An analysis of Phillipe Bourgois' representation of gendered identity in his anthropological field study, "In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio".
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 3 sources, 2006, $ 62.95
Abstract While Phillippe Bourgois' anthropological field study "In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio" is heavily focused on issues of class, culture and economics in East Harlem, the issue of gender relations and gender construction within this cultural frame is also a prominent theme. This paper critically examines Bourgois' representation of gendered identity and how gender is constructed in El Barrio through public displays of forms of masculinity and femininity. It is argued that as traditional Puerto Rican patriarchal authority appears to be collapsing in El Barrio, the residents are improvising new gendered identities.
Abstract This paper presents the story of three women who were instrumental to Latin American history. The writer explores the contributions of Eva Peron, Sarah Chamberlain Eccleston and Violeta Barrios to illustrate the importance of females in the historical context of the Latin American political arena.
From the Paper "Another very influential women in the world of Latin American history was Violeta Barrios. Violeta married a prominent Nicaraguan journalist named Pedro Chamorro. He was not only a journalist in the year 1950 when they met he was also acting editor of the La Prensa paper. Because of his political beliefs and his refusal to stop using the paper as a lobbying platform he was jailed many times and spent time in prison as well."
This paper analyzes Henri Cartier-Bresson's photo, "Barrio Chino, Barcelona, Spain, 1933" in its socio-historical context, revealing how the imagery of the photo relates to its context of Depression-era Spain.
Abstract This paper explains that, after returning from Africa in the early Thirties, Cartier-Bresson was influenced by the vivacity of primitivism and tried to find its counterpart in some of the poor neighborhoods of Europe. The author points out that the artist's choice of camera, the small-format Leica, allowed Cartier-Bresson the freedom to shoot quickly and with minimal camera resetting time (i.e. advancing film, changing film). The paper relates that the rising presence of magazines and photojournalism in the 1930s generously supported Cartier-Bresson financially and allowed him the economic freedom required for him to travel the world taking pictures.
From the Paper "The tired, desperate look on the man's face coupled with the look of shock on the face of the drawing, paint a profound picture of desperation. What seems like merely a "snapshot" photograph can be deeply analyzed to reveal an insightful comment on the poverty and hopelessness so prevalent during the depression. In an era when most cameras were large, and bulky, it doesn?t seem possible for a photo such as this one to be taken off the cuff and un-posed. But the fact is that Cartier-Bresson's photos were not posed and the next paragraph will discuss how new camera technology allowed him the freedom to take pictures like this one taken in Spain in 1933."
Abstract The paper examines the book, "Let Me Speak!", which is an autobiographical account of the experiences of Domitila Barrios De Chungara, a poor, Indian housewife and mother from the Siglo XX mines in Bolivia. The paper outlines Domitila's experiences and opinions on the Housewives' Committee of the Siglo XX Mine, her experiences growing up in poverty, the public school system, step parents, organized religion, male attitudes on female political participation, guerrillas, student activists, political parties, peasants, government repression, women's liberation and television.
From the Paper "In her book, Domitila offers her experience in prison and the resultant death of her child as an example of the brutality she and other women have endured. Accusing her of acting as a guerrilla liaison, government agents jailed and interrogated her regardless of the fact that she was eight months pregnant (145). Angered that she refused to agree to the phony charges against her, she was beaten severely. When she bit her interrogator in an attempt to defend herself, they began to direct their threats at her unborn child (147). The mistreatment caused her to go into labor unaided in her cell, and when she regained consciousness, Domitila found her lifeless son on the floor."
From the Paper "This study will provide a comparative analysis of two books about immigrants' experience in California. Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, portrays two generations of Chinese-American women, and Ernesto Galarza's autobiography, Barrio Boy, examines the experiences of Mexican immigrants, especially those of the author as a young male who settled with his family in the barrio of Sacramento. The essence of both works is the authors' intention to honor immigrants' lives, both fictional and factual, and to have the reader appreciate their humanity, heritage, courage and culture. If there is one theme in both works it is the theme of cultural, generational and familial continuity and endurance in the face of clashing cultures and the forces of assimilation. Tan wants the reader to understand the profound and intimate connections between the two generations of mothers and.."
From the Paper "In the novel Famous All Over Town, Danny Santiago writes about the barrio in East Los Angeles, a whole world away from the experience of most of the residents of the city. The author details the life of this subculture, how it has developed as a reflection of the culture of Mexico and how the original culture is challenged and altered in the American context. The life of the barrio is presented here as difficult and even dangerous, producing generation after generation of angry and defiant youth who strike back at all of society for the world into which they have been born. One of the themes in this novel related to the production of these angry young people is parenting and the way young people come to see their parents in a new light as they (the children) grow up and measure their reality against the ideal they have been taught and against the image projected by ... "
From the Paper "Ricardo Romo's History of a Barrio: East Los Angeles examines the wave of Mexican immigration into the U.S. during the early part of the twentieth century. He covers the various factors affecting the development of Mexican American communities; more specifically, he examines the resourcefulness of Mexican Americans who attempted to sustain a culture within a culture in the face of economic, social, and political discrimination.
Los Angeles has always depended on Mexican labor, as Romo frequently points out. The Mexican immigrants were good enough as cheap sources of labor, even if they were natively inferior to Anglos, as the commonly accepted sentiment in the early 1900s would have it. The economic interests of north-of-the-border industrialists and land barons were bolstered by inexpensive ..."
Abstract In the poem, "123rd Street Rap", poet Willie Perdomo gives voice to the community of Spanish Harlem and attempts to reach outsiders in hope of assistance for himself, his people and their community. The paper shows that Perdomo's poetic vehicle is in the form of a freestyle rap, the new genre of music that has become the voice of the independent inner-city youth of America. The paper includes the poem in full.
