A unique writer is someone who expresses his or her feelings throughout his narratives. Junot Diaz in my opinion is one of those unique writers. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, raced only by his hard working mother, Junot Diaz learned very valuable lessons during his childhood that helped him become who he is today. Not only does Junot Diaz write great stories, but he also tends to open up his feeling of what it meant to be an immigrant from the Dominican Republic throughout his narratives. Diaz humbleness and compassion towards others is illustrated in his writing. Not only does Diaz write novels and short stories, but he also takes action towards exposing the problems that the Dominican people especially women encounter everyday. Several …show more content…
Throughout the book we see this charter constantly cheating and objectifying women. The last chapter of this book, "The Cheater’s Guide to Love" he cheated on his fiancé with not one or two, but with fifty other women in the course of five years. This comes to show that in order for his character Yunior to feel masculine in his culture he had to cheat with fifty other women. Cheating gave him the pleasure of feeling masculine. Yunior tries to justify himself by blaming others as well as, his culture by saying, “ You claim you’re a sex addict and start attending meetings. You blame your father. You blame your mother. You blame the patriarchy. You blame Santo Domingo.” Oftentimes, Latino men do not have the courage to admit their mistakes and they try to blame others. For example, Yunior throughout the course of the stories always tries to find someone to blame for his unfaithfulness. However, it seems like this is the only time in the book where we finally see Yunior acknowledging his mistakes. He recognizes all the damage that he has caused these women over the course of his unfaithfulness as well as the e damage caused to …show more content…
In many of his interviews he states, “ I admit that, by tackling the topic head-on, I risks writing a book that is perceived as sexist (or is sexist).” He also quoted a famous line from James Baldwin: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." As you can see Diaz likes grabbing the bull by the horns. He is not afraid of showing us the true colors of our society. He exposes all the hidden problems that not only Latin women face, but also what every other women around the world faces. Inequality is still a problem that we currently still face. Feminism is not only about having equal rights between men and women, but it is also about having equal rights for everyone despite skin color, sexual preferences and
Negocios focuses mainy on immigration. This story follows a man who leaves his wife and kids in the Dominican Republic moving first to Miami then to New York. The thoughts of him not concerned of his family back in DR made the story really unique, he marries a woman just to attain a United States citizenship from abandoning his wife and son.. He faced many struggles on his journey showing his strength of character. IT means a lot to be an immigrant, having to deal with racism and injustice, having long work shifts and not being paid as much. Livig in substandard conditions was also a big thing. I believe that’s what hit Junot
By examining the narrative voice as well as the cultural restraints placed on them, readers can see the sexist culture in the novel and that the novel itself does not necessarily advocate this misogyny. Yunior, a Dominican man, is the overall narrator of the novel, so readers essentially see everything through his masculine eye. When discussing a brief fling with Lola, Oscar’s sister, Yunior says, “Even those nights after I got jumped she wouldn’t let me steal on her ass for nothing. So you can sleep in my bed but you can’t sleep with me?” (Diaz 169) His question suggests that it is his right to sleep with her, and his discussion of Lola herself objectifies her by noting only her body and her refusal to use it. This objectification is clearly sexist, but it is a reflection of the narrative voice, Yunior, not of Lola. Yunior will casually refer to a woman as “a bitch” (Diaz 183), which is clearly demeaning, but it is a man’s view and does not reflect on the substance of the women. It shows readers the culture he was raised in, not an actual portrayal of the women, illustrating a misogynist society but not a misogynistic novel. In the Dominican Republic, gender-based violence is the fourth leading cause of death, hinting at the overall problems caused by the hyper-sexualized nature of the country. Sociologist Denise Paiewonsky
...some try to break away from society’s definition of the female sex appeal and create their own definitions. The reformists among these women use the oppositional knowledge they get as outsiders-within the White-American feminists’ culture, to change the perception of the Latinas who choose to suppress this knowledge. When these women share their individual perspectives in a unanimous voice, they become a self-defined community. This community is not limited by the ideals of society, rather it opposes society and creates its own definition of the female sex appeal.
