Chican Women In The House On Mango Street

The streets are mean. The House on Mango Street (1991), by Sandra Cisneros details the childhood of Esperanza, who moved into a new neighborhood on Mango Street in Chicago. The novel is told through vignettes, which focus on Esperanza’s experiences in this new area. Each vignette addresses a unique topic that is specific to the culture on Mango Street, with many being about sensitive topics that scar Esperanza in some way. The stories are specific to the Chicana culture, which is the background of most of the people living in the area. Within that culture though, Esperanza points out the normalization of many terrible aspects of her life, which are more than enough to scar someone for life. As a poor, Chicana woman, she faces the struggles

The girls in this neighborhood are constantly berated by men for their looks, and this leads to a concern for the girls’ looks over their personalities. This can be seen multiple times by Esperanza, who finds herself to be very insecure. She starts to realize that men care about looks, and that she wants to attract men. “I want to sit out bad at night, a boy around my neck and the wind under my skirt” (Cisneros 73). This is a common part of growing up and realizing one’s attractions as one comes of age, but this grows to be unhealthy in Esperanza’s case, as she begins to look at herself in an unhealthy way, saying, “When I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees. When there is nothing left to look at on this street” (Cisneros 75). This is the negative body-image that is supported by the Chicana culture, as she feels like she has to physically attract men in order to get one. This practice demeans women and keeps the men as dominant, as the women are peacocking them. The men as well hurt this further, as they catcall and slur the girls, sexualizing them at a very early age. An example of this comes when Esperanza, Lucy, and Rachel wear high heels out around the neighborhood and get catcalled for it by multiple people on the streets, “You are a pretty girl. What’s your name, pretty girl?”...“Rachel, you are prettier than a yellow taxicab.

Esperanza does not face an easier life than any other person on Mango Street for the most part, and thus, is no surprise that she has faced assault. Esperanza was assaulted at a fair, describing it, stating “Why didn’t you tell them to leave me alone? The one who grabbed me by the arm, he wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you, Spanish girl, I love you, and pressed his sour mouth to mine” (Cisneros 100). This level of assault is close to on par with Sally, however Esperanza shows that she is horrified by it, versus to Sally who accepts it. This is the difference that define the two’s futures, as Esperanza has found her way out of the cycle of abusive relationships, whereas Sally is pointed right at a future that continues the abuse she has been dealing with her whole life. Sally is following the basic Chicana duties, as Çertin describes. “Rising of the women was seen as weakening the male ego, so Chicanas were expected to obey their social institutions. Chicanas were under pressure to be seen as the designated producers of culture and Chicana feminists reacted against the ‘ideal Chicana’ image that represents them as strong, patient and the ones who keep the family together and in this way fulfill the ideal and cultural survival” (Çetin 4). This makes sense as to why there is a system of oppression on Mango Street, as the men want only certain purposes out of women.