The Wasp - Volume I 2015

The American Studies Center Student Journal Volume I | Fall 2015

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Aleksandra Barciszewska

ART DIRECTOR Paulina Niewiadomska

EDITORIAL BOARD Natalia Og贸rek Agnes Monod-Gayraud

ILLUSTRATIONS Paulina Niewiadomska

The WASP

Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

The American Studies Center Student Journal University of Warsaw Volume I | Fall 2015

Table of Contents

9

Feeling Blue: The Use of the Color Blue in American

Film as a Narrative Device Zuzanna Pomorska

17

The Cons of Restoring Diplomacy between the USA and Cuba in Social and Cultural Terms Adam Radomski

27…I Now Pronounce You Vampire and Wife: The New Politics of Abstinence in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga Aleksandra Barciszewska

35 "Old Man and Sees": Feminism Re-Appropriated in Bruce Springsteen's 1970s’ Songs Aleksandra Chodecka

47 I do, therefore, I am: Ruminations on the Meaning of Marriage Agnes Monod-Gayraud

55 The End is Just the Beginning: Commentary on Home Boy by H.M. Naqvi Paulina Niewiadomska

61

Sincerely, with Love

Anonymous

69 Lolita Dominika Kowalska

ɒ

ɑ

Letter from the Editors WASP. We Are Sincerely Pleased to Welcome Anyone (at least) Slightly Passionate about What A Sensational Paper, our paper, will be. We are wasps; you swat us, we sting. You venerate us, we sing Sting. We might also lay pearly-white eggs filled with boundless creativity and utmost dedication. We use our effervescent mother (-in-acquisition) tongue to feed on any substance which makes us frantically flap our tiny yet powerful wings, imitating the nectarous sound of flipped book pages. Flip, flap; we are the Wasp.

We Are Students with a Purpose. We Are Students in Pursuit of happiness, to which we have unalienable rights. In the city upon a hill we sunbathe in our freedom of speech. We trust ourselves, for our heart vibrates to that iron string.

Two journals diverged in a star-spangled wood, and we took the one less traveled by, in order to stop the long train of intellectual and creative lethargy, which has poisoned the souls of the many. *** In the first issue we embark on a Vampiric travel through Springsteen's New Jersey, blue-ing across the world of American movies, commenting on U.S.-Cuba relations and looking at wedding industry in NY, the glamorous city that suddenly became “blue� in one of the recommended books. At the end of our voyage we encourage you to read two stories that will take you to Teheran and deep inside your most intimate, unknown self.

Welcome to our hive! Open all your senses and taste the fruits of our incessant work. Savor, chew, and swallow them slowly.

Sincerely, Aleksandra Barciszewska Paulina Niewiadomska

Feeling Blue The Use of the Color Blue in American Film as a Narrative Device Zuzanna Pomorska

The world of cinema is a place full of variety, not only in terms of genre or approach to the subject at hand, but also with regard to its technical aspects. The stories shown in movies can be narrated by the usage of different tools, such as music, lighting, or dialogue. Most people are aware of this method of storytelling in film, even those who do not deal with movies professionally or academically. They are aware of those techniques, both on a subconscious and conscious level. However, amongst the well-known and often respected ways of narrating a film, there is one that seems to be disregarded a bit in the movie world: color. Color as a narrative device is very tricky because, while often the colors for movies are chosen consciously by movie makers, it is hard to tell whether it was a choice motivated by the urge to narrate the story for the audience, or simply an aesthetic choice. This can lead to various interpretations of films and confusion amongst the viewers.

Moreover, this is one of the reasons why it is only as recently as the last few decades that color is finally being researched by academics as a method of narrating the plot of a film.

In American cinema, there is an abundance of various ways that color, and the color blue in particular, for the purposes of this essay, can be used.

While it might be logical that each color represents some dominant emotion and would be used to do just that in the film, this is not the only way it can be utilized. Color can divide, it can symbolize, be treated as a metaphor, represent another medium (like a comic book), or simply set the mood. It can, of course, also be used as a set aesthetic in the movie, which is one of the preferred ways that some movie directors choose to choose their own, unique artistic style that makes them easy to recognize and separates them from other movies makers. Time Burton and Wes Anderson are two wellknown examples of such a practice. However, here, the focus is on the use of color blue in movies as a narrative device, and I will endeavor to prove this function of color by presenting a few examples - although, the truth is that one could write a whole book on the topic and feature many more examples to illustrate the point fully. The idea behind this article is not to have the reader know every possible American film and way this color was used in, but to give a more general idea of the practice. Hopefully, it will also open up new possible ways of viewing films, while keeping in mind the application of such methods.

The first example of the deliberate use of the color blue in American cinema is the movie The Wizard of Oz. A movie classic from 1939, directed by five different directors, is well known around the world for the great story and acting. Moreover, it is often hailed for its use of Technicolor technology.

The most obvious use of color as a narrative device in the film is, without a doubt, the transition between Kansas and the Land of Oz. From the sepiacolored, boring small town, Dorothy is transported into full-color, blazing place full of magic and mysterious creatures. Oz is also a land where colors not only work as a way to show how dream-like the place is, but also as a way to narrate through symbols. Here comes the usage of color blue in the film.

There are two instances that blue is highlighted to relay important information about the characters. The first one is Dorothy’s dress. When the girl arrives in Oz, the viewer sees her dress in color for the first time – a pale blue, checkered one. It is immediately contrasted with the red shoes she receives for killing the Wicked Witch of the East, their color strong and vibrant. Dorothy’s dress is supposed to point the viewer to the girl’s emotional state. Pale blue is a very weak color, and this is what Dorothy is

like at first. She does not know what is happening to her, she is terrified because she has been literally torn away from her home. Her emotional state is represented by the pale blue shade of her clothing. It is then contrasted with the red shoes, magical shoes that give her strength to get through obstacles to find her way home. As Patti Bellantoni points out in her book If It’s Purple, Someone’s Gonna Die, where she comments on the contrast in Dorothy’s clothing, her research has shown that the paler the color gets, the less power it has, and that the girl needs red to see her through her pursuit of home (Bellantoni, 2005). Bellantoni also mentions in her book another use of the color blue in The Wizard of Oz, which leads to the second use of it in the movie, mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph. The flying monkeys that are the servants of the Wicked Witch of the West, and one of the main heroine’s enemies, are also blue. However, their blue is vivid and cold. It does not evoke positive feelings in the viewer, as blue is possibly the coldest one on the color spectrum, and the cooler it becomes, the less warmth and empathy it produces (Bellantoni, 2005). Their coloring is supposed to make the audience react by illustrating how dangerous the monkeys are. This shows that the various versions of one color can be used to convey completely different messages.

While on the topic of use of color blue in cinematic wardrobes, there is another example of the significance of a blue dress in another film. Disney’s animated movie Beauty and the Beast from 1991 also uses this color on its main heroine’s dress. This time, however, Belle is not weak and unsure like Dorothy. The young woman is strong-willed, brave, and intelligent. She does not shy away from new things and dares to dream. Belle is different and proud of that. In her small, provincial town, she is the one who stands out.

The blue of her dress is supposed to emphasize precisely this. When one looks at the rest of the town’s population, they are all wearing clothes in various colors, however, blue is the one color that is clearly missing. Belle’s dress makes her stand out, shows her not only as the main character, but also as someone different from the rest. The blue of her clothing almost makes her feel "alien." She is, of course, contrasted with the main villain of the story, Gaston, who wears a vibrant red shirt. While Belle’s blue dress shows her uniqueness, and also her level-headedness (in spite of her love for fairytales), Gaston’s coloring is the opposite. His red shirt symbolizes his brashness, the hold emotions have over him. He does not analyze and learn

like Belle does, but rushes into things, blinded by his own passions and desires – emotions often associated with the color red. This contrast between the colors that the villain and heroine wear also shows how the color device can be used to narrate the story.

Blue and red are often juxtaposed in films. The two contrast well, and it is why, when talking about blue in American cinema, it is almost impossible not to mention red. Coordination of colors is very important in movie making, especially when it is supposed to symbolize something. In American Beauty, a movie directed by Sam Mendes, from 1999, the color scheme of blue, red, and white is evident throughout the whole film. The movie, while also telling a story about an illicit romance, is at the same time one about the dark side of the "American Dream," after all, the color scheme is one used on the American flag, so it is fitting that those colors are the ones to represent the idea. Behind the white, clear, proper, and perfect picket fence, there is a world of blue sadness and passivity, as well as one full of violence, desires, and emotions, symbolized by red. Due to all three colors having a separate meaning, but also influencing the main theme, it looks as if it is simple to just put single meaning to all of them. However, while the first look might make it look easy, it turns out that for each character, each color has a different meaning. Moreover, in the movie, each person has their own dominant color palette, blue being the main protagonist’s one. Lester’s surroundings are often blue-grey. They show his passivity, how dull and boring his life has become. It is a similar to the color of a sky full of grey clouds – either it is going to rain, or it will clear, and become sunny again.

This color is a point in between, just like Lester’s life, which is ready for the change. His change is symbolized by the red of passion and lust he feels for his neighbor’s daughter. There are a lot of scenes in the movie that point towards this interpretation. For example, when Lester sits in his office, the aforementioned color scheme is clear. What is more, when he looks at the computer screen, a blue one, his reflection is trapped behind prison bars that he has as screen saver. This is another instance, where blue is used to symbolize something in the film. However, this time, not only does it symbolize the passivity of Lester’s life, but also his weakness (just like Dorothy’s in The Wizard of Oz), and his entrapment in his perfect, fake life with his family.

The color blue can also be used as a way to divide places. In the hit movie Matrix from 1999, directed by The Wachowskis, blue is contrasted with green, to show the differences between two worlds. The first world, the Matrix itself, is an artificial place. Scenes in the Matrix reality are filtered through a sickly, pale green color. Green here is supposed to show the place’s connection to computers and machines. Moreover, it gives the feeling that there is something wrong with this world, that it is "sick." The color green in the movie is also associated with the green of the 1990s computer screens and coding, which further gives the audience an idea about what the Matrix is. Yet, the color slowly dissolves, the more the main character breaks away from the place’s influence. This world is then divided from the real world, outside of the computers. Reality scenes are bathed in a cold, blue color. This color not only distinguishes it from the Matrix, it also shows that reality is not a nice place. It is cold, unforgiving. While the Matrix is definitely a sick and fake place, it is more welcoming, compared to what awaits the humans out in the post-apocalyptic world, ruled by the machines.

