America The Multination Society

In the United States, pluralism is pertinent and very significant for the government because the government itself is distributed with various powers given to the states. These states then give powers to their local governments, which continues to distribute the power. In the government system, there are levels of that consist of branches that control the many different parts of the system, so that no one person or group is given too much power. The United States has a system of checks and balances, which is pertinent to the power system and the pluralist theory ("What is a pluralist theory of government?" 2017).

During the poetry reading, a woman motioned Cofer to a table and thought “that [Cofer] was a waitress” (Cofer 108). Cofer was carrying a notebook, yet the woman assumed Cofer was a waitress because she is a Latina. This demonstrated that people assumed that Latinas have the role of a housemaid, similar to the stereotype of Mammy from Gone with the Wind. If Cofer was a different race, she would not experience these incidents. The media’s poor portrayal of Latinas negatively affect how they are viewed in the real-world, especially when they hold such

In the modern world, gender stereotypes affect men and women in different ways. A kind man can be perceived as violent for simply being a man, and in contrast, a woman can be seen as an object to chase or prey upon simply for being a woman. When these roles overlap, the innocent members of both parties feel uncomfortable and ashamed for things out of their control. Judith Ortiz Cofer’s essay entitled The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria is more effective in its explanation of perceived gender roles and stereotypes, compared to the Brent Staples essay Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space.

Stereotypes are dangerous weapons in our society. “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” is a short essay in which the award winning poet and professor of English, Judith Ortiz Cofer, wishes to inform and persuade the audience that labels and stereotypes can be humiliating and hurtful. The author targets the general public, anyone that doesn’t understand that putting someone in a box because of a stereotype is wrong. Cofer starts out the essay by telling the reader a story with a drunk man who re-enacted “Maria” from the West Side Story, and how angry that made her feel. She continues by explaining how she grew up in the United States being a Puerto Rican girl trying to fit in, but always being labeled as an island girl. Cofer carries on by explaining why Latin people get dressed and act a certain way. Then she recalls some more stereotypical incidents.

In 2050 the American Government can be a government of the people if we turn the tide now and get back to providing equally for all. The thoughts and postings of some of my younger classmates give me hope that we can and will be better. We have to educate and show our youth they yes they are entitles to their beliefs and opinions but not to demonstrate in destructive and hateful manners. Get back to our youth and guide them with positive role models and open and respectful

Society has focus on stereotyping every group based on myths, Ramirez explains how stereotyping can lead to a reality “A primary function of stereotypes, says Richard Dyers, is “to make fast, firm and separate what is in reality fluid” (Ramirez p.16), people tend to just judge the book by its cover before they even read the tile of it. Latinos are being portrayed as the bad, ugly, and the ones who can’t speak the language on the U.S films as Ramirez proves “Yes, there indeed were and are Mexican badits, lazy African Americans and Italian American gangsters. But banditry, laziness and criminality are not culture specific, nor do those qualities represent the group’s complete experience” (Ramirez p.16). It gives a better understanding of the different stereotypes of just not Latinos but other races too. In the film “The Bronze Screen” it elaborates about Latino until this day, they use them as the bad ones

The latest survey by the US census portrayed the big change that is happening after the influx of Latinos in the country. There is a Latino identity that’s neither white nor black she mentioned, and it is a positive identity. It appeared that 48% of latinos claimed to be white. Classifying themselves as whites connotes that they have already assimilated to the American Culture The survey wrapped up that there is a considerable demographic shift identifying Latinos to be increasingly aligned with the color that that defines America. On the other hand, 42% of Latinos marked other race, and 2% claimed to be black. Even in the census, to be white signifies the dominance and the notion that it is better than non-white. People who look similarly share the qualities that are perceived to be alike. They usually enjoy similar success and suffer similar sorrows. This method of collection racial data augmented debates however it revealed many things. It is undeniable that the cultural and social construction of Latino in the US is growing exponentially and the race and ethnicity that used to define and unite them has now become the margin that split them

The Latino and Hispanic population continues to increase at a lower rate every year in the U.S., they account for a large portion of the population. However, it hasn’t change the portrayal of Latinos in the media. Often, the Latino community is shown in a negative light that doesn’t represent the reality of this community. The main goal of this paper is to show and understand how the media portray Latinos and ways to solve the problem.

