Elements Of Gender And Sexuality In Alvaro Enrique

Through the use of pathos, schemes, and tropes, Rodriquez offers his conflicting feelings about California and Mexico. By contrasting Mexico and California with these styles of writing, he sets up

In the annual household survey, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics earlier this year, it was reported that 84 out of 100 incidents of rape or sexual misconduct were reported by women (FiveThirtyEight). In most cases, when women immigrate to the United States they are either alone or have paid a great deal of money to have a smuggler help them on their journey to reach the US and Mexico border, which means that they are in a situation where they are very vulnerable, which can lead to them getting raped, or even murdered. Throughout the novel “Enrique’s Journey”, Nazario writes about how Enrique witnessed the rape of a seventeen-year-old girl named Wendy while heading to America. She too was immigrating when Chiapas, a gang group, took her. “‘If you scream,’ he says, ‘we cut you to bits.’ Then he rapes her.” (97). Having Nazario write about the gang rape of a young woman immigrating to America has a very powerful effect on the reader because it shows the trauma that thousands of women go through when looking for a better

Sandra Cisneros has been criticized by many for her depiction of Mexican Americans in her novel The House on Mango Street. Critics claim that Cisneros portrayal of Mexican Americans sustains an image of negative stereotypes. Those negative stereotypes being men who are dominating over women and women who are submissive. Throughout Cisneros’ story we meet many characters who are portrayed as the critics claim – in a way that suggests the dominance men have over the home and the family. Despite this, I believe this representation is not ment to enhance those negative stereotypes, but to better heighten the feelings of oppression, otherness, and helplessness Esperanza has. One of the most prominent examples of the negative stereotypes being displayed

Based on Cisneros’ works of literature, gender roles in a Hispanic culture revolves around patriarchal rule. The repercussions of a patriarchal rule includes the limitations of female liberation and development. Cleofilas’ abusive situation exemplifies the limitations of her independence and development as she can not make her own decisions and has to solely depend on her husband. This situation is illustrated when Cleofilas explains that the towns are “built so that you have to depend on husbands... You can drive only if you’re rich enough to own and drive an own car. There is no place to go” (Cisneros 628). Cleofilas reveals that men are the dominant gender and have more authority, and that women are compelled to depend on them in her society. It is an exceptionally rare case that a woman can afford her own car, for the men usually control the finances in a household. Additionally, Cleofilas has nowhere to seek refuge from her husband. Although she yearns to return to her father’s home, she decides not to due to the social standards imposed on her. In her society, the act of returning home after marriage is socially unacceptable. She understands that her family will be viewed in a negative light if she were to return home, as seen when Cleofilas refers to her town as a “town of gossips” (627). Similar to other men in the society, Juan Pedro’s authority is shown through his abuse. Cleofilas recalls, “He slapped her once, and then again, and again; until the lip split and bled an orchid of blood” (626).

Cultural expectations have prevented humans from being able to lead their own lives the way they see fit. Gloria Anzaldúa and Sandra Cisneros are two notorious Mexican-American writers that wrote extensively about cultural borders and expectations. Anzaldúa came from the Mexico-Texas border, was a cultural and feminist theorist as well as English scholar, while Cisneros also comes from a Latino background and speaks from her cultural hybridity to illustrate cultural expectations. In this paper, I will use Anzaldúa’s “Borderlands / La Frontera” as a lens for Cisnero’s short story, “Woman Hollering Creek” to draw connections of cultural and gender expectations between two different genres of text.

Machismo, or male chauvinism, is a concept that characterizes many Latin American male behaviors, most importantly those associated with masculinity and pride. This concept, most likely introduced to New Spain by Spanish conquistadors who embodied these traits, was then adopted and integrated as a part of Mexican culture going forward. Because of male masculinity prevailing over feminine traits during the 17th century, misogyny and the oppression of women became a norm in Mexican culture. Struggling to be valued in Mexico, women turned to literature and art to voice their opinions and expose the machismo in Mexican culture. Through literature and art, is where feminism in Mexico arose and is continually strengthen in. This paper will discuss the ways in which Mexican feminist literature and art over time have exposed and challenged machismo, misogyny, and the Mexican patriarchy since the Spanish Conquest.