Constantine, a movie from 2005, directed by Francis Lawrence, employs a technique similar to the one used in The Matrix. In one of the scenes, when the protagonist of the movie walks into a bar only catering to the supernatural, the often-used red and blue color scheme is apparent. The bar is lit by red and blue light, which is supposed to separate two worlds: heaven and hell. Obviously, red is there to represent the demons, while blue, the angels. It is a very simple use of color as a narrative device, and both movies use it to stir their audience in the right direction of their understanding of what it going on in the films. By using different colors, they make sure the viewer is aware that there are different, opposing worlds in the story.

The above examples describe only but a few instances of how the color blue is used in American cinema. While blue by itself alone can be used as a device of storytelling in films, it is more often set alongside other colors.

This way, its meaning can change, or strengthen, just as in The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy’s red shoes accent the weakness of the pale blue of her dress.

However, the main idea behind using any color as a narrative tool is to make it easier for the audience to understand the story the movies makers want it to discover. Dividing the two worlds of The Matrix allows the viewer to know from the beginning that the fake world and real world are two, separate places. This article has aimed to prove, at least in a small part, how the color

blue is used deliberately by movie makers in American cinema as a narrative device. It might also help the viewer notice this technique more easily, and help in understanding other movies by looking at them through the spectrum of how color - the color blue, in particular - is used as a tool of narration.

Bibliography: Bellantoni, Patti (2005) If It’s Purple, Someone’s Gonna Die. Burlington and Oxford: Focal Press.

Further Reading: Coates, Paul (2010) Cinema and Color: The Saturated Image. British Film Institute.

Peacock, Steven (2010) Colour (Cinema Aesthetic). Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Vacche, A., & Price, B. (Eds.) (2006) Color, The Film Reader. New York: Routledge.

Brown, S., Street S., & Watkins, L. (Eds.) (2012) Color and the Moving Image: History, Theory, Aesthetics, Archive. New York: Routledge.

Gage, John (2000) Colour and Meaning: Art, Science and Symbolism. London: Thames and Hudson.

The Cons of Restoring Diplomacy between the USA and Cuba in Social and Cultural Terms Adam Radomski

On the 17th of December, 2014, the leaders of Cuba and the United States,

Raul

Castro

and

President

Barrack

Obama,

announced

the

reestablishment of diplomatic ties between their countries. This symbolic end of the Cold War was mostly met with support: a Pew Research poll found that 63% of US citizens were for renewing diplomatic relations, and another poll conducted by Pew Research showed that 66% of U.S. citizens support lifting the trade embargo between the two nations (Pew Research Center, US Politics and Policy Team, 2015). Another Washington Post-ABC poll (2015) demonstrates that 74% of respondents endorse shutting down all travel restrictions to Cuba. It might seem that the decision of the Obama administration had a significant impact on the citizens of the United States, but in fact, the public's response was even stronger at the other side of the table. When the announcement of this historical agreement between the two leaders reached Cuba, students cheered as they marched down the streets of Havana, joyfully waving their Cuban flags in the air. But not everyone reacted so cheerfully.

The Republican Party strictly denounced Obama’s decision, especially Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio, who plans on running in the ’16 presidential campaign trail. Sen. Rubio called Obama’s move a "pact with the devil." A statement as such is quite risky for a candidate surrounded by a majority that supports the restoration of ties between the two countries. To fully understand the importance of this event and the reactions of the public, it is crucial to look back at the historical background of these entangled foreign relations between the United States and Cuba.

The Cold War was a pivotal point in the escalation of hostility amid these two nations. Once Fidel Castro conquered Fulgencio Batista and took over Cuba, the new leader commenced trading with the USSR, the main rival of the United States during the Cold War period. This pact between two communist governments led to Fidel Castro’s decision on nationalizing USowned properties on his island and increasing taxes on products imported from Cuba by the U.S.A. The United States fought back by decreasing the amount of sugar imports from Cuba and banning most of its exports.

Overtime, this economic barricade was extended by President John F. Kennedy into a full-on embargo and a ban on travel to Cuba. The United States took another massive step with the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961, when CIA forces were sent into Cuba to engage in guerrilla warfare with the goal of overthrowing

Castro’s

communist

government.

The

invasion

was

unsuccessful and led to a higher level of distrust towards the United States, as well as fueling Cuba's decision to sign a pact with the USSR to create missile bases on its island, making the hazard of nuclear warfare reach an alarming level. After the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this Cuban Missile Crisis was the largest scare of the 20th century; an event of such destructive force and frightening weight that it was perceived to be able to turn into a most catastrophic global conflict. World War III was right around the corner and John F. Kennedy had to act fast.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the breaking point. After discovering the nuclear conspiracies of these communist nations, U.S. naval forces set up a quarantine around Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from entering its territory.

The missile crisis ended when the U.S. pledged to no longer interfere with Cuba and to remove its own missiles from Turkey. The whole drama brought on by the Cold War left Cuba in a state of economic and diplomatic isolation,

up until the Venezuelan government under the leadership of President Hugo Chavez, enthusiastically supported the island with its oil revenues in 2001.

At a recent conference at the University of Warsaw concerning these Cuban-American diplomacy reforms, experts argued that society applies too much pressure on this restoration of diplomatic ties that the United States have undertaken similar actions towards other Latin countries and Cuba should not be taken as an exception (Migliore, Łaciński, Masiubańska, and Henryk Szlajfer, 2015). A bizarre statement since the restoration of diplomatic ties between U.S.A. and Cuba is such an explosive circumstance that news leader of the New York Times published an archive of articles on Cuba dating back to the 50s and even the Playboy magazine decided on running a four page coverage on Cuba. Given the grim events of history and the 50 years of upholding strict verdicts, how can this occurrence be compared to earlier compromises with other Latin countries?

Not much has changed on Cuban grounds since the beginning of the Cold War. The Castro regime is still in control and the economy underwent little change. After taking office in 2008, Raul Castro faced multiple obstacles: an aging population, an enormous foreign debt, and, of course, traumatic economical struggles. Venezuela, Cuba’s sponsor, also began facing an economic drought due to a global drop in oil prices. Raul Castro had to invent fresh domestic reforms and he surely did: decentralizing the agricultural sector, liberalizing the real estate market, and easing the means required to obtain government permission for travel abroad (by Cuba’s very own Cubana Air). These reforms, along with the increased availability of consumer goods, tripled the amount of self-employment rates between 20092013. Cuba’s development began to advance at a steady pace and the system of government began showing signs that it was moving into something more economically viable and, most importantly, something more democratic. The odds have turned, as they say, and Cuba’s lengthy crisis was in the first stages of a long hoped-for convalescence.

The U.S.A.’s interference in Cuba and the plans of the Obama administration to provide citizens with the option of using US credit and debit cards, delivering insurance for people living in or traveling to Cuba, allowing shipments of construction materials to be sent to private Cuban establishments, and enabling US travelers to bring back $400 worth of Cuban goods onto US territory (Press Center, US Department of Treasury, 2015), all

bring an optimistic vision to mind, especially when taking into consideration that Cuban governments estimated a loss of $1.126 trillion (Siegelbaum, 2013) because of weak trading relations with the U.S.A. So what does a poverty-stricken island have to lose? Where is the catch?

Cuba has always been and still is an island trapped in time – 1950s to be exact. The jewel of the Caribbean has streets filled with vivid colors highlighted by intense sunlight day after day. Cuban locals wander the streets of Havana with an inexplicably carefree attitude towards life. The aroma of Latin cuisine, merry rhythms of salsa, voices rambling on and on in Spanish, and the chuckling American V8 engines of vintage automobiles; Cuba really seems like an amusement park - a place out of the ordinary. Life in Cuba, despite many hardships, seems to be more simple and optimistic than any other place on earth. Live concerts in bars and restaurants, people dancing to the tunes on the radio as they work, and tourists greeted with open-wide arms - hotel rooms have fridges stocked with Cuban beer and a bottle of Havana Club rum waits on the nightstand. The climate of Cuba feels domestic, una gran familia, and what is difficult to understand for the average Joe who spends each day of his life with a cellphone, Internet access, fast food restaurants on every corner, is how Cubans remain so cheerful on an island completely disconnected from the rest of the globe. Well, maybe the secret lies right there, in what other people consider to be an example of horrid results of some wicked and atavistic voodoo practices.

It is partially thanks to this lack of industrialization and development that Cuba managed to preserve its culture and submerge itself so deeply within it. No wonder Cuba is such an extraordinary place and that is why these diplomatic renewals unleash a certain amount of paranoia that the helping hands of the United States might put Cuba in a similar position to which Puerto Rico found itself in after becoming named a U.S. territory in 1917, the result of which was the establishment of as many casinos and bowling clubs in Puerto Rico as Americans could manage - all, of course, for wealthy American citizens to enjoy. The unique character of the island was destroyed by America’s plan of making it a vacation paradise. As witnessed, good intentions can have negative consequences, especially when there is money, capitalism, power, and hypocrisy involved.

On social and cultural terms, Cuba can be seen as the Garden of Eden.

Most major cities of the 21st century not only look but also feel the same

and it is industrialization and technology that can be blamed for this worldwide monotony. Such things as high-tech mobile phones and ubiquitous Internet access present another dimension of life to their users, another world which can drag an individual so far inside that he or she completely loses touch with the real world. People become blinded to the miracles of nature, face-to-face communication loses value, and, on top of that, books, films, and social outings no longer serve as the main sources of entertainment. This strongly influences travel as well. The United States of America always stood out as the world’s monarchy and in many respects, that statement is not a hyperbole. Countries outside of America, despite the U.S.A.’s lack of influence on those foreign territories, began striving to become just like America. Tall skyscrapers, technology, and many luxuries that scream out: "We’re the best there is!" - conspicuous consumption gives rise to a way of life called capitalism. President Obama himself touched upon this subject by saying "So often, when we insert ourselves in ways that go beyond persuasion, it’s counterproductive, it backfires," adding that this was "why countries keep on trying to use us as an excuse for their own governance failures," and concluding briefly "Let’s take away the excuse."

Partially, Obama does have a point, a stronger one than the countries blaming the Obama administration because they are the ones still falling for the myth of the USA as the "promised land" where dreams come true.

Because of this assimilation to the American realm, multiple countries began cutting back on tradition and culture – something Cuba never had the possibility to do, and with its private sector rising up to make 20% of the workforce (Forman, 2013), Cuba gained the option to enrich and pass on its own unaffected culture more powerfully than ever before.

