Tag Archives: week8

10/29/21

The power of advertising

As I read the story, and specifically when the hair products were mentioned, I felt like I was reading an advertisement for hair products. I found it very interesting how the narrator utilized proper nouns and similes of advertisements to build the picture of the beauty standards that are enforced on the black and curly-haired people of Puerto Rico. Imagery is utilized on page 2 to introduce the concept, where the women are described to walk down from the bird and have perfect hair that the wind plays with. This is an image I think most people, or women, know well. The shiny long and perfectly brushed hair being carried around in the wind is an image we know too well from TV adverts. The advertising then continues on page 5 where the specific name of the brand is mentioned “Clairol Gel Colors Purple Blue Black without peroxide or ammonia”, “Easystyle Products Hair Relaxer Without Lye” as well as “Swedish Biolage products, they aren’t cruel to animals or the environment” on page 7.

The use of proper nouns and the complete names of the products makes it feel like the narrator and the people in this society have it ingrained into their brains. The advertisement and need to reach those standards have become so important to them that they repeat them word for word, as well as the ingredients they include and the benefits of choosing these brands. These proper nouns stood out in the paragraphs because they broke the flow of the narration, but at the same time, they demonstrated the symbol that Miss Kety is for beauty standards in this community. The products are mentioned with such authority, it’s almost inevitable for the people to want to buy them.

10/28/21

Many Women Stay. 

Sandra Cisneros takes her time setting the context in Woman Hollering Creek. She describes their tough relationship. They struggle to find passion in it. Most of the workload is done begrudgingly towards each other. Neither of them left out of a sense of obligation to one another. They stick through it because they rushed into a relationship. It happens slow and then suddenly. Sandra recognizes this and paces the story in the same way. Each day gets a little worse, and they fight a little harder. It creeps up on them and leaves them surprised the first time it happened. “The first time it happened she had been so surprised she didn’t cry out or try to defend herself” like she had  always thought she would. She had learned to expect it and had a plan for if it did. Emotionally its really tough to prepare for something like that. It can numb a person. Abuse is not something to be tolerated. Sandra Cisneros tells a  common story. Yet in many cases leaving can be so hard. Many women stay. Woman Hollering Creek is empowering and inspiring with a postitive ending. It can be easy to convince oneself they didn’t mean it, won’t do it again, or worse, that  they’ve deserved it. Then that its not that bad. It was integral to Cleófilia’s and her children’s wellbeing that the health worker had reported the abuse. Do not stand for abuse. It can be hard to leave emotionally and physically. Fear is a powerful feeling and we need to do what we can to help. Stay weary for signs of gendered violence. It can and does happen. 

10/28/21

Vicious Cycles

La Llorona, or the weeping woman, is a folkloric ghost who drowns her children to punish her cheating husband, but immediately regrets it, and wails to express that emotion. This story of regret is exemplified twice in Cisneros’ story, first with the mention of La Llorona and also with Juan Pedro. The actions of Juan Pedro following the first time he hurts Cleófilas, with his “tears of repentance and shame” showcase a similar reaction to La Llorona (Cisneros 223). This connection creates a parallel between Juan Pedro and La Llorona. They both commit acts of violence, feel a sense of shame, yet continue to hurt others. The connection between these two illustrates the perpetuation of violence, especially gendered violence. The vicious cycle of violence is further enforced by the cyclical nature of the stream. Always moving, never changing.

These stories and images are the tools that Cisneros uses to critique the entrenched nature of domestic violence. It is interesting to note that at the end of the story when Felice breaks Cleófilas out of the her violent home, she screams when they cross the bridge over the creek. Felice exemplifies the hollering woman, but this time, it is a cry of freedom and power. The cycle of violence and damage and regret is broken by a women who screams of power and liberty. The screams begin as pain, and end as hope. This cycle becomes something different, it transitions from a cycle of violence to one of new beginnings. This showcases how women can break cycles of violence, and can help others do the same.

10/28/21

Establishing Empathy via Metafiction

What I found most interesting about “Woman Hollering Creek” was the way Sandra Cisneros manipulated the narrative voice throughout the story. Although the story mostly had a third person omniscient point of view, it was also malleable by transitioning into first and second person too. For instance, when Juan Pedro was scolding Cleofilas, the narrative voice shifted form third person to second person: “so why can’t you just leave me in peace, woman” (p. 223), as if we as readers took on Cleofilas’s point of view and the narrator became Juan. The narrator had also morphed into Cleofilas in the scene where she tries to convince Juan to take their their son to the doctor: “Yes. Next Tuesday at five-thirty. I’ll have Juan Pedrito dressed and ready. (…) As soon as you come home from work. We wont make you ashamed” (p. 226). It is clear that Cleofilas was addressing the reader as if they were Juan. Additionally, even when the narrator remained in third person, it wasn’t difficult to notice their bias in favour of Cleofilas, pleading to Juan: “She has to go back [to the doctor] next Tuesday Juan Pedro, please, for the new baby. For their child” (p. 226).

