In some cases, particularly in a minority group, talking about one’s sexual lives are not common. Nonetheless, many people believe that when it comes to sex, people has the freedom to make choices to who and when to be sexually active. Most of the time, race, gender, and sexuality shaped sexual agency by influencing their decisions towards their sexual lives. In this essay, I will discuss how Filipinas and Latinas are influenced by their race, gender, and sexuality when it comes to their sexual agency. In the reading Guadalupe the Sex Goddess by Sandra Cisneros, she discussed how race affects one’s behavior by comparing white women and Latinas. She discussed how white women is comfortable with their own body, dressing up in the locker rooms unashamed to be naked in front of anyone, while Latinas hid and get dressed in a bathroom stall. She also mentioned that she is “... obsessed with becoming a woman comfortable in her own skin,” (p.166). Although this is not about being sexually active, being comfortable with your own body is important when it comes to your sexual lives. While Cisneros praise white women’s …show more content…
This means that there are certain rules, yet few or even no one wants to talk about it. For most women, we often hear our parents, or mostly our mothers saying “Don’t get pregnant! But no one tells you how not to,” (Guadalupe the Sex Goddess, p.165). And since both cultures are religious, Cisneros and Espiritu mentioned how Latinas and Filipinas are expected to be virgin until they are married. This is how sexuality and again culture affects sexual agency. Most of the time, women are affected when it comes to sexuality. If a woman is sexually active she is considered as bad, not worthy, or basically immoral, but if a woman is a virgin, whatever she do, as long as she is a virgin, she is considered as a good woman, this is also known as the purity
The matriarchal structure of Juan and Lupe’s families are key factor in the molding of each of them into each a unique person that just so happen to fit with each other perfectly.
Sandra Cisneros “Never Marry a Mexican” and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are stories that reflect on the cultures in which the characters grew up in. In Never Marry, Clemencia, the narrator, reflects on her past sexual relations as well as her childhood. She speaks of her parents’ marriage and then transitions into her relationship with college professor and his son. In Oscar Wao, Yunior, the narrator, gives a second-hand retelling of Oscar’s experiences in New Jersey growing up as well as in the Dominican Republic. A person’s identity is largely influenced by their culture, this is especially the case in Hispanic cultures. The social constraints that these cultures place on social class, sexuality, and gender norms can be very detrimental to a person’s self-esteem.
While most movies of the 2000s somehow spoke about sex among young adults, for the first time the emphasis is on the virginity of a Mexican American female. In part this topic is not discussed openly, it is only discussed awkwardly in a mother to daughter conversation. This movie opens the eye to many families conservative other this matter, Ana’s mother openly shames her daughter to losing her virginity to a random person which was not the case. In this scene, rather than have a heartwarming conversation with her daughter she is angry possibly at her daughter but possibly at herself for not knowing what her daughter was doing. Ana is prepared to lose her virginity and is responsible to purchase contraceptives something also talked about but mostly whispered in the chicano community. Ana states that women get pregnant not because they are having sex but because they are having it unprotected or don’t know how to use different methods of contraceptive. The talk among Mexican American families is not how to use contraceptives rather it is do not get pregnant or “ELSE”. Real Women Have Curves shows that the real problem is not getting pregnant it is the lack of communication Mexican American women have with their
Our lady of Guadalupe is the most venerated and respected by the Catholics. The appearance of the Virgin caused a great commotion in the Catholic Church. Ever since the Virgin's first appearance, Catholics have respected and acquired so much faith to the Virgin. The lady of Guadalupe has so many faithful followers that believe in her without any hesitation because of the miracles that she has made for the people that were once suffering and were miraculously helped by her. Because of the help that she has provided for those who were suffering people never forget her and they celebrate the day of her appearance every year by doing parties in her honor. The Lady of Guadalupe’s appearance certainly changed the belief of Catholics and, I believe
As people age they will often still recall a good childhood story. A well told, meaningful story can go a long way when attempting to argue a point or convey information. In the essays, ''The Myth of The Latin Women: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, "Gains and Losses" by Richard Rodriquez, and "Piecing It All Together" by bell hooks, the authors connect to the reader and create a better audience through their writing. Through the portrayal of a story the authors help the reader understand their point of view, they transfer information to the reader with better ease, and keep the reader engaged the authors argue a point or convey information more efficiently.
