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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. Being a minority in both categories of gender and culture has never been an easy obstacle to overcome. In “The Myth of the Latin Woman” I was able to relate to some of the things Cofer stated. For instance, …show more content…
Cofer states that “It is a one-dimensional view that the media have found easy to promote. In their special vocabulary, advertisers have designated “sizzling” and “smoldering” as the adjectives of choice for describing not only the foods but also the women of Latin America”(110.) This helps explain that part of the blame for the reason why people associate certain things with Latinas is the media. You will often find that the hispanic roles in movies or television shows portray a stereotypical character of a Latina for the entertainment of their audience. “Another facet of the myth of the Latin woman in the United States is the menial, the domestic-Maria the housemaid or counter girl...the funny maid, mispronouncing words and cooking up a spicy storm in a shiny California kitchen-has been perpetuated by the media”(Cofer 112.) This is also creating the misinterpretation that all Latinas are uneducated. Most Latinas, like myself are attempting to get a higher education and by society assuming they aren't trying to get a higher education is belittling all of their efforts. “Since I do not wear my diplomas around my neck for all to see, I have on occasion been sent to that “kitchen” where some think I obviously belong”(Cofer 112.) Cofer also helps explaing that if Latinas do not prove that they are educated everyone will automatically assume that they are not. To have this type of mentality is very ignorant, because a race …show more content…
Her goal is to replace the stereotypes surrounding Hispanic women with a set of realities, to help her do that she used her words. Meaning Cofer believes she can empower her readers through “The Myth of the Latin Woman.” Cofer also believes that language can be used to disempower because she explained to her readers how it made her feel when people stereotyped her. “Then I walked between them and to my room. My friend complimented me on my cool handling of the situation, but I confessed that I had really wanted to push the jerk into a swimming pool”(Cofer 112.) This proves that the words the man sang to Cofer had made her feel upset and disempowered. My views on this issue have become a lot more serious since reading Cofer's essay. I have personally not experienced a lot of people stereotyping me the way they did to Cofer and maybe that has something to do with the fact that I live in a diverse city and new society. But regardless if we go through it or not I feel that this is still a fight for every
Moreover, she feels that the "U.S society is gendered and racialized: it expects certain behavior from women, certain bearings from men, certain comportment from queer mujeres, certain demeanor from queer hombres, certain conduct from disabled, and so on"(65 Anzaldua).
Initially, understanding an individual's point of view is essential to a discussion or argument. In the essay, ''The Myth of The Latin Women: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" Cofer attempts to illustrate the effect stereotypes have in a Latina's life. Throughout the piece, she writes of her personal experience and how the positive side of being Latina is being downgraded by stereotypes, she writes, "We cannot change this by legislating the way people look at us. The Transformation, as I see it, has to occur at a much
Vigil, Ariana. 2009. “Transnational Community in Demetria Martinez's Mother Tongue”. Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, 10 (1): 54-76
The story “Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros describes the lives of Mexicans in a Chicago neighborhood. She depicts the life that women endure as Latino wives through her portrayal of the protagonist, Cleofilas. For Cisneros being a Mexican-American has given her a chance to see life from two different cultures. In addition, Cisneros has written the story from a woman’s perspective, illustrating the types of conflicts many women face as Latino wives. This unique paradigm allows the reader to examine the events and characters using a feminist critical perspective.
In this semester we read many essay but many of them had something in common. Every essay might have something like, yet there 's always something each essay make them so unique. In the 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology book has two essays that how felt a discriminated living in the United States for the color of their skin. Yet even though the two essay might seem alike, both essays go problems were treated different. In the essay "The Myth of a Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" by Judith Ortiz Cofer she talks about how she felt being a Puerto Rican living in a country of judgment for being a Latina. In the second essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" by Zora Neale Hurston , she talks about how being a black female living in the
Over the past few decades, research on women has gained new momentum and a great deal of attention. Susan Socolow’s book, The Women of Colonial Latin America, is a well-organized and clear introduction to the roles and experiences of women in colonial Latin America. Socolow explicitly states that her aim is to examine the roles and social regulations of masculinity and femininity, and study the confines, and variability, of the feminine experience, while maintaining that sex was the determining factor in status. She traces womanly experience from indigenous society up to the enlightenment reforms of the 18th century. Socolow concentrates on the diverse culture created by the Europeans coming into Latin America, the native women, and African slaves that were imported into the area. Her book does not argue that women were victimized or empowered in the culture and time they lived in. Socolow specifies that she does her best to avoid judgment of women’s circumstances using a modern viewpoint, but rather attempts to study and understand colonial Latin American women in their own time.
