated actions play into the stereotypes of women in a two-dimensional form. "Women should never be seen as a symbol” said Zhou Yang and Li Simin to explain the dangers of objectifying women. These over dramatic scenes continue throughout the movie, including fights and the women dressed up in every scene. In addition, the college the women attend is considered to be the most prestigious school, and every girl comes from a wealthy family. Overall, the setting and nonverbal actions do not portray the average life of an American woman in the 1950’s. In reality, women would not likely attend college. It was seen as a cultural status for the women who did since they would not use their degree, leaving it only accessible to the upper class. In addition, the upper class represents a small part of the U.S. population. Thus, the lavish lifestyles do not represent the average life of a woman or man in the 1950’s.

On the other hand, “And the Spring Comes” is much more realistic in its portrayal of women. For example, Wang Cailing is never overdramatized or characterized by female stereotypes. Her outfits are professional when she is working, and comfortable when she is at home. In fact, the lack of dressiness of her outfits at home emphasizes her struggle to find success as a human being, portraying her as more than a two-dimensional female. Thus, “And the Spring Comes” portrays a female outside of the patriarchal ideologies.
While Wang Cailing recognizes that society will judge her for her looks, she, again, finds happiness outside of the ideals of marriage. In other words, Wang Cailing did not need to be for or against marriage. She would accept if the right offer came along; however, she focuses on her career and adopting a baby.

On the other hand, “Mona Lisa Smile’s” greatest attempt to move outside of the patriarchal realm was simply to bash marriage. For example, Giselle and Ms. Watson, considered to be “the progressive thinkers” only make comments about their frustration with marriage. In other words, regardless of their feelings, the only topic on their minds is a relationship with men. In fact, all of the topics in the film revolve around male and female roles in relationships. In reality, “Mona Lisa Smile” does not offer the same progressive message through the use of topois (文). Another example of how “Mona Lisa Smile” relies on topois (文) to express the message of the importance of a male relationship is the fact that the class only studies male art. In addition, the main plot lines throughout this movie are Betty Warren planning her wedding, the birth control incident with the nurse, and Giselle and Mrs. Watson’s relationship with Bill Dunbar, which all have to do with relationships with men.

In contrast, “And the Spring Comes” has varying topoi (文) to convey several different messages. While one topic is Wang Cailing looking for happiness in love, Wang Cailing is also seen independent of this, striving to achieve her goals as a singer. Her journey only scratches the surface when it comes to characters searching for a better life. In addition, we also see the struggle of social inequality through the male ballet dancer who describes himself as “a fishbone caught in their throats”.

Overall, both movies contain elements of women’s forced gender roles. That being said, “And the Spring Comes” explores these forced roles on a deeper level. At the same time, “And the Spring Comes” is also able to explore other societal constructs as well.

Hi, Rachel
I'm very glad that you agree with me, and I think that you can quote it in this article definitely. And I think a typical example of the dangers of women objectification is the rapid growth of PUA. They are denying women the chance to exist in public spaces without being treated as objects of desire, then countless women become the victims of such objection. Of course, you can leave it out of the article, which is just a more detailed explanation of my personal point of view.

In addition, I'm not familiar with juxtapose, but after listening to your explanation, I have a preliminary understanding of it. I think the difficulty of doing it well lies in the perspective and in-depth analysis, which is a great test of the author's depth of thinking. Of course, I am also looking forward to your juxtaposition about the neighbor with other people.

