Comments on: Identity Issues Affecting Puerto Rican Girls: An Artist Speaks http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/ a mayaescobar.com project Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:13:41 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Katherine Vazquez http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-1756 Katherine Vazquez Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:23:36 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-1756 Hello. This discussion is highly relevant. I am a Puerto Rican from New York, and I have recently decided to make some paintings exploring the issues presented here. I was initially inspired by the book 'Random Family: Love,Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx' by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. It is a very poignant ethnography tracing the lives of Puerto Ricans living in indigence in the Bronx. It is a fascinating read, though, admittedly, it furthers many of the stereotypes we all know about (drug abuse, welfare-dependency, multiple partner fertility, etc). Women in every culture have been marginalized. This is an age-old dilemma, and it is not unique to Puerto Ricans. What can be problematic for a people is when the negative aspects of a milieu become what define them. The effects of this can be highly disadvantageous and we have to recognize that we as individuals have the power both to consume and shape a culture, and we have enormous responsibility in how we choose to do so. I recently went into Manhattan for the Puerto Rican Day parade, and I have mixed feelings about what I experienced and learned there. On the one hand, I felt like a giddy schoolgirl again, being immersed in the sights and sounds of my own people. The sense of unity and camaraderie is overwhelming and the pride that I felt was immeasurable. The theme was all about music, and it was wonderful to move to the unique rhythms and beats of the island- from salsa to dembow, and to see the red, white, and blue ocean of the crowd. It is the biggest parade of the city- bringing together 3 million spectators for an incredible celebration. However, there were some aspects that were unsettling as well. I went with a British friend who was visiting the United States for the very first time ever, and he was surprised by the ‘fashions’ of the people. Women were wearing pants that barely covered their (for some, wide) bottoms and generously displaying their backs and breast cleavage. I didn't even feel embarrassed because I had expected to see this. I can't judge these women. I think to most of them, this is complete normalcy and their way of expressing the beauty of their curvaceous Boricua bodies. However, I personally feel that there are better ways to express that beauty. It is important to contextualize the things I saw. I'm fairly certain that these women do not gallivant like this on a day-to-day basis, and I understand that the regular conditions of society are relaxed for an event like this. Nevertheless, when the image of a scantily clad woman becomes the paragon of what it means to be Puerto Rican, I think it is okay to question these representations. Does dressing so provocatively liberate women, or does it further bind us as merely another way of defining the female body in terms of its utility to men? There were other things that were weird about my visit to the city that day. When I went into the Bronx with my friend, who is white, I heard a little Black boy yell across the street, "There's a lotta WHITE people here today!" I laughed. I thought it was funny. But when I think about it, it’s really not. It just reminds me that there is still a lot of functional segregation today. Later, when two Black men were riled up in anger to see me, a Puerto Rican woman, walking with a white man, I was left in utter disbelief. Why should that be incendiary at all? West Side Story was so 1961. It is now 2009. After a long, exhausting day, I got on the train and had the pleasure of sitting next to Anthony. This gentleman (Puerto Rican) was someone I had never met before, but we immediately established a rapport as we had both had travelled to see the parade. Some of the things he said really shed a little light on the male perspective. He told me about how beautiful all the women were and how the way they dressed was, in some sense, appealing. However, he had a certain austerity in that he was resolute about not approaching them. In his mind, whichever of these women he might approach, in all likelihood, had been approached by many other men before him. He assumed that these women, presumably for their dress, were tainted in some way. Is that fair? Who knows-- but in all likelihood, there was probably some truth to his conjecture. It is hard to temper the bad with the good in any culture. I like to wear form fitting clothes from time to time. I can't really salsa, but if a Daddy Yankee song is playing, I'll go into a corybantic fit of dance. Ultimately, being Puerto Rican is a part of who I am, just like being a woman. These are ascribed characteristics, though, and ultimately, I can’t allow them to be the sole dictators of my identity. Hello. This discussion is highly relevant. I am a Puerto Rican from New York, and I have recently decided to make some paintings exploring the issues presented here. I was initially inspired by the book ‘Random Family: Love,Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx’ by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. It is a very poignant ethnography tracing the lives of Puerto Ricans living in indigence in the Bronx. It is a fascinating read, though, admittedly, it furthers many of the stereotypes we all know about (drug abuse, welfare-dependency, multiple partner fertility, etc).
Women in every culture have been marginalized. This is an age-old dilemma, and it is not unique to Puerto Ricans. What can be problematic for a people is when the negative aspects of a milieu become what define them. The effects of this can be highly disadvantageous and we have to recognize that we as individuals have the power both to consume and shape a culture, and we have enormous responsibility in how we choose to do so.
I recently went into Manhattan for the Puerto Rican Day parade, and I have mixed feelings about what I experienced and learned there. On the one hand, I felt like a giddy schoolgirl again, being immersed in the sights and sounds of my own people. The sense of unity and camaraderie is overwhelming and the pride that I felt was immeasurable. The theme was all about music, and it was wonderful to move to the unique rhythms and beats of the island- from salsa to dembow, and to see the red, white, and blue ocean of the crowd. It is the biggest parade of the city- bringing together 3 million spectators for an incredible celebration.
However, there were some aspects that were unsettling as well. I went with a British friend who was visiting the United States for the very first time ever, and he was surprised by the ‘fashions’ of the people. Women were wearing pants that barely covered their (for some, wide) bottoms and generously displaying their backs and breast cleavage. I didn’t even feel embarrassed because I had expected to see this. I can’t judge these women. I think to most of them, this is complete normalcy and their way of expressing the beauty of their curvaceous Boricua bodies. However, I personally feel that there are better ways to express that beauty.
It is important to contextualize the things I saw. I’m fairly certain that these women do not gallivant like this on a day-to-day basis, and I understand that the regular conditions of society are relaxed for an event like this. Nevertheless, when the image of a scantily clad woman becomes the paragon of what it means to be Puerto Rican, I think it is okay to question these representations. Does dressing so provocatively liberate women, or does it further bind us as merely another way of defining the female body in terms of its utility to men?
There were other things that were weird about my visit to the city that day. When I went into the Bronx with my friend, who is white, I heard a little Black boy yell across the street, “There’s a lotta WHITE people here today!” I laughed. I thought it was funny. But when I think about it, it’s really not. It just reminds me that there is still a lot of functional segregation today. Later, when two Black men were riled up in anger to see me, a Puerto Rican woman, walking with a white man, I was left in utter disbelief. Why should that be incendiary at all? West Side Story was so 1961. It is now 2009.
After a long, exhausting day, I got on the train and had the pleasure of sitting next to Anthony. This gentleman (Puerto Rican) was someone I had never met before, but we immediately established a rapport as we had both had travelled to see the parade. Some of the things he said really shed a little light on the male perspective. He told me about how beautiful all the women were and how the way they dressed was, in some sense, appealing. However, he had a certain austerity in that he was resolute about not approaching them. In his mind, whichever of these women he might approach, in all likelihood, had been approached by many other men before him. He assumed that these women, presumably for their dress, were tainted in some way. Is that fair? Who knows– but in all likelihood, there was probably some truth to his conjecture.
It is hard to temper the bad with the good in any culture. I like to wear form fitting clothes from time to time. I can’t really salsa, but if a Daddy Yankee song is playing, I’ll go into a corybantic fit of dance. Ultimately, being Puerto Rican is a part of who I am, just like being a woman. These are ascribed characteristics, though, and ultimately, I can’t allow them to be the sole dictators of my identity.

