In How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, the characters are caught between their native homelands the Dominican Republic culture and their new found country the United States culture which is not the only factors in this novel. Yolanda, a character in the story the third child, encounters sexuality and freedom vs. religious beliefs raised as a Catholic no premarital sex. She also faces prejudice against their race, language barriers and in earlier years adjusting to a different economic status. It places her between the issues of understanding the English language and unwilling to commit to a sexual relationship with her boyfriend in college during the sixties social, sexual revelation. Although these conflict of Catholicism, heritage, and
Julia Alvarez and his three teenage sisters discover the “key” to assimilating into their new country. Their stereotypical understanding of what it means to be an American is defined by one’s appearance. Comparing themselves to the women featured in the Miss America contest, makes the Alvarez girls long for the “American look”. It narrows down to a caucasian, hourglass shaped figure with long seamless straight hair. “Although we wanted to look like we belonged here, the four sisters, our looks didn 't seem to fit in.”
For as long as people can remember, the stereotype that men have “more power” than women in a relationship has been a relevant argument. In the novel How the García Girls Lost Their Accents the Author, Julia Alvarez, writes about four girls and part of that revolves around their relationships with men. In all of their relationships with men, he has the power in the relationship which means he makes the decisions for them. When they lived in the United States the girls and their mother had more say in the society. When they lived in the Dominican Republic men just saw them as submissive housewives who bear their children.
Lee 1 Breann Lee Period 3 22 September 2014 Compare and Contrast Paper The books “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, by Julia Alvarez and “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson are very similar novels. The main characters share similar experiences growing up in their New York setting that shapes them throughout the book. Both Melinda and Yolanda feel like outcasts because of their low self-esteem and their problems communicating. In “Speak” on Melinda's first day of school Anderson writes “I am clanless…I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, and definitely the wrong attitude.
At the beginning of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Julia was ambitious and closed off. After Olgas death, Julias life was made more tense and frustrating, causing Julia to plummet into her depression. Even before Olgas death, Julia and her family were very disconnected and her relationship with her parents was not enough. Ama, Julias mother is very hard and strict on her, she doesn’t even try to understand her and critizies her every move. Julia's relationship with her father is basically nonexistent, they aren't remotely close and never have any meaningful conversation.
The film begins with an explanation of the differences between the two countries. The Dominican Republic is a Spanish-speaking country influenced by European culture. The citizens of the Dominican Republic are proud to be of mixed heritage, but often dismiss and forget their black ancestors. They equate their homeland only to Spain and not Africa.
Blanca Quinteros Ms. A. Aramillo English IV Honors 29 October 2015 How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent The transition the girls made from Dominican Republic to the United States was imbued with struggles – cultural, linguistic, and gender-related. In the 1960s American women were limited in various ways, including family roles and equality in the workplace. The way gender roles were set retained them from expanding their abilities in their homes and jobs. Women had one path to follow: marriage at their early 20s, and subsequent servitude to their husbands and/or children. A feminist movement in the 1960s to 1970s focused on breaking down the gender inequality.
In Sandra Cisneros “Mericans” she creates a young character named Michelle who faces cultural differences and nonunderstanding, gender roles and culture stereotyping which can be exhibited in the real world. The author introduces Michelle as a foreigner with in her own culture, with this being said throughout the story Michelle seemed to be uninterested in her Grandmothers ideals and the principles of the Mexican heritage. The evidence behind this statement is; throughout the passage Michelle refers to her grandmother as being “awful” (Cisneros 93). I think a big reason for this is the fact that the grandmother has the children wait outside the church doors as she goes and say her daily prayers.
The title of the book “Virgins” communicates more than the first sexual act. It depicts the inability to make personal decisions without basing off other people’s opinions and beliefs. The story is an analysis of the progression of two females and their interaction with men. Though different, each girl has a different perception of sexual anatomy and hence Evans is able to communicate his message that virginity or sexuality is something that is a sole decision of someone despite whether they have had vaginal sex or not. Throughout the story, Erica is unsure with men.
Other readings have discussed the history of sexuality—A history of Latina/o Sexualities. Throughout history, women were supposed to be passive. Women were there to please the man and ofter were viewed as the inferior. Sex was viewed as something that was essential only for reproduction; it was only to be pleasurable during a marriage and through very strict guidelines set by the church. This is still an influential way which women are being treated today.
Throughout generations cultural traditions have been passed down, alongside these traditions came language. The language of ancestors, which soon began to be molded by the tongue of newer generations, was inherited. Though language is an everlasting changing part of the world, it is a representation of one’s identity, not only in a cultural way but from an environmental standpoint as well. One’s identity is revealed through language from an environmental point of view because the world that one is surrounded with can cause them to have their own definitions of words, an accent, etc. With newer generations, comes newer forms of languages.
Inside and beyond the myth and the social impact of the subject as One or Substance. Alan H. Goldman’s essay ‘Plain Sex’ is a central contribution to the academic debate about sex within the analytic area, which has been developing since the second half of the ‘90s in Western countries. Goldman’s purpose is encouraging debate on the concept of sex without moral, social and cultural implications or superstitious superstructures. He attempts to define “sexual desire” and “sexual activity” in its simplest terms, by discovering the common factor of all sexual events, i.e. “the desire for physical contact with another person’s body and for the pleasure which such contact produces; sexual activity is activity which tends to fulfill such desire of the agent” (Goldman, A., 1977, p 40).
The Dominican Republic is divided culturally between the French Haitians and the Spanish Dominicans, which started in the colonial times and continues thereafter. The racism became more intensified under the regime of Rafael Trujillo in 1930. Due to Trujillo’s racism against Haitians, he made it so any person who is Haitian in the Dominican Republic from 1929 and forward has no nationality in the Dominican. He did this by taking their birth papers and considering them to be “in transit”, this means they have just traveled to the Dominican Republic for work. He also enforced the border dispute, by not allowing anyone without birth papers to pass the border; Haitians could only stay on one side of the island.
Teaching sexuality to growing children has become paramount, a prerogative for both teachers and parents. Sexuality education is a crucial stepping stone towards ensuring the general well-being, sexual health, and reproductive health as children develop and experience changes. To this end, Robie Harris’ book “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing up, Sex, and Sexual Heath” provides a much needed guideline towards educating children not only on their developmental changes but also on health issues such as HIV/AIDS. Harris’s discussion in this book goes to a deep length to provide information on what sexual relations are about, gender issues, making babies, and sexual desire. The author specifically targets children undergoing puberty
Therefore, the purpose of this essay is to evaluate Joe in a feminist viewpoint, while connecting with the course material about the following: masturbation, sexual objectification, and casual sex. Joe developed her high desire for pleasurable sensations at a young age alongside her childhood best friend named “B”. With this heightened sense of arousal, and interest she seeks the immediate chance to lose her
