Judith Ortiz Cofer establishes the ethos of racial prejudice through her background, education and her own experiences. As she begins to talk about how you can travel far away from the Island, but then she states that, “if you are a Latina, especially one like me….the Island travels with you.” From previous experience, she’s able to know that being Latina can win someone's attention for extra minute, but in other people, it just makes her feel like an island that’s a “place nobody wants to visit”. She knows the feeling of resentment because she was a Puerto Rican girl growing up in the United States, and all that she wanted was to “belong” in society and not draw attention to herself because her appearance was different than others. With knowing…
How do the details Judith Ortiz Cofer includes support her THESIS that latinas are poorly understood and grossly stereotyped? When she goes to her first formal dance, she gets kissed by a guy who just overeager kisses her painfully but Judith didn't respond. Which made the guy think " i thought you Latin girls were suppose to mature". meaning he thought she was going to attack him with kisses.…
Right from the start of the essay, Cofer establishes Latina stereotypes as harmful by relaying her own personal experiences with them. Cofer evokes visual and auditory imagery when she recounts the story of the man who “with both hands over his heart…broke into an Irish tenor’s rendition of “Maria” from West Side Story” (Cofer 370). Cofer’s use of imagery intensifies her experience and makes it much easier to relate to, thereby inspiring empathy toward her and resentment toward the stereotypes under which she suffers. Cofer later creates more imagery when describing the man who “sang a ditty to the tune of “La Bamba” and “stepped directly into [her] path” (373). Cofer’s sensory imagery conjures a feeling of being cornered and caged, unpleasant by anyone’s standards. The images highlight the persecution that is part of Cofer’s life, making them more relatable and once again inspiring empathy for the Latina woman’s plight.…
In addition, historically women have been ostracized in society portraying them second class citizens, however narcocorridos have changed the perspective of gender roles within the music genre. In most cultures the sense of the male domination is seen as normal, therefore when women are portrayed against this norms a catalysis emerges. Similarly, Bradley Tatar explores this idea in the article Hombres Bravos, Mujeres Bravas: Gender and Violence in the Mexican Corrido. Moreover, Tatar explores different songs in which women are portrayed as powerful, breaking all types of Mexican society norms. As an example, Tatar explores the corrido Laurita Garza which narrates the story of a woman that killed her boyfriend, and elaborates, “In this dialogue,…
In the book, Growing up Chicana/o, written by various authors, the characters from each story experience many situations where stereotypes that discriminate their race make their lives much more problematic. Even though these children are knocked down, all of them seem to get back up and become stronger, more mature people. Maturity was one of the most important themes of this book. Racial stereotypes create obstacles for Chicana/o children in school or in extra curricular activities. The Chicana/o children in stories like, Eleven, The Scholarship Jacket, and Pocho all deal with stereotypes that hurt or discriminate against them.…
The kinds of Latinas, Coffer are talking about are mainly Puerto Ricans and Mexican woman. The consequences of irrational assumptions, which helped and encouraged Judith Ortiz Judith Ortiz Cofer, gain the strength and confidence as she worked to prove that stereotypes about her, were strong. On first sight judgments, the audience can decide their attitude towards you. Society can live with them, we can just wait until that person proves himself or shows who he/she is.…
Patriarchic society instills this self-hatred into Chicanas by embedding their worthlessness into the foundation of society itself. “Chicanas’ negative perceptions of ourselves as sexual persons and our consequential betrayal of each other find their roots in a four-hundred-year-long Mexican history and mythology” (39). This self-hatred is institutionalized by the creation of a myth that justifies the…
The article “The Myth of The Latin Woman” is about everything that Latin woman have to go through due to stereotypes mainly portrayed by the media. In The Myth of the Latin Woman, Cofer goes on about how there is a stereotype about Latin women in America and writes about her personal experiences. She talks about how she is a Puerto Rican woman in America and how she hates her stereotype and just wants to belong or fit in. The Major difference between the Latin and American cultures is the clothing choices. Americans dress dull as Latin’s dress more vibrant and flashy.…
In “The Myth of The Latin Women”, there are numerous stereotypes that Latin women are judged for. Being a Latin woman, Cofer was judged falsely. Clothing in the Latin culture is a means of expression. Cofer explains that woman and girls often wear brightly colored outfits, specifically dresses and skirts. The clothing that Latin women wear also has an influence on how others might see them. Cofer describes that, “As young girls, it was our mothers who influenced our decisions about clothes and colors,” Unfortunately, the media twisted this tradition, making it translate into “Hispanic women as the hot tamale or sexual firebrand” (245).…
