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Quotes to Remember

"I thought you Latin girls were suppose to mature early"

The boy that Cofer danced with believed Latina girls are more suppose to be more sexually mature. This quote reveals that Latino and Hispanic woman often face cultural stereotype. They are viewed as sexually expressive. Cofer states that Latino woman are often sexually harassed because of these stereotypes. She give another great example of this during her stay in "a very classy metropolitan hotel" with her colleague. A middle-aged, educated gentleman in a tuxedo who sang crude song similar to La Bamba except the lyrics were about a girl named Maria and her sexually exploits.

Summary

"you can leave the Island, master the English language, and travel las you can, but if you are a Latina, especially one like me who so obviously belongs to Rita Moreno's gene pool, the Island travels with you"

In the essay, "The myth of the Latin Woman: I Just met a girl named Maria" Judith Ortiz Cofer expresses her opinion on the stereotypes that Latino and Hispanic women deal with everyday. She recounts the memories of her life when she encounter the stereotypes. As a child, she was taught "how to behave as a proper senorita" and dress by her mother. However, she was conflicted about what would be appropriate to wear for career day at school. Cofer gives another example of the cultural stereotype of the Latino and Hispanic woman as sexually expressive. She states that the heritage of Latino women bolster the expression without fault. Mothers who grew in Puerto Rico are allow to express themselves freely with a safety net of a cultural understanding. Because of this stereotype, Latino women are often sexually harassed. Cofer gives an example of when she crosses paths with such bias while staying in a "classy metropolitan hotel". She encounters a gentleman in a tuxedo who sing a crude version of the song "La Bamba" about a woman named Maria and her sexual exploits. Cofer demonstrates another stereotype of Latino women as menial housemaid or domestic worker. She tells a story about her first public poetry reading. An older woman who called for her for a cup of coffee thinking that she was a waiteress. She states that she was one of the "lucky ones" who receive an education. However, there are still many Latino and Hispanic women who still struggle with the misconceptions and stereotypes. Cofer's goal as writer is replace the old stereotype with "much more interesting set of realities". She hopes that she change the perspective of her audience and get them to look past the stereotypes.

She means that stereotypes will stay with you no matter what you do to fit in with society. The media enforce the idea of that Latino women working at menial jobs. They can only work domestic, waitress, and factory jobs because their limited skills and poor English. Cofer has great example of this situation. The incident took place during her public poetry reading at

Miami. An older woman motioned Cofer to her table. Cofer thought that the woman wanted an autograph, but instead the older woman tried a coffee from her thinking she was a waiter.

Judith Ortiz Cofer

The Myth of the Latin Woman

  • Born: February 24, 1952
  • Died: December 29, 2016
  • Occuption: Writer, Professor
  • Nationalty: Puerto Rican
  • Ethnicity: Puerto Rican
  • Notable work: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood
  • Awards: Pura Belpre Award & O. Henry Prize

Why was it hard to Cofer to fit in with her American friends?

Vocabulary

She would dress inappropriately to certain occassions because dress were the only clothes that she had in her closet. The lesson her mother taught her on "how to behave as a proper senorita" often conflict with views of her friends and their mothers. They thought that the way Cofer dressed and acted was too mature for her age.

Why is it acceptable for Latino and Hispanic women to have more flashy sense of fashion?

What is the stereotype that Cofer refer to in her essay?

  • covet: yearn to possess of have something
  • microcosm: a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger
  • coalesce: come together and form one mass or whole
  • faux pas: an embarrassing or tactless act or remark in a social situation
  • firebrand: a person who is passionate about a particular cause, typically inciting change and taking radical action.
  • innuendo: an allusive or oblique remark or hint, typically a suggestive or disparaging one
  • piroporos: Spanish for flirtatious remark
  • promenade: take a leisurely walk, ride, or drive in public, especially to meet or be seen by others
  • regale: entertain or amuse (someone) with talk

When they were young girls, they were influenced by their mother and older sister wore a variety of color in the tropical environment and showing their skin as a way to look cool as well as sexy. In Puerto Rico, it is more socially acceptable to dress more lively, since women are protected by traditions, laws of Catholic system of morality, and machismo with the rule of "You may look at my sister, but if you touch her I will kill you". Her family and church provide a cirlce of safety in Puerto Rico. If a man was to "wrong" a woman, everyone would come to her aid and defend her family's honor.

A stereotype that Latina face is their sexuality. They are often to as the "Hot Tamale". Media often use "sizzling" and "smoldering" as the adjectives to describe women of Latino and Hispanic women. Because of this stereotype, they face sexual harassment. Cofer often heard about the harassment that Puerto Rican women endured while working in factories. Their boss would talk in sexual innuendos and force women to accept their advances or be fired.

What is another stereotype that Latina women face?

Another stereotype that Latina women are good at performing menial jobs. The truth is that these women have limited skills and poor English so the job that is available to them are domestics and factory jobs. According to Cofer, the stereotype of "Hispanic menial" was created by the media. Latina women are often portrayed as housemaid who mispronounced word and cooking a lot. She believes that media and the portrayals of Latina women are partially responsible for the lack of opportunities for social mobility of Latina women.

What is Cofer's goal with this essay?

How is Cofer different compared to her Hispanic companeras?

Her personal goal is to try to replace the stereotypes and myths about Latinas with the truth. She hopes that she can change the perspective of her audience with her stories that she tell about the dreams and fears of Latina women. She want her audience to look past Latino women's skin color, accent, and clothes.

She has strong understanding of the mainstream culture because of her education. All of the books that she read saved her severe forms of ethnic and racial prejudice. Without the privilege of an education, she would face the misconception perpetutate by the stereotypes and myth of Latino women.

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