The Development of a Chicana/o Identity
Despite the many advances of modern society, especially in areas of scientific, artistic, and political pursuit, there still remains a gap in the fundamental knowledge of human interaction and development. This disconnect lies in the points of what is known and how this knowledge came into knowing, and if such information can be validate as truth and successfully applied. A more specific case, which will be the main focus of this paper, deals with the problem facing many who assert themselves as Chicana/o, figuring out just what a Chicana/o is. In this paper there will be research presented which has helped shed light and direct many on the matter but, as this research and as will be empirically shown with the case study, there still remains a complexity to the subject that has been escaping quantification. This lack of understanding can be dangerous for those you practice the methods of psychology because the results may have unintended consequences, especially for those who deal directly with patients. By providing the research with a case study the answer to whether such work is moving in the right direction and functioning may become clear to the reader.
Pizarro and Vera on Chicana/o Development
In the article provided by Marc Pizarro and Elizabeth Vera, entitled The Counseling Psychologist, they synthesis and develop much of the work that has been done by colleagues trying to identify the process by which a Chicana/o acquires their identity. The authors classify critical stages as youth, adolescents, and young adults, in which there are levels of development that occur as the individual person crosses certain thresholds in their life. However, they do stress the point that more resea...
... middle of paper ...
...lm of curanderismo can be misconstrued due to the ideas and images set upon by another culture. Many of the stereotypes that the author Avila mentions in her book, such as “a folkway” (p.4) and “the devil’s work” (p.5), are said to originate from the dominating culture that tried to paint these traditional practices in a bad light in order for the conquered people to practice the traditions of the dominating culture. An example of this can be drawn from the early attempts to push the dominance of the Catholic Church onto many of the natives, forcing them to assimilate and forget about their ancestral roots. Instead of this choice of either or, the idea of black or white, Elena and La Malinche reveal a choice of gray, one in which all of the choices are meshed together not in order to avoid one culture or the other, but to better and broaden their cultural horizons.
In Cholas and Pishtacos: Stories of Race and Sex in the Andes, Mary Weismantel provides an extensive, detailed understanding of cholas and pishtacos in the Andes. Through further analysis, Weismantel distinguishes the main difference between the two stories: the pishtaco is only but a figment of the Andean’s imagination, and the chola is an urban Indian women working in the city. The details about the pishtacos and the cholas will be carefully described with the symbolism of each figure. Secondly, this paper will contrast and compare the two figure’s roles and characteristics regarding sex and race. Finally, the changes of the cholas and pishtacos due to colonial enterprise will be discussed, also in terms of race and sex within the Andes. The estrangement of the cholas and pishtacos creates an uncanniness feeling for others within the Andean community.
Have you ever disobeyed your families culture? Or ever wanted to forget about something in your past culture? It’s not always easy, to follow traditions, sometimes you want to create or change your lifestyle.In the poem ‘’El Olvido’’ by Judith Ortiz Cofer and ‘’Life In The Age Of The Mimis’’ by Domingo Martinez. The authors of these texts indicate the idea that trying to hide your cultures identity is defiance against your heritage.
Metamora exasperated by the ill-treatment bestowed upon him by the “palefaces,” converses with Kaweshine on how the Europeans “…move in the region…for plunder and for prey” (Stone 8). This of course reinforces the white ideology of civilization moving in, and eventually alienating and eradicating the Native population.
Although our society is slowly developing a more accepting attitude toward differences, several minority groups continue to suffer from cultural oppression. In her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldúa explores the challenges encountered by these groups. She especially focuses on her people, the Chicanos, and describes the difficulties she faced because of her cultural background. She argues that for many years, the dominant American culture has silenced their language. By forcing them to speak English and attempting to get rid of their accents, the Americans have robbed the Chicanos of their identity. She also addresses the issue of low self-esteem that arises from this process of acculturation. Growing up in the United States,
Martínez, Elizabeth Sutherland. 1998. De Colores Means all of us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century. U.S.: South End Press.
Racial identity is developed early in life, and serves as a lens for interpreting, understanding, and participating in the world as well as a way of connecting and identifying with others. Racial and ethnic minority men and women who identify or express sexuality outside of the heterosexual model must confront the norms and expectations of both the majority and minority cultures in which they live. In Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Audre L...
In the stories “La Migra”, “Everyone's Abuelo,” and “Sally”, we learn that many Latinos struggle with being confident in their identity because they always seem to seek acceptance from others. For example, in the story “Sally”, we read about a young Latina girl that struggles to be accepted by her peers which ultimately led to her “becoming a different Sally. [Who] pulled her skirt straight, rubbed the blue paint off her eyelids, and [stopped] smiling” (Cisneros). This quote leads us to believe that Sally wasn't confident with who she was because she changed her entire image in order to be accepted by others. This in turn, ultimately led to Sally's unhappiness because she wasn't being her true self. If she had just been comfortable in her own skin then she probably wouldn’t have been chasing after acceptance from her peers.
