February has come and with it the celebration of the Chinese New Year. This year’s cycle is the Year of the Dog. The 15-day celebrations can range from parades, gift exchange, meals, and fireworks. Chinese New Year is a large global festival and celebration. It is one of the few celebrations that can cause mass migration as many travel to be with family. It signifies the new year. Multiple countries honor Chinese New Year as an official holiday while many more include Chinese New Year Festivals into their year’s celebrations. Chinese New Year is a very old festival. Continue reading “Chinese New Year: The Year of the Dog by Anjeanette LeBoeuf”
Tag: Anjeanette LeBoeuf
Solidarity Thy Clothing is a Black Gown by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
On Sunday, January 7th, a highly visible and poignant protest and stance was made. The 75th Golden Globes was the frontline to which the privileged Hollywood A-Listers took a stance. They collectively drew a line, a call for change. A straightforward act of wearing the color black, spoke volumes. Gone were the entertainment commentators stating which color was bold or trendy. The focus was on the collective statement that was being made on the red carpet. Countless actors voiced their own stories of #WhyWeWearBlack, they called out executives who are complicit in maintaining pay inequality, in hiding sexual abuse and intimidation, in the unequal job opportunities, and even in the lack of recognition.
Continue reading “Solidarity Thy Clothing is a Black Gown by Anjeanette LeBoeuf”
My Hopeful Prayer for 2018 by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
When the dust settled after November 9, 2016, many were looking for a better 2017. Alas, 2017 was one of the roughest, heaviest, and revelatory years in the last twenty years. 2017 shook many to their cores. Every morning seemed to bring new horrors, new mountains to climb, and more piles of ridiculousness to shift through. And it didn’t seem to relent. Every moment, every hour was met with baited breath. Is this the moment that our world falls apart? Is this the moment we wake up from this nightmare?
Continue reading “My Hopeful Prayer for 2018 by Anjeanette LeBoeuf”
The Act of Gun Control by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
This month’s post is brought on by dealing with another aftermath of a mass shooting and the responses in the wake of devastation. I write this in ardent hope that this will start a discussion that will hopefully lead to change. That waking up to another massacre will not continue to become the norm. So, upcoming generations will not have gun violence and mass shooting a standard, another headline, another milestone of the highest causality in history. Continue reading “The Act of Gun Control by Anjeanette LeBoeuf”
Kneeling as Protest by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
In a previous FAR post, I talked about the newest trend in sports of including women in marketing strategies for American football. Today I have decided to throw my hat into the ring regarding the recent polarizing “Kneeling” protest taking place at NFL games. I started writing this on the morning that the current Vice President walked out of a NFL game due to players ‘taking the knee’ during the National Anthem; a protest which has been reported to cost TAXPAYERS $200,000. Weeks have gone by with the issue getting bigger and bigger. I can no longer stay silent.
This protest started when NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the National Anthem in August of 2016. He stated he was taking a knee to stand for people that were being oppressed. It has since exploded as a social movement/protest.
It has become a highly sensitive and polemic topic. And it is polarizing bcause the two groups which are opposing each other are actually, talking about two different things. The group that supports the kneeling protests understand that this ‘peaceful, and respectful’ act during the National Anthem is an important way they can voice their solidarity, take a stance, and bring awareness to the violence and injustices that minority groups face, especially African Americans. The group that radically opposes this protest only see it as a disrespecting act of our country, our flag, our troops, and their faith. Thus, the arguments and pseudo-discussions are not getting anywhere. Continue reading “Kneeling as Protest by Anjeanette LeBoeuf”
Traveling Sexism by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
This summer I traveled quite a lot domestically. While I was in airports, on trains, waiting in lines, and going about my summer I kept coming across certain patterns and experiences which were becoming all too common and too significant to ignore; a mixture of overt and subtle sexism.
First it started out with one of my airport shuttle drivers wondering why I was traveling alone. While there is always room for small talk, I was struck with how – if I was male – that question would not have been asked. It reached the pinnacle when I was told by an older man to give up my seat for an elderly woman so he didn’t have to give up his seat – this was after he had stared at me for over 10 minutes when I first sat down using his eyes to voice his displeasure over me taking up two seats. Regardless of the fact that he, himself, was taking up 3.
Saving Tomorrow: Wonder Woman and Her Elevated Role in Shaping Our World by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
June 2, 2017 saw a boost in the revolution led by a former Israeli soldier turned model and actor in the iconic role of Wonder Woman, a role that has been around for over 76 years. The movie has shattered projections of first weekend profits as well as the notion that no female directed, female super hero movie could bring in as much as its male counterparts. This movie has created a fervor of positive female representation on the big screen and more importantly a resurgence for continuing the fight against oppression, racism, and sexism.
Preserving the Complete History: Remembering Japanese Internment Camps By Anjeanette LeBoeuf
A coupl
e of months ago I did a day trip to visit the historical site of one of the 10 internment camps which were formed due to Executive Order 9066 issued on February 19, 1942. Manzanar Relocation Camp is located between the Sierra Nevadas and the Owens Valley. Manzanar held over 11,070 Japanese Americans from 1942–1945. EO 9066 forced 120,000 American citizens to leave everything and become in all accounts prisoners; two-thirds of those were native-born American citizens. This executive order largely focused on people living on the West Coast of the United States to eliminate the possible threat of a secondary attack. They were relocated far inland and the majority of the camps were outside of the West Coast. While this was done in the 1940s, our current climate is looming to make it seem like there are forces in this world that are attempting to perform different forms of subjugation and confinement. Continue reading “Preserving the Complete History: Remembering Japanese Internment Camps By Anjeanette LeBoeuf”
Safe Spaces Found in Fan Conventions By Anjeanette LeBoeuf
This is the post where we are going to enter the world of fan conventions. Fan Conventions can be considered anything that carries a fan base – film, television, comics, books, actors, or genres of literature. Fan conventions have evolved to include aspects of role-playing, costume play, and direct interaction with the producers, actors, and writers of the selected item.
There is a large and prospering community that centers around comics, anime, television, and movies. As early as 1936, science fiction conventions were starting to develop. They range from local, regional, national, and international. They can carry broad topics to specific films, shows, or genres. Continue reading “Safe Spaces Found in Fan Conventions By Anjeanette LeBoeuf”
Health Care Woes by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
I was struggling to figure out a piece for this month’s post and what I kept coming back to is my healthcare journey and the uncertainty of the last year. My childhood does not contain memories of not supported medically. If I was sick as a child, my parents took me to the pediatrician, I went to the dentists bi-annually, and I even got connected to a dermatologist to help figure out my persistent struggle with acne as well as catching a mole before it became skin cancer. But that all changed when first I was kicked off my parents’ insurance plan due to age limit and further pushed into a medical coverage oblivion when I attended graduate school.
Feminism and Religion 