Everyday people are judging and being judged by others with unique criteria that we, as inhabitants of Earth deem necessary checkmarks to be met to afford and be afforded tokens of civility. In Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “The Myth of the Latin Woman” the memoir is brimming with personal accounts of fetishiztation and discrimination the author experiences as a Latin woman that have vast influence on her life. Throughout the text Cofer conveys the significance of how deep the status “exotic” to describe Latina women is held inside the minds of people which the author alludes to on page 879, “I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early,” [1] after being given a sudden, non-consensual kiss at a dance by her date. The author expresses the cultural dissonance between …show more content…
Tan that despite its evident differences to Cofer’s memoir is discussing the same trials ethnic, culturally diverse people experience. On page 881, Cofer recounts her first public poetry reading where an older woman mistook the Puerto Rican author for a waitress that ignites passion to the reading, “her lowered eyes told me that she was embarrassed,” [4] at the sheer power and conviction of Cofer enforcing that she is an educated Latin woman that deserves respect for her identity. While academically Tan’s teachers would always direct her to STEM subjects as viable career options which contradict the author's passion for writing despite not being on-par with the typical standard of what’s expected of a Chinese-American girl. However, what sets both pieces apart is that Tan does this examination through her mother and her own experiences as Chinese-Americans, while Cofer’s memoir encapsulates her own struggles that intertwine with the vast Latin woman’s
In the reading, “(Re)constructing Latinidad: The challenge of Latina/o studies.” it explains the challenge that is, defining what it is to be a Latino in America. In the reading, it gives reasons as to why there is a challenge, examples include how diverse the Latino community is in America and how others in America perceive the Latino community. After reading the article, I saw two main ideas that Aparicio had and they were; redefining what it means to be Latino in America and to show that there are issues in the Latino community that need to be addressed. Then I will provide my reaction based on the ideas I got out of the reading.
The Reading this week “‘Handlin’ Your Business’ Sexual Respectability and Peers” by Lorena Garcia reveals how Latina girls understand and discuss sexuality. The reading describes how the girls try took take the role of the good girl in the “good girl/bad girl” dichotomy. In the girl's process to prove to be a good girl they just embrace and justified the “good girl/bad girl” dichotomy even more. Along with the “good girl/bad girl” dichotomy was the discussion of the double standard for men who can be more sexual than women. The girl's idea of safe sex was also a way to protect themselves from being labeled as dirty or the bad girl.
In most of the societies and religions we have talked about, we learn about the role women played in them. Some give more independence to women than others and others give them no role. I found it interesting in the Christian faith that during the Middle Ages, the Virgin Mary was the most popular saint but in most Christian sects women aren’t allowed to be priests, bishops, or deacons. In Islam, Arab women enjoyed rights not accorded to women in other lands, they could legally inherit property, divorce husbands, and engage in business ventures. They were portrayed as human beings equal to men in front of Allah.
The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María is an essay by Judith Ortiz Cofer that addresses the impact of stereotyping on Latino women. Throughout the essay, Cofer relates her personal experiences with stereotypes to discuss how they have negatively affected her life and the lives of other Latinas. She also explains how these stereotypes originated and calls on her audience, the majority-white non-Latino population, to stop propagating the stereotypical portrayals of Latino women. In The Myth of the Latin Woman, Cofer speaks out about how stereotyping hinders the process of assimilating to a new culture by appealing to ethos through her personal experiences, using similes that show how stereotypes create isolation, and adopting
The Myth of The Latin Woman Analysis Latin American women face challenges every single day and moment of their lives. They are strongly discriminated against in all sectors of employment, in public places, and even while just walking down the street. In her essay, "The Myth of the Latin Woman," Judith Ortiz Cofer describes her own experiences using illuminating vignettes, negative connotation, and cultural allusion to exemplify how she used the struggles in her day to day life as a Latin woman to make herself stronger. Cofer uses illuminating vignettes to illustrate the different situations she encountered as a Latina while growing up and living in America.
