Main Characters/ Ana’s Level of Assimilation & Acculturation
The main characters in the film Real Women Have Curves are Ana Garcia, and her parents Carmen Garcia, Raul Garcia, and sister Estela Garcia. The film focuses on the family dynamic of this Mexican family, and tells the coming of age story of the protagonist Ana. Ana Garcia is a Mexican American teenager that is discovering her womanhood, and struggles with pursing the life she wants to live versus her parents. As a first generation Mexican American, Ana distances herself from the traditional Latino culture, and assimilated in the American culture.
In the Latino culture, woman are sometimes undervalued as intellectuals, but seen as primary caregivers. Latino woman are also praised for their slim curvy body and sexiness. However, Ana refuses to stick to the stereotypes of Mexican women. Ana recently graduated from high school, and dreams of attending college. The pursuit of higher education differs from traditional Latino values because after high school, Latinos are expected to get a job and help support their families. Estela, Ana’s
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sister, owns a clothing boutique, and is very proud of her work. Ana, who is working there to help her sister’s business, refers to it as a sweatshop and dirty work. Ana gives the impression that she is too good to do that type of work, and will find a better job. Carmen, Ana’s mother, makes countless comments about Ana’s weight, and how she will never get married looking that way. Carmen puts emphasize on how Latina woman are supposed to have a certain body type to catch a man and get married. Ana does not want to be valued for her body, but respected for her mind. Ana refuses to settle for the typical life of a Mexican woman. Ana wants to attend college, and find a career, and not just accept a local job. Her main objective in life is not to find a man, and get married for superficial reason such as her body. Ana ignores her mother’s degrading and hurtful body shaming comments, and learns accepts and appreciates her body. Carmen’s Worldview Cameron Garcia is a Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles. Although, she now resides in the United States, she still upholds her conservative Mexican values. Carmen has a narrow worldview on women and body image. She believes women do not need an education, and should focus on finding a husband and start a family. She also believes woman need to have a certain body type to be considered beautiful and sexy. Carmen’s worldview is very conservative, and is not very open to change and differences. Real Women Have Curves Real woman have curves is a figure of speech, and does not literally mean “real woman” have curves. This figure of speech goes against how the media portrays the image of women. The media portrays the image of women of having slim bodies that are perfectly proportion. Woman are expected to have “perfect” bodies, and when they do not they are not considered as beautiful and sexy as others. The figure of speech “real women have curves” is a way to celebrate all women. Socio-Political & Cultural Issues Socio-Political issues refer to social and political factors. Socio-Political issues in the film are Latino teenagers are not encouraged in furthering their education, and there is a huge importance placed on marriage and starting a family. Higher education is sometimes seen as something only accessible for “white people”. However, all teenagers should be encouraged to engage in higher education for better opportunities. Higher education does not just mean college, but any post-secondary education/training. The film shows how some Latino families believe their daughter’s main objective in life should be to get married and start a family. There is nothing wrong with that being a woman’s goal, but women should not just be limited to that goal. Woman should also not be shamed or ridiculed for not focusing on getting married and starting a family. Hispanic/Latino Population The most recent United States census was in 2010, and reported that 16 percent of the overall population was Hispanic, with Mexicans as the highest Hispanic group. Most Hispanics lived in the west and south of the U.S with 41 percent and 36 percent. And, with lower percentages, Hispanics lived in the Northeast and Midwest with 14 and 9 percent. Also, most of the Hispanic population lives in California, Texas and Florida. Overall, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent in the U.S from 2000 and 2010. The Role of the Teacher Mr.
Guzman, Ana’s high schoolteacher believed she is really bright and would do well in college. Mr. Guzman encourages Ana to apply to an elite school in hopes of receiving a scholarship. Although, Ana tells her teacher many excuses on why she can not go to college, her teacher still made an effort in getting Ana to apply. Mr. Guzman even pleaded to Ana’s family to let her apply to college, but they resisted. Eventually, Ana applied against her parents wishes, and she was accepted into Columbia University in New York. Once, Mr. Guzman got the news that Ana was accepted, he delivered the news personally, and tried to convince her parents to let her attend. I think Mr. Guzman’s intervention showed how much her cared and believed in Ana. I also think without his persistence and encouragement Ana would not have applied to college and got accepted into an elite
university.
