Post 4 option 4

When reading both “Women hollering Creek” and “House on Mango St”, by Sandra Cisneros I was able to easily connect some of the narratives within both stories to my own personal experience as a first generation Latina female. Growing up in a diverse city such as Los Angeles, I observed many of the different perspectives and living situations amongst other Latinos residing in the area. Many Latin American cultures enforce the idea that men should assert themselves as head of the household while maintaining stern patriarchal traditions. More often than not, women are forced to stay within their homes caring for children, tending to the needs of their husbands, or simply killing time as a result of not feeling that they are free to seek a life outside of their wifely duties.

Sandra Cisneros touches on many important aspects such the discovery of sexuality within young women, immigration, gender roles, and impoverished neighborhoods. Most of these topics coming from “House on Mango St”, portray women as subservient and helpless. For example in, “House on Mango St”, Sally is portrayed as a self centered female who only aspires to obtain the attention of men. Sally, of course, does this in order to escape the abusive relationship between she and her father. Ultimately, she is physically abused by all the men in her life, but settles for what little joy she has knowing it could be worse.

Similar to this situation, within “Women Hollering Creek”, Cleófilas is depicted as a woman who is trapped within the her unsentimental and abusive relationship. The manner in which both Sally and Cleófilas try to cope the toxic reality within their relationship is by avoiding the problem and pretending as if being abused is a correct way to be loved. Sandra Cisneros emphasizes this problem by constantly portraying her male characters as “macho” since they follow the outdated and abusive norms men are assumed to obtaining.

Transferring these narratives back to my own experiences, I can say that many immigrant women do in fact fall victim to such a harsh realities. As a daughter of a social worker, I have witnessed many women who suffer from similar occurrences as they do not feel that they can ever obtain the support to remove themselves from such toxic situations. Many women are too scared to seek help for countless reasons such as fearing deportation, lacking financial support, being unable to speak the English language, or are simply too afraid to defy their husbands. Sandra Cisnero, therefore, does not stereotype the immigrant experience within Hispanic women, on the contrary, she is simply highlighting the difficulties that keep so many women oppressed. I definitely think the reason why she also dramatises the situations within the character’s lives, relates back the fact that most women are not speaking out about the relationships many of them are found in. Cisneros's, therefore, asserts herself within a position where she can raise awareness over the issues that are present in Hispanic communities.