Essay about The World through Graciela Iturbide's Camera Lens

Because of the Virgin’s Mexican history, she holds great significance to Mexican Catholics, so it is no surprise why the Virgin remains inherent in Mexican culture, or as literary scholar Debra J. Blake so aptly defined, “Guadalupe equals Mexico.” Both men and women admire the Virgin, but her religious setting provides a context for oppression through the church. NietoGomez explains how the church utilized Guadalupe’s image, "Marianismo, the veneration of the Virgin Mary, became the model of how to make oppression a religious obligation. This is the heritage of the Chicana." The church created a patriarchal role for themselves by weaving the Virgin’s image as a pure mother to model ordinary women’s behavior. By applying this method through the guise of subjugation, the Church rationalized their need to “protect” women in order to maintain their pure, moral status. Paradoxically, feminine virtues expressed by the Virgin as to be employed by women represents many contradictory elements. Debra

The 1930s were a period of many changes in Spain, especially because Francisco Franco started ruling the country and the political problems that arose. Things slowly started changing for women because of the foundation of Mujeres Libres, a female anarchist organization that fought for female rights. Until then, the general view of women was that of Proudhon, which meant that women were to be seen as reproducers whose role was to contribute to the society by taking care of their household and their children . This was especially common in the rural areas of Spain, where women could even be forced into arranged marriages against their will and almost had no say in what happened to them. The main oppressor of La Casa de Bernarda Alba is actually Bernarda, the mother of

In A Mexican Self-Portrait, written by many authors, this article focused on the different lifestyles of the poor and rich woman in Mexico. The representations of women in Mexico for both high and lower classes in Latin America were very different. For lower class they were considered “tortilleras’’, however, one of the most well known was referred to as “La China”. La China was one of the most notable types portrayed in the “Mexican Self Portrait”. She was considered to be an unnamed independent woman of the popular class.

Although there were not many women in the film, those who were portray held important roles. The first being Dona Isabel or Tecuichpo, the interpreter for Hernan Cortes and sister of Topiltzin. She is first introduced when Topiltzin is brought in front of Cortes. As is stated in the film, she is the replacement for La Malinche or Dona Marina. As is stated in Socolow’s The Women in Colonial Latin America, “She (La Malinche) showed her gratitude to the

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

Taking photographs may seem simple, but being a photographer is more than browsing through the viewfinder and pushing the exposure button. A photographer needs to know how to analyze the scene, speak in words that language cannot, and reach to the souls of people through a picture. During the Great Depression, many photographers captured the scenes of poverty and grief. However, there was only one photographer that truly captured the souls of Americans. According to Roy Stryker, Dorothea Lange "had the most sensitivity and the most rapport with people" (Stryker and Wood 41). Dorothea Lange was a phenomenal photographer that seized the hearts of people during the 1930s and beyond, and greatly affected the times of the Great Depression.

One of the most important and controversial figures in Mexican history and literature is La Malinche. La Malinche, also known as Dona Marina, Malintzin Tenepal or Malinalli, played a significant role in the Spanish Conquest as translator and political mediator to Hernàn Cortèz. Although her importance in the conquest is undeniable, her depiction in literature and as a woman have been up for debate and the interpretations of her have influenced Mexican feminism. The two well-known interpretations of Malinche’s story are polarized interpretations of the historical figure and

In the beginning, there were mothers. Like goddesses they create life, nurturing their offspring into adulthood and beyond. Through wisdom, culture, and tradition they educate their young on the wonders of life, gracing us with the opportunity to follow in their footsteps to become mothers ourselves. Through the study of Chicana feminism, it becomes apparent how motherhood is a recurring theme throughout much Chicana feminist art and literature, often discussing how these women fostered growth in multiple facets of their being through their general life experience. Perhaps, this is due to the role of a mother weaving the lives of their children, nursing them, guiding them, and creating a life that implements their own values and beliefs. They have the opportunity to create a mirror image or even an entirely new and improved version of themselves. Whether the maternal figure is a hero or villain, traditional or nontraditional, tangible or fictitious, these characters play a vital role in shaping the Chicana feminism we see today.

