A root problem in society is that Americans often seem to struggle to see the ways that racial historical legacy continues to influence life today. Most Americans remain blind to the interminable cycle of racial prejudices that affect nearly seventy percent of the nation’s population. It’s no secret that the underlying factor in slavery was race, or that thousands of immigrants were treated unfairly in the workforce during the Industrial Revolution because of nativist views. Discrimination is widely prevalent in the United States today, and the culture continues to perpetuate racial stereotypes in various forms. Take for example recent issues of racial profiling in Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island. Ultimately, the resolve to create some universal truth from these racial biases is pivotal. Judith Ortiz Cofer, a talented poet, novelist and essayist, in her essay “The Myth of the Latin Women,” argues that the negative stereotyping of Latin American women that prevails in our culture is damaging and wrong. Her purpose is to change the …show more content…
Cofer recounts how she “agonized” about what to wear to school on Career Day proves the trouble she was faced with when told to wear what would be appropriate by mainstream standards. She appeals to emotions by explaining her mockery, Cofer and other Puerto Rican girls were “made negative models”, and she felt others saw them as “hopeless and vulgar” (372). She conveys this narrative to explain the way that people of American descent made her feel, “The way our teachers and classmates looked at us that day in school was just a taste of the culture clash that awaited us in the real world” (372). This outpouring of emotion from Cofer conveys a scornful tone that allows fellow Latina women to relate to a time when the source of their embarrassment was caused by their
The strict guidelines for women’s behavior in twentieth century Puerto Rico determined how they both acted outwardly as well as how they perceived themselves intrinsically. Within Julia de Burgos’ poem “A Julia de Burgos” and Rosario Ferré’s When Women Love Men, there is a somewhat psychological study of the dichotomy between a woman’s true identity and expected behavior. By creatively challenging the expectations placed before women, allowing for identities influenced by what was perceived to be the “other” side, and employing mirror like voices, both authors stress the importance in the ability to mold a true concept of self.
Sandra Cisneros “Never Marry a Mexican” and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are stories that reflect on the cultures in which the characters grew up in. In Never Marry, Clemencia, the narrator, reflects on her past sexual relations as well as her childhood. She speaks of her parents’ marriage and then transitions into her relationship with college professor and his son. In Oscar Wao, Yunior, the narrator, gives a second-hand retelling of Oscar’s experiences in New Jersey growing up as well as in the Dominican Republic. A person’s identity is largely influenced by their culture, this is especially the case in Hispanic cultures. The social constraints that these cultures place on social class, sexuality, and gender norms can be very detrimental to a person’s self-esteem.
Junot Diaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is focused on the hyper-masculine culture of the Dominican, and many argue that his portrayal of the slew of women in the novel is misogynistic because they are often silenced by the plot and kept out of the narration (Matsui). However, Diaz crafts strong women, and it is society that views them as objects. The novel recognizes the masculine lens of the culture while still examining the lives of resilient women. In this way, the novel showcases a feminist stance and critiques the misogynist culture it is set in by showcasing the strength and depth of these women that help to shape the narrative while acknowledging that it is the limits society places on them because of their sexuality
...some try to break away from society’s definition of the female sex appeal and create their own definitions. The reformists among these women use the oppositional knowledge they get as outsiders-within the White-American feminists’ culture, to change the perception of the Latinas who choose to suppress this knowledge. When these women share their individual perspectives in a unanimous voice, they become a self-defined community. This community is not limited by the ideals of society, rather it opposes society and creates its own definition of the female sex appeal.
