Social Media: A New Perspective

The term social media is defined as “forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages and other content” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). I had used social networking sites such as facebook and myspace but I had never posted up a blog online or had created a twitter account before my Latina feminist traditions class at LMU. It was really a completely different experience and one that definitely made me much more aware of the real meaning behind having such easy access, in a way, to the entire world.
I must admit that at first I was not sure why we had to go through all this trouble of writing out our thoughts online instead of simply typing up a paper and turning that in. Yet ironically enough, I learned in this class not to take such a means of communication for granted. Women way back in the 60’s had to struggle to make their voice be heard. They actually had to work hard and for long hours to make their words, thoughts and opinions available and accessible to a larger public. The Hijas de Cuauhtemoc had to work long hours to make newsletters in an attempt to raise consciousness and publish the issues that they thought were concerning the Latino community. They had to go through the trouble of typing, editing, revising, organizing, designing and then taking them to the printer to then make copies of the newsletters. Once all their copies were done, they had to go out and distribute these all in person to the audience they wanted to target. Every single story that they ever wanted to publish and share with a wider audience had to go through this entire process first.
Today however, everything we wish to share can go online and be viewed and read just a second later by a huge community of internet users. Things can be recorded and downloaded onto the internet instantaneously and while some may still take this for granted I have really learned to appreciate it. The way I think of blogging now is completely different, I cannot control the readers behind my posts, but at least I have the satisfaction that if someone was really interested in learning a little more about any of the topics I have written about, they will at the very least have access to reading more about it. As mentioned in class the other day, what good is your research if only your professor will get to read and learn from your paper, why not share your findings with a greater, broader audience and actually teach them all something new that you may not have known yourself before reading more on it.
We all have a story to share and I think it is important to share some of these because other people might really not be aware of such issues and concerns around the particular community you write about. Even now I type in Chicana feminism on a search engine and not many documents show up, yet amongst the few that come up, Dr. Perez’ CHST 404 class comes up and that alone opens the door to lots of information revolving around Chicana feminism and the issues that women of color have faced or still face today, including some of my pieces. Social media which is so easily accessible to us now is something that we should all take advantage of, we can share the stories and thoughts or concerns that go around our community and make others aware of the issues we face, question or simply want to inform others of or highlight around our community. We all end up reading other someone else’s side of the story, so why not share our own.

The Struggles of Latinas Pursuing a Higher Education

There have been too many stereotypes of young Latinas in the past. There has been a long going stereotype and expectation for the female role in a Hispanic family, the man was the breadwinner and the woman was the housekeeper. Moreover, other stereotypes have been more “damaging to Mexican American females portrayed as submissive and docile with no ambition other than producing children” (Latina College Students: Issues and Challenges for the 21st Century). While we have broken away from some of these stereotypes, or at least to a certain extent, many young Latinas still do not take this education option that we have today. There are many obstacles and factors that lead to the low numbers we see for Latinas and other women of color pursuing higher education today, but I think one category that is often overlooked is the environmental circumstances that many come from and the great influence that these have on being a successful college student.
One very big factor is the lack of financial support. These financial concerns include “debt incurred by loans, lack of money for bills and personal expenses, hours spent on outside employment, and uncertainty of receiving financial aid” (Latina College Students). For the most part, Latino households have an annual income below $50,000. With these low earnings, many females feel guilty for having this money spent on their education; they do not want to give their parents the burden of having this additional expense. Thus, many will start working to pay their own education but will often lose their ultimate education goal to focus on maintaining their job.
Another concern that many young Latinas have is what their parents think. They worry about the “family obligations, educational aspirations that conflict with parental expectations and gender-role conflict” (Latina College Students). These concerns are particularly strong with first-generation Latina college-students. “This conflict is particularly strong for Latinas who must often deal with the parental expectation of living close to home and staying in close contact both physically and socially” (Latina College Students).
Although increasing the representation of women of underrepresented minorities in higher education institutions has become a national priority as evidenced by policy, there are still many other obstacles that Latina females must overcome. Gloria Anzaldua includes a short excerpt on Borderlands, where she talks about women progress and how now we are given many options including education. Yet, despite a woman’s desire to pursue a higher education, a woman has many more concerns and expectations than a man. For instance, women in general spend more time doing unpaid domestic labor than men do, this also has a negative impact on program progress. A male can go out to pursue his education without anything in return. A woman on the other hand, is responsible for completing her college education and also for mastering all of the typical household chores. Thus, gender has an indirect impact on the success of a college student; greatly due to gender-stereotypes that still persist in today’s society.