In addition, I have to say that our exchange of cross-border interaction has come to an end. I believe we all have gained a lot, especially in the stereotype of women and the marriage view of women in the two countries. Here I would like to make a small request. Can you read our article a few more times and put forward some suggestions? I don't think we have done a good job in some areas, such as the depth of theme mining, but we can't find out where to start. I hope you can give us some tips.-- By Zhou Yang and Li Simin

Hi, Rachel,
Thank you for your reply. The expression of “high culture” is my problem and doesn't make you understand it well. “High culture” is elegant culture. What I'm trying to say is that people in that time were in pursuit of money and neglected to pay attention to culture. Please forgive me for my fault.
In addition, I have to say that our exchange of cross-border interaction has come to an end. I look forward to another chance for us to communicate in the future!
Sincerely,
Jinghan Cheng&Haiping Shi

Border Crossing Activity Reflection
I did not have many expectations for the border crossing activity. This was because I wanted to keep an open mind in order to be able to adjust to communicating not only with students in China virtually but also with the rest of my class. I did not know how in-depth we were going to communicate. Now that the activity is over, I am very pleased with how it went. To elaborate, I had great conversations with the two pairs of students that I worked with. On top of that, I am happy we could dedicate class time to discuss with the students in China. I also enjoyed listening to other students in CHNS419 share how they responded to essays and comments. I was a little too broad with my first round of comments because I was trying to gauge the student’s level of English, and I didn’t want to over criticize. After hearing how my peers went about suggestions, it was easier for me to give better insight and ask questions to help spur the conversation. The students I was paired with were also really dedicated to the exchange, which made communicating easy and fun.
One thing that stuck out to me while doing this activity is the Chinese students’ level of English. That was one of the few things I tried not to predict because I did not want to have over complicated or oversimplified comments. Not only did the Chinese students have an expansive vocabulary, but their understanding of complex literature was also expansive. I did not think we would be able to discuss things such as 2-dimensional figures and patriarchal systems.
Another thing that stuck out to me is the format and style of their essays. Learning Chinese, I am starting to practice translating English into Chinese not just for meaning, but also for syntax and structure. Thus, I am beginning to see the differences in writing styles. That being said, I don’t read a lot of English compositions that are more closely related to Chinese syntax and style. At first, it is easy to say that the essay does not meet the standards of what a typical English essay should look like. But this is a unique opportunity to combine two different writing traditions and practice expanding one’s mind outside of their own culture.
A third thing that stuck out to me is our different perspectives on culture, which is something we discussed a lot. For example, one student wrote to me that she thought the characters in “Mona Lisa Smile” were representative of most Americans. This was funny to me because she also mentioned that she thought Americans overreacted like this. It was easy to tell the comment was said as an insult, but just an observation. It was at this point that I realized this could be a good time to learn more about each other’s experiences. One way I misunderstood the cultural background of “And the Spring Comes” is that I didn’t know that heavy makeup and fancy clothing was not accepted.
I incorporated a lot of the cultural discussions we had in my essay. For example, I included a quote from one of the students. I did this because I think it not only added to my argument, but I wanted to quote her to have the exact words of how she understood the term. Because this is a way to learn more about someone else’s culture, I wanted to expand my essay to be more accurate in this understanding. Along the same lines, I also added cultural context about what an average American’s life actually looked like in the 1950s as one student suggested.
One adjective I would use to describe this activity is nervous. I was definitely nervous going into this activity because I really was not sure what to expect, and I didn’t know if I would be good at communicating advice. Another adjective to describe how I feel would be intrigued. While I was nervous, I am always excited to communicate with people who speak Chinese and are learning English because I am in a similar situation. I was interested to see what kind of conversations would form. Finally, I would describe myself as lucky. Not everyone has the opportunity or the means to be able to communicate with someone halfway across the world. I am also honored that the students would stay up late so they could meet during our class time and speak in English in order to be able to communicate with us.
Overall, I think the Border Crossing Activity is well planned as it is. My only suggestion would be to emphasize that the comments you make should continue past one round. I know that the instructions say you can transfer over to WeChat, but I was a little confused about how much we would be communicating. That did become clear throughout the activity, however.
I think this activity is very beneficial and should be repeated. As previously stated, not everyone has the opportunity to just connect with people like this so we should take the opportunity when we have it. As an American, I sadly was not taught a lot about other people’s cultures. It wasn’t until college that I got to study Chinese literature as a class in it of itself. I think there should be more of an emphasis on studying other cultures and appreciating how they can blend together. I think this activity is a great way to do that.