Octo Mom

My ‘single mom’ example for class today was the infamous octuplet mom. Now it’s hard to stay up to date with all the latest gossip (and frankly who cares enough to keep up with it…)—but as far as I know the octuplet mom Nadya Suleman, had six children before she chose to have more children using the method of implantation. This woman is struggling financially (she has no job and no money) and is living with her parents in a 2 bedroom apartment.

Because she chose and wanted to be a single mother Juffer would place her in the ‘single mother by choice’ category. Another point that Juffer raises is the importance of a social network or community. Single parents are often overwhelmed and do all the work of raising a child without the help of another parent. This support community that Juffer talks about is seen in a lot of television programs that feature a single parent (for example Full House). Although the octo mom is living with some family members the negative publicity she has been receiving may affect those relationships leaving her with very little support. Nadya even mentions in an interview that she doesn’t know how she is expected to care for her 14 children without any support from friends or family.

Obviously the example of the octuplet mother is an extreme case but it definitely gets a ‘thumbs down’ review. The way in which the media is portraying her gives people a bad feeling about single mom’s with this many children. But knowing how warped things can get through the media maybe the octo mom should get a thumbs-up. In an interview on the Today show (posted below if interested) she claims to be committed to her children and claims that people are only going against her because she has chosen to take the unconventional route and chosen to be a single mother. Juffer states that a single mother must be committed to their children, that their lives are your life—but that you must also make time for yourself. The oct mom now has 14 children, no job, no money… how is she suppose to make time for herself? Especially since the little time she does have is probably spent trying to ‘recover’ from all the media and rebuild her image.

The Importance of Deconstruction

Derrida’s writing on “Structure, Sign and Play” addresses the idea that the center is never truly present—so we must learn to deconstruct language in order to reach the truth, or to understand the meaning. During deconstruction Derrida uses binary opposites, for example nature vs. culture. Combining Derrida’s idea of the necessity of deconstruction, with Lacan’s idea that the culture, education and upbringing that we have all experienced is inescapable brought me to the issue we are each faced with on a daily basis, the media.

Many of us rely on the media to present us with an un-biased point of view—because after all that is a requirement of journalism, to present unbiased and uninfluenced information to inform the publics. Lacan’s argument provides us with great evidence that shows that no one can ever be truly unaffected by their experiences and background—which leads to biases existing everywhere, being truly unavoidable. And I’m sure we are all aware that biases exist in the media, for example Fox vs. CNN International etc. These different perspectives provide us with very different information.

This is where Derrida’s ‘invention’ of deconstruction comes into play. If we simply accept the incomplete information we receive from the media at face value, we will be left uneducated citizens and unable to truly play our role in society. We must take the advice of Derrida and understand that there is something lacking. For example the J-Lo song we listened to in class emphasizing how real she is, she went too far and we knew something wasn’t right with her message, that something was missing and it took deconstructing her message to understand that no she isn’t that ‘real’.

Well, I believe the same goes for the media. This is especially relevant with examples such as the War in Iraq and how the media misinformed the public about weapons of mass destruction; or how the public wasn’t given truthful information about the situation at Abu Ghraib. Both of these theories have proven to relate and be relevant to our everyday lives, even though this is only one example, it is a very important example that affects everyone. So possible ways of deconstructing the incomplete information we are fed from the media, is by using multiple sources to verify information etc. Once the public accepts that these biases the media holds cannot be escaped, we will begin to find ourselves better informed citizens.

unkown knowns

The Statue of Liberty is often seen as a symbol that represents the ‘American Dream.’ It represents and symbolizes the freedom, acceptance and opportunity that is expected by many who flee to the United States. These are the words which are on the statue:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I recently watch a movie called ‘La Americana.’ This documentary follows the life of a South American woman who crosses the U.S. border and lives and works in New York as an illegal immigrant for many years. She is forced to flee to America because she has a young daughter who was in an accident and thereafter became a paraplegic. The woman can’t make enough money in Bolivia to cover her daughter’s medical bills so she risks her life going to America in hopes of earning money and sending it back home to help her daughter.

This movie allows the viewer to see the story and perspective of an illegal immigrant. Seeing this woman tell her story, and understanding her needs, reminded me of the discussion we had in class about ‘known known’s’ etc. and ‘unknown known’s’ which are ideas or perspectives that we should know but for some reason or another we don’t. This particular example of the perspective of an illegal immigrant made me wonder if people are simply conveniently forgetting and ‘repressing’ these thoughts and ideas, or if they are simply unaware of the other side of the story.

Immigration is a very, very complex issue and I’m still trying to sort out and figure out my thoughts and ideas on the issue, but this film really was a great documentary with a powerful story that is often times overlooked by some. It also makes you question the words and symbolic meaning of the Statue of Liberty. We are all immigrants in some way—at least our ancestors were at some point. And the statue claims that America will openly receive the ‘tired, poor, huddled masses’ but do the actions of the United States reflect those words? This movie got me thinking about how it is important to sometimes question symbols, meaning and metaphors that are often times unconsciously consumed by some of society.