Analysis Of The Movie ' Real Women Have Curves '

In a scene from the film, Selena, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a Mexican-American singer, is ignored by a white sales woman. The sales woman judges Selena on the color of her skin, determining her social status as one unimportant to her business, not realizing that Selena was actually a celebrity. Just as the sales woman predetermined a role for Selena rooted by race and ethnicity, Waretown High maintained class, gender, and race stereotypes in determining girl’s futures and outcomes. Julie Bettie’s Women Without Class discusses these stereotypes through expectations set for las chicas and the preps by the school, families, and themselves, the exclusion of hard-living students, those whose families were low income, and the ability for some girls to become upwardly mobile as an exception to the rules.

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.

Social standards may confine individuals from pursuing their own personal interests. Through the relationship between societal standards and individual interests, Sandra Cisneros’ short story, “Woman Hollering Creek,” introduces the roles of men and women in a Hispanic culture. The protagonist, Cleofilas Hernandez, is trapped in an abusive relationship with her newly-wed husband, Juan Pedro. However, Cleofilas tolerates the toxic relationship due to the social norms of her society, which reveals that the Hispanic culture revolves around a patriarchal society and that women have to be submissive to their husbands. As the story progresses, Cleofilas abandons the gender norm to lead an independent lifestyle.

This highlights that Chicanas prefer Chicanos more than they prefer each other; they perpetuate gender hierarchy by constantly placing males above females. Chicanas fear the criticism they will endure if they defy gender boundaries. Joan Riviere addresses this phenomenon in her essay “Womanliness as a Masquerade. Her essay explores the discomfort that woman feel when they act outside of the boundaries established by a male dominated society. In one example, she describes a

Getrudis, the illegitimate daughter of the De La Garza family has a much different experience. At a young age Getrudis, running on passion, disgraces her family and leaves home to be with the man her heart desires, Juan Alejandrez. A Captain in the Revolutionary Army, Juan Alejandrez soon marries Getrudis and she too eases into her role as a Revolutionist.

In addition to my love of coming of age films, I was also engrossed in Real Women Have Curves because Ana and I share the same dream of graduating from college. I was glad to know that education was important to Ana. In many of the contemporary films, education doesn’t seem to be a high priority to young characters, and especially minorities. Ana had a teacher, Mr. Guzman, portrayed by George Lopez that encouraged her to attend college. He helped her with college applications, and pleaded with Carmen to let Ana attend Columbia University when she received a full scholarship. Similar to Ana, when I attended Harold Washington College, I had an educator who inspired me to achieve not only for a Bachelor’s, but a Doctorate degree.

The movie Real Women Have Curves, directed by Patricia Cardoso, is based on the play of the same name, written by Josefina Lopez. The story was written in 1996, whereas the movie was released six years later by HBO Films in 2002. Both the book and the film portray the difficulty of a young liberated woman who is struggling to grow beyond her Mexican traditional upbringing and to find her own way within a modern world by pursuing a college education. The difference between the two versions is in the portrayal of Carmen, Ana’s mother, and the degree to which she is an obstacle to Ana’s pursuit of a college education. Within the film, the mother is a caricature of a Mexican woman whose unyielding traditional beliefs are the only obstacle to Ana’s pursuit, whereas in the play Carmen is humanized and not the only reason Ana cannot pursue her education upon graduation from high school. The play’s portrayal of Carmen, is much more relatable and helps the reader to better understand Carmen as well as Ana. The play’s intended viewpoint seems to be about Ana, who at first is the confines of Mexican traditional ideas and looks down upon who shared them, but then later comes to appreciate the more positive aspects of the ideas and those who hold them. Carmen’s character is not relatable within the movie and it makes it more difficult to appreciate the story’s intent.

