Not A Mutt, Just A Little Mixed

I don't call myself a mutt because I am not a mixture of enough nationalities, instead I call myself a mix. I am a Colombian and Puerto Rican mix born in Bogota, Colombia.

Boricua* Pride

Buy lip liner
The darkest shade
Wear your gold earrings
The biggest ever made

Swell up with pride
No such thing as too much
And scream "BORICUA!" with all your might

Put your hair in a bun
And your bangs over your eyes
And if some chick looks at you wrong
You beat her up right

I am Boricua

I am so proud

But I'm only half

So I'm not nearly as loud

*Puerto Rican

Bogota* Forever

We turn up our noses
We look down on all others
We talk trash about everyone
Including their mothers

Nestled in the mountains
Mighty and tall
Bogota looks down on you
Cali* and all

With our highrise buildings
And culture to boot
We are sophisticated and charming
And good looking too

*Cali is a costal city located in southwestern Colombia

*Bogota is the capital of Colombia


Strange Occurence

How could this happen?
I am so confused
Colombian and Puerto Rican?
This could never be true

Colombians
Full of traditon and pride
Look down Puerto Ricans
Far and wide

With their funny way of talking
And their music so loud
How could anything like this
Ever be allowed


Food

Where do I start?
Where do I begin?
I'll eat the empanadas*
But the paisita* looks good

I see my family, about fifty or so
Crowded around the food
With a hungry look in their eyes
And a sliver of drool

This is no celebration
Or holiday meal
It's a Tuesday night
And tomorow
We'll eat like this once more

* Empanadas and Paisita are two of Colombias specialties (they're amazing but not for vegetarians)

The Right Mix

A little spice over here
A little sizzle over there
This is the right mix
Let's give a little cheer
I talk not about a recipe
To make some tasty little plate
I talk about me
Haven't you gotten it yet?

If you want to why I wrote these five poems, look at Michelle's blog

Tortilla Curtain Webquest

Immigration has to be one of the most widely talked about issues in this country today. Every single person has an opinion on it whether it be good, bad or indifferent. However, one other issue on the rise is violence against immigrants. There have been countless reports in the media about immigrants from different hispanic countries being severely harmed and even killed by white Americans. What I want you to think about is: "Do the people who commit these vicious crimes have any justification whatsoever? Do they have the right to harm these immigrants just because they are illegal? Do illegal immigrants have the same rights as us citizens in the United States?"

Here is what I want you to do:

1- I want you to read through some of the sources I have provided for you about the rising violence against illegal immigrants and think about the questions I have asked in the introduction.

2- I want you to find some of your own articles about the violence against illegal immigrants and add them to my delicious page (*** Just save a new bookmark to www.delicious.com/bernalca/camilawebquest)

3- Lastly, I want you to make a poster denouncing the violence against these illegal immigrants (or you can support it if you really want just as long as you are not too offensive) on PowerPoint (just upload it to your Google Docs and then add it as a link to your blog)

Here are helpful links:

- My Delicious

- School Database: Border Violence Against Illegal Immigrants and the Need to Change the Border Patrol's Current Complaint Review Process

- Check out Steph's Stuff if you're not sure about your opinion on immigration

Liberty and Justice for All... Citizens

Whenever you think of Latino related issues what is the first thought that pops into your head: illegal immigration, right? Illegal immigration is definitely one of those hot button topics; no matter who you talk to someone always has a strong opinion about it. Many people have a problem with those who come into the United States illegally. However, does it mean that these people have the right to take the law into their own hands and deny these immigrants their civil rights? I recently read this article about sixteen Mexican immigrants that accused Roger Barnett,a rancher from Arizona, of "conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border" (Seper 1). The group, represented by MALDEF (The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educaiton Fund), seeks "$32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes" (Seper 4). Barnett, whose land has been frequently used by illegal immigrants to cross the border into the United States, claims that he started gathering immigrants due to the fact that his land was being littered upon and vandalized. He insists that these people have "[torn] up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home." (Seper 11). He also claims that much of his cattle died because they ingested all of the pollution and waste the immigrants had left behind. Barnett's attorney states that the immigrants do not have the same legal rights due to the fact they are illegal. This case carries on and is, as of yet, unresolved.