]]> By: Ricardo http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-1697 Ricardo Mon, 11 May 2009 23:11:04 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-1697 I don't approve of this at all. I don’t approve of this at all.

]]> By: Sonia Rodriguez http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-1373 Sonia Rodriguez Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:55:01 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-1373 Please come and join this web site. It is a call to Puerto Rican artists. www.wan291.ning.com Thank you Please come and join this web site. It is a call to Puerto Rican artists. http://www.wan291.ning.com Thank you

]]> By: mela http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-354 mela Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:57:34 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-354 Ok Monica, what is the good stuff? Sure there is a lot of harmless sex speak, but where is there something else. What are some lyrics that maybe give women some depth? I think somewhere in tamara and maya's conversation we need to consider that, yes reaggaeton is rebellion for a lot of men and women, but it is not empowering to women. it allows women to be sexually free in a very limited sense of what men want and what men can give them. I live in PR, I am gringa, and I've been drunk and danced a few times as well, and maybe you're right, I am playing a role, but I'm not playing a Latina role, Im playing an ultra-slutty one, and I think most other girls are as well. It has been my experience that despite what most other latinas chicks down here are wearing and saying and moving to, the ones that are not pregnant are not really fucking anybody. There is a lot of show; we gringas have the reputation, and probably deservedly so, of being much easier. So I can see how many middle-class puertariquenas may want to flirt with that overt sexuality on the dance floor, because it is all about sex. But we should all take a step back and think what image we portray. Because all the women down here are much more than sex, but when we give ourselves over to portraying ourselves that simplistically, for whatever reason, we do ourselves a diservice. Ok Monica,