Many interesting comments have been made concerning the restoration of the diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Cuba. Julia E. Swig, a CFR Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies, as well as the Director for Latin America Studies, said "[The opening of relations] is giving the Cuban population a sense that their future won’t be one of constant mobilization and tension with the United States, but rather one of opportunities to freely pursue the cultural and economic ties that have always existed. Economic ties can now be more dominant than the national-security conflict of the last half century" (Renwick, 2014). During a conference between intellectuals, an individual was heard saying "the best Christmas present will be broad access to the Internet

in 2015." Republican Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio, on the contrary, criticized the Obama administration by declaring: "This notion that somehow being able to travel more to Cuba, to sell more consumer products, the idea that’s going to lead to some democratic opening is absurd, but it’s par for the course

with

this

administration

constantly

giving

away

unilateral

concessions… in exchange for nothing" (Glueck and Seung Min Kim, 2014).

Many sources back up Marco Rubio’s statement and unfortunately what the senator is saying appears to be correct – even an understatement.

To push this even further, Cuba is believed to have multiple oil and gas resources near the eastern border of the Gulf of Mexico, which makes it a tempting location for U.S. energy companies such as Chevron or Exxon Mobile Corp. Many European companies failed at producing large quantities of oil from Cuban grounds and given the descent of oil prices, only a bulk of oil would ignite an interest capable of fueling energy companies into a full-on business engagement. But since when does trying hurt? Especially when it comes to such a country as the United States of America? What makes this theory even more believable are the actions the U.S. administrations undertook at the start of 2015. The United States planned out to arrange a meeting with the Cuban and Mexican governments to discuss, as U.S. put it, "our unresolved maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mexico" (Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, 2014). What is highly questionable is what stopped the United States from establishing these boundaries ever since?

And what is more questionable, is what pushed the United States into renewing relations with Cuba after over 50 years? And the ultimate spark which has set off a wildfire of suspicion is how the Obama administration threatened Venezuela (Cuba's supporter) for disobeying human-rights a week before it warmed up its relationship with Cuba – an island known for disobeying human-rights on a much larger scale.

Cuba is not a country one would describe as financially stable and, in fact, lifting the economic embargo between U.S.A. and Cuba would consequently introduce Cuban citizens to a new way of life. However, it was reported in a New York Times article that Raul Castro was caught praising President Barrack Obama as "humble," "brave." Even New York Times commented this as "(singing) of falling under as a slave to the US" (Hirschfeld, Randal C. Archibald, 2015). Raul Castro, and all of Cuba needs to remain focused on itself and treat the United States as a partner, not a

savior, in order not to have its spectacular culture, tradition, and its originality the rest of the world lacks stolen away by the US "democratic" government. Things do look quite gloomy, especially as Raul Castro is to leave office in 2018, and Cuba will be in its first phases of a democratic government; a weak and easily persuadable condition. And maybe Cuba does not have much to offer in trading terms: just a couple of sugar plantations and remarkable tobacco. But one thing it does have is numerous square miles of available land. Thanks to Cuba’s original character and great weather conditions, it could become a vacation resort that could potentially bring in millions of dollars in profit for the United States. Hotels, resorts, factories, etc. all pose the threat of hospitality to the crystal-clear Caribbean, the miracles of nature Cubans are used to enjoying from dawn till sunset, and the rich culture which has managed to survive for so long. The likelihood of mass industrialization and intense technological development seems like a formula for destruction when it comes to Cuba, because even despite the sharp contrast between this island and the rest of the world, it is one of the most artistic chiaroscuros the world has ever seen – one that sets a strong schism between what is human and what is hardware.

Bibliography: Forman, Johanna Mendelson (November 12, 2013) Voxxi, [republished as] Cuba’s Emerging Middle Class And Growing Private Sector. In Huffington Post, Latino Voices, <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/12/cubamiddle-class_n_4260021.html> Glueck, Katie; and Min Kim, Seung (December 17, 2014) Republicans livid over Cuba

talks,

call

it

appeasement.

In

Politico

<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/marco-rubio-says-cuba-talksare-absurd-113639.html#ixzz3WoR97kcK> Hirschfeld, Julie; Archibald, Randal C. (April 11, 2015) Obama Meets Raul Castro, Making History. In The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/world/americas/obama-cubasummit-of-the-americas.html?_r=0>

Migliore, Celestino; Łaciński, Piotr; Masiubańska, Joanna; Szlajfer, Henryk (March 26, 2015) In Breakthrough in US-Cuba Relations Conference, Old UW Library, Warsaw.

Office of the Press Secretary, The White House (December 17, 2014) FACT SHEET: Charting a New Course on Cuba. In Whitehouse.gov <https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/17/fact-sheetcharting-new-course-cuba> Pew Research Center, US Politics and Policy Team (January 7-11, 2015) In People Press, from Jan 7-11, 2015, available at: <http://www.peoplepress.org/2015/01/16/most-support-stronger-u-s-ties-with-cuba/1-162015-cuba_1/> Press Center, US Department of Treasury (January 15, 2015) FACT SHEET: Treasury and Commerce Announce Regulatory Amendments to the Cuba Sanctions. In Treasury.gov. <http://www.treasury.gov/presscenter/press-releases/Pages/jl9740.aspx> Renwick, Danielle (December 19, 2014) After the Thaw: What's Next in U.S.-Cuba Relations? In Council on Foreign Relations <http://www.cfr.org/cuba/after-thaw-next-us-cuba-relations/p35864> Siegelbaum, Portia (October 29, 2013) U.N. General Assembly votes against U.S. Cuba embargo for the 22nd year in a row. In CBS News, <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-general-assembly-votes-against-uscuba-embargo-for-the-22nd-year-in-a-row/> Washington Post-ABC poll, conducted by telephone (December 11-14, 2014) In Washington

Post.

:<http://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-

2019/WashingtonPost/2014/12/23/NationalPolitics/Polling/question_15221.xml?uuid=HqqlRIqbEeSs6UfeGvTD6w>

…I Now Pronounce You Vampire and Wife The New Politics of Abstinence in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga Aleksandra Barciszewska

Once upon a time, vampires were undead, their sexual potential was an embodiment of the audience’s hidden urges, and they were a subversively exhilarating break from society’s conservative values. Stephenie Meyer gave them mouth-to-fangs in her young-adult fiction. At the same time, she put a chastity belt on their blood-thirsty, phallic-shaped teeth-of-pleasure, creating a peculiar instance of the embodiment of sexual power turned into a figure which spreads its magical undead sperm along with joy of abstinence.

Generalizations are the cancer of any text that aims to deal objectively with a given concept or idea, but even without conducting thorough research, one can be sure of one thing: everyone knows what/who a vampire is.

Popular imagination has given him the face of Count Dracula, the vampire porte-parole created by Bram Stoker in 1897 and later exploited by many.

The origins of the "real" vampire can be traced back to antiquity, for there is a bloodsucking and undead creature lurking in every culture. Interestingly, some vampire enthusiasts even claim that the very first true vampire was, in fact, Judas Iscariot. The kiss through which he exposed Jesus tends to be perceived as similar to the "vampire kiss," his red hair corresponds to Greek vampire myths, and the silver which he was paid explains the very repulsion felt by vampires towards this particular metal. Furthermore, Judas committed suicide (which overlaps with the European superstition of perceiving “wrongdoers” like suicides, alcoholics, murderers, etc., as likely to become vampires after death) and he did that in Akeldama – the "field of blood" (Beresford, 2008).

Later on, literary vampires started to constitute an alternative to Victorian ideals of chastity, bringing on a backlash against repressed sexuality. Vampires expressed a revival of the primordial, the untamed, the unrestrained, which corresponded to Freud’s notion of the return of the repressed. In the first half of the 20th century, psychoanalysts who followed Freud’s ideas, read the myth of the vampire in the context of most sexual perversions

hidden

within

the

unconscious

(Jones,

1931).

Vampires

embodied raw sexuality, which was something society tended (and still tends) to suppress. Therefore, vampire narratives became the realization of the return of the repressed material in the human mind. However, with the appearance of the Twilight saga, it has all been turned upside down, raising the vampire to the rank of an ultimate policing body which controls the despicable and the unthinkable – namely, female sexuality.

Without any doubt, sexual abstinence has had its advocates in popular culture before, either through subtle persuasion in films or novels where it’s justified by the main plot, or simply stated in a right-in-one’s-face manner presenting chastity as the ultimate virtue. The latter method was used, for example, during the 1990s’ and 2000s’ flood of pop stars like Britney Spears of Jessica Simpson. Swearing on their virginity, they set an example and encouraged young women to follow the virginal path. However, being a virgin

in the 21st century started to be passé and adjustments had to be made. The promiscuous female body then became an ideal, carrying the astounding moral that the more you put out, the more important and famous you get. It is no surprise, then, that there had to be yet another backlash eventually, a comeback of "the virgin," to balance the whore element. Once again, the rule of only-when-married sex had to be reestablished, and what figure seems more entitled to do so than one who represents the essence of sexuality?

Twilight belongs to the genre called young-adult fiction, however the story appealed to readers of all ages. Written by Stephenie Meyer, it was also shrewdly advertised by Meyer herself. She communicated with the fans directly through her own website and social networking sites (Click, Aubrey, & Behm-Morawitz, 2010). Therefore, it’s hard to assess to whom and to what the unquestionable success (over 120 million copies sold worldwide and 5 film adaptations) is owed. The plot is a teenage and vampire variation on the classical features of romance novels, especially Harlequins. The heroine, Isabella "Bella" Swan is an inexperienced, passive, shy, and vulnerable young woman. And of course she is also a virgin, which becomes the central theme.

Moreover, she is beyond ordinary; she is an Everywoman with whom the female readers can and should identify (Snitow, 1983). We meet her at the beginning of her newly CPR-ed life after she's moved in with her father in Forks, Washington. There, she finds the true meaning of her life: she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.

Abstinence in this young-adult series is shown in two aspects. One, in the sexually-obsessed, craving-for-more, and had-to-be-controlled heroine, Bella Swan. The second is the figure of the good-vampire Edward Cullen, who refrains from drinking blood from humans, only feeding on animals. For Bella, Edward becomes the ever-controlling figure, who wants to protect Bella’s soul, therefore, they can only have sex after they are made lawfully wedded husband and wife. Throughout the books and films, until the actual marriage, Bella is shown as the real predator, creeping her way into Edward’s pants, which he persistently tries to keep on. And this desperate act of clinging on to one’s clothing is justified by the noble quest for Bella’s soul.

After all, we are informed, sex before marriage will make your full-of-sex body swim in the sludge with Satan's hell-dogs. Hence, one can see that female sexuality is portrayed as being dangerous to her fate, and has to be controlled by the policing body, the vampire. The conclusion, therefore, is

clear: being young, female, and sexually-curious is going to bring you nothing but trouble (Platt, 2010). What can set you free from these hazardous-for-themorality urges is marriage. And only the man/the vampire can become your man/vampire in shining armor to save your soul. Literally shining. The vampires in Meyer’s books are so glamorous that they shine bright like a diamond in the sun.