Additional Resources:

https://www.msu.edu/~mwr2p/SotoYao-MR2P-2010.pdf

http://journals.naspa.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1111&context=jsarp&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dobstacles%2520latinas%2520face%2520while%2520achieving%2520higher%2520education%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D5%26sqi%3D2%26ved%3D0CEIQFjAE%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fjournals.naspa.org%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1111%2526context%253Djsarp%26ei%3DcEOfT_6jO4rliALnhfDNAQ%26usg%3DAFQjCNFYl-XClDDjCccBpZLgRNtDzaWebQ#search=%22obstacles%20latinas%20face%20while%20achieving%20higher%20education%22

 

 

Marsha Gómez: Sculptor, Potter, Activist

The energy and spirit that go into my work result in a unique expression of respect and reverence for women, the Earth, and indigenous way of life.

Marsha Anne Gómez was an amazing sculptor, potter, and activist. She was born on December 24, 1951 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was the eldest of five siblings. She was of Choctaw and Mexican-American descent, so she was always extremely close to her indigenous roots. At a young age, she was inspired by her father’s activism when he fought against Dow Chemicals for dumping toxic chemicals in the Achafalaya Basin (Notable American Women). She graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a degree in Arts Education. In 1981, she moved to Austin, Texas and became active in pottery and sculptures, teaching, and social-change activism. She taught art to seniors in the community centers. Her artwork was featured in her personal shows and collective exhibits. She went on to win many awards including the La Pena Rebozo Award for achievement in the Latino Arts Community and the Bannerman Fellowship Award.

In addition, she cofounded the Indigenous Women’s Network in 1983. Because of her active participation with the arts community, she founded Artistas Indigenas, an arts organization of indigenous women headquartered in Austin. She also directed Alma de Mujer Center for Social Change, a 22-acre retreat center with outdoor stage, winding creek, herb garden, and lodges.

Marsha is best known for her sculpture “Madre del Mundo,” an indigenous woman gazing contemplatively at a globe cradled in her lap. The work was commissioned for a Mother’s Day peace protest at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. However, the Bureau of Land Management confiscated the sculpture. It was released after a “legal tug-of-war” and Marsha placed it atop a hill at Alma de Mujer. She was asked to produced a second Madre del Mundo for the Peace Farm in the Texas Panhandle, and a third for Casa de Colores, an indigenous resource center and cooperative farm in Brownsville (Great Texas Women). A fourth Madre del Mundo was made for a temple, located outside the Nevada Test site. The temple was built for Sekhmet, ancient Egyptian lion-headed goddess of birth, fertility, and rage. The sculpture became an emblem of ecofeminism.

Sadly, Marsha fell victim to her son’s, Mekaya Gómez, schizophrenia.  On September 29, 1998, he murdered his mother.  Her funeral, which held at Alma de Mujer, was a tribute to her powerful presence in the community. People came from across the United States, Hawaii, Mexico, and even Canada to pay tribute to her.

Working with clay as my dear companion for the past fifteen years, I have come closer each year to a deeper union with the Earth and closer to an appreciation of how all the elements in the universe work together. In turn, I myself have become a vessel to the vessels that are created through my heart and hands.

References:

Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century. Ed. Susan Ware and Stacy Braukman. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap, 2004. 239-40. Print.

“Marsha Gomez.” Great Texas Women. University of Texas at Austin. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. <http://www.utexas.edu/gtw/gomez.php>.

Images:

http://almademujer.us/content/alma-de-mujer-founder

http://peace.maripo.com/e_nm_co_2009.htm

The Chicana/o Studies courses at LMU have empowered me as a Feminista, Chicana y Mexicana

As I embark in a new journey I will take with me the tools I have gained through my Chicana/o Studies courses. I clearly remember the first day of my CHST 116 introductory course becoming more and more excited as the professor introduced us to the various kinds of readings we would be engaging in. We began the course with The Broken Spears: The Aztec account of the Conquest of Mexico by Miguel León-Portilla. The conquest of the indigenous people of Mexico and South America was something I had heard of before but not to the point where it became the area of study. Taking this course opened my eyes to see things from a different point of view. It invited me to become more critical and question the powers of dominance. I began to see the hidden message in commercials, adds, billboard signs, etc. How the education system in the United States continues to oppress minorities coming from working class backgrounds. I also became aware and informed about Los Angeles’ history and activism during the blowouts.