Illegal immigration is one of the many issues that affects every single person. On one hand, you have Mexican immigrants crossing the borders desperate to find money and opportunity. On the other hand, you have the American people who have to deal with the growing issues of over-population and higher taxes. The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle does a very good job in showing the trials and tribulations of illegal immigration. We get to see through the eyes of not only the American person dealing with the issue but also of the Mexican person trying to make it in America and trying to achieve the American dream (isn't that what everyone wants?). The fact that Boyle does not try to make us choose sides is another aspect that makes this novel that much more interesting. The problem with illegal immigration is that there is no foreseeable solution that would satisfy both sides. Personally, I feel that the only way to truly stop the overflow of illegal immigrants is by simplifying the citizenship process. No, I do not mean that we should make the process so easy that anyone could get into the country because the line still needs to be drawn somewhere but this process should not take ten to fifteen years to complete. At the same, just because a person is illegal does not mean that one can just refuse to give him or her any rights. The last time I checked, holding up a group of people, threatening them with a gun and your dog, and screaming obscenities at them was illegal.

In the end, we are still going to have this ongoing struggle trying to solve the problem of illegal immigration. There are always going to be people like Roger Barnett who are completely against immigration and those who are not. However one thing we can all agree on is the fact that no one deserves to be treated like an animal. People need to learn to see both sides of the argument and they need to realize that this topic is not black and white (this really only applies to those that are really close-minded).


Seper, Jerry. "16 Illegals Sue Arizona Rancher." The Washington Times 9 Feb.
2009. 17 Mar. 2009 .

Heterosexism

Heterosexism is defined as discrimination or prejudice against homosexuals on the assumption that heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation. "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" chronicles the lives and cases of the detectives of this Manhattan based crime squad. Throughout this long running series, detectives Stabler, Benson, Munch, and Tutuola have had to deal with difficult and often tragic cases ranging from rape to domestic violence to the horrible crimes committed against children. Although this show has pretty much always portrayed the lifestyles of heterosexual people, it has also discussed the lives of homosexual and many of the hardships they have.
One episode that comes into mind comes from the fifth season; it is titled "Abomination". In this episode, a homosexual who just happens to be the face of a sexual re-education group is found murdered in an alley way. At first detectives suspect Reverend Mitchell Shaw, an outspoken minister who flooded the victim with hate mail and death threats, with his murder. After the minister's alibi clears him, suspicion falls on Dr. Roger Tate a professor who was completely against homosexuality and believed that it is a mental disease that could be cured with therapy. He opposed the victim's claim that sexual re-education groups did not actually and made people more miserable. It turns out that the professor's own son is gay and was in relationship with the victim.
Throughout this episode, it did not seem that the show was promoting heterosexual privilege but it did seem that some of the characters did not completely agree with the idea of homosexuality. On the one hand you had Detective Elliot Stabler, a former marine and a veteran of the Special Victims Unit with a family. He believed that homosexuality was something a person chose. While he did not outright condemn it, he still insinuated that he believed that having a wife and children was the correct way to live. However, Detective Olivia Benson did not believe so. A single woman bent on helping all victims however she could, she believed that there is no correct way to live and that like heterosexuality, no one chooses to be gay. Even though it seems that this episode tried to send the message that whatever lifestyle a person chose was his or her own prerogative, the show still demonstrated some unfair stereotypes of gay people. For example, the gay characters of this episode were completely promiscuous and they had no sense of morality. For example, the son of the professor takes the blame for killing the victim and does not show any remorse. He is more focused on hiding the fact that he is gay (you kind of have to watch the episode to be able to truly understand). It looks like that show's writers are not completely unbiased just yet.
The idea that heterosexuality is the correct sexual orientation is preposterous. It nice to see that media is starting to address the issues that homosexual people go through. The fact that "Law and Order: SVU" provides different perspectives (though not perfectly) is nice because no one is being severely antagonized. Hopefully there will come a time where the subject of homosexuality is not such a taboo topic.

Gender Roles

What exactly defines a man? What defines a woman? The author of the blog Forever in Hell discusses the traditional roles of men and women with her post titled Traditional Gender Roles and You. In her post she discusses the sheer ridiculousness of the idea that men and women are defined by what they enjoy doing:

Based on my love of home repair, video games and football, am I not a woman? What about my hubby? He loves video games and football, but he's a great decorator, enjoys cooking and asks for directions-is he less of a man? ... In case you're having trouble with this one- no. I am a woman. my hubby is a man.

