Real Women Have Curves
Veronica Alvarado Alvarado 1
Scot Butwell
Period 4
English 12 Mexican-American Women: Bound by Tradition The plot of the 2002 movie Real Women Have Curves revolves around a young Mexican-American woman named Ana, who has graduated high school and in hopes of pursuing a college education. Ana is the youngest daughter of her traditional, first-generation, Mexican-American parents. Although Ana is a bright young female, she is enslaved by Mexican tradition; she has the potential to attend Columbia University, a prestigious university in New York City, but that would mean that she would have to partially abandon cultural tradition and her family’s expectations of taking care of her parents by working, catching a husband, and having children. Moreover, as a young woman of a heavier structure, she also struggles with American society and her mother’s disapproval and criticism of her female curves. Reflecting the many battles of many Latino women in society, Ana overcomes her struggles and realizes that there is more to being a woman than what cultural tradition and her family expects from her, her sexuality, and most importantly, her body.
Ana struggles with the battle for her educational dreams and Mexican tradition as she decides to put her schooling before her mother’s wishes. In the first scene of the film, Ana disobeys her mother, Carmen, who tries to persuade her daughter to stay home on her last day of high school by using her illness to make her daughter feel guilty and stay home to cook breakfast for the men. According to Mexican tradition, “Wives are expected to care for the children, keep the house clean, cook all the meals, and do all the other domestic chores necessary in the family.” (Mexican Women’s Issues). Ana does not allow her mother’s guilt trip to keep her home because she feels her education is more important to her than what her mother and the men of her home expect from her. Moreover, Ana, who wants to receive a college
Scot Butwell
Period 4
English 12 Mexican-American Women: Bound by Tradition The plot of the 2002 movie Real Women Have Curves revolves around a young Mexican-American woman named Ana, who has graduated high school and in hopes of pursuing a college education. Ana is the youngest daughter of her traditional, first-generation, Mexican-American parents. Although Ana is a bright young female, she is enslaved by Mexican tradition; she has the potential to attend Columbia University, a prestigious university in New York City, but that would mean that she would have to partially abandon cultural tradition and her family’s expectations of taking care of her parents by working, catching a husband, and having children. Moreover, as a young woman of a heavier structure, she also struggles with American society and her mother’s disapproval and criticism of her female curves. Reflecting the many battles of many Latino women in society, Ana overcomes her struggles and realizes that there is more to being a woman than what cultural tradition and her family expects from her, her sexuality, and most importantly, her body.
Ana struggles with the battle for her educational dreams and Mexican tradition as she decides to put her schooling before her mother’s wishes. In the first scene of the film, Ana disobeys her mother, Carmen, who tries to persuade her daughter to stay home on her last day of high school by using her illness to make her daughter feel guilty and stay home to cook breakfast for the men. According to Mexican tradition, “Wives are expected to care for the children, keep the house clean, cook all the meals, and do all the other domestic chores necessary in the family.” (Mexican Women’s Issues). Ana does not allow her mother’s guilt trip to keep her home because she feels her education is more important to her than what her mother and the men of her home expect from her. Moreover, Ana, who wants to receive a college
Cited: “Body Image And the American Popular Culture Landscape The Shifting Identity of Young Latinas in Real Women Have Curves.” Film in American Popular Culture. June 2005. 11 May 2010. < http://www.americanpopularculture.com/archive/film/young_latinas.htm> “Cultural Issues for Women.” Mexican Women’s Issues. 11 May 2010. <http://www.stolaf.edu/courses/ws399/ws399_03/Projects/sarafin%20research/mexican.html> “Mexico Family and Traditions.” MEXinsider. 11 May 2010. < http://www.mexinsider.com/mexico-family-and-traditions.html> Rosenblum, Shari L. “Real Women Have Curves.” CineScene. 2002. 11 May 2010. < http://www.cinescene.com/shari/curves.htm>