Podcast 2: Giggling and Gabbing- Literacy Lenses
Olivia: Concepcion, Theresa. "Supporting #MeToo shouldn't mean dismissing Junot Diaz's rape trauma." The Washington Post, The Washington Post, 25 May, 2018, https://www.
This article was about how Junot Diaz was raped as a child and accused of sexual misconduct by several women later in life, and that his trauma may have affected his life. She doesn't claim that it excuses his actions, however. This had me thinking about how his view on women, which may be skewed, evidenced by his actions, may have been manifested in the female characters in his book. He writes a lot about sex from the women's perspective in the book and how this has negatively affected their lives. He may avoid writing about how it affects Oscar because it could remind him of his childhood.
Eric: Vitzthum, Virginia. “Junot Díaz's Pro-Woman Agenda.” ELLE, ELLE, 9 Oct. 2017, www.elle.com/culture/books/reviews/a14353/junot-diaz-interview/.
In an interview with Junot Diaz, Elle magazine asks Diaz about his book, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" Diaz talks about how he wanted to relate his ideas of feminism and masculinity into the book and how they affect the relationships that Oscar has. In the interview, Diaz explains firstly how Oscar was written to not have emotions in a way or at least he doesn't try to show these emotions to other characters too often because men are asked not to be vulnerable. He states that men are expected to cheat in a lot of relationships and this has become a societal norm. Diaz describes that he always tries to incorporate some sort of concern in his book about racism, genocide and in Oscar Wao's case: sexism. Diaz is an activist and leans more towards the left side of the political spectrum. "If you have a book that represents a bunch of sexist, rapist lunatics and they all end up being awesome and wonderful and winning everything and the book is clearly affectionate to them, then this might be problematic. On the other hand, if a book has some pretty average guys, and their way of thinking about the world, about women, and their habits around intimacy and relationships don't produce positive results for them or for the women in their lives, that that is not problematic." This quote demonstrates Diaz outlook on not only modern-day literature but on how he believes that male characters need to have some growth with their sexuality or sexual behavior in order to show their growth as a character. This article helps shed light on how Diaz views sexism and relationships after writing Oscar Wao.
Cynthia: Lee, Sarah. “Junot Diaz: a life in books.” The Guardian, Date Published Fri 31 Aug 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/31/life-in-books-junot-diaz
In this article, the writer talks about how all of the books that Junot Diaz have published relates to his life living in the Dominican Republic and in the States. This has provided insight into both the novel and the feminist lens by Junot Diaz had been rape when he was eight. This relates to why he writes about how women are sexually assaulted in his novel. This allows him to reflected himself in that situation and also give closure to himself. Each of the characters relates to Diaz in a certain way, especially Yunior with appearance and experiences. This is a quote that Junot Diaz mentions in an interview is "I'm of African descent and my sister looks completely black, but I didn't look black. I was the super-nerdy kid who was also willing to fight. I love comics and SF but am hopeless with technology. I am still better with a pick or shovel, even with my bad back, than I am with computers."
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