The Mistreatment of Mexicans in America as Portrayed in Theatre

Paper Summary:

This essay looks at how the three plays depict the mistreatment of Mexicans in America. In addition, it portrays the treatment of Mexican women by their own society as mirroring the very discrimination and disrespect that they are treated with as a race.

From the Paper:

"It is interesting to compare the plays and discover the very treatment they try and change they subject their women to. When one initially reads the plays: "Simply Maria" by Josefina Lopez, "Actos" by Luis Valdez, and "Real Women have Curves" also by Josefina Lopez, one could easily mistake the plays as simple entertainment about several people and their lives. However once one peels off the top coat and examines the underpinnings of the works one easily sees the undertone that is woven throughout the stories and their character. Each of the examined plays reveals much more than a look at the daily life of those in the work. The plays also show the reader how down trodden we have forced the Mexican immigrant to become. We have forced them into situations in which they find themselves grateful to be treated almost as well as we treat pet dogs in this country(Valdez, Actos).

"In Simply Maria the reader is given a foundational understanding of the way Mexican women are often viewed and treated even by their own race. The play opens with an understanding of what it takes for a family to immigrate to America. Often times the father has to travel ahead and it may be years before he can send for his family(Lopez, Simply). Once they arrive they are expected to live as if they are still in Mexico and all the traditions that go with it. This leaves a mixed message for young ladies who grow up in a country, which embraces female independence, yet parents who feel it is sinful and wrong are raising them."

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