In my Chicana/o Studies literature and feminist courses I acquired the tools necessary to engage in the text through close readings. I constantly found myself in the position of the Chicana subjects in the stories we read. Reading into narratives and poetry made me eager to write because many times the word choice in the narratives described perfectly some of my experiences. In these courses I read Gloria Anzaldua‘s Borderlands: La Frontera / The New Mestiza and the idea of a third space through the new consciousness acquires as someone in between two worlds. Through Anzaldua’s work, I became empowered and no longer felt alone; it meant a lot to me to know that someone else had written about Chicana oppression within the family and culture.

Reading and analyzing the work of art of La Virgen de Guadalupe enhanced my relationship with her. As a fresh[woman] at LMU my first year I remember going to mass often, but as I began taking more and more Chicana/o Studies courses I grew apart from the Catholic Church. Patriarchy within the church is what caused the separation, and Our Lady of Guadalupe was a reminder of the conquest of the indigenous people in Mexico. I was so close to her before but all of a sudden it seemed like I had divorced myself from her presence. I lacked religion and spirituality my sophomore year, hence the reason why I had a rough year overall especially the second semester. In my junior year I took a Chicana/o Politics and Performing Arts class in which I developed my visual analysis skills and for the first time saw Guadalupe reinvented as a powerful woman. Guadalupe no longer became the submissive, virgin, and obedient goddess I grew up with; she was a hard working woman, she was young, old and beautiful, she represented the women in my family and myself, a college student with goals and dreams.

My Chicana/o studies courses have provided me the tools to utilize them as I begin my career in the field of primary and secondary education. One specific example i which I can utilize these tools is in fourth grade, under the California State standards students are to learn about the missions in California. The way this unit is taught is usually by glorifying the Spanish for establishing the mission system and providing work for the indigenous people in the area. Unless a teacher is conscious of the horrors of the Spanish conquest and how much indigenous women, children and even men suffered from this system, this is not taught in schools. My Chicana/o Studies History course provided me the opportunity to learn the depths of the mission system and the violence indigenous women suffered. I argue this unit can be taught in the elementary (fourth grade) level in a way that does not glorify the missions. This other way will provide the tools for children to question what the dominant narrative describes and what the response to that through counternarration.

I consider myself una Feminista, Chicana, y Mexicana and am proud of who I am! I know I will make a difference in the lives of people whom I come in contact with. I have learned the power of language and the power I have as a mujer. I want to thank the Chicana/o Studies department at Loyola Marymount University for existing and for being such a welcoming and loving space.

