Gender Roles in Esmeralda Santiago’s When I Was Puerto Rican Culture is an important part of life for Puerto Ricans living both on the Island and in the United States. This culture includes the gender roles that are deeply engrained in each and every Puerto Rican. From a young age, most Puerto Ricans learn the responsibilities that are expected of their respective gender. Esmeralda Santiago’s memoir, When I Was Puerto Rican, follows a young Puerto Rican girl, Negi, as her family leaves Puerto Rico in order to begin a new life in the United States. The story highlights the way of life for Puerto Rican men and women and the stigma that comes with breaking free from gender expectations. The following pages will explore the gender roles found
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These older, unmarried women, also known as “jamonas”, are looked down in Puerto Rican culture. When Negi asks her father why the term is an insult, he responds “because it means no one wants her. Maybe she’s too ugly to get married…Or she has waited too long…She ends up alone for the rest of her life” (Santiago 89). Because these women are not chosen to be wives or choose to stay single, they are shunned from the rest of society. The existence of the term “jamona” shows the serious consequences that come with refusing to live a traditional life as a Puerto Rican woman. Negi’s understanding of this term as being something she does not want to become further implements the necessity of following through with these gender …show more content…
This transition is difficult for Negi as she learns to interact with Americans and learns more about the culture in New York. Although Negi has learned through her parents that men are supposed to be superior to women, she challenges the principal of her new school in order to be placed in the grade she believes she deserves. After much convincing, Negi is placed into the 8th grade as opposed to the 7th. Negi later expresses “in Puerto Rico if I’d been that pushy, I would have been called mal educada by the Mr.Grant equivalent and sent home with a note to my mother” (Santiago 227). This is evidence that Negi not only recognizes the seriousness of obedience to men, but also sees the differences in culture between the United States and Puerto Rico. While Negi still has a lot to learn about the United States, she will continue to analyze the differences in the way men and women treat each other as opposed to her mother’s past relationship in Puerto
These older, unmarried women, also known as “jamonas”, are looked down in Puerto Rican culture. When Negi asks her father why the term is an insult, he responds “because it means no one wants her. Maybe she’s too ugly to get married…Or she has waited too long…She ends up alone for the rest of her life” (Santiago 89). Because these women are not chosen to be wives or choose to stay single, they are shunned from the rest of society. The existence of the term “jamona” shows the serious consequences that come with refusing to live a traditional life as a Puerto Rican woman. Negi’s understanding of this term as being something she does not want to become further implements the necessity of following through with these gender …show more content…
This transition is difficult for Negi as she learns to interact with Americans and learns more about the culture in New York. Although Negi has learned through her parents that men are supposed to be superior to women, she challenges the principal of her new school in order to be placed in the grade she believes she deserves. After much convincing, Negi is placed into the 8th grade as opposed to the 7th. Negi later expresses “in Puerto Rico if I’d been that pushy, I would have been called mal educada by the Mr.Grant equivalent and sent home with a note to my mother” (Santiago 227). This is evidence that Negi not only recognizes the seriousness of obedience to men, but also sees the differences in culture between the United States and Puerto Rico. While Negi still has a lot to learn about the United States, she will continue to analyze the differences in the way men and women treat each other as opposed to her mother’s past relationship in Puerto