Review of Judith Ortiz's Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria
The Myth of Latin Woman
Throughout life people may be involved in racial abuse, especially if they are Latin women; discrimination by people that believe they are superior just because they have born in a different or best country. In “Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the writer tries to show part of her life and how people in different countries acts in the situation of having someone in front of them with a different culture or skin color, in this case Latin woman. In the essay, she had to fight with three situations of discrimination: (1) Stereotypes, (2) Culture Clash, and (3) media. First of all, the term stereotype is used as a negative sense. Throughout the essay, Ortiz writes about the experiences she passed through her childhood, her experience as a Latina woman and the stereotypes that involved a Latin woman. In paragraph 2, she is upset about how her Hispanic appearance called forth from many people she met from different countries. Ortiz thinks that a Latin woman is seen as a sex object as a result of her way of dressing. She declares that her mother taught her how to do it. Our parents influence us in our way of dress. For example, if our parents are from an Indian region and they use Indian clothes, they are going to influence us to wear the same clothes. Also, she narrates about her experience on a bus trip when a white man started reciting the lines of “Maria” because she appeared to be Latino.
Secondly, culture clash carries a big influence. She explains in her essay how hard it is growing up in a country with a totally different culture. Even, one day when she went to school to the Career Day, they had gone “dressed as if for a job interview.” She went dressed the way a Puerto Rican dresses. The way she dressed with too much jewelry made her a victim of mockery. Furthermore, some people who move to another country are victims of discrimination by people who believe that bringing
Throughout life people may be involved in racial abuse, especially if they are Latin women; discrimination by people that believe they are superior just because they have born in a different or best country. In “Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the writer tries to show part of her life and how people in different countries acts in the situation of having someone in front of them with a different culture or skin color, in this case Latin woman. In the essay, she had to fight with three situations of discrimination: (1) Stereotypes, (2) Culture Clash, and (3) media. First of all, the term stereotype is used as a negative sense. Throughout the essay, Ortiz writes about the experiences she passed through her childhood, her experience as a Latina woman and the stereotypes that involved a Latin woman. In paragraph 2, she is upset about how her Hispanic appearance called forth from many people she met from different countries. Ortiz thinks that a Latin woman is seen as a sex object as a result of her way of dressing. She declares that her mother taught her how to do it. Our parents influence us in our way of dress. For example, if our parents are from an Indian region and they use Indian clothes, they are going to influence us to wear the same clothes. Also, she narrates about her experience on a bus trip when a white man started reciting the lines of “Maria” because she appeared to be Latino.
Secondly, culture clash carries a big influence. She explains in her essay how hard it is growing up in a country with a totally different culture. Even, one day when she went to school to the Career Day, they had gone “dressed as if for a job interview.” She went dressed the way a Puerto Rican dresses. The way she dressed with too much jewelry made her a victim of mockery. Furthermore, some people who move to another country are victims of discrimination by people who believe that bringing