How To Date A Brown Girl By Junot Diaz

Practically everyone in the story has a hidden agenda for his or her actions. The protagonist, a 22-year-old named Helga, was a teacher at an institute of higher learning called Naxos where the true agenda was not education but instead was teaching Blacks their accepted status in life—lower than that of Whites. She became convinced that she needed to leave Naxos after hearing a speech from a visiting white preacher whose remarks she found offensive. The preacher stated that if everyone acted like those from Naxos “there would be no race problem, because Naxos Negros knew what was expected of them” because they “knew enough to stay in their places” (Larsen 1724). At the beginning of the story, the reader would feel sympathy towards the workers at Naxos, who truly believed they were preparing the students for better lives and sympathy for Helga who tried to convince the new principle, Dr. Anderson, as to the true state of affairs. Helga failed to realize, however, that Dr. Anderson was aware of the situation at Naxos but felt that for change to occur there needed to be “more people like you, people with a sense of values, and proportion, an appreciation of the rarer things of life” (Larsen 1735). Helga mistakenly became offended at Dr. Anderson’s compliment by calling her “a lady” with “dignity and breeding” because of her belief that being able to trace one’s ancestry was more important that one’s actions (Larsen 1735).

The narrator is caught between his freedom and success in Paris and his past, marred by racism, which he is again about to confront. Using the flashback episode as an example of what he expects on his return, the narrator details the horrible feelings of helplessness and hatred generated by racist behavior. His family in the United States experienced prejudice firsthand and it damaged them forever. His father 's and sister 's lives were destroyed by racism, and the narrator escaped to France to avoid the same fate. Now famous, he must come to terms with his expatriate status, and find a way for his son to live without the same scars of racism.

Amy Tan had many personal experiences in her story. For example, when Amy Tan was living in Northern California, her mother had very high expectations on her. Her mother wanted her to be with the American society and be the best she could be. Amy Tan had to get a haircut very short to the way other famous children were acting in the United States. Amy’s mother was the one who encouraged this. With that, in the story “Two Kinds,” the young girl named Jing-mei live in a part of California and she had to get a very short haircut. Jing-mei’s mother wanted her daughter to look and act the same way Shirley Temple did. Within both of the girls lives, they each had to act like an already famous person exactly to please their mothers.

However, in the same way these stories are assimilated to each other, they also have their differences. These two stories differ in the perspective from where each story is told. One side tries to enforce rules and create barriers, whereas the other side is the reaction to the results of these rules and barriers, which later lead towards expectations of certain behaviors. The mother in “Girl” speaks as if she has been accustomed to living this way all her life and, according to her, its how her daughter should live also. Each family has different rules depending on their ethnicity. Most parents raise their daughters with the rules their own parents made them believe in, which in the end just creates stereotypes for others to use. In “How to date a brown girl”, the teenage boy uses this all through the story by speaking in a self-assured and experienced way, as if he knows these girls because of the existing stereotypes. While one story encourages a specific behavior on a girl, the other story takes advantage of this repeatedly seen behavior in order to get what he wants from the

The narrator who is a teenage boy often describes and categorizes these women by their looks and what they are willing to do sexaully. Diaz in a variety of ways makes this short story as a guide for teenage boys by causal language and slang throughout. Given that the narrator is from a inner city, the story initially comes off as stereotypical. Diaz often shifts words from positive to negative by describing the girls social class and ethnicity to show how the narrator treats the girls he's with. This shows how the influence of stereotypes on the narrator can influence his decisions regarding how to treat the girl. For example, the stereotype of dating a White girl will mean that she comes from a family of wealth and privilege. By attaching these stereotypes or assumption only put women in a certain light to be objectified. Diaz also highlights how the stereotype of White girls being easy and giving it up on the first date (Cite). While the narrator categorizes African American and Hispanic girls as different from the White girls. The initial tone of the short story comes off as a guide or instruction manual for young boys who are beginning to date. In the second paragraph, the narrator instructs the reader to hide his real social class by hiding the government cheese in the cabinet or the

When the ladies talk about their own life’s they never once assume that they are all thinking or going through the same problems, their ingroup. But when thinking about this “big, black boy” they think he must be a threat to the teenage daughter. Even though through further getting to know him we find out that he would never let anything happen to his new family let alone do anything, the only 98% he got in school was protectiveness on the aptitude test.

