Borderlands / La Frontera (4)

8 thoughts on “Borderlands / La Frontera (4)”

1. I think that the word borderlands can be interpreted in many different ways. It can definitely be interpreted as sectioning off physical spaces because she mentions the conquest of Texas from Mexico. But I think that somehow she also kind of relates race to borderlands because she talks about the decrease in the number of Indians, the beginning of mestizaje and the mix in races between the North American Indians and the Mexican Indians. She mentions that when the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ended the US-Mexican War, “it left 100,000 Mexican citizens on this side, annexed by conquest along with the land” (7). This makes me believe that in reality, we represent where the borderlands lie because although so many Mexicans were conquered during this war, they were pretty much scared away soon after with all the lynching, but today many of them have come back, “North Americans call this return to the homeland the silent invasion” (p 11). Mexicans are coming back to their territorial treasures and I think the opening of this chapter states it well, this is the other Mexico that we have constructed on this side. Thus, it is not the change in territory that makes up the borders but the people that live there. If we have constructed a new Mexico on this side, it is because the people have moved here and made it possible, not because the border itself came closer to us.

2. Though Anzaldua herself ascertains that she does not commit cultural betrayal, she is most definitely commits cultural defiance. She is critical of her culture, especially of the ways it malignantly others non-dominant groups, such as women, the Indians, and queers. I believe that she embodies this criticism through the cultural defiance of lesbianism by choice. In “Borderlands”, Anzaldua almost casually admits that she is a lesbian by choice, and and does not dwell on explanation. As homosexuality is generally considered (and defended) to be inherent, I had to search for the reasons she would make this choice. First of all, akin to the lesbian separatist movement of Anglo feminists, it seems that Anzaldua is using lesbianism as the practical application of feminism. To be a lesbian in a culture whose rules are set up and kept up by men, and that constantly defines women by their relations to men (and by motherhood, which is only naturally possible through sexual relations with men), seems to be one of the only ways to define yourself outside of these contexts. I believe that another reason Anzaldua chooses lesbianism is because of her connection to her spirituality. She believes that we all have spirits inside of us, both animal and God, both male and female, that we are full of infinite possibilities if we let ourselves. It follows naturally that she would be a lesbian, if we look at homosexuality as a possibility of ourselves that we often shy away from and are ashamed to face because of societal norms.

3. La Virgen de Guadalupe is the result of the fusion of two worlds, that of the indigenous spirituality deriving from a folk Catholicism. Anzaldua sees the evolving from Tonantsi to Guadalupe as a way for the conquerors to stop the worshiping of indigenous deities. Tonantsi, an aztec goddess, “had been worshipped by the Nahuas” at the hill of Tepeyac where Guadalupe appeared on December 9, 1531 (Anzaldua, 50). She is a cultural icon and continues to be worshipped by the majority of the Mexican population because she appeared to Juan Diego, an indigenous poor peasant with the same brown color of the skin. La Virgen de Guadalupe has been viewed as this submissive figure, but Anzaldua speaks about her being a mediator, the one that connects our world with the spiritual world. Anzaldua describes the building of a tolerance of ambiguity for three iconic figures: Guadalupe, la Chingada, and la Llorona. Guadalupe’s meaning is “to make us docile and eduring, la Chigada to make us ashamed of our Indian side, and la Llorona to make us long-suffering people” (Anzaldua, 53). The Chicana constructs a tolerance for ambiguity by taking into considering how these iconic figures are meant to make her feel sorry about herself, and developing a way to “opera[te] in a pluralistic mode […] she turns the ambivalence into something else” (Anzaldua, 101). This something else is the development of a mestiza consciousness, not just one nor the other, but both ideas at the same time to give it a new meaning.

4. ¬¬¬¬I’m glad that she stared the book the way she, by informing the readers of the history of how Mexican citizens in swoop instantly became trespassers on their own land. I think a lot of people don’t know the different perspective on the Mexican-American War besides the dominant perspective. This separation made me think of the Berlin Wall and how it separated Berlin into two spate places. Anzaldúa views her home as her cultural roots. No matter what cultural borders she crosses, she will always carry her home with her. She likens herself to a turtle because wherever she goes she carries her “home” on her back (43). If she can’t go back home than she will simply build her a new one by claiming a new space and forming a new culture (44). I think she refers herself as a snake base on an earlier comment. She said that both the snake and eagle cross all borders/boundaries.