People are stereotyped by their physical features and by the information we know about a certain group. In a chapter in “The Myth Of The Latin Woman” an essay by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the author speaks about women seeing as sexual objects. In the chapter, she says “The males were given an opportunity to admire the women and to express their admiration in the form of pirops.” The men would see the women as sexual objects and not as human beings. The way she and friends dressed shouldn't give men the right to harass them publicly. “I thought you latin girls were suppose to mature early” was a phrase one of her boyfriends told her when she was young (111,113). This is significant because it shows how American culture sees Hispanic women. Ortiz Cofer explains how different cultures can interpret things differently. Ortiz Cofer explains stereotypes can be broken by education

There has been many years of racial stereotypes and wanting to fit into a group. The essays that show this theme are Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space by Brent Staples, The Myth of the Latin Woman by Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell. Staples shows his audience the struggles he has gone through as a black male. Cofer shows her audience the stereotypes that surround Latin women. Orwell shows his audience the overwhelming desire of being accepted into a group of people. All three of these authors want to be accepted by the larger group of people. Society needs to empathise and be aware of the silence that surrounds these issues. Otherwise it can create depression amongst minority groups.

The United States of America has been called a “mixing pot” since the birth of the nation. Everyone, especially politicians and educators, will proudly declare that the U.S. is a land of unmatched diversity. The U.S. seems to always be portrayed as a highly cultural territory, harboring a vast population of many races. Admittedly, the United States has come a long in terms of eliminating racial barriers and pursuing equality. All around the world, America is seen as a country of colors, yet mass media does not recognize that fact.

In America and other countries of similar and contrasting cultures, we like to be right, we like to be on top, and we want to be recognized for both respectively. Competition is an underlying theme in so much of what we do in our daily lives. Whether it’s getting a better grade on a test than your friend, winning a football game or even speeding up faster than the car next to you when the light turns green. Competition, whether we like it or not, surrounds us and we participate in it willingly. We all want to stand on that podium and receive the gold medal, for then we are better than someone else and we can look down upon him or her because we have achieved something they have not. This competition and trying to be better than the person

The media has molded the way Latinos are expected to look, act, and speak, especially for Latinas. While a TV show or a movie could contain half-truths, many are just exaggerated. An example would be Sofia Vergara’s Gloria character on “Modern Family”. It may seem like there is no harm in portraying a Latina that way on television but it only triggers more the stereotype of “spicy Latinas” and on how the public perceives us. It is known that, “Repeated exposure to a particular portrayal of a group teaches that this cultural view is a relevant schema for processing members of that particular group” (Burgess et al., 2011).

“The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria”, by Cofer explains what she has been through with stereotypes and how she dealt with them. Growing up in an Hispanic culture is very different than growing up with an American family. There are certain things expected from each of those culture that are different from one another. “... for example, that of the Hispanic woman as the

She chose to best express her message through connotative diction and ethos. She uses connotative diction in the quote, “Mixed cultural signals have perpetuated certain stereotypes-for example,“Hot tamale”..“sizzling” and “smoldering” are the adjectives of choice for describing not only foods but the women of Latin America”(Cofer 3). Showing examples of connotative diction used by stereotypical people was a good strategy because it gives examples to the audience if they have never been aware of these stereotypes. It also helps the audience feel just as frustrated about these degrading terms as Cofer does and that leads the reader to also shame people who embrace stereotypes. The other strategy cofer uses is ethos, “Because of my education and proficiency with the english language…”(Cofer 5).