Mexican Women Condemnation: Media, Tradition, and Education In the “Woman Hollering Creek”, Sandra Cisneros makes use of several short stories to expose and inequalities present in Mexican Culture against women. From a very young age, most Mexican girls are expected to take the household responsibilities as their core duty, unlike their male counterparts who have little to no responsibilities--for them-- is just tradition. Once a woman reaches adolescence in the Mexican Culture, the idea of marriage comes across as the unrivaled way for them to leave their parent's support and obtain true happiness. This notion in many cases comes and is further intensified by the tradition and media. Telenovelas promote the idea that a woman
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This is evident when she writes “The day Don Serafin gave Juan Pedro Martinez Sanchez permission to take Cleofilas Enriqueta DeLeon Hernandez as his bride…” (Cisneros 43). This is significant because it emphasizes the power Don Serafin has over Cleofilas’ life. Many would argue that Serafin is just giving away Cleofilas’ hand as part of a world-wide-well-known-tradition, however, he is in power to directly decide whom she is can to marry by rejecting or accepting individuals who ask for her hand in marriage, an aspect that only Cleofilas should decide. Another example of Cleofilas being subjected to tradition is evident when Cisneros writes “...Dream of returning to the chores that never ended, six good-for-nothing brothers, and one old man’s complaints.” (Cisneros 43) It is evident that Cleofilas had the bulk of the household responsibilities in comparison to her brothers, despite being the youngest sibling. Cleofilas is assigned household responsibilities because of the tradition in Mexico to give such burdens to women as a consequence of the assumption that they are better suited for that type of work. This tradition, in this case, is employed quite early on, as Cleofilas acquired impressive sewing and cleaning skills by the time she was given away. The implementation of this notion that rapidly becomes a tradition in families in various cases subject women to solely household
This is evident when she writes “The day Don Serafin gave Juan Pedro Martinez Sanchez permission to take Cleofilas Enriqueta DeLeon Hernandez as his bride…” (Cisneros 43). This is significant because it emphasizes the power Don Serafin has over Cleofilas’ life. Many would argue that Serafin is just giving away Cleofilas’ hand as part of a world-wide-well-known-tradition, however, he is in power to directly decide whom she is can to marry by rejecting or accepting individuals who ask for her hand in marriage, an aspect that only Cleofilas should decide. Another example of Cleofilas being subjected to tradition is evident when Cisneros writes “...Dream of returning to the chores that never ended, six good-for-nothing brothers, and one old man’s complaints.” (Cisneros 43) It is evident that Cleofilas had the bulk of the household responsibilities in comparison to her brothers, despite being the youngest sibling. Cleofilas is assigned household responsibilities because of the tradition in Mexico to give such burdens to women as a consequence of the assumption that they are better suited for that type of work. This tradition, in this case, is employed quite early on, as Cleofilas acquired impressive sewing and cleaning skills by the time she was given away. The implementation of this notion that rapidly becomes a tradition in families in various cases subject women to solely household