Graciela Limon: An Inspiration to Younger Authors in Hispanic Literature

Just last month, Loyola Marymount University had the opportunity to host a very important figure and pride to the LMU Chicano/a Studies Department, Graciela Limon. Today her work is a very strong voice in contemporary American Hispanic Literature. A Mexican-America native to East Los Angeles, Graciela Limon earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in Spanish American Literature.
As a child, Graciela Limon’s favorite pastime was reading. She really liked reading the newspaper because that is what was easily accessible to her. As she grew older and began reading novels, Limon dreamed of becoming a novelist someday. After earning her graduate degree, she tried submitting a collection of essays for publication to a few different editors, she was always told that her writing was “more creative than scholarly” and became discouraged (Arte Publico Press Author of the Month: Graciela Limon). “After some time in depression, the word ‘creative’ began to take shape in my thoughts. It sparked the memory of a long-ago dream,” says Graciela Limon. Hence, she decided to take this creativity and become an author of fiction novels based on her experience and emotions that she had encountered in life.
Her first published work titled, In Search of Bernabe (1993), became a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review. This novel is based on her collection of stories and historical information she learned through volunteer work in Los Angeles with a Salvadoran immigrant community of refugees and a trip she made herself to El Salvador in the late 70’s. The stories and history of El Salvador and other Central American countries whose populations travel up north in search of the “American dream” also had a great influence in one of her later novels, the River Flows North published in 2009 (Arte Publico). Scholar Ellen McCracken says: “Limón’s novels represent one of the most important contributions to the renaissance of Chicana fiction in the United States in the late 1980s and [the] 1990s. Her work is situated in a transborder experience of the Americas in which the women and men of Central America, Mexico, and Los Angeles come together in political and gender struggles, re-examine their historical past, and narratively employ their future” (Authors and Literary Works).
Among her other novels are The Memories of Ana Calderon (1994), and Song of the Hummingbird (1996), which really focus on the woman’s traditional role in society both in a tradition-bound rural Mexico and in the United States as well. These novels touch on the oppression that women face and how they choose to overcome this through their strength and their “resolve” as Limon likes to call it. “Her novels explore Mexican cultural heritage, focusing on the world of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, and are peopled with characters grappling with issues of cultural and personal identity and sexual autonomy” (Authors and Literary Works). During her visit to LMU Graciela Limon mentioned the importance of writing in her life because to her this is a form of expression through which she can reveal her personal experiences. She can exhibit her life encounters in a very creative way and through fictional characters that others have found they can relate to. She shared the story of a young lady that once contacted her telling Dr. Limon that The Memories of Ana Calderon was the story of her life and that in this novel she found encouragement and inspiration to be a stronger woman.
Graciela Limon is a very inspiring woman, her life story and the novels that she writes are really a combination of the reality with fictional characters faced by the Hispanic and Latin American cultures. Graciela Limon was a faculty at Loyola Marymount University, where she taught U.S. Hispanic Literature and chaired the Department of Chicano Studies and is currently teaching at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her work continues to inspire many other young authors and represent an essential part of Chicana fiction literature.

Additional Sources:

Authors and Literary Works
http://www.learner.org/workshops/hslit/session5/aw/author2.html

You can also find a phone interview on the following website where she mentions her experiences around El Salvador and some of her novels:
Classical 91.7-Arte Público Press Author of the Month: Graciela Limón
Graciela-Limon.html

You’ve Got Mail

Before this class I don’t think that I would have written and shared. Before this class I never thought about posting any of my topics publically.  Before this class I didn’t want to create or want a Twitter account as I already had a Tumblr account, plus I don’t think I would have tweeted much.  It gives me a sense of pride to see something that I wrote to be on a website where others can view and comment on my writings.   Usually writing things similar to my blog posts would only be written for the teacher to read.  I think that using Twitter to post our thoughts and questions while reading and after reading the different articles and books really allowed for all of us to have a conversations back and fourth as if we were in the class room.  It definitely helped that I could read others thoughts and views on the readings, so that I could get a better understanding of what’s happening in the article that the author is trying to convey before writing a response.

New Message

Thinking back on my posts, I’m glad that I worked on them and allowed myself to post them.  Now that I think on it, hopefully our articles can help anyone else find information on our topics that we choose to write about.  Some of the topics that we wrote about don’t always have a lot of information that comes up when searching, so it good to know that when people are trying to research it, they can always find some information from our blogs.  Another thing that I liked about posting online was that I could get instant responses and feedback on what we wrote.  What we did is a huge contrast of the first article we read about social media. While making the website to try and get the phone back it also caused a lot of problems for the girl that could have ended in her getting seriously hurt.  But the posts that we posted are to inform and expand our knowledge on different subjects that we would otherwise not have heard about.  It’s also good to know that what we wrote can be a resource for other students.

As this class comes to an end, I think I will keep my Twitter account as a way to promote my blog and to see what your new group of students’ thoughts and opinions are about what they are reading in your class.  I would like to continue writing and posting blogs onto our website when I have the free time to do so, as I think the blog is a very good resource.

