Summary and Response of "The Myth of the Latin Woman"

In “The Myth of the Latin Woman,” Judith Ortiz Cofer talks about her life in America as a Puerto Rican immigrant. She talks about how people stereotyped her, how different American culture was from Puerto Rican culture, and about how she wanted to fit in, but couldn’t because of her different culture and traditions. The main difference in the American culture and the Puerto Rican culture is the clothing styles. Americans dress more modest and dull; Puerto Ricans dress flashy and vibrant. Cofer also talks a little about how the movies portray Puerto Rican and Latin Woman. It’s the main reason why we Americans automatically stereotype Puerto Rican and Latin women; it’s all we have seen, in the movies, so we don’t really know what the Puerto Rican or Latin culture is really like. The other main point Cofer makes is that even though she had a hard time when she was growing up she still became successful and that any one can do the same. We just have to turn all the negative into a positive and keep on living.
I liked this article and I strongly agree with it. Americans are so used to seeing one way and one culture that when something new or someone new comes along they automatically assign a stereotype to them or try to relate them to a movie character we have seen. This article also proves that anyone can succeed in life; no matter what pitfalls or negative experiences it throws. The other thing that I liked about this article is that Cofer went into some detail about what stereotypes we put on her and that she told it as a real life story, not as an example of what could happen.