Sandra Cisneros Loose Woman

Despite the claim that the world has made progress towards gender equality, women are expected to depict feminine characteristics and mannerisms deemed suitable by society. Sandra Cisneros challenges these societal expectations in her poem “Loose Woman” by embracing the negative connotations of a masculine woman. Cisneros faces the pressures of conforming to the American and Latin American status quo of being a woman. Because Cisneros chooses to defy many womanly ideals, she is labeled with “undesirable” identities heavily influenced by religious beliefs. These religious views impact the social expectations of a woman’s sexual orientation as well as her social behavior. Cisneros is labeled with these “undesirable” traits in attempt to be belittled

Within the first stanza of the poem, Cisneros discusses her actions towards embracing her sexuality by “[feasting] on it.” Through a culture’s double standards, it is more acceptable for men to be sexually active as women are expected to abstain from any sexual activity. By attempting to empower women, she defies this double standard. The third stanza reveals that women who identify as feminists are extremely labeled as “man-hating, devastating,/ boogey-woman, [lesbians].” It is significant to note this label because of the present heterosexism. Feminism is commonly mistaken for this idea that women are “man-hating” and believe they are superior to men when in reality, it is a battle to gain equity for both sexes. Empowerment through sexuality is often associated with sexual orientation. Since the empowerment through sexuality appears as if it were a masculine quality, society expects these women to be interested in women. Although there has been more acceptance and tolerance in regards to people’s sexual orientation, there is still a number of people who refuse to accept it. Cisneros responds to the name-calling with “Not necessarily,/ but I like the complement.” This is Cisneros’ way of saying that she does not exactly identify as to what she is being called but takes it as a complement because no one’s sexual orientation should