Doyle: Interview Assignment

Kelly Doyle
McCauliff
WMST 2010
March 7 2008
Hispanic and Female: Does the United States Prove to be More Advanced than Less Developed Nations?
“We have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think subordinate. But we have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals. As a result, those differences have been misnamed and misused in the service of seperation and confusion” (Lorde 454). Here, Lorde elaborates on the premise that society dictates norms and acceptable standards and that minorities are simply expected to accommodate themselves accordingly. Throughout the interview, my interviewee focused on this injustice and how being both a female and part of a minority group has affected her.
Magda Berrios was born in 1959 in Granada, Nicaragua and considers herself to be a Hispanic, heterosexual, female. She was raised in a patriarchal household where her mother was forced by her “controlling and verbally abusive” father to constantly stay at home and care for her and her siblings. While neither her father or mother graduated high school, Magda graduated from an all girls boarding school and completed college in Nicaragua. In 1985, she decided to move to the United States of America because her father’s life was threatened by the new Nicaraguan government, and she saw there was very little freedom left in her country. When she arrived to the United States, she immediately noticed a difference in the way she was treated, not only because of her gender, but because of her ethnicity. For example, when she had first moved to the United States, she was in a very nice apartment building in New York City and saw that there was an apartment available. When she went to inquire about the room to the manager, who happened to be a Latino as well, to this day she remembers what he told her. He blatantly said, “muchacha, tu no puedes ni siquiera sonar en vivir en este edificio” which translates into “girl, you cannot even dream of being able to live in this building.” Reflecting on Peggy Mcintosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, this could be a perfect example of “If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live” (McIntosh 389) which illustrates just one way that the majority casts a disvantageous shadow over minority groups. This comment, even though coming from a Latino, demonstrates the ongoing racism that underlies many everyday aspects that those from other backgrounds encounter. Remembering this episode, seemed to jog her memory causing her to become more frustrated with the constant obstacles that minorities experience. This could also serve as an example of Lorde’s idea that minorities tend to even discriminate against each other because of how the majority has enforced the rejection of differences. Also, this could be a result of minorities being disheartened by how they have been previously treated; so, they in turn discriminate against those who are different. Becoming a vicious cycle, this way of thinking destroys individuality and creates divisions within racial groups.
Magda also faced discrimination when she entered the workplace especially when it came to sexual harrasment. Although she was obviously harrassed because she was a young woman surronded by predominantly male coworkers in a univeristy setting, she attributes most of it to the fact that she was hispanic and new to this country. She also divulged another example of where her ethnicity played into an additional form of oppression as described by Frye’s “Oppression” as the definition being a “double bind [in] which options are reduced to a very few and all of them expose one to penalty, censure, or deprivation” (Frye 2). She quickly realized that she had to be firm and careful in a society where men dominated and women were subordinate to their desires.
Another interesting perspective that Magda brought to my attention was when I asked her “Do you feel like your gender has ever prevented you from obtaining anything you desired?” she responded, “I feel like the fact that I am married to a doctor means people are willing to overlook my gender and race because of my social status”. Frye highlights the negative aspect of this scenario saying at “every race/class level and even across race/class lines men do not serve women as women serve men” (Frye 10). Magda mentioned further that she always felt that she was in her husband’s shadow, not only because he was a doctor, but because he was a male doctor. This definitely brings to light the idea that many countries perceive prosperity over any other quality. Consequently, she strived to escape from his shadow and stand on her own as a professor at a university in the south. Another interesting point came up when I asked her how education differed for men and women in Nicaragua. She said that the nuns at the private school she went to would say “educar a una mujer es educar a una familia” which translates to “educating a woman is educating a family”. Interestingly enough, this was to promote the idea that woman are an essential part of educating their children and families later on in their lives. Magda touched on the fact that this did seem to undermine the numerous capabilities that women could accomplish with higher education, but she encouraged the idea that women can use their education and incoporate it into a life that includes their children and family. This brought me back to Betty Friedan’s “Problem that Has No name” from the Feminine Mystique where Friedan points out “Many young women…whose education plunged them into a world of ideas feel stifled in their homes” (Friedan 47). I asked Magda if this thought had occurred to her and she took a moment to consider the question. “As a mom with three children I often am faced with choosing between my work and their wants and needs. Although my husband is as supportive as he can be with how busy he is, I sometimes feel as if the workload I have to take on everyday is never ending and all upon my shoulders. However difficult it seems at times though, I love my family and cannot imagine life without them.” She seemed surprised by these words that may have never actually escaped her lips, but she also stressed the importance of women being able to not have to choose between their family and their career. “Where I used to live, this would be considered a luxury. My mom did not have the option to work. My father refused to let her start her own business and my brothers, sisters, and I all knew that this completely crushed her.”
Finally, I asked her how she would compare Nicaragua’s and the United States’ changing perspective on both feminine empowerment and racial equality. She indicated that she feels there has been little change in either country since she was little. She blames this on the fact that people insist “on being selfish” and only look out for their personal well being. “As for the future of any country”, she concluded about the future possibilities of a female or minority representative president, “I would feel content that a woman finally can be represented at that high level of power in order to make changes, and hopefully not to act like a man” and “have the opportunity to show that there is much more for people who are not white.”
In conclusion, I was surprised to see just how relevant many of the articles and essays we read in class especially to a woman whom had never been exposed to such literature. I correctly chose her as my interviewee specifically because of all the intersections that run through her as mentioned in Lorde’s piece as well. Magda was very eager to read a few of the above mentioned articles and could personally relate to many differenct concepts, approaches, and sentiments. I was actually surprised to find that there was not much of a culture shock when it came to differences in gender between Nicaragua and the United States, only those that are associated with smaller more conservative countries. I was also appalled by how much more liberal she was than I had previously anticipated according to her close involvement with the Catholic church from birth. She exposed me to a new, less radical version of feminism that can be developed and experienced without having any formal part in feminist movements. Her insight to a life spent in two completely different cultures revealed a very inutitive and balanced light onto feminist perspective and previous theory. When I asked her for her definition of feminism and whether or not she considered herself as one, she simply said “it is the idea that no one should experience either advantage or disadvantage for their religion, class, gender, social class, or any other personal identification. It stems from the idea that humans have every right to pursue and achieve happiness; so, yes” she said with a chuckle, “I guess I am a feminist.”
Bibliography
Friedan, Betty. “Problem that Has No Name”. Dominant Ideas About Women. p 46-
49, 1964.
Frye, Marilyn. “Oppression”. The Politics of Reality. p. 1-16, 1983.
Lorde, Audrey. “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Womend Redefining Difference”. Understanding and Valuing Difference. p. 454-458, 1980.
McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. Take a Closer Look: Racism in Women’s Lives. p. 389-392, 1989.