In the last installment of my cultural reporter project I laid out the groundwork in order to further study the culture around Hispanic Women through the interpretive method mentioned in our text. Recall that the interpretive perspective "emphasizes that identities are negotiated, co-created, reinforced and challenged through communication with others (Martin & Nakayama pg. 174)". Through my interviews conducted in person and the interviews I found online staring Jennifer Lopez I was able to obtain a good variety of data capable of exploring how Hispanic Women identify with their culture as well as how they think others view their culture. I will use the processes of avowal, ascription, and core symbols in order to explain the results that I acquired.
"Avowal
is the process by which an individual see themselves (Martin and Nakayama pg.
174)". In my face to face interview with my co-worker Julia, I asked her to define being a Hispanic Woman for me. Julia is not one hundred percent Hispanic which gives her story a more interesting take in this context. "I treasure that part of me more now and it's really cool. I'm only halfway in touch with it and learning more about it with age. I'm beginning to see it influencing my life in ways that I didn't realize before. (Delarosa " Julia personally doesn't fully identify with the Hispanic culture because she has only truly been around it for a short time. In this time she has changed how she feels about herself and her identity. Before she began to incorporate more of the Hispanic culture in her life, Julia always felt like a white, American up until her time in high school when she started noticing more differences between her and her peers in terms of looks and views on Immigration Policy. Julia grew up in East Texas which is known for discriminating against Hispanic people. As she grew up Julia noticed this feeling more and it ultimately changed how she viewed herself. This moment in her maturation process is when Julia really started to identify more with being a Hispanic Woman. This experience for Julia relates to the avowal process mentioned earlier. Avowal is not a stagnant process, it is a dynamic process that is always changing depending on different events going in a persons life.
"Ascription
is the process by which individuals give others an identity (Martin and
Nakayama pg. 174)". An interview that I found with Jennifer Lopez really looks at the process of ascription and how others opinions can have an affect on someone. "I think that's why Hispanics say she's ours; she's out there but she belongs to us (Perez-Feria)". In this interview Jennifer really reflects on how others view her being Hispanic. She makes note of how there is a pressure from the Hispanic community to maintain a strong sense of Hispanic pride in order to keep it a presence in mainstream American culture. Jennifer has taken a very direct stance in the questioning of her cultural identity where she truly feels she can be a Hispanic and American Woman. These views from her Hispanic peers truly exemplify the idea of ascription. My friend Julia experienced similar difficulties when she was growing up in Texas. In a more present context I asked Julia how she felt when she was speaking Spanish in front of a more English/American crowd and her response was to be expected. "I get surprised looks, mainly because I don't look one hundred percent Mexican, so it doesn't make sense to other people that I would be able to speak Spanish but not be Mexican." In our modern society, Americans tend to assume that only people who look a certain way should be speaking a certain language. As with Jennifer Lopez's situation, these views of other people in terms of how they view identity is an example of the ascription process.
For the last portion of this project summary I would like to focus on the core symbols in the culture of Hispanic Woman. This is mainly in part to the very positive reaction I got from Julia when I asked her what symbols represent you or the feminine Hispanic culture in general. I learned that the core symbols for Hispanic Women coincide with religion which is a big part in the Hispanic culture. Julia talked about two main symbols, The Lady of Guadalupe and the rose. Julia explained to me the background for the Lady of Guadalupe then proceeded to tell me why this pertained so much to her culture as well as the Hispanic community. "For the Hispanic community in general religion is a very, very important part of who they are and what defines their life values. The Lady of Guadalupe emphasizes family and motherhood. Even non church goers recognize her as a an important figure to our heritage and culture. Family and motherhood are very important aspects in our culture and the common misconception of us just having babies for the sake of having babies is absolutely misguided." Our conversation went on much longer than this but for the sake of space and time I only included the main parts that included the relations to core symbols. The rose was a core symbol for Julia as well, the rose was more personal since it related to her last name, Delarosa. The rose is connected to Lady Guadalupe. The story is Juan Diego saw an apparition of her and was able to collect roses when they weren't in season. Also Delarosa translates to "of the rose". This two meanings make the rose a core symbol for Julia. Julia's stories really show what core symbols are in a realistic context. Core symbols are things that are recognized across a certain demographic and have a deeper meaning to them. The Lady of Guadalupe and the rose fill this description.
Throughout the process of researching and interviewing I learned a lot about the culture of Hispanic Women. I was able to come to some very general conclusions about their culture. First, there is an excessive amount of stereotypes surrounding Hispanic culture in general as well as the women who are a part of it. From being lazy to having babies and dropping out of school, I learned that these stereotypes do exist and that Hispanic Women are very aware of them. This part of our culture is very sad and hopefully has a chance at being corrected within the next generations. Another important part of being a Hispanic Woman is passion. Whether it be taking care of a family, being assertive, or a hobby, Hispanic Woman always put everything they have into it. Julia referenced her grandfather's story of coming to the United States in order to provide a better life for his family. Overall this experience was very educational and I feel like I am able to better relate to and understand Hispanic Women as a whole now after this project.
Delarosa, Personal Interview 11/19/2013
Martin, J.N. & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (6th ed.) New York: NY: McGraw Hill.
Perez-Feria, Richard.
People en Espanol. (2006). Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://www.peopleenespanol.com/article/jennifer-lopez-interview
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