Post 1 Introduction and Week 1 HW - BinChao Yang

My name is BinChao Yang, I’m senior and I’m Graphic Design major. My future goal is to become a graphic designer. My hobby is traveling because it broadens my horizons and accumulates strength for my creative inspiration. Below are some photos I took during my trip to Port Townsend.

9/10/25

Week 2 HomeWork: 2 Quotes from readings and responses

1. John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Chapters 2+3

1. To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men. The social presence of women has developed as a result of their ingenuity in living under such tutelage within such a limited space. But this has been at the cost of a woman's self being split into two. A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself. 

Women are protected by men, but they are also restricted. However, women can also find new paths and explore new areas within this framework. But do women really need men's protection? I don't think so. Women are not a vulnerable group. What women truly need is security, fairness, and justice.

2. She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another.

She is overly concerned about what others think of her image, believing that image is crucial to success. However, a woman's shining point lies in her own growth, such as independence, self-confidence, ability to deal with things, and handling interpersonal relationships, rather than dependence on men.

2. bell hooks, Understanding Patriarchy

1. We both learned the word "patriarchy" in our adult life, when we learned that the script that had determined what we should be, the identities we should make, was based on patriarchal values and beliefs about gender.

Social institutions, schools, churches, and other institutions are widely rooted in patriarchal values. This shapes people's values ​​and beliefs, controlling the behavior of men and women. People are controlled, either willingly or by force.

2.Despite the contemporary visionary feminist thinking that makes clear that a patriarchal thinker need not be a male, most folks continue to see men as the problem of patriarchy. This is simply not the case. Women can be as wedded to patriarchal thinking and action as men.

I agree with this statement. The root of patriarchy lies not in men but in their ideas. Patriarchy has nothing to do with gender; it lies in people's minds. Your practices, your actions, your thoughts determine whether patriarchy exists. Therefore, even women can have patriarchal thoughts and behaviors, just like men.

3. Maura Reilly, Making Trouble 

1.In 1988, Linda Nochlin famously argued that “feminist art history is there to make trouble, to call into question, to ruffle feathers in the patriarchal dovecotes.” 

People need to have this spirit, like a pioneer, a "black sheep," to explore and change. Say no to things that are wrong, question them, and eliminate them. If you do nothing, you will only allow the wrong things to continue and the pain to grow.

2. We must: Challenge assumptions Be bold Talk back Be irreverent and anti-establishment And consistently make trouble…

I support this view. Some outdated ideas and systems need to be questioned and challenged. Only in this way can those wrong and inappropriate old systems be eliminated and corrected.