She also provides a response to another blog titled Self Evident Truths. One of the posts on this blog titled Feminists, Men, and Lost Masculinity talked about the idea that there are no masculine men in the world.

There have always been roles that have been considered masculine and those that have been considered feminine. Is it right to say that what activities we like to do or what we happen to be good at determines whether or not we are masculine or feminine? Absolutely not. "It's silly to suppose that simply because we have the freedom to reject traditional gender roles that I am not feminine and my husband is not masculine." (Traditional Gender Roles and You). I have plenty of friends that do not follow typical gender roles. I have one female friend that loves shop for clothes and make up but at the same time she loves working on cars and playing sports. I have a guy friend that loves style and cooking but he knows nothing about sports. My female friend does not feel like any less of a woman and my guy friend is just as manly as the next guy. Even I do not follow the traditional roles that I am supposed to follow. I hate cooking and I am no good at cleaning but at the same time I am much better at fixing things than most of my guy friends. The idea that I can not consider myself female due to the fact that I like typically male things is just ridiculous.

I loved when the author of Traditional Gender Roles and You decided to respond to the post of one of her fellow bloggers. The author of the post Feminists, Men, and Lost Masculinity stated that there are no real masculine men in the world anymore. Some of the things he said defined a "manly man" really did not make any sense. Luckily, the author of Traditional Gender Roles and You was ready with a witty response.

Cotton is the only material I'll wear. seriously? you're such a manly man that you check the tags on all garments before you buy them... I never ask for directions when I'm with my wife (gotta keep up the image) so rudeness makes your d*ck bigger? really, this poor woman is forced to follow you in willful lostness for no good reason? get a GPS.

Some of the other aspects that he believes make a truly masculine man are: scratching at awkward times and places, grunting, burping, shooting really big handguns. How does that possibly make you a man, that just makes you disgusting (and for your information, there are women that are just as disgusting). The author of Traditional Gender Roles and You was completely right in mocking the author of Feminists, Men, and Lost Masculinity. He never actually gave a good reason on why he believes that true masculinity is gone.

Femininity and masculinity should not be defined by what roles we follow. What determines our true gender identity is what we see ourselves as. Since I consider myself feminine, then I am feminine. Then again, if a man wants to consider his self feminine then that is his prerogative. We can only define ourselves and what we believe makes a man and a woman.

The Perfect Hispanic

In my English class, we started talking about diversity. We began the discussion by reading "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid (a how-to on being the perfect girl). I decided (mostly because it was assigned to me by my teacher)to write a poem in the same style as Kincaid's poem. However, instead of writing about being the perfect girl I decided to write about being the perfect Hispanic. Being a Colombian/ Puerto Rican mix, I know that not all Hispanic people act this way but I am also aware of the fact that many other people perceive us in the way I describe in my poem. It is not fair at times but what can you do, life is not fair.


This is how your hair should curl; always dress provocatively; this is how fast you should speak when you get really excited; this is how tough you should talk so nobody messes with you; you must give everyone an attitude; this is how you speak in Spanish para que nadie sepa que estas hablando de ellos; this is how you steal another woman's man; this is how you dance to salsa; this is how you should dance to merengue; always listen to music; this is how loud you should talk when trying to speak over your Dominican best friend; this is the type of slang you use to represent your home country; never use the slang from another person's country, they won’t stop rubbing it in your face; you must always add ito at the end of all of your words (for example, regalame un poquitico de cafe por favorsito) that is how all true Colombians talk; scream at the top of your lungs to speak to the person sitting next to you like the Dominicans; where a sombrero like the Mexicans; this is how much rice you eat on a daily basis; never eat any bland food; never become a vegetarian or else you’re going to starve; never sit down at a party because everyone will make fun of you; always watch about 10 telenovelas in a row; you must always watch Laura (female Jerry Springer) every night and laugh like crazy when your friends imitate the insane guests on the show;this is how heavy your accent should be when trying to speak English; always love your home country; always get mad when someone calls you Mexican when you’re clearly not; never go to sleep early because there is always a party; you must always stay up really late getting drunk with your friends and family; always get mad when someone insinuates you are illegal; always get along with everyone who speaks Spanish; always spend time with your family especially on the holidays; always be really dramatic even when you don’t have to be (it’s more fun that way); the most important rule of all… never be afraid to speak your mind.