Blog 2: Nanay's Wisdom & Strength

The chosen artifact I have chosen for this assignment, is a person I hold very dear to my heart: my grandma. 

• How does this cultural artifact represent you? 
• Growing up, I never realized how much of an impact my grandma had on me. Now that I have moved away for college and am much older, I realize that not does my grandma represent who I am - she is, and will always be who and what I am. Though my entire family has helped shape and bring me to be the person I am today, my grandma has instilled within me morals that I will continue to cherish and live by for the rest of my life. 
• Up until my first year of college, I have lived with my parents, grandparents, and younger brother. As a child, my parents worked extremely hard, leaving my grandparents to take care of my brother and I. My grandpa was always busy doing backyard work, while my grandma stayed with the two of us. 
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• Was it difficult to find a representation of your identities in the media and pop culture?  Why or why not?
• When looking at the questions being asked, the first and only answer I can think of was my grandma. As I stated previously, my grandma embodies everything I am, including: gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic class, religion, body, education, etc.

• What were the messages the artifact conveyed to you at the time you consumed it?  If the artifact still has an influence on you, what is that influence now?

• THEN: For my grandma, which we called "nanay," English was not her first language. As much as she tried, it would be difficult at times to communicate and get our message across, without misinterpretation. She never wore her hearing aids. Hearing was very difficult for her, which made her speak very loudly. She had a lot of medication, but always forgot to take it. When she got sick, she pretended like it was nothing and continued on with her day, which worsened her illness even more. She was very small, but acted like she was very big. She was very stubborn.
• NOW: Now that I am older, my entire perspective of my nanay has altered. Communicating with her in English may be difficult, but she always tried her best. The main reason she actually learned was so that she could talk to me and my brother. She spoke very loudly, especially in Kindergarten when she would yell my name when picking me up - little did I know how much my loud grandmother cared and loved me. She never took her medication, because she was too busy cooking and cleaning the house. Getting sick only made her seem stronger, she worked 10x har
  der. To add on to that, she was very kind, patient, and extremely humble. Being a tiny old woman, never stopped her from doing anything. What she conveys is wisdom & strength.  

• How did (does) consuming this artifact make you feel? 

• Now that she is much older, I do my best to spend as much time with her as I can. Her presence alone is extremely calming. I am forever grateful for having such a loving figure in my life. 

•  As you reflect on the artifact, does it reinforce or challenge pop culture stereotypes about your identity / identities?  How so?
• I would say my grandma would reinforce the typical stereotype of an old filipino grandmother. Strict, yet very loving and patient. Though a lot of her morals and values are different from this generation's, many of what she has learned in the past is important to keep in the generations to come.