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A review by mimirtells
How To Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
3.0
3/5 Stars (%63/100)
In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anzaldua exposes her feelings about social and cultural difficulties that Mexican immigrants face when being raised in the United States. She establishes comparisons among English, Spanish, and their variations. Also, she shows cultural imperialism’s influence on people’s preference to speak one language rather than the other. It forces people to pick one and hopefully be accepted by the majority. She talks about important social problems such as sexism, cultural imperialism, racism, low self-confidence, and identity construction.
The author starts the story with a metaphor in which she defines the adaptation process as something extremely violent and cruel. In addition, the story aims at showing both sides of this adaptation process: the white side and the Hispanic side. On the white side, if an individual chooses to immigrate to the United States, he should embrace the language and culture in order to be accepted. On the Hispanic side, there are the Mexican parents who want their children to be successful and hopefully one day live the American Dream.
The author’s main desire is to be able to freely speak Chicano Spanish. She wants her people to have their own language and she demands respect for their unique identity. According to the story, some progress has already been made. There are books published in Chicano Spanish, and some political parties and groups who defend Chicano’s rights occurred. However, there are still serious problems regarding their race, identity, language, culture, sense of belonging, and freedom to express their thoughts in whatever English/Spanish variation they want.
Also, there seems to be the problem of sexism due to the macho qualities of Latinos. In addition, the author expresses her feeling of rage by exposing how Chicano Spanish is belittled by Latinos and white people. To conclude, the author points out that Chicanos are basically orphans in terms of linguistics and how it seriously affects their self-confidence.
In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anzaldua exposes her feelings about social and cultural difficulties that Mexican immigrants face when being raised in the United States. She establishes comparisons among English, Spanish, and their variations. Also, she shows cultural imperialism’s influence on people’s preference to speak one language rather than the other. It forces people to pick one and hopefully be accepted by the majority. She talks about important social problems such as sexism, cultural imperialism, racism, low self-confidence, and identity construction.
The author starts the story with a metaphor in which she defines the adaptation process as something extremely violent and cruel. In addition, the story aims at showing both sides of this adaptation process: the white side and the Hispanic side. On the white side, if an individual chooses to immigrate to the United States, he should embrace the language and culture in order to be accepted. On the Hispanic side, there are the Mexican parents who want their children to be successful and hopefully one day live the American Dream.
The author’s main desire is to be able to freely speak Chicano Spanish. She wants her people to have their own language and she demands respect for their unique identity. According to the story, some progress has already been made. There are books published in Chicano Spanish, and some political parties and groups who defend Chicano’s rights occurred. However, there are still serious problems regarding their race, identity, language, culture, sense of belonging, and freedom to express their thoughts in whatever English/Spanish variation they want.
Also, there seems to be the problem of sexism due to the macho qualities of Latinos. In addition, the author expresses her feeling of rage by exposing how Chicano Spanish is belittled by Latinos and white people. To conclude, the author points out that Chicanos are basically orphans in terms of linguistics and how it seriously affects their self-confidence.