Edward, somehow, is responsible for keeping it neat, clean, and unsexy.

Therefore, one could read the Twilight series as another psychoanalytic nightmare: a twist on Oedipal complex, only the other way round. The female version of it, the so-called Electra complex, was coined by Carl Jung and basically turned the son’s desire towards the mother into the daughter’s feelings towards the father. In sum, the vampire who had previously been a catalyst for unleashing repressed sexuality, instead of awakening these urges, suppresses them. More than that, he becomes the father figure and an object of her wildest sexual urges, making everything quite The Bold and the Beautiful type of situation.

The second abstinent aspect of the male character is his vegetarianism.

He and his family are proud of being morally superior to other vampires, for they only drink animal blood. The concept of the vampire vegetarianism was previously explored by non-shining but equally-troubled vampire, Louis, in Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire. The 1994 film adaptation showed how ineffective self-control is, because in the end, abstinence only results in a much more extreme release of the repressed desire. In both cases, Interview and Twilight, it resulted in the creation of an abomination: a vampire child.

Well, Twilight added, once again, a funky twist because the child was conceived in human-vampire intercourse which lead to an actual pregnancy (because once a man, always a living-sperm-producer, even after death) with a half-vampire baby. However, Interview showed a real vampire child which is one of not that many taboos in vampire narratives.

Everyone knows vampires are dead. As in, not alive. However, as indicated above, their sperm makes a magical vol de mort. Even though it’s not much of a discovery that vampires have always been dead, their sexual potential was limited, and they exploited the idea of "safe sex" to the fullest.

Now, no one is safe anymore! If you decide to go on a little trip to the graveyard to merely engage in a feast from the cornucopia of dead possibilities, you might end up being pregnant. Or, even worse, if a woman

really wants to have a baby, can she just steal the ever-living juice from the dead man? Would this be rape? Who is going to pay alimony? How can you explain it to the baby that his/her papa won’t come to his/her school talent shows?

The unsettling things happen after the very first legally and morally accepted sex. The results being a fully demolished bedroom, with pillow feathers flying around, and with numerable bruises on Bella’s body.

Furthermore, during her vampire pregnancy, Bella almost dies, which makes Edward pretty bummed, and he blames (obviously) his fantastic and omnipotent vampire sperm. Can we, thus, say that sex, no matter if performed before or after marriage, is bad to its very sexy core? Or, at least, that is the Twilight suggestion. Or, perhaps, the very female sexuality is seen as destructive mostly to herself? Not being married and having sex leads to eternal damnation, while being married and having sex results in an endless supply of Arnica gel for your bruises and life-threatening pregnancies.

Essentially and literally. After dying while giving birth to the child, Bella is turned into a vampire. Only then, can she fully live. And have sex. Therefore, the sacrifice made in order to be able to have sex, is "almost" not worth it.

This is just another interesting role Bella is given, The Ultimate and Sacrificing Mother. Even though the baby is a parasite who is gradually killing her, breaking her spine and ultimately killing her, she does not want to get rid of it. Nah-ha for abortion. Mommy can die, the baby must survive. And they all lived happily ever after. Except for the mommy who was dead. But who cares? She had sex, she surely deserved it.

Once upon a time, vampires were undead, their sexual potential was an embodiment of the audience’s hidden urges, and they were a subversively exhilarating break from society’s conservative values. Twilight turned vampires into well-mannered, civilized, and policing bodies. Here, their invigorated corpses are not an expression of sexual awakening, they are to watch over the female body. For she desperately needs a representative of death to be the guardian of her soul. The sole thing that Twilight subverted are the rules of biology. It immortalized sperm and gave omnipotence to vampires’ reproductive organs, and moved a female soul into women’s undisciplined vaginas.

Bibliography: Beresford, Matthew (2008) From Demons to Dracula: The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth. London: Reaktion Books.

Click, Melissa A.; Aubrey, Jennifer Stevens; and Behm-Morawitz, Elizabeth (2010) Introduction. In Bitten by Twilight: Youth Culture, Media, and the Vampire Franchise. Edited by Melissa A. Click, Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz. New York: Peter Lang.

Jones, Ernest (1931) On the Nightmare. London: Hogarth Press.

Platt, Carrie Anne (2010) Cullen Family Values: Gender and Sexual Politics in the Twilight Series. In Bitten by Twilight: Youth Culture, Media, and the Vampire Franchise. Edited by Melissa A. Click, Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz. New York: Peter Lang.

Further Reading: Auerbach, Nina (1995) Our Vampires, Ourselves. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.

Bohn, Michelle L. (2007) Shadow of the Vampire: Understanding the Transformation of an Icon in Popular Culture. (honors thesis, Texas State University San-Marcos) Creed, Barbara (1993) The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, feminism, psychoanalysis. London: Routledge.

Henry, Charles (2014) Pop Vampires, Freud, and Primary Masochism. In Psychoanalytic Review Vol. 101, No. 1, February 2014.

Hock-soon Ng, Andrew (2004) Dimensions of Monstrosity in Contemporary Narratives: Theory, Psychoanalysis, Postmodernism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kristeva, Julia (1982) Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. New York: Columbia University Press.

Radway, Janice A. (1991) Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Culture. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press.

Schneider, Steven Jay (2004) Introduction: Psychoanalysis in/and/of the Horror Film. In Horror Film and Psychoanalysis: Freudâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Worst Nightmare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

"Old Man and Sees": Feminism Re-Appropriated in Bruce Springsteen's 1970sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Songs Aleksandra Chodecka

The tide of the feminist movement that swept across the United States in the 1960s and 1970s left its imprint on American popular culture, including popular music. Bruce Springsteen, considered among the most popular and the most important singers and songwriters in the US, was in the 1970s an emerging star of the American music scene. His songs of the 1970s demonstrate how the feminist movement has caused some confusion in popular music and, perhaps, in popular culture on the whole. Springsteen, who grew up surrounded by 1950s' ideas about femininity, found it hard to embrace the feminist vision of womanhood. The result is a very interesting combination of ideas regarding femininity throughout his 1970s' songs, which shows how deeply rooted the 1950s traditional ideal of a woman was in American society and culture.

Springsteen's approach toward femininity clearly reflects the time and environment in which he grew up. He was born in 1949 and grew up in the 1950s and the early 1960s in a home of a working-class family that was at least trying to pursue living ideals prevalent at that time. This family ideal was a nuclear family living in the suburbs, in which a husband worked outside and a wife stayed at home to take care of the house and raise children. The 1950s had their own distinct vision of “true womanhood,” according to which women were supposed to be naturally fulfilled by following in their lives the pattern of a good housewife and mother (Friedan, 1982).

Even though in the 1950s some wives decided to work, they generally did not assume the role of a breadwinner and they never competed with men. The workforce was largely segregated by sex: women workers usually held the lowest positions and an overwhelming majority of women could find employment only as secretaries or saleswomen, often being referred to simply as “girls” (Ryan, 1975). Housekeeping and taking care of children and their husbands remained women's primary obligations and only through this could they pursue their identities and feminine self-fulfillment. Since the desires for personal achievement and independence were often perceived as “unfeminine,” women started to marry and raise families earlier, even at the expense of a college education, and they assumed traditional gender roles of mothers and homemakers (May, 1988).

Wifehood and motherhood were seen as the only proper fulfillment of female sexuality and the source of a woman's identity. At home, the figure of a wife and mother was supposed to be surrounded by an aura of affection, intimacy, warmth, and gentleness. Her primary task was to provide emotional support and to look after interpersonal relationships and personal needs of the family members (Ryan, 1975). A career woman posed a threat to the family and the social order as well as an “unfeminine” housewife who did not managed to find satisfaction and happiness in being “just a housewife” (Matthews, 1987).

The 1960s and 1970s brought many changes that undermined the 1950s prescriptions of femininity and the elevation of homemaking and motherhood to the only sense of a woman's life. Firstly, more and more women were entering workforce, many of whom stopped treating work as an activity before and after their careers as mothers. Women were also finding

employment outside the traditional female sector of the labor force and in professions such as physicians, lawyers, journalists, or college teachers.

Secondly, in the 1960s and 1970s the status of single gained unprecedented significance and highly-trained single women began to be able to achieve economic success that rivaled men. Thirdly, the contraceptive pill and the legalization of abortion alleviated the fear of unwanted pregnancies and contributed to women's sexual liberation (Ryan, 1975; Hymowitz & Weissman, 1980).

Women started to be vocal in their demands for the extension and strengthening of certain legal rights, such as the right to equal treatment in education and employment. They also began to fight female oppression caused by sexism, based on the male assumption that due to biology, woman is inherently inferior (Hymowitz & Weissman, 1980). Such a perception of women permeated the 1950s when women were considered immature creatures who lacked confidence, creativity, courage, and toughness in mind and body; as “childlike dolls, who existed in terms only of man's love, to love man and serve his needs” (Friedan, 1982, p. 100). Popular culture reinforced this notion of womanhood, as many situational comedies of the 1950s and the early 1960s such as I Love Lucy, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, or Father Knows Best, featured women who were housewives and men who were the workers and the problem solvers.

Bruce Springsteen fully absorbed the 1950s vision of womanhood that surrounded him in his childhood. However, witnessing the profound changes of the 1960s and 1970s – women's demands for equality in social life and the women's increasing access to social and political power – he had to refer somehow to them. And he did it, but in a very awkward way. The final image of femininity present in his 1970s songs is full of inconsistencies resulting from his willingness to acknowledge feminism and his actual inability to do that due to an enormous influence that the 1950s have had upon him.

Coming from a working-class family and being a working-class hero as an artist, in the 1970s Springsteen nonetheless did not sing about working women. In his songs about work, women are either absent or remain attached to working-class men as their refuge (Moss, 1992). Even if a female character may actually work, her working life is not as thoroughly described as a man's one. These are men who are active in a public sphere and women are considered mostly part of the private sphere of home.

“Factory” is a Springsteen songs devoted to the harsh reality of working life. It shows a working-class family with a father working in a factory. The father performs a difficult and physically demanding job, which has led to a loss of hearing. His job is a dangerous one – the men walking through the factory gates have “death in their eyes.” The job “takes his hearing,” but also “gives him life" in that is he has a family, which he is obligated to take care of, so he sacrifices his health and safety to provide for those who depend on him (Symynkywicz, 2008). The song presents a traditional concept of masculinity: the father is physically strong and he works in a typically male environment, but he is also making a sacrifice, concerned for the well-being of his family. This motif is present in many other Springsteen's songs, for instance, in “Adam Raised a Cain,” the narrator observes: “Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain.” It is interesting that the narrator of “Factory” does not directly mention women, so one could argue that they are excluded from the factory, which stands for a public space here because they belong exclusively to the private sphere of home (Moss, 1992).