It is the last piece in one of her more famous books, the memoir Silent Dancing: a Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rico Childhood (1990) and reveals the mental and physical sensations Hispanic girls encounter for the first time on their coming-out day, Quinceañera. A usually joyous occasion, Cofer depicts it in a much darker light than one would expect after having read the title, as it is the bitter, negative side of entering womanhood that she chose to describe. Quinceañera is the celebration a young girl’s coming of age in some parts of Latin America – a traditional birthday party, where customs highlight God, family and friends, food, music and dance. And yet, there is definitely nothing festive about this poem – even though we are presented with some of the stages of the preparation for the event, which would thrill and make any girl happy, Cofer’s choice of words eliminates any trace of gladness for the speaker on our part by creating imagery which is on the verge of being brutal. More often than not, children are not as mature as their bodies indicate they are, and obeying tradition by imposing customs on them can be traumatizing to both the body of a child and their
La autora Puertoriqueña Rosario Ferré sin duda pertence a ese grupo the escritores que critícan la sociedad en la que les tocó vivír en sus creaciónes literárias. Ferré nació en Ponce, Puerto Rico la ciudad mas grande y poderosa del sur de la isla. Su familia es una de las mas importante economicamente y politicamente poderosa. Su padre fue gobernador de la isla durante los años del 1968 al 1972. Como todas las mujeres en esa época se casó y comenzó una familia, destinada a una vida como dama elegante y ociosa. Pero se dió cuenta que su vida pertenecía a la literatura. Ella rompió un taboo y molde cultural, que convertía a las mujeres de clase media alta, en muñecas. Esa generación de mujeres exigiendo cambios en la sociedad se encontraban en el medio de la revolución femenina. Cualquier mujer que quisiera cambiar su vida o trabajar era considerada extraña o loca. Esta opreción se convirtió en su inspiración. Ferré nos comunica a travez de esta novela, la realidad de la mujer puertoriqueña a mediados de siglo. En La Bella Durmiente, Rosario Ferré muestra la mujer como sujeto y objeto. Esta obra es un manisfiesto de los derechos de la mujer y del inconformismo femenino que eventualmente lleva a la mujer a rechazar la realidad. Analizare y demonstrare por medio de este ensayo, los papeles que le toca jugar (a la mujer) en esta sociedad, la corrupcion moral y social que le rodea y su reacción ante todo esto resultando en un trágico final.
This series presents viewers with some of the most compelling and complex Latina women, allowing a focus on the ideologies that harness and shape national identities. There are communication dynamics between the Latina community as well as characters from other communities within the prison. The audience follows their background stories through flashbacks while getting a view of the characters’ ideas and beliefs in which they follow. To understand an individual’s acceptance of their national identity, it is ideal to empathize how they were raised and how they learn to adapt or follow ideologies overtime. These flashbacks are a tool demonstrating stereotypical and non-stereotypical practices as Latinas. Examples are their tough attitude and defending their place in the hierarchy or their use of English to Spanish depending on who they are talking to and the situation. Other examples are the argument of the typical work fields and branching out from them, as well as their music, attire, and religion. These women construct their own identity as individuals and as a group. With Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall’s “four semiotic processes,” they “provide a clear account of how social identities come to be created through language.” Trying to show not only language means to verbalize in Spanish, but their actions are a performance based off their beliefs and ideas which are a sign of language/communication just as silence is a form of communication and body gestures. As well as their “tactics of intersubjectivity” framework explaining how these identities are constructed and why the Latinas perform their language and identity in a particular
Living as a Latina in the United States of America is tough. Racial stereotypes follow minorities everywhere they go, even in the classroom. The average American has a typical image of what a professor should be like, which most refer to this image as a white graduate male. These perceived images should not exist because professors come in many different genders, sexualities, and races. In “A Prostitute, A servant, and a Customer-Service Representative: A Latina In Academia,” professor in the department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race studies, Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo uses emotional appeals and language to inform and create awareness of social and racial stereotypes, as well as how profiting is a priority amongst universities.
