Elizabeth
She experiences privilege thanks to the help of her mom. Her mom did not want her to live in Colombia because women aren’t treated fairly. On page 66 of the book,
She experiences privilege thanks to the help of her mom. Her mom did not want her to live in Colombia because women aren’t treated fairly. On page 66 of the book,
“Women are not thought to be sexual in
Colombia. Sexual women are bad in Colombia. In the popular lore, I mean. And
even when they are called whores, everyone knows they are getting paid and do
not enjoy it. Women are mothers in Colombia, and cooks. They are virgins or
whores and there is nothing else, nothing in between, nothing.”
Her mother felt that in America, women are
treated as human beings and she wanted her daughter, Elizabeth to be able to freely
express herself and not be hated.
She experiences oppression
from the public once the news about her being lesbian gets out. The public
wants her to quit her job, the producer who begged her to join the team cuts
off contact, her coworkers who says they support her doesn’t seem like it. An
example would be, Lorraine, the coffee lady who was always so sweet to
Elizabeth but now, acts differently, disapproves of Elizabeth’s sexuality and
whispered disgusting. She was afraid of losing important people and things in
her life if she revealed her sexuality. On page 66, she’s thinking in her head
this, “And I want that job. So much. A national news anchor. Me. This is why I
cannot emerge…and stand up and cry my description: lesbian! It would kill my
mother, maybe kill my career, and I might lose the sucias, my anchor in this city for a decade.”. She was especially
afraid of losing Sara who did not like gay people. She also experiences oppression in terms of dating. On page
32, Lauren says that most Latinos “want a light skin girl” and that they’d
rather date “butt-ugly illiterate white girl”.
When thinking about intersectionality, Elizabeth’s gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity
plays a huge role in her life. From the quotes above, we can already see how
these factor identities affect her life.
Love does conquer all the struggles that Elizabeth
faces. Her and Selwyn are still together after the whole scandal. Selwyn was
willing to move with Elizabeth. They move to Colombia so that Elizabeth can
write what she wants but they come back due to the “jailing or killing gays and
lesbians” (299). Even after all of her struggles, she doesn’t give up on Selwyn
and their love.
I think that this is a wonderful example of how love overcomes struggles, even and especially for Elizabeth. She talks a lot less about her struggles as a person of color and more about the struggles of her sexuality for sure. That doesn't mean though that she doesn't have them, we just don't get to hear about them as much as Lauren's struggles with her color, or even Rebecca's struggles with color. I agree that she is a great example for intersectional struggles as well, being in the minority of her race with being attracted to women, as well as the fact that the people of Colombia don't support her career choice. Elizabeth has a lot of insights to offer in comparison to the other women, who are all heterosexual. This author really tries to cover all walks of life in her novel which is cool from an intersectionally inclusive point of view.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting how fast people turn on Elizabeth as soon as the public finds out that she is a lesbian. Literally, nothing about her has changed. Whether she was keeping it a secret or not, she was still the same person. The tables only turn when others find out. This is another prime example of how we are socialized to not accept people that are "different" than us. I also found it interesting that as soon as Sara finds out Elizabeth is a lesbian, she is first upset, but then immediately begins feeling bad about all of the times she made rude snippy comments about gay and lesbian people. I think that by finding out her friend is lesbian, Sara has somewhat been able to change her perspective and might actually be a lot more accepting of other lesbians and gays, not just her friend.
ReplyDeleteEven though this is just a fictional book , I love how it incorporates true life experiences and a sense of something real we could experience in real life. Like how women are perceived differently in different countries. It's interesting to find out how different cultures (even though we're all human beings made up of the same things) can treat human beings differently. How a belief of something can be so strong to damage a person's reputation.. Like how a woman who has sex before marriage is seen as a whore in some countries, and or are praised for their femininity in others.
ReplyDeleteIt really shows both sides where Selwyn and Sara are very supportive of Elizabeth being a lesbian, but society is the complete opposite. Because this is an issue today with people coming out, and not feeling accepted, I thought it was good that the story included people being there for Elizabeth when she did tell people/ when people found out through the news. But, it is pretty sad that people make such a big deal out of it when it doesn't even concern them, and we can even see that when we look at Roberto.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how being a lesbian causes oppression in both countries--and we also see the power of love and the need for people to be themselves despite the consequences. Do you think that Elizabeth is happier once she's "out" even if it is more dangerous for her?
ReplyDelete