Springsteen often sings about men's fruitless attempts to succeed in working-class life and this topic is usually intertwined with a depiction of a woman as a man's refuge. Women can offer working men a relief and escape from the drudgery and they are associated with such things as warmth, gentleness, and home. For example, in “The Promised Land” the protagonist is “[w]orking all day in [his] daddy's garage / Driving all night chasing some mirage.” Although each day of his life looks the same – he gets up every morning and goes to work – he still believes in the promised land. He tells his “little girl” that he is going to take charge of his own life and then she can become part of his dreams (Moss, 1992). Similarly, the narrator of “Night” says, “You get up every morning at the sound of the bell / You get to work late and the boss man's giving you hell / Till you're out on a midnight run / Losing your heart to a beautiful one.”

The absence of working women in Springsteen’s songs clearly reflects the 1950s' attitude toward women's work: a woman either did not work outside home or her work was not as much appreciated as a man's one.

Women were supposed to create a pleasant atmosphere at home that would offer a relief and be a shelter for men after an exhausting day at work. Such a role of women was inherently connected with their assumed inferiority, also

present in romantic relationships – a topic frequently explored by Springsteen in his 1970s' songs.

In many songs (e.g., “For You,” “The E Street Shuffle,” “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” “Rosalita,” “New York City Serenade,” “Thunder Road,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “Night,” “Born to Run,” “Badlands,” “Racing in the Street,” “The Promised Land,” “Streets of Fire,” “Prove It All Night”) Springsteen refers to women as “girl,” “little girl,” “baby,” “beautiful one,” or “little pretties.” “Girls” in songs by Springsteen are often weak beings, almost children, in need of male protection. They are innocent, naïve, immature; they can be easily impressed with a performance of typical masculinity (showing off a car or being self-assured) and they are frequently treated as prizes in a male rivalry (e.g., “Racing in the Street'). In any male-female relationship, a man is the dominant party and a woman is supposed to conform to his vision of the relationship (e.g., “Racing in the Street,” “Rosalita,” “Thunder Road,” “Prove It All Night”). Springsteen often assumes women's passivity and subordination in romantic relationships and it is the men (boyfriends, fathers) who usually make decisions. This attitude is also distinguishable at the symbolic level of the songs such as “Thunder Road,” “Born to Run,” or “Racing in the Street,” in which it is the man who is naturally seated in the driver's seat.

Women's immaturity and passivity in a romantic relationship and men's dominance and self-confidence are clearly audible in the song “Rosalita.” The narrator is a young rock and roll musician who falls in love with a girl named Rosalita, but her parents do not approve of the relationship (“I know your mama, she don't like me, 'cause I play in a rock and roll band / And I know your daddy, he don't dig me, but he never did understand”). Rosalita appears to be a girl who received a very strict upbringing and is dominated by her parents, especially by an overbearing father (“Your papa lowered the boom, he locked you in your room”) (Cullen, 1998). The narrator sees himself as a courageous man who comes to liberate the girl from her parents (“I'm comin' to lend a hand / I'm comin' to liberate you, confiscate you, I want to be your man”). He shows up to liberate her sexually as well: “Spread out now, Rosie,” he tells her in the very beginning.

As the song continues, the boy invites Rosalita to join him in his quest for freedom—he promises her a “highway run” and an exciting, fuller life (Symynkywicz, 2008).

Rosalita is an embodiment of the 1950s ideas about femininity. She is immature, naïve, and unable to make decisions herself. She is only a subject of external forces: her unimaginative parents and her self-confident boyfriend. Rosalita is unable to discover the world and to gain freedom herself; she can do so only with the help of man who wants to rescue her and to give her a little excitement in life. However, the liberation offered by her boyfriend is only illusory, since he has rather patronizing attitude toward the girl. For example, he refers to himself as her “daddy” and he simply commands her to open up sexually. Rosalita has been “locked away” for too long to know the “real life,” so she is supposed to conform to the vision of life and relationship offered by her more experienced boyfriend. There seems to be no way out for Rosalita because in running away with her boyfriend, she would be transplanted into a similar situation: fulfilling someone else's expectations (Moss, 1992).

The song “Rosalita” marks an important theme of Springsteen's 1970s' songs: freedom and the drive to freedom, which can be clearly linked to the ideological changes in American society that took place in the 1960s. It should be underlined that Springsteen wanted to make freedom, in its various aspects, available to both men and women. One can say that to some extent he has freed women's bodies by singing openly about the sexual aspect of the romantic relationship and by making sexual pleasure as much important for women as for men.

One might find a trace of sexual egalitarianism. For example, Crazy Janey of “Spirit in the Night” is allowed in the clubhouse and can join the man's world. She is treated as one of the guys, just like Wild Billy, Hazy Davy, and Killer Joe, guys who are hanging around in the streets and racing in cars.

Janey is sexually liberated since she is presented as the one who controls the situation – she initiates sexual relations and she makes the decision to go home (“Me and Crazy Janey was makin' love in the dirt singin' our birthday songs / Janey said it was time to go so we closed our eyes and said good-bye to gypsy angel row, felt so right”) (Cullen, 1998; Moss, 1992).

Furthermore, Springsteen acknowledged women's longing for freedom and he wanted to show women as participants in the quest for freedom. It is clear that Springsteen had good intentions to present women as equal companions in the drive to freedom; however, he did not manage to escape from some deeply-rooted assumptions about women's possible role in such a

venture. The protagonists of Springsteen's most famous songs about seeking freedom such as “Thunder Road,” “Born to Run,” or “Racing in the Street” do not realize that the quest takes place only to ensure their, male freedom.

What is more, they do not realize that their drive to freedom also involves a domination of their female companions. It is so because there is no one common definition of freedom. Freedom simply does not mean the same for male and female characters: men want to be left alone, to be free from the constraints of their present lives and women want to be free to be someone else or to do something else (Anderson, 2008). Women, still being perceived as immature and weak, are supposed to conform to the male vision of liberation and as a result, they are excluded from gaining their own version of freedom.

“Racing in the Street” is a song that brings together all these motifs.

The protagonist, together with his partner Sonny, wins a street car race. He beats the “dude from L.A.,” cashes his money, and drives off with his “little girl” as a prize. Woman is treated as a commodity and she only switches the cars – from the Camaro from L.A. to the winner's car. Switching the cars of the “winners” is for her a form of upward social mobility or, as road and cars symbolize freedom, it is her peculiar way to find freedom and fulfillment.

Although she is trapped trying to find herself through a man, there seems to be no other way available (Anderson, 2008; Cullen, 1998). As the story develops, she is getting more and more frustrated: “she cries herself to sleep at night” and “all her pretty dreams are torn;” she is sitting “on the porch of her daddy's house” staring into the darkness. Eventually, the protagonist, now an aging street racer, notices his sins and “wrinkles around [his] baby's eyes.” He decides, probably without any consultation with her, that they will “ride to the sea / And wash these sins off [their] hands.” The woman again remains passive – she sits in the passenger seat waiting for the male version of “salvation” (Anderson, 2008).

When Springsteen's characters decide to run away from the humdrum reality of working life, they usually invite women to accompany them in their quest. The focus is always on men's needs and women only help fulfilling men's dreams; they are passive and subordinate. Such a situation is described in “Thunder Road” and “Prove It All Night.” The protagonist of “Thunder Road” invites a girl, Mary, to join him in leaving the town “full of losers” and heading for the “promised land.” Mary comes out onto the porch

to meet him and he begs her not to run back inside. The man presents himself as the girl's savior who wants to rescue her from a desperate life.

What is interesting, he does not invite her to the back seat of his car (and to what is usually associated with the back seat), but rather he is calling her “from [her] front porch to [his] front seat.” By placing the woman in the front seat, Springsteen seems to be suggesting that women can be treated as equal partners in the quest for freedom. On the other hand, it is still impossible for her to take the driver's seat that is to be active and independent, and to make decisions. Furthermore, the man claims that they will be free and their future is full of possibilities; however, it is easy to notice that woman's freedom certainly will not be complete as the man admits, “The door's open but the ride ain't free.” He is not altruistic and there is always a price to pay—if the woman wants to set off for the freedom quest, she has to remain obedient to man's rules (Moss, 1992).

In “Prove It All Night,” a man also entices a woman to join him in his quest, but the situation here is even more uncomfortable to the woman than the one presented in “Thunder Road.” The man boldly sets conditions for the woman under which she could be part of his life and he even dictates her what her dreams should be like so that they comply with his vision of the quest: “Everybody's got a hunger, a hunger they can't resist, / There's so much that you want, you deserve much more than this / But if dreams came true, oh, wouldn't that be nice, / But this ain't no dream we're living through tonight / Girl, you want it, you take it, you pay the price” (Moss, 1992). The characters of another song about freedom chase, “Born to Run” also run away together and this escape seems to be the only sense of their lives. They are similar as they both suffer from restlessness. However, here the atmosphere of escape is full of sexual tension and the women's role in the quest has a distinct sexual aspect. The male protagonist says to Wendy: “Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims / And strap your hands across my engines.”

As it can be noticed, female characters in Springsteen’s songs are often constrained – by parents, by other people's expectations, or by their own fears. They long for freedom, but they are unable to gain it themselves; they can pursue it only with the help of men. These are men who rescue them from their unimaginative parents, dead-end jobs, or dull lives and who bring “freedom” to women. Men often promise them a “highway run,” an escape to

a place with no constraints, full of “real” and “wild” love. Men are convinced that freedom is available to them as well as to their female companions, that “together [they] could break this trap.” But there is another trap: it is natural and unquestionable to men that freedom can be fully achieved only when both parts conform to the male version of it. And this version always means a damaging domination of women.

All in all, Bruce Springsteen's songs should be read in a social, cultural, and private context in which they were written, especially the 1950s vision of femininity. The impact of this vision has been so great that it was difficult for Springsteen to embrace the changes brought by the 1960s and 1970s feminist movement. Some traces of feminism are noticeable, e.g. freedom of women's bodies and availability of the pursuit of freedom to women. However, even when Springsteen is trying to convey some feminist ideas, he does it in a very awkward way, showing how deeply he has internalized the 1950s approach toward femininity. In his 1970s songs women are generally presented as weak and immature beings and male characters frequently have rather patronizing attitude toward them. Women are relegated subordinate roles of serving men. They are supposed to conform to the male vision of the romantic relationship and they are expected to assume traditional gender roles. Women can join the quest for freedom as long as they do not question the leading position of men, his definition of freedom, and his idea of the whole venture. Ironically, such rules of the quest completely deny women's freedom. All of this makes Springsteen's 1970s' songs deeply rooted in the 1950s' ideas of womanhood, showing the impact these ideas have had on American culture for years to come.

