Gloria Anzaldua

David G Gutiérrez’s Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity discuss the deep and complex understudied relationship between Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants. This relationship was a natural consequence of the mass illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States that had constantly been increasing the population of “ethnic Mexicans” and along with it brought tensions between those who were Americans of Mexican descent and had been living here for generations and those who had freshly arrived to the United States and as such did whatever they had to do to make a living.

The idea of mestiza consciousness is an acknowledgement of both the genetic and cultural mixing that come from falling between the cracks of two cultures. Gloria Anzaldua uses the idea of mestiza consciousness to describe the constant shifting between two or more cultures that Chicana women experience. She describes the issues that arise within various communities due to an “us vs. them” mentality, and argues that mestiza consciousness can also act as a tool to heal these wounds, and to reshape one’s identity by merging various identities.

The formation of segregated barrios and the development of a wealth of community-provided services showed that Mexican-Americans were not content to be marginalized by the United States. Instead, they were embracing an empowering new sense of self-determination and referring to themselves as “Mexicanos or as members of a larger, pan-Hispanic community of La Raza.” At this time La Raza referenced individuals of the Mexican “race”, whether they were in Mexico or in the United States, and was particularly important in the United States, where race was more important than citizenship. In the late 19th and early 20th century United States, race was determined by purity of blood, and there were only two races—white and black. White meant the individual had “pure blood” (European blood); black meant that the individual’s blood included indigenous or African influences. Being white meant being able to exercise one’s constitutional rights and being treated as a normal member of society’s dominant group. Being black meant that, regardless of whether he or she was a citizen, the individual would face discrimination similar to that which I described earlier. When the Spanish conquerors mixed with the people of Latin America, forming the mestizo, or mixed race, population that now composes most of the region, they removed themselves from a “white” classification in the United States. Thus, by engaging with the concept of La Raza, which connotes a mestizo race and population, Mexican-Americans rejected the binary nature of race in the United States and embraced what made them different—their indigenous-mixed blood and the cultural heritage that accompanied it. While the abuse directed towards Mexican-Americans may have

Although I can’t specifically relate to Gloria Anzaldúa’s struggle between her languages in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” I can relate to her “kind of dual identity” in which she identifies with neither Anglo-American cultural values nor Mexican cultural values (1566). Being half white, half Chinese, I struggle identifying as either identity, especially because my mom (who is Chinese) never learned Cantonese and largely became Americanized in her childhood. It’s an uncomfortable position to be in when racial and ethnic identity are so significant in America and when I must interact with the world as part of both the majority and the marginalized. Considering my own struggle and the conflict Anzaldúa describes, it became clearer to me the way race relations in American not only marginalize people of color but train our consciousnesses to damage ourselves. Before I turn back to Anzaldúa, a novel I’ve recently read, William Godwin’s Caleb Williams has also been on my mind, particularly in Godwin’s portrayal of how police surveillance transforms us into agents of our own oppression. Although Caleb is a white man, he also experiences a split consciousness as his values and characteristics are whittled away by the paranoia of constant surveillance.

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.

During the Mexican-American War the border moved, but the people didn’t. History has shown us that no matter how thick the border might be Latino Americans have a strong connection to their culture and roots; instead of assimilating, Mexicans live between two worlds. The film, Ballad of Gregorio Cortez gave us a perspective of two cultures; “Two cultures- the Anglo and the Mexican- lived side by side in state of tension and fear” . Cortez is running for his life as he heads north, while the Anglo believe that because of his Mexican ethnicity, he would travel south to Mexico. Throughout the film there were cultural tensions and misunderstandings; language plays an important part of someone’s identity, and for many Latino Americans Spanish is their first language. The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez also shows us that language plays an important role, and can cause confusion between two different groups. For example, Anglos refer to a male

In this Chapter I feel that Anzaldua is trying to get the reader to understand the differences and atruggles amongst cultures. The clash of cultures results in mental and emotional confusion. Living inbetween more than one culture, you often get opposing messages from these cultures. Sometimes when living within the Chicana culture common white beleifs conflict with the beleifs of the Mexican culture. They both hold beleifs of the indifinous peopel and their culture. It creates a problem that the dominant cultures views and beleifs are defiant to the others. This is very wrong because it creats the problem of one being superior to the other. This especially relates to the Mexican culture and white culture. This creates the assimilation problem when one culture is not accepted or considered below another.

