Before we begin, it’s important to clarify which ROCKY is being discussed. There are three:

ROCKY, the character: There are people out there who’ve never even seen one of the ROCKY films, but ask them who Rocky is and they’d be able to give you the basics, he’s “the Italian Stallion”, “a boxer”, “the guy who saved America from the Russians”, “I think he sold me Brisk iced tea once”.
This is a case of a character evolving beyond the confines of its initial creation. As a character, Rocky has taken on a life of its own. There are countless caricatures, Jim Carrey used an impression of Rocky to help launch his own comedy career.

ROCKY, the movie franchise: There are six ROCKY films in all. Not all audiences have seen every film. Maybe they’ve only seen the one where Rocky fights Mr. T. Or maybe they hold fond memories of watching Rocky, a boxer, take on Hulk Hogan, a professional wrestler. Mention ROCKY and most everyone will recall the fourth film where he took Ivan Drago, the physical manifestation of the USSR, single handed.

ROCKY, the original Screenplay & Film of 1976: This is unique from the rest of ROCKY canon and is the focus here. It’s unique in that it is an extension of the American Dream, as envisioned by the immigrant class of the late 19th- early 20thcentury. And in 1976 it was a reflection of the individual, the writer and star Sylvester Stallone.

ROCKY, as it appears here in all caps, will from here on out will refer to the film and screenplay from 1976. And one more thing, it’s not a boxing movie. It’s a love story.

It begins as all things should; with a crescendo of trumpets. The title, ROCKY, scrolls across the screen, white letters on a black screen. Opening on a image of Jesus Christ, the only image of religion in the film, overlooking two boxers duking it out in the church arena. This is a bottom of the barrel bout, put together by the local church to provide some entertainment to the drunks and undesirables of 1975 Philadelphia. The winner walks away with $40, a woman yells after him, “you’re a bum!”.

Rocky Balboa is fresh in his thirties, he spent the better part of his youth and its latter years devoted to the boxing discipline, training in the local gym of Mick, a fighter long past his prime. Rocky is angry young man; not angry at anyone specific, but at his self-doubt and realized stagnation in life. When the film introduces the audience to the gym, it’s made clear by the number of bodies training that Rocky isn’t the only one looking for a way out of the slums of Philadelphia with the help of a pair of gloves. Because a way out is what Rocky needs. His day job is that of a thumb-breaker on the docks, a collector for a local Italian “businessman”, a loan-shark. In the evenings, he goes back to his single room apartment; photos of his youth and parents frame the mirror above his dresser, a poster of former boxing champion Rocky Marciano rest above the fireplace. Marciano is a figure whose success Rocky Balboa hopes to emulate. Above Rocky’s bed is a crucifix, but it’s tucked away behind a bronzed children’s shoe. If anything, its serves as relic to his bygone youth.

While the audience is introduced to Rocky’s world, so too are they introducing to the character of Adrian, a shy young woman who works at the local pet store, where Rocky likes to stop by and purchase food for his turtles and play with the store’s resident dog, Butkus. Adrian is the sister of Rocky’s only friend Paulie, a 2nd/3rd generation Greek-American who works at the local meat processing plant, barely scraping by and looking for a way by way of working for Rocky’s same loan-shark. Rocky looks at Paulie as family, and insists that the loan-shark’s line of work is not for Paulie. It’s also Rocky’s way of protecting Adrian, who he romantic feelings for. Paulie, aware of this, pushes for them to get together. It takes some time, but eventually the two shed away their layers and find solace in their relationship.

Meanwhile, the boxing champion of the world, Apollo Creed has a championship bout scheduled in honor of America’s Bicentennial. Only fortune(luck) didn’t shine too kindly on him or the fight’s promoters as the original opponent is deemed unfit to fight and they must rush to find a replacement. So they do what any sensible person would do, they pick an opponent at random. Fortune shines on Rocky Balboa as his name is picked, Apollo Creed liked his nickname, “The Italian Stallion”.

It’s around this time that the ROCKY enters familiar territory. Its structure as a boxing movie is revealed as the film takes us through the staples of the genre. In one of the film’s more famous images, Rocky greets his morning with a fresh glass of raw eggs. His trainer Mick, who was hesitant at first because of his belief that Rocky had squandered his talent and future by not going the distance with his potential, at one point ties the laces of Rocky’s shoes together in a bid to strengthen his stance. All this is paired with the montage.

The montage has become a staple of any sports movie, arguably as a result of ROCKY’s prominence in American Cinema. A series of inter cut scenarios set over a selection of inspirational/hard-hitting music. ROCKY set the standard with its sequence of Rocky training in the gym and jogging in the mornings. Easily the most recognizable image from ROCKY is of the character running up the 72 stone steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Rocky fails on his first attempt, grasping his sides in splitting pain. But at the tail end of the training montage, he leaps up the stairs and as the music hits its apex, Rocky raises his arms in victory. Now he’s in a physical condition to take on the boxing champion of the world. All it took was 3 minutes of a pop song, if only the mental preparation was as easy.

