Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 9

Hello Laiza!

I enjoyed reading about journey on the 720 bus down Wilshire blvd. I've ridden that bus several times myself. Although the bus follows one straight path, the transitions from one neighborhood to the next juxtapose such contrasts from one another. 

Your post allowed me to further reflect on the idea of how our background, race, and gender can shape our perspective of a geographic region. I grew up in a primarily caucasian, suburban town. Although there were times I admit there were many times where I always felt "different" from everyone, it was an area that I grew to be quite comfortable with. 

I traveled to Monterey Park this past Monday night on a spontaneous mini road trip and foodie adventure with my group mates, after meeting up to work on our class project. We went to San Gabriel Square to eat at one of the Taiwanese cafes there. Going to Monterey Park was an interesting experience for me, I was delighted at the expansive selection of asian cuisines but at the same overwhelmed by it all. I almost felt as if I've become lost amongst everyone else there. It's ironic because you would think I would feel like I fit in there more than I would ever have at the suburban town I grew up in, since the majority of the people at Monterey shared a similar cultural background to me. The thing was, even though I always felt a little "different" before, I always felt I had an easy way to distinguish myself and set myself apart from the crowd. At Monterey Park, standing amongst the many other asians,  could not feel like just another number in the crowd. However, the familiar dishes and waft of oolong tea brought me back to my family dinners and I found myself feeling a bit more at ease.

This uncomfortableness that was mentioned in your post extends beyond fear, and encompasses feelings of uneasiness of being out of our comfort zone and not knowing what exactly to expect. I like how you discussed Sophie Watson's piece"City A/Genders" in regards to how our perspective on a city is not soley dependent on a singular factor such as race or gender but our individual experiences. 

Everyone has built their own comfort zone over the years  to cover certain areas, but as we are growing and moving around, the "zone" continues to expand and contract to new perspectives presented. 

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This week I traveled from UCLA to the San Gabriel Valley by bus. On this occasion I took the 720 Metro Rapid Bus from Westwood to Downtown Los Angeles. This particular line is always crowded, as you can see form the picture below. I've taken this line to downtown Los Angeles at various times of day and I can honestly say that during the week, this bus is so crowded that I have yet to find a seat for at least the first 20 minutes of my ride. The 720 takes you down Wilshire Blvd, picking up people who mostly look like they have just gotten out of work, and some students along the way. The first half hour of this trip down Wilshire is very different from most of the second half of my trip on the 720 and on the bus that I transfer to afterwards. On Wilshire, the bus passes luxury hotels, Ferrari dealerships and beautiful buildings that tower over the streets. Even at night, Wilshire Blvd is decently lit and because the surrounding area is quite beautiful, it is a comfortable atmosphere to travel in, by bus or even by foot.The second half of my bus ride on the 720 goes through the less glamorous side of the city. There are no Ferrari dealerships on 7th and Olive, there is mostly pigeons, parking structures, and homeless people, although a few nice shops are scattered here and there. At night, these streets are poorly lit, despite being located in a pretty busy area. The brightest thing, around this intersection anyway, is the neon 7-11 sign from across the street. Walking on in this area to my next bus always makes me feel much different than I do when walking on Wilshire Blvd before catching the 720. Even at night, I feel relatively safe on Wilshire, but near 7th and Olive, I always clutch my pepper spray a little bit tighter, and walk at a pace that some may consider a borderline jog. I can relate my experience to Sophie Watson's piece"City A/Genders" which states that cities are experienced in different ways b people based on their individual backgrounds and experienced. Watson goes on to say that gender, race and even income can affect the way we experience a city or parts of a city in different ways. While I may feel safe on Wilshire and uncomfortable on 7th and Olive, someone who is familiar with the area or who may have grown up in the area may not experience the same fear that I do. Likewise, someone who does not share the same connections as I do with Wilshire, may feel uncomfortable or intimidated by this area. It is all really a matter of perspective and not necessarily based on one singular factor like gender or race.

