Observation Of Migrant Mother

Marisela Martinez Short, my Mother, is an emigrant from Guadalajara Mexico. Marisela was born on May 27th 1976, currently she is thirty nine years old. She immigrated to America when she was sixteen years old in 1992. I chose to interview Marisela because I find her story and the way her life changed dramatically very interesting.

Many single mothers suffer everyday because if not being able to meet their needs.These mothers have American kids that will help our future. Immigrant single mothers should receive help from the government because they aren’t employable and many job owners take advantage of these immigrants mothers.

The film Clinica de Migrantes overall showed the injustice that immigrants face when they come to America. There is the belief that some people have of America being the melting pot where different groups of people can come together and become one. However, that belief is not true and Clinica de Migrantes further reiterated that. The film showed that there is not a concern for undocumented immigrants in regards to their health care and wellbeing. In the film, there was a patient who had a colostomy bag inserted in the emergency room and the bag was just left on him; because he did not have insurance to be properly cared for.

Although immigrant women play a big role in America’s society and economy, they have been constantly mistreated and looked down upon throughout history. Not only do they face the burden of the stratifications that their gender entails but they also struggle to adopt the American culture and norms. America was viewed as the land of opportunities and economic prosperity, a perspective that draws in many immigrant women who were willing to leave their families and possessions to come to this foreign country in hopes of a better life. In America, they faced many challenges as they not only had to work long hours but also took care of their families and do housework as well. They struggled to make a standard living out of low wage jobs and assimilating into America’s society. Today, the treatment of immigrant women has improved greatly as they have stood together and fought for their rights. Immigrant women have built communities and held strikes for better pay and treatment. Although America has made great strides in improving treatment of immigrant women, there is still social injustice. Immigrant women have come a long way from the first time they entered America until now, but their stories are often left untold and omitted from American history.

As the women’s liberation movement has prolonged and women have been given increasingly larger roles in society, some ideas of what women’s responsibilities should be remain the same. For example, many people believe or expect women to be a submissive partner in a heterosexual relationship. This can cause misunderstandings and traumatic experiences for both partners involved when one partner does not fit the expectations of the other. Moreover, when those relationships involve children, those expectations can manifest again and can affect the wellbeing of the child. These challenges specifically show themselves in the lives of migrant women who leave home to work as nannies or become wives.

During the Great Depression, many migrant workers moved to California due to unprofitability on the Great Plains. They were already struggling financially even before the depression, and “the stock market crash in 1929 only served to exacerbate this already tenuous economic situation” (LoC.gov 1998). In order to keep themselves surviving on the plains, farmers grew more crops, putting pressure on the land and clearing plants that held the soil together. The Dust Bowl was the time when wind blew up these loose particles to form blinding dust storms, and “when the drought and dust storms showed no signs of letting up, many people abandoned their land” (PBS.org 2013). Their lives did not improve in California, as they were just as exhausted as

This photograph caught my attention because of how dirty their clothing is and their facial expression which seemed depressing and desperate for help. The picture is of Bud Fields (who was a sharecropper-farmer who gives a part of each crop as rent) and his family, they are seen sitting (except for the eldest kid) and are staring at the camera trying to show sympathy and show what the Great Depression has done to their lives. As you can see the background of the house looks very dirty and empty and by the look of their clothes they seem like they haven’t showered because their water probably ran out and haven’t washed their clothes. This picture was taken in 1936 or 1937 in Hale County, Alabama.

The third image is that of the welfare mother… the new version that sees the welfare mother as breeding animals who have no desire to work, but are content to live off the state (Woodard Mastin, 273). This character is typically not a major or supporting character within the story. This stereotypical black woman is part of a protagonist’s hardship that they must overcome in some way. One example of this character in popular culture is from the film Precious, which was released in 2009. In this film, the protagonist, Precious has been impregnated by her father twice and if forced to live with her abusive mother. Both women in these film represent this stereotype of the welfare mother but her mother is the one who depends on the government’s help to support herself. In one scene, the mother tells Precious that she needs to quit school and go to welfare to get the help she needs to support her family. In reality her mother only wants the food stamps and other government help for herself. She still receives some welfare from Precious but wants more now that precious has two children. In another scene, she explains through a voice over that her mother collects the welfare for her children as well as herself. A social worker then enters the scene to ask about the child and the mother’s work finding status, she tells her that she has tried finding work but has not been successful (Precious). But in other scenes during the film she is just sitting in the house

She then picks up the picture wipes her eyes and "stared at him before turning and going back to the living room" ,"bring that back" the man said she ignores him and tells him to "get your things and get out"(Carver 2). This showed how determined the woman was to keep the baby away from the man and wants the man not to have anything reminicing of the baby. The baby the most important symbol in the story, is related to the other symbols also. While trying to keep the baby away from the man she retreats into the kitchen where "She turned and tried to hold the baby over in a corner behind the stove"(Carver 2)."The baby was red faced and sceaming. In the scuffle they knocked down a flowerpot that hung"(carver 2)

My image is from a pinterest post, African American Knowledge is the name of the pinterest account. This account posts some conscious images with a message relating to the black community. The truth is something that can be hard to accept, and majority of these images highlight horrific acts of black oppression. My image displays a fence with a row of black children standing behind it. Behind the children is a wooden house, most likely where the group stays. The expressions on their faces look hopeless, sad, and distraught. From analyzing this picture I assume these are slave children. Life was not easy growing up as a slave child, they went through all of the hard labor and torture that an adult would endure. Their facial expressions reflect

In this picture you can see a woman of older age holding a kid. From the women’s face expression she seems to be desolated, tired, hopeless and afflicted. You can tell the little kid is probably very tired too because you can see he is asleep.

In the poem mother to son by Langston Hughes, the picture has some similarities. The picture shows a mother with a child, and her life seems horrible. Langston Hughes poem said that life ain’t no crystal stair, it has tacks, splinters, boards torn up, and floors with no carpet. But, the picture shows it too because the mother’s life doesn’t look good and she is sitting on a floor with no carpet. Also, the yarn in the picture shows her life and it means that her life is all mixed up and the poem explains it too.

Her body is relaxed and leaning in. In The Young Mother ("The Young Mother"), the mother sits, with a slight smile, giving her the appearance of bliss and contentment in the simple act of holding her child. The child in each painting is an older baby, instead of a newborn, allowing the artists to show the child being old enough to hold himself up and be aware of his surroundings. By doing this, the artists were able to show the connection between the mother and child is mutual, that the child is aware of his mother's love in holding or feeding, and feels love in return. both artists use light to spotlight the mother and child.

The famous photographer Walter Evans depiction of life and the people during the Great Depression of the 1930’s is isolated, vulnerable, and depressing. The image of Bud and his family portrays them to be isolated by squishing all six of them into one room. The small squared picture frame shows that even though they are alone, they still value family. An example of vulnerable would be one of the child’s shirt doesn’t even fit correctly. All of them are not wearing any shoes. The grandmother is the only one who is wearing shoes, which could mean she is he only one that could get a pair. Their house gives off a filthy vibe, which shows that money is very scarce, and they do not have the necessary home supplies to clean the house. None of the

Dorothea Lange is an experienced photographer, born on the 26th day of March 1895. Her works have been a source of insight for many people and this has proved very effective to contemporary photographers. There are many works that this woman did during her time and it is important to acknowledge them. Migrant Mother is one of these works and the applause that it has gotten from the viewers clearly portrays expertness at its best. The photo revolves around the life and family of one Florence Owens Williams and was taken in 1936 in California Florida. Going through the various elements of this photograph is effective in ensuring that one understands the deep concepts that revolve around it.