Though he may find himself physically ready, in the film Rocky has a difficult time believing he can win on the eve of the his bout against the champion. Adrian wraps her arms around Rocky. This interaction comforts him and the camera pushes in-

ROCKY
I can’t beat him

ADRIAN
You worked so hard

ROCKY
It don’t matter, I was nobody before

But it does matter, and later in that same scene we finally know what kept Rocky going.

ROCKY
It really don’t matter if I win this fight,
all I wanna do is go the distance.

There’s nothing pushing Rocky forward except his desire to be better than where he was at the start of the film. The championship isn’t important, its the feeling of accomplishment that is.

And so, as all sport based films go, ROCKY descends deep into the boxing genre for the final act of the film. This portion of the film is forgettable at best, it adds nothing to the film apart from taking the audience to the eventual conclusion and has no substance to speak of and could have driven the film into forgettable territory. Only, Rocky doesn’t win. Rocky goes “the distance”, he’s still standing after the final bell. But boxing’s a professional sport and it comes down to the points, who landed the most successful hits on their opponent; and in that regard Apollo Creed retains his championship. This would faze most sportsmen, but not Rocky.

Trainers, reporters and fans crowd the boxing ring, each wanting a piece of Rocky and his new found fame. None of this concerns Rocky though; He’s unsatisfied, the fight may be over, but there’s no peace for him, not yet. Like a child, Rocky wails out Adrian’s name. It’s not until Adrian makes her away into the ring. It’s not until he sees her that Rocky finds his peace. And blocking out the pandemonium around them-

ROCKY
Adrian! Hey, where’s your hat?

ADRIAN
I love you.

ROCKY
I love you.

ADRIAN & ROCKY
I love you.

They embrace, inseparable. The movie fades out with them repeating the final line to each other, “I love you”.

The original movie poster for ROCKY is a silhouette image of Adrian & Rocky, walking hand in hand. For ROCKY, the boxing movie angle is secondary. The boxing genre is a blueprint and in ROCKY the genre is defamiliarized to serve as a vehicle for a love story. Ah yes, the love story. ROCKY isn’t about Rocky’s rise to fame and wealth, certainly the movie franchise did go that route later, but ROCKY is something more. ROCKY’s focus is on the finding and the strengthening of the connection between Rocky & Adrian.

When Rocky first invites her into his apartment, Adrian looks over the family photos that frame Rocky’s mirror and stopping over one, asks if those are his parents. He nods and tells of how his father didn’t think Rocky would amount to anything in life and gave him the advice of focusing on the body and forgetting the mind. For Adrian, it was her mother who said she didn’t have much of a body or looks so she should build up her mind instead. One compliments the other, but in the context of ROCKY’s creation, the two halves are one in the same.

Sylvester Stallone, the writer and star of ROCKY, was born in New York in 1946. His mother, a second-generation immigrant of Russian Jewish & French descent. His father, a first-generation immigrant from Italy. To the immigrant generations of his parents and those who came before them, America was a safe haven. They were part of or sprung from the largest wave of immigration to the United States (in 1907 alone, over 1.2 million immigrated to the US). The numbers were so great that in 1924 the United States enacted the Immigration Act of 1924, effectively freezing all immigration to America from Europe, the Near-Middle East and much of Asia. Though built on a foundation of immigrants, America wanted nothing more to do with them. But why so many?

Many of the peoples who immigrated to the United States were escaping something. For many Europeans it was the rise of fascism that drove them away. The Bolshevik revolution of Russia, and subsequent creation of the USSR, drove many peoples to America escaping persecution (Russian Jews made up a large number). From the Near-Middle East countless people escaped massacres at the hands of Ottoman Turks and the German forces that supported them; these numbers were made up of Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, peoples from the Balkans and refugees of the First World War. These peoples of different backgrounds all came to America with a single purpose in mind, to realize their American Dream.

APOLLO CREED
If history proves one thing. American history
proves that everybody’s got a chance to win.

The American Dream is different for each individual. But if you’re a part of or descended from the already identified immigrant group, there the linkage of a common understanding of it. It’s moves against the idea of people as a commodity, it focuses on the uniqueness of the individual. In this understanding of the American Dream, the individual makes their own way in life, they create their own opportunity. Waiting around for divine intervention is no way of realizing your goals, its self-determination and perseverance that will find you success.

ROCKY’s ideas and demonstration of the American Dream is reminiscent of the Italian Humanism that found prominence in the 15/16th Century, the time of the Renaissance. Like in Humanism, Religion has no role in ROCKY. In ROCKY success is found through self-determination and perseverance. ROCKY further postulates that fortune plays a big role in success, as outlined by the works of Humanists such as Petrarch & Boccaccio. If not for Apollo Creed happening across Rocky’s nickname “The Italian Stallion” in a book, ROCKY would not exist. Why? Because if not for the fortune that shone on Sylvester Stallone that moment from the film is reflecting, there would be no ROCKY.

