The Myth of the Latin Woman

Three misconceptions perpetuated by the myth of the Latin woman?

***** domestic criminal

Microcosm

A representation of something on a much smaller scale

What do Cofer's experiences on the bus, in the hotel, and at the poetry reading have in common? Could she have omitted any of them from her essay?Do you find her behavior to the man in the "very classy metropolitan hotel" unnecessarily cruel? Explain.

Cofer's experience on the bus, in the hotel, and at the poetry reading all have someone objectifying or stereotyping her. I don't think she could have omitted any of them from her essay because it would have lessened the personal effect of the story. I don't find her behavior toward the man in the "very classy netropolitan hotel" unnecessarily cruel because she kept her cool and didn't lash out at him.

Note the sections of the essay that refer to personal experience. Does Cofer's use of personal experience weaken her argument or make it more effective? Explain. Would the essay be more effective with less-or more-personal experience? Explain your view.

Cofer's use of personal experience makes her argument more effective. Her personal experiences make the piece believable. I think that she has enough personal experiences stated throughout this piece. Using more personal experiences would have been excessive, and any less wouldn't have gotten her point across.

Three stereotypical jobs for Latina women?

Domestics, waitressing, and factory jobs

Makes admired the women by doing what:

Expresed their admiration in the form of piropos: erotically charged street poems they composed on the spot

What is the heading right under the title of The Myth of the Latin Woman?

I just met a girl named María

Note the times when Cofer explains rather than denies the basis for stereotyping. For instance, rather than deny that Latinas prefer vivid clothing, she explains that this preference reflects the bright landscape of their homelands. Does this strategy work, or do you think Cofer is playing to the stereotype?

I think this strategy of explaining the basis for stereotyping works effectively because it gives reasons for why Latinas dress the way they do. Some stereotypes are based on truth. Cofer's explanation of the stereotype takes away the crudeness of it.

Why is it a good thing that the island travels with you?

It may win you that extra minute of someone's attention

Who is the author?

Judith Ortiz Cofer

Where did she grow up?

Large urban center in NJ during the 60s

What's a bodega?

Like a spanish mini-mart

I had no model to base my decision on except _______ _______

Marlo Thomas

Puerto Rican mothers dressed their daughters in _______ clothing

Mature

What have perpetuated certain stereotypes? Example:

Mixed cultural signals That of the Hispanic woman as the "Hot Tamale" or sexual firebrand.

What happened on the bus trip?

On a bus trip to London from Oxford University where she was earning some graduate credits one summer, a young man from a pub went down on his knees in the aisle and sang "María" from West Side Story.

The media promotes this _____ _________ view

One dimensional

Women felt freer to dress more __________ because:

Provocatively They were protected by the traditions, mores, and laws of a Spanish/Catholic system of morality and machismo

We gets talked to as if sexual innuendo is all they understand?

Puerto Rican women working in factories. They either submit to advances or being fired

What did she resent?

She resented the stereotype that he Hispanic appearance called forth from many people she met.

Adjective choice for the food and women of Latin America?

Sizzling and smoldering

We spoke in ________, aye _______ _____ food bought at the ________, and practiced strict _________ complete with?

Spanish, Puerto Rican, bodega, Catholicism, Sat confession and Sunday mass at church where our parents were accomodated into a one-hour Spanish mass slot, performed by a Chinese priest trained as a missionary for Latin America.

She really wanted to push him into the _____ ____

Swinming pool

What does Judith Ortiz Cofer mean when she says "But María had followed me to London."

The Latina woman she was had followed her to London, reminding her of a prime fact of my life; you can leave the Island, master the English language, and travel as far as you can, but if you are Latina, especially one like me who belongs to Rita Moreno's gene pool, the Island travels with you.

According to Cofer, "Mixed cultural signals have perpetuated stereotypes--for example, that of the Hispanic woman as the 'Hot Tamale' or sexual firebrand. It is a one-dimensional view that the media have found easy to promote. In their special vocabulary, advertisers have designated 'sizzling' and 'smoldering' as the adjectives of choice for describing not only the foods but also the women of Latin America" (para. 6). Does this assertion--that the media promotes stereotypes--apply today? In answering, consider Cofer's example of Latin American women, or choose another group, such as African Americans, older people, or people from the Middle East

The assertion that the media promotes stereotypes applies today. An example of a Latina woman would be Shakira. She has an accent, wears revealing clothing, and shows off her culture. When people watch her music videos, the stereotype gets impressed upon them.

What is partially responsible for the denial of opportunities for upward mobility among Latinas in the professions

The media-engendered image of the Latina

What did she advise the man's at the hotels daughter to never ask her father?

To never ask him what her father had done in the army

What is the effect of the opening paragraph? Does her anger draw you in or distance you?

To shock the reader and grab the readers attention At first her anger distances me at first because I can't relate to her struggles as a Latina. As the piece progresses, her anger draws me in because I now realize the struggles that some Latinas go through on the daily.

What was the same as family honor?

Virtue and modesty

It is simply custom to:

Wear the things they wear due to the fact that older sisters and mothers had grown up on a tropical island where the natural environment was a riot of primary colors where showing ur skin was a way to keep cool and look sexy

How can it be a bad thing?

With some people, it can make YOU an island. Not so much a tropical paradise as an Alcatraz, but a place no one wants to visit.

Growing up, her life was designed as a _________ of her parents' _______ on the island.

casas

Prospective employees and men on the street misinterpret our tight skirts and jingling bracelets as a ______

come-on