Evaluation of Anzaldúa’s Theories
Evaluation of Anzaldúa’s Theories
Being born in the United States and keeping a strong bond with my parent’s homeland, Mexico, has made me realize that I agree with many theory’s that Gloria Anzaldúa, author of, Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza, has defended in her book. Anzaldúa seems to believe that no one should ever be allowed to quiet someone of their native language, the way that some Americans prohibit Mexicans to speak Spanish. In addition to that, Anzaldúa also takes up time writing about her theory of Mexican women. Anzaldúa believes that Mexican men make themselves superior to women and she seems to blame the Mexican women for allowing men to take the role of being dominant over the Mexican women. Lastly, Anzaldúa goes on writing about how she believes that the lives of Mexicans and Americans would be less confrontational if only they were willing to make borders into crossroads in which they all had a part of each other’s culture. All in all, Anzaldúa makes statements in her book about some of the many theories I agree with, which Anzaldúa presents in her book are theories about, language, culture, and borders.
In chapter five titled, How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Anzaldúa, describes how she feels about her language by writing, “I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself” (81). By stating this, I feel Anzaldúa is claiming that one could not describe her if she cannot take ownership of the language she has always spoken. Like Anzaldúa, I also feel that in order to feel pride in myself; I need to proud of who I am. My culture is revolved around my language and the way I speak my family’s language, which describes who I am. Ray Gwyn Smith, who Anzaldúa quotes in her book, clearly says how hurtful it is to be shunned from your everyday language when he questions, “Who is to say that robbing a people of its language is less violent than war?”(75). When taking someone’s language, you also seize their
Being born in the United States and keeping a strong bond with my parent’s homeland, Mexico, has made me realize that I agree with many theory’s that Gloria Anzaldúa, author of, Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza, has defended in her book. Anzaldúa seems to believe that no one should ever be allowed to quiet someone of their native language, the way that some Americans prohibit Mexicans to speak Spanish. In addition to that, Anzaldúa also takes up time writing about her theory of Mexican women. Anzaldúa believes that Mexican men make themselves superior to women and she seems to blame the Mexican women for allowing men to take the role of being dominant over the Mexican women. Lastly, Anzaldúa goes on writing about how she believes that the lives of Mexicans and Americans would be less confrontational if only they were willing to make borders into crossroads in which they all had a part of each other’s culture. All in all, Anzaldúa makes statements in her book about some of the many theories I agree with, which Anzaldúa presents in her book are theories about, language, culture, and borders.
In chapter five titled, How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Anzaldúa, describes how she feels about her language by writing, “I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself” (81). By stating this, I feel Anzaldúa is claiming that one could not describe her if she cannot take ownership of the language she has always spoken. Like Anzaldúa, I also feel that in order to feel pride in myself; I need to proud of who I am. My culture is revolved around my language and the way I speak my family’s language, which describes who I am. Ray Gwyn Smith, who Anzaldúa quotes in her book, clearly says how hurtful it is to be shunned from your everyday language when he questions, “Who is to say that robbing a people of its language is less violent than war?”(75). When taking someone’s language, you also seize their