Stereotypes

“It started before I was born, before my mother was born, and before her mother was born. We were groomed to be caretaker, to carry the world on our shoulders…” –quote from “Dutiful Hijas” by Erica Gonzalez Martinez

This quote really stood out a lot to me as soon as I started reading “Dutiful Hijas.” Upon reading this my feminist senses kicked in and I just automatically knew what it was going to be about. When we are born, actually not even then; when we are fetuses and our sex has been determined, automatically we are branded with stereotypes. Our family and friends gets blue clothing and cars if it’s a boy and if it’s a girl there are lots of pink clothing along with teddy bears and dolls. Baby boys are expected to grow up to be very strong men and take care of the money business while baby girls are expected to grow up to be nurturing to both their kids and their family and take care of the household duties. Being a girl raised in a culture where women are supposed to be housewives, I can relate to the author. After her mother gets a divorce, the author starts to face guilt, power, and dependency due to her mom not having her own identity when her husband left. The author ends up giving her mother tough love and although she didn’t want to it helped shape her mother’s identity. This part I can’t relate to since I was raised by a single mom who has a very strong identity and taught me to never depend on anyone. However, I can relate to the part where Erica was expected to take care of household duties with her sister like I am. I have an older brother and when it comes time to cleaning the house, I am usually the first person who is expected to do it just because I am a girl. Although it used to be very annoying it isn’t anymore because I realized that’s just what comes with being a girl. We are supposed to care for the house and everyone around it and just be sensitive. However, with the world evolving times have changed and more women are independent but at the same type that stereotype I believe will always remain with every female out there.