Posted 1 week ago by Laiza Rodriguez

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 8

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/23/local/la-me-San-Gabriel-float-20121123

I have scoped out The Los Angeles Times news site in the past few weeks, hoping to come across a recent news article regarding social and ethnic difference in Los Angeles. However, all of them seemed to be really outdated. Fortunately, I came across this interesting article just released today. It discusses San Gabriel's attempt to preserve its culture in in the midst of a rapidly changing society.

The article caused me to reflect back on what we learned in lecture regarding race as a cultural symbol. With race, there is a genetic foundation--the genes embedded in each individual. However, it also exudes a superficial and contextual expression--the phenotype. Race serves as a cultural symbol which signifies meaning about the particular race. In a sense race is a story that individuals, groups and societies tell each other. My relatives often tells me stories about my asian heritage. They tie in the features on my face, the food that we eat, the way we interact with one another to our "asian-ness." Cultural signifiers are not limited to race but extend to the hairstyle, clothes, as well as the make-up that people chose to wear.

The San Gabriel float serves to continue to tell the city's story to revive cultural and historical awareness. The float will serve as a signifier that holds meaning for the people who created it and hope to embed this meaning into the minds of its residents. The float will be reminiscent of the San Gabriel mission--what is believed to be the birthplace of the L.A. region. This story must continue to be told in order to hold meaning in people's minds. If it ceases to be remembered, then that part of the city's culture will be lost.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 7

This past weekend I drove to Koreantown with a group of friends to pursuit of some delicious pork belly. One of our friends is Korean and recommended we try this place that is very famous among his other Korean friends. The place featured gourmet pork belly drenched in 8 different sauces. This may either sound really awesome to some, or rather unappealing to others. To me, it sounded really awesome.

We drove in two cars. While other streets have dimmed down and closed their storefronts, the streets of Koreantown remain bustling and vibrant. Finding parking proves to be difficult as we circled around the blocks of cars lined up against the side of the street. We finally decided to pay the valet fee and park in the parking lot.

Our group was split between two cars. My group arrived there first, and we walked up to reserve a table for the 8 of us. The waiter greeted us in Korean, but none of us in the first car knew the language. He had us wait to the side as he assisted other regular guests who conversed with him in Korean. The other car arrived approximately 15 minutes later. Our Korean friend was in that car and he came out to speak with the host in regards to our table. After he exchanged a few friendly words with the host, we were promptly seated.

I looked at the tables around us. And walking by the tables, I felt everyone's attention turn to us as our group seemed to stick out from the rest. Everyone had a very similar look. Not only were they from the same ethnic background, but their clothing style and labels everyone sported seemed to be of a similar class stature. Also, they all seemed very comfortable with the set up of the restaurant. Each table had a grill where we could cook our own food. Those seated around us looked as if they were sitting at their family tables, familiar with the placing of the various kitchen utensils and side dishes that surrounded them.

I had trouble figuring out why there seemed to be no napkins available. Turns out they were in the drawer behind our table.

Our friend who frequented the place, sensed that we may have felt out of place. He explained to us that the cuisine presented at the restaurant was so distinct that only a certain group of regulars were familiar with the place. These regulars came from the same ethnic background where this time of delicacy was enjoyed. Also, because of the quality of pork belly offered and the prices it was offered at, the restaurant catered to a more affluent population. He further discussed how these segmented group of people that ate at the restaurant really took pride in what they believed to be their distinct cultural background as well as their affluence within that group.

This reflects on idea of object relations theory mentioned in David Sibley's Mapping of the Pure and Defiled. The object relations theory "posits that individuals as well as groups form positive identities of themselves through a process of excluding other individuals and groups thought to be deviant." Perhaps by entering this restaurant, as those who were unfamiliar with the culture and did not hold the same level of affluence, caused the regulars to feel as if this delicacy of theirs did not hold as much value as it has built up to be for them.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 6

Hello Amanda!