Much of ROCKY is a reflection of Stallone’s life; his fears and regrets, his doubt and above all, his success. In 1976, when ROCKY was released, Stallone was, like Rocky, in his early thirties and had only just found success.

Stallone began pursuing an acting career in his twenties hoping to find success in entertainment. After all, previous immigrant generations had done the same with Hollywood itself being founded by Jewish immigrants from Russia and Germany. He’d acted in a few small pictures that failed to find a release and so difficult was his career at the beginning that one night he found himself sleeping in a bus terminal, at wit’s end he noticed a casting call. It required him to appear nude & fornicate on screen. Stallone did it for a paycheck. The film didn’t find release until after the success of ROCKY, capitalizing on Stallone’s success, it was released as the pornographic movie “The Italian Stallion.” So like the character he would later embody, Stallone set about making his own way in life, but it’d take another 5 years.

ROCKY
Had to show that I can do it [...] that I’m not a bum!

Already inspired by Rocky Marciano, another Italian-American, Stallone was watching a 1975 boxing match between Muhammad Ali & Chuck Wepner when further inspiration struck. Going home that night after the match, Stallone would spend three day and twenty straight hours writing and completing the screenplay of ROCKY. This was to be his way out, ROCKY was Stallone going the distance and taking his shot. Hollywood loved the screenplay, Stallone had a hit on his hands and he knew. The money came pouring in alongside suggestions for who should play the role of Rocky. Stallone wanted to play the part, after all he wrote it for himself, but since he was unknown in Hollywood, producers refused and instead offered him higher sums for the screenplay. At this early stage in the career of Stallone and the story of Rocky, Greed did not prevail. Stallone took a smaller paycheck on the screenplay so he could star.

A running theme through ROCKY is Patriotism, independent from the American Dream. In 1976, when the film was released in the US, the country was celebrating its Bicentennial. This is made with Apollo Creed classifying the championship as a Bicentennial bout “in honor of America’s birthday” and equating his knocking out his opponents to that of the cracking of the Liberty Bell. ROCKY wears its Patriotism on its sleeves and its set apart from the American Dream because in this film it pushes an ideology independent of what the American Dream was to the specified immigrant class. Rallying the public under the stars & stripes was not ROCKY’s original intent, until the sequel.

ROCKY, the movie franchise would soon find itself acting as an ideological state apparatus in employ of the US. It was not the first film to do so as the US government famously did so in WWII with its employment of Hollywood directors like Frank Capra and actors like Elvis Presley & John Wayne. It was the Cold War after all, and America needed a strong image to stand behind, something beyond the outdated Uncle Sam. ROCKY filled that role and soon began its decline.

ROCKY
They don’t remember you. They remember the rep!

ROCKY found great success when it was released, beating out TAXI DRIVER, NETWORK, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN & NETWORK(all considered seminal films in not just American cinema, but cinema worldwide). But what was once a single film that encapsulated love, purity of desire and the American Dream soon found itself as the Hollywood movie franchise devoid of all that made the first film great. The purity of Rocky’s desire to only go the distance and realize his full potential found itself shifted to a want for the boxing championship (power & money). This even echoes Stallone’s own course in life. Where he was once described by the film critic Roger Ebert as the next Marlon Brando for his acting ability, Stallone soon became(and still is) the butt of many a joke, turning his success into a money making machine. If you were to find yourself in major American areas during the 1980-1990s, you’d have had a difficult time in escaping the images of Stallone plastered on Billboards, McDonald’s meals, action figures, Brisk ice tea commercials, T-Shirts, dietary supplements and anything else he could sell the licensing rights of his likeness to. Was the individual at fault here? This is not an E! True Hollywood Story. But we do have to ask ourselves, is fame good? Are those who found peace in the realization of the dreams independent of fame and wealth better off than the individuals who are only satisfied with attaining fame & wealth. It’s important to think of ROCKY (1976) independent from its future progression. And as a reflection of Stallone it should be kept free and in context of the early seventies.

In much the same way that there’s so much of Stallone in ROCKY that it’s hard to ignore; There’s much of my own past as a 4th generation Armenian-American in ROCKY’s conveyance of the American Dream that at this point all objectivity must be thrown out the window. Much of what was looked at in ROCKY is my own response to the material. My great-grandfather arrived on steamship from Armenia by was of Marseilles in 1907. Like the immigrants before him and the millions that were to follow, he too was greeted by the Statue of Liberty, with her arm in the air, a beacon to the masses that they’ve made it, they are now safe. And he too found himself in America, alone and without work. But instead of giving up, he persevered. Living on the streets of New York, he made his gains in life by first selling apples from a wheelbarrow. It was only through his hard work, devoid of divine intervention, that he would find love in America in woman whose parents had escaped the Great Famine of Ireland of the mid-19th century, they too hoping for safety and salvation in the United States.

