Last week I read chapter two of Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera. Through reading the chapter, I learned more of how oppressive the Chicano culture can be toward all of its members. When I speak of all its members, I mean those who view themselves as homosexual, bisexual, or even members who display behaviors that are uncharacteristic to the Chicano culture. Oscar Casares’ Brownsville, details how patriarchal societies overlook women compared to men. However, Anzaldua broadens the spectrum of who in the Chicano culture is mistreated by heterosexual men. Within the chapter, Anzaldua establishes herself to be a lesbian who saw first-hand the alienation that comes along with her sexual orientation. In this blog post, I will talk about how the
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The men of the Chicano culture established rules that are, “unquestionable, unchallengeable,” (Anzaldua 38) for mostly women. “Expecting their husbands to help with the rearing of chickens and the housework,” is what women are taught not to expect or receive punishment from their spouse. (Anzaldua 38) “To beat their wives for not obeying them,” is what men are taught to do. (Anzaldua 38) This abusive behavior by men is in “Yolanda” of Casares’ Brownsville, in which Yolanda does not follow or take the orders of Frank seriously. When Yolanda upsets Frank by disobeying him, she pleads to him by asking him, “ ‘¿No sabes que tanto te quiero, Francisco?’.” (Casares 164) However, based on the chapter of Anzaldua, mothers and grandmothers teach their sons to be abusive to their spouse. Essentially, men are taught how to treat women like they would their child if he/she was acting out of line. Thus, in “Yolanda” no matter what her plea was, the abuse would continue to occur due to the Chicano upbringing. “Women are made to feel total failures,” (Anzaldua 39) if they don’t follow the housewife lifestyle. The men in the culture, according to Anzaldua, are not criticized for their decision to educate themselves and earn a career. The women, on the other hand, were not allowed the option of education because of the culture. Women were given three options for …show more content…
In the movie, Like Water for Chocolate, Tita’s mother demands that she not cry, but instead look strong after the baby died. This shows that the traditions and expectations of women of the past (Aztecs) were carried over into Mexican traditions. In Chicano culture, women are still lower in the social hierarchy and are still expected to be seen as strong-willed and obedient. The expectations of women is what causes further dissonance in the culture. Members of the Chicano culture who define themselves as homosexual are subject to belittlement and betrayal. We fear what we don’t understand whether we are talking about the “divine,” the “undivine,” (Anzaldua 39) or even sexual orientations. In So Far from God, La Loca is detailed as weird based on her abnormal characteristics; however, it’s not her identity that is feared by the community when she’s resurrected. The divine powers she possesses causes fear in people like the priest to question whether La Loca is, “ ‘of God or of Satan’.” (Castillo 23) They fear her powerful presence because they know they can’t control it. We shun away what we fear, and it 's my belief that people of the culture don 't understand sexual orientations outside of heterosexuality. “I made the choice to
The men of the Chicano culture established rules that are, “unquestionable, unchallengeable,” (Anzaldua 38) for mostly women. “Expecting their husbands to help with the rearing of chickens and the housework,” is what women are taught not to expect or receive punishment from their spouse. (Anzaldua 38) “To beat their wives for not obeying them,” is what men are taught to do. (Anzaldua 38) This abusive behavior by men is in “Yolanda” of Casares’ Brownsville, in which Yolanda does not follow or take the orders of Frank seriously. When Yolanda upsets Frank by disobeying him, she pleads to him by asking him, “ ‘¿No sabes que tanto te quiero, Francisco?’.” (Casares 164) However, based on the chapter of Anzaldua, mothers and grandmothers teach their sons to be abusive to their spouse. Essentially, men are taught how to treat women like they would their child if he/she was acting out of line. Thus, in “Yolanda” no matter what her plea was, the abuse would continue to occur due to the Chicano upbringing. “Women are made to feel total failures,” (Anzaldua 39) if they don’t follow the housewife lifestyle. The men in the culture, according to Anzaldua, are not criticized for their decision to educate themselves and earn a career. The women, on the other hand, were not allowed the option of education because of the culture. Women were given three options for …show more content…
In the movie, Like Water for Chocolate, Tita’s mother demands that she not cry, but instead look strong after the baby died. This shows that the traditions and expectations of women of the past (Aztecs) were carried over into Mexican traditions. In Chicano culture, women are still lower in the social hierarchy and are still expected to be seen as strong-willed and obedient. The expectations of women is what causes further dissonance in the culture. Members of the Chicano culture who define themselves as homosexual are subject to belittlement and betrayal. We fear what we don’t understand whether we are talking about the “divine,” the “undivine,” (Anzaldua 39) or even sexual orientations. In So Far from God, La Loca is detailed as weird based on her abnormal characteristics; however, it’s not her identity that is feared by the community when she’s resurrected. The divine powers she possesses causes fear in people like the priest to question whether La Loca is, “ ‘of God or of Satan’.” (Castillo 23) They fear her powerful presence because they know they can’t control it. We shun away what we fear, and it 's my belief that people of the culture don 't understand sexual orientations outside of heterosexuality. “I made the choice to