This week I am reading Borderlands/La Frontera by Chicana author Gloria Anzaldua. Let me tell you at first I was not looking forward to it. The book is a combination of essays and poems. Part is in English, and part is in Spanish. I thought the decision to not stick to one language was conceited and made it intentionally hard for the reader.
However, I finally decided to get over my white entitlement and translate. Let me tell you she is beyond worth it and that doesn't even do her justice. Gloria Anzaldua is brilliant. The parts that are all Spanish are a choice that she made because writing them in English would not do them justice.
Anzaldua is fearlessly honest on the page in a way I only hope to be one day. She is a Chicana, a Mestiza (mix between Ameridian and Mexican), and queer. She smashes the stereotype that Latina women are either virgins or whores. Anzaldua also addresses that queer folks aren't confused, they know exactly who they are. It's society that is confused in not knowing what to do with them.
Anzaldua tells the truth. The white world has justified the slaughter and domination of non-white people of sometime. She tells the truth about toxic masculinity in the white world, but in Mexican culture as well. She tells the truth that the Aztecs also suffered from toxic masculinity and therefore it was a part of her downfall.
Anzaldua is also funny. She has a poem about a lover who's a UFO. She's spiritual. She's fearless and authentic. She's everything I hope to be as a feminist on the page one day. She's a truth teller. She's a survivor. She is also fearless in letting the world know that these people in between worlds are exploited in ways that are not just ethically wrong, but take away their personhood.
Anzaldua went from being the daughter of migrant workers to a PhD and a published author. She died shortly after defending her thesis of untreated diabetes. We also share the same birthday. This read was a challenging one but a worthy one. Gloria Anzaldua gave people who are ordinary invisible a voice, the people who live in between worlds. And maybe that's why she chose to blur genres in her work because it was blurring the edges.
In reading Borderlands, I also remembered I read several of Anzaldua's essays in college. She had recently passed our teacher said, but I remember not only she was brilliant, but I even changed my term paper so I could use one of her pieces. But alas, when you leave undergrad sometimes you read something and tragically forget all about it.
Either way, I am a better woman for having to read her. You should be so lucky to get the opportunity too. And FYI, have google translate close
However, I finally decided to get over my white entitlement and translate. Let me tell you she is beyond worth it and that doesn't even do her justice. Gloria Anzaldua is brilliant. The parts that are all Spanish are a choice that she made because writing them in English would not do them justice.
Anzaldua is fearlessly honest on the page in a way I only hope to be one day. She is a Chicana, a Mestiza (mix between Ameridian and Mexican), and queer. She smashes the stereotype that Latina women are either virgins or whores. Anzaldua also addresses that queer folks aren't confused, they know exactly who they are. It's society that is confused in not knowing what to do with them.
Anzaldua tells the truth. The white world has justified the slaughter and domination of non-white people of sometime. She tells the truth about toxic masculinity in the white world, but in Mexican culture as well. She tells the truth that the Aztecs also suffered from toxic masculinity and therefore it was a part of her downfall.
Anzaldua is also funny. She has a poem about a lover who's a UFO. She's spiritual. She's fearless and authentic. She's everything I hope to be as a feminist on the page one day. She's a truth teller. She's a survivor. She is also fearless in letting the world know that these people in between worlds are exploited in ways that are not just ethically wrong, but take away their personhood.
Anzaldua went from being the daughter of migrant workers to a PhD and a published author. She died shortly after defending her thesis of untreated diabetes. We also share the same birthday. This read was a challenging one but a worthy one. Gloria Anzaldua gave people who are ordinary invisible a voice, the people who live in between worlds. And maybe that's why she chose to blur genres in her work because it was blurring the edges.
In reading Borderlands, I also remembered I read several of Anzaldua's essays in college. She had recently passed our teacher said, but I remember not only she was brilliant, but I even changed my term paper so I could use one of her pieces. But alas, when you leave undergrad sometimes you read something and tragically forget all about it.
Either way, I am a better woman for having to read her. You should be so lucky to get the opportunity too. And FYI, have google translate close
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