Women writers have become successful with their works by going beyond social norm standards. They have been critiqued because of their gender roles and are expected to not disobey a man, yet they have proven to not let that be a barrier towards their goals and success. Both Sandra Cisneros and Helena Maria Viramontes use various narrative strategies like the Control and Exercise of Chicana Sexuality, Bildungsroman Novel, and the Reinterpretation of Myths to break with traditional stereotypes of women as passive and subservient to men.
In “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisnero, Cisneros writes about Cleofilas, a woman who is trapped in the stereotypical assigned gender role by being a submissive wife and mother. In Cisneros’s novel she uses …show more content…
Viramontes made great use of strategies throughout her novel. The first strategy is the bildungsroman novel, the protagonist at the beginning of the novel is seen by her parents as an outcast for not meeting the standards of what a girl should behave as. Her self- development is different than those of her sisters. I haven’t even pretty or nice like my older sisters and I just couldn’t do the girl things they do,” (The Latino Reader). Her female self concept wasn’t like those of her sisters and wasn’t living up to her parents expectations. Her sisters also made fun of her physical appereance. “My sisters laughed and called me Bull Hands”, her hands symbolize her burden, why her parents call her useless and she becomes self-concious. Yet, we later see how her relationship with her grandmother is significantly different than her parents. She learns life lessons in her grandmother’s house that she would not have at her own house. She helped her grandmothers do different chores around the house, and has much more responsibilities. The protagonist proves to be useful in other ways than the ones her parents expect her to fulfill. “ And so it seem only fair that these hands she had melted and formed found use in rubbing her caving body with alcohol and marijuana, rubbing her arms and legs…” (Reader 434). Her hands are efficient after all and she is the only one
In “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisnero, Cisneros writes about Cleofilas, a woman who is trapped in the stereotypical assigned gender role by being a submissive wife and mother. In Cisneros’s novel she uses …show more content…
Viramontes made great use of strategies throughout her novel. The first strategy is the bildungsroman novel, the protagonist at the beginning of the novel is seen by her parents as an outcast for not meeting the standards of what a girl should behave as. Her self- development is different than those of her sisters. I haven’t even pretty or nice like my older sisters and I just couldn’t do the girl things they do,” (The Latino Reader). Her female self concept wasn’t like those of her sisters and wasn’t living up to her parents expectations. Her sisters also made fun of her physical appereance. “My sisters laughed and called me Bull Hands”, her hands symbolize her burden, why her parents call her useless and she becomes self-concious. Yet, we later see how her relationship with her grandmother is significantly different than her parents. She learns life lessons in her grandmother’s house that she would not have at her own house. She helped her grandmothers do different chores around the house, and has much more responsibilities. The protagonist proves to be useful in other ways than the ones her parents expect her to fulfill. “ And so it seem only fair that these hands she had melted and formed found use in rubbing her caving body with alcohol and marijuana, rubbing her arms and legs…” (Reader 434). Her hands are efficient after all and she is the only one