People can express ideas, hypothesis, emotions, desires and all the other things that need expressing. Over time with Hispanics their language is being dimmed. In the story, Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez a character that stood out to one was Miss Jimenez. She expresses herself to Sancho as “My name is Miss JIM-enez. Don’t you speak English? What’s wrong with you?” (Valdez 257). Miss Jimenez is an example of many Hispanics being embarrassed of their language and roots. She felt embarrassed when Sancho pronounced her last name in Spanish as Jimenez instead of JIM-enez. Hispanics are no longer seeing the ability they have over others for speaking such a beautiful language. They are embarrassed of the language because many other races make it seem as if being Hispanic means one is not as important as others. They should feel embarrassed for not speaking their native language. Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that guides psychopathology. Miss Jimenez had a psychological issue. In her mind speaking English makes one superior. She haves a Hispanic last name but she feels like she does not belong in the Hispanic culture. She became Americanized. She adopted the all American character traits and culture. She wants to be this all American person, not realizing that whites also have problems and they struggle as
Besides the stigma that La Loca experiences in society due to her supernatural mystery, she becomes exposed to the power of the Chicana cultural beliefs, which forces her to seek community in the natural world rather than human society. La Loca is able to view without prejudice how women and men have strayed far from the light of God. The community views La Loca as the ‘devil’s’ child and excludes her from being capable of exhibiting human characteristics. Consequently, this contributes to La Loca’s borderland
The idea of the development of a social identity is a new one to me. For the majority of my life, including the present-day, I had always considered my social identity to be complete. I am Latino. Perhaps it was due to the fact that in my past experiences, I have little experience with the adverse effects of racism. However, it is indeed obvious to me that this is not nearly the case for everyone else. I am well aware of the marginalization, both conscious and unconscious, of the Latin people in the U.S. Nevertheless, I can’t look back and find bitterness in my heart due to racism. Still, while social identity development may be new to me, it’s still an intriguing concept. What exactly is a social identity? In brief, it is one’s self-awareness as to what social category they feel they should belong in, as well as how that awareness affects day to day life. Social ...
Multiracial students face many problems coming to terms with their racial identity due to the inability to fall under a mono-racial category. In recent years, the amount of biracial births are out numbering the amount of mono-racial births, and these children will soon be entering the school system (Root 1996) with new unique problems when concerning their own racial identity. According to Poston, “Racial identity is defined as "pride in one's racial and cultural identity" (1990, p. 152 as cited in counseling biracial students). Compared to mono-racial peers, multiracial students are faced with constant conflicts over how to embrac...
Sandra Cisneros’s short story “Never Marry a Mexican” deals heavily with the concept of myth in literature, more specifically the myth La Malinche, which focuses on women, and how their lives are spun in the shadows on men (Fitts). Myths help power some of the beliefs of entire cultures or civilizations. She gives the reader the mind of a Mexican-American woman who seems traitorous to her friends, family and people she is close to. This causes destruction in her path in the form of love, power, heartbreak, hatred, and an intent to do harm to another, which are themes of myth in literature. The unreliable narrator of this story was created in this story with the purpose to show her confusion and what coming from two completely different cultures can do to a person, and what kind of confusion it can bring.
...eedom was found and cultural boundaries were not shattered, simply battered, the narrator’s path was much preferable to that of her sisters (those who conformed to cultural boundaries). Through this story we can see how oppression in certain cultures changes individuals differently, creates tension between those who do not wish to be subjugated and those doing the subjugating, and we see the integral opposition between the path of Catholicism and that of curandismo.
In the essay "It’s Hard Enough Being Me," Anna Lisa Raya relates her experiences as a multicultural American at Columbia University in New York and the confusion she felt about her identity. She grew up in L.A. and mostly identified with her Mexican background, but occasionally with her Puerto Rican background as well. Upon arriving to New York however, she discovered that to everyone else, she was considered "Latina." She points out that a typical "Latina" must salsa dance, know Mexican history, and most importantly, speak Spanish. Raya argues that she doesn’t know any of these things, so how could this label apply to her? She’s caught between being a "sell-out" to her heritage, and at the same time a "spic" to Americans. She adds that trying to cope with college life and the confusion of searching for an identity is a burden. Anna Raya closes her essay by presenting a piece of advice she was given on how to deal with her identity. She was told that she should try to satisfy herself and not worry about other people’s opinions. Anna Lisa Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American as well as an important insight into how people of multicultural backgrounds handle the labels that are placed upon them, and the confusion it leads to in the attempt to find an identity. Searching for an identity in a society that seeks to place a label on each individual is a difficult task, especially for people of multicultural ancestry.
However Devor provides insight into how this is taught and processed though the mind of various stages of childhood. He demonstrates how children begin to observe the community around them and notice similarities in groups which they come to associate with gender characteristics (109). Devor theorizes that children do not see gender in the anatomical sense but in features such as the presence or absence of hair, clothes and makeup (111). This categorization based off others appearance is what leads the child to start grouping themselves into a specific gender identity. Devor explains that all children use an “I”, “Me” and “Self” technique to assimilate into a gender identity. Meaning that they see themselves, the “I”, while they also look at how others treat them which causes them to obtain the, “Me”, which produces the overall outlook that the child has of themselves called the, “Self”