The reader’s constant awareness of Cleofilas’s situation and their emotional involvement can be distinguished as metafiction. Metafiction in this case serves to highlight the parallels between Cisneros’s fictitious world and the real world where generational trauma and domestic abuse is a reality for many Mexican Americans, outside of fiction. It’s one thing to learn about the issues of domestic violence via reading statistics or news reports, but it’s another to personally experience or be able to empathize with the victims of such tragedies. Cisneros utilizes pathos, in the form of metafiction, so that her readers can empathize with the characters in her story, which consequently emphasizes the gravity of the issues at stake.

10/28/21

Beauty is Pain

By describing the sun as you would blood preceding or following instances of violence, Mayra Santos-Febres, the author of the short story, Broken Strand, adds new meaning to the common phrase, “beauty is pain”. The first time Santos-Febres ties together the sun, blood, and violence is after describing the abuse of  Yetsaida’s father. Her father comes stumbling in from the streets, yelling and hitting, grabbing her mothers nose. Yetsaida describes, “the river that comes out of the nose, red, neon red like Miss Kety’s comb. The sun arrives, red, red, red; it overflows with blood like a ripening womb, like it has a deep gnash in its system, like they had given it a tremendous beating” (4). The scene of a broken nose is not pretty, yet the suns rays, described like flowing blood, is somehow poetic, and almost beautiful. Furthermore, Miss Kety constantly reminds her clients that they cannot move, as they could be seriously hurt by the hot comb; yet, in order to be beautiful the girls must endure the harsh heat to get the straight hair they see as beautiful. Similarly, sunsets are seen as beautiful, but when described as the red light pour in and over the walls, the reader begins to question its beauty, as it begins to sound more violent. In all these instances, pain, either through the heat of the comb or the blood of the sun, is necessary for the beauty of the straight hair or the beautiful colors of the sunset. These women in Yetsaida’s town must endure incredible pain to feel beautiful, enduring the hot comb and the abuse of their husbands. “Beauty is pain” is an accepted saying by many, yet by almost making the reader uncomfortable with the description of beauty being painful through the sun, blood, and violence, Santos-Febres calls into question the saying, opening up a new discussion into why we believe this and how this sentiment is open to change.

10/27/21

The River of Consciousness

“Broken Strand” by Mayra Santos-Febres blurs the consciousness of Miss Kety, Yetsaida, and ultimately, reader and writer. Santos-Febres’ tactful melding of the multiple consciousnesses further exposes the theme prevalent through the story that gendered violence is a shared experience. They all have a broken nose; they have all bled from a “ripening womb” (4). The short story opens with, “ a little girl and a father and a dream and a memory broken like a nose,” and it immediately switches into the second person, “there are days when you have to walk languid out on the street to forget” (1). There is no specific “little girl”; instead, it is Miss Kety, Yetsaida, Yetsaida’s mother, and every other woman. Every woman was this little girl; furthermore, Santos-Febres notes that you, as the reader, were this little girl. The prevalent use of the second person through the story calls the reader to attention. However, not in a way to expose the reader, but in a way to create solidarity with the reader. In this way, Santos-Febres creates a connection with a reader closer than most author-reader relationships; she wants to speak to you. 

Santos-Febres explores what is in this shared consciousness. There is always a father, a dream, and physically broken body parts that bring with it the broken memories. There are memories of children at four years old already with knowledge of “alcoholic breath and dried-out condoms” (2). Santos-Febres is alluding to the memory of violence, and the physical manifestation of this violence is everyone’s broken nose. There is also the dream in this shared consciousness. The dream is to be able to “remake yourself” physically and metaphorically (7). The strive for beauty is not superficial, and Santos-Febres expresses it in saying “Miss Kety, the saviour, the true emissary of true beauty” (3). Miss Kety’s role as the saviour reveals a divine link between physical beauty and inward beauty. Perhaps in this world where women are both physically and psychologically scarred, one must attempt to build themselves up from the outside in. 

10/26/21

Seeking Glory

In the short story “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros the conscious use of symbolism in each character’s name is obvious and helps portray themes central to the story. However one name in particular, that of the protagonist helps develop the character and both foreshadows her growth as well as provides the reader context into the decisions she makes.

The name Cleofilas, means to seek or love “glory”. When we first are introduced to Cleofilas she is positioned to be in love, excited for what her future has to offer. We are further presented with her love for the telenovela, and the relationships and lifestyle they portray. We can see her projecting this onto her own circumstances and seeking this type of ideal or dream life of her own.

As the story progresses we see this ideal, glorious lifestyle she envisioned slip away from her as her realities set in. She goes as far as to recognize all the negatives in her life, comparing her husband, an abusive man, to the relationships she would see in her telenovelas. This contrast is important, as we see the harm that the dream ideal lifestyle has caused Cleofilas.

The idea of glory and the image telenovelas provide her provides commentary that is still very much relevant today. We see the media portrayal of ideal as something to strive for no matter the consequences. Further cultural pressures kept Cleofilas in these circumstances, as is portrayed in these stories, despite the obvious pitfalls of her relationship.