Songs: Springsteen, B. (1978). Adam Raised a Cain. On Darkness on the Edge of Town [CD]. New York: Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1974). Born to Run. On Born to Run [CD]. New York: Columbia, 1975.

Springsteen, B. (1978). Factory. On Darkness on the Edge of Town [CD]. New York: Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1975). Night. On Born to Run [CD]. New York: Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1978). Prove It All Night [CD]. On Darkness on the Edge of Town. New York: Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1978). Racing in the Street [CD]. On Darkness on the Edge of Town. New York: Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1973). Rosalita (Come Out Tonight). On The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle [CD]. New York: Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1973). Spirit in the Night. On Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. [CD]. New York: Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1978). The Promised Land. On Darkness on the Edge of Town [CD]. New York: Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1975). Thunder Road. On Born to Run [CD]. New York: Columbia.

Reference list: Anderson, D. (2008). Racing in the street: freedom, feminism, and collateral damage. In R. E. Auxier & D. Anderson (Eds.), Bruce Springsteen and philosophy. Darkness on the edge of truth (pp. 93-101). Chicago: Open Court.

Cullen, J. (1998). Born in the U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen and the American tradition. New York: Harper Collins.

Friedan, B. (1982). The feminine mystique. New York: Dell Publishing Co. Hymowitz C. & Weissman M. (1980). A history of women in America. New York: Batnam Books.

Matthews, G. (1987). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just a housewife:â&#x20AC;? the rise and fall of domesticity in America. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press.

May, E. T. (1988). Homeward bound: American families in the Cold War era.

New York: Basic Books.

Moss, P. (1992). Where is the 'Promised Land'?: class and gender in Bruce Springsteen's rock lyrics. Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography 3, 167-187.

Ryan, M. P. (1975). Womanhood in America: from colonial times to the present.

New York: New Viewpoints.

Symynkywicz, J. B. (2008). The gospel according to Bruce Springsteen.

Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

I do, therefore, I am Ruminations on the Meaning of Marriage Agnes Monod-Gayraud

Over the course of history, philosophers and writers have long expressed a rather pessimistic vision of that blessed union that is marriage.

As far back as 300 years B.C., dudes like Meander were already surmising that "Marriage, if one will face the truth, is an evil, but a necessary evil." Fast forward to America in the 18th century and we have Benjamin Franklin saying something along the same lines with "Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards" and George Bernard Shaw's statement that "There is no subject on which more dangerous nonsense is talked and thought than marriage." Oscar Wilde, Tolstoy, Edith Wharton, even Jane Austen - none of them had very nice things to say about marriage. Hollywood heartthrobs like Clinton Eastwood all seemed to really believe that that " (...) all marriages are made in heaven, but so are thunder and lightning" - both in the movies and in real life.

The media have long portrayed marriage as a female undertaking as if the man she was marrying had been dragged in kicking and screaming, a gun pressed against his skull. The romantic comedies we love to watch curled up on the sofa with some chips and dip rarely show what happens after the deed is done - all that is saved for tragicomic dramas like Polanski's Carnage, or more terrifyingly, thrillers like Fatal Attraction, and Gone Girl.

I watched Married with Children as a girl but even that wasn't enough to put me off what was essentially touted as "every little girl's dream." What is so alluring about this awful act that makes us go through with it? What's the point if we know we've got a 50/50 chance of making it out alive in a world where divorce lawyers drive the best cars? Eventually, I grew up enough to realize that the reason why Four Weddings and a Funeral was so romantic was because they could never get it together. And my dreams of a white wedding, drowning in garlands of flowers and gallons of champagne began to fade, particularly as the harsh realities of being a young woman in New York City in the Sex and the City era set in. As impossible as it sounds, my SATC lifestyle adhered so much to the ideal that I even ended up carrying on an eight-month, dead-end relationship with Chris Noth, the actor who played Mr. Big on the television show. Needless to say, he didn't want to marry me any more than the character he played wanted to marry Carrie. But at least I didn't have to live through the humiliation of getting ditched at the altar. I ditched him before he had the chance.

I lived vicariously through other people's weddings, basking in the glow of bridesmaidom. Until the day I suddenly found myself standing in front of the New York City county clerk, facing my soon-to-be husband and choking out those famous last words. How did I get there? It was something of a whirlwind that started when I was sailing off of the coast of Sicily. I looked out at the boundless horizon, where there was not a soul or a single boat in sight, nothing but dolphins, and conquered one of my greatest phobias - a fear of infinity, the other side of the coin of what most people fear - finitude. Marriage suddenly seemed like a piece of cake and as I was getting on in years, I thought there was no better time like the present to get hitched. Trouble was I didn't even have a boyfriend, let alone a fiancĂŠ. I wasted no time in heading to the psychologist for help in assessing what my problem was. It only took about 12 sessions to get to the bottom of my problem and prime myself for what fifties housewives would consider

snagging a good catch. My first assignment was to talk to as many men as possible, no matter if they were good-looking, intelligent, interesting or any other category I would, perhaps, traditionally have used to gauge a man's socalled marriage-ability. I passed my assignment with flying colors and eventually one of these blokes ended up introducing me to quite a handsome, intelligent and interesting gent who, six months later, would become my husband.

The story follows a plot not unlike that of the 2007 flick Knocked Up, only my husband is certainly more attractive than Seth Rogen and my pregnancy three months into our relationship wasn't exactly an accident.

People high off the mind-altering hormones of love and passion do crazy things. And so being pregnant with the child of a man I'd only just met, I thought the most reasonable thing to do would be to get married - in the style of 19th-century damsels in distress. I've always been quite an oldfashioned girl, so I had no recourse than to do the right thing. Granted, to say my then soon-to-be-husband had cold feet was an understatement. We were scared to death. But we had to go through with it, for the sake of our son and the ten friends we'd asked to join us at the County Clerk's office in New York City.

Now, I should explain that although we'd both been raised outside of Poland, we'd been living in Warsaw for several years and Warsaw is where we'd met. So why did we choose to get married in New York? Well, why are so many people today opting for a different way to celebrate their love than the traditional church wedding and bedazzled reception? After giving it a good, hard 15-minute think during a New Year's holiday spent, quite romantically, in New York, we realized that we wanted to get married for ourselves and not for anyone else. We weren't getting married for my parents or his parents, aunts or uncles, friends or foes. We wanted to stand up and take the leap on our own to see if we could, indeed, land on our own two feet. Needless to say, his parents were livid (mine had already reconciled themselves to the idea of their daughter as an old spinster, so the mere fact of me getting married was a joy to them, no matter what the circumstances). His parents are more of the traditional sort - Polish-French, very much invested in custom and countenance - that is to say, in keeping up appearances. They didn't speak to us for months, in fact, they didn't utter a single word to us... until my son was born and they had no choice but to fall in love with him.

The reason I'm talking about my marriage is because it's quite clear that the institution of marriage is changing, particularly in the United States.

With so many people fighting for their right to marry under the banner of marriage equality, it's important to realize that marriage really is a union between two people. Where traditionally, marriage was the joining together of families, clans, even nations, today, all that two people who love each other want is to be able to formalize that bond in the eyes of law and society.

Today around 40% of marriages in the U.S. are civil marriages, taking place outside the church, synagogue or mosque (Grossman and Yoo, 2003). As society becomes more secular, the leaning towards a non-religious ceremony is a natural progression. Grossman and Yoo (2003) cite University of Washington sociologist Pepper Schwartz in an article on the rise of civil unions in USA Today, where she claims, "We believe more in the church of 'My Way,' a shift in the sense of the ultimate authority from God and church elders to our own soulful searches."

Of course, if people even choose to marry at all... as marriage has been on the decline since the 1950s, while divorce rates have risen, levelling off to about 42% by the end of the 1970s - a result of fewer people getting married in the first place. American society is founded on a pursuit of independence, so it follows that: the standards for what constitutes a gratifying relationship may have been rising to higher levels, some would say to unrealistically higher levels. Whether this is true or not, most Americans, perhaps women especially, are now less willing than they once were to settle for "good enough" marriages because they have the option of seeking more gratifying relationships or of living alone in the event that such relationships prove elusive. (Furstenberg, 1994)

One way to combat the fear of never finding that "ideal partner" is to marry someone you barely know, before you have a chance to see whether your standards are met or not. Stage a quickie ceremony in front of a handful of people and a judge in a polyester suit. But what about the issue of tradition, of family? Do I regret not having my loved ones all around me? Do I feel I missed out by not wearing a lacey white dress? Sometimes - but what's most important to me is the daily work we put into our relationship and the

joy we get out of it. Best of all, we saved loads of money, which, really, our in-laws should be happy about. And there is something quite memorable of being handed a number and told to wait 2 hours for our turn, much like you'd expect at the post office. And then to see our number light up on the screen and file with our miniature entourage into a tiny room with a little man with a big mustache who married us in under three minutes, congratulating us with a big smile and a hearty handshake before ushering in the next terrified couple. The lobby was full of all sorts of couples and they all had one thing in common - for one reason or another, they wanted to get married. And all they had to do was fill out a form, pay a $50 fee and say "I do."

In her article "Citizenship, Same-Sex Marriage, and Feminist Critiques of Marriage," Jyl Josephson (2005) posits that marriage is a vital component of citizenship, as well as an institution that facilitates access to exercising of certain rights by those citizens. She discusses this within the context of same-sex marriage advocacy, in which it is argued that all citizens should have equal rights under the law and that this should include marriage. What is interesting about her argument is the idea that the fight for the right for LGBT Americans to marry is a staunch and unyielding one, and yet, much like the battle for the franchise so many decades past, once it is attained, people are free to disregard it. Indeed, once the fight for marriage equality is won, we (and self-proclaimed feminists, in particular) can begin to fight for the right to opt out of marriage as an institution (while still insisting on retaining the particular rights afforded to married couples, such as tax breaks or making medical decisions for a common-law partner). As more and more people delay or do away altogether with the decision to marry, the institution itself might eventually crumble giving way to what might be a more romantic view of love, not bound by the law.

Josephson (2005) also suggests that granting the right to marry to same-sex couples will work to normalize these relationships, along with questioning the "gendered division of labor in marriage," a subject that has been haunting women who wish to be more than just housewives for so long.

