Myth Of The Latin Woman Essay, Research Paper
The principal notion about life revealed in this essay is that in Western
societies the Latin Women are viewed stereotypically as a sex object
or selfless housewives and obsequious workers. Otherwise, some people
believe and perpetuate stereotypes about particular ethnic groups while
in reality those myths can be related to few members of that ethnic group.
In this essay the author Judith Ortiz Cofer discusses how she has
been treated by different people in different countries due to their
conception of her as a Latin woman. The author refers to the several
incidents where she has been viewed stereotypically as a person who is
capable of doing only a very simple job or being an object that satisfies
a man’s lust. She says that from her childhood, because she was a female,
she was kept under strict surveillance by her parents and was schooled
how to behave as a proper senorita. Because of her background she had to
be dressed up as a Puerto Rican girl. As she says it was obvious that
for the others this kind of dressing seemed vulgar. It is clearly that
from her childhood the author has been surrounded by the circumstances
in which a female human being must fit into demands of her society. The
author’s culture and traditions were not the same with the American
culture, and as a result, the girl was grown up on the verge of two
different customs. As the author says, the way of dressing of the Latin
women gives American men a wrong massage about these women. It happens
because they apply their own culture and customs to the traditions of
other ethnic group. Vivid colors of clothes and brilliance of jewelry
sometimes are signals of the easy accessibility of a woman for a Western
man. From those attributes was created a myth about Hispanic woman as
the hot tamale or sexual firebrand.
The author recalls stories that she heard in her house during her
childhood about sexual harassment that Puerto Rican women endured in
factories where they were seen as if sexual innuendo was all they
understood. She also describes her own experience of being seen
stereotypically when the boy who took her to her first formal dance
kissed her and without having received a passional response remarked,
I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early. Here we see
not only a stereotypical view of the Latin women but also consideration
of those women as something that is able to ripen like a fruit or
vegetable. The incident with a young boy on the bus who was singing
Maria from West Side Story also seems to have left a bitter taste at
the author, You can leave the island… and travel as far as you can,
but if you are a Latina, the island travels with you. The event at the
hotel seems to be the culmination of the essay. Here a man who seems
to be well-educated and respectable sings a dirty song to amaze the
author and people around. It is obviously that the author was deeply
embarrassed in this incident and she remarks that if non-Hispanic woman
were in her place, the same man would not show such disrespect because
she could be somebodys wife or mother, or at least somebody who might
take offence.” But for this man she was just “an Evita or a Maria:
merely a character in his cartoon-populated universe.”
To support the opinion that the Latin women in the United States are
viewed as domestic or menial workers the author gives another one example
from her own life.
She tells us about her first public poetry reading that took place at
a restaurant. She tells how nervous and excited she was as she walked
in with her notebook in hand. An older woman motioned her to her table
and ordered from the author a cup of coffee, assuming that she was the
waitress. As we see some people only from the appearance of the person,
following and supporting the existing stereotypes, are able to conclude
everything about this human being. They just consider the members of
other ethnic groups as they have been doing it all their lives.
I can relate to this idea about stereotypical view of the Latin women
because I have become a victim of stereotypical view of the Russian women
and because almost all my friends go through this every day. Usually
this misconception arises from cultural differences or from images that
are represented to us by media or TV. And it is highly unlikely for this
misconception to be ever broken down because usually we are satisfied with
what we already know and we dont want to disturb our minds by putting
them into work to change our perception of the around world. Sometimes
it is easier for us just to erase ones individuality by considering a
person as a typical and ordinary than to admit somebody as an unusual
and unique personality.
For the sake of objectivity I have to mention that while I was looking
for the information on Latin women in Internet, after entering the
keywords like “Latin women in USA” and “Discrimination of Latin women”
most of the sites that I was getting were offering sexual services. So,
we can assume that some Latin women have a finger in the pie and intensify
the existing stereotypes.
I would like to tell about Rita Morena, the actress who played in the
mentioned above movie “West Side Story” and who received Oscar for
Best Supporting Actress in this film in 1962. The story of her career
shows in full measure how the Latin women are seen in the USA and in
England. Little child, she was brought to New York from Puerto Rico by her
mother. Growing up, Rosita had to surpass many obstacles in a new for her
society. Because of her natural talent and diligence she quickly succeeded
as an actress and a dancer. But she says that to get a job she had to play
up the idea of the “Latin spitfire.” She always wanted to play important
roles but being a Puerto Rican, she had to play the roles of the Latin
women as they were seen in the USA. Usually she was cast as the dumb,
barefooted, sexy – the only roles she was suited for according to the
filmmakers. In her first role she played “a fiery love machine.” In
her second movie she represented the image of a poor, brown-skinned
woman. She says she felt disappointment at that time because by her work
she was perpetuating the stereotype of the women of her nationality as
hot-blooded and hot-tempered sex kittens. The money received for Oscar
she donated toward the civil rights movement. To escape from racism Rita
went to London but after some month she returned because she found more
racism there. Rita Morena says that even today, after many years, the
situation hasnt changed. Here we see that the whole life of a talented
person was darkened by the stereotype that follows that person even today.