American Cinema and the visual arts as a whole thrive off the connections they establish with their audiences. My relationship to ROCKY as an audience member is no different. And where previous generations would once look to the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of safety, salvation, accomplishment and the American Dream; I and others of my generation look upon the image of Rocky standing atop the 72 stone steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art with his arms raised in much the same way.

In his first interactions with Adrian, Rocky tells her that when he makes it, they’re “gonna stick this face on a stamp.” They did. You can now find Stallone’s face on stamps worldwide.

 

Part 1

In Armenia, atop a hill overlooking the center of the capital Yerevan stands Mother Armenia. Defender of the Armenian nation, she straddles a broad sword in her hands, a shield at her feet. A relic of the bygone Soviet era, the 167-foot monument of copper and tuff (basalt) is the female personification of Armenia. In Armenian history the woman has been the safeguard of Armenian culture, language and the nation (Zazyan). But to a majority the Armenian woman is nothing beyond an idealized concept with no such regard paid to her as an individual. The achievements and fruitful history of Armenian women are all but non-existent in common Armenian history. The heroes gallery of Armenia’s gloried past is, like current Armenian society, dominated by men. The streets and civic centers of modern Armenia are populated with monuments to the male heroes, intellectuals and artists of history, those the government deemed deserving of adulation because of their contribution to Armenians. The concept of the Armenian mother may be sacred to Armenian society, but the woman as a person is relegated to the sidelines. In the 1850s, the journalist Stepan Voskan wrote, “The homeland is in the heart of women”. In reality, the homeland (as well as the Diaspora) is in the hands of the men. Armenian women must look to themselves for strength and collectively rise up to overcome their retarded stature in Armenian society...

During the Soviet era, the government created an environment where Armenian women were given equal and free access to education and employment without limitation. Apart from the political sphere, women were able to prevail in the spheres of education, public health and culture (Zazyan). The lack of female presence in the societal spheres of the modern Republic of Armenia shows no evidence of this previous Soviet advancement in establishing women as equals. Modern Armenian men and women alike are bombarded with image after image of women as sex objects and targets of sexual conquest. This is reaffirmed time and time again with media and advertising projected through television, internet and the billboards that populate the highways and social centers of the country. This objectification has an adverse effect on women’s self confidence and sense of place. It creates a false and misguided model of reflection for young women and stymies the progress towards equality as they are conditioned to expect nothing more from or for themselves. An increasingly skewed vision of women as objects of desire develops and the public, male and female alike, is ultimately conditioned to treat women accordingly. Women are also adversely conditioned into thinking along similar lines, discounting the ability and achievements possible by women, themselves and otherwise; in some cases to the point where women too become the aggressors in violence against women (as was the case with Zaruhi Petrosyan).

In November 2010, a young woman working with the Women’s Resource Center in Armenia had a sour encounter with a male taxi driver. It stands as evidence to the male public’s regard for the opposite sex. Women in Armenia are cautioned to not ride in the front seat of a taxi, especially not on their own. She was in a hurry and ignored caution:

Almost immediately the driver began to talk to me, asking me what my name was, where I was from, if my father lived in the area, if I had any brothers or sisters, and what my phone number was […] aside from a couple of head nods, I kept quiet. It wasn’t before long that the driver pulled out a piece of paper with his phone number on it and told me to call him, an offer in which I sternly declined. He then began to touch my thigh and then my face and neck. After assertively telling him “NO” and removing his hand from my body he instructed “not now, later.” Clearly it wasn’t enough that I said no, nor was it sufficient that I was assertive in my statement. I instructed him to stop the car and told him that I wanted to get out, a declaration in which he quite casually chose to ignore, and instead began to put his hands on me again. I can’t say I wasn’t scared, but I can say that I did not come off that way. After aggressively slamming on the dashboard, raising my voice, and pointing my finger in his face, he did stop the car. I quickly got out, and without paying.

No woman should feel afraid when they are alone in a cab with a man, or anywhere for that matter. It is not up to a man to dictate whether or not I should feel uncomfortable and certainly not acceptable for a man to put his hands on me without my consent. It is also not right for a woman to have to sit in the back of a cab to be safe from sexual or verbal harassment. A man should NOT feel entitled to do what he pleases with a woman under any circumstances, it is not his right. (Women’s Resource Center, “Taxi Harassment”)

Hers is not an isolated incident. It is such a common occurrence that in December 2010 a boutique taxi service was introduced to the streets of Armenia. Pink Taxi offers a no-smoking ride for women and couples, men are only allowed when riding with children. This is no solution. It is but a band aid placed on the overall struggle women face in Armenia.