In the beginning of The Trojan Women by Euripides, the city of Troy has been sacked, and Poseidon brings attention to Hecuba crying at the entrance of Troy. Poseidon lists the events unbeknownst to Hecuba, including her daughter Polyxena being killed by the Greeks in a sacrifice at Achilles’ tomb, Priam and Hecuba’s children are dead, and Apollo left Cassandra mad (Apollo made her his prophetess). Then enters Athena, who wants to bring joy to the Trojans and give the Greeks a bitter journey home. Poseidon and Athena agree to cause havoc on the Greeks’ journey home and then leave. Hecuba knows the Greek ships are waiting offshore ready to take her and the other Trojan women away to slavery. The chorus enters and asks Hecuba what might happen to them. Hecuba thinks they will be auctioned off to the Greeks. Talthybius gives Hecuba and the chorus information on who they were all assigned to. He tells Hecuba that Cassandra was taken by Agamemnon as his concubine, Polyxena has been assigned to Achilles’ tomb as an attendant, Andromache to the son of Achilles, and she is going to Odysseus. Cassandra enters with a burning torch and prophesies Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, will murder both her and Agamemnon. Talthybius is disgusted at Cassandra’s words and tells Hecuba to get ready to go on Odysseus’ ship. Cassandra responds by saying Hecuba will die in what is left of Troy, and she will join her mother in the underworld as a victor because she will have destroyed the house of Atreus. Hecuba faints and then asks where Polyxena is. Andromache enters with her son, Astyanax, and tells Hecuba about Polyxena’s fate as a sacrifice at Achilles’ tomb. Andromache tells Hecuba she believes Polyxena’s fate is far better than hers, and she would rather be dead than to live in misery. As Andromache and Hecuba finish speaking, Talthybius enters and tells Andromache the Greeks have decided to kill Astyanax. Andromache curses the Greeks, and Talthybius…
Art has been a tool used continuously throughout history to emit messages or ideas regarding cultural norms to public audiences, the ancient Greeks and Romans especially practiced this to reinforce values to the masses. Ancient art constantly attempted to exemplify certain attributions and characteristics people were supposed to have acquired in order to be respected in those given societies. The role of women was a common theme portrayed in many famous works of ancient art. Joan B. Connelly’s essay, “Parthenon and Parthenoi: A Mythological Interpretation of the Parthenon Frieze” and Natalie B. Kampen’s essay, “The Muted Other” both touch on the subject of women being represented in ancient art as examples of what was expected for women to appear as in society. In antiquity art, women were depicted as self-sacrificing, caring, and modest; these artworks sought to demonstrate the idealized behavior and role that women were forced to exhibit amongst their families and within society.…
The life of a man compared to a woman in ancient Roman times was very different. A man was a usual member of society and mainly is out of the house working and doing business. A woman generally stayed close to home. First they stayed near their father’s home, then later in life they stayed by their husbands home. A woman’s job was to take care of the household and the family. Women did not hold their own identity and were referred to their father or husbands identity.…
In myths the classical hero is consistently male, but in underworld myths females tend to have a larger or primary role. Jung emphasized the importance of the women the hero encountered during his adventures: they represent the anima, or the female part of the male psyche. This figure is an opposite-sex archetype essential to the development of a complete and mature personality. Women in underworld myths are often portrayed as either “Mother Atonement”, a goddess or a temptress (189), although these are the main roles of women in underworld myths there are also women who portray a heroic role closer to that of a man.…
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. "The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria." 50 Essays.…
Judith Ortiz Cofer wrote a classification essay in 1993 titled “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” in which she reveals her feelings that she had towards all the racial instances she has been through resulting from her ethnicity. In the essay Cofer uses emotional appeal by writing: “But Maria had followed me to London…”,she writes this to expose the audience to her feeling as she was being embarrassed, she then uses exemplification when she says: “…Puerto Rican girls always stood out…” she says this so that the audience understands the difference between her way of life and the American way of life; also, Cofer uses arguments based on values when she says: “… provide a young woman with a circle of safety in her small pueblo…” she does this to contrast the two ways of life that she lived on the mainland and in her hometown, the author finally uses allusion and alludes to one of her previous poems, “I once wrote a poem in which I called us Latinas ‘God’s brown daughters’…” she does this to build ethos so the audience can believe that she is the best person to give an opinion on this issue. Cofer wanted to bring the audience into her thoughts and feelings in order to make them relate to her and her point of view of being Puerto Rican. Cofer is trying to get the audience to understand her point of view on this subject because it means a lot to her and most people may not understand where she comes from.…