This article, Life as a Maid’s Daughter by Mary Romero, takes the reader through the life a girl named Teresa. She lived a unique life, because she was able to see the differences ways in which different races and social classes of people live in America. Teresa and her mother Carmen are lower class Mexican-Americans, and the people that Carmen is a maid for are upper-middle class white Americans. Throughout her life Teresa learns about different aspects of herself (i.e. race, social class, gender, and family) through interactions with her biological family and the families of the employers. Teresa learned about her race around the age of three through interactions with her family and the family of her mother’s employer. She found out early on that her language, Spanish, was seen to be inferior to that of the employer’s, English. Living with her mother’s white middle-upper class employer meant that Teresa had to follow their rules, which meant conforming to their culture and leaving hers behind. This can be seen when she played with the white children; they tried to teach Teresa to speak English because they lived in a monolinguistic culture and refused to assimilate with her, but she resented that and refused assimilate as well by refusing to call the pescado a fish. She loved her Hispanic culture so she refused to conform by creating two cultures that she lived in; one where she acted as the employers wished, and the other where she participated in her own culture and valued her own race. This can be seen by the way she follows the rules in the employer’s homes, and then quickly retreats into her Mexican heritage while with her family. There was never a clear moment when I began to learn about my race. I grew up in New Hamps... ... middle of paper ... ...we develop we also have the opportunity to move up or down on the social status ranking based on how supportive or unsupportive our parents were in raising us. Because Teresa had such a great support system from both of her families she was able to move up in social class and redefine her sets of moral, values, and norms. The social institution of family is the most important aspect in the success of an individual, which can be seen through the life of Teresa. Works Cited Jackson, A. P., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). Single Mothers in Low-Wage Jobs: Financial Strain, Parenting, LLLLLLLand Preschoolers' Outcomes. Child Development, 71(5), 1409. Kourvetaris, A. G. (2009). Perspectives on ethnicity, gender and race and their empirical referents: a four-sided paradigm and critical review. International Review Of Sociology, 19(1), 127-146. doi:10.1080/03906700802613988
Changing demographics in America are leading to an increased need for preschools. In 1950, only 14% of mothers of children under six worked outside the home (Williams 351), but in 1995, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 63.5% of mothers of children under age six worked outside the home (Garey 4). The number of families with two working parents is steadily rising; the number of single-parent families is also increasing. Many families cannot afford to have a parent at home full time but have a hard time affording preschool or childcare costs. A publication by L.M. Casper, printed by the U.S. Census Bureau, found that on average, parents spend 8% of their family's income on childcare (Kinch 68). Many of these parents make great sacr...
Just as their father wanted, the girls kept their Dominican roots alive and never forgot where they came from. This novel, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, is a coming of age novel, where four girls learn through experience how it is like to grow up in a tough time period. In America, the girls had the freedom to attempt almost whatever they wanted because they were free from the constricting rule of the patriarchy that ruled the Dominican Republic. All four were growing up but took separate paths during life to get to where they are as adults. Through the use of multiple narrators, Alvarez creates different perspectives throughout the story. The girls have come a long way from their mother’s color coding system when they were identity less to the women they are today. Each sister fought and conquered some sort of internal or external battle, helping them to overcome obstacles given by society that marked them as different. As adults, the sisters can keep their Dominican roots alive while living in the United States through
The story “Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros describes the lives of Mexicans in a Chicago neighborhood. She depicts the life that women endure as Latino wives through her portrayal of the protagonist, Cleofilas. For Cisneros being a Mexican-American has given her a chance to see life from two different cultures. In addition, Cisneros has written the story from a woman’s perspective, illustrating the types of conflicts many women face as Latino wives. This unique paradigm allows the reader to examine the events and characters using a feminist critical perspective.
The novel Brown Girl, Brownstones is a fiction story that is about an immigrant family from the Caribbean country of Barbados and their struggles in America. The story is set in New York during the time between The Great Depression and also World War II and is told in a third person point of view so that the reader, being us, understands different components of the story. The story’s main character is a girl named Selina Boyce and the story is told through the stages of her life from when she was around ten years old up to when she was around her early twenties. Immigration, specifically race, played a large factor in the story, with race hindering opportunity, and different characters coping with race in different ways. (Thesis statement)
This novel also looks at social norms overseeing gender in the southern states around the 1960's. White women in the book are valued by the amount of children they can reproduce for the black women to raise. Even though getting a job is difficult for these black woman, the white women have a hard time seeking out a job as well. But these black women sacrifice their lives to be major workhorses surrendering their own families to work for white employers. Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter confront the roles put upon them by society and receive fulfillmen...
