Escapism

Since my return to the US for further treatment of problems caused during Unbloggable EventsTM, I have been torn between wanting to learn as much as I can about Host Country from afar (reviewing language notes, reading journal articles, etc) and ignoring it so as not to dwell on my absence. At the same time, I’ve become more plugged into American culture (reading a Theodore Dreiser novel set in Kansas City, listening to popular music and checking Facebook a lot) but since I hope this will be a short detour rather than a long-term séjour (stay), I’m reluctant to completely engage with this culture. As a compromise, while I’m in this “liminal” state (shoutout to law student P and his diatribe against this term!), I’ve been focusing on European culture. This provides a good balance between America and Africa – I can maintain my French and Spanish language skills and already possess most of the cultural capital to understand phenomena in Western Europe. However, it’s still “different” enough to attract my curiosity and spur meditations on cultural diversity.

I’ve been listening to popular music that I come across on YouTube. One song that piqued my interest was Jena Lee’s Victime idéale. The singer asks a 13 year old girl if carelessly flaunting all of the material attributes of womanhood really makes her happy. First verse (with off-the-cuff translation):

Treize ans à peine, t’as peur de rien Barely thirteen, you fear nothing
Tu te sens femme, et tu la joues bien
You feel like a woman and you play the role well
T’as le lipstick et les piercings
You’ve got the lipstick and the piercings
Et sur ton blog, ton corps est en vitrine
And on your blog, your body is on display

Later references include “low-cut miniskirt,” “g-string,” “belly-button ring” and “mascara.” Having grown up in America during the 90s, I saw this phénomène at middle school and high school (according to reliable sources, it still exists). Would young women in Host Country villages identify with this material display of adulthood? Perhaps. Adolescents all over the world desire to be treated more like adults. Young ladies may not all have blogs and miniskirts, but they also find ways to express their maturity, such as by taking on different roles within the family, wearing more womanly outfits or dating. Gender roles are complex in both America and Host Country, involving styles of dress and speech, family composition and duties and educational/professional success. Not only does culture play a role, so does affluence – young ladies in Host Country cities have more access to good than their cousines villageoises.

A final escapist indulgence has been [limited quantities of] American reality TV. I’ve been watching a few episodes of “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” – reminders that in many cultures motherhood brings with it adult privileges and responsibilities. I’m not sure what direct and indirect cultural equivalents exist, but I’m excited to find out upon my return. Thanks to all of my stage-mates who have left comments – wend na ko-d nindaare (may God grant that we shall each other again one of these days)!