Jovita Gonzalez & Eve Raleigh’s Caballero: A Historical Novel, took place during the Mexican American War. While military officials from the United States were occupying Texas, Mexican men such as Don Santiago de Mendoza y Soria resisted the presence of the Americano. The novel focuses on the many injustices that occur within the Mexican population. One main problem that is presented is the social viewing of race and class. Mexican people with Spanish ancestry were more likely to be respected or accepted, while those whose blood was mixed were perceived as inferior.
Tan expresses the life experiences of Chinese immigrants to the United States and attempts to depict the relationship of a mother and daughter through her significant piece of writing ‘The Joy Club’. Therefore, all these authors somehow portrayed their early struggles and their view point towards life from their literary
“The common denominator all Latinos have is that we want some respect. That 's what we 're all fighting for” - Cristina Saralegui. Judith Ortiz Cofer published the article, “The Myth of the Latin Woman,” where she expresses her anger towards stereotypes, inequality, and degradation of Latin Americans. Cofer explains the origins of these perceived views and proceeds to empower Latin American women to champion over them. Cofer establishes her credibility as a Latin American woman with personal anecdotes that emphasize her frustration of the unfair depiction of Latinos in society.
Rhetorical Precis #4: “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan Amy Tan’s purpose in her article “Mother Tongue” is to show the influence of her mother’s style of english. She also relates this to a more broad topic of the idea that there are many different types of english that people speak that are tailored to whoever they are speaking to. She begins this piece by stating plainly that she is not an english scholar. Instead of decreasing her credibility it actually increases it and paints this piece as a more personal set of observations rather than a bland overview of the entire language.
Have you ever thought about the phrase “American History” and wondered the real stories that occurred in an individual from the past? Several other citizens of America have, too. The simple answer to the meaning of the title “American History” written by Judith Ortiz Cofer purports that said story illustrates the history of an American citizen and revolves around a significant event from the past. However, the overall message become larger than the straightforward idea. While educating readers on the time placed during President Kennedy's death in 1963, the author illustrates the struggling truth behind the story of an average young individual American immigrant girl in a plethora of ways.
Generalizations take after specific individuals for the duration of their lives. Judith Ortiz Cofer is a Latina who has been stereotyped and she delineates this in her article, "The myth of the Latin lady: I just met a young lady named Maria. " Cofer depicts how pernicious generalizations can really be. Perusers can understand Cofer 's message through the numerous explanatory interests she employments.
The Rhetorical Analysis of “The Myth of the Latin Woman” There are many examples of incidents happened because of cultural differences. Some of them are short, single events, while other follow a person or social group for decades. Professor Judith Cortiz Cofer describes the second example in her essay The Myth of the Latin Woman that was originally published in Glamour in 1992. The author focused on the stereotypical view of Latin women from the perspective of the personal experience as a Puerto Rican girl and woman in the USA. Cofer based her essay on examples from her own life and observations of the problem in a broader sense.
In today's society many people have a misconception about women. They believe women need to look a certain way, need to depend on a man for everything and that they are slightly dumb. In the story “Clara” by Roberto Bolño the narrator states all these things about the main character Clara. The very first sentence of the story describes Clara's appearance and how she was a blue eyed girl with big breasts and slim legs. This is one of the misconceptions because not all women are built the same and They all look different and have different bodies.
Cofer begins her essay by reliving an interaction she had with an Irishman on a trip to London, where the man re-enacted “María” from West Side Story. It was Cofer’s Hispanic appearance which led to the incident and the extra attention caused her to feel like an “island”. She felt out of place and insists that the same situation would not have likely occurred
Summary The Virgin of Guadalupe (La Virgin De Guadalupe) is an essential part of Latin American history, specifically Mexico. Averse to traditional Catholic belief, Guadalupe is essential in the theological structure of the Mexican Catholic believer. The sixteenth century was crucial for Spain's conquest and implementation of its policy of domination of the New World. It was a time of resistance by the Indians, who did not want to surrender themselves, their culture, religion and economy to the invaders (Pereyra 1997).