Latin American Gender Roles

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

In “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria,” Judith Ortiz Cofer illustrates several hardships she suffered due to the universal, misleading stereotypes propagated by the media. Cofer demonstrates various stereotypes that Latin women are subjected to, such as an experience in which she was regarded as a waitress at a California restaurant, and “the Hispanic woman as the ‘Hot Tamale’ or sexual firebrand” (63).She also states that she was taught to act like a woman when she was a teenager and encouraged to dress maturely, which made her peers laughed at her (64). At the end of the article, Cofer concludes that she hopes to change the

Have you ever reflected on how important your culture is to you? A culture is defined as a group of people from a particular location or within a community that shares beliefs, manners, customs and numerous habitual actions that are passed down to future generations. While cultures may share particular attributes, without a doubt, they are all special and unique. Based on the upbringings and the values a person has acquired over time, they give you the opportunity to explore new ideas and meet a diverse set of people. Growing up with a Hispanic background, has allowed me to know the world that I am accustomed to today. Although I am honored to have the opportunity to experience everything within the Hispanic culture, there are also unpleasant issues that are associated with it. Gender roles, which are defined as behaviors that are more masculine or feminine, are expected to be performed by one gender. Consequently, both men and women are limited in their independence and their individuality.

* Gender Roles in Puerto Rico have become more progressive in recent years, however the topical gender roles are traditional. Boys are boys and girls are girls. Recently a new governor was elected, Gloria Ruiz Kuilan,a reporter from " El Nuevo Dia" characterizes the recent outcry from LGBT community that wished to challenge the typical traditional ideas of the school system. Even still, the overall consensus in schools are that gender roles are more conservative.

The Myth of a Latin Woman is the story of a young woman, Judith Ortiz Cofer, living in America as a Puerto Rican immigrant. No matter how far she tries to get from her Puerto Rican side the Island never leaves her. She shares that being clearly Latina, in her experience, can gain you some polite of attention or it can lead to a rude distancing. This is due to the fact that there are so many differences between American culture and Latin culture, which can also lead to awkward social interactions. A very obvious difference in the cultures is clothing and styles of dress. Not knowing how to properly dress for social occasion in American culture left Ortiz Cofer extremely uncomfortable and self conscious. As she grew she learned more about the stereotypes that are placed on her for being Latina. Although she had a hard time when she was growing up, Ortiz Cofer still became successful and showed that anyone can do the same thing.

Ecuadorian children become very excited to receive another opportunity to learn and support their peers. Children in Ecuador have more freedom than those that I have grown up to know. For example, they have permission to leave school grounds whenever and they may choose to not come back. Occasionally, teachers will send children home or out from school grounds to find an object or to bring their parent or sibling back with them (“Being a Kid in Ecuador”). Though parents are fully capable, they usually send their children off to the market to bring back groceries, so that when they are older they are able to do that on their own. Another way kids show their independence is through visiting the nearby river to go for a swim, usually inviting

Growing up, I moved around from place to place. From the suburbs of New Jersey, to the tranquility of the Dominican Republic, to the wilderness of the city. I learned from each of these vastly different places the importance to respect and embrace different personalities, cultures, and lifestyles. I lived in the Dominican Republic from the 3th grade to my sophomore year of high school and there are many things I learned whiles living there. The Dominican Republic is still a very conservative country in many aspects. One of the aspects that I was influenced the most, was DR’s gender roles. As a girl I was expected to act and think a certain way. I couldn’t dye my hair, or paint my nails, or wear makeup before the age of sixteen because if I

Over several years gender roles have been present in our daily lives. Society has preconceived judgments on what role each gender should play and when it is ok to go against societal norms. Although as the years continue to progress and societal norms begin to change, one thing that has remained the same is the gender role stigma. Gender roles have been instilled within us even before we exit our mother’s womb, from the color the newborns room is painted in down to the color clothes they wear. Plenty of research has been conducted on gender roles in Western culture. Some of the components researchers looked for were, what gender roles are, how they affect society and the individual along with the culture and history behind where it began (Cobb, R. A., Walsh, C. E., & Priest, J. B. (2009). While researching gender roles and different cultures I could not help but notice there were little to no research on gender roles within the Caribbean culture. This gap of literature helped me pose the question why is there plenty of research on gender roles in Western culture, but a scarce amount of research on gender roles in the Caribbean culture? Along with, how will we be able to eliminate or shift societal norms of what gender roles should be? It is important to touch on what gender roles are like in the Caribbean culture because then we can compare and contrasts how gender roles are displayed within various cultures and ultimately come up with a solution or suggestions on how to

