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“The Myth of the Latin Woman” is a memoir essay written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, and it reveals the challenges Hispanic women have to go through due to their identity. The author recalls her own childhood while describing how different life was for her compared to the mainstream American lifestyle. Cofer shares about the doubts and problems she had in school while making outfit choices for different occasions. The writer explains the cultural origins of Latin women’s dressing preferences and describes the prejudice that severely affects such women’s lives. Cofer’s essay’s central thesis is that stereotypes broadly spread by the media and cultural bias impair Latin women in the United States.
Regardless of the diversity of the US population, prejudice related to people of color or different cultures still exists and thrives. In “The Myth of the Latin Woman”, the stereotype that Puerto Rican women are only capable of doing household duties and cooking is shown, as well as bias related to how these women dress. Cofer’s story is a shining example of the unfairness of the way women are being treated and judged by their appearance or the clothes they wear. This paper aims to discuss the difference in perception of dressing choices among people of different cultures and identities.
Puerto Rican women have a unique clothing style: they apply bright colors, use many accessories, and wear different kinds of dresses. These choices are dictated by their traditions that appeared due to the environmental and cultural factors of Puerto Rico. “The Myth of the Latin Woman” discloses that many women are dressed by following their mothers’ and sisters’ examples (Cofer 909). They are not afraid of wearing open clothes as traditions and beliefs strictly dictate men’s behavior towards women. There is no room for a man to harass a woman; he can only admire her by composing poems.
People of Puerto Rico do not read the way a woman dresses as provocative. However, if a woman chooses to wear open and bright clothes in the US, this can be read as the wrong signal from other cultures’ representatives. Indeed, men of the mainstream culture find the dress of Puerto Rican women not only attractive but enticing (Cofer 910). The stereotype of treating Latin women as sexually available is supported by the media in the US and severely affects their life.
The difference between responses to Latin women’s way of dressing causes challenging situations, and creates cultural bias. In Puerto Rico, people consider the climate that causes women to wear open clothes, while men honor the traditions and do not act aggressively. In different parts of the US, men are allowed to behave in any manner and, due to the lack of strong values, react aggressively on women. Moreover, women of the mainstream culture perceive Latin women as vulgar or hopeless. Due to such treatment, women from Puerto Rico face challenges in getting essential things they have rights to, such as education or freedom of choice.
Cofer’s essay shows that dress plays a significant role in how people communicate and express themselves. The choice of dress is often affected by the cultural, family, or religious values of a person. Moreover, wearing some items can help people show everyone that they belong to a certain group or reveal their character traits. Indeed, the culture and values of Puerto Rican women are reflected in their dressing style. If it is read wrongly, issues and challenges appear, such as harassment or misunderstanding of a message. People of different cultures and identities have to consider the value of diversity, which is equal for everyone regardless of their clothes.
Work Cited
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “The Myth of the Latin Woman.” The Norton Guide Field Guide to Writing, edited by Richard Bullock, Maureen Daly Goggin, and Francine Weinberg, W.W. Norton & Company, 2019. pp. 906-912.