Women in El Salvador and Their Efforts to Start a Small Business They Can Call their Own

During my spring break I had the opportunity to go on a service trip to a little island in El Salvador called el Espiritu Santo. The island consists of a very small community of about 300 families where everyone knows each other. It is a very underdeveloped community with no paved streets, no cars, no sewage system, no water filtration system, a single clinic and a single elementary school in the entire island. The main source of employment there comes from the large coconut plantation found there, yet this is an occupation that has been dominated by the men on the island. The woman’s role for the homes on the island had always been that of a housewife until very recently when they decided to form a woman’s empowerment group including a small business of their own.
The people on the island live a very humble and simple lifestyle. The money that the men make in the coconut plantation is really not enough for them to spend money on more than their basic living needs. Yet, since this is a very small island and transportation to the mainland everyday would be far too expensive for them, the men have very limited employment options and the women have even greater limitations because they are responsible for the household as well. Given these circumstances, I found it really empowering for a few of them to have decided on their own to gather up and unite in an effort to improve their community. The women developed a good relationship with the Center of Exchange and Solidarity known as CIS located about an hour into the city on the mainland. This center was created in order to “strengthen people-to-people solidarity ties and contribute to the construction of a new El Salvador, by organizations from the Salvadoran social movement and international organizations that have supported the process of peace with social justice” (Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad). The women of the island then asked for their help in wellness workshops and discussions on the issues of being a woman.
Soon after they started organizing the group, the women raised up an issue that they all agreed on, they wanted to find some way to make a little money to contribute to their households as well. They did not have too many options and knew they only had scarce resources easily accessible, so they resorted to their biggest one, coconuts. After experimenting a bit, they found the perfect recipe for the use of coconut, they started making sweet coconut candy called “conservas.” The candy itself is made up of three main ingredients, coconut, sugar and water, and then they are each added a particular flavor such as strawberry, papaya or even coffee. The sweet candy is made at Yesenia’s house, one of the women from the women’s group with the help of primarily three other women and occasionally some of the others. They cook all the ingredients in a big pot and then pour the cooked mix into a mold so that the candy can harden up in smaller pieces, that are about 2 by 2 inch squares. Then the women place these smaller pieces into small packages and then stamp each one with their seal and the label for the individual flavors. Once finished, the women go around the island selling these for thirty cents apiece. They cannot sell them for more because the others in the island do not have much money to spend. However, occasionally, a couple of women will go out to the mainland to sell them out there as well and then bring back some revenue. The women make about a hundred candies per day once or twice a week because they do not have so much money to go out and try to sell them on the mainland but this great idea has made them all very proud.
Women are many times the housekeeper and the men are typically the breadwinners in many of the Latino cultures but these women wanted to stand up to this stereotype and do something on their own to earn a little money too. As of now, they have very limited space but their hopes are to one day move into a bigger workspace and take large orders for these sweet treats and are able to export them. The women really gain a big satisfactory feeling from knowing that they can also bring in a little money into the household income. The effort and hard-work of these women is easy to see when you hear them present the process of their little business. The candy are delicious but the real significance of these women coming together to create a women’s group and try to start up their own small business is truly remarkable and inspiring. These women are empowerment for other women on the island who really do not give themselves the opportunity to learn and grow in the way they see themselves and the potential they have.

Additional Sources:
http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/

The meaning behind Lorna Dee Cervantes’ poem, “To a Stranger”

In her poem “A Un Desconocido,” Lorna Dee Cervantes shows her struggle as she seeks her self-identity. The title of the poem, which can be translated as “To a Stranger” shows the poem addressed to an unknown subject. The very first sentence refers to her search for her unknown self-identity as she says, “I was looking for your hair, / black as old lava on an island / of white coral.” The contrasting diction throughout the entire poem is used to emphasize her views on the divisive world she knew as a Chicana and her subordination to men.
The first line points out the search for this stranger’s hair. Even though there is nothing very interesting about hair at a first glance, a single strand of hair can be used as a source of identity. The second sentence follows this idea as she says, “I dreamed it / deserted you and came for me.” The ‘it’ refers to this source of identity and explains how the subject became a stranger.
In the second stanza, the speaker introduces the “male species,” whom she refers to as an “intelligent mammal” and “twin sun to a world / not of [her] making.” In other words, she regards men as high intellectuals and by comparing them to the sun she gives men a sense of power, to which she believes she is submissive. As they are being compared to the sun, men “reduce [her] to the syrup of the moon.” This depicts her belief that in most Mexican households men are superior to women.
The speaker’s struggle on the divisive world she knew is reflected upon her contrasting diction. Throughout the poem she uses contrasting words such as black with white, and the sun with the moon. These contrasts portray a struggle, which is emphasized by her questioning in the third stanza. “Where is your skin parting me? / Where is the cowlick under your kiss / teasing into purple valleys?” This confusion transcends to the reader because by the end of the poem the subject actually becomes unknown, and the struggle continues. The contrasting diction follows the poem until the very last two lines, “If only you were a stone I could / throw, if only I could have you.” To have something and to throw something are still two different things.
Throughout the entire poem, Dee Cervantes’ use of imagery depicts the search itself. The beginning of the poem illustrates the contrasting images of the color “black as old lava on an island / of white coral.” The imagery brings out the poem and allows the reader to feel the poem, wrapped me, desiring fire, smell of wet ashes and kiss teasing into purple valleys. The imagery sets an inviting tone to the reader. It allows the reader to picture the setting and feel the contrast.
In this poem Lorna Dee Cervantes reflects upon the contrasts of the divided world in which she lived, her struggle with her self-identity as a Mexican-American and her observations of women’s subordination. Lorna Dee Cervantes expresses her beliefs and her struggles as a Chicana woman and her imagery allows the reader to experience it too.