Abuse and violence towards women is a common occurrence and the victims are expected to remain moonch (silent) on the matter. Women who admit to being victims of domestic violence often did so only in private. In 1998, a survey conducted among a hundred women found 80 admitting (in private) to being victims of domestic violence (Women’s Rights Center). However, after October 1, 2010, the majority could no longer remain silent and surveys would no longer suffice. On that day, twenty year old Zaruhi Petrosyan died at the hands of her husband and mother-in-law, a victim of domestic violence. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back; across the global Armenian nation there was a public outcry from women and men alike to stop the violence against women prevalent in Armenian society. Socially aware Armenians took to the streets to protest this violence, the silent killer of Armenian women, public awareness had increased on a global scale. The Armenians of the world made it known to the countless victims that it’s not okay to remain moonch, that it is okay to seek help and that there are individuals and organizations ready to do just that.

The Women’s Rights Center of Armenia makes available to the public a crisis center and a domestic violence hotline. Between 2009 and 2010, the calls to the hotline increased from 1010 to 1777. The calls specific to domestic violence increased from 435 to 701. Only 71 women visited their crisis center. Of the visits 42 related to domestic violence, 26 were for psychological abuse, 13 came in for physical abuse and only 3 for sexual abuse. Ultimately, the figures relating to the call center and especially the crisis center are miniscule in comparison to the reality of the large number of victims. Though as women in Armenia become more aware of their rights, they can make increasing use of the resources made available to them.

Through raising awareness Armenians can combat the victimization of women. Through awareness, current and future generations of men and women can move beyond the abject nature of the current gender roles in Armenian society. Let the saying “A woman is like wool, the more you beat her, the softer she will be” and its ilk be lost in the annals of time. Let the Armenian woman be like the statue of Mother Armenia; Protector of the Armenian language, culture and nation, its children and its future. Armenian women can turn to role models, examples of achievement and progression both in the home and the public and set out on a journey of advancement for not only themselves but for Armenians as a whole.

There is no perfect or ideal model of an Armenian woman. Even still, in the collective Armenian past and present there exists a plethora of women who serve as examples and role models, necessary in the journey to establishing women as rightful true equals in Armenian society. There’s an old adage, “You don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.” How can Armenian women as a majority hope to elevate their status in society if they are not reminded of the heights and enlightenment reached by the women before them?…

———————

Part 2

Constantinople at the turn of the 20th Century was home to several women writers who, out of the oppressed Armenian life of the Ottoman Empire, came to believe that the “apparent freedom of women in Western societies […] was one of the causes of Western advancement” (Rowe). Though never seeing fruition as a result of the Genocide of 1915, the Armenian women writers of Constantinople were taking the first steps and putting into motion what could have been a truly great Zartonk (awakening) specific to and necessary for the advancement of Armenian women. Not unlike the feminist movements of the West.

The first of such writers was Serpouhi Dussap. Born in 1841, her upbringing in a wealthy family afforded her an education few women of the time were privy to. Dussap also benefited from the presence of a strong female role model in her home, her mother Nazli Vahan. Vahan founded the St. Hripsimiants girls’ school in 1859 and was a staunch supporter of female education. Dussap’s mother also ran a salon that allowed her exposure to the social issues of the time which influenced her future writing and eventual running of her own cultural salon. Dussap’s literary career saw the publication of several novels tackling such issues as women’s expected subordination to men, lack of access to employment & education for women and forced marriage; issues that are to a degree prevalent in modern Armenia. Serpouhi Dussap “challenged the socially dominant concept of male superiority, arguing that women needed to” rise up and force “society’s recognition of women’s intellectual capacity” (Rowe).

Zabel Yesayian, another writer of the time, is the most highly regarded woman writer in early twentieth century literature. It was Yesayian’s father who, even with limited wealth, ensured she would receive a high education. But even her father’s passion for his daughter’s knowledge could not find an institution through which she could continue her post-primary school education, so Yesayian turned to salons. Similar to Serpouhi Dussap, in the salons Yesayian would meet well-known Armenian intellectuals and be participatory to discussions of social and national issues. She would later go to Paris, the first Armenian woman to do so, to continue her education at the renowned Sorbonne. In that same year she would embark on a prolific literary career. She wrote of social issues, female subjectivity, and gender oppression. Yesayian was the only woman on the list of Armenian intellectuals that were rounded up on April 24, 1915. She was lucky and escaped to live a life in exile until, at the invitation of the Soviet government, settling in Yerevan, where she would become an instructor at Yerevan State University. Tragically, during the Stalinist purges in 1937, Yesayian was arrested and in 1942 would die in prison. Zabel Yesayian lived a life of struggle but one that saw the “creation of strong female characters who develop a sense of self, despite social conditions that hinder personal development. [Her] characters exist and struggle against the backdrop of Armenian history whether it is […] the lonely world of exile, or the struggle for survival” (Rowe).

Beyond literature there are other figures from the past women can turn to for a role model. Women such as Karen Jeppe who, not being of Armenian origin, dedicated her life to the protection and education of Armenian women. In the history of Armenia’s armed struggle for independence there have been many women, like Soseh Mayrig (Mother) who fought alongside the male fedayees in such battles as the 1894 resistance against Ottoman forces in Sassoun.