The main character also treats girls of different races differently. He wrongly suggests that if a girl is white, that you will definitely get a hand job before the night is through, if not more (Diaz 235). He says that white girls are the girls everyone really wants to date, because they are easy. This is why he does many things that white boys do. He also says that not many white girls live in his neighborhood, that the locals tend to be brown girls, black girls, or halfies. This is probably because many of the white people are of a higher economic class then he is. If they are in a higher economic class then he is, this may

In the short story “How to date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie” Junot Diaz

There were several short stories to choose from but the number one story that stood out to me was How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Hafie. This is a very interesting story that caught my attention from the title. This short story is written by Junot Diaz and he is a detailed author that gives visual understanding for the reader. This story is mainly about this young Hispanic man who is giving his point of view of each girl when dating them. He explains the ethnic differences of each girl and explains each characteristic and personality trait and gives advice on how to approach and view each girl. His judgments and personal experience of each girl gives specific stereotypes of girls who fall under the ethnic category. He is entitled to view these girls as the common stereotypes he believes fits them because of how other people and himself views them.

In How to date the narrator is waiting for a girl to come over to his house. While he was waiting he said, “(...) usually the out-of-towners are black, black girls who grew up with ballet and girl scouts, who have three cars in their driveways” (Diaz 2). This quote is talking about how the narrator thinks a woman's life is based on her color. In the quote the narrator said that, “usually the out-of-towners are black.’ This is stereotypical because, he is just assuming that she will be from out of town because she is black. He also assumed that she grew up with ballet and girl scouts. Everything that the boy said are stereotypical towards females of a darker color. This quote is showing how minorities stereotype other minorities and how the narrator judged the girl based on stereotypes that he learned at school or in the street. Just like the mexican stereotypes they were both given to them based on what people see from the outside not by how someone is on the inside. People using the stereotypes to assume how someone is is not good because they never learn how the person is on the inside. They just assume

Everyone wants a partner who takes care and can do anything for him or her. Many times we see that people marry a different person in respect to their culture, race, religion, age, etc., and people wonder that why they marry or are in a relationship with different people. This has been explained in an article “Mixed relationship offers diversity “by Holly Nall. In the article Nall relates the diversity by her personal experience about her relationship. She also raised some points about the benefits of being in a relationship with different people. For example, one can learn about their culture, religion, etc. She presents her point of view mainly in pathos, but also some part of logos and ethos. This is merely significant as Nall wanted her readers to think deeply about society and marriages.

Within their communities, many character are discriminated against because of the way they look and act. In her search for work, Willie realizes that she cannot even be associated with her husband because the color of her skin prevents him from being able to get work. When they search for work, “They no longer [walk] together on the sidewalk...they never [touch]. She never [calls] his name anymore” (208). Willie often describes Robert as looking like a white man, in fact, others might even seen their marriage as shameful. Willie, who wants to become a singer, is also told that she is “Too dark...Jazzing’s only for the light girls” (209). Willie’s unequal treatment reveals an implicit bias against dark-skinned individuals in the musical industry, particularly from a socioeconomic standpoint. Similarly, Marjorie is mocked by the other black girls at her high school because of the way she speaks, and is told that “[She sounds] like a white girl. White girl. White girl” (269). Marjorie is surrounded by a culture where “white girl” is an insult because it makes her different. In a larger sense, the expectations of what it means to be “black” contribute to cultural rifts within the black community and a sense that there is a “correct” way to be

“In 2009, 33 million people in the United States were second generation immigrants, representing 11% of the national population. The children of such immigrants in the U.S., also known as "second generation immigrants," experience a cultural conflict between that of their parents and that of mainstream U.S. society” (Wikipedia 1). Amy Tan the author of “Two Kinds”, and the young character in the story both are a second generation immigrants, who have struggled in their life with parents, about the culture they assimilating and their real culture.

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

In “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie” by Junot Diaz, the story highlights common stereotypes that the narrator picks out about girls that he is attempting to date. Stereotypes are often the first impression before the first impression, and can influence a man’s decision on how he is going to treat a girl based on her race and ethnicity. Diaz suggests that