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The role of women in Latino culture
The role of women in Latino culture
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The poem was part of a Sandra Cisneros’s book called, My Wicked Wicked Ways, collection of poems that has the themes of Chicanas’ sexuality, culture, and history. It is a narrative because it paints a picture in my head even though it has a few words. For All Tuesday Travelers is an empowerment poem because it tells a story of a woman acting against the traditional role of being woman by using allegory, mood, and alliteration. Each line has a meaning that helps convey the message of empowerment and embracing sexuality. For example, in the first line, “I am the middle-of-the week wife.” (Cisnero,77). She is not a ‘traditional’ wife because a ‘traditional’ wife’s role is to overall take care her husband and her family every day; not just for one day. Unless she is a marry woman, who acts like a traditional wife for one day while the rest of the week, she spends her free time alone. However, she proclaims herself the “middle-of-the week wife”. This means that she is a mistress of a married man and she comes over in the middle of the week such on Tuesdays or even Wednesday to adultery. She calls …show more content…
In this line, it implies that she leaves in the morning. Once again, it is confirming that their relationship is a one-night stand. In the tenth line, “without the labor.”. She means that she doesn’t have to put any effort to either fall in love or to have sex with this man because he is a regular and it is a meaningless fling. The eleventh line is, “It is a good life.” (Cisnero,77). She enjoys her life even though sleep around with men. The twelfth line is, “I would not trade it” (Cisnero,77). The, “it” in this line would either be her job of being an escort, a lavish prostitute or a mistress who is with a married man. In society, a woman who has casual sex or has a job like that would be consider looking down on. That is why she would not trade her improper life for another ‘normal’ life because she relishes her
In “The Weekend,” George cheats on Lenore with Sarah, and she still chooses to stay with him and work out their issues. The story by Ann Beattie can relate to “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin because Edna cheats on Leonce with Robert and Alcee Arobin. After learning Edna cheats on him, Leonce decides to stay with Edna to work their relationship out. While nothing is wrong with their significant others, they cheat because something in them is unfulfilled. Lenore knows George cheats because he spends much of his time with the other women, but she never acknowledges it, until she talks with Julie one day; “she’s really the best friend I’ve ever had. We understand things—we don’t always have to talk about them. ‘Like her relationship with George,’
...sures such as missing limbs, rape, and deportation as they travel on top of trains to the United States. They persevere through these struggles simply to provide for their family. I believe that the risks the migrants are willing to take to keep their family happy and healthy are courageous and beyond reproach. The mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters who travel to the United States leave behind their country, language, and people in hopes that they will be able to build a life for their family and leave the crime, danger, and joblessness of their home country forever. In my opinion, the main idea of the story is one that should be shared with people from every nationality and ethnic background. This story’s main idea and theme exhibit the importance of family and just how hard people are willing to work in order to maintain happiness and peace within their home.
Through imagery, diction, and the personification of poetry, Ruth Forman reveals her personal connection and love for poetry and how poetry represents human need in “Poetry Should Ride the Bus”. The images of young girl cartwheeling and a woman dropping off a sweet potato pie bring you closer to the story, while the diction creates a connection between you and the people, this poem is a girl growing up realizing and seeking different things in her life and you realize that as Forman personifies the poem.
Women’s Escape into Misery Women’s need for male support and their husband’s constant degradation of them was a recurring theme in the book House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza’s stories were about women’s dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and home. Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel’s in distress].CLICHÉ, it’s ok though. It’s relevant They wished for a man to sweep them of their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment. *Cisneros presents a rigid world in which they lived in, and left them no other hope but to get married. Esperanza, however, is a very tough girl who knows what she wants. She will keep dreaming and striving until she gets it. She says, "I am too strong for her [Mango Street] to keep me here" (110). Esperanza learned from all of these women that she was not going to be tied down. She said, "I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain" (88). **Especially after seeing that Sally was suffering so much. Sally’s father is making her want to leave home by beating her. Sally "said her mother rubs lard on the places were it hurts" (93). There is not enough lard in the world to be able to cure the pain within Sally’s heart. Sally, "met a marshmallow salesman at a school bazaar" (101). Pretty soon " sally got married, she has her house now, her pillowcases and her plates" (101). Her marriage seems to free her from her father, but in reality she has now stepped into a world of misery. This was supposed to help her heal; " she says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape." (101). Unlike the other women Sally has no escape, no poetry, not even papaya coconut juice, not to mention, " he does not let her look out the window" (102). That is why "she sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission."(102). Rafaela’s situation also involves imprisonment in her own home. Cisneros introduced us to Rafaela, a young beautiful girl whose expectations from marriage were to obtain a sweet home to live in. Instead...
