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There is an abundant amount of movies that are inspiring to people, and throughout the years there have been empowering messages for some women. In Real Women Have Curves produced by Effie Lavoo and George brown, there is an empowering message for women of all types. The film is about a Spanish 18-year-old girl who struggles with a life of a regular Spanish woman. While this movie applies more towards Spanish woman it can also empower women of all types. Ana the main character wants to attend college, and she is a bright girl. The problem is she cannot attend college ,because, of the nature of the Spanish community she comes from. The mother constantly puts her down for her weight and not being marriage material. Ana is also expected to help the family with earning money, which is one of the reasons she is not being allowed to go to college. As the mother says, “I have worked since I was 13 years old now it is her turn” (). Ana’s mother believes Ana need to work for the family since she has become of age, and that she needs to get married because that is what women are supposed to do.
While it can be seen as if Ana is being rude to her Mother, Ana is trying to bring herself out of the traditional ways her mother believes in. Ana wants her mother to see that women are not worth by their “virginity”, or their looks. As Ana’s sister Estela
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Not many Spanish women do what Ana did for multiple of reasons, if they got to see this film they would be inspired by the message. The message in this movie would help many women realize they can do more, and to not be afraid to be a little rude if they have to. Sometimes a woman has to be rude to get anywhere, for they get Knocked down by the community. The cultural norms of the Spanish community need to make more progress, and at the moment Spanish women are fighting to make that progress
Rather, it criticizes this culture through its portrayal of women. The narrative is focused on a male and is told by a male, which reflects the male-centered society it is set in. However, when we compare how the narrator views these women to who they really are, the discrepancies act as a critique on the Dominican culture. Yunior, who represents the typical Dominican male, sees women as objects, conquests, when in fact their actions show their resistance to be categorized as such. Beli, whose childhood was filled with male domination by Trujillo and the family she worked for, attempts to gain power through sexuality, the avenue the culture pushes women toward. This backfires, creating a critique of the limited opportunities available for women. La Inca portrays a different side to this, working quietly but in ways that are not socially acceptable through self-employment. Society attempts to cage these women, but they continue to fight against it. Diaz, in an interview, quoted James Baldwin, stating, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced" (Fassler). He exhibits the misogyny in the system but does not support it, rather critiques it through strong female characters. By drawing attention to the problem, the novel advocates for change. Diaz writes, at the end of part 1, “Nothing more exhilarating… than saving yourself by the simple act of waking”
The article entitled “Women and the Subversion of the Community”, written by Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Selma James, goes in depth about women’s roles in society in the past and present and how to change for the better in the future. A few of the specific points discussed in this article include what women’s roles in society tend to be and why, how women have struggled to break this stereotype and how no matter what women do, men are always in charge on some if not all levels. Each of these major discussion points is also exemplified through the culture and life style of Las Cholitas shown in the documentary “The Fighting Cholitas”.
For this assessment, I have chosen the movie Real Women Have Curves. The movie follows a traditional Mexican family and their struggle to survive in America. The film focuses, on the youngest American-born daughter Ana. Ana lives in a Hispanic community in East Los Angeles the daughter of Latino working immigrants from Mexico. Her family unit consists of her parents, two brothers, older sister and her grandfather. The movie shows the conflict Ana faces between the clashes of the two cultures. The film shows that Ana goes to great lengths to attend school every day. Ana has had a successful school career, as her peers are getting ready to attend college. She’s expected to get a job to financially help her struggling family. She
Real Women Have Curves, set in a tiny sewing factory in East L.A., this is the story of five full-figured Mexican-American women who are racing to meet nearly unmanageable manufacture deadlines in order to keep their tiny factory from going under. While they work, hiding from the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), they talk, about their husbands and lovers, their children, their dreams for the future. The story is told from the point of view of Ana, the youngest among them. Just graduated from Beverly Hills High School, Ana dreams of getting out of her home and going off to college and becoming a famous writer. Although she needs the money, Ana doesn't like working at the factory with her mother or sister, and has little respect
Pretty Woman, is a romantic comedy that tells the story of a prostitute who is saved from her life on the streets by a rich businessman. Julia Roberts plays the role of Vivian Ward, the prostitute who is barely making a living on the streets. Richard Gere plays the role of Edward Lewis, the successful businessman who falls in love with Vivian. The two characters meet when Edward needs directions to his hotel, while staying in Los Angeles for a business trip. Edward pays Vivian $3000 to be his date for various business events. Both characters end up falling in love. Through the movie, in many different scenes, the characters display identity management, self-fulfilling prophecy, social exchange theory, stereotyping, and reflected appraisal.
