what to wear when…in a vietnamese fairy tale.
examples: từ thức gặp tiên (tu thuc and the fairy queen), nhân tham tài nhi tử, điểu tham thực nhi vong (the greedy man and the greedy bird), tấm cám (the two sisters, a dark cinderella variant)
[the bản chính, the dominant kihn (người việt) versions, of vietnamese câu chuyện cổ tích] exemplify the woman’s unquestionable and unconditional fidelity and devotion to her man and his family - the more extreme, the more praise-worthy.
on the contrary, the second image of women in [vietnam’s fairy tales] strongly suggests that the woman is equally capable of using her brains and determining her conduct, equally ready to work for a living and perform difficult tasks as do men. in myth, several deities in charge of natural elements are female: the goddesses of fire, of water, of carpentry, the twelve female deities who are responsible for the shaping of our human bodies and making them function.
more significantly, vietnamese legends which are built around real historical figures or legendary heroes do not hesitate to celebrate women in important positions and roles…folk songs defy the first image of women by ridiculing the false concept of women’s inferiority and dependency and mocking the double standard in an exaggerated way…the first image [of womanhood] reflects the dominant ethical tradition advocated and enforced by the ruling class [which was] very much influenced by confucianism; it sets a model for women’s behavior, or the ideal. in contrast, the second image, which exposes the woman’s deviance from the ideal given real life situations and what she can actually do, recalls the pre-chinese indigenous or popular tradition…the popular tradition is a persistent undercurrent which has resurfaced whenever the elite tradition has weakened.
post 638 of an infinity-part series
19th Century 18K Gold Shell Locket and 9K Gold Chain, English (sold)
Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluor_doublet/7521143810/in/set-72157603833936806
Crane operator Wei Gensheng takes advantage of his perch high atop the world’s second tallest building, the Shanghai Tower (2,073 feet), to take stunning photos of Shanghai. His photos recently placed second in the Shanghai City Photography Competition.
collections that are raw as fuck ➝ alexander mcqueen fall 2010