From the Paper "This theme of violence and the mourning that accompanies it is further examined when the speaker acknowledges, in lines 8-11, his and the community's mortality. "It's about time to pay / all my debts" is the speakers realization that his life is short, as most are when raised in a neighborhood and lifestyle like this. The community is addressed in the following couplet of lines "Church bells bong / for drunken mourners". This prompts the image of the mourning of many, from family, to friends, and the community as a whole. When a person dies it can remind people of their own mortality, in a neighborhood teeming with violence like this a reminder of your own subsequent death is almost too much to bear. Also, these mourners are not necessarily drunk off of alcoholic beverages. It almost seems as if they are drunk with their sadness and despair at the situation that they have been presented with time and time again. It is this despair that serves as the transition into the third section of the poem."
Abstract This paper examines how, in "The House on Mango Street", Sandra Cisneros creates a beautiful story about a young girl, Esperanza Cordero, coming of age and coming to terms with her cultural heritage, sexuality, and economic circumstances. It looks at how the dominant theme and root of the novel involve the Mexican-Latino cultural values and how, throughout her novel, Cisneros illustrates the importance of religion, strong family bonds, and the Latino struggle in a foreign world. It shows how Sandra Cisneros's patchwork of stories tells a profound tale of sexual and cultural identity within the framework of a poor, young, Chicano girl growing up in a Chicago barrio and dreaming of something more, something better.
From the Paper "Cisneros begins her novel with Esperanza describing how her family had moved so often during her youth that she could not remember them all, only a few stood out in her mind. She recalls a rundown third floor apartment on Loomis Street where a robbery had taken place in the Laundromat downstairs that left the windows boarded up on which the owners, fearing loss of business, had written that the Laundromat was still open. Esperanza, ashamed when a nun asked if she lived there, vowed that someday she would have a real house, one that she could point to without shame. Although, the house on Mango Street was not the house of her dreams, Esperanza's parents assure her it is only temporary (Cisneros 5)."
Abstract This paper discusses and analyzes the book "The House on Mango Street" written by Sandra Cisneros. Specifically, it examines the theme of search for self-definition. The paper introduces the protagonist of the novel, Esperanza, who narrates a series of 'chapters' concerning her life, her world and the barrio as she sees it happening around her. The paper highlights the fact that while self-definition is a compelling theme of the novel, it also shows the difficulties many young Latinas face as they come of age in America.
From the Paper "Published in 1984, many critics believe "The House on Mango Street" is one of the best Chicana stories written. Author Sandra Cisneros writes with knowledge and pathos of growing up Latina in America because she herself experienced the difficulties of growing up in multi-cultural family. Her mother is Mexican-American and her father is Mexican, and she spent her childhood "commuting" between homes in Mexico and Chicago (Kevane 47). She graduated from Loyola University in 1976, and attended the Iowa Writers Workshop in 1978, where she wrote the draft for this novel about coming of age and multi-culturalism in American barrios."
Abstract The paper analyzes friendships and how kinships have changed over time. The writer discusses how social scientists have searched for meaning in the structure of greater society, groups of individuals, and family orientations to find meaning in the relationships that color a person's life. The paper further examines how it is not merely the amity of two individuals, but a larger set of interactions and histories that combine to create the possibility for friendship. The paper concludes with new definitions of friendships that technology and the internet have created.
From the Paper "Bell and Coleman assert a view of friendship in which the foundation of the relationship is both voluntary and private. They argue that "friendship becomes a special relationship between two equal individuals involved in a uniquely constituted dyad." Because they view friendship as the voluntary establishment of a relationship between two autonomous individuals, why those specific individuals chose to form a friendship is important."
Abstract The paper compares and contrasts three stories, "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara, "The Man to Send Rain Clouds" by Leslie Marmon Silko and "El Tonto del Barrio" by Jose Armas, all covering some aspect of a clash of cultures and the way this clash affects the minorities who are involved. The paper shows how all the characters are from some minority group; black children, Native Americans and Hispanics of a small town.
From the Paper "The three stories under discussion -- "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara, "The Man to Send Rain Clouds" by Leslie Marmon Silko and "El Tonto del Barrio" by Jose Armas -- all present a clash of cultures, with the majority culture downgrading the minority culture, with minority characters who resent the dismissal of their culture superior white attitudes and with a lingering resentment created in these minority characters, a resentment that may last a lifetime. This is quite evident in the story by Toni Cade Bambara, which presents a class on a field trip. The students are black children in New York City, being transported from their ghetto neighborhood downtown to the shopping district well-known to more affluent whites. The story involves a journey through unfamiliar territory, with relatively naive characters who learn a lesson from their journey, a lesson that opens their eyes to some aspect of life."
Abstract This paper reviews and discusses the life and history of Mexicans living in California. According to the paper, a large number of immigrant Mexicans lived in "barrios" where the conditions were unsanitary and the crime rate high. The paper takes a look at how these conditions prevailed, and how life for Mexicans living in the USA, eventually improved.
From the Paper "Much did not change for the Mexicans from the 1940s to 1960s, with discrimination and segregation continuing to be the norm. Many school districts continued to send children to Mexican schools, based on the theory that the students were such slow learners they would hold back white student levels. In 1944, the parents of nine-year-old Sylvia Mendez' moved to the largely non-Hispanic white community of Westminster in Orange County and tried unsuccessfully to enroll her in the neighborhood school. This school was a source of community pride and the ramshackle Mexican school was located adjacent to a dairy farm (Hayes-Bautista, 2004, p. 24). Her father won the case, but only by a loophole."