Although our society is slowly developing a more accepting attitude toward differences, several minority groups continue to suffer from cultural oppression. In her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldúa explores the challenges encountered by these groups. She especially focuses on her people, the Chicanos, and describes the difficulties she faced because of her cultural background. She argues that for many years, the dominant American culture has silenced their language. By forcing them to speak English and attempting to get rid of their accents, the Americans have robbed the Chicanos of their identity. She also addresses the issue of low self-esteem that arises from this process of acculturation. Growing up in the United States,
The popular revolutionary poem “I am Joaquin” by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales influenced many Chicana/os to embrace their heritage in the Chicano Movement in the 1960s. The poem created psychological work for the Chicano identity. Moreover, this poem developed and promoted social consciousness, commitment to activism, and cultural pride for many Chicanos. However, Gonzales primarily focuses on the identity and struggles of a Mexican-American male which excludes other narratives. Thus, the lack of inclusivity influenced me to recreate the popular poem, which centers on women from Central America who are rarely acknowledged in Chicano Studies. Therefore, our poem “I am Dolores” is focused on these three main themes: empowerment of women of color, resistance
Ortiz, Judith Cofer. "The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María." [Latin Deli: Prose and Poetry, 1993.] The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues across the Disciplines. Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. 11th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill , 2011. 365-369. Print. 11 Nov. 2013
This is shown in the article, “Latinos in Mainstream Media Are a Disappearing Act: The Latino Media Gap Crisis”, ”Based upon both qualitative and quantitative data, and utilizing a range of resources from the U.S. Census to interviews with top industry executives, the key findings of the “Latino Media Gap” report include...Latino stereotypes are prevalent in mainstream the media and they restrict opportunities for Latino talent, as well as the public perception of this racial/ethnic group” (Main). This means the roles and the portrayal of Mexican-Americans in the media are damaging their reputations and feeding the false stereotypes already presented in the media today. This could potentially create a society where it is even harder to gain equality for all races, then is already present. While it seems like a large accomplishment, to be represented in the media, especially in lead roles, not many of those roles are ‘good roles’, “By the 1980s, however, Latinos increasingly replaced blacks as Hollywood’s domestics. The 1987 TV show “I Married Dora” was even about a man who married his Latina housekeeper to prevent her from being deported. Even megastar Jennifer Lopez played a housekeeper in 2002’s “Maid in Manhattan,” a romantic comedy reminiscent of the Cinderella fairy tale. The late actress Lupe Ontiveros estimated that she played a maid as many as 150 times on screen. In 2009, Ontoveros told
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.
Latina women are suppressed through Hispanic culture with the ideology that a woman’s domain is within the walls of her own home. However, there has been a greater turnover rates in high school graduates amongst Latinas they are still falling behind due to lack of resources and the restricted patterns of opportunity perpetuated through transformative assets.
Suaréz, Lucia M. “Julia Alvarez And The Anxiety Of Latina Representation.” Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 5.1 (2004): 117-145. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 25 Mar.2014.
Those who label Latino Americans as uneducated seem to disregard the fact that many Hispanics learn English as a second language, meanwhile most Americans only speak one language; English. It is understandable why so many Hispanics are mistaken for being uneducated, because there are many who have lived in America for a long time without learning how to speak English, but that percentage of Hispanics should not represent a whole culture. For example, there are many Latino American actors who are very successful, bilingual, and
The image of Latinas has changed numerously since television began. In the year of 1961, America was introduced to spicy, fierce, sexy Latina known as Anita in West Side Story. Since then, a majority of people had assumed that all Latinas were just like Anita. Angry, and disappointed, Latinas nationwide would say that they “racialized and sexualized the brown female body” after the release of West Side Story (Angharad). It was not until the late 1970’s to 1980’s that, ¿Qué Pasa, USA? became the first sitcom podcasted on national television in the United States. When ¿Qué Pasa, USA? was aired we were able to see the first all brown cast (¡Que Pasa!1). By all means, this particular show did a great job in portraying not only Latinas but Latinos