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Gender equality and its effects
About intersectionality
About intersectionality
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Gender equality and its effects
About intersectionality
About intersectionality
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The author divides this book into three different parts. In the first part, he communicates to the reader how students with high leveled education and others get together to challenge the high-powered Anglos and Mexican American. In the second part, he examines how the Chicano movement flourished and how women and ex-gang members attempted to join the political world. In the final part, Montejano decided to include his point of view on how the political leaders that failed could’ve made a difference in the political world. This book was full of surprises, the way Montejano quotes actual people is just beautiful.
In the document, “Be down with the Brown” by Elizabeth Martinez; A cofounder of the institute for Multiracial Justice in San Francisco. Martinez, wrote the this document do to the protest by Chicanos and Chicanas against the racial educational system. The protest consisted of the students walking out of classes, also known as “blowouts.” For the Chicanos/Chicanas, the educational system did nothing in order to give them the quality education they deserved.
Constance Cortez’s book Carmen Lomas Garza examines the life and the artworks of Carmen Lomas Garza. Garza was raised in South Texas and was the child of five. Her parents were involved with the community especially with the Latino veterans. Garza’s mother inspired her to become an artist because her mother also painted. The inspirations of Garza’s works are of her everyday life and of her community.
During the Chicano Nationalist Movement, a well-known speaker, Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales, delivered a speech titled Chicano Nationalism: Victory for La Raza. In this speech, Rodolfo Gonzales tries to unify the Latin American people within the United States by using the idea of a family and to create a new political organization for the Chicano people. This speech was a cumulation of various ideas which stemmed from his own life, the experiences of the Chicano people, and the Chicano Nationalist Movement in general. Each of these factors contributed to the context of the speech and how the ideas within the speech are presented by Rodolfo Gonzales. Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales was born to Federico and Indalesia Gonzales, two Mexican immigrants, on June 18, 1928.
Chica Da Silva Chica da Silva was a freed slave living in Brazil during the eighteen century. While there are many false myths and stereotypes connected to Chica, Furtado’s biography’s goal was to find out the truth. To not only discover what Chica Da Silva was really like, but to also defend her people from the stereotypes that have followed them for many years. Furtado took a different approach to researching the famous freed slave. Instead of using popular beliefs and myths to make assumptions on what Chica must have been like based on her race and family background.
In Madame Noir, Nicole Akoukou Thomson (2014) writes that, “Fairer Latinas not only earn more Latina roles, but Afro-Latinas are often pushed to solely play African-American parts, forced to stifle a part of their ethnic identity.” Thomson (2014) argues that this “is problematic because it perpetuates the social invisibility of Afro-Latinos.” Torres told NBC Universo that “When [she] became an actress, [she] quickly realized that [Hollywood] liked [Latina actresses] to look Italian and not like [her]” (NBCUniverso, 2012). This forced her to audition for African American roles. This directly reflects what Thomson argues about Afro-Latina actresses.
The most popular definition of a Chicana is a Mexican-American female who is raised in the United States. La Chicana “has minority status in her own land even though she is, in part, indigenous to the Americas and a member of one of the largest (majority) ethnic groups in the United States. She is a woman whose life is too often characterized by poverty racism, and sexism, not only in the dominant culture, but also within her own culture”1 The term Chicana was coined during the Chicano Movement by Mexican American women who wanted to establish social, cultural, and political identities for themselves in America. Chicana refers to a woman who embracers her Mexican culture and heritage, but simultaneously, recognizes the fact that she is
Critical Race Counter stories along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline by Tara Yosso focuses on a parent organization called the “Las Madres”. This article counters common stereotypes of Mexican Americans and brings light to several injustices in the education system. This article connects to other readings that also bring up the stereotype of Mexican American parents not caring about their student’s education. “Las Madres” is living proof that they do care about education despite what others may think about them. I feel like more change can be done through “Las Madres” than PTA meeting that they feel like they are being excluded from because they are noticing injustices and issues within the community due to the color of people’s skin.
This section on gender features a passage from the Honduran human rights activist, Elvia Alvarado titled, “Childhood to Motherhood.” Throughout the passage, Alvarado retells her experiences as a woman growing up and having to deal with a violent, alcoholic father, an absentee mother, and the constant repression of her womanhood by Honduran society. All the while, her life experiences reflect on topics such as class, machismo, and femininity. Elvia begins by recalling her memories of her feeble imitation of a childhood. From her father going to work everyday only to come home empty handed and wasting away at the bottom of a bottle.
Anzaldúa was a Mexican American who was a well-known writer and had a major impact on the fields of queer, feminist, and cultural theory. Her most famous work is Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza which includes poems, essays, and short stories. Anzaldúa was no stranger to the use of literary theories in her writing, which is evident in her short story “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Here, the author uses a combination of feminist, reader-response, and psychoanalytic theory to show the struggle of being oneself when they’re Mexican-American. Through the use of feminist theory, she explains how a female is labeled as an “habladora” when she tries to voice out her opinion about something; reader-response theory provides the reader with an understanding of the struggles of self-identity, which they are able to relate to, especially Mexican-Americans; and lastly, psychoanalytic theory illuminates on her childhood experiences, which could explain why Anzaldúa believes in what she does, such as the idea that Anglo people have tried to tame her tongue—in other words, her language.
She notes attending Northeastern University where she felt at odds with the topic of feminism, not for its analysis and empowerment of women, but because as a Latina--in addition to lesbian, teenage mom, and on welfare--her experiences from mainstream feminism were significantly different (141). Noriega’s experience at Latina Lesbians en Nuestro Ambiente (LLENA) exposed her to a multitude of realities in the dealings with being Latina and lesbians in a heteronormative worlds where issues such as, immigration, education, class background, language diversity, etc were being considered and discussed. The author noted that her legacy is defined by her ability to have created an infrastructure where intersectionality is addressed and expressed, such as being Latina/o in the context of civil
For instance, Anzaldúa recalls a time in which two men yelled homophobic slurs at her brother and his partner on their first anniversary, to which she replies, “and they had to be Latinos.” (206) This is a prime example of two of Anzaldúa’s identities – her Latino and queer identities – at a clear collision. She wants to be able to support her fellow Latinos, however, when it is them who are threatening her queer identity, she feels ashamed and confused. However, she comes to terms with her conflicting identities by comparing herself to a “spider woman” with “one foot on brown soil, one on white, one in straight society, one in the gay world, the man’s world, the women’s, one limb I the literary world, another in the working class, the socialist, and the occult worlds.”
Furthermore, he describes the multiple forms of control Chicana women face when he states, “The Chicana is first of all oppressed economically, socially, and politically by virtue of her being a woman. Secondly, the Chicana as a member of an oppressed ethnic and/ or racial group is limited to the same extent as the Chicano by the dominant Anglo society” (50). However, he fails to mention the experiences of queer women, which implies how the Chicano
As I opened the door for the Chicano Student Center, at the University of California Riverside, I did not know what to expect. The feeling of a thousand butterflies, fluttering in my stomach, my palms so sweaty, it was if I had dipped them in water. A couple of days before I had emailed the director of the program, Estella Acuña, hoping to schedule an interview with her to acquire a better understanding of the Chicano program. However, she sadly informed me that she was going to be very busy, thus directing me to a student worker from the program, Joana Reyes. I walked in through the door and the first thing I saw was a beautiful mural which had vivid colors that made it stand out from anything else in the room.
“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.