Despite all of this, the drive and courage to seek glory alluded to be her name comes to fruition in the end of the story, where she ultimately makes the decision to leave her abuse for a better life.

10/26/21

The Real-Life American Dream Telenovela

The constant use of literary figures to describe the situation (in this case the domestic violence, abuse, etc.) leaves me speechless, the author could not have used other resources as the effect on the reader would not be the same, it is almost perfect, “They want to tell each other what they want to tell themselves. But what is bumping like a helium balloon at the ceiling of the brain never finds its way out. It bubbles and rises, it gurgles in the throat, it rolls across the surface of the tongue, and erupts from the lips– a belch.” (Cisneros, 1991). Interpreting the feeling of having to stay silent and appear fine, when inside you are about to explode, being under all this violence and having no one else to turn to.

Also when, “If they are lucky, there are tears at the end of the long night. At any given moment, the fists try to speak. They are dogs chasing their own tails before lying down to sleep, trying to find a way, a route, an out–finally–get some peace.” (Cisneros, 1991). This demonstrates the solitude and pain she is experiencing by herself, also this could be cross-referenced with Miss Soledad and Miss Dolores which in Spanish mean exactly that (onomastics/symbolism).

The feeling of the main character being lonely shows the intertextuality that people hope for the American Dream, in this case, Mexicans leave their families on the lookout for better living standards and job opportunities, they change their poor lifestyle for a “low-life” American lifestyle, they got an upgrade but it leaves us with the question if it was an actual improvement, references such as “él otro lado” which has a cultural meaning referred to as the USA, the characters express what they feel when they are looking back from the other side of the line.

Cleofilas parallelism of her life compared to a telenovela shows how it is an unattainable point of view, an example, she has never been with another man therefore there is no possible point of comparison, she also points that she doesn’t make changes or raises her voice to her husband because he was the man she was supposed to wait for her whole life, showing the cultural belief, that a woman’s life doesn’t start until she is married.

Finally, I want to highlight that it also shows the cultural shock of machismo in another country (the USA compared to Mexico), the main character was left open-mouthed when she saw a woman driving a “real” car, working and providing for herself while she was so used to being a housewife.

10/25/21

Woman Hollering Creek: Evidence of masculinity and violence

The short story “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros, is an evidence of  gendered violence and masculinity. It is indeed tragic how the main character deals with violence enforced by her husband. Yet, she’s not able to contact her family or anyone for seeking help. It is quite surprising how Cleófilas comes from a pacific and carryng  family in Mexico, in where violence was never part of her daily life. Once she gets married, her life shifted completly. She has to face physical and psychological violence. Moreover, the story takes place in a social context that is based  in the benefit of manhood. Society is patriarchal and women are always second. In addition, women are expected to be obedient to their husbands, stay home and not going out without the husband’s permission. A man is expected to be successful and be the financial image of the family. Men are free to go anywhere and buy whatever  they  wish for. Moreover, when it comes to crimes against women, people do not consider that important because of the fact that women are considered inferior. Therefore, one can see how oppressive life is when one is a woman. The short story is  a good example of how gender inequality takes place. I believe in some places, this story is not far from reality. Violence and oppression still exists in many countries. In summary, I found the short story a bit frustrating because of the main character’s struggle of not being able to defend herself when she wanted to. Her oppression represented  for me, a crystal sphere that was constructed by men, yet, when she escapes, that sphere crashed.

10/25/21

Flowers of Blood

In Cisneros’ work Woman Hollering Creek, amid descriptions of domestic abuse and women leading restricted and often dark lives, there is a brief passage dedicated to one senora Dolores. This woman’s house and garden hold two contrasting sets of imagery; one of death – incense, candles, altars, dead sons and husbands, and morbid flowers, but also one, though smaller, of life – tall, famous sunflowers, a kind and very sweet heart, and perhaps most importantly, a living Dolores.

Dolores holds an interesting spot in the narrative, for she is described as kind and sweet – descriptors which, alongside the familiar title and her reputation for tending her garden, likely signify she was content in life – but she lost all the men in her life. This first hint suggests that it might be precisely the lack of these men that brings Dolores peace, but one can only guess whether this is because her husband (not to mention her sons) treated her as badly as the other men in the narrative treated their wives, or if it is simply the peace of having loved something so much, and the calm of tending to this love.

A second hint in this puzzle might be the flowers, which remind me of Flanders Fields, though Dolore’s field is her garden, and the battlefield is unnamed. Two of these flowers evoke darkness, blood and suffering, and these might be those for her sons. She is truly sad to have lost them, and thus these flowers grew. On the other hand, the sunflowers are described only positively, suggesting they made good out of the grief and death, and that perhaps they grew out of the loss of her husband.

Most interesting, perhaps, is the emergence of another flower a few paragraphs down that same page: Cleofilas, upon being struck, bled “an orchid of blood”. Another flower, this one from something still living, and this one undoubtedly a sign of evil and suffering. Perhaps, considering the context presented just before, this flower shows how the men create these flowers through their actions. The strike caused the flowers appearance, and in Dolores garden, the men in her life gave birth to something new.