what is the good stuff? Sure there is a lot of harmless sex speak, but where is there something else. What are some lyrics that maybe give women some depth? I think somewhere in tamara and maya’s conversation we need to consider that, yes reaggaeton is rebellion for a lot of men and women, but it is not empowering to women. it allows women to be sexually free in a very limited sense of what men want and what men can give them. I live in PR, I am gringa, and I’ve been drunk and danced a few times as well, and maybe you’re right, I am playing a role, but I’m not playing a Latina role, Im playing an ultra-slutty one, and I think most other girls are as well.
It has been my experience that despite what most other latinas chicks down here are wearing and saying and moving to, the ones that are not pregnant are not really fucking anybody. There is a lot of show; we gringas have the reputation, and probably deservedly so, of being much easier. So I can see how many middle-class puertariquenas may want to flirt with that overt sexuality on the dance floor, because it is all about sex. But we should all take a step back and think what image we portray. Because all the women down here are much more than sex, but when we give ourselves over to portraying ourselves that simplistically, for whatever reason, we do ourselves a diservice.

]]> By: monica http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-262 monica Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:34:32 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-262 umm chick u need 2 chill wit dat u seem like u dont like reggaeton like maybe tony dize has 1 or 2 nasty songz but look if u translated it to 50 cent 50 cen t izz so much worst he talks about killing and stuff so whta if tony dize makes a song like that he aint hurting no1 if singing about sex makes him happy let him do it. but if u lidten to more of his music he has alot of nice songs (no invovlving sex) i highly upset maybe you need to listen to reggaeton more and listen to the songs that dont say stuff. like 50 cent has a song call "amusement park" when he comapres a girl and himself to carnival rides but yeah i think that you shoudl give it another chnce because reggaeton is not all that bad. just dont llisten to the bad stuff. umm chick u need 2 chill wit dat u seem like u dont like reggaeton like maybe tony dize has 1 or 2 nasty songz but look if u translated it to 50 cent 50 cen t izz so much worst he talks about killing and stuff so whta if tony dize makes a song like that he aint hurting no1 if singing about sex makes him happy let him do it. but if u lidten to more of his music he has alot of nice songs (no invovlving sex) i highly upset maybe you need to listen to reggaeton more and listen to the songs that dont say stuff. like 50 cent has a song call “amusement park” when he comapres a girl and himself to carnival rides but yeah i think that you shoudl give it another chnce because reggaeton is not all that bad. just dont llisten to the bad stuff.

]]> By: Nina http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-261 Nina Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:53:03 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-261 Hello. I love reggaeton as well. I have been writing a bit lately about sex, sexism, reggaeton and PR culture in general. Check out my blog. I look forward to reading more of yours. Nina http://salvajesiempre.blogspot.com/ Hello. I love reggaeton as well. I have been writing a bit lately about sex, sexism, reggaeton and PR culture in general. Check out my blog. I look forward to reading more of yours.

Nina

http://salvajesiempre.blogspot.com/

]]> By: Ricardo http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-207 Ricardo Wed, 06 Jun 2007 02:07:26 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-207 I gotta pack my bags Tamara. Gotta pack the bags and fly out. Yes indeed. I gotta pack my bags Tamara. Gotta pack the bags and fly out. Yes indeed.

]]> By: Tamara Liz http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-206 Tamara Liz Wed, 06 Jun 2007 01:12:35 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-206 Nach- i believe that is just a matter of missinterpretation. Communication is not as easy as it seems. Ricardo- I have no doubt about what you say, then again, come to Puerto Rico and visit the nightclubs. I know you'll be satisfied. lol :) By the way, I have many contacts with psycologist if you like i can give you contacts. Thyre friends, and they might be stressed finishing summer classes for their doctor's but I bet they can manage to help/ Nach- i believe that is just a matter of missinterpretation. Communication is not as easy as it seems.

