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The Myth of the Latin Woman summary
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The Myth of the Latin Woman summary
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The Myth Of The Latin Woman
Judith Cofer from Puerto Rico wrote “The Myth of The Latin Woman” as you proceed to read her short story you see the way that she projects her emotions in her story while combining ethos, pathos and logos. While reading you can also feel the way she views stereotypes towards Latin women from those that aren’t of latin decent. During this reading you can defiantly get the sense of the way that these stereotypes can be disturbing towards those who are of Latin decent.
Mrs. Cofer definitely incorporates into “ The Myth Of The Latin Woman” her own experiences while growing up as a native Puerto Rican woman in New Jersey. She defiantly did experience typical stereotyping due to embracing her own cultural background.
North Americans and Mexicans must also attempt to overcome the ideas that women should be seen and not heard. In Anzaldúa’s words, “Hocicona, repeloma, chismosa, having a big mouth, questioning, carrying tales are all signs of being mal criada. In my culture they are all words that are derogatory if applied to women – I’ve ever heard them applied to men” (2947).
The Women of Colonial Latin America serves as a highly digestible and useful synthesis of the diverse life experiences of women in colonial Latin America while situating those experiences in a global context. Throughout, Socolow mediates the issue between the incoherence of independent facts and the ambiguity of over-generalization by illustrating both the restrictions to female behavior and the wide array of behavior within those restrictions. Readers of varied backgrounds will come away with a much deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities that defined the lives of the diverse women of the New World ruled by Portugal and
Nevertheless, Cisneros’s experience with two cultures has given her a chance to see how Latino women are treated and perceived. Therefore, she uses her writing to give women a voice and to speak out against the unfairness. As a result, Cisneros’ story “Woman Hollering Creek” demonstrates a distinction between the life women dream of and the life they often have in reality.
There are a couple different stereotypes presented in this text. One of the more prominent stereotypes throughout the book is the reliance of women on men. In the vignette “Marin”, there is a young girl who is waiting to get married to her boyfriend in Puerto Rico. She thinks being young and beautiful will solve all her problems. In the last paragraph of the vignette, Esperanza says about Marin "Marin... Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life." This shows both how Marin, by waiting for a man, is losing her already limited possibilities and, she is relying on a man in order to make her life better. The second stereotype I found within this text was also connected to gender roles. In Alicia
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 are. The most interesting point about identity is that some people know what they want and who they are, while it takes forever for others to figure out the factors mentioned before. Many of the individuals analyzed in this essay are confused about the different possible roles or positions they can adopt, and that’s exactly the reason they look for some professional help.
Desperate Trojan Housewives: Some Reflections on The Trojan Women, A Film by Michael Cacoyannis. I am exploring some aspects of the film of Euripides’ The Trojan Women, directed by Michael Caccayannis, based on the poetic translation by Edith Hamilton and starring Katherine Hepburn as the tragic hero Hecuba, queen of Troy. I would like to explore an essentially Jungian theory of what loss means, and whether there can be so much suffering, that it overwhelms the personality. In Jung’s view, which is essentially the view held by most spiritual disciplines, it is only through suffering that we become fully human. It is only when we are in touch with our shame, through our public nakedness, and private anguish, that we can be in touch with our limitations and
Cofer uses the rhetoric appeal of ethos to establish her authority to make the argument that Latina stereotypes are just myths. Growing ...
Judith Ortiz-Cofer opens her telling of “The Myth of the Latin Woman” with a powerful anecdote of her experience of being sung to on a bus, contextualized through the gendered and cultured lens via which she sees the world. Delving deeper into the awkwardness of being serenated by a complete stranger, Ortiz-Cofer uses this experience and others to draw connections between her life and how she experiences the intersection of her gender and ethnoracial identity. Briefly summarizing cultural, racial, and historic layers of stereotypes, the author illuminates the complexities of how hegemonic masculine and colonial racism impact her and Latinas everywhere on a regular basis. As such, she explains the manner in which she has been sexually racialized all of her life through the use of her experiences as a Puerto Rican woman.
Vigil, Ariana. 2009. “Transnational Community in Demetria Martinez's Mother Tongue”. Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, 10 (1): 54-76
“The Alienable Rights of Women” by Roxanne Gay and “The Myth of the Latin Woman” by Judith Cofer complement each other because they both discuss how women are perceived and stereotyped by others/society.
The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria, an essay written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, discusses the racial stereotypes Cofer struggles with as a Latin woman who travels across America. Throughout her life, Cofer discusses her interactions with people who falsely misjudge her as a Latin woman. Additionally, Cofer mentions other Hispanic women she has met in her life, who also suffer with racial assumptions. Although several people would disagree with Cofer and claim that she is taking racial remarks too seriously, racial stereotyping is a significant issue that should not be overlooked in our society. People should not base someone’s worth by their outward appearance or their ethnic background.
... middle of paper ... ... Sandra Cisneros took a risk and got remarkably far with her passion for mixing the cultures and the identities of women. Her voice is what emphasizes the article to show how the goal is to redistribute the language and culture, not criticizing the “New World”.
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.
In the Book women are looked upon as objects by men whether they are boyfriends, friends fathers or husbands. The girls in the novel grow up with the mentality that looks and appearance are the most important things to a woman. Cisneros also shows how Latino women are expected to be loyal to their husbands, and that a husband should have complete control of the relationship. Yet on the other hand, Cisneros describes the character Esperanza as being different. Even though she is born and raised in the same culture as the women around her, she is not happy with it, and knows that someday she will break free from its ties, because she is mentally strong and has a talent for telling stories. She comes back through her stories by showing the women that they can be independent and live their own lives. In a way this is Cinceros' way of coming back and giving back to the women in her community.
Suaréz, Lucia M. “Julia Alvarez And The Anxiety Of Latina Representation.” Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 5.1 (2004): 117-145. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 25 Mar.2014.