![]() In an exotic setting unfamiliar to most of us-those ancient disciplines known collectively as martial arts-Loren shows us our own strength and resilience. These essays are about finding the sublime in the ordinary. The way of the river is expansive, fluid, powerful, evocative, and provocative-like this lovely collection of essays. Can you imagine referring to Hilary Clinton as a “lady lawyer” or to Danica Patrick as a “woman driver?” But even without the offensive gender distinction, I’m not sure I see this as a book about martial arts. I find it sexist, demeaning, unnecessary, and misleading. I hate the subtitle-let me just get that out of the way. The Way of the River: Adventures and Meditations of a Woman Martial Artist. Out of a 10, Loren would get a 10 for her character standing up for herself. She used that same great determination in her training in becoming a martial artist. Despite these attempts, she had gone against them with great determination. Loren had many encounters with men who want to overpower her and make her feel weak and small. But she stood her ground and the man and his group of friends didn’t do anything. In attempt to regain power, he told her that he was going to rape her. This was something that wasn’t expected of a women and it surprised and angered the man because she was talking as if they were equal. Angry she said, “What the F*!# are you doing?” Taken back, he asked her what she said and she repeated her question. Her dog ran ahead and out of nowhere a man kicked her dog a few feet off the ground. ![]() She was in her mid twenties and walking along a lonely road. There was one day when she was walking her dog without a leash. She went against everyone around the ring and what they expected of her. Despite their attitudes and reaction of her want to fight in the ring, she did it anyways. They didn’t think she could put up a fight because she was a girl. The boy in the ring laughed and said “You’re a girl.” After a kid put the gloves in her hands, he rolled his eyes and the other kids laughed. Mid-summer, Loren had stepped up into the ring and said that she wanted to try. Loren was always intrigued with the thoughts of fighting – whether it was boxing, Tae Kwon Do or Shaolin. She had constantly put herself in Karen’s life because Karen’s two brothers had built a boxing ring in the back yard. One summer, Loren was always at her friend Karen’s house. Even though she was just a girl, she was able to protect not only herself, but her friends from a group of teenage boys. Angered, he and his friends threw her to the floor, but in just a few minutes she was standing and the four boys were on the floor. A boy is suppose to be though and should be able to hold a girl but when she turned out of his hold, not once but twice, it had made him less manly. Her defense angered Billy because he was “played” (made a fool out of) by a girl. When Billy Carlisle put his arms around Loren, she turned out of his hold and when he went at her again, this time around her neck and in her shirt, she turned out once again. They kept walking but were stopped by the boys. In the streets of Los Angeles, there were lots of tension and they sensed trouble when a couple of boys pulled up in a car. It was around eleven o’clock at night and the girls were walking home on the streets of Los Angeles. The story starts off when she is leaving a football game with a couple of her friends. There are many instances where Loren had done things that were not expected of her. ![]() Loren, the main character of the book, defied stereotypes in a time period where women didn’t go against them but she did it anyways and became an excellent martial artist. ![]() In the book The Way of the River by BK Loren, she explains her and other characters experiences and encounters with these stereotypes and how they managed to overcome them and how they didn’t let the stereotypes or anybody stop them from doing what they loved and being who they wanted to be. It is never easy for people to stand up against stereotypes and proved them wrong. These stereotypes include that women are weak and unable to protect themselves. Women face many different stereotypes that hinder their chances in society and lets men look at females as less than them.
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