Her work has become inspirational to me and it is great to find an author who I can relate too. Her depiction of the Mexican American community could not have been more spot on. From how women are wrongfully treated to the racism that Mexican Americans have endured. She also gave me another perspective on how I view women in my culture. Mexican women, sadly to this day are still treated this way but, I have hope that eventually all women can make it out of those situations. Cisneros through her work was able to reach a broad audience and in this enlist change in our society. Cisneros works also gave me a history lesson of everything my community has gone through even though we still experience similar problem in today’s society. Overall there has been major improvements in the way life of many immigrants. Cisneros works are very inspirational and just confirms many of my doubts and shows me, if a Chicana back in 1980s could rise against all odds anything is
In the short story Ysrael we are introduced to two brothers who live in the Dominican Republic. The brothers Yunior and Rafa are sent to the countryside, commonly referred to as el campo to go spend the summer with their uncle. In what appears to be an ordinary coming of age story, turns out to be much more. In el campo there is a tale of a boy named Ysrael who wears a mask to hide his hideously disfigured face, caused by his facial flesh being devoured by a pig. The young brother’s curiosity gets the better of them, as they embark on a quest to unmask the hideous Ysrael. As the story progresses, we can conclude these adolescents are not as innocent as their young age suggest, but rather malevolent in nature, while an attempt to maintain a manly facade. Every culture has their flaws, Rafa the elder brother depicts the subject of machismo perfectly, which plagues Latin American culture, where one’s ego is in command and reigns over one’s sense of morality. Juno’s Ysrael Machismo prompts that reinforcement
Feminism is approached by various meanings. As noted by a Salvadoran feminist activist Gloria Guzman, “It is a proposal for a change in the relations of power between people, men over women, and the relations of power expressed in the different realms of life” (Shayne, 2007).
As much as men are working, so are women, but ultimately they do not face the same obstacles. For example, “Even if one subscribes to a solely economic theory of oppression, how can one ignore that over half of the world's workers are female who suffer discrimination not only in the workplace, but also at home and in all the areas sex-related abuse” (Moraga 98). This gives readers a point of view in which women are marginalized in the work place, at home, and other areas alike. Here Moraga gives historical accounts of Chicana feminists and how they used their experiences to give speeches and create theories that would be of relevance. More so, Moraga states how the U.S. passes new bills that secretly oppress the poor and people of color, which their community falls under, and more specifically, women. For instance, “The form their misogyny takes is the dissolution of government-assisted abortions for the poor, bills to limit teenage girls’ right to birth control ... These backward political moves hurt all women, but most especially the poor and "colored." (Moraga 101). This creates women to feel powerless when it comes to control one’s body and leads them to be oppressed politically. This places the government to act as a protagonist, and the style of writing Moraga places them in, shines more light to the bad they can do, especially to women of color. Moraga uses the words, “backward moves”
According to Junot Diaz’s short story "No Face", it’s sort of a reimagining of Ysrael’s life as a superhero narrative. Diaz explores how a man’s mental growth is stunted by his community’s perpetual scrutiny of him for reasons beyond his control and he relates the story in a very masculinity way which makes the story a powerful and strong with the character named No Face. He’s created a fantasy world in which to live, separate from the world that is so cruel to him. The story function here as the introduction of hope and revelation that such hope is fanciful. The influence of masculinity supports No Face’s goal and motive through his story.
To understand feminism in the novel, one must first understand the feminist lens itself. OWL Purdue describes the lens as “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women” (Purdue). Feminism acts as both a commitment and a political movement that wants to end sexism in all forms. Most feminists generally disagree on many topics of the subject, however all have one common goal. These aspects affect The Things They Carry in a plethora of ways, mostly due to the fact that gender roles is a main theme. There are negative and positive aspects of the feminist lens. Positive contains the empowering of women and equality, whereas negative pertains to oppression and unequal rights. Both are covered in The Things They Carried from sex symbols to battle tor...
