The Myth Of The Latin Woman Analysis

In several cultures, women are seen as archetypes more than men. The proposition of women are instantly idealized and glorified and instantaneously ignore the true complexity of a woman. Countless of these superficial images can be seen across various cultures where the societies within these cultures define what it means to be a female and what type of behavior is and isn’t acceptable within those parameters. The persistent restatement of these stories throughout these generations reinforces the gender system. Women who step out of the norm in these societies are then held punishable for their actions. Alicia Gaspar de Alba pinpoints the three archetypal roles that are given to the women in the Mexican and Chicana cultures. These are,

The story “Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros describes the lives of Mexicans in a Chicago neighborhood. She depicts the life that women endure as Latino wives through her portrayal of the protagonist, Cleofilas. For Cisneros being a Mexican-American has given her a chance to see life from two different cultures. In addition, Cisneros has written the story from a woman’s perspective, illustrating the types of conflicts many women face as Latino wives. This unique paradigm allows the reader to examine the events and characters using a feminist critical perspective.

Identity is a group of characteristics, data or information that belongs exactly to one person or a group of people and that make it possible to establish differences between them. The consciousness that people have about themselves is part of their identity as well as what makes them unique. According to psychologists, identity is a consistent definition of one’s self as a unique individual, in terms of role, attitudes, beliefs and aspirations. Identity tries to define who people are, what they are, where they go or what they want to be or to do. Identity could depend on self-knowledge, self-esteem, or the ability of individuals to achieve their goals. Through self-analysis people can define who they are and who the people around them

In the essay of Judith Ortiz "The Myth of the Latin Women: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" was an essay I believe many students were able to relate, understand, and reflect with the arguments she pointed out. Judith Ortiz seemed passionate in her essay because it was a narrative of a situation she went through. While reading Judith 's essay it was easy to comprehend what she was trying to make her audience understand. Judith 's tone throughout the essay was form, reflective, and informative. The imagery she gives us in her essay when talking to about Latin women made easy for students to image

During the poetry reading, a woman motioned Cofer to a table and thought “that [Cofer] was a waitress” (Cofer 108). Cofer was carrying a notebook, yet the woman assumed Cofer was a waitress because she is a Latina. This demonstrated that people assumed that Latinas have the role of a housemaid, similar to the stereotype of Mammy from Gone with the Wind. If Cofer was a different race, she would not experience these incidents. The media’s poor portrayal of Latinas negatively affect how they are viewed in the real-world, especially when they hold such

Common stereotypes about women in the Mexican-American culture include that women are uneducated, good housewives, and very fertile. Many parents still believe it’s the woman’s job to stay home and be the homemaker. The concept of gender, which is socially constructed, is reinforced since birth. (Sociology Lecture 08/24/2015) Ana was caught in the middle of gender politics. Her mother oppressed her daughter so she can become a grandmother. The film “Real Women Have Curves” deals with gender stereotypes and struggles of poor women living in East LA. Carmen was trying to have Ana chained to the notion of women being inferior to men. Carmen believed men to be superior, whereas Ana thought differently. However Ana strived to liberate herself from traditional cultural norms by pursuing her college education. Her mother’s negative influence only caused Ana to rebel.

Judith Ortiz Cofer is a Puerto Rican whose writing often examines the conflict and the beauty of cultures mixing together, as people immigrate to America. Though she exhibits a strong connection to her Latin heritage, she often seems to also resent that part of her life. There are many standards and expectations in the Puerto Rican society which Cofer writes to subvert, viewing them negatively. As a Puerto Rican woman, Cofer often disagrees with the limits and expectations placed on a woman in Puerto Rican society, and this attitude is the subject of much of her work. In “Claims,” the speaker describes “Grandmother.” Cofer uses this poem to illustrate a family and describe an individual, as well as

You can see how Maria’s El Salvador is empty of people, full only of romantic ideas. Jose Luis’s image of El Salvador, in contrast, totally invokes manufactured weapons; violence. Maria’s “self-projection elides Jose Luis’s difference” and illustrates “how easy it is for the North American characters, including the big-hearted María, to consume a sensationalized, romanticized, or demonized version of the Salvadoran or Chicana in their midst” (Lomas 2006, 361). Marta Caminero-Santangelo writes: “The main thrust of the narrative of Mother Tongue ... continually ... destabilize[s] the grounds for ... a fantasy of connectedness by emphasizing the ways in which [Maria’s] experience as a Mexican American and José Luis’s experiences as a Salvadoran have created fundamentally different subjects” (Caminero-Santangelo 2001, 198). Similarly, Dalia Kandiyoti points out how Maria’s interactions with José Luis present her false assumptions concerning the supposed “seamlessness of the Latino-Latin American connection” (Kandiyoti 2004, 422). So the continual misinterpretations of José Luis and who he really is and has been through on Maria’s part really show how very far away her experiences as a middle-class, U.S.-born Chicana are from those of her Salvadoran lover. This tension and resistance continues throughout their relationship.