“The Myth of the Latin Woman” is a significant composition of Puerto Rican writer Judith Ortiz Cofer living her life in America and the stereotypes she faces. Latina women are often perceived as either whores or domestics and Ortiz Cofer infers that she despises this label. From a fairly young age, Latina girls are over-sexualized by society and are looked at as being far too mature for their age. Wearing colors that would typically be seen on a fully grown woman, tight fitting clothing, and flashy jewelry are things that would get these girls looked at as if they were pieces of meat. These things are a part of Latin culture although despite this fact, sexualizing these girls and women is still wrong. Ortiz Cofer writes that customs are what

WOMEN IN COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA   Throughout the years, women in colonial times have experienced different levels of independence, liberties, and literal freedom and have transformed over the years. However, the roles given to them were often underappreciated and they struggled through. This is exemplified in the different roles that women played in the colonial settlements in Latin America. The religious roles, as well as the written marital rules also helped the Latin American women discover who they were, and how they fit into the pre-made societal roles.

Femininity among the Latin American culture at the time revolved around a set of assumptions regarding feminine style, appearance, and behavior, including sexual behavior, that placed the role of women as subservient to that of men.3 Firm gender roles in the societies placed female responsibility as the care taker of the household, responsible for the family budget, the health of their children, and the creation of wholesome home environments.4 Harsh criticisms of women who joined the working class resulted in working class women fighting to maintain their femininity, in the eye of the public and their own eyes as well, as it often was seen as synonymous with a woman’s self-worth and self-respect.3 These criticisms of working class woman were seen from the working class men, for example in Sao Paulo where male textile unionists complained to Vargas that women factory workers was shameful and revolting as it lead to increased male unemployment.5 Criticisms also arose from middle class women, who are often depicted by working class woman as mocking and insulting.6 With criticisms and obstacles presenting themselves from all directions, working class women had very little alternative than to cling

The women’s movement in Latin America is mainly influenced by the earlier feminist movements that have existed throughout history which were for the most part made up of middle class individuals. Nonetheless the women’s movement in Latin America includes the participation and unity of women in organizations. These organizations have a democratic ideal which entitles women’s solidarity. That said, they are made of women, by women for women. These different women movements have existed and continue to fight for the rights of women workers in trade unions, for housewives in squatter settlements, overall they are simply females, mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmothers defending their human rights and stand against their state’s authoritarianism

Cultural constructs in Colombia restrict the roles of Colombian women. Colombian women are expected to be housewives and serve their husband. They are considered less intelligent than men and their opinions are thought to be irrelevant when making economic decisions. Though some women have broken free from the stereotypes and expectations, many continue to be held to these standards, as seen in the negative portrayal of Colombian women in Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Colombian women, who aspire to be independent and economically successful, suffer in relation to men who are thought of as the head of the household. Many Colombian women will continue to be dependent on men for economic stability, despite being capable of performing tasks other than household work because of Márquez’s portrayal of Colombian women as intellectually inferior to men through degrading depictions as either servants or temptresses.

The Mexico use the word Muxe to referred a children born as a boy want and changes to a girl for example the boy name Alejandro Taledo. What I learn about Mexico they have been very progressive, since 2009 Mexico City the nation's capital has been recognizing same-sex marriages. The native root of has tolerance towards transgender in Central Mexican because the region’s history of Aztec priest and Mayan gods who cross-dressed or were both male and female. In American do I support a third gender? No, but would not protest transgender instead I will not vote in any laws to help to support third gender. No gender in society everyone would be truly equally in every aspect, infinite number gender is very diverse, but everyone would find a place

This paper is made to explore and compare the differences between the gender roles in the Latino community and the U.S. It is found that in the Latino community women are expected to stay at home and the man to provide income to the house, women and man in the Latino community are expected to act a certain way according to their beliefs, and to their sexual orientation, and gender roles stereotypes.