St. Teresa was born in Avila, Spain on March 28, 1515. She was baptized as Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y Ahumada. At a young age she would often give gifts to the poor and pray. Her father and her mother were both Catholics which inspired her to do the same. Her father was a very strict man a demanded her to never lie, while her mother told her to lie and comforted her. This created a ton of turmoil in the family and made St. Teresa end up loving her mother more due to her father’s severe strictness. St. Teresa felt that everything she was doing was wrong. During her teens her mother passed away leaving her to deal with her father by herself and she was relieved of some of the pain by turning to the Virgin Mary for comfort. In her late teen years
Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, better known as St. Teresa of Avila, was a Spanish Catholic Saint and Carmelite nun who was most prominently known for her journey towards contemplative life through mental prayer. In her reflective and analytical autobiography, The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel, Teresa reflects on her interactions with others as a child, as a woman and as a nun, and bases her opinion of her own freedom and free will on these reflections. In this paper, I will argue the dual nature of freedom in Teresa’s life; on the one hand, Teresa is free in that she breaks free from the traditional role of the woman and society’s honour codes- despite citing honour as providing some guidance in her life-,
It impacted Loreta Velazquez’s Life by her race, class and gender by first when she was growing up she was wearing dresses but doing boyish things like putting on her cousins clothes which her mother caught her one day and was not happy about it. Loreta consider herself not a Cuban girl but a white girl she didn’t want to do proper lady things growing up till she fell in love with a man named William when she was sent away for her ways that her parents didn’t like her parents wanted her to marry a man who they picked but she didn’t listen she married who she fell in love with and 2 kids with him and a third on the way but the 3rd had passed away during birth and only was alive for a second her husband at the time was away she also had lost
Morin, Karin Venable. "Mother Teresa." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. : Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference. 2008. Date Accessed 14 Mar. 2014
In the story Jubilee by Kirstin Valdez Quade A young very bright Latin American woman, Andrea, struggles with feeling like she’s been accepted in today’s society despite all of her achievements. These feelings tend to peak and turn negative whenever she’s around the family of her father’s lifelong employer, the Lowells, and in particularly their daughter Parker. Although the Lowells, as a whole seem to love Andrea and her family, she finds that their success and good fortune directly correlates to her family’s second rate citizenship. This story reveals that obsession with being accepted as an equal can be an ever increasing stressor that can severely damage a child’s identity, social skills and ultimately lead to misplaced resentment and
For low-income families, particularly single mothers, preschool is a huge financial burden. Despite what parents want for their children, it isn’t always a practical option; sometimes, the cost of enrolling their children outweighs the money earned at a job (Mason 46). Soon, mothers are sending their kids to preschool so they can work to make money to pay for preschool. Furthermore, without an education, parents are confined to minimum wage jobs with no hope of advancement (49). Where’s the incentive to work? Robin Mason describes one single mother’s motivation. For her, employment is more than just money; rather, it’s also a means to boost her self-esteem, gain financial independence, and set a positive example for her children. She emphasizes her responsibility to her children to keep a roof over their head, be a good mother, and choose a quality daycare (47).
She followed her heart and began her studies in becoming a missionary nun at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Chidiac’s article “The Spirituality of Mother Teresa,” the author states, “her religious training was completed in Ireland before she moved to India to become a teacher… in 1929, in Cualcutta.” (470). While in Ireland she learned to speak English, giving Mother Teresa an opportunity to teach English in an Indian school for young girls. Eventually she emerged as the headmistress for the following twenty years. While teaching, she was disturbed by the poverty surrounding in Calcutta; the streets of India were many were born and died, there where beggars and abounded infants and children. The amount of poverty with in Indian became a debatable question for Mother Teresa whether she was going to be able to make a change in her environment. Mother Teresa knew when taking the lords oath, she couldn’t sit back and watch the citizens of India suffer so reconsidering in returning to her Christian duties was out of the question. Mother strongly believed God had placed her in the slums to extend her missionary services outside the walls of her teaching, believing that The physical effort one puts out does not change humanity it is also based on spiritually, love and devotion. After teaching for twenty years Mother Teresa receive a message from God to abandon her job and only source of income which allows us to recognize her dedication and selfness.
She was not a master of style, plot development or characterization, but the intensity of feeling and aspiration are evident in her narratives that overrides her imperfections. Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, written in 1984, and Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers, published in 1925, are both aimed at adolescent and adult audiences that deal with deeply disturbing themes about serious social conditions and their effects on children as adults. Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls living in destitute neighborhoods; and both young girls witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless. Although the narrators face these overwhelming obstacles, they manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength remaining intact. Esperanza, a Chicano with three sisters and one brother, has had a dream of having her own things since she was ten years old.
Saint Teresa is very influential in her works of service. She has inspired many to take on a life of hope in service and helping others. When you see a person who carries themselves like mother Teresa does, she helps those who people are afraid to be around and don't want to even look at from the goodness of her heart. In all the situations she's been in, many people would have ran and went into hiding instead of standing up for others and being helpful. She challenges us to a life of service because of her faith. She stood up for what she believed in, and that's how she's such a good role model.
In the novel, The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros describes the problems that Latino women face in a society that treats them as second class citizens. A society that is dominated by men, and a society that values women for what they look like, and not for what is on inside. In her Novel Cisneros wants us to envision the obstacles that Latino women must face everyday in order to be treated equally.