The essay “Mimis in the Middle” describes the life of American Mexicans in their most vulnerable period of life. The fact that the Mimis are teenagers raised in a Mexican family is difficult and can be truly painful for the majority of teenagers, but the Mimis found a way to escape from that gloom reality and become the popular blondes whom everyone like. The virtual reality that the Mimis have created helped the whole family to feel better about them and gave hope for everyone that maybe they can feel as true Americans.
For a poor working class Mexican family the representation of a typical American is a rich person who wears branded clothes and is popular in high-school. Mary and Margie escaped from the reality of being poor Mexican girls and found a safe wall that they can hide behind. "First they died their brown-black hair blond until it turned the color and brittleness of hay" (Martinez 1). The representation of an American teenage girl, growing up in Texas is an attractive blonde who speaks only about casual things. This is what the Mimis have done. However, they did not leave the brothers and sister out, they included the whole family. Even though the family did not have money for essential things, their mother did everything to indulge the Mimis and provide them with expensive things and accessories. "It made better sense for the Mimis to be in high fashion than for the feral boys to wreck new clothes" (Martinez 3). Their mother even sacrificed the impaired sight of their brother Dan in order to provide Mary with "vanity glasses with her name etched in gold script in the corner" (Marinez 3). The mother had a reasonable explanation for such an action, and if fact, the whole family was proud of the Mimis because they represented the American dream for an immigrant who will forever be stigmatized in the eyes of a original Americans - the American who is white-colored and belongs to a middle-class worrying about nothing except the looks.
The family was proud of the Mimis even though they dismissed their culture, their language, and their origin. The Mimis pretended that they do not know who to speak Spanish and are learning it from the beginning. The Mimis helped the whole family to think less about their gloom future as Mexicans and opened a world of possibility for a poor Mexican family. If the Mimis managed to escape from the reality, then the others could do that as well. When a time for the Mimis has come to go to California and work on the fields just like the other Mexicans, everyone was afraid that the reality of hard life will hit them, but that was not the case. The Mimis pretended that they "are going to be Valley girls" (Martinez 4). This attitude helped others who denied the reality that they were migrant workers. In this way, they comforted each other that they are not the same as other Mexican migrant workers. They are above them because they are just helping their father.
This is not their future. The way in which the Mimis interpreted reality helped the others to feel better about them and to dream that there might be a different, better life for them, a life where they do not need to worry about money and food, a life that the "real" Americans lead. The author says, "And then, if you got near them, or were blessed enough to maybe talk to them, you would walk away feeling the same way as they felt too" (Martinez 5). The Mimis' enthusiasm passed on to other family members and made them forget about all the troubles and bitterness that they carried along everywhere they went. When they were around the Mimis they were a part of their world where they spoke only about music, sports, and clothes. They spread the air of illusion that even though they are Mexicans, they are entitled to feel like Americans. The fact that they lived in Texas is also important. Texas represents a country of "true" Americans, the country of cowboys and blonde beauties. The author says that "Brownsville was tinged with border town racism" (Martinez 1). This shows that racism in Texas existed and that "true" Americans did not indorse Mexicans in their community. This submissive position raised fear and the sense of helplessness in Mexicans and the Mimis helped them to forget about the fears and pretend to be someone else.
The Mimis represent "true" Americans for the Mexican migrants. Their family saw in them hope that they can be different and can belong to someone apart from the Mexican minority living in America. The Mimis helped their family to open a different and virtual world of possibilities. This is the reason why the Mimis helped their family to feel better about themselves, to forget that they lead a life of every average migrant worker, and that they will always remain Mexicans in another man's country. Even though the USA is a land of opportunities for everyone, they will always remain Mexicans and the list of opportunities is a lot smaller form the list of white colored Americans. However, the Mimis proved them to be wrong by carrying around them the air of hope and tranquility that, in their eyes, only "the true" Americans have.
Work cited:
Martinez, Domingo. "Mimis in the Middle"