In the article “The Myth of a Latina Women: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria”, Judith Ortiz Cofer uses her background as a Puerto Rican to highlight the disrespect that Latina woman face in a society that does not understand their value. Overall, Cofer argues that the derogatory views placed in the Hispanic culture has led to the creation of various stereotypes that cause Latina women to have a lack of opportunities, to be mistakenly categorized, and be devalued. Cofer proves her point through various life experiences in which she has been stereotyped, as well as through her personal background.
Over the past few decades, research on women has gained new momentum and a great deal of attention. Susan Socolow’s book, The Women of Colonial Latin America, is a well-organized and clear introduction to the roles and experiences of women in colonial Latin America. Socolow explicitly states that her aim is to examine the roles and social regulations of masculinity and femininity, and study the confines, and variability, of the feminine experience, while maintaining that sex was the determining factor in status. She traces womanly experience from indigenous society up to the enlightenment reforms of the 18th century. Socolow concentrates on the diverse culture created by the Europeans coming into Latin America, the native women, and African slaves that were imported into the area. Her book does not argue that women were victimized or empowered in the culture and time they lived in. Socolow specifies that she does her best to avoid judgment of women’s circumstances using a modern viewpoint, but rather attempts to study and understand colonial Latin American women in their own time.
Chant, S., & Craske, N. (2002). Gender and Sexuality. In Gender in Latin America (pp. 128-160). Retrieved December 9, 2013
Growing up in a Latino base community there were numerous instances that metaphor,“si me voy con la Luna o el Sol”, which means either you choose the Sun (Dad) or Moon (Mother), was used just to see who the kids prefered .Therefore creating, the environment that children would be repeatedly asked to choose the ultimatum between parents. In the reading “Mamitis and the Traumas of Development in a Colonia Popular of Mexico City” by Matthew C. Gutmann and “Bad Boys and Good Girls: The Implications of Gender Ideology for Child Health in Jamaica” by Carolyn Sargent and Michael Harris correlations between class in their countries and how it impacts family developments. The Essay will focus on Gutmann’s reading on mamitis gender expectation, secondly how Sargent’s reading tackles the issue of
The Symbolic-Interaction Theory explains how everyone in a society views sexual behavior differently than others. Some cultures are more relaxed than others about sexuality and time also plays a factor in a societies viewpoint. Over a century ago, it was not acceptable to marry a woman who was not considered a virgin, but this did not always apply to males. This slowly changed due to birth control which changed how people viewed sex. Society is more tolerant of sexual activity, but some still consider sex before marriage
In the article “An Anthropological Look at Human Sexuality” the authors, Patrick Gray and Linda Wolfe speak about how societies look at human sexuality. The core concept of anthology is the idea of culture, the systems of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors people acquire as a member of society. The authors give an in depth analysis on how human sexuality is looked at in all different situations.
Looking at our past, there have been dramatic changes in the way humans view sex. Long before the 1900s individuals framed their views based on the religious institution. Due to the fact that they strongly centered their idea of sexual thought on religion, they believed that the only purpose of having sex was to procreate. As the 1920’s approached, there were various factors that changed the way individuals viewed sex. The “new women” known, as flappers were women who were confident in who they were. They changed their attire as well as their social attitude. In the 1920s, the flappers redefined sex; customs and traditions were broken and new norms were created by 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.
Sexuality has become one of the key determining factors in one’s gender. While many want to initially say that gender is solely based on sexual orientation fail to take in to account many cultural practices, which not only influence gender, but create certain gender roles. The initial creation of Mexican gender roles, as Gloria Gonzalez-Lopez suggests, is the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church “over the course of almost five hundred years,” created beliefs that virgins are desirable and that a non-virgin is of a lower moral class (38). From this Mexican women began maintaining their virginity, not because of the moral implications, but because of social mobility. Virginity has been created to be something beautif...
The issue of virginity is deep seeded into religious views. Most major religions have some doctrine on abstaining from sexual intercourse until marriage. In the bible common passages describe that men “shall (Leviticus 21:13-14) shall take a wife in her virginity., or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry.” Similar passages can be found in the Quran and Torah, all describing equal abstinence for men and women. These beliefs aren’t detrimental to any human being for they do not discriminate. But this belief has been al...