In the story “Love in L.A.,” throughout the entire story the reader is able to understand and identify gender roles, associations and stereotyped characterization throughout the conversation between the characters, the thoughts of characters, and how Dagoberto Gilb wants us to put our own ideas of the male and female stereotypes. Gender roles are first shown when Jake, one of the main characters, is giving a brilliant sketch of a car he’d rather be driving and have freedom than actually working and living a steady good life. From the description of the car we can see that he is interested in features that would attract and impress any woman, and these same features are not particularly well-matched to him, “the fact was that he’d probably have to change his whole style” (275). Jake

A life in the city of Seguin, Texas was not as easy as Cleofilas, the protagonist of the story thought it would be. The author, Cisneros describes the life women went through as a Latino wife through Cleofilas. Luckily, Cisneros is a Mexican-American herself and had provided the opportunity to see what life is like from two window of the different cultures. Also, it allowed her to write the story from a woman’s point of view, painting a vision of the types of problems many women went through as a Latino housewife. This allows readers to analyze the characters and events using a feminist critical view. In the short story “Women Hollering Creek” Sandra Cineros portrays the theme of expectation versus reality not only through cleofilas’s thoughts but also through her marriage and television in order to display how the hardship of women in a patriarchal society can destroy a woman’s life.

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

The interaction of men and women in a city poses opportunities and limitations. The ideas about gender and how female and male characters are depicted in a story, together with gender behaviour, that have shifted over the years in different cities, positions and literary work. The Dubliners (1914) by James Joyce (1882-1941) demonstrate individuals trying to contest or escape paralysis in Dublin. A contrast from Langston Hughes (1902-1967) with 'Pushcart Man ', and Jack Kerouac with the 'The Town and the city ' in the city of New York. Their work is central to demonstrate the sense of the mix of cultures, perceptions of segregation, and the restriction and possibility of the city. This essay will discuss the 'ways in which relations between the sexes are depicted in the set texts, and consider the literary techniques the writer used to create a particular portrayal.

Lope de Vega’s play touches upon several key components and ideas that were brought up in many of the other stories read throughout the semester. This included the role of gender and how men and women are viewed differently in the Spaniard town of Fuenteovejuna. Another topic included the importance of family, love, and relationships and their connection on loyalty, trust, and personal beliefs. The last major influence found in other literature and in Fuenteovejuna, were the political and religious references made throughout the play. Even though Lope de Vega didn’t make these views obvious, the reader could still pick up on their connotation and the references made towards these specific ideas. With all of this in mind, each of these

Although prostitution may be one of the world’s oldest professions to this day it is seen as a degrading and disrespectful career especially when regarding female prostitutes. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the town is very critical and strict about chastity and premarital sex. Maria Alejandrina Cervantes is the town madam which by society’s standards makes her to most marginalized, but ironically she is not brought down by her society’s rules. Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses characterization and irony to demonstrate Maria Alejandrina Cervantes’s contradictory role and to develop the theme of going against society in Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Marquez employs the motif of flowers within the novel to illustrate the role of women within a Latin American society; the cultural and symbolic implications of this associate flowers with purity, victimization, gender barriers, and deceit. In doing so, Marquez creates a microcosm of Latin America, exposing the core of Columbian culture and society with all its aspects such as ethnicity, and social norms and conventions that led to a series of insecurities and poverty in the community, and its affect on the role of women. The cultural context of this novel must first be considered before examining the symbolic importance of flowers.

Sandra Cisneros’ short story, “Never Marry a Mexican”, indirectly underlines her perspective, her interpretation, judgement, and critical evaluation of her subject, the work and its title. This perspective is evident in her use of literary devices, diction, and language structure in her narrative. The purpose of the use of these elements in the way that she does is ultimately linked to understanding her viewpoint on the subject. The author’s perspective is embedded in the meaning of the story and its theme. Her interpretations are valid, and justified in detail throughout the story to add color and vibrancy to her characters. Her judgment is lightly touched upon but only clearly and directly given at the end of the story, to allow the

The critical nature of Santiago’s relationship with Victoria Guzmán allows Márquez to satirize the servant-master and patriarchal complexes present in his portrayed culture. The sexual relationship between Ibrahim Nasar and Victoria Guzmán, parallels that of the relationship between Santiago Nasar and Divina Flor and highlights the social constructs and environment, which reduced Victoria Guzmán into servitude through the juxtaposition of the aforementioned combative personalities of Victoria Guzmán and Santiago. Márquez is successful in the sense that he can create a social commentary on the portrayed Arabic and Columbian cultures while still maintaining false objectivity by inserting variation into separate accounts. Márquez’s uses periphrasis, syntax, and chronological divisions between chapters to subdue overt comparison between the portrayed values of Columbian culture and its societal norms with the conflicting relationship of Victoria Guzmán and Santiago Nasar, effectively shrouding his commentary.