Analysis of The Myth of the Latin Woman Adam Shego English/8 10-21-16 Cultural stereotypes are damaging and wrong, but they are only one thing Latinas have to deal with on a daily basis. Judith Ortiz Cofer talks about the many hardships, stereotypes and prejudice she had to go through living as a Latina woman in America. One such incident would be on her first public poetry reading, an elderly woman motioned Cofer to her table thinking she was the waitress. Although it was a minor offense it “reminded [Cofer] me of what I had to overcome before anyone would take me seriously.” (207) Also in the mid 19 th century Martin Luther King said “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” And from that Martin says that everyone should be treated equally whether it be about racial discrimination to stereotypes that Cofer faces on a day to day basis. Similarly, in Cofers essay she believes that she was being treated unfairly. Cofer begins her essay/ personal narrative by giving many different anecdotes to support her claim. For example, when Cofer starts her narrative, she tells the reader of the time she was on a bus trip to London and a young man, fresh from the pub, went down on his knees and broke into an Irish tenor’s rendition of “Maria” from west side story. This is only one of many of the different anecdotes Cofer uses to prove that cultural stereotypes are damaging and wrong. Cofer continues by explaining some of the stereotypes, such as the “hot tamale”,(205) that she had to put up with and how men treated some women just because they were Latina. Cofer states that it was their own mothers who have taught them to be the way they are- teaching them how to act like ‘senioritas’meaning the perfect women of society, calling them words like these not only insults them personally but also insult their mothers and their heritage. Moving on, the author gives another personal anecdote “As a girl I was kept under strict surveillance by my parents since my virtue and modesty were by their cultural equation the same as their honor” (204) Cofer tells her audience a little about her past and how her culture plays a role growing up. The author then uses a narrative mode to tell the readers about her story in the introduction paragraph. In this essay Cofer attempted to prove that cultural stereotypes are damaging and wrong. She argues that some people who don’t bother to look beyond one’s “Hispanic appearance” misjudge the dress, and potential of Latinas. “Yet I am one of the lucky ones. My parents made it possible for me to acquire a stronger footing in the mainstream culture by giving me the chance at an education. And books and art have saved me from the harsher forms of ethnic and racial prejudice that many of my Hispanic “companeras” have had to endure.”(207) From this quote Cofer is being thankful for having an education and not having to endure some of the harsher forms of racial prejudice. This quote is projected at the reader to create a sense of pathos. Through that quote Cofer attempts to make the reader feel a sense of pity for her and her “companeras” by giving anecdotes of when other people were being prejudiced towards her.