Ariela Haro von Mogel June 15th, 2008
It is often argued that interracial romantic relationships are considered taboo in a lot of sectors of society, and that it is better to go out with someone of your own race in order to keep it safe. I would highly disagree. Interracial dating is a lot more complicated than that. My fiance is an American of European heritage and I am an American of Mexican heritage. We are technically an interracial couple, except, I am white-looking, so we are considered acceptable as a couple pretty much anywhere we go. If I was an American of Mexican heritage that looked Mexican, we would be classified as an interracial couple and deemed unacceptable in most circles. I am of course, speaking for society in very general terms. Continue Reading »
Ariela Haro von Mogel June 12th, 2008
When I was in third grade, I thought the first man on the moon was Louis Armstrong, a rotund-cheeked black man. This didn’t seem odd to me in the least. It wasn’t only until later on in my youth that I saw a picture of Neil Armstrong and clearly saw that he was a white man. Oops. Inconsequential, I thought. When I shared this knowledge with my peers, they all laughed at me and stared in wild bemusement as to how, exactly, did I ever think the first American on the moon was a black man? Dunno. Innocence, I guess. Aaahh, I miss those days when possibilities seemed endless and the first person on the moon being black did not seem weird… I just wanted to share that thought!
Ariela Haro von Mogel May 29th, 2008
For about 20 percent of my life, I suffered from anorexia and binge eating. I went for days eating like a bird, and then I would eventually scarf down a voluminous amount of food in one sitting. This, of course, caused me an incredible amount of pain. I would usually crouch in a fetal position, holding my faux-pregnant belly, yowling in pain. This was my own private pain. Only once was I caught. My mother found me on the floor when she came home from work early one day, and it caught me off guard. She was very worried and asked what was wrong with me. I told her that I just had an extremely bad stomach pain. She told me that stomach pain that extreme is not normal, so she called a doctor and made an appointment. The next day, I went to the doctor with my mom. Continue Reading »
Ariela Haro von Mogel March 7th, 2008
I have always thought that if someone is going to say something racist, sexist, homophobic, what have you, it should at least be funny. If there’s one thing I can’t stand is someone telling a racist and/or sexist joke and it not being funny. I figure that if you’re going to say something that makes you look really stupid, then you could at least make someone chuckle. I speak from experience on this. I had to deal for years with my dad and brother making the most ignorant and unfunny jokes ever. Like “Why are women’s feet smaller than men’s feet?” “So they can reach the sink easier when they wash the dishes!” Ba-da-boom. Definitely. Not. Funny.
So when there’s something out there that is pretty questionable, but makes me laugh out loud, then they win in my book. The show The Office is a great example of this. Michael Scott, who plays an ignominious boss, is at least hilarious with his outbursts. He is sooo inapproriate that it is funny. I have recently found a blog on the internet called Stuff White People Like. (Via The Uncredible Hallq) I keep laughing to myself thinking “God, I fall into waaay too many of these categories” and “that is so true.” I think it’s interesting that Stuff White People Like is all about making fun of liberal, middle-to-upper class, educated yuppie/hippie types. Yet, the blog isn’t called Stuff Educated White People Like. I guess it just sounds funnier to say Stuff White People Like. Though, the author of this blog does make it clear that there are the right kind of white people and the wrong kind of white people. So I guess that answered my question!
Ariela Haro von Mogel November 17th, 2007
Stephen Spielberg’s incredibly moving and thoughtful movie Schindler’s List, came out to theaters in 1993, when I was about 13 or 14 years old. My parents and I were very excited about seeing it since the movie got rave reviews. As Hispanics, we could also relate to the historical horror of being pushed off your land and systematically killed. We went to Westwood, California, right near UCLA, where a huge line awaited the movie. Continue Reading »