It can be hard for a latina woman to be taken seriously in an education based profession. Stereotypes and unfair inferences are the cause of such hardships. The ethnic studies professor at Washington State University, Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo is no exception. She faces many obstacles a latin professor likely would face while teaching students about ethnic studies. The majority of professors students encounter are often white males. Lugo-Lugo realizes this and makes countless attempts at showing her colleagues and students that she is at their level. She writes many articles about her area of expertise. What she focuses on is society's views of race, sexuality, gender and culture. In the article “A Prostitute, a Servant, and a Customer Service Representative: a Latina in Academia” the author Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo demonstrates usage of ethos, pathos and logos to persuade her audience to be more culturally
Consuelo left Puerto Rico believing that everything that has been pulling her down would have vanish. However, in the U.S. Consuelo would have to face new challenges such as the stereotypes, culture clashes, and mixed cultural signals. A stereotype that Consuelo has faced was that Latinas matured fast, that they’re a “Hot Tamale.” For example, when Consuelo was taken to a dance with a young male who then kisses her painfully. The young male was surprised that she didn’t respond back, he told her in an angry and irritted voice that he thought all Latin girls were supposed matured fast for their age. Another stereotype Consuelo has faced is the one the media has been portraying. “Maria, the housemaid or counter girl, is now indelibly etched into the national psyche” (MLW, 114). Because of the stereotype the media has been portraying Consuelo has been mistaken for a waitress various times. The culture clash and mixed culture signals Consuelo has confronted are the misunderstandings of the way she dresses. This is because the way Consuelo dresses can be seen sexual to men, but in reality she does not mean anything
Women in Latin America were expected to adhere to extreme cultural and social traditions and there were few women who managed to escape the burden of upholding these ridiculous duties, as clearly shown in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”. First, Latin American women were expected to uphold their honor, as well as their family's honor, through maintaining virtue and purity; secondly, women were expected to be submissive to their parents and especially their husbands; and lastly, women were expected to remain excellent homemakers.
“The Myth of a Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer is about the stereotypes Americans hold about Latinas. At the end of the essay she meets a guy who is very offensive to her. She explains how the media portrays Latina woman by using the vocabulary “hot tamales”, “sizzling”, and “smoldering”. As a latina woman, I find these stereotypes offensive because tamales are one of our food traditions and to be told that, it is very offensive. It may sound nice, but it actually isn’t and people be surprise how a latina women reacts when she’s being told “hot tamale”. “As young girls, we were influenced in our decisions about clothes and colors by the woman-older sisters and mothers”(106). I could relate to this quote because when I was little, I didn’t get to pick what I wanted to wear. My grandmother also picked out my clothes which were long sleeve turtle necks and saggy pants. I wasn’t comfortable with the clothes I wore, nor did I like the style. I wanted to be just like my other friends, but my grandmother never gave me that option. I believe that Cofer’s essays relates to every Latina woman because it is about culture and we have the same culture. Later on in the essay she talks about how a struggle being a latina really is. Getting a job can be hard because we have all these types of stereotypes like whore, domestic, or criminal. She believed that Latina woman cannot change these stereotypes by the way people look at latinas, but only through time and the way she wanted to change was to try to replace these old stereotypes and myths about latinas with more goodness. When ever Cofer tells a reading, she hopes that her audience doesn't focus on her skin color, just her dreams, fears and her work. Her way of gulfing the bridge between mythical stereotypes is by changing them through time, so that kids now won’t have to worry as much about
In Prida’s “Beautiful Señoritas,” Latin-American women are products instead of people, but attempt to find their humanity through bonding with an “ocean” of Latin-American female community. The first lines of the play “Beautiful Senoritas,” introduce the feminist voice of Dolores Prida. Written in the 1970s, this piece of literature reflects the Women’s Rights Movement and employs the liberation theme of many female writers during this decade. “Beautiful Señoritas” is a play that depicts feminist oppression, magnifying the lack of civil rights of Latina women. Although the rights of women were being recognized in the United States, the women of Latin America were still oppressed by masculine domination. In Prida’s play, she showcases this oppression and also the stereotyped gender roles of women.
American schools need to educate about diversity and tolerance because stereotypes make assumptions that all people of a certain race or gender act the same way. For example, according to Judith Ortiz Cofer in her essay “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria,” Latin women are commonly misportrayed as sexual objects, as uneducated, and as housemaids or waitresses. However, this “myth” is not true for all Latinas. While it is true that Latin women earn less education than white women, more Latinas today are graduating high school and are enrolling in college. Cofer, a Puerto-Rican born woman, has an education and is now a poet, a novelist, and a professor at the University of Georgia. Latin women are mistaken as sexual icons because of their choice of clothing, but their choice of clothing “is custom, n...
In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, the title character is a 16th century Moorish general of the Venetian army who, because of the cultural and historical background of the play’s setting, the playwright, and the original intended audience, is portrayed as both well-respected for his military prowess and disparaged for his race. Similarly, because of American media’s portrayal of them, Latinas in today’s American society are both praised for being perceived as nurturing and hardworking maternal figures and dismissively labelled the “spicy latina”.