She is heavily influenced by the American culture, which creates a divide between her and her parents. Ana is very open and focuses on her future success, not as mother and wife, but as an independent women. Carmen Garcia, Ana’s mother, is influenced by traditional Mexican culture. She believes Ana needs to work to help support her family, and she needs to make sure she is fit to be a perfect wife. Carmen is very critical of Ana’s body and has a difficult time understanding Ana’s standpoint on topics like going to college. Estella, Ana’s sister, is a very hard working women who is not married, which is very frustrating for her mother Carmen. Estella operates a dress factory, where she can barely make ends meet. She struggles every day to make sure she can pay rent and her employees. Raul Garcia, Ana’s father, is very hardworking as well. He has multiple labor jobs in order to provide for his family. He is more understanding of Ana’s desire to go to college and is always willing to help out his children. Within the Garcia household, there is also Ana’s grandfather who is supportive of Ana’s decisions. Overall, the Garcia family’s problems are a result of the generational and cultural divide between Ana and her parents, specifically her
The television and film industry have gone to far extremes to shape the women we see in our everyday lives to be very over-idealistic, these women always seem to have their hair and makeup done, fancy clothes, and incredibly thin bodies. People don’t understand how much harm and pressure all these materials put on women. This idea the film and television industry has created for not only wome...
Miss Representation, a documentary film produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom released in 2011, presents a contemporary issue which is the misrepresentation of women’s portrayal in mass media. The media is powerful in shaping audience’s belief in how to be feminine. Women are expected to be beautiful, attractive, and even sexual on the media to attract audience’s attention. Also, the film points out the existence of social system in which men are considered more powerful and dominant than women. Finally, the film tries to increase the awareness of female real value including capability, educational achievement, and leadership. Consuming the media wisely to eliminate gendered stereotypes can help young women build their confidence and be successful.
In the play, Estela and her love interest do not have the best relationship. Estella describes, “I thought he was interested in me because he was impressed that I owned this factory, my ‘intelligence,’... When am I going to meet that man who will see the real me?” (59). Estela’s love interest disrespects her so Estela stops interacting with him. Lopez also depicts men as perpetrators when a caller on the radio talks about her abusive boyfriend. The caller explains, “I don’t know what has happened to him. He tells me if I did whatever he asked he wouldn’t hit me. But I do what he says and it’s still not good enough” (33). This abuse is so common in relationships that Carmen describes herself as lucky to not have that kind of relationship. Ana then stands up and empowers the rest of the women to exercise their rights to stop abuse. In contrast, the film paints a Hollywood-esque picture of love. Even though Ana’s boyfriend showed her affection and respect, Ana left him after they slept together which shows the man as the victim. Evidently, the film introduces more men into the story which takes away from the intimate, feminine setting of the play. The men in the play have more insignificant roles and are seen as perpetrators, but Lopez shows how the women stick together. Although men played more significant and angelic roles in the film, Lopez’s play postulates the more realistic side of relationships while illustrating that women are powerful
My Dad came to America by himself at the age of thirteen from India, hoping to achieve the widely known American Dream. He wanted to do this for his family and to have a better future. The oldest of two brothers, my father had to work a couple of jobs at a very young age. He skipped school for two years in order to make ends meet. He then started school to get back on track. The thrive and effort he put into his studies and work demonstrates how hard he succeeded to get to where he is now. He got accepted to well known universities. His hardships and work ethics with dealing with the society in America is similar to the film Real Women Have Curves and the articles, “ The economic Reality of being Latino/a in America”, “Unequal Childhoods: Class,