Gloria Anzaldua is among the many feminist theorists that has moved into the realm of addressing post-modern identities. In Gloria Anzaldua’s articulation of the new mestiza consciousness, she makes the argument of identities as multiple, hybrid, and more specifically created as a result of the Borderlands. However, according to Anzaldua, and despite the difficulties engendered by her very existence, the mestiza is also a figure of enormous potential, as her multiplicity allows a new kind of consciousness to emerge. This mestiza consciousness moves beyond the binary relationships and dichotomies that characterize traditional modes of thought, and seeks to build bridges between all minority communities to achieve social and political change.

In a constant state of mental nepantilism, la mestiza is a product of the transfer of the cultural and spiritual values of one group to another. Cradled in one culture, sandwiched between two cultures, staddling all three cultures and their value systems, la mestiza undergoes a struggle of flesh, a struggle of borders, an inner war. Like all people, we recognize the version of reality that our culture communicates. The coming together of two self-consistent but habitually incompatible frames of reference causes a cultural collision. We attempt to block with opposition in terms of culture, but it is not enough to stand on opposite position. The counterstance refutes the dominant coulture’s view and beliefs, and, for this, they become someties aggressive, but it is not a way of life. Once we decide how we behave, there are enormous possibilities.

Anzaldua describes how she experienced the feeling of being deviant towards society and not belonging to the community she lives in, “The queer are the mirror reflecting the heterosexual tribe’s fear: being different, being other than and therefore lesser, therefore sub-human, in-human, non-human” (Anzaldua, 1987). Acknowledging that someone is different from you in their thoughts, opinions, behavior, and appearance is not as easy as it may seem when these qualities matter to you. But acknowledging that being different is not better or worse—it is simply not the same—is what many people fail to do, often without even realizing how intolerant they are. The author herself, however, shows that she is in every way broadminded about her beliefs, her opinions, and even the language she speaks—the book is written equally in English and Spanish. The author naturally switches from one language to the other, showing not simply that she is bilingual, but that she is a human being above all other qualities, and it is the content, the meaning behind words that matters, not the form or language in which they are written.

An analysis of Gloria Anzaldúa‘s The New Mestiza and James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time reveals that humans oppress themselves based on their differences. This is turn prevents them from identifying themselves as part of the human race. In his writings, Baldwin offers a solution to this hurdle that targets the apparent causes of the problem. However, Andalzua’s analysis of human difference reveals a few flaws in Baldwin’s view of the problem as well as his proposed solution to putting an end to human misery and oppression. Andalzua does so by examining Baldwin’s view of power, his view of love as a solution, and his view of the behavior of those who had been oppressive.

Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa was born on September 26, 1942. Anzaldua identified as Queer Chicana and studied Chicana cultural theory, feminist theory, and queer theory. Anzaldua grew up on the Mexican-Texas border and her experiences and lifelong feelings of social and cultural marginalization was the bases on which she wrote her novel, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. Through the analyzation of Gloria Anzaldua’s, How to Tame a Wild Tongue through poetry I was able to relate to Anzaldua through identity by speaking in our similar narrative as female minorities in America, referencing power movements, groups and people who fight for equality and equity among races and genders, by reflecting on my writing process, and sharing the significance

Anzaldúa discussed how a person can place themselves in a position of choosing between different cultures when having more than one. It becomes difficult to follow one of the cultures when it contradicts the other. Meaning that an individual is put in a difficult situation into choosing between two distinct cultures. However, this can be overcome by breaking down the differences and understanding a new point of view and thinking. By setting a new conscious, we free ourselves from the clash we try to avoid and find acceptance within distinct elements that were hard to identify with, all together. This includes putting an end of women being subordinate to men. We are all equal; accepting the struggle of all individuals shows how we need to break

Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La frontera is a very interesting piece of writing to read because it covers a lot of issues such as identity, language, and gender. The fact that she combines several genres in her writing offers another amazement. Like a powerful concoction, her writing which embodies personal, cultural, and political realities, in a way, reflects not only the richness of her multiple cultural backgrounds but also her efforts in cultivating those cultures. In terms of language for example, she identifies herself (and her community) as a complex and heterogeneous people. As a result, they speak many languages (1586). In addition, her claim that ‘ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity’ elucidates her freedom to write bilingually and that she is not ashamed to use her native language.

One must learn to adjust themselves to the dominant culture while having their own cultural values, Anzaldua called it “plural personality”. Mestiza for her is possibility of thinking at border length. Rejection of binary thinking of border and it system of diffraction. All cultural identity is built in the story that is being told which passed down culture, identity and traditions. This encourages tolerance of ambiguity. There’s no Mestiza for her because it’s tainted and forged through power and domination. It’s a combination of inequality, rejection of traditional culture and the acceptance to create a new culture that gives rise to a new consciousness. Anzalua’s “new” identity is very significant to idea to a certain extent, other than defining herself according to society’s definition of what constitutes being Hispanic