It may also inspire to make people think about the meaning of marriage in general. Why do we get married? Are we completely deluded by the promises of romantic comedies? Is it something in the water? Has the "marriage movement" been so effective in clouding our minds, convincing us that there

is no happier state than that of wedded bliss (Brotherson&Duncan, 2004)? Or is there some truth to the purportedly proven benefits of marriage - which, indeed, are not to be sniffed at: better health, longer life, improved emotional well-being, greater happiness overall, well-adjusted children, and even higher income and greater wealth. So, it comes as no surprise that at one point or another in their lives, most Americans will have married - no matter how Louis C.K. and his morbidly pessimistic humor on the subject have strained to deter the majority from taking the leap (Lehrer&Waite, 2003).

Bibliography: Brotherson Sean E., William C. Duncan (2004) Rebinding the Ties That Bind: Government Efforts to Preserve and Promote Marriage. In Family Relations, 53, 5. Minneapolis, MN: National Council on Family Relations, pp. 459-468.

Grossman, Cathy Lynn, Yoo, In-Sung (10/6/2003) Civil marriage on rise across

USA.

In

USA

Today.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-10-06civilmarriage-usat_x.htm Furstenberg, Jr. (1994) History and Current Status of Divorce in the United States. In The Future of Children,

4,

1. Princeton, New Jersey:

Princeton University, pp. 29-43.

Josephson, Jyl (2005) Citizenship, Same-Sex Marriage, and Feminist Critiques of Marriage. In Perspectives on Politics, 3, 2. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge University Press, pp. 269-284.

Lehrer, Evelyn L., Linda J. Waite (2003) The Benefits from Marriage and Religion in the United States: A Comparative Analysis. In Population and Development Review, 29, 2, New York: Population Council, pp.

255-275.

Rosenwaike, Ira (1972) Factors Associated with Religious and Civil Marriages.

In Demography, 9, 1. New York: Springer on behalf of the Population Association of America, pp. 129-141.

The End Is Just the Beginning Commentary on Home Boy by H.M. Naqvi

Paulina Niewiadomska

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d become Japs, Jews, Niggers. We werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t before. We fancied ourselves boulevardiers, raconteurs, renaissance men, AC, Jimbo, and me.

We were self-invented and self-made and certain we had our fingers on the pulse of the great global dialectic (HB 1).

Home Boy by H. M. Naqvi is a book about dramatic, immediate change. Its non-linear plot

revolves around one major event that has serious

consequences for the lives of three Pakistani men: Jimbo, AC and Chuck. The event is such a turning point that it suddenly makes their old city new, shaking their adopted American lifestyles, and leaves them with the feeling that their world had become irreversibly blue.

The story takes place in New York - a multicultural, cosmopolitan, global city, the incarnation of freedom and success. Chuck, the narrator, is a 21-year-old Pakistani from Karachi who has a degree in English Literature and now works in banking in New York City. Together with two other Pakistanis - AC, an intellectual rouge, an immigrant teaching at a school in the Bronx and sporadically working on his doctorate, and Jimbo, a.k.a DJ Jumbolaya, born on American soil, the son of a Pakistani immigrant - they create an inseparable trio, living as if there were no tomorrow. These three coke-snorting party-goers who listen to Nusrat, old-school gangsta rap, and Nina Simone, do not really think about the future, and spend their epic Monday evenings at Tja!, a bar-restaurant-and-lounge located on the edge of Tribeca.

“Those bastards, they’ve fucked up my city! They’ve fucked up everything” (HB 23).

However, the book does not start out quite so brightly and humorously. In the very beginning, the narrator turns the story around and tells it from its dramatic end, disclosing the broad scope of changes that took place in the lives of three self-made, hard-partying and glamorous Metrostanis (the term coined by AC to describe their celebrity-like metropolitan life and attachment to Pakistani origins). It introduces the comparison between life “before” and “after” some major event, and establishes the flashback sequence upon which the entire narrative depends.

The reader discovers that their New Yorker life was suddenly turned upside down. Before the change, the Pakistani friends used to call themselves “selfinvented and self-made” men (HB 1). They grasped the idea of American culture, more or less absorbed its style of life, and found the way to become the part of it while simultaneously preserving their cultural origins. They remarked that they had their “fingers on the pulse of the great global dialectic” (HB 1). Living in New York, AC, and Chuck were in a sort of a symbiotic relationship with the multicultural city. Via New York City, they had access to the greater world and they felt as one of its inseparable elements. After all, America has long been the land of free self-made men engaged in the pursuit of happiness, to which they have an unalienable right.

They had arrived in the land of immigrants tempted by the idea of American dream, but their American dream was questioned somehow. Beforehand,

they “fancied ourselves boulevardiers, raconteurs, renaissance men” (HB 1).

They thought they knew the city and could live their city lives. They were boulevardiers - ebullient, sociable and active men who frequented the most fashionable places in the city, lived pleasurable lives enjoying women, alcohol, and experimenting with drugs. As real raconteurs they always had anecdotes and stories up their sleeves. Youth, creativity, curiosity, and optimism were their main assets. And then something happened and everything suddenly came to an end. Consequently, Jimbo, AC, and Chuck lost their bit of confidence and enthusiasm. Their city had changed and “the fear, the paranoia, the profound loneliness had become routine features of life” (HB 211). All they found then was sadness around every corner, and no way to live. What is more, they “(felt) like marked men. Like animals” (HB 206).

The very first sentence of the book gives a certain hint on how to decode the major theme of the novel. The narrator refers to the historical trajectory of racial and ethnic discrimination, the repression of immigrants in the United States. He sums up: “We’d become Japs, Jews, Niggers” (HB 1) and thus compares himself and his Pakistani friends to groups that, because of their different race, religion, or ethnic origins, had experienced unfair treatment in the past. They identify themselves with (and maybe solidarize with) Japanese people who, after the attack on Pearl Harbor were perceived as threats to national security, relocated and then incarcerated in internment camps; with Jews deported during the Second World War who experienced the brunt of anti-Semitic feelings not only in Europe, but also in the U.S.; and finally with “Niggers” – African-Americans who went through a long history of slavery and deprivation of their basic rights. It suddenly turns out that history was repeating itself, that the progressive America of the 21 st century is somehow still stuck in the past. The enumeration and pejorative sense of the words “Japs, Jews, Niggers” intensify the power of the statement, which sets the tone for the rest of the story. It becomes clear that the reader holds in his or her hands a book about cultural differences, discrimination, and social exclusion.

“Every New Yorker has a 9/11 story, and every New Yorker has a need to repeat it, to pathologically revisit the tragedy, until the tragedy becomes but a story. Mine goes like this” (HB 94).

While reading the novel, one will discover that for these three men, the turning point that left its mark on their lives was 9/11 and its aftermath. The incident led to the revival of Orientalism and its rhetoric based on good, vulnerable, protected

by the government “us” and the evil “others”

associated with terrorism, the echo of which may be found in the book (Ewing, 2008). Chuck, the narrator, speaks on behalf of the “others,” that is: himself, Jimbo and AC, who may be read as representations of the Muslim community and immigrants who, after the attacks of 9/11, became the objects of intense surveillance established by homeland security measures.

The novel brings to life serious injustices and changes in the social fabric following the 9/11 attacks and the fast-paced plot emphasizes the dynamic shifts of the story. Chuck and his friends are arrested and interrogated by the FBI and soon after, they experience grave abuses at MDC, the Metropolitan Detention Centre, called “America’s Own Abu Gharib” (HB 105). They are subject to racial profiling and physical aggression. One of them is assessed a terrorist when “bomb manuals” are found in his apartment, which in fact turn out to be cookbooks. Another is frightened by the prospect of deportation. Their families are anxious and in despair, and romantic relationships undergo crises. The old places are not the same, and Tja! is no longer their second home. Absurdity, mistrust and tension fill every nook and corner of the city, and countless “experts on different varieties of turbans in the world” (HB 90) appear in every minute of the news.

And because all ears and eyes are on them, they start to feel “uneasy, guilty, criminal” (HB 76) as not only did the incident lead to a shift in social relations, but also a change in the characters’ perceptions of themselves, resulting in a loss of confidence and an identity crisis (Mansoor, 2012). In time, they become antonyms of their pre-9/11 selves.

By pointing out all of these transformations, H.M. Naqvi comments on social change and touches upon a series of hate crimes, arrests, interrogations, and abuses in the American prison system that occurred in the aftermath of 9/11. And even if he does it with a brilliant dose of humor, he does not hold back from using sarcasm and powerful language to highlight injustice, and to criticize the racialization of Islam and Muslims that has contributed to the construction of these people as outsiders and terrorists. He offers an elaborate, realistic, and momentarily dramatic portrait of post- 9/11 New York City and the prevailing sentiments that

irredeemably changed the lives of Chuck, Jimbo and AC, whose voices speak on behalf of thousands of Arab and Muslim immigrants who experienced similar treatment in real life.

“Maybe it’s just a phase, maybe it’ll pass, and things will return to normal, or maybe, I don’t know, history will keep repeating itself…” (HB 206) The novel ends with an epilogue, which is really the book’s prologue.

Chuck, the narrator and the main protagonist, takes the flight “from Karachi to Manchester to New York” (HB 215) and recalls his impressions on the very first day in New York City and the feeling of loneliness and despair, which disappeared in time and were replaced by a sense of belonging, He takes the reader back in order to tell how it all began. And even though one already knows what happened later and how the story goes, the way the narrative is ordered seems to suggest that life is a cycle that never stops, and that every end is just the beginning of something new. He is unsure what the future will bring, but still believes, deep inside, that all of this is just a temporary phase that will pass, sooner or later. And by emphasizing this, the narrator leaves the reader with hope that the greatness of New York will return, and “the city will accommodate every language, ritual, belief and opinion” once again (DeLillo, 2001).

All the energy and differences that were subdued by the

attacks will spread throughout the city, bringing it back from the dead.

Bibliography: DeLillo, D. (2001, December 21). In the Ruins of the Future. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/dec/22/fiction.dondelillo Ewing, C. Pratt. (2008). Being and Belonging. Muslims in the US since 9/11.

New York: Russel Sage.

Mansoor, A. (2012). Post 9/11 Identity Crisis in H. M. Naqvi’s Home Boy. Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies, 4 (2), 8-44.

Naqvi, H.M. (2010). Home Boy. London: Penguin.

Further Reading: Shiekh, I. (2011) Detained without a cause. Muslims' Stories of Detention and Deportation in America after 9/11. London: Palgrave.

Dear Reader, I hope this letter finds you in perfect health, healthy perfection, and imperfect unhealthiness of the most violent passions.

