#Apart from Sylvie and Rose in laws of attraction

[infinstar]

TIL that ノンケ (nonke) is a colloquial word for a heterosexual person.

After all the numerous Japanese BL/QL shows that I have watched, I couldn't believe that it was the first time I encountered this word. And damn it was used so aptly in Ayaka chan wa Hiroko senpai ni koishiteru that I burst out laughing everytime she said it. I am already in love with Hiroko senpai.

Not only do we get a lesbian who is fully integrated into the LGBTQ+ community along with various styles and representation of the community but we also get a semi-masc FL who is just *chef's kiss*

[littledreamcsy]

The English Language Teacher’s Secret

          “The English Language Teacher’s Secret” by Catherine Lim highlights the social issue in Singapore where there are many unmarried women. The story starts with the Prime Minister himself, in a major policy speech, alerted the nation to the perils of the single graduate women and that the minister whose prestige was only slightly less than the Prime Minister’s, took upon himself the task of personally interviewing the graduate women in order to get the root of the problem.

           Then, the story shifted to Miss Sylvie Ponniah’s school where there were five unmarried women. They are Miss Ponniah, approaching forty-six, Madam Cheng, the vice-principal, who was in her fifties, Miss de Silva in her early forties, Miss Ho and Miss Tang, both in their mid-thirties. They were not particularly attractive-looking but Miss Ponniah was easily the most presentable single woman in the school. Miss Ponniah loved once. Twenty years ago, Miss Ponniah fell in love with a young man whose name was Dr. Chellam. They sent letters secretly to each other. However, her father found out and put a stop to what he thought was a disgraceful affair. He was a very strict, old fashioned man and Miss Ponniah was his only daughter. The young man left soon afterward for Great Britain on a course of study and Miss Ponniah never saw him again.

           Miss Ponniah never complained but in her heart she mourned the loss of her love. She buried her love under the daily duties of her existence as daughter and teacher, moving from school to home. Miss Ponniah had heard that Dr. Chellam never married. He had returned from his studies and gone to settle in Malaysia, where he was attached to a large private hospital. Miss Ponniah’s father had died at the age of eighty, by which time Miss Ponniah was forty and her sad little love affair entombed almost twenty years in her faithful heart. Everyday she thought of Dr. Chellam and reread his letters in the privacy of her room. Miss Ponniah teach English Language to a class of secondary school pupils and always use “Dr. C” as an example. Therefore, the students were curious on why did she always use “Dr. C” as an example and suspected that it was her boyfriend’s name. The pupils discussed whether to ask Miss Ponniah directly about Dr. C but later decided not to.

           A girl named Fong Yin left a rose on Miss Ponniah ‘s desk one morning with a card written “From Dr. C, your boyfriend,” and Miss Ponniah becomes furious but she recollected herself immediately. Later, Fong Yin walked up to Miss Ponniah and apologized to her and said that they know Dr. C is not her boyfriend but Miss de Silva’s. Miss Ponniah was shocked but went on calmly supervising the girls in the library. Not long after that, Miss de Silva calls her to the staff room and they talked about how they know Dr. Chellam and that Miss de Silva is going to be married to him soon. However, Dr. Chellam once said to Miss de Silva that he did not love Miss Ponniah then. Miss Ponniah thought that she should have ran away with Dr. Chellam back then but then she remembers her father does not want her to leave him. After Miss de Silva and Dr.Chellam get married, Miss Ponniah tried her best to act as if it does not affect her at all but unfortunately, she burst out in the classroom in front of her students while teaching Subjunctive Mood and the principal suggested her to go home and rest.

           From my analysis, I found that this story portrays the reversal of gender stereotype. For instance, the men in the school are seen gossiping about other people which contradicts with the usual stereotype where women are always seen to be gossiping. This is proven in the line; “The married teachers, including the men teachers, whose dreary lives in school, year in, year out, had cause male enterprise to turn inward and dissipate itself in small in small runnels of bitchy talk and gossip.” (pg. 93). Beside that, the men are warned instead of women for being choosy as proven in the line; “What he found convinced him that it was all the fault of the Singaporean male, so that, after the interviews were over, he turned his attention to the male graduates, berated them for their wrong attitudes, and sternly advised them to change.” (pg. 91).

           However, the men are still holding on to the old notion of supremacy. This is proven in the line; “A man must marry an academic notch or two below him: a man with a university degree would do better to marry someone with A levels only,” (ibid). Apart from that, Miss Ponniah’s selfish father who refuse to accept Dr. Chellam as his son in law also shows the patriarchal mindset; “Miss Ponniah wrote six and received eight before her father found out and put a stop to what he thought was a disgraceful affair.” (pg.94).

           Next is the issue of women’s role. The female graduates are described as a “crop” that was “left unsought”. This indicates that women are seen only being good for producing children. The word “crop” paints a picture of women as plants which are good only for yielding babies and crops are controlled by farmers who in a patriarchal society, are the males. However, in contrary to the usual stereotype where women are prohibited from getting high education, the female characters in this short story are successful and educated. This is proven when the narrator introduced five unmarried women in Miss Ponniah’s school “In Miss Sylvie Ponniah’s school alone, there were five unmarried women:” (pg. 92). These women become splinters because they are more focused towards their own career and success in life rather than thinking about love.

           In conclusion, “The English Language Teacher’s Secret” by Catherine Lim violates the typical stereotype of women and highlights the social issue of Singapore. They do not blame women for not being able to produce children which had cause their country have low birth rate but it was the men’s fault instead for being too choosy when it comes to marriage.