The New Mestiza Analysis

Despite the attempts by our dominant culture to divide lands and peoples by borders, there are those who resist both the physical and mental confines of borders and chose to exist outside the lines. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa explains the challenges experienced and unique perspectives gained by those who defy nationalities and cultures through their very existence. The author's examination of culture, language and hierarchical societal norms states that the new Mestiza person "copes by developing a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity" in the fight to gain legitimacy (Anzaldúa 101). The author compares the Mestiza reality to the lived experiences of people in queer communities highlighting their common existence in states of
Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself" (81). Language and identity are deeply intertwined according to Anzaldúa; it is a fundamental part of a person's self-actualization and ability to connect to the world. I believe the same idea is present in the queer community. If I did not have a word to explain such a vital part of myself, who would I be? A world without a language of, and for the other, would be a world full of "not" peoples: "not-whites", "not-heterosexuals", "not-Mexicans", and a world where even in language difference was solely negative. Anzaldúa's borderland languages and communities illustrate how a struggle for legitimate identification is better than never having a chosen identity at all. Is this not the foundation of the queer movement since nineteen-sixty-nine? Both communities understand the importance of having a unique language, understand that difference can be both an individual and group experience, and understand the beauty of being "boundless" and borderless, in a world that does not even see the borders they have drawn around