Using Language to Define Identity: Examples from Homegirls by Norma Mendoza-Denton Using Language to Define Identity: Examples from Homegirls by Norma Mendoza-Denton In Homegirls, Norma Mendoza-Denton studies the linguistic and social practices of groups of young Latinas to show how they use language to manipulate their projected identities. She observes that these “gang girls” are able to fluidly move between these identities to their benefit as they encounter different situations. They might dress in clothes of a certain color that are specific to their gang, or they might dress girly depending on the way they want to be perceived. They use different speech patterns and body language to frame their interactions for added meaning, for instance things like “clowning” or the arms-crossed, leaning back, looking down posturing which alone asserts a macha stance, but can also be used in clowning. In my personal experience I've also seen this posturing used with a hat or beanie that is worn low over the eyes and actually requires that the person maintain the stance in order to be able to see anything.
While he suggests how to kindly treat one race of women, he emphasizes on how to womanize another. The culture associated with “How to date a browngirl, blackgirl, whitegirl, or halfie”, believes that women will act accordingly, and should be treated based on their own culture and race. In “Girl” by J.Kincaid and “How to date a browngirl, blackgirl, whitegirl or halfie” by J.Diaz both authors describe how culture influences the outlooks, and stereotypes on women. The expectations of females seen in “Girl” revolves around a strict set of cultural rules for women. Through oral transitions the girl’s mother spreads the beliefs of their culture.
The changing in the society role of Hmong mothers and daughters led to conflict and misunderstanding between mothers and daughters. The intensity and frequency of these conflicts are dependent upon the differing rates of adaptation and acculturation to U.S. cultural values and lifestyle. This research seeks to identify and discuss significant factors which contribute to conflicts which arise between Hmong mothers and their teenage daughters living in Merced, California as acculturation takes place in the United States. Questions were developed to gather information about the informants' backgrounds, families, mother-daughter relationship, the identification of potential problems, levels of education, and comparison of life style between the United States and Laos. These may provide insights and possible answers to identify conflicts between mothers and daughters as Hmong women integrate into American society.
Since the very beginning of African civilization, hairstyles have been used to convey messages to the greater society. In nearly every West African culture if unkempt hair was present that particular individual would have been considered unattractive or dirty. Hair maintenance was aimed at creating a sense of beauty. Hair provides women with a means of representing themselves and negotiating their place in the world. Furthermore, what women do and say through their hair care can shed light on how members of a cultural group use hair more broadly as a signifier of status.
In this paper I intend to analyze the first major event in Latina feminism history in the U.S. leading into the third wave of feminism, the first National Hispanic Feminist Conference of 1980, critiquing it and providing insight into its results and what could have been done to maximize the intended outcomes of empowering Latina feminists while giving them a safe space to speak out about identity, politics, class, culture and sexuality. To accomplish this, I will delve into the problems faced by Latina feminists and how they were unique from white feminists and therefore alienated from the greater white feminist movement, then I will describe and analyze the National Hispanic Feminist Conference, and end by critiquing it and providing insight into what could have been done differently to make it more successful. The third wave of feminism can be described as being a push for changing
Jack Thegen-Crowley 3-3-11 ENG 111 MWF 1:00-2:00“this is as nice as I can be...” In the essay “The Queen Bee and Her Court”, an excerpt from her book “Queen Bees and Wannabees”, Rosalind Wiseman examines, in painstaking detail, the highly competitive and hierarchical social behavior she observes in groups of adolescent females. Using a terminology all her own, Wiseman categorically diagrams and dissects the ubiquitous cliques, of which she postulates “every girl is a part”(315). Wiseman's essay seeks to describe of the different roles girls assume within the social hierarchy, their relationships with one-another and the possible personal and developmental implications they risk. The text dedicates it self to readability as it, complete with subcategories and bullet-points, presents itself as a hand-book for its audience of concerned parents and those seeking their own paths towards social dominance. The essay's audience is made apparent early on, as she begins her essay by comparing the elaborate power-structure of young girls to that of corrupt American politics; “Our best politicians […] could not do better and a Teen-Age girl in understand the[...]political landscape that leads to power.” (315).
I believe that Meadʼs comparisons would have been stronger if she had conducted similar fieldwork studies in America that she would be able to reference. ! Meadʼs research in Samoa focussed on adolescent girls from the specific island of Taʻu. Meadʼs research goal was to study the transitional age of adolescence in Samoa in a cross-cultural comparison to that stage of life in western society. She was attempting to discover whether stress during the time of adolescence was present in Samoa as it is in America.
CCS 105F Winter 2014 Sandra Ruiz 03/12/14 The Write Way to Fight for Social Change At the turn of the 20th to the 21st century, Chicana and Latina authors really made a move for social change through their texts. The term Chicana typically refers to Mexican women who were born and/or raised in the United States. Their literary works, whether it was directly or indirectly, addressed issues such as those of citizenship, education, and most of all sexuality. Three texts that offer a lot to talk about on these topics are Josefina López’s Real Women Have Curves: A Comedy, Demetria Martínez’s Mother Tongue, and Esmeralda Santiago’s When I Was Puerto Rican. By writing about discrimination and issues faced by many Latinos, especially/ Latinas,
There are more teen mothers among minority groups, so when this occurs, they become part of the statistical research of teen motherhood (Ventura & Hamilton, 2011). The second and third components, self and cultural concept of career problems and self in cultural context, involve examining challenges faced by teen mothers to move on to higher education and the economic struggles they encounter. Self-concept, as described in Gottfredson's (1981) theory, is a significant part of the second component (Zunker, 2008). Self-concept of the young Black mother is formed considering her circumstance: raising a child, facing educational difficulties, and facing economic difficulties (Gyamfi et al., 2008; Key et al., 2008; Rothenberg & Weissman, 2002). Recognizing the self-concept of the young Black mother leads to a better understanding of the cultural concept of career problems and the self in a cultural context.
Mexican American Mothers’ beliefs about Disabilities Education 252-040 The article “Mexican American Mothers’ Beliefs about Disabilities” use the Vygotsky’ sociocultural theory framework to assess the issues of language development and cultural values and beliefs as the presiding factor to understanding how women of a specific culture, namely Mexican American mothers; interpret learning and language disability in their disabled children. Moreover, the article seeks to evaluate and derive at solutions for combatting the issue that affect language disability as well as the implications for early childhood interventions, while assessing issue of culturally responsive and culturally competent service providers; and their contribution to and