We tend to change our perceptions of ourselves to conform to the social norms. Even the “prettiest” girls experience self-esteem issues. In Mean Girls, Cady befriends a group of materialistic, judgmental girls who are called “The Plastics.” “The Plastics” are meant to drive for perfection. They are obsessed with their self-image, especially, the group’s leader, Regina George who always says, “I have to lose three pounds” (Mean Girls). Their body image gives the girls power, the skinnier and hotter they are, the more they can judge others who are not like them. Radical Feminist Theory criticizes the notion of beauty image. There is no one type of beauty, but this movie shows that one body size, one skin color, and one type of fashion, is beautiful. For example, all of “The Plastics” are skinny, lighter skin/white, and have long, straight hair. When Cady goes to Regina’s house with “The Plastics”, she finds out that even the prettiest girls find things wrong with their bodies. The girls are obviously beautiful, but while standing in front of a mirror, they criticize their bodies. Regina thinks her pores are huge, Gretchen thinks she has a weird hairline, and Karen thinks her nail beds suck. Sheltered Cady says, “I thought there was only fat and skinny, but apparently there are a lot of things that can be wrong with your body” (Mean Girls). Teenagers, usually, focus on the tiniest things to try to make themselves
How people perceive their body can dramatically affect their self esteem, mental and physical health. During, adolescence, young people become more aware of how they look and can be made to feel inadequate if their appearance is different than their peers or diverges from the shapes toted by the media. A negative body image can cause unhealthy behavior or a poor self-image in teens. Self consciousness could prevent teens who are unhappy with their appearance from from trying new activities, pursuing their goals or wearing and eating what they want. In Real Women Have Curves the film’s protagonist, Ana , is pushed to conform to a thinner, less curvaceous body type by her mother and by the society as a whole, although she professes to have insecurities about her appearance throughout the film Ana is largely able to accept her body. By defying the expectation imposed on her physically Ana is able to choose her own identity and define her inner path. Although women and girl’s body image issues are largely what is focused on in Real Women Have Curves, in reality all genders struggle with self image. Men and boys, for example, are often expected to project a muscled, “masculine” appearance. Being slimmer or having excess weight is often seen as unattractive or
Rarely are such gender stereotypes successful modes of behavior outside of the world of television, causing author Jane Rosenzweig to candidly warn, “…Girls on television are not ideal role models” (Rosenzweig 194). The main characters in this movie lack the challenges of real life like serious financial, workplace, or familial hardships. Productions like Mean Girls show viewers that making unjust assumptions about others in spite of their individual uniqueness and dignity is a shameful, useless habit. Such movies like demonstrate the failure of contrived social circles and the silliness of closing oneself off from a wide variety of people and
Lerner's words hold true for two women involved in the film I, the Worst of All. Both of them had to "reinvent the wheel" and show their male contemporaries that women can and will find their way out from under the control of patriarchy. Juana Ines de la Cruz and Maria Luisa Bemberg are separated by three centuries of continuous strife for feminists to affirm feminine subjectivity and feminine values. The struggle was/is doubly difficult because of what they have to face. At the time of making the film, Bemberg faced a mainstream cinema in which women were presented as a "function of male ambition" and as objects of possession, display, or currency (Bemberg in Pick 78). I, the Worst of All appeared in the 1990s, a time that we like to think is so different from the convent of 17th-centuryMexico. Bemberg shows us that it is not. Mainstream cinema never looks at women as "beings with ideas," as she says in an interview, but as empty shells, foils for the male characters, so that they can act and think (Pick 78). She had to fight a whole tradition of male filmmaking with her movie, and (re)assert her own feminist values in a film that challenges all the stereotypical filmic representation...
In Latin America, women are treated differently from men and children. They do lots of work for unexplainable reasons. Others for religious reasons and family orders and others because of the men involved. Women are like objects to men and have to obey their orders to either be rich or to live. Some have sex to get the men’s approval, others marry a rich man that they don’t even know very well, and become slaves. An important book called Chronicles of a Death Foretold is an example of how these women are treated. Purisima del Carmen, Angela Vicario's mother, has raised Angela and her sisters to be good wives. The girls do not marry until late in life, rarely socializing beyond the outsides of their own home. They spend their time sewing, weaving, washing and ironing. Other occupations include arranging flowers, cleaning up the house, and writing engagement letters to other men. They also keep the old traditions alive, such as helping the sick, comforting the dying, and covering the dead. While their mother believes they are perfect, men view them as too tied to their women's traditions. The men are afraid that the women would pay more attention to their job more than the men. Throughout the book, the women receive the respect they deserve from the men and others around them.