It should be noted, as evidenced above, the further removal of oneself from the margins of society is not the responsibility of the individual alone. Armenian history is not bound to the individual, it is a collective past; the progression of Armenian society in the realm of gender equality should also be of a collective nature. Assistance from others is imperative in establishing a foundation from which to overcome the societal constructs limiting the role of the Armenian female. Zabel Yesayian benefited from her father’s urging to receive a well rounded education. A young Serpouhi Dussap was exposed to the framework for her advocacy of the non-marginalization of women through the work done on the part of and salon run by her mother Nazli Vahan. Armenians of both genders must make a united push to reach the much delayed positioning of women as equal leaders of Armenian society.

It is not only the past that women should turn to for guidance in the battle for equality. Across the global Armenian nation are women who can serve as guiding lights. In the realm of politics; In 2008, Hranush Hakobyan was appointed Minister of the Republic of Armenia’s Ministry of the Diaspora. She is a graduate of Yerevan State University’s Faculties of Law and Applied Mathematics, as well as graduate of the Academy of Social Sciences of Moscow. Hakobyan with a strong educational background is in a key position in the Armenian government, tasked with strengthening the ties between the Republic and the Diaspora. Considering the size and scope of the Armenian Diaspora, the job is not for the weak-willed. In the realm of Sports; A young 23 year old Armenian woman from Germany is an example of the strength women can and do possess. Susianna Kentikian is the current World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organization and Women’s International Boxing Federation’s world flyweight champion. In the arts; Several female musical acts such as Zulal, Nune Yesayan and Deti Picasso form new avenues of access to the rich tapestry of Armenia’s musical past. The actress Arsinee Khanjian, through the films of her husband, Atom Egoyan, has created an image of a strong, independent and self confident woman. No more should Armenian women feel as if their place is on the sidelines of the male dominated society. The aforementioned women are but a sliver of the viable Armenian female role models that exist today.

Presently, the advancement of Armenian women in modern society is retarded by the lack of popularized female role models. Without an example and set precedent to aspire to, any progress will find itself stymied. Women of note are ever present in the Armenian present and past, though buried under layers of male-centric history. As evident in the women writers of Constantinople, salons created an environment beneficial to women’s advancement. Salons could exist as a commonplace occurrence in modern society where public discourse and discussion of pertinent issues can further the status and position of women. Let the norm of the Armenian woman be akin to Mother Armenia, strong and vigilant. Armenian women must look to themselves for strength and collectively rise up to overcome their retarded stature in Armenian society, though it is not their responsibility alone. The advancement of Armenian women must be a united effort. Women and men must work together to transcend the detrimental gender and societal roles that have been accepted as the norm of Armenian society.

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Manoogian, Margaret, Alexis Walker, and Leslie Richards. “Gender, Genocide, and Ethnicity.” Journal of Family Issues, 28.4 (2007): 567-589.

Rowe, Victoria. “Armenian Writers and Women’s-Rights Discourse in Turn-of-the-Twentieth- Century Constantinople.” Aspasia, 2.1 (2008): 44-69.

Women’s Resource Center. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. <http://www.womenofarmenia.org/index.php>.

Women’s Rights Center. Web. 05 Apr. 2011. <http://www.wrcorg.am/en/home.htm>.

Zazyan, Mary. “Armenian Woman in Physics.” AIP Conference Proceedings, 1119.1 (2009): 77- 78.

As the date for the darkest day in Armenian history comes to a close, I can’t help but think of the anger and hatred many of us hold against the Turks. And I took a moment to remember those few Turks who helped ensure our continued survival.

Our anger blinds us from the reality that many of our families found salvation thanks to some Turks, who risked their lives in providing the survivors with warning, shelter and means of escape.

It is not the Turkish people who are at fault, but a government that promotes and cultivates  a civilization of ignorance and intolerance.

We must give the Turkish people our sympathy, not our hatred. Help to open their eyes to the truth. Help them to understand why we cannot and will not forget the horrors done to our ancestors and what was stolen from us, the whole of the Armenian people.

It’s hard to believe, but they just don’t know any better.

I view the Diaspora as a temporary construct; that will see its end when the majority return “home”. What can I say, it’s the romantic in me that believes it could (if even possible) happen in my lifetime.

Stories have the ability to forever shape the lives of children. This is true the world over. America being no different provides its children with a plethora of avenues to experience storytelling: books, comics, movies, theater, the internet, and so on. The Armenian-American child, with a need for integration, stands to benefit from these avenues even more so than the majority of other immigrant American children. The constant threat of assimilation and the lasting trauma of the Genocide have created the need for assistance in developing the Armenian-American child into a well-rounded, contributing member of society without forgoing the connection to the Armenian past or sense of Armenianness.