In addition, these women were often subjected to control, domination, and violence by men” (Global). This validates Azuela’s stance on how women should stay within their traditional roles because fighting for equality has been ineffective even today.
"Your girl catches you cheating" (Diaz 1) and from the first line readers are thrown into the chauvinistic tendencies and sexist point of view of one Yunior de Las Casas. Readers are guided through Junot Diaz’s “The Cheaters Guide to Love” by the misogynist Yunior who sees women in an exclusively sexual sense, some of whom he does not even give the honor of naming. Feminists might look at Diaz's story and be skeptical of the themes presented, seeing as Yunior sexualizes and demeans all women. So then, how can readers understand the story to be anti-sexist if the only point of view presented in "The Cheater's Guide to Love" is a discriminatory one? The ultimate horizon for anyone with this much bottled up machismo is an empty sexual relationship with a parade of objectified women. Diaz, however, does not give Yunior the what the reader expects as his desired ending. He rather shows the reader that Yunior's behavior results in persistent unhappiness because what he really wants is a true human connection. Therefore, Diaz provides a sexist character
Throughout the story there is evidence that the main character is ashamed of himself and his background. He hides the government cheese, which tells us that he is in a low economic class. He also takes down embarrassing photographs of his family and himself, which is more indication that he isn’t proud of his family, background, or heritage. Yunior also tells us many things to do in order to be like other people, especially white people. He tells us that you need to run your fingers through your hair and to write directions for parents in your absolute best handwriting (Diaz 236). It is also evident that he is ashamed of his background when he states “You’ll wonder how she feels about Dominicans. Don’t ask.”(Diaz 237). Also, when he is telling the girl stories about the neighborhood, he says not to tell her that his mother knew immediately what t...
Yunior cheats on Magda with Cassandra while the relationship between him and Magda was distant and they barely got to see each other. Magda finds out that Yunior was cheating on her because her friend Claribel wrote a letter to her , telling her in details what Yunior did. Diaz makes the story realistic by both of them breaking up , but then Magda takes him back. She becomes curios if Yunior felt something for Magda or if she was better than her so she asked him questions. Although when she asked him these types of questions it was in the dark. Yunior says, “usually in the dark , when we couldn’t see each other. Magda Asked me if I’d loved Cassandra….Do you still think about her?....Did you like fucking her?” He would always say “No” to all these type of questions. Later on in the story he says, “The first night we did it- and it was good , too, she wasn’t false advertising,” he lies to her . He couldn’t accept the responsibility of at least telling her the truth but that’s why he tells her this in the dark because he cannot say the truth to her looking at her.
Julia Alvarez was an example of how a Latina writer identified herself in a new culture outside of her comfort zone. She, as a Dominican Diaspora, had to reinvent herself as she migrated into a new scenario. Her assimilation into the United States culture allowed her to understand and relate to the reader’s needs and points of interests. After all the effort, Alvarez kept in mind that she could not comfort to all the reality that she lived in, so she re-reinvented herself all over again to process her thoughts and beliefs into her life. She put her perspective on her writing so that the new wave of readers, even if they did not understand, could relate in some way and appreciate the differences. The sole purpose of her writings was for everyone to change their perspective from “walk to the other side of the street in order to avoid sharing the same sidewalk” to “I do not know them, but I do not avoid them because I do not know them”. She instilled in her reader’s mind how ordinary events were viewed differently through other cultures’ eyes. Her story Snow was a great example of how she portrayed her technique.
Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism introduces ideas by Becky Thompson that contradict the “traditional” teachings of the Second Wave of feminism. She points out that the version of Second Wave feminism that gets told centers around white, middle class, US based women and the central problem being focused on and rallied against is sexism. This history of the Second Wave does not take into consideration feminist movements happening in other countries. Nor does it take into consideration the feminist activism that women of color were behind, that centered not only on sexism, but also racism, and classism as central problems as well. This is where the rise of multiracial feminism is put to the foreground and