In Subtractive Schooling: US-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring, Angela Valenzuela investigates immigrant and Mexican American experiences in education. Valenzuela mentions differences in high schools between U.S born youth and immigrants such as how immigrants she interviewed seemed to achieve in school as they feel privileged to achieve secondary education. However, she found that her study provided evidence of student failure due to schools subtracting resources from these youths. Both are plagued by stereotypes of lacking intellectual and linguistic traits along with the fear of losing their culture. As a Mexican American with many family members who immigrated to the U.S to pursue a higher education, I have experience with Valenzuela’s
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.
In Bettie’s analysis of Mexican-American and white girls, she finds that race, gender and class are extremely crucial in the outcomes and futures of these girls. The unmentioned and hidden effects of class, race, and gender provide the explanation for much of the inequality seen between the white middle-class girls and Mexican-American working-class girls. Much of this inequality is itself perpetuated within the school system, both by the faculty and students.
While most movies of the 2000s somehow spoke about sex among young adults, for the first time the emphasis is on the virginity of a Mexican American female. In part this topic is not discussed openly, it is only discussed awkwardly in a mother to daughter conversation. This movie opens the eye to many families conservative other this matter, Ana’s mother openly shames her daughter to losing her virginity to a random person which was not the case. In this scene, rather than have a heartwarming conversation with her daughter she is angry possibly at her daughter but possibly at herself for not knowing what her daughter was doing. Ana is prepared to lose her virginity and is responsible to purchase contraceptives something also talked about but mostly whispered in the chicano community. Ana states that women get pregnant not because they are having sex but because they are having it unprotected or don’t know how to use different methods of contraceptive. The talk among Mexican American families is not how to use contraceptives rather it is do not get pregnant or “ELSE”. Real Women Have Curves shows that the real problem is not getting pregnant it is the lack of communication Mexican American women have with their
In closing, Francisco faced many hardships throughout his life. He had to adapt to his life here in the United States, deal with being a male in his family, as well as face discrimination. Through all the hard times, family and getting a good education were always his top priorities. With the help of his teachers and counselors, he was able to succeed in school, unlike the majority of the students. Francisco is a true hero in the eyes of many Hispanic immigrants who come to the United States and strive to be the best they can be.
...rest became a nightmare. Enrique’s time apart from his mother made them more like “strangers” than family. Filled with anger stemming from the years apart from one another, he refused to obey his mother’s wishes to live healthier. While lost in family chaos, he turned back to his addiction of drugs crashing his dream of a perfect family dynamic. Though his dream became a nightmare, he was able to achieve it through one core trait where his inner strength help drive him to not give up his dream of seeing his mother. This signifies that if a person is willing to work hard to achieve their dream through diligence, it can be met. Though the outcome may not be what one hoped for, being able to say you accomplished something is soul-pleasing. His success in making it to the U.S. regardless of many downfalls satisfies one missing piece in his broken puzzle of a life.
Class, gender, race, and ethnicity play important roles in the film “Real Women Have Curves” by Patricia Cardoso. Ana is the main character and is portrayed as a Hispanic/Latino teenager finishing her senior year of high school. Having grown up in a Roman Catholic house hold, her family expects her to stay home and take care of the family and eventually get married and start a family of her own soon. However, Ana has different plans for herself and does not want to follow traditions and beliefs that her mother tries to force against her.
There is an abundant amount of movies that are inspiring to people, and throughout the years there have been empowering messages for some women. In Real Women Have Curves produced by Effie Lavoo and George brown, there is an empowering message for women of all types. The film is about a Spanish 18-year-old girl who struggles with a life of a regular Spanish woman. While this movie applies more towards Spanish woman it can also empower women of all types. Ana the main character wants to attend college, and she is a bright girl. The problem is she cannot attend college ,because, of the nature of the Spanish community she comes from. The mother constantly puts her down for her weight and not being marriage material. Ana is also expected to help the family with earning money, which is one of the reasons she is not being allowed to go to college. As the mother says, “I have worked since I was 13 years old now it is her turn” (). Ana’s mother believes Ana need to work for the family since she has become of age, and that she needs to get married because that is what women are supposed to do.
