Friday, April 3, 2015

Another possible Hispanic Stereotype

I could not help but to notice that Junot Diaz, keeps throwing Dominican/Hispanic stereotypes at the reader.  First the masculinity and then every other thing that separates Oscar from the typical Dominican man.  The majority of women in Oscar's life  thus far, have experienced domestic violence.  Is this another trait that makes men appear more masculine?  Oscar seems to just sit back and watch rather than to react.  Oscar refers to Marzita as "a girl who seemed to delight in getting slapped around by her boyfriends," as if she were accustomed to this lifestyle (18).  The next example Diaz gives us is Ana's boyfriend "Manny smacked her, Manny kicked her,  Manny called her a fat twat, Manny cheated on her..." (44).  Oscar seems sarcastic but refers to this being one of the reasons he doesn't attract women.  Even Oscar's mother reacts as if she has seen a situation like this before "And one day she arrived at Oscar's house with a bruise on her face and with he blouse torn, and his mother had said: I don't want any trouble here!" (44).  As a woman I found it strange for his mother not to take Ana in, call the cops, or any kind gesture.  Yet, Ana also refuses to leave Manny time after time of him hurting her whether it be mentally, physically, or emotionally.  She claims she loves him and cannot leave him, I found this concept to accepting to all of the characters for it not to be a stereotype in Hispanic culture.

1 comment:

  1. Danielle, I wonder if violence toward women is the result of hyper-masculinity at all levels of Dominican/Hispanic culture or if it is only prevalent in the impoverished lower socioeconomic classes.If hyper-masculinity leads to systemic violence against women, then how are Dominican/Hispanic women supposed to react to it?

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