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ClareR (6256 KP) rated The Farm in Books

Sep 1, 2019

The Farm

Joanne Ramos | 2019 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry

7.7

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

In a world where everything can be bought and sold, even pregnancy has a value in The Farm by Joanne Ramos. Make no mistake: this isn’t dystopian fiction. In fact it’s probably closer to what is actually happening than we could imagine.

Jane (a Filipino immigrant to the USA) has been persuaded by her aunt, that the easiest way to provide for her infant daughter is to become a surrogate for someone else’s baby. Mae runs Golden Oaks (nicknamed The Farm by Lisa, another of the surrogates), a luxury resort set in woodland, far from prying residents of Golden Oaks are all young women. And they’re all pregnant with the babies of wealthy parents. It came as no surprise to me that the vast majority of these women were immigrants from The Philippines or Eastern Europe. Mae has just started to look at a more ‘luxury’ host: women who have very good educations. The future parents are willing to pay a premium rate for women like Reagan. Not that it could make any difference, because all of the surrogates are merely incubators (referred to by their numbers, not their names, when staff are talking about them out of earshot), and carry embryos made from their parents sperm and eggs. These are mainly people who don’t want to waste their time with pregnancy, childbirth and recovery. This part really didn’t sit well with me: pregnant women reduced to numbers, and parents who didn’t have time to be pregnant (how could they have time to be parents? Would their babies be like a new designer handbag?). The other thing, was that they largely speaking didn’t have time to even visit the women who were carrying their children. At one point in the book, an ultrasound technician doesn’t even acknowledge the pregnant woman that she’s seeing (or isn’t!), angles the screen away from her as she shows the picture of the baby to its parent who isn’t even in the room. The pregnant woman is a non-person - merely a walking incubator.

Make no mistake, this is a pretty damning insight in to class and race. I felt so sorry for Jane. She is cut off from her daughter. None of the women have regular contact with friends or family on the outside. And seeing foetuses and babies being used as commodities and benchmarks of profit really made me uncomfortable.

I did really enjoy this though. I liked the women who were the main characters - they all had valid reasons for their choices. And I liked that this wasn’t written as an alternative dystopian novel à la Handmaids Tale. It’s all so frighteningly plausible.

Kudos

Bong Mines Entertainment (15 KP) rated VOLUME 1 by Tash in Music

Sep 2, 2019

VOLUME 1 by Tash

2019 | Soul

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Album Rating

Tash is a talented singer-songwriter and gifted musician from Australia. Not too long ago, she released a music video for her lovely single, entitled, “The Signs”.

“I wrote ‘The Signs’ in a similar headspace to the way I wrote ‘DREAMING’. It’s about feeling suspicious that omens exist and that maybe I’d done something to deserve my own misfortune. I don’t actually believe in any of that stuff, but at the time I’d probably had a weird week and started wondering if opening umbrellas indoors is the cause of it.” – Tash

The audiovisual, equipped with a classic ‘80s flare, opt for sprinkles of VHS frames and subtle animation.

Also, the music video follows a relaxed Tash as she travels sonically through the bustling city at nighttime.

‘The Signs’ is featured on Tash’s latest EP, entitled, “VOLUME 1”. The likable 5-track project contains her previously released tune, entitled, “What a Lovely Mess”.

“Tash is such a prolific songwriter and we feel that anyone who listens to the EP is going to have a very special listening experience” – producer of the EP, Mark J Feist (Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Little Mix)

Tash was discovered by multi-platinum record producer and songwriter Mark J. Feist on Instagram.
She started by posting acoustic covers of popular songs and has since reached over 800K impressions a week.

Tash has quickly established herself as one of this year’s most exciting artists to watch.

She was born into a musical family to a guitar-teaching mother and bass-playing father.

At such a young age, she has sold out numerous shows including performances at Soho House NYC, Sayers Club Los Angeles, Peppermint Club, and Hotel Cafe.

So far, her music has amassed over 80M streams and garnered over 12M views online across various social media platforms.

“I’m questioning the way it works what did I do to deserve this change of rhythm so bitter, I’m getting butthurt about almost everything, it’s unsettling. Focus on better things. Stop, stop hiding in your euphemisms, believing your superstition, following your intuition ain’t always so good for you. I know if you bring bad, the bad will come to you. That doesn’t mean that all the black cat bullsh*t is actually true, nah. Don’t need my fortune told to tell me I’ve got unrequited love. I’ve got issues with my trust. I’ve got a conscience. That’s enough for me to think that’s enough for me.” – lyrics, “The Signs”

Tash is the first artist to ever perform on the roof at the Facebook Campus.

Her songs have been added to over 20+ Spotify, Amazon, and Apple playlists.

Also, she was placed on the Apple Music homepage in the USA as well as featured in their Swipe Up viral campaign.