Summary Of Carmen R. Lugo's A Latina In Academia

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.

Throughout

the essay, Lugo-Lugo wants one to become informed on prevalent issues in the average college classroom by allowing her to appeal to the audience through emotion. She uses personal stories and thoughts on college profiting, the idea that colleges are more concerned with money than the an actual education, accordingly to portray the issue amongst her classroom. As she mentions in her essay, her “...position within both U.S. society and academia is an important component of [her] discussion… A woman of color who is a Puerto Rican…. And those markers mean something at the beginning of the twenty-first century in and outside the U.S. academy” (Lugo-Lugo 190). She also describes how her image and identity is automatically judged; “These identities, they inform the way I position myself in relation to other gendered and racial subjects, but as markers, they provide my students with a lens through which to look at, interpret, and treat me” ( 190). Here, Lugo-Lugo acknowledges her position and explains her thoughts. Lugo-Lugo knows exactly where she stands amongst the minority. She also builds credibility and is qualified to talk about racial and gender stereotypes because she is a women and latina.

She knows where she is coming from and shares with the reader what she is going through, allowing for sympathy towards her. Mentioning who she is builds an automatic lens from which the students view her. This lens they look her through tend to perceive an outlook opposite of what a white, male teacher would have: less smart and less professionally prepared. She continues on to talk about this lens and how others see her explaining that “[I] also know that in many cases, they assume these things because these were not their expectations when they walked into the classroom and saw me (a Latina) on the first day of class. They did not expect an intelligent, knowledgeable person, which is why I suspect they feel the need to write these comments, as if implying ‘she is not what I expected..”(193). Empathy is definitely created for her and the reader feels upset for the author and the way she is treated. The audience also feels bad on the way she is perceived and judged based directly on her appearance. Thus proving that she uses pathos very well and begins to build a bond with the reader. She also mentions how colleges are now viewed more

as a commercial business instead of a educational setting, which leads to a disrespectful student mentality. For example, the one illustrated in her first paragraph; the student she talks about says, “I don’t feel like being in the classroom today, and since my parents pay for you salary, I think it is only fair you do what I say” (189). This comment is very disrespectful and this mentality among some is still prevalent even towards non minority professors. The audience now thinks about how being a professor to students with this mentality is quite terrible and continues to side with Lugo-Lugo even more. The author establishes sympathy for herself and drives the reader to feel passionately and adhere with her throughout the essay.
As the essay continues, Lugo-Lugo not only uses pathos, but also develops a certain language.

She comes off very strong using evoking words. In the story Lugo-Lugo has an altercation with one of his students and he requested her to cancel class (mentioned earlier), Lugo-Lugo responded with, “‘I am your professor, not your personal prostitute’” (189). The word “prostitute” draws attention to the passage. These appealing words continue to arise, which allow to maintain the reader's attention. She also goes on to pursue an angry and upset tone, “Still, I wish I did not have to pleasantly surprise my students by showing them I have a brain because after they walked in my class and saw me, they were expecting me not to have one. Relatedly, I wish my students would not dismiss me because I am not white and male. I sure as hell wish they would not tell they think I am the women of their dreams” (198). She is showing sentiment and infuriation. Her emotions and feelings lead to the development of the essay’s tone and allows the reader to feel the way she feels. At times she may have used too much of a strong tone which almost scares away the audience, but still manages to come back to a more settled tone. Efficiently being able to use this heavy tone allows the reader to view the severity of the problem and the how passionate the author is on the topic. The language in Lugo-Lugo’s essay was well used and effectively established her point. All in all, Lugo-Lugo does an acceptable job

in putting through her overall message: creating awareness of social and racial stereotypes in and outside of the classroom. Touching on how universities make income a precedence, and the way it affects the mentality of students. Through her emotional appeals and diction one is able to accept her message. She leaves the audience thinking about these issues and analyzing what she told the reader. She is able to use her personal anecdotes and strong, attentive language to do so. Her effort and work put into putting the purpose across is successful and easy to understand.