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The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria
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God's Brown Daughters
The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Presented by: Dani & Jenny
Maria
" But Maria had followed me to London, reminding me 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 a Latina, especially one like me who obviously belongs to Rita Moreno's gene pool, the Island travels with you."
(Cofer, page 104, para. 1)
Judith Ortiz Cofer
- Born in Puerto Rico in 1952
- Moved to America in 1956
- Grew up in New Jersey
- Writes on growing up a Puerto Rican imigrant
- Poet
- Educator
Academic Achievements
- BA in English From Augusta College
- MA in English Literature from Florida Atlantic University
Awards and Honors
Won over 15 awars for literacy
- First Hispanic to win the O'Henry Prize for the story "The Latin Deli" (1994)
- University of Georgia's Albert Chris-Janer Award(1998)
- Regents Professor Recgonition(2006)
- And many more. . .
The Arguement
- Main: Cofer is stereotyped by media stigma of what a Latina is, eventhough she is an academic scholar known worldwide for her work
Tokenism
- People of color are stereotyped as a particular thing
- The media set a standard of what a "Token Latina" should be
The Media
"The myth of the Hispanic menial has been sustained by the same media phenomenon that made "Mammy" from Gone With the Wind America's idea of the Black woman for generations. . ."
(Cofer, page 108, para. 11)
Mammy
Mammy
- Character in Gone With the Wind (1939)
- Slave
Anecdotes
- In evry one of these anecdotes you'll find Cofer in an academic/professional environment
- A stigma is placed Cofer everytime
The Bus
On Cofer's way from Oxford to London where she was taking some summer classes, a drunk man got down on one knee in the the middle of the aisle and sang his own rendition of "Maria" to her
"Maria" West Side Story
Career Day
Cofer's Catholic school had a career day where the students were told to dress professionally.
Career Day
Barrio Girls
"On that day at school, we were simply made the negative models by the nuns who were themselves not credible not fashion experts to any of us."
(Cofer, page 105, para. 5)
The Hotel:
"Daddy"
A seemingly drunk man with a young lady on his arm approaches Cofer and her collegue as they are walking to her room he yells "EVITA!!" and proceeds to "half-recite half-bellow" "Don't cry for me Argentina"
"Evita!!"
"Daddy"
"Daddy"
- The daughter had the gaul to ask for an applause for her daddy.
- He began to shout sing about a girl named Maria in which everything she did rymed with her name and gonorrhea to the tune of "La Bamba"
"La Bamba"
"La Bamba"
Poetry Reading: "Exscuse me"
Cofer thinks herself foolish when she is called over by a patron, thinking this woman wanted an autograpgh, but all she did was order a coffee from her as though she was a waitress. She then gets on stage, as the entertainment, and begins to read her poetry never breaking eye contact with the woman.
Humbly Humiliated
Humbly Humiliated
"We shook hands at the end of the reading and I never saw her again."
(Cofer, page 108, para. 13)
Traditions
- Strick surveillance
- Cultural education
- Family honor
- Religious
Strick Surveilliance
"The laws of the Spanish Caatholic system of morality and machismo whose main role was: you may look at my sister but if you touch her I will Kill you."
(Cofer, page 106, Para. 7)
Religious
"We practiced strick Catholicism complete with Saturday confession and Sunday Mass. . ."
(Cofer, page 104, para. 2)
The Myth
The Myth
- Sexuality
- Sex symbol
- Whore
- Domestic
- Criminal
Hot Tamale
"That of the Hispanic woman as the Hot Tamale or a sexual firebrand. It is a one dimensional view that the media have found easy to promote."
(Cofer, page 105, para 6)
"Hot"
Sizziling and Smoldering
"In their speacial vocabulary advertisers have designated "sizzling" and "smoldering" as the adjectives of choice for discribing not only the foods but also the woman of Latin America."
(Cofer, page 105, para. 6)
Domestic
Maturity
"'I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early' -my first instance of being thought of as a fruit or vegstable- I was suppose to ripen, not just grow into womanhood like other girls."
(Cofer, page 106, para. 8)
Ripen
Ripen
Clash
"It is cutom, however, not chromosome, that leads us to chose scarlet over pale pink."
(Cofer, page 106, para, 7)
Jessica Rabbit
Jessica Rabbit
- Well known animated sex symbol
Are We The Same?
In Asteemed Admiration
In Asteemed Admiration
Febuary 24, 1952 - December 30, 2016