Storytelling has evolved beyond books and oratory tradition. Modern technology has given way to new methods of relaying impactful stories to children. Their power is in the ability to connect the audience to their individual or collective past, giving them a sense of who they are and what they may become. The influences of storytelling permeate through the child’s social behavior both in public and in the home. And one cannot overlook the indelible influence early storytelling has on the language skills of a child. In the case of Armenian-American children, stories have the ability to ensure proficiency in the Armenian language whether it be the spoken or written word…

There are a multitude of educational materials designed to engage children in the learning experience by shrouding the material with the guise of children’s stories. Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. There are books by authors such as Dr. Seuss, countless computer software programs, television programs like Baby Einstein, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street; they all tap into the child’s imagination, taking the path of least resistance to instill basic knowledge at the earliest ages. According to Joan Ganze Cooney, co-founder of the Children’s Television Workshop that’s behind Sesame Street’s production, “Before Sesame Street, kindergartens taught very little, and suddenly children were coming in knowing letters and numbers.” Independent research had found that regular viewers of Sesame Street tested higher that non-viewers, with the positive effects of viewership lasting through high school.

But Sesame Street goes beyond the teaching of reading, writing and arithmetic. It stands to serve as an example of the true power of storytelling. When it started in 1969, the show made a conscious effort in showing that people of differing backgrounds can and do live together without strife. And for over forty years Sesame Street, with positive reinforcement, has instilled in several generations the simple understanding that we are all created equal, with an understood goal to create a harmonious society among peoples of different backgrounds. In dealing with another of life’s issues, on one occasion the program featured the character of Big Bird dealing with the death of a loved one, sharing with children the distress and confusion one can feel with the loss. Through its combination of education, entertainment, and counseling in morality and social issues, Sesame Street stands as an example of what can be achieved with storytelling. In the case of Armenian-American children, the lesson learned here is the power storytelling can have in helping understand and even healing the trans-generational trauma and scarring left behind by the horrors of the Armenian genocide nearly a century ago.

Storytelling goes beyond simple entertainment, it is about finding out who you are. For centuries Armenians relied not on the written word but the oral tradition of past generations. These orations can be classified as myths and legends and in pre-literary Armenia they took the place of historical accounts. As with any culture, these myths were ripe with stories of legendary heroes who fought insurmountable odds against monstrous enemies. They were the defenders of the nation and people and the myths were their history. And what was the ancient pagan religion of Armenia if not a collection of myths and legend. The collective stories of Armenian myth and pagan beliefs help to paint a picture of the Armenian past. The actual background to the formation of the Armenian people and state is lost in the annals of time. So called “Armenologists” sift through the myths, legends, and fables of Armenia’s past to piece together probable actualities. For the development of the Armenian-American child these stories, be they historical or fiction, are beneficial.

The following excerpt from Margaret Bedrosian’s book on Armenian-American Literature, The Magical Pine Ring better captures the connection of Armenian stories to maintaining a certain degree of Armenianness.

Of all the art forms and relics stamped Armenian, it most effectively unlocks the Armenian sensibility. […] much that cannot be simply explained about the Armenian ethos and modern Armenian experience in America and elsewhere is here stored away as myth. The characters […] are earthy, idealistic, pragmatic, rooted in geography, and lifted by their faith. Each is a doorway into the Armenian wing of the collective unconscious and as such can lead dispersed Armenians out of the limbo.

When introduced at an early age, the stories of Armenians of lore such as Hayk, Vartan Mamikonian and David of Sassoun instill in an Armenian child something uniquely Armenian to be proud of. With a history filled with a genocide, massacres, forced removal from the homeland and the tribulations associated with immigrant life, stories that can instill hope and pride are necessary to keep the ancestral connection alive.

A role model serves as an example to others and can go so far as to dictate behavior. For youths and adults the position of the role model is often filled by an individual from their own lives, historical/revolutionary figures, and in some cases, celebrities or persons from popular culture. For a child in the developmental stage, the role model is quite often a character from a fictional story. In America, a child’s senses are inundated with characters vying for the cherished position of a role model; they exist in the multitude of storytelling avenues mentioned above. The role model is uniquely positioned to instill in a child a set of beliefs and world outlook. As in the example of Sesame Street, the belief that we are all created equal is beneficial to the child. Unfortunately, the truth of it is that many of the characters that children end up turning to for role models fail to serve as examples capable of instilling beneficial qualities in a child. A child stands to gain nothing when emulating a cartoon character such as Bart Simpson, Beavis or Butthead; or a celebrity like Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian. So it is important for the parent to take an aggressive stance at an early age in the child’s life to ensure the existence of a beneficial role model to the child. And the parent must continue to play an active role in the development of the child to ensure the continuance of the existence of beneficial role models, be they imaginary or real.