In a scene from the film, Selena, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a Mexican-American singer, is ignored by a white sales woman. The sales woman judges Selena on the color of her skin, determining her social status as one unimportant to her business, not realizing that Selena was actually a celebrity. Just as the sales woman predetermined a role for Selena rooted by race and ethnicity, Waretown High maintained class, gender, and race stereotypes in determining girl’s futures and outcomes. Julie Bettie’s Women Without Class discusses these stereotypes through expectations set for las chicas and the preps by the school, families, and themselves, the exclusion of hard-living students, those whose families were low income, and the ability for some girls to become upwardly mobile as an exception to the rules.

Both of these essays reflect on facing prejudice with a particular audience in mind: Cofer’s intended demographic is white men, while Staples is addressing society as a whole, but particularly white women. Cofer wants men to know that Latina women are not the sexual deviants they are stereotyped as; they are not simply the “whore,

Stereotypes are dangerous weapons in our society. “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” is a short essay in which the award winning poet and professor of English, Judith Ortiz Cofer, wishes to inform and persuade the audience that labels and stereotypes can be humiliating and hurtful. The author targets the general public, anyone that doesn’t understand that putting someone in a box because of a stereotype is wrong. Cofer starts out the essay by telling the reader a story with a drunk man who re-enacted “Maria” from the West Side Story, and how angry that made her feel. She continues by explaining how she grew up in the United States being a Puerto Rican girl trying to fit in, but always being labeled as an island girl. Cofer carries on by explaining why Latin people get dressed and act a certain way. Then she recalls some more stereotypical incidents.

Judith Ortiz Cofer a Latin American author of short stories, poetry, autobiography, young adult fiction, and essays, as a young child migrated to Mainland America from Puerto Rico with her family, moving into an apartment complex with other people of Latin descent. Although, she spent most of her years in the Continental U.S. her writings are reflective of the strong latin heritage that her mother undoubtedly instilled in her from a young age. This is clear in her short story “Nada” where the narrator makes references to the hispanic community that live at an apartment complex in New Jersey. Cofer’s style of writing and experiences in her life are brought out in this story as well as many more of her writings. She includes some Spanish words throughout the story and ideals of the hispanic culture.

This highlights that Chicanas prefer Chicanos more than they prefer each other; they perpetuate gender hierarchy by constantly placing males above females. Chicanas fear the criticism they will endure if they defy gender boundaries. Joan Riviere addresses this phenomenon in her essay “Womanliness as a Masquerade. Her essay explores the discomfort that woman feel when they act outside of the boundaries established by a male dominated society. In one example, she describes a

In this article, “The Myth of the Latin Woman” Cofer has talked about many incidents from her life where she was talked about, from a young girl the adult life. Ortiz Cofer is so ardent about this topic of stereotyping Latin women because she was a native women of the Puerto Rico area who really grew up in the United States. There is how she witnessed firsthand how hurtful stereotyping could be. In “The Myth of the Latin Woman”, She has repeated use of Spanish words in the essay to shows her audience how proud she is of the Latin heritage. she continuously uses other words, such as Puerto Rican, and Latina to stress the names she heard growing up. Because she has been brought up to love her Latin culture, she was often stereotyped here in the United States. As you can see, this is why she became so involved with trying to bring people so much awareness to the

“Mixed cultural signals have perpetuated certain stereotypes…”(Page 372, paragraph 2, line 1). The Myth of the Latian Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria, by Judith Ortiz Cofer is about how Judith Ortiz Cofer was discriminated because she is a Latina Woman. She describes about several people treating her differently than others, through song, through looks, and through sexual thoughts and actions towards her. Even after all the discriminating actions persisted upon her, she still pursues on to help others learn that Latinas are not always like the movies say they are or should be like. Judith Ortiz Cofer does this by writing poetry and novels. “My personal goal in my public life is try to replace the old pervasive stereotypes and myths about