The Myth Of The Latin Woman By Judith Ortiz Cofer

During the time I been taking English 105 we have talked about many essays. Many of the essays we read in this semester were interesting essays in the 50 essays book. Most of the essays were inspirational to students. Some of the essays were very helpful they help develop our writing skills and how to be more descriptive in our essays. For the student learning outcome the essays should be interesting for the student to feel involved when talking about the essays. Many of the essays in our book were relatable to many students, yet there was one essay that ,in my opinion, did not have to be in our syllabus. In the essay "The Myth of the Latin Women: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" by Judith Ortiz. The essay I did not believe it had to be in our syllabus because it really did not have to do much with the student learning outcome was "The Declaration of Independence" by Thomas Jefferson.

Stereotyping individuals makes us overlook their uniqueness, making us often think things of others that may not be true.

Furthermore, stereotypes are used to increase an individual’s self-esteem and strengthen their social identity. Social identity theory contributes largely to the formation of stereotypes, as it states that a person’s social identity is formed from being part of a group. To justify one’s own group, they often pick out real or imaginary differences and flaws in other groups and compare those to their own group (Ford & Tonander, 1998). This led Ford

In the modern world, gender stereotypes affect men and women in different ways. A kind man can be perceived as violent for simply being a man, and in contrast, a woman can be seen as an object to chase or prey upon simply for being a woman. When these roles overlap, the innocent members of both parties feel uncomfortable and ashamed for things out of their control. Judith Ortiz Cofer’s essay entitled The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria is more effective in its explanation of perceived gender roles and stereotypes, compared to the Brent Staples essay Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space.

Stereotypes are socially constructed, over-generalized views regarding a particular group of persons with certain characteristics that are widely accepted, and usually expected, in a society. The dominant group of a certain society, which in this case is probably Caucasians and men, usually creates these social constructions. Claude M. Steele, a researcher from Stanford University, performed multiple research studies on the idea and psychological effects of stereotypes on its victims. In his studies, he coins the term “stereotype threat” as the “social-psychological predicament that can arise from widely-known negative stereotypes about one's group,” which implies that “the existence of such a stereotype means that anything one does or any of one's features that conform to it make the stereotype more plausible as a self-characterization in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one's own eyes” (Steele 797).

When Americans meet someone new they are already sticking that person into some sort of category because of their appearance. If someone looks different than Americans are use to, they automatically stick some sort of stereotype to them. Stereotypes are strongly displayed in the media; stereotype can be based of someone’s color, culture, religion, or sex. In Black men in public spaces by Brent Staples, and in The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the authors talk about stereotypes based on their gender and ethnicity and the experiences they both encounter because of their ethnicity and gender which have many similarities and differences. Stereotypes can lead

Inequalities within minorities is not limited to economic unfairness but also social inequity. The second story that shows how inequality within minorities is “The Myth of the Latin Woman” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. “The Myth of the Latin Woman” is an essay based on the real life experiences of Judith Ortiz Cofer. The story talks about the racist inequalities she has went through as a women of Hispanic descent. “a young man, obviously fresh from a pub, spotted me and as if struck by inspiration went down on his knees in the aisle. With both hands over his hearts he broke into an an Irish tenor’s rendition of Maria from West Side Story”. The author retells one of her experiences from earing graduate credits one summer and she is met by someone whom ignorantly makes racists remark simply because she is Latina. Furthermore in the story Cofer mentions how people gave the man a round of applause. “amused fellow passengers gave his voice the round of gentle applause” (Page 61). This shows that it is acceptable to generalize an ethnic group into a character from West Side Story. In addition to the unfair generalization, Cofer is confronted unfair expectations. I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early”. This is unfair assumption made to Cofer. She is treated like a vegetable rather than a girl who traditionally grows into womanhood. This also generalizes Latin women to be matured at a young age. Which is incorrect just because Latinas fall into a small category in society

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.

“As a Puerto Rican girl growing up in the United States and wanting like most children to 'belong, ' I resented the stereotype that my Hispanic appearance called forth from many people I met.” (Cofer 204) This brings up the way I feel wherever I am, another quote that hits it close to home is “Though I now know that most adolescents feel out of step most of the time, I also know that for the Puerto Rican girls of my generation that sense was intensified.” (Cofer 204) I feel out of step all the time and as a woman I often hear stereotypes about how I can 't do certain tasks

The essay “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer is about deprivation that Latin women go through everyday due to stereotypes that society make up. Stereotypes play a big role in the way that individuals are identified by society. Cofer describes her personal experiences of being a Latin woman, and her struggles that she has to face because of the stereotypes. Cofer tells us of some incidences that happened throughout her life. Like going to London for a summer to Oxford University, where a man sees her on a bus, drops to his knees and sings his own version of “Maria” from West Side Story. Even though she was aggravated, she tried to be calm while everyone around her were amused by the young man’s song. She describes how growing up during 1960’s in New Jersey, she suffered from “cultural schizophrenia” which meant she was forced to keep on with her heritage. Being a Latin woman you’re raised strictly and they have high expectations. Mothers encouraged their daughters to act like mature women. Cofer explains another stereotype, such as the “hot tamale”, where woman are viewed as sexual objects. Woman are usually misinterpreted because of the way they are dressed. Some men treat Latin woman without respect. She talks about when she was at a hotel. A man approached her and began to sing the song of “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” in the tune of “La Bamba”. She was offended by the man’s song. People view Latin’s as house maids,

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will

Stereotypes are not only rude, they are hurtful. They are massively spread out, from gender to race to even weight. They can be extremely hard to get around. So what should you do? In the face of mockery and prejudice, the best you can do is persevere, ignore it, or correct stereotypes when you can.

“The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria”, by Cofer explains what she has been through with stereotypes and how she dealt with them. Growing up in an Hispanic culture is very different than growing up with an American family. There are certain things expected from each of those culture that are different from one another. “... for example, that of the Hispanic woman as the

In this world there are many things people are guilty of, one of those guilt’s is stereotyping others , even if it wasn’t meant in a harmful are negative way we all have been a victim or the aggressor . This paper will discuses what stereotypes are, how they affect people and how stereotypes can affect society. However, the common factor in either situation is that no good comes from stereotyping others.

The presences of stereotypes are overwhelming and are developed by both the environment a subject is raised in and their family. Stereotypes, which are pervasive throughout different societies, become intertwined in the collective values of the society as justification for all forms of social, economic, and political inequality among groups (Devine and Elliot 2000;Kaplan 2004; Operario and Fiske 2004). As people become more exposed to stereotypes they start to become a permanent part of a person’s life, they begin to stereotype themselves almost always involuntarily.