Ricardo- I have no doubt about what you say, then again, come to Puerto Rico and visit the nightclubs. I know you’ll be satisfied. lol :)

By the way, I have many contacts with psycologist if you like i can give you contacts. Thyre friends, and they might be stressed finishing summer classes for their doctor’s but I bet they can manage to help/

]]> By: Nach http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-196 Nach Wed, 30 May 2007 01:21:39 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-196 Sooooooorry. I've understood "It is not right to talk about people WITHOUT those classifications." I'm a snail in english. Sooooooorry. I’ve understood “It is not right to talk about people WITHOUT those classifications.”
I’m a snail in english.

]]> By: Nach http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-195 Nach Wed, 30 May 2007 01:17:48 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-195 "It is not right to talk about people within those classifications" ...Then I ain't right. I do it (without those classifications). I know the people that do it and, believe me, ellos no te gustarían. WYSIWYG. I see you through your words. Sorry if I'm a lil' bit "short". One saludo! “It is not right to talk about people within those classifications”
…Then I ain’t right. I do it (without those classifications). I know the people that do it and, believe me, ellos no te gustarían.

WYSIWYG. I see you through your words. Sorry if I’m a lil’ bit “short”.

One saludo!

]]> By: Ricardo http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-194 Ricardo Wed, 30 May 2007 01:16:39 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-194 you're hitting all the hot buttons. you’re hitting all the hot buttons.

]]> By: maya escobar http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-193 maya escobar Wed, 30 May 2007 01:01:30 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-193 Nach - Please disagree with me! Tell me that I am a racist!! It is not right to talk about people within those classifications. I hope all about me isn't "raza, etnia, grupo, taxonomía, clasificación", although I would agree that the majority of the content on this blog is. I do however think that it is important to shed light these issues. If you want to provide more feedback please do!! Nach -

Please disagree with me! Tell me that I am a racist!! It is not right to talk about people within those classifications.

I hope all about me isn’t “raza, etnia, grupo, taxonomía, clasificación”, although I would agree that the majority of the content on this blog is. I do however think that it is important to shed light these issues.

If you want to provide more feedback please do!!

]]> By: Ricardo http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-192 Ricardo Wed, 30 May 2007 01:01:00 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-192 Tamara I am pretty much estranged from my family so I don’t know the latest stuff happening on the Island . However, it seems to mirror almost exactly what I see with the Puerto Rican community here. Now….these models in the video, I DON’T see that here and, being a man, I wish I did. But I couldn’t date them. Not with that mindset. But I’ll be happy to look. forgive me on that one but there’s no off switch when a man sees beautiful women barely dressed. Tamara I am pretty much estranged from my family so I don’t know the latest stuff happening on the Island . However, it seems to mirror almost exactly what I see with the Puerto Rican community here. Now….these models in the video, I DON’T see that here and, being a man, I wish I did. But I couldn’t date them. Not with that mindset. But I’ll be happy to look. forgive me on that one but there’s no off switch when a man sees beautiful women barely dressed.

]]> By: Nach http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-191 Nach Wed, 30 May 2007 00:50:13 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-191 "Identity Issues Affecting Puerto Rican Girls: A <b>Psychologist</b> Speaks" I think you need to find the right people to speak about certain subjects. All about you is raza, etnia, grupo, taxonomía, clasificación... I'm wrong if I say that you're a "racista"? Please, don't misinterpret me. “Identity Issues Affecting Puerto Rican Girls: A Psychologist Speaks”
I think you need to find the right people to speak about certain subjects.

All about you is raza, etnia, grupo, taxonomía, clasificación…
I’m wrong if I say that you’re a “racista”? Please, don’t misinterpret me.

]]> By: Tamara http://blog.mayaescobar.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-190 Tamara Tue, 29 May 2007 23:45:02 +0000 http://mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/tamara-liz-rivera-boria/#comment-190 Very good! and yes before reggaeton there was Salsa, and it pretty much was the same, but with the media and the popularity of "ton" music, it has gotten worse. Much of the problem relies on children being parents. You can find 14 year old mothers, with 30 year old grandmothers! Is just not right, this was a "caserio culture" and now is an everyday thing. Very good!

and yes before reggaeton there was Salsa, and it pretty much was the same, but with the media and the popularity of “ton” music, it has gotten worse.
Much of the problem relies on children being parents. You can find 14 year old mothers, with 30 year old grandmothers! Is just not right, this was a “caserio culture” and now is an everyday thing.

]]>