The bat used to be the most beautiful creature on the planet – the most amazing butterflies you can imagine now, were nothing in comparison to the bat. However, at the beginning, it was not that astounding. The bat was called biguidibela – which meant bare-winged, so it was really difficult to endure when the cold weather struck. It flew up to God and asked him for feathers for he was freezing to death. But God couldn’t help him, and suggested to ask birds to give some of theirs. So the bat, greedy as it was, sought out only the birds with the most colorful plumage. Having collected the most breathtaking feather, the bat became the most astonishing creature on the Earth. Whenever it flew up in the sky, everyone else was in awe. But this didn’t last long. The bat started to be cocky, and its only intention was to mock other birds and intimidate them. Well, basically he was a little asshole flying around and showing off the feathers. Birds got annoyed eventually, and asked God to do something about it. He then summoned the bat and asked to repeat the gestures that made birds so angry. So the bat did show him, and while it was doing it, all feathers fell down, and it became naked, once again. And from that moment on, the poor bat, flies only at night, so that no one can see his ugliness.

My dear, dearest Reader. The fact that you let me penetrate your mind, engrave myself upon your thoughts, it simply â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;blueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; me away, for which I feel obliged to both thank you and apologize. I pronounce us lawfully wedded accomplices, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer and poorer. And I promise to keep myself solely unto you for as long as we both shall live.

Sincerely, The Writer

Lolita Dominika Kowalska

You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style. - I read in a little green notebook with ‘Case 21’ written on it. I found it lying on the bench, next to an empty backpack at a lonely bus stop. I was waiting for the last bus going to the opposite side of Tehran. It was a very hot night. Not a living soul in the street. I realized that the bus wouldn’t come within the next twenty minutes, so I opened the green notebook again and started reading...

1.

It was the hottest day of the year. The air was dry and you could almost breath in the dust from the streets. As every summer day, I woke up late, put on my light summer dress, had chocolate cereals with milk and went to the playground. I started swinging on the swing. As I swung very high my short white dress was going up and down. I leant back. The air was striking my long blond hair. I felt ecstatic. My face turned towards the sun. I was looking at the blue sky, counting clouds and deciding of what shapes they were. A horse? A unicorn? A bull? Before I could figure out what it was, the cloud washed away. I straightened up.

I looked to my right. There was a man sitting on the swing next to me.

-

Hello. - He said. I haven’t seen you here before.

-

I’m new in the hood.

The man reached to his pocket and gave me a red strawberry lollipop. I took the treat, unwrapped it rapidly and started to lick it very slow, tasting every bit of the candy.

-

I’ve noticed you like swinging.

-

Every girl of my age does.

-

What about it do you like the most?

-

Going up is nice, but I always prefer to go down.

-

My name is Humbert.

-

I’m Lola. Lolita if you prefer. - I said, playing with my hair.

This is how I began my acquaintance with Humbert. He was a fifty-year-old American literature teacher at the local university. He claimed he liked his job, but I knew that teaching a 7th grade was his real wet dream. Humbert, in his professorly manner hated when I was late for our meetings. He was waiting for me with great

impatience, walking around the place with hands tangled on his back. Like every person for whom time is important, he had a worn out watch at which he was glancing every five seconds. He was anxious that I wouldn’t come, and he would spend the afternoon alone. He didn’t know that I was always on time, hiding round the corner, observing him and drawing pleasure from his pain. A childish game.

Little pleasure of mine.

He was someone who functions in the urban dictionary under the acronym of WASP. When I finally approached him, being seventeen minutes late, his face got as red as the face of fifty-year-old white man eating pork for lunch every day. He was furious that I’d made him wait. Him, a very important person, respectable professor in the corduroy jacket. He made it clear, he didn’t appreciate my behavior. When I tried to make an excuse, he stopped me. “Children should be seen, not heard.” - He said what he believed. I smiled like a good girl and made a sad penitent face, pretending that I was about to cry.

‘It’s okay, baby girl. Humbert is not upset anymore, but next time show up on time, okay? Don’t make Humbert sad.’

Then I saw the familiar urge on his face. If we weren’t in a public place, he’d spank me. He was the type of a man who strongly believes that where there is a crime, there should be punishment.

Earlier that day I had been selling cookies to raise money for the summer camp. When I came to our meeting I was still wearing my scout girl costume. I had two packages of cookies left and I intended to sell them all that day.

-

Do you like cookies? - I asked.

-

Cookies are my favorite thing.

-

Good. You can have both packages. They are my last ones to sell.

-

You will have to feed me with them at home.

Humbert handed me a twenty-dollar bill and proposed to head to his place immediately and take care of some cookies. He smiled smuttily. I knew that this day would come. I was prepared.

2.

When we came to his place, he gave me a bottle of cool Coca-Cola and watched me drinking. I took a sip and licked the drop that was sliding down the side of the bottle.

-

You're my national anthem. Dance for me, my dear Lola.

He put the music on and I started moving my hips subtly. Writhe. He liked what he saw. I continued the way he liked on his laps.

-

You’re the best thing that happened to me in a very long time. There are times, when I can’t believe you really exist. I fear that you’re only a figment of my imagination. I was a lonely man before I met you, my dear Lolita. I’ve waited for you for twenty-four years. Twice your lifetime. Can you imagine, sweetheart?

I could. And he really thought I was only twelve.

I sat on his lap in a manner, that we were facing each other, and pressed my hips to his sweaty bulging belly. He looked me deep in the eyes and said: -

Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just a part of life. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn't have the courage to say ‘yes’ to life?

I looked at him with surprise.

-

It’s Paulo Coelho. I’m a huge fan. - He explained.

-

So… what will you do?

-

I will say yes, my Darling Lola. I will say yes to life and yes to loving you.

He wrapped his big arms around my waist, drawing me closer. His embrace was so strong, it barely left me space to breathe. And then kissed me. He was hungry.

Starving. Like a wolf that hasn’t eaten since the time immemorial. His arms wandered under my shirt. His warm sweaty hands on my bare back. I moved an inch and suddenly I felt it. Humbert was hard. At that moment I knew that he wouldn’t rest until he’s satisfied. Should I give him the satisfaction? - I wondered.

I got up from his lap and stood over him. My legs were not too close together, and his wandering hand located what it sought. I withdrew. ‘Kneel down my darling.’

I obeyed. As I did, hastily, he took his penis out. ‘Hold it in your hand; my scepter of passion. You like it big, don’t you? Good girl. I know it’s hard for the first time. Lick it like a lollipop.’ And I did. When he was about to come, I suddenly stopped doing what I was doing, leaving him with blue balls.

-

Why have you stopped? - He asked with irritation.

-

I want you to finish it properly. Come to bed, my darling. I will leave you breathless.

It needn’t to be repeated twice. Humbert wasn’t afraid to say yes anymore. Coelho would be proud.

3.

I led him to the king sized bed covered with white sheets, undressed him tenderly and made him lay. I took out my sailing ropes with an intention to bond Humbert.

-

It’s something scout girls do. - I explained.

He opposed.

-

Don’t you trust me? - I asked.

-

Of course I trust you.

-

Good.

I bonded him tight and left the room.

-

I borrowed some stuff. Hope you don’t mind. - I said, returning to my Humbert.

On the white sheets, next to helpless Humbert tied to the bed frames, I put a razor, shaving cream, a tattoo needle, and a shoe-sized box, for the further stage of play.

Humbert got scared. He didn’t like this game. Not a tiny bit.

I took his arm and shaved it with a surgeon’s precision. Humbert panicked. I had to inject him my special paralyzing blend (that also reinforced pain), so he wouldn’t piss on the bed as they always do. Disgusting. Then, holding his forearm, I gave him the first tattoo. ‘Trust no bitch.’ He couldn’t say whether he liked it or not.

He couldn’t even mime it, as at this point, his face was numb. Pain should be seen, not heard, is something I believed. The second tattoo I gave him, was on his bulging belly. The caption was as it follows ‘I love fucking children.’ At this point, he felt the pain, but remained silent. I liked it - he was obedient. I opened the pack of cookies and crumbled one over his head. ‘Good boy. Have a cookie.’ He wouldn’t be able to chew it anyway.

I reached to the shoebox, which I left for later. I held the hammer and two nails, which I let myself to borrow from his toolbox. Terror showed in his blue eyes.

I thought it’s time to nail something, so I nailed his nostrils together. At that point we could have finished playing, but I had one more borrowed thing in my box.

Couldn't go to waste. I took it out. A big black XXL American-sized dildo. “You like it big, don’t you honey?” I said and in one quick move I shoved it down his throat. “It’s hard the first time. Lick it like a lollipop.”

Humbert breathed his last. He was my twenty-first prey.

***

Zuzanna Pomorska - American Studies student, a writer, a bookworm, a gamer, a cinephile, but most of all, she is a fan. She holds a BA degree in her studies and is on her way to earn her MA diploma. Her interests lay mostly in American cinema, both on an academic and recreational level. The main area she focuses on is movie analysis, especially how women are represented in film, and the usage of narrative devices, but she is also interested in fan culture. Her preferred areas are sciencefiction, fantasy, horror, and animated movies.

Adam Radomski - student of ASC with a major interest in how technologically and futuristically oriented progress influences society. His pessimistic perception of the upcoming years have made him hell-bent on working towards preventing negative impacts of a world that is developing at an unprecedented rate.

Aleksandra

Barciszewska

-

Editor-in-chief.

BA-program-survivor.

Vampiric-

psychoanalyst-by-nature. Extracting the sexual from the mundane, rejecting reality for the sake of the very-tale of momentary satiation of the urges for creation.

Aleksandra Chodecka – student of ASC, graduate of law from University of Warsaw, fan of Bruce Springsteen, interested in American society, especially in life in American metropolis.

Agnes Monod-Gayraud - Polish-American who studied Comparative Literature at New York University, receiving a B.A. Moved to Poland on a whim and has been living here for longer than she had expected. In addition to pursuing a Master's at the ASC, she is a freelance translator for a number of art institutions and publishers in Warsaw, as well as a journalist writing for the English-language media. She also has two small children that make writing very, very difficult at the moment.

Paulina Niewiadomska – a psychologist manquée and a would-be illustrator who instead of writing her M.A. thesis made drawings for this issue. Currently she is fully enjoying la dolce vita all’italiana.

Dominika Kowalska - in her spare time she plans a revolution, fights for women and minority rights, writes stories, and drinks coffee at midnight.

The next issue’s theme: Over the Dead Body

We’re still recruiting! If you’re interested in writing for the Wasp, please contact us via e-mail : thewaspjournal@gmail.com

ASC Journals: https://www.facebook.com/ascjournal A SCribbler: https://ascuw.wordpress.com/ American Studies Center: http://asc.uw.edu.pl/