How culture unconsciously harms Always Running, by Luis J. Rodriguez, was written as an autobiography about his experience growing up as a first generation Mexican American in the 1960s and 70s in Los Angeles. During this same period of time, the second wave of feminism took place, which sought equal rights, freedom and more opportunities for women. Despite this, the main character Luis, is unconsciously informed through his cultural patriarchal influences to objectify women– causing harm to both the women he interacts with and also to himself. The main form in which Luis objectifies women is by splintering. Splintering is when a person associates certain characteristics as positive or negative and takes that into either choosing to like or dislike a person based …show more content…
In a society where it is so normalized, the impact is deemed as normal and just a part of a woman's experience because they don't know any better or different. According to Emma Rooney, psychology major from New York University, consistent experiences of sexual objectification lead women to internalize these views resulting in self-objectification, self-consciousness, which in turn increases feelings of body shame, anxiety and depression (2023). In the novel we saw this in chapter three (64) when Hermie was thrown into the water. After the incident she became angry and isolated herself from everyone. The author did not and does not focus on the women's experiences but this is a moment where the reader sees that the sexualization and objectification has an effect on a women's mental health. Luis recognizes how she reacted to the event but he didn't do or say anything, he only observed and also objectified her unconsciously because he still looked and analyzed her body. In a sense this is more harmful than being completely mindless about it because he is letting her get hurt and not doing anything about