Men felt superior, “Hombres with the devil in their flesh who would come to a pueblo… never meaning to stay, only to have a good time and to seduce the women,” which made women feel inferior. Women were only used for a man’s pleasure. For that reason, they would not wed them. As generations progressed, they soon found an exception to wed, which considered the woman as the man’s property. Women were never looked as individuals if they got married. Women found control within themselves to not be recognized as only a man’s property, but that they have the opportunity to achieve much greater things than just being a housewife. The women found that their bodies shouldn’t be used for pleasure, but for greater achievements such as widening their education career. Worry, her uncle went missing. It affects the family’s lifestyle since her uncle did not land in the U.S. but somewhere unknown. Mamá, “went wild with worry” which is normal since it is her son (33). Her son is missing, while Mamá’s husband had premonitions of where their son could be located. Terror filled mamá with the “nightmares… she saw her son mistreated and worse,” which can be a mother’s worst fear (33). Mamá fears for the life of her son, the tone is fear and worry. In a Puerto Rican woman’s life, this is far one of her top priorities, her family. Family is one of the biggest priorities in a woman’s life, especially if they sense
In the beginning of the poem I focused on the way women are perceived throughout history in our systematic patriarchal society. Unfortunately, in Latino counties due to the machismo embedded in the culture, women are often seen as sexual objects who are incapable of male-oriented gender roles in society. For instance, when I describe the inequities and lack of privileges women have compared to men “Caught up in a world that is ruled by heterosexual patriarchal men” (Line 3). In other words, many women are enslaved and trapped to follow society’s gender norms. Women are restricted to a certain category. Specifically, in Latino countries where machismo is still prevalent. According to Michael Hardin, the Americas adopted machismo from the Spanish during the colonial period. Hardin speaks of the
This poem captures the immigrant experience between the two worlds, leaving the homeland and towards the new world. The poet has deliberately structured the poem in five sections each with a number of stanzas to divide the different stages of the physical voyage. Section one describes the refugees, two briefly deals with their reason for the exodus, three emphasises their former oppression, fourth section is about the healing effect of the voyage and the concluding section deals with the awakening of hope. This restructuring allows the poet to focus on the emotional and physical impact of the journey.
Through the use of symbolism, and characterization that involves an instance of imagery, the author advocates this notion through the newlywed’s decision of neglecting her personal feminine taste to make her husband’s preferences her own, and embracing her title of submissive partner by kissing the hand. Also, the choice of words to describe each partner differs tremendously, as the author seems to give more importance to the man by making him appear handsome, and particularly strong. On the contrary, the young woman appears to be weak and minor, which supports this idea of submissive women in a couple through the perception of the woman being way behind her husband. This story demonstrates a great symbolic significance when it comes to the hand, which can lead to other important ideas surrounding the message the author is trying to
At the beginning of the story, the protagonist, Cleofilas, had an illusion that all romance is like the ones she had seen on television. However, she soon realizes that her relationship with Juan Pedro was nothing like what she had dreamed of. Cisneros wanted to emphasize the idea that when men bring home the primary source of income in the family, they feel they have power over their wives. Therefore, Cisneros used Juan Pedro in the story to portray this idea. For instance, Cleofilas often tells herself that if she had any brains in her, she would realize that Juan Pedro wakes up before the rooster to earn his living to pay for the food in her belly and a roof over her head (Cisneros, 1991, p.249). Cisneros wanted to make a point that when men feel that they have power over their wives, the woman begins to feel a sense of low self-worth.
