optimisticaries562-blog

[optimisticaries562-blog]

[optimisticaries562-blog]

Felicia Jones, Dinah Hernandez Professor Serafín CHST 148 4 December 2017 Testimonio

Throughout this semester we were given amazing readings that helped us connect to the class and work but there was three readings that caught our attention and we both felt personally connected to. The three readings were The Maid's Daughter, Telling to Live and Real Women have Curves. These three readings were amazing and gave us a lot of insight such as The Maid's Daughter giving us counter narrative of being a child of a Domestic Worker, Telling to Live giving us testimonios of colored women and their stories and what they had to endure, and Real Women have Curves seeing chicanas who have problems work together. We both have our personal reasons and stories behind why we chose these readings, but these readings can really help a lot of women of color. Everyone can connect to them in some way, you could be a child of a domestic worker, or share an experience like in Telling to Live or enjoy the scenes in Real Women have Curves. No matter what it is these readings were beautiful and helpful for us and that is why we chose to write about them in our testimonios. Growing up my life was never easy, I’ve been through a lot of situations that other people have not. I feel like I grew up fast, I had to learn to be independent. That’s why the text The Maid’s Daughter by Mary Romero was one of the most useful readings from class. My mother was always working, growing up my dad was only around when he wanted to be so when my mom went to work she would leave my three older brothers in charge of me but being young teens they would always leave me to go with their friends. I remember when I was in middle school, my dad was not around and my brothers were in jail or living somewhere else and my mom had to work two jobs to pay rent and I was always left to fend for myself. I think growing up taking care of myself and learning life situations on my own shaped me to be the person I’m today, I would not be this hard working girl pursuing a better life if I did not go through that. “My fears as an adult are rooted in fears in childhood” a quote by Norma E. Cantu in her testimonio called A working-class Bruja’s Fears and Desires in the Book Telling to Live. Normas testimonio was a great reading for me, I connected a lot to what she had to say. She talked a lot about having a defense mechanism that she did not realize was there. She did not know it but whenever she started getting close to someone no matter if it was romantically or just a friend she would turn “ugly” so they would leave, protecting herself from being hurt. I tend to do this a lot, no matter if it is a boy that I start liking or a friend that I start getting close to I push myself away from them. I believe growing up I was emotionally hurt a lot from my father choosing drugs over my family and me, I felt abandoned. My father is in my life now but a part of me still does not forgive him and a part of me will not let anyone else hurt me so I do what Norma does I protect myself. The third reading I really felt connected to was Real Women have Curves, In the story the young girl Ana felt conflicted with herself because she did not want to work in the warehouse with her sister and mother. She wanted an education to have a good career one day, I relate to this situation because I think seeing my mom break her back for a job that only pays enough to survive just like Ana’s mother Carmen, who had worked for years and was getting too old to keep working. That  pushes me to get an education and pursue a great career one day so one day my mother does not have to work anymore.    

The prompt I chose to write about is about three texts that we have read in class during the semester that were useful to learn more of the lives of Chicana and Latina women.  I was able to relate to The Maid's Daughter. Although my mom was not a maid she did work at a chocolate factory. The hours my mom worked were from the afternoon until late at night.  My dad has always had his own business, which is upholstery to furniture, vehicles, and boats among other things. Even though my dad was his own boss and would be able to keep us at the shop to take care of us, it was not the best and safest place to have a two and a six-year-old.  This led my parents to asking my cousin, who had a five year old daughter at the time, to take care of both my sister and I from when my sister got out of school to when my dad would close his shop. She accepted because my parents were going to pay her the amount she had asked for, which was not cheap. I personally do not remember how she would treat us because I was only about two, but my sister recently was telling our mom what she would do to us. Our parents would pack us our lunch for us to eat but my cousin would eat it herself. One of my aunts told my mom how she would not serve me food on a plate but in a table or napkin and how she would put my sister to take care of me when it should have been her to do it since she was getting paid for. Then there was another lady who took care of us but we wouldn’t be able to do anything because she lived in an apartment. What triggered my parents was when one time after school my sister went with a friend to her house without anyone knowing so that’s when my parents decided that my mom would stop working to focus on us.    A second text that was read in class was Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez; this book is about a group of Chicana women who work in a dress shop. Throughout the story the women talk to each other about the struggles they are going through.  From all the characters the one I was able to relate to was Ana. Ana was the youngest worker from the dress shop; she was also the one who was the most outspoken. She had so much knowledge that she not only kept to herself but also used it to teach her coworkers. From the beginning of the story it was easy to see how Ana had a different way of thinking, which is where I was able to connect to her. Just like Ana, I believe that people should not see care of how one looks on the outside but rather on the way a person thinks and their personality. Ana’s mom, Doña Carmen, would put her down a lot regarding her weight. Doña Carmen would tell her to lose weight in order to catch a man and get married and to learn how to be a god wife. Ana would respond that she wants someone that looks at the way she thinks and not at the way she looks. Ana felt comfortable and confident in her own body, which she not only kept to herself but she spoke about it to her coworkers teaching them that the definition of a beautiful women is not what they see on a novela. I, myself feel the same way as Ana did. I make it my job to tell the women in my life either friends and family that they are very beautiful the way God made them, which is why I send them text messages every other week. My sister has always battled with self-confidence, but now I’m happy to say and see that she is as confident as ever with the way she is. My sister tells me that thanks to me she was able to gain that confidence again, which makes me happy because it means I’m doing something right.    One of the books that we also read in class was Telling to Live, which are testimonios written and told by various women who are Chicana. From Telling to Live there were many testimonios that I enjoyed reading, one that I liked and connected to was called Shameless Desire by Aurora Levins Morales. At first I did not understand what it was about but after reading it a few times I was able to comprehend that the Morales was referring to herself and not another person. What I got from it and how I related it to me was that she was talking about trusting, being loyal, loving, and wanting to be with herself more everyday than with her actual lover. Because at the end of the day its important to love and value yourself, which is something I strongly believe and I say it constantly to my relatives, if you don’t love, respect, and value yourself then you will not know when another person will truly love and care for you.    The Maid’s Daughter by Mary Romero, Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez, and Telling to Live are the three texts that we were able to connect the most to. Although it may not be exactly the same situation that the authors lived, we were able to relate to them to some extent. We are Latinas living life while battling with everyday struggles that we encounter that other female Chicanas, Latinas, Hispanics or what they choose to label themselves also go through, which is something new we were able to learn.

[optimisticaries562-blog]

Hi, I'm Felicia Jones, I identify myself as straight, half Mexican half white female.

I come from a family of 6, I have four older brothers and I’m the baby and only girl. My parents didn't graduate from high school, my oldest brother graduated, one didn't graduate and one graduated well in jail. My goals are big but my main goal right now is to just  to be happy. My favorite reading has to be “Beyond indifference and Antipathy” by Denise Segura and Beatriz Pesquera .