The poem “Legal Alien” is about a woman of Mexican parents, who is born and raised in America. An American citizen established by law, but at the same time this person feels like an illegal alien because of how some people treat her. She is fluent in both, English and in Spanish. Feels American because she is, but at the same time she doesn’t. She is looked at by Americans (Anglos) as inferior, and looked at by Mexicans like she doesn’t belong.
Within both of the cultures, societal role was often determined by ethnicity as well as gender and Few points out that the perspective of historians has always been shaped by the assumption that this discrimination led to the utter oppression of those in marginalized groups. Women Who Live Evil Lives serves to denounce this general assumption by telling stories of women who despite having all the cards stacked against them, managed to assume places of “cultural authority” in both slave society and the society at large. In order to effectively analyze Few’s argument about cultural authority, we must first take a look at the gender and racial distinctions that existed in Santiago de Guatemala during the time of the Audiencias. Ethnic discrimination, was a major part of colonial
ENWR-105-BX 18 November 2013 In the essay “Female Chauvinist Pigs” by Ariel Levy, the author argues that women participate in practices that are responsible for their oppression. Levy’s argument is that women participate in “raunch culture” as means of embracing sexism and exploitation toward the idea of gaining empowerment. While some woman like Sheila Nevins, feel empowered and liberated by aspects of raunch culture, other woman like Tyra Banks, co-producer of ANTM, is discussed in “Ghetto Bitches, China Dolls, and Cha Cha Divas” by Jennifer Pozner using racist stereotypes in order to gain power. The judges in the show say they try and promote inclusive beauty standards actually reinforce racial stereotypes. Women are willing to participate in practices that oppress them because they want power.
Gloria Anzaldua, author of How to Tame a Wild Tongue, is a woman of Mexican decent that writes about the struggles of living in an American society where specific languages are looked upon as distasteful and are indirectly shunned. Anzaldua also expresses her emotion that is connected to the multiple languages she speaks and how they are identified in the different cultures she experiences. In How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Anzaldua lists eight separate "languages" that she speaks. Although there are so many of them, they all derive from English or Spanish; they are simply the two languages mixed together in multiple ways. Anzaldua writes that she speaks Standard English, Working class and slang English, Tex-Mex, Chicano Spanish, North Mexican dialect, Pachuco, Standard Mexican Spanish, and Standard Spanish, each one being quite different from the one before.
Sojourner said “I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen ‘em mos’ all sold off into slavery, and when I cried out with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard-and ar’n’t I a woman?” She wanted the convention to understand her pain. Truth wanted to force the women in the room to relate to her as a mother. She wanted to show how traumatic and violent the inequalities were at that time, and wanted the audience to connect to her on a deeper emotional level. Truth found a way to express the inequalities of blacks and women and tie them together, by having the women feel her injustice and thus feeling the inequalities of blacks at that
Judith Ortiz Cofer’s Article “the myth of the Latin woman; I just met a girl named Maria” is based on how she was subjected to cultural bias and sexism all over the world. She points out vivid pictures of sexism that has happened
The Struggle Continues Many feminists addressed the plight of African American women during the New Negro movement in the US. They shared the same problems and visions but some differ in strategy. The African American educator Elise McDougald’s essay “The Struggle of Negro Women for Race and Sex Emancipation” employs an interesting strategy to gain individuality amongst African American women. While displaying the direct issues similar to those of her allies, McDougald approaches her antagonists with an unusual method. This was an extremely audacious essay and a great subject to debate for that reason.
Reimaging Rosa Clemente’s Experiences Oppression is a way of exercising authority in a troublesome and cruel manner. Personally; being a white, Irish, Roman Catholic from Boston, I do not know what it means to oppressed because of my racial identity. Rosa Clemente, a current activist and hip hop innovator, grew up as a Latino girl in the Bronx. Clemente discussed situations where she was discriminated because of her racial identity within the Latino community. White, upper-class people from the Bronx had a sense of power over Latinos and other racial minorities creating a sense of oppression for these people.
Kincaid then goes to point out several things that one would be oblivious to if they were a tourist visiting this foreign island, such as poverty and corruption. She then continues the essay by sharing her accounts of her childhood and how life was on the island and the issues she had to face, like racism and oppression. In this essay Kincaid has two main issues, naive tourists and her hatred of the English. The first issue that Kincaid addresses in the essay is how the tourists who visit this island are so unaware of what is going on around them. A good example of this is her description of the airport and the reason why it is named after the prime minister.
For instance, picture a “Latina” woman. Immediately society has struck the idea of an olive skinned, dark-haired and curvy woman with an attitude. An overly-sexualized image, that unfortunately, Hollywood commonly portrays. According to Caroline Grell, focusing on the Latino stereotypes shown in Jane the Virgin, she gives a scene example from the “mock” telenovela stating, “the Xiomara is introduced, the scene shows her painting her nails and wearing a low-cut denim romper. The screen always shows her wearing something short, low cut, or tight, and uses that to her advantage” (Grell, 2017).