I have never been to Redlands, CA, however, the picture you posted of Citrus Plaza is reflective of many other suburban shopping centers I have been to. I've noticed that many suburbs are subject to developments of large shopping centers. It displays the idea of how post-suburbia has become highly consumerist society.

Do you think this is because individuals are no longer confined within their social classes but are able to interact with various classes that influence their behavior? Perhaps consumerism offers a way for individuals to purchase items, such as clothing, to make them feel like they belong within a certain group or instead, some may utilize consumerism as a means to distinguish themselves and their social status.

Something I thought was interesting about what you mentioned in your blog was that many of the people who shopped at Citrus plaza was with all or part of their families. When I walk around shopping centers such as Century City or Sherman Oaks Mall, I hardly see whole families all together. I'll see parts of the family such as the mom and kids, older men walking alone, or friends walking together. I think this draws on the idea by Olin, Kling, and Poster:

 "These broad social changes in work, consumption, and community life have had devastating effects on the traditional nuclear family that characterized industrial society from about 1820 to 1920. Mark Poster in Chapter 7 defines the characteristics of an emerging postnuclear family type... This new, segmented family type is much less unified and concentrated than its predecessor. Each individual within it has a particular cultural sphere of reference and pursues that significant relation by means of new communication technologies." 

However, it's great to hear that there are still families who come together during the week from their separate activities to bond collectively.

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This week, I visited my hometown of Redlands, CA  Redlands is about eighty miles away from Los Angeles, but is connected by the stretch of industrial and suburban areas that spread out from LA via the freeways. In the article, “The Emergence of Postsuburbia,” Olin, Kling, and Poster write that “since World War II, North American suburbs have become socially varied because they increasingly house the working class as well as the middle class, racial minorities as well as whites, and single people as well as traditional families. But they are still characterized by a land-use pattern that is dominantly residential and a transportation pattern that is dominantly one in which people commute to work outside the area.” This description of a typical suburb of today also happens to exactly describe Redlands. 

In Redlands, there is a very popular (and quite large) outdoor shopping center called Citrus Plaza. Olin, Kling, and Poster would call it a “regional [center] anchored by several large department stores” (such as Target, Kohl’s, and JC Penney) that was “designed for efficient shopping.” An interesting thing to note is that Citrus Plaza sort of a place with restricted social access on the basis of class. When compared to other shopping centers, the people who shop at Citrus Plaza are middle-class, mostly white, and often with all or part of their families. The architecture and design of the center attract these people. Citrus Plaza is a shopping center that is commonly a place where people shop for items that aren't necessities (like groceries would be). My friends and I even go there just to hang out and walk around sometimes. Overall, it has a "going out" kind of atmosphere while also allowing us to feel close to home.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 5

I enjoy riding the bus around Los Angeles very much.

This is perhaps because I dislike driving in Los Angeles just as much. Riding on the bus allows me the freedom to let my eyes wander. I like to observe the streets I pass. In Los Angeles, every street can offer an exciting new perspective of the city. It's interesting to observe the transitions in demographics and store fronts as you move from one block to the next.

I rode the big blue bus with my friend to go thrifting in Santa Monica.We did our research beforehand and settled on this small boutique thrift store called "Cherry Picked." To get there we took two different buses. We first rode on the 8 down Westwood Blvd. We passed by a slew of commercial business that ranged from Persian cuisine, Thai massages, an Italian cafe, big chain stores, and other stores that composed an eclectic assortment.

Westwood Blvd serves to counter Robert Park's claim that the city is a "mosaic of little social worlds which touch but do not interpenetrate." Riding down Westwood blvd from UCLA to Westside Pavillion, one can see how these worlds not only touch but intertwine. I see individuals walk out from the Thai cafe and head over to get Saffron and Rose Ice cream at the Persian ice cream parlor next door. The Japanese workers at the ramen shop I frequent visit on blvd tell me that they love to get macaroons at the Paris Bakery a couple of blocks down. Together, these businesses have built a community of differences appealing to the diverse student base that surrounds the area. There seems to something there for everyone.