Stereotyping and Identity in Cofer and Staples's Essays

Introduction: The Human Need for Belonging

The human race is highly social in nature. This fact is evident in the way people seek to build relationships that result in a sense of belonging, companionship, and connection. Unfortunately, this perfectly natural human desire is often thwarted when people from different cultures intermingle. In such situations, the dominant culture tends to stereotype ethnic and minority groups, leading the latter to experience feelings of isolation and alienation. Besides the feeling of not belonging, stereotyping — as Judith Ortiz Cofer and Brent Staples both point out — can also result in the worst sort of social injustice: the failure to recognize people as individuals in their own right.

Judith Ortiz Cofer and the Myth of the Latina Stereotype

Judith Ortiz Cofer, a poet, novelist, and short story writer, grew up in New Jersey. Puerto Rican by birth and upbringing, Cofer repeatedly experienced the indignity of being stereotyped. Not surprisingly, her writings reflect that Puerto Rican experience. In her essay "The Myth of the Latin Woman," Cofer describes how Latin women are automatically seen as sexual firebrands and "hot tamales." To substantiate her point, she draws on personal anecdotes, which she relates in a half-humorous tone while nonetheless making her sense of indignation and injustice felt. In fact, Cofer makes no secret of the fact that the goal of her writing is to get audiences to see the universal truths that lie beyond the stereotypes of skin color, accents, and clothes. By doing so, she hopes her work will reach a wide enough audience to help end the injustices perpetuated by stereotyping.