For the Armenian-American child, maintaining the existence of an Armenian role model is key. The protagonists of many of the stories that exist in the Armenian storytelling tradition can and do exist as role models to Armenian-American children and youth. Hayk, Vartan Mamikonian, and David of Sassoun are viable replacements to the presence of the Batmans, Charlie Sheens, and Brad Pitts in the lives of the American youth. In ancient times these uniquely Armenian stories helped ensure a distinct identity; in modern times these stories maintain the distinct identity in a world where ethnic and cultural divisions are blurred at an exceeding rate. Though it should be mentioned that in the Armenian tradition of stories there is a substantial lack of female characters to act as role models. This creates a difficult void to fill for the Armenian-American girl or young woman.

By default Armenian-American women are the ones best suited for ensuring the child’s introduction to Armenian storytelling. Often it is the mothers that choose the child’s first DVD or book. Between parents, they are the ones with the more active role in the development of the child. Much of the responsibility for creating the connection between the Armenian-American child and the ancestral, traditional past rests on the shoulders of the mother. In the case of daughters, the lack of female role models increases the mother’s responsibility in creating a viable, real-world role model for the daughter to connect to; often this would be the mothers themselves. In these modern times, a substantial number of mothers do work full time jobs so the responsibility of the child is transferred to a relative or as is more common in America, a nanny. In these cases it is the responsibility of both parents to ensure that the caretaker makes available Armenian material to the child’s imagination and development.

Presently there are few materials available to Armenian-American parents hoping to introduce their children to Armenian storytelling. Certainly there are children’s books available but in an increasingly technological world, storytelling by way of literature is not enough for the successful development of the Armenian-American child. America has an almost complete lack of Armenian storytelling beyond the written word. Armenian storytellers must adapt to the changing times and embrace new avenues to introduce Armenian stories to children. When trying to reach the Armenian-American child, Armenian stories face competition from movies, video games, and television programs designed to captivate and enthrall the audience until the next Harry Potter-like movie or Call of Duty-esque video game arrives.

The introduction of uniquely Armenian stories to American film and television can be pragmatic, but those avenues are already crowded with many more trying to break in. The avenue that is most conducive to helping the spread of Armenian storytelling is the internet. Children are introduced to computer technology at an early age and as technology becomes ever more intertwined in our daily lives, children adapt to using computers at an exponential rate. Following the creation of an online presence is the need for content, Armenians have a wealth of storytelling tradition to mine to make available to Armenian-American children. By taking the traditional Armenian stories and making them accessible to the new generations is easy in theory. But to keep up with the competition of American storytelling, it is necessary to make the Armenian stories appealing to the child. Sometimes a modern twist can be employed to make a story current with the times; as has been done many times with the works of William Shakespeare. Employing a similar tactic to the works of William Saroyan or other Armenian-American writers is a viable option for countering the assimilation of Armenian-American children. Most likely these authors experienced the same trials and tribulations in dealing with acclamation to American society. Making these works available on the internet can prove indispensable in the future development of Armenian-American children. Often it is the feeling of wanting to belong to a larger group that pushes the child away from his or her Armenianness. By providing access to a stranger’s own similar experiences can provide the child with that sense of belonging they so yearn for in American society.

Making an effort to introduce storytelling to an Armenian-American child in the early developmental stages can have lasting, positive effects in their adult life. Armenian stories can instill in a child a sense of belonging to an Armenian nation greater than the communities present in their own neighborhoods. This sense of belonging is key to averting assimilation and loss of Armenianness. In introducing Armenian stories at an early age, they remain present in the life of the child alongside stories introduced by American society; the cohabitation of both Armenian and American stories in the child’s mind can create the environment necessary for integration into American society without losing sight of and connection to the Armenian past. Once adults, these children will have an understanding of the importance of storytelling in the development of the Armenian-American child. The tradition will come full circle as they pass it down to their own children.

Alone on this hilltop I wait; Your Cleopatra eyes & dark hair make waves through my heart…

One day we’ll meet under this blue sky, amongst the golden fields;

Our eyes will lock,  for as strangers we’ll meet but thenceforth be together as one.

And together we’ll remain under the shadow of our Ararat… life and love everlasting.

Then I open my eyes; Will I see you in a passing glance on the streets of Yerevan or through the blurry vision of a night burdened by the taste for Kilikia.

… I witness three doves flip… … Chalo, the gampr, barks something fierce…

The cows make their way across the field, back to a good night’s rest and up again in the morning.

Just one man tends to the herd of twenty, he shouts for Chalo to stop. With the crispest of words he informs Chalo(yet again) that he and his cattle are village neighbors; no need for harsh words amongst friends.

I’ve read the books, I’ve seen the movies, but it’s difficult to write a story set in the world of the West ’cause I’ve never walked its dusty roads. The other scripts I’ve written take place in a modern enough world; the characters act, talk and look like most everything around me. But then…

For the first and likely last time, I’m benefiting from playing a video game. This is the closest I’ll get to walking the West; tourist traps be damned.