The Myth Of The Latin Woman Analysis

Originally written for Glamour, this essay is for women who may have not thought of the consequences of stereotypes. Cofer urges them to see beyond the color of a person’s skin. She describes her struggles of feeling different from her friends and coworkers to those unfamiliar with what being a minority often feels

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

Having a clear understanding of who you are and how you define yourself helps fight prejudice and discrimination. Being on the fence between two very different cultures can set a person apart from other people. Two writers who share this lifestyle is Emiene Shija Wright and Judith Ortiz Cofer. Judith Ortiz Cofer is the writer of The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria which briefly in depth shares her feelings about prejudice and discrimination using her own personal experiences and conveying the message through her writing. Emiene Shija Wright is the writer of Saying Something in African which shares her experience and frustrations with discrimination and wanting to “belong” and shows her transition to the way she decides

This essay will critically analyze the various forms of oppression that are set out through Audrey Lorde’s concept of the “mythical norm” as discussed by Barbara Perry. Through the “mythical norm”, it can be seen that oppressions exists through the forms of racism and sexism which are exhibited through many scholarly texts and articles. Racism can be seen as a means of privilege and power that is given to individuals who coincide with the criteria of societies norm. In this case, these individuals consist of white, heterosexual, male beings who unknowingly oppress their racialized counterparts. Oppression can also be seen through the form of sexism. Sexism looks at the injustice and inequality of male dominance over female, which results to men being more privileged and advantaged in society over women who are disadvantaged. Therefore, privilege and power is obtained by those who coincide with the concept of the “mythical norm”, leaving minority groups who do not coincide with this conception oppressed through the forms of racism and sexism.

Embedded deeply in societal culture is the innate desire to put others into specific categories: customarily called stereotypes. Brent Staples had been on the receiving end of stereotypes for as long as he could recall. In Just Walk On By by Brent Staples, the author makes it abundantly clear, through the use of rhetorical devices such as imagery, expert testimony, pathos, and ethos, that he himself is aware of racial stereotypes and why society has them.

Being a racial minority, I am constantly faced with adversity simply due to my heritage. Specially during my school’s annual Latin Americ Festival, I was ridiculed for not being “latino enough” because of my light complexion. I faced this ostbalce through a form of peaceful protest: art. To combat the culturally ignorant, I organized many acts to perform at the Latin American Festival. From comedic skits, to singers and dancers, to poetry readings, I silenced the racial slurs said about to and denounced the stigmas that were held to my heritage.

Over the last one hundred and thirty years African Americans have little by little-gained freedom for themselves as slaves and domestic servants. Now as a culture they are legally capable of obtaining jobs and positions in all areas of private and public organizations, (Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J., 2010). This particular ethnic group are known to be instrumental in holding their cultures together through times of constant struggle. They have used rallies, protests, silent marches and received help from volunteer organizations to fight for rights as well as obtain justice in a racist and sexist society. This work explores the troubles African Americans face in Americas society today, through stereotypes and how gender roles as African Americans differ from each other as well as the American population.

“To believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same” is one of many definitions for a stereotype. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary makes it seem like it’s nothing at a;l and something small and innocent when, in all honestly stereotypes are cruel and wrong. Using stereotypes in our daily lives should not be allowed because it causes people to think less of themselves and limit themselves from one 's full potential. Having these stereotypes in our minds really limits our thoughts and opinions about certain things or people. Both essayist Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Brent Staples have personally experienced stereotyping and people thinking wrongly of them. In Cofer’s essay “ The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” and Staples “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Spaces”, they talk about what they have been through with racial stereotyping and what affects it has them, personally. But even with those stereotypes in play they both prove that stereotypes do not determines someone 's future and people are able to prove stereotypes wrong.

To be a Latin women means to have a great appreciation of their background and understanding the importance of following their family traditions. First generation Latin women appreciate the difficulties that their families endured, and due to that, experiences as molded them to the person’s they are today. Latin Women are making strides of growth of education, politics, government, and the workforce. They have become a growing influence, breaking barriers. Being a Latin women with a different background will always mean having a label in society, but when they accomplish or have a purpose for something will mean they made it. When looking back at your life, and possessing a great amount of pride around your accomplishments, with no regret’s about what you did not do, and really understanding to control your destiny. A successful Latin Women will always have a cultural traditions they have to follow, unrealistic stereotypes they might encounter, and to work hard to accomplish goals.

The first primary source in this chapter 5 is an essay by Alejandro E. Bunge from Argentina. He was a concerned about women’s growing involvement in the workplace. He discussed many ideas of women’s participation in the nations paid labor force but his feeling towards female who works outside the house are heavily influenced by conservative ideals.

Because of the economic, social, and political challenges, many African American have to confront adversities that rarely happen to people of other races. Racial segregation exists in many areas, including in the housing, healthcare, educational, and employment sectors. If one’s race is being prejudiced, women in that race are suffering from a double prejudice, both racism and sexism. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, my friend Tiana is an African American graduated from New York University (NYU) with a major in Gender and Sexuality Studies in 2012. Since she was a child, Tiana had suffered from racial and gender discrimination for many years in many respects, such as education, shopping, and medical care. Growing up in a disadvantaged

Every person is privileged, stereotyped, and discriminated against in their life. Unfortunately, these acts, words, and assumptions are not within a person’s control, because they cannot change their race, sex, gender, or disabilities. Therefore, these attributes are unearned and society needs to eliminate the principles associating people with them, and determine a person’s significance based upon the decisions and actions they choose in life.

For my research paper I chose to investigate the gender gap and how that effected the way that men and women may view other races. I believe that women, due to their struggles with gender bias, will be more compassionate and less racist than men. I chose the following four articles to look into gender bias and modern racism. My four chosen articles look into the United State’s racial and gender biases compared to those around the world.

Gender oppression is a prevalent matter universally as woman is relegated by man worldwide. Although all forms of oppression are consequential, often having a variety of overlapping aspects, gender oppression can be designated individually. Gender oppression differs from other forms of oppression as all other forms of oppression, such as racism and homophobia, can relate back to gender. In addition, gender oppression affects the largest sum of individuals overall. Woman is one of the two central sexes and women make up roughly half of the earth’s population. Other attributes such as race and sexual orientation are more diverse than sex, however, they can overlap with sex. This concept regarding the interconnection between social categories is known as intersectionality, which is discussed widely in Kimberlé Crenshaw’s piece titled “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics”. Crenshaw discusses several court cases in her piece in which it is illustrated that institutions such as Congress failed to take matters such as intersectionality into account (Crenshaw, 1989 p. 142). She states, “the boundaries of sex and race discrimination doctrine are defined respectively by white women's and Black men's experiences” (Crenshaw, 1989, p. 143). This statement assists in demonstrating how even when intersectionality is taken into account, one can still be relegated as the “Other”

In this paper I am going to show how Gloria Anzaldua has impacted racial and gender equality in her lifetime and, even though there is still as much inequality today as there was when Anzaldua was alive, her works are very useful in acquiring the tools to combat America’s social standards on race and gender. I am going to elaborate on how Americans can stop discriminating and become more open-minded to other race and gender identities by using Anzaldúa’s ideals, and relate these suggestions to the classroom text: Brenda Allen’s Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity. I feel like it is extremely important to have tools and references to follow if one is having difficulty in accepting themselves or if others witness a difficulty in accepting the differences some may have that are against America’s societal norms.