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The role of women in Latino culture has been a key aspect of each of the novels covered in this class. In this genre of literature, women are portrayed as being independent, although still face struggles in attempting to overcome the cultural effects of machismo in Latino culture. Bodega Dreams and Dreaming in Cuban are no exception to this representation, as both of these novels contain strong women who are attempting to follow their “dreams.” However, the dreams in each novel vary because of the cultural and masculine influences that each woman faces.
Bodega Dreams takes place in Spanish Harlem of New York City. Even though many of the people living in this area have ancestors from Puerto Rico , most of them are second or third generation citizens. Spanish Harlem, then, is in the process of developing a unique culture, combining both Puerto Rican and American qualities. Blanca, the main female character in this book, is attempting to get out of the poverty of Spanish Harlem by attaining a college education. Chino Chino
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Dreaming in Cuban takes place in both Cuba and the New York City Lourdes , her daughter, has moved to the United States in order to open her own bakery business, because she is not able to in Cuba
The men in the novel influence the political stances of the females, thus inserting their masculine opinion into the novel. Celia’s husband, Jorge, worked closely with a company in the United States and left her to live with his disagreeable mother and sister in Cuba Lourdes United States Lourdes Lourdes , too, experiences trauma in Cuba Lourdes ’ allegiance to the United States
All in all, women do play important roles in both Bodega Dreams and Dreaming in Cuban, but are influenced by the different cultural, masculine influences the have in their lives. So even though the women in both Bodega Dreams and Dreaming in Cuban are portrayed as being independent, they still must deal with the issues of machismo present in many Latin American countries, a theme, which has pervaded the literature covered in this course.
Steph,
ReplyDeleteFeminism is a great theme in the books that we've read this semester. Or, if not feminism, at least the presence of independent women (I guess some of the women aren't choooooosing to be independent or on their own, right? Like Celia didn't really choose to be independent, it kind of just got thrust upon her. Instead, her husband just left her and disappeared and she had to deal with the consequences. Her way of dealing with this was just be Or maybe I'm reading too much into this, who knows?
Anyway, I think you made a lot of great points in the two novels that you touched on in this blog.
Steph,
ReplyDeleteAs always... enlightening posts. Feminism did stick out to me as a role played within the texts, however, I was always more curious as to why many of the women chose to stay and deal with the men in their lives who have ultimately left them. This stems from my fascination with psychology. I assume that many Latina women present within the novels do not have a problem in standing up for themselves, but am always curious as to why they are always with a man--sometimes men who beat them, commit them to mental facilities, or do not return aggressive sexuality when it is wanted.
All in all, I feel that these women in the text should have cut the cord on their husbands and/or companions long ago--especially Jorge who had Celia committed to a mental hospital. Personally, as someone who has experience with mental illness, there is no way one could forgive another person for wrongly committing someone to a mental facility, but Celia does it.
On that note, what do you think gives her the strength and will to forgive him?
Women seemed to play a large role in both of these novels. There roles in Dreaming in Cuban is pretty obvious, they are the main characters. But I liked how highlighted the differences between the women, they are all very different, which in some cases causes the conflicts that drove them apart to arise. In Bodega Dreams the main character is obviously male, however women play a large role in the novel. Blanca, her sister, and Vera all are influential throughout the novel and indirectly effect the plot often.
ReplyDeleteSteph, I agree with you completely about the role women have played--both in these two texts and in the reading list for the course generally. In the case of Blanca, she seemed to me like somewhat of a paradox. On the one hand, you rightly she say "she doesn't except the machismo ways of the past." However, what then do we make of her almost deifying attitudes toward the male leaders in her local Pentecostal church?
ReplyDeleteOf course, in most cultural contexts we see paradoxes and seeming contradictions in people's attitudes toward liberation. This comes when people have so internalized gender asymmetry that they have a difficult time recognizing their own self-oppressing attitudes.
On a deeper level, I reminded of an interview with Junot Diaz where he describes the Americas as "hyper masculine." To Diaz, this is not something that is unique to Latin American cultures, but in the "new world" generally. One thing that Latino Literature does is it gives a window into home tendencies in Latin American cultures adapt or translate into broader US cultural when brought by immigrant families.
You do a great job of showing the ways in which strong women in these novels are shaped by culture and the men in their lives. Your fourth paragraph, in particular, demonstrates this connection, showing how negative the negative experiences that Celia and Lourdes have with men are associated with their attitudes towards the US and Cuba, respectively. Note that although Celia does lead an independent live in Cuba, she never emotionally separates herself from Jorge, and when she becomes a supporter of the revolution, she projects all of her needs for romantic affirmation and power onto El Lider. So she is strong, but she is still under the spell of machismo, in this sense. A number of the comments, above, mention this phenomenon--the strong woman who is still emotionally tied to a man who does not treat her very well.
ReplyDelete