Yunior himself often times blames the fact that he is Dominican for his sexual propensity, and the women in his life do the same. For instance, Yunior’s college girlfriend, the one in which he confides his inappropriate relationship with Ms. Lora, asks his mom if she knew about the relationship between her son and La Professora to which she responds, “He’s just like his father and brother,” to which the girlfriend then responds matter-of-factly, “Dominican men, right, Doña?” Similar to the way Yunior stereotypes Puerto Rican women as being loose, the Dominican men in Diaz’s stories are stereotyped as being “sucios,” which loosely translates to dogs. Yunior even treats his sexual desire as a disease, often referring to it as the “gene,” which he hoped had skipped him. We see similar parallels between ethnic and sexual identity being drawn Alexie’s
Yunior himself often times blames the fact that he is Dominican for his sexual propensity, and the women in his life do the same. For instance, Yunior’s college girlfriend, the one in which he confides his inappropriate relationship with Ms. Lora, asks his mom if she knew about the relationship between her son and La Professora to which she responds, “He’s just like his father and brother,” to which the girlfriend then responds matter-of-factly, “Dominican men, right, Doña?” Similar to the way Yunior stereotypes Puerto Rican women as being loose, the Dominican men in Diaz’s stories are stereotyped as being “sucios,” which loosely translates to dogs. Yunior even treats his sexual desire as a disease, often referring to it as the “gene,” which he hoped had skipped him. We see similar parallels between ethnic and sexual identity being drawn Alexie’s