This stemmed from yet another form of control by her parents. Because they were first-generation Americans, they had hope that their daughter "could transcend the racism they'd experienced and to surpass society's low expectations" (Navarro 1998). Woven in this story is the strongest patriarchical influence of them all: Navarro and her sister were expected to live up to their father's expectations and "fulfill his macho idea of sensuality, a classic Madonna/whore tightrope that demanded we be attractive yet pure" (Navarro 1998). A lot of pressure was placed on Navarro's self-image and what she did with her body, as one wrong move jeopardized how the community viewed her entire family, not just her as an individual. In this way, Navarro was, for many years, unable to construct her personal identity and struggled greatly with her agency. In essence, Navarro was not her own person, but rather, her parents', and was expected live by unattainable and unrealistic concepts of being a woman. As Navarro grew into her body, she began to hate it more and more, which was the result of the patriarchical-dominated society she lived in. From every angle she would be critiqued in ways that made her uncomfortable, whether it was criticism or praise from her father, or a random bystander whistling at her on the street because of an article of clothing she was wearing. She stated that she was getting "lots of attention, but no self-esteem". In this regard, one

When Ana finds out that her husband cheated she arranges an abortion and gets her out of the coutry

The Mexican woman is a highly-stereotyped individual. She is either timid and meek, rarely speaking out of turn, and when she does it is in a small, soft accented-voice that begs to be left alone. Or, she is fiery, exotic dark caramel skin, long wind-blown hair and lips red as blood. She is a vixen, independent and loud, with a laugh that can be heard all around the room. But both of these women come from the same place, as do the women who do not belong in either category. In Women Hollering Creek and Other stories, Sandra Cisneros gives a voice to these women. By showing Mexican and Mexican-American culture through an intimate and diverse scope, Cisneros highlights the oppression and degradation of women that is commonplace in this culture

There are a number of female characters in this film. They include Ana Delgado, Claudio Camejo, Guadalupe Lupe Escobar, and Rafaela Fuentes. However, the standout female character is Ana Delgado. Ana is a shy and soft spoken girl who has an interest in mathematics. She aspires to study hard, go to college, and become a doctor (Stand and Deliver). However, her father stands in her way. He discourages her from studying and wants her to help him run his restaurant. However, with the help of the math teacher Mr. Escalante, Ana continues studying and excels in mathematics (Stand and Deliver). Ana is one of the female characters in the film who struggle against the odds to become successful. She proves that women can also achieve feats which are thought to be a preserve of men. For instance, she manages to solve a problem that no other student had been able to.

In Josefina’s notes, she writes how she grew up in Los Angeles herself. As an immigrant herself, she definitely grew up fearing “La Migra”, who could deport her, but once she became a legal resident she thinks back on those people she knew and she recalls many of them not believing that they were finally being allowed to work in this country without the fear of having to hide. In her younger years before going to college she worked in a garment factory and those experiences she shared there is what inspired her to write Real Women Have Curves.

Fierce Woman Sandra Cisneros said, “I have to say that the traditional role is kind of a myth, I think the traditional Mexican woman is a fierce woman.” If I compare this quote with my mother, I would have to say that Cisneros knew my mother and she was talking about her. Since I have use of reason, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see my mother fighting for a better future for us. When my mother was younger she faced really hard situations that made her a better woman and she was gifted with a blessing. “Woman Hollering Creek”, is a story that every Mexican woman could relate to, when I read it, I pictured my mom in my mind.

The complex web of cultural determinations and predefined ideological system are predominant in the lives of the female characters named Tita, Gertrudis, and Frida Kahlo in the movies Like Water for Chocolate and Frida. Furthermore, throughout history, the development of female idealizations and norms, which powerfully influences the behavior of women throughout society, has derived from a masculine structure that is imposed onto the female gender. Although this is still prevalent in modern culture, throughout the years surrounding the Mexican Revolution, women were perceived as subordinate to men due to particular cultural determinants and predefined beliefs that existed within the structure of society. Specifically, this structure played a leading role in the lives of women, which regarded them as inferior to men while characteristically portraying women in traditional domestic roles, thereby influencing the social norm of femininity throughout civilization. Predominantly, throughout the films, the existence of the complex web of cultural determinations and the predefined ideological system within social and family traditions largely impacts the dominant character and behavior of Tita, Gertrudis, and Frida. As such, in order to break free from the complex web of cultural determinations, and challenge the predefined ideological systems in their lives, the female characters of Tita, Gertrudis, and Frida behave in rebellious ways that reject the given traditions amongst their

In addition, The Movie and the play illustrate a few ideas that present the economic status of Mexican Americans. In “Real Woman have Curves” Ana’s father and sister have their own business; however, both of the family businesses are low paid jobs. All the members in the Garcia family have to work, including Ana. Ana lost her job at the burger joint forcing her to start working at her sister’s factory. Ana is concerned about working in her sister Carmen’s business because they all