Intersectionalities
Thesis: Overlap of cultures and identities contributes to the degradation of women in Hispanic Communities.
Real Women have Curves a film that was released in 2002, featuring a Latino family that had Ana, Carmen (her mother) and Estela, who used to run a clothing warehouse, where, apparently, Carmen works. When Ana clears high school a debate emerges that she should not join college, rather, she should work in the clothing factory. Carmen keeps making remarks on the appearances of the ladies working in the factory, prompting them to strip to their pants one day to compare their bodies. Ideally, there is the idea of how a woman’s body should look like and Carmen seemed to be completely absorbed with this fascination to an extent that she gets into trouble with the other women in the factory. The overlap of gender and identity in the Latino community is a source of great stress to Ana, but she overcomes the challenges by appreciating herself the way she is, and through falling in love with Jimmy. The struggle of the urban poor Hispanic women raises the subject of racial disenfranchisement and gender disadvantages, an aspect of the film that shows the sectionalization, and compartmentalization of the American society. Ana’s mother does not want her to go to college, and she is very resolute about the idea of Ana staying home. Hence, the issues of gender, race, poverty and empowerment meet at the doorstep of Ana’s room, and she has to balance them off without losing her mind. And Ana is not alone in this Intersectionality phenomenon, as many American find themselves intertwined with social aspects of the modern era, and that overlap contributes to the confusion of culture and belonging that minority groups face (Hooks 75). Ana is fighting ghosts from her closet, and from outside her culture in the form of the expectations on beauty and appearance. Ironically, these social constructs are foreign to her culture, but they have successfully been integrated into the minds of the Latinos, and deeply so, leading to a reactive appearance profiling (Weidenfeld, Butler, and Williams).
Alice Does Not Live Here Anymore
Sexual Relationships can make or break a woman
Alice becomes a widower after her husband dies in an accident, and seizes the opportunity to try her independence on her childhood dreams of becoming a singer. Interestingly, she packs up with her son and leaves for Monterey, a town in California where she grew up. Times are tough, and she needs to do odd jobs on their way to California with her son, Tommy. In Phoenix, she lands into the arms of Ben, a charismatic young man with a wife who lures her into a relationship, only to break off after Ben’s wife reprimands Alice. Later, she meets David while working as a waitress, and they fall in love. David is a good guy, and he is ready to help Alice back to her childhood dreams, but deciding to sell his ranch so that they can move to Monterey. At the end of the day, they do not move, as Alice realizes that she can make her career anywhere. The story of the film oscillates around gender roles in relation with how many contribute to gender discrimination. While Alice husband was uncaring, her new catch, David, is the real deal. While her husband had made to leave her music dreams, David is ready to give everything to make her reestablish her career. We learn the importance of concerted efforts from both genders if the problem of gender-based discrimination is to be won, and Alice proves to the viewer that a man can break or make a woman. Subjecting your woman to a stay at home role limits the exploitation of the potential of that lady, and to break free, it needs courage and determination (Benshoff and Griffin).
Works Cited
Hooks, Bell. Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies. New York, NY: Routledge, 1997. Print.
Benshoff, Harry M., and Sean Griffin. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies, Second Edition. 2nd ed. Malden, MA, USA: Wiley-Blackwell (an imprint of John Wiley & Sons Ltd), 2009. Print
Weidenfeld, Adi, Richard Butler, and Allan M. Williams. Visitor Attractions and Events: Locations and Linkages. United Kingdom: Routledge, 2016. Print.