Resources:

Dee Cervantes, Lorna. “A Un Desconocido” Poetry Foundation. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179284>

Picture from

http://debraglassco.homestead.com/2_Cervantes.jpeg

Reminiscing Childhood Memories in Mexico

The first time my parents brought me to the United States, I was two years old, but at age 4 ½ my parents decided to visit our family and stay in Mexico for a year. Even though I was born in Mexico, I know very little of my native country since I have been here since January of 1996, and I have spent a total of 3 years in Mexico. But the memories I do have of that one year I was there, to this day stand very clear in my mind.

When my parents decided to leave to Mexico in 1995, as a 4 ½  year old I was thrilled and animated to know I was meeting family I did not know. Upon arrival to Guadalajara, Jalisco my father’s sister and cousins welcomed us with great excitement. If they welcomed us with such excitement I couldn’t wait to meet my family in Nayarit. I clearly remember the night we arrived to Las Varas, Nayarit my mom’s hometown. As soon as we got out of the truck my mom went inside my grandfather’s (her father’s) house and gave him a big warming hug like there was no tomorrow. They both cried of joy and happiness since two years had passed by without seeing each other. My mom could not believe she was standing right in front of him, especially because he was sick, the reason why they had decided we would go back to Mexico. Then my grandfather reached out for me and gave me another big hug.

A few days after being in Nayarit, Mexico my mom enrolled me in school to attend Kindergarten. I loved my teacher and classmates. As a class we participated in community events such as September 16th El Dia de La Independencia de Mexico where a few selected students marched and raised the flag as a sign of honor. I was the leader known as the escolta. During our lunch break, parents would go to our school and sell yummy Mexican food like tostadas de pollo, duritos con cueritos, pepinos y fruta con sal y limon. They basically sold home-made Mexican food and snacks. When my mom wouldn’t take me lunch she would give me money to buy something from the women.

During my free time after school and on the weekends, my parents and I would visit my dad’s hometown Las Piedras, Nayarit a tiny place described as a rancho. Everyone in that patch of land knew each other and despite the gossip that went around at times, the community could count on each other in case anything disastrous happened. There is a river, in Spanish we call it un arroyo, were the community in Las Piedras use the big rocks right by the river and wash their clothes by hand. Most of the time, if not all, the women do much of the hand-washing of clothes. While at it, the women and their children take their shampoos and bathe their. We might think it’s gross to hear something like that still happens there, but everyone loves the river, from oldest to youngest. The water that runs through the river is pure, clean and natural. When my father talks about that river, his eyes glow as if he is reliving his experiences as a youngster.

I also remember the weekends when my family planned gatherings at the beach. We would wake up early in the morning, gather in one house and from their pack the pick-up trucks with all the food and materials for our outing at the beach. I was always the first and the last to be in the water. My bathing-suit would be on so that as soon as we would get there, I would be the first to go into the water. My cousins and I built sand castles and buried each other in the sand. I would come out of the water when my tummy asked me to feed it, then I would go back in the water. Once it was time to go home, my mom would have to call me three times and after the third call she would literally come and get me because everything was packed and ready to go.

