Analysis Of Muy Macho : Latino Men Confront Their Manhood

Another important issue that Cisneros addresses in her story is gender roles in the Latino community. In Mexico, being born a male is of higher prestige and value

Imagine the pressure of being expected to follow your culture’s traditions even if you want to rebel and create your own identity. Carrying on traditions can be difficult for many young people who are searching for their identities as they grow up. Two texts, “Life in the age of the mimis” by Domingo Martinez and “El Olvido” by Judith Ortiz, tell about the struggles of losing one’s culture. One shows the reader that forgetting your own roots simply because of being ashamed or embarrassed can really harm you, while the other demonstrates that forgetting your culture for the sake of fame and fortune can also do the same damage.

No one is you and that is your power. In the novel, Mexican Whiteboy by Matt De La Peña, the main character, Danny, fails to realize this fact. He alway feels the need to change who he is. He wants to feel welcomed by his father’s Mexican family during the summer when he moves to San Diego County. However, he finds this complicating to do since he is Half-Mexican and Half-White. In this novel, we view a variety of ways Danny struggles with his identity and one way he comes to terms with his struggles.

Caminero-Santangelo, Marta. 2007. On Latinidad: U.S. Latino Literature and the Construction of Ethnicity. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

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.

Ernesto Quinonez 's novel is very influential and gives insight into the harsh reality of being a minority in America. Quinonez also speaks on the history of the Latino culture and the life experiences. The fabricated stories based on true events, affected Latinos as well as other nationalities. This book has served its purpose and is speaking to families, friends, wives, husbands, and children on being aware and conscious of the reality that surrounds them. This novel amazed me with the political and historical content surrounding the Latino community, and it is extremely powerful as it shows independence in its own culture. The novel uses its content to bring awareness of Latino ethnic identity, their way of life, and defines social factors from within. (Barajas 2014)

The historians explaining the annexation of the Philippians and that what happened in the two historians. The first secondary source is by Nell Irvin Painter, the article name is Standing by Armageddon: The United States, 1877-1919. The second secondary source is by Kristin L. Hoganson, the article name is Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars. In the primary source Theodore Roosevelt, “National Duties”, Speech at Minnesota State Fair, explains that when we are benefiting ourselves, we must raise others, so that they won’t be any fear of possible misconstruction. Painter conclude that economic issues that thousands of people had run out of foods and manufacturing goods.

In defining one’s identity, many different factors are considered; such as one’s nationality, characteristic, personality, ability, experience, religion, and etc. Especially for those people who live in America, so called country of immigration, has much more complicated identities than those Asian country people where mixed people are rarely noticed. Thinking about the concept of identity, some people easily categorized themselves as simple factors and terms which could describe their surface; white, black, Asian, European, pretty, ugly, nice, mean and so on and so forth. And that is the most point where majority people stopped to list their identities from exploring more in complicated range. However, there are many people who dig more than common people; one great example would be Denise Chavez, who is the author of the novel called Loving Pedro Infante, who kept asking herself about her identity to approach more accurate and clear ideas. In her work, reader could see the confusion of Tere, the main character of the novel, went through her life as Latin-American female in dealing with finding one’s true identity and how she accept her as who she really is. Denise Chavez, who is obviously Latin-American lady, mirror her own life experience through the character she created and introduce to readers about tough life she lived in America as Mejicana. The main character of this novel have a clear understanding and strong idea about herself throughout the novel, even if

modules gives many examples how strong cultural pasts lead to identity problems in a new society. Also, the module shows us that many Mexicans were not happy with the stereotype formed about their identity. In Between the Lines, we see how Mexicans in America suffer through harsh discrimination, while trying to stay close to their relatives and culture. The letters talk about how Whites did not have concerns with family values or cultural beliefs. Whites based many of their values off succeeding in the economy. Whites in general had no regard for Mexicans as people.

First and foremost, this novel is about Chicano people and the struggles they endured. While each small passage can be viewed as the progression of the unknown male protagonist, it also gives a multitude of other views as well. Middle-aged male

"The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz portraits the life of Oscar de L茅on. By blending elements of reality with fantasy and science-fiction, the author paints this "cursed" journey of Oscar, doomed to act the role of the "contemporary geek". The story follows Oscar in his search to find a girl that will return his love, although he doesn't meet the society's masculinity standards. Latino masculinity is a dominant concept in the novel, for that is the main catalyst for all the actions depicted throughout the narration.

Machismo has been an important issue in the lives of many Latino men. The idea of being a macho man has influenced many men in Latino communities because their culture demands it, and if they are not categorized as males, then they are the burla of the community. The term machismo has been an exaggeration within this novel, since if we focus on each of the characters, everyone looks for Oscar to be a macho. If you look at Belicia and machismo in Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, we can see how she does not fulfill her desire for Oscar to be a macho.

When one visualizes Latino culture, the prevalent images are often bright colors, dancing, and celebrations. This imagery paints a false portrait of the life of many Latino’s, especially those that are forced to leave their home countries. Latinos often face intense poverty and oppression, whether in a Latin country, or a foreign country, such is true in Pam Ryan’s novel Esperanza Rising. Ryan chronicles the issues that many Latino immigrants face. The first is the pressure from the home country. Many of the countries face turmoil, and many are forced to leave their homes and culture. Once in a foreign place, people often struggle with standing by their own culture or assimilating to the new culture. Latino authors frequently use young adult literature as a platform to discuss the issues they face, as young adults are coming of age they struggle with their identities, personifying the struggle of old culture against the new culture.

The story illustrates the overlapping influences of women’s status and roles in Mexican culture, and the social institutions of family, religion, economics, education, and politics. In addition, issues of physical and mental/emotional health, social deviance and crime, and social and personal identity are

In “The Myth of the Latin Woman” and “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” the subject of feeling like an outcast due to being of a non-white culture is examined. From the perspectives of two different women from two separate cultures (Puerto Rican and Indian), a series of anecdotes show the discrimination they face throughout their lives, all because their heritage does not match up with the world around them. “The Myth of the Latin Woman” focuses primarily on the stereotypes of Puerto Rican women, and how these stereotypes have followed the author no matter where she traveled. “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” focuses on the lack of belongingness felt by the author both in childhood and her adult life through food.“The Myth