This story focuses on the extra-marital affair a housewife named Calixta has while her husband and son are away due to a storm. Although we learn that Calixta has an affair we also know that she doesn’t completely defy the Cult of Domesticity. From the story we get the idea that she remained pure until she married her husband and as Chopin tells us in page 689 “She had not seen him very often since her marriage, and never alone,” this line suggest that even if she saw her past lover around she would not speak to him because neither of them were ever alone and they both didn’t want to disrespect their marriages. In addition Calixta seems to be a very good housewife and mother. She appears to be always tending her home. In page 689 we learn that “[sitting} at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. [Calixta] was greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm.” She is so focused on her chores that she didn’t even notice a storm. For Calixta sewing and doing chores around the house is what is normal. She has assumed a role as a married woman and mother and she is fulfilling it. Before the affair you can say that by societies expectations she was a true woman, she kept her virginity until marriage, she makes sure her house chores are done, and she takes care of her family. Even after the affair she acts as if nothing has
“In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, the story revolves around a 15 year old girl named Connie. She tells us in the beginning about how her relationship with her mother and the rest of her family is, and how they interact with each other. It focuses on this girl and her activities of being defiant. She goes out with her friends on a weekly basis and continues to hang out with guys that she interacts with when she’s out, and sees this guy in his car that left an impression on her. Whenever her family leaves for the day to go to a barbecue, that guy comes to her house, and she ends up terrified of him. In the end, she is not herself and walks into something that is different in her eyes, like a place she had never seen before. In this story, I think there are many different ways to interpret what is happening and what is being said. What I read was a story of a girl who lost her way and a man, somewhat resembling the devil shows up to her door and coerces her into leaving her old life behind.
“Let’s face it, I have been momentary,” in this line the narrator is clearly stating that she knows she is nothing more than sex (Sexton 349). The narrator understands that the man she has more than lust for is in love with his wife who has been “melted carefully” for him. The narrator in this poem is just a slutty mistress who doesn’t really care whose life she messes up. She is being selfish in the sense that she doesn’t really care that a man is only using her for sex. She doesn’t care that she is only temporary and soon after this affair ends the man would’ve have found a new mistress or decided to be faithful to his wife (which I doubt). The narrator doesn’t describe needing to be faithful to someone else showing that she doesn’t understand the pain she is actually causing. Where as, the man is only physically involved with the narrator. Because she knows he will always love his wife and his fidelity will be with his wife and his children, even though, he is not faithful (Sexton 350). Although in this situation it doesn’t seem so clean cut as to why the affair began, but for all we know it could be a girl trying to feel loved. Meaning that, she has the affair because she knows for a short amount of time when they are having sex she can feel important enough to a man, even being just a
Esperanza faces many experiences that lead her to believe that to be a woman in her world is not a positive attribute. One telling experience is when she is talking about her grandmother whom she is named after. After denying her grandfather's advancements, the grandmother is kidnapped by him, carried away with a sack over her head to her marriage bed. Esperanza greatly admired her grandmother for her strength and said that her grandmother never forgave her grandfather because "she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be" (Cisneros 11). Esperanza also sees the economic dependence that marriage creates for many women. While one woman cries everyday because her husband left "without leaving a dollar for bologna or a note explaining how come" another is miserable because the husband gets kicked out and is always let back in, regardless of the abuse she suffers at his hands (Cisneros 29, 85). Both domestic and physical abuse is also rampant in the lives ar...
As this poem characterizes the view of a native woman expressing feelings of passion relating to her culture, it also criticizes society, in particular Christianity, as the speaker is experiencing feelings of discontent with the outcome of residential schools. It does not directly criticize the faith, but through the use of a heavy native dialect and implications to the Christian faith it becomes simple to read the speakers emotions.
In the age of industrialization when rural life gradually was destroyed, the author as a girl who spent most of her life in countryside could not help writing about it and what she focuses on in her story - femininity and masculinity, which themselves contain the symbolic meanings - come as no surprise.