After visiting Mexico for a year, my parents decided to come back to the United States in January 1996. Three weeks after my mom and I arrived, she received a notice from her younger sister that my grandfather had died. My mom felt a sense of regret and guilt because we had just left Mexico. Over the years she has healed the wound.

I have completed my studies in the United States with the beginning of second semester of Kindergarten to graduating from Loyola Marymount University. I do remember those wonderful moments I experience going in to the river and being surrounded by a community of people who look out after each other. Despite the many trials and tribulations I have experienced I made it, and continue to be on my path for what is to come next. Keeping those memories in mind, always remembering my roots and where I come from keeps me connected with my family. I have clear images of my childhood years in Mexico and going to school as well as spending my time in the United States. As a person heading in the direction to becoming a teacher, these experiences will allow me to form connections with my students who might come from the same background. Our experiences are unique, and no experience is more difficult than another, but I will say that I am happy to be where I am.

Expectations for the young Chicana teenager

“You become a different Sally. You pull your skirt straight, you rub the blue paint off your eyelids. You don’t laugh, Sally … Do you wish your feet would one day keep walking and take you far away from Mango Street, far away and maybe your feet would stop in front of a house, a nice one with flowers and big windows and steps for you to climb up two by two upstairs to where a room is waiting for you. And if you opened the little window latch and gave it a shove, the windows would swing open, all the sky would come in. There’d be no nosy neighbors watching, no motorcycles or cars, no sheets and towels and laundry. Only trees and more trees and plenty of blue sky. And you could laugh Sally. You could go to sleep and wake up and never have to think who likes and doesn’t like you. You could close your eyes and you wouldn’t have to worry what people said because you never belonged here anyway and nobody could make you sad and nobody would think you’re strange because you like to dream and dream” (Cisneros, 83)
I remember reading Sandra Cisneros’ House on Mango Street a few years back, and while I know I really liked the book back then, I realize now that there were many hidden messages in the short stories that compose the book. My favorite one of these short chapters was Sally, from which I pulled out this reading. As a Latina, I think that young teenagers have a lot of expectations from their families. Here it says “you pull your skirt straight, you rub the blue paint off your eyelids” Sally becomes one person while she is at school and a completely different one when she heads back home. Although we may not all have had to rub off make-up or change from one outfit to another, I think the fact that we are two different people while at school and when we go back home is a relatable one for many. For girls, these expectations go much farther, as for Sally, girls cannot wear make-up until they are considered adults. Otherwise they are blamed for calling a guys attention to them and “only easy, loose, women would do such a thing.” I remember being told what a descent young lady should and shouldn’t do throughout my high school years. I am sure that every mother wants to know her daughter holds a good, descent reputation, but I think this is especially important to the traditional Chicana mother.
As a first-generation American, there are certain “unofficial” rules that Chicanas are expected to live by, there are a few that come to mind. For instance, a girl is not allowed to wear make-up, get her nails or eyebrows done, or even date until they are at least 15, and even then they cannot do it without permission. A girl is expected not to have a boyfriend until she has formally introduced him to the family and asks for their permission to date. Otherwise, she is being a rebel and ruining her reputation because people will soon start spreading rumors and talking bad things about her. Traditional Mexican households really value their name and reputation and the last thing they would ever want is for people to be spreading rumors about their daughters because this looks bad on the entire family, especially the mother. In a traditional household, a daughter is supposed to follow her mother’s footsteps and learn all that the typical housewife knows, she should learn how to cook, clean and attend her husband in all he may need; otherwise it is assumed that her mother did not teach her any better. As this excerpt says, you have to consider and think about who will and will not like you, and what people say because that means a lot to the family.
This really ties into the idea of belonging, because while the world around you may be growing and changing every day, the family traditions and values that the traditional Mexican parents were raised with remain the same, and thus, they expect the same that was expected from them. Many times they just do not understand that present day is much different from “back in the day” and that is where this feeling of not belonging surges. I think Sandra Cisneros indirectly tries to inform the reader of that feeling and through this Sally character really expresses the idea that sometimes we all just wish we could keep walking, outside and beyond the world we live in, and many times it will be due to the fact that we feel like we just don’t belong.

Resources:
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York : Vintage Books, 1991. (pp 82-83)