In “Like Mexican” Gary Soto’s grandmother uses her wisdom and an advising tone in order to encourage Gary to marry a Mexican girl who is financially poor and is like a “house-wife.” A traditional family such as this author’s shares an outlook how marriage is significant and culturally supervised by the parent or the grandparents. The grandmother looks toward a homogamy for Gary’s marriage. The grandmother’s conversational style is most defined throughout “Like Mexican” since it began with the grandmother’s advices and throughout the essay Gary was yet again spoken by his grandmother. The repetition of the thought constantly wraps around Gary’s mind. In contrast, the essay “Gender in the Classroom” strikingly separates the male and female student’s own conversation styles. From Deborah Tannen, males are likely to speak up to show their “contribution” and to “express themselves on the floor.” Also, male students tend to find the “public classroom setting more conducive to speaking” in a large group. (Tannen pg. 285). However, in “Like Mexican” as the audience, we were not introduced with many of Soto’s male friends or a male gathering in order for Soto to express his thoughts and feelings. In another opposition in “Gender in the Classroom” “most women are more comfortable speaking in private to a small group they know well.” (Tannen 285). In other words, female
When they first arrived to the United States their only hopes were that they would have a better life and that there were better special education programs for Maribel to attend at Evers. Alma imagined that the buildings would look a lot nicer than they really were. The family was surprised that they could take things from the street that someone threw out of their house, but were in working condition. When they arrived they didn’t think that you would actually have to learn English to be able to communicate, but after going to stores and interacting with people they learned that they need to learn English if they want to live in America. They hoped that you could be able to afford anything in America by working, but based off of the money Arturo was making they learned that you can’t buy everyth...
Family is the most important social unit of Hispanic life. It is a close-knit entity that includes immediate and extended family members. Typically, the father is the head of the family and the mother rules the house (Clutter, n.d.). Vacations are usually taken to relatives’ houses to promote togetherness in celebration of birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, and communions. In times of need, the family is the first line of aid, and Hispanics typically live with their parents until marriage. While this deviates from American ideals for individuals aged 18-35, it actually provides young adults the opportunity for future success because so much money is saved from greatly reduced housing costs (Williams, 2009).
Judith Ortiz Cofer, a professor of english and creative writing, tackles gender roles as well as cultural stereotypes in “ The Myth of the Latin Woman” and challenges them by attempting to replace the stereotypes with the realities. In “The Myth of the Latin Woman” Cofer discusses her life in America as a Puerto Rican woman. She also shares her stories of when she was stereotyped and how gender roles play a role in how Latinos are viewed. Stereotypes will follow you around because of your appearance and how the media portrays Latinas.
As a traditional, collectivistic cultural group, the Latino population is believed to adhere deeply to the value of familismo. (Arditti, 2006; Calzada, 2014). Familism is an emphasis on the importance of the family unit over values of autonomy and individualism”. (Santistaben, 2012). Family is considered to be the top priority in the Latino culture. Comparatively, at times, this isn’t true of our busy, work devoted western culture. In western culture we think of our family in a nuclear sense made up of a: mom, dad, and siblings. Conversely, Hispanic culture focuses on the whole extended family including aunts, uncles, grandparent, and cousins. Their culture believes having close connections with the entire extended family benefits the development of their children. The entire family helps the child by giving them differing levels of social and emotional support. (American Home Resolutions,
The idea that a woman’s job is to be a wife and mother is old-fashioned, but not completely out of style. Though these roles require a great deal of talent, resilience, patience, love, and strength, to name a few, they are often underestimated or depicted as simple. Especially in modern times, many women in the United States who stay home to raise a family are viewed as anti-feminists, whereas women in Latin America are not criticized for similar actions. In recent decades, more Latin American women have started to break the mold, daring to be both sexy, and successful in the workforce, while remaining pillars of domestic life.
Orozco, Graciela L. "Understanding the Culture of Low-Income Immigrant Latino Parents: Key to Involvement." The School Community Journal 1st ser. 18 (2008): 21-37. Web. .