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Example research essay topic: West Side Story Puerto Rican - 1,184 words

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The principal notion about life revealed in this essay is that in Western societies the Latin Women are viewed stereotypically as a sex object or selfless housewives and obsequious workers. Otherwise, some people believe and perpetuate stereotypes about particular ethnic groups while in reality those myths can be related to few members of that ethnic group. In this essay the author Judith Ortiz Cover discusses how she has been treated by different people in different countries due to their conception of her as a Latin woman. The author refers to the several incidents where she has been viewed stereotypically as a person who is capable of doing only a very simple job or being an object that satisfies a mans lust. She says that from her childhood, because she was a female, she was kept under strict surveillance by her parents and was schooled how to behave as a proper senorita. Because of her background she had to be dressed up as a Puerto Rican girl.

As she says it was obvious that for the others this kind of dressing seemed vulgar. It is clearly that from her childhood the author has been surrounded by the circumstances in which a female human being must fit into demands of her society. The authors culture and traditions were not the same with the American culture, and as a result, the girl was grown up on the verge of two different customs. As the author says, the way of dressing of the Latin women gives American men a wrong massage about these women.

It happens because they apply their own culture and customs to the traditions of other ethnic group. Vivid colors of clothes and brilliance of jewelry sometimes are signals of the easy accessibility of a woman for a Western man. From those attributes was created a myth about Hispanic woman as the hot tamale or sexual firebrand. The author recalls stories that she heard in her house during her childhood about sexual harassment that Puerto Rican women endured in factories where they were seen as if sexual innuendo was all they understood. She also describes her own experience of being seen stereotypically when the boy who took her to her first formal dance kissed her and without having received a passional response remarked, I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early.

Here we see not only a stereotypical view of the Latin women but also consideration of those women as something that is able to ripen like a fruit or vegetable. The incident with a young boy on the bus who was singing Maria from West Side Story also seems to have left a bitter taste at the author, You can leave the island and travel as far as you can, but if you are a Latina, the island travels with you. The event at the hotel seems to be the culmination of the essay. Here a man who seems to be well-educated and respectable sings a dirty song to amaze the author and people around. It is obviously that the author was deeply embarrassed in this incident and she remarks that if non-Hispanic woman were in her place, the same man would not show such disrespect because she could be somebody's wife or mother, or at least somebody who might take offence.

But for this man she was just an Evita or a Maria: merely a character in his cartoon-populated universe. To support the opinion that the Latin women in the United States are viewed as domestic or menial workers the author gives another one example from her own life. She tells us about her first public poetry reading that took place at a restaurant. She tells how nervous and excited she was as she walked in with her notebook in hand. An older woman motioned her to her table and ordered from the author a cup of coffee, assuming that she was the waitress. As we see some people only from the appearance of the person, following and supporting the existing stereotypes, are able to conclude everything about this human being.

They just consider the members of other ethnic groups as they have been doing it all their lives. I can relate to this idea about stereotypical view of the Latin women because I have become a victim of stereotypical view of the Russian women and because almost all my friends go through this every day. Usually this misconception arises from cultural differences or from images that are represented to us by media or TV. And it is highly unlikely for this misconception to be ever broken down because usually we are satisfied with what we already know and we dont want to disturb our minds by putting them into work to change our perception of the around world. Sometimes it is easier for us just to erase ones individuality by considering a person as a typical and ordinary than to admit somebody as an unusual and unique personality. For the sake of objectivity I have to mention that while I was looking for the information on Latin women in Internet, after entering the keywords like Latin women in USA and Discrimination of Latin women most of the sites that I was getting were offering sexual services.

So, we can assume that some Latin women have a finger in the pie and intensify the existing stereotypes. I would like to tell about Rita Morena, the actress who played in the mentioned above movie West Side Story and who received Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in this film in 1962. The story of her career shows in full measure how the Latin women are seen in the USA and in England. Little child, she was brought to New York from Puerto Rico by her mother. Growing up, Rosita had to surpass many obstacles in a new for her society. Because of her natural talent and diligence she quickly succeeded as an actress and a dancer.

But she says that to get a job she had to play up the idea of the Latin spitfire. She always wanted to play important roles but being a Puerto Rican, she had to play the roles of the Latin women as they were seen in the USA. Usually she was cast as the dumb, barefooted, sexy the only roles she was suited for according to the filmmakers. In her first role she played a fiery love machine. In her second movie she represented the image of a poor, brown-skinned woman. She says she felt disappointment at that time because by her work she was perpetuating the stereotype of the women of her nationality as hot-blooded and hot-tempered sex kittens.

The money received for Oscar she donated toward the civil rights movement. To escape from racism Rita went to London but after some month she returned because she found more racism there. Rita Morena says that even today, after many years, the situation hasnt changed. Here we see that the whole life of a talented person was darkened by the stereotype that follows that person even today.


Free research essays on topics related to: puerto rican, puerto, west side story, latin, ethnic groups

Research essay sample on West Side Story Puerto Rican

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