5. In the readings, I again was drawn to chapter 2 but for different reasons. The section Half and Half talking about how an individual can be both a man and a woman. I feel she is speaking on her own behalf and her feelings being a lesbian. She is a woman on the outside and a twisted inner core but not in a bad way. She believes the world is judging and I do not disagree. With religion taking a key role in accepting an individual it could be hard to feel accepted in this world when religion is against same sex relationships. This brings me to my interest in the next immediate section Fear of Going Home : Homophobia. I thought it was extremely thought full how the teachers consoled the students but it was as though the students were naïve to the staring eyes around them. I couldn’t possibly imagine what I would do if my parents disowned me. Anzaldua had the fear because she didn’t know if her mother was going to accept her for who she is inside and I can understand if she never wanted to come out. It’s hard to accept change but in today’s society I feel the world is slowly getting to the accepting state and I am glad to see the progress.

6. In the beginning of Chapter 2, Anzaldua sees home as the place she was born (the Valley, Texas), the place where her mother, her family, her tierra and gente where at. When she decides to leave home she defines it as being rebellious because women typically didn’t leave the house until they were married. Anzaldua mentions “I had to leave home so I could find myself, find my own intrinsic nature…” She was trying to better herself and break out of her culture’s social norms and become an independent woman. However, her culture thought something was “wrong” with her and that she was picking up bad steps or on the wrong path. Later in the chapter, Anzaldua see homes as a place that she always carries with her—“I am a turtle, wherever I go I carry “home” on my back.” I strongly agree with her because even though we both don’t agree with certain aspects of our culture (like oppression of women), our culture/ home is something that was instill in us since we were born. It will always be a part of us no matter where life takes us.

7. I think that Gloria sees herself and other Chicano/as as a mix of three races. When she said ” The continual intermarriage between Mexican and American Indian and Spiniards formed an even greater mestizaje.(5)”, I think she sees the mixing as a positive opposed to it being looked down upon. Usually one of the races would look down upon a person that was mixed of either of the races, but Gloria turns the mixing of the races into something that should be esteemed about.

   Gloria sees home as where she learned her mexican cultural foundation from. However, when she thinks of home, she is reminded of the oppression that was put on her to force her to be something that her culture expected her to be, but she just wasn’t.She described herself as, ” It is a part of me that refuses to take orders from outside authorities.(16)” This hurts her because as a woman in her culture she is expected to be subservient to men, if she isn’t, then she is seen as being defiant. Her own beliefs of how she wants to behave, and how her culture expects her to behave causes her to continue to stay away from her hometown.

   When Gloria gets bit by the snake, it seems as if she believes she became one with the snake and transformed into one. When she talks about the snake covered in feathers that was still found out, I think it also connects to The virgin of Guadalupe. She identifies with the virgin of Guadalupe because she describes her as “the symbol of ethnic identity and of the tolerance for ambiguity that Chicanos-mexicanos, people of mixed race, people who have Indian blood, people who cross cultures, by necessity possess. (30)”. I think Gloria identifies or supports the virgin of guadalupe because it supports Glorias belief on life that you don’t have to follow your culture to be right. Especially since the virgin of Guadalupe represents Glorias culture, it helps Gloria to fill that she didn’t turn her back on her family or make the wrong decision to not follow the mexican culture of just being subservient to men.

8. The invasion of Texas by the “illegal” migration of the Anglos in the 1800’s seems to be an odd concept to wrap ones head around. But it is part of the history of how Texas became American. I think this then is best summed up by the idea of the Tejanos not crossing the border but the border crossing them. It was at this time that America’s needs and wants to expand and acquire more land created a threat to the Mexican government which lead to US-Mexican War. I think this is the birth of the borderland that as Anzaldúa describes as bleeding wound that will not heal because people don’t know or understand the whole story since we are only taught the Colonized version. All I’m trying to say is that without understanding we will keep finding ourselves looking for someone to blame for the issues the US finds itself facing. Which now relates to the immigration issues it is facing, if we don’t understand this moment in time and don’t recognize the facts right now, it is easy to blame the population that crossed the border illegally.

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