Although Marina helped Cortes during his expeditions, many townspeople have very different views of Dona Marina. If you ask some people about Dona Marina some will call her a traitor because she helped aid the spaniards and helped the foreign rulers rise to power, others would say she did what she had to do to survive. She had enough intelligence to learn multiple languages and enough social skills to be a cultural mediator for foreigners who may have not necessarily gotten along.4 Why is it that throughout her years serving Hernan Cortes’, she isn’t given a higher title other than Hernan Cortes Translator. She was obviously more than this, yet due to her background and sex all of her great accomplishments go unnoticed or even worse passed on to the male who “own’s her.” This goes along with how women were treated more like property rather than human beings. She was bought by Cortes as a translator, she followed him throughout most of his expeditions and helped him achieve great success by possibly taking her ideas and calling them his own, and due to the fact that she is a woman, she doesn’t get any credit for her hard work. About a year or so after I had left Mexico, I learned that Dona Marina had married a conquistador named Juan Jaramillo and that she gave birth to her second child, a girl, this time named Dona

Some of the causes her image has been associated with is the independence and identity of the Mexican and Chicano people (Livingstone). The first time it was used heavily was in 1810 when she was used as the rebel face in the Mexican independence against Spain as their battle cry was: “Long Live Our Lady of Guadalupe” ("Our Lady of Guadalupe"). Appreciation is displayed by how the first independent President of Mexico changed her name to Guadalupe Victoria to show her devotion to the goddess (Livingstone). And the Virgin of Guadalupe was used as a rebellious symbol of the Zapata's followers, who were mostly indigenous people, in the Mexican Revolution in 1910-1920 using her as a symbol for mother nature and freedom (Livingstone). Overall Tonantzin gave many of the people hope that they could succeed and fight for their freedoms throughout Mexican and Latino

A beautiful dark-skinned brunette stands before you. Her long, flowing hair beautifully frames her sweet face and demure smile. Yards of richly colored clothing adorn her tall, slender frame. Rays of sunlight appear from behind, emphasizing pure beauty. Her hands are joined together and she holds them at her chest in worship or, perhaps, in gratitude. Who is she, or rather, who do you see? Practicing Catholics all over Central and South America see a venerated patron saint. In Mexico, she is immediately recognizable as symbolic mother of a nation, ‘nuestra madre.’ New generations of mestizos see a symbol of all that is woman, as real and complex as their mothers, sisters, daughters, and lovers.

Mireles in her book, ‘Life along the border’ offers a limelight to the historical culture of Texas. She also analyses in detail the main role that Texas Revolution played in the history of the city and at the same time explores the strained relationship between the Mexicans and the Anglos as a result of the Mexico-US war. Her work is a masterpiece thesis that tries to understand in greater length the history of women along the Mexican border and serves as a viable document in helping scholars, learners, and the society at large understand the culture of the Texas people, the settlements at Rio Grande City, the Mexican populations, how the US has influenced border politics, as well as the economic and social life before Rio Grande Valley was

The photograph that has been chosen to be identified in this response is the picture of commander Sir Arthur Currie and Muggins, a white spitz dog. The turn of the century relates to the period of time within the late 1800s to the early 1900s. As this old photograph was taken back in 1919, it is considered to be included in the timeline of turn-of-the-century events. The category of history I see the most is military and assistance. This picture dates back to the Great War, when commandment was under Sir Arthur Currie, who was recognized as a highly skillful leader. During that time, Muggins was also well recognized, as he was a volunteer who toured downtown Victoria to deliver Red Cross donation boxes each

Since its inception, photography has been used to capture moments in time all around the world. This wonderful technology has existed since ancient times, and has only improved in recent history, changing society in the process.

Have you ever taken a picture or been looking through a photo album and felt a sudden rush of emotion? Do you wonder what caused that emotion? Many find themselves captivated by a photograph and overwhelmed by the emotions that the photograph arouses. Believe it or not the arousal of emotion from those photographs was not caused by the content of the picture but by certain elements within the photograph. When a photograph is viewed it is not only the subject that triggers the overwhelming emotional response, it is the length of time that the film was exposed to sunlight, the way lighting is used and played with, and the strong detail of colors or lack thereof. While many believe that the subject acts as the primary stimuli to emotions, the