[BILD]

Indian’s new economy does not completely abandon its deep tradition concerning the role of women, thats what the article of Somini Sengupta is about.

Indian passed a tremendous economical change since the independence from the United Kingdom in 1948. The new possibilities concerning personal career went hand in hand with the challenge of traditionally based restrictions to woman. Women want to manage their own life, to achieve independence from their family communities, a phenomenon which can be connected to the history of all modern and free societies in the world where economical advancement enhanced the situation of its citizens. But the change in India is another one then elsewhere.

Women in india, the author gives examples of two young women, Shubha Khaddar and her roommate Pallavi Maddala which have a new economic job, are torn between being independent and a life of domesticity. The reasons for that are interesting: Women are still often out on a limb if they remain single, do not accord to the traditional way of being married and try to manage her individual life free of dependence. Nonetheless, Indian woman today have jobs and possibilities which were only open to the male society in the past. But the real odd thing about it, is that, the author refers to public opinion polls, most of the women are affirmative to the tradition in contradiction to the restrictions they have to accept.

The Indian society has to change further up to regard their culture critically, including the role of women. That was and will be a slow process, one has to take into consideration that the Indian culture mainly absorbs influences of all kinds over the centuries.

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Article “Carrers Give India’s Women New Independence” – The New York Times

The Vietnam war began in 1965 and was a kind of ideologic war in the cold war. The so called “substitude war” should contain the spread of communism in South Asia (==> containment policy).

After the second world war, North and South Vietnam were devided into a communist state in the north and a democratic state in the south established by the western world. As the communist-influenced “Vietcong” was founded, the south was more and more destabilised. A civil war in the south began and so the United States interpretate this as a danger for their interests, so they start their intervention on 8th March 1965. The Vietcong had much more experience in the jungle, so America had more and more military problems. The american soilderes got psychological problems, they didn’t know anymore who is evil or good and doesn’t know what they are fighting for.
That could be the reason for the massacre to civilists of a GI-unit in My Lai. Protests in America and the world followed, America was going to lose the war and did in 1975.

This experience burned into the minds of American society and stood in contradiction to their understanding of America’s role in the world. According to the traditional cerebration America should bring peace and freedom but now they had to treat with the victory of communism in the north and the following re-unification of the country under communist control.

What is the song about?
In this song, he picks out abnormal sexual practises as a central theme and refers also to the dangers of that. He only describes these things and doesn’t comment them.
In the first stave he presents a boy named “Bobby Brown” (I think this name is picked out randomly) who is rich and lives in a very self-confident way of live. In the refrain he sees himself as an example of the american dream, he is “a handsome son of a bitch” as he said and can “get a good job ‘n be real rich”, one of the main aspects of the American Dream that everyone can achieve everything.
The second stave refers to his relation to women, abnormal sexual practises and his experiences with them.
The following refrain has changed a little bit to the first one; he wonders about his way of live and noticed that he doesn’t know anymore whether he is “a boy or a lady”. This can be a hint for homosexuality or bisexuality.
In the third stave his sexual live becomes more and more abnormal and drifts into sadomaso.
In the fourth stave he is positivly shocked about his sexual live, that he became a “sexual spastic” and he thinks that he is a strong and self-concious individual by the double-repeating of the words “And my name is bobby brown, watch me now, i’m going down”.

What has the song to do with America and how did you interpretate this song?
This song describes the American Dream in a very inconveniant way. The term “If you want you can achieve everything” is transferred to sexual life.
According to the classic understanding of the American Dream, he achieves more and more, his sexual practises become more and more abnormal. His full attention obtains to these practises, as far as he doesn’t now whether he is a man or a woman. If you transfer this to the classic understanding of the American Dream it’s possible to interpretate that this describes the danger of all rich people that they only have their own affairs in mind and doesn’t think about their responsabily towards society.
So, in this song you can compare sexual life with money. You have to stay moderat in both and it’s important not to became arrogant. That’s what happend in the last stave of this song.

• Have a look to the picture interpretation

Newspaper article
Warmonger says conflict in Vietnam was wrong
Assignments – Lisa Stanke and David Mohr

1. Collect comments of the author
He doesn’t comment because he is objective

2. Collect facts on McNamara

• He was Defence Secretary from 1961 to 1968 during Vietnam War under Johnson and Kennedy
• He was hardliner concerning the “containment”[1] policy
• He was pursuing the Vietnam War very determined è Vietnam War’s nickname became “McNamara’s War”
• After he left his office he became president of the World Bank
• Nowadays, he criticises the Vietnam War including all the mistakes which led to war and partly made by him
• He wrote a book “In Retrospect: the Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam” in which he wrote down his memoirs

 3. What reasons are given for publishing the book

• It is his wish to show America why and which mistakes were made and how to learn from them
• He thinks that his generation owes the future generations to show that America was wrong, so that the future generation won’t make the same mistakes they did
• It is his opinion that it is important for the American people to watch the actions of the government critically and not to trust them blindly

 4. Which reasons does McNamara give for the failure of the war?

• Misjudgement and exaggeration of north Vietnam’s geopolitical intentions
• America has seen the Vietnam people as individuals with same ambitions for freedom and democracy
• America underestimated the nationalistic attitude

è AMERICAS IGNORANCE CONCERNING OTHER COUNTRIES

• America thought high-tech would outplay geographical knowledge and experience in the jungle
• America  didn’t realise that although they are a world power they needed international, especially moral support

 5. Do you think your article is objectively informing you?We think that the author is pretty objective because he does not comment the opinion of McNamara, he only describes what he says about his book and the Vietnam War in general.

[1] containment policy = policy to prevent the spread of communism

I published “Frank Zappa – Bobby Brown” and added links to certain words or terms.

Frank Zappa – Bobby Brown

Hey there, people, I’m bobby brown
They say I’m the cutest boy in town
My car is fast, my teeth is shiney
I tell all the girls they can kiss my heinie
Here I am at a famous school
Im dressin’ sharp n I’m Actin cool
I got a cheerleader here wants to help with my paper
Let her do all the work n maybe later Ill rape her

Oh God I am the american dream
I do not think I’m too extreme
An I’m a handsome son-of-a-bitch
Im gonna get a good job ‘n be real rich(get a good
Get a good
Get a good
Get a good job)

Womens liberation
Came creepin’ across the nation
I tell you people I was not ready
When I fucked this dyke by the name of freddie
She made a little speech then,
Aw, she tried to make me say when
She had my balls in a vice, but she left the dick
I guess its still hooked on, but now it shoots too quick

Oh God I am the american dream
But now I smell like vaseline
An I’m a miserable sonofabitch
Am I a boy or a lady…i don’t know which (I wonder wonder
Wonder wonder)

So I went out n bought me a leisure suit
I jingle my change, but Im still kinda cute
Got a job doin’ radio promo
An none of the jocks can even tell Im a homo
Eventually me ‘n a friend
Sorta drifted along into s&m
I can take about an hour on the tower of power
long as I gets a little golden shower

Oh God I am the american dream
With a spindle up my butt till it makes me scream
An Ill do anything to get ahead
I lay awake nights sayin’, thank you, fred!
Oh god, oh god, I’m so fantastic!
Thanks to freddie, I’m a sexual spastic
And my name is bobby brown
Watch me now, I’m goin down,
And my name is bobby brown
Watch me now, I’m goin down, etc.

Vocabulary:

• heinie – der Hintern/Arsch
• sharp – schick, schrill, elegant
• creeping – schleichend
• dyke – hier: Lesbe
• vice – hier: Schraubzwinge
• dick – hier: Penis
• vaseline – Gleitmittel
• leisure suit – Freizeitanzug