ZITKALA-SA

Cultural Loss

I have lived in New York City my entire life and I truly believe there is no other city greater than this one on the face of the Earth. I can’t imagine living in any other city but this one. I live in the Upper West side of Manhattan near many tourist attractions. And it is beautiful to see people from different parts of the world come together and bring their culture to this beautiful city. But even in such a diverse city we are experiencing the loss of culture.

I come from a Hispanic household and the main language spoken in my home is Spanish. A lot of my friends in Elementary school and Middle School were Spanish speaking so sometimes we would start up a conversation in Spanish. I remember some students would get mad at me and tell me to stop speaking Spanish. In Middle School I had a friend that had just come from Ecuador and she only spoke Spanish most of the children made fun of her and told her “speak English this is America if you want to speak Spanish go back to your country.” That was very hurtful to my friend and as she learned English she spoke Spanish less and less. And 8 years later she refuses to speak Spanish to me. In this instance she felt obligated to deny to give up her culture because she did not want to be bullied and she wanted to fit into the school environment. My friend felt that her culture was not good enough compared to the American culture.

This is how ZITKALA-SA felt in her book American Indian Stories. Zitkala-Sa was a Native American girl. When Zitkala-Sa was taken to the East to school she was forced to learn the White American Culture or as she called them “paleface.” In this school she was forced to follow strict rules and learn the “proper” way to eat according to American culture. “I grew bitter, and censured the woman for cruel neglect of our physical ills. I despised the pencils that moved automatically, and the one teaspoon which dealt out, from a large bottle, healing to a row of variously ailing Indian children. I blamed the hard-working, well-meaning, ignorant woman who was inculcating in our hearts her superstitious ideas.” Unlike my friend Zitkala-Sa grew hate to those that tried to change her culture. She hated the fact that the white woman felt that the Native American culture was “ill” meaning it was sick, broken, messed up. She felt that it needed to be healed. And Zitkala- Sa says she despised all of this treatment. She despised that this woman was trying to change her culture and she referred to her as ignorant.

This is why I say don’t ever feel embarrassed by your culture! Be proud of your culture, love your culture, embrace it. Love the person you are and learn about new cultures you never know what may impact your life.

Women and Education

“You are a young woman, you have to be able to take care of the household because in the far future you will get married. You need to know how to cook and clean and take care of your husband and children.”

This is the common speech get from my mom when she is angry and begins to complain about my messy room. Yes I am a Woman. Every time I hear this speech I feel the blood rush up to my head and I am instantly annoyed and I tell her that I am not getting a college education to sit at home all day to look after people. Then she says its true that an education is important but its also important for everyone to be able to survive on their own and know the basics of housework regardless of their gender. And I mean no disrespect to any housewife. I admire their dedication and work. What annoys me is when being a housewife is the only expectation a woman has.
Something that I’ve learned to understand is that my mom doesn’t tell me this because she wants me to be a housewife (not that there is anything wrong with being a housewife). It is just the time period and country she was raised in a woman was expected to do all of the household chores and men would work outside.

I am not referring to Mom when I say this but there are people that believe that there are no expectations for women beyond the household and that is a problem. There a people that say that men are smarter than women and because of this woman do not have the capacity to do what men do. I beg to differ I think a woman can do anything that a man can do and vice versa the only exceptions are the biological impediments.

Unlike many people my mother has higher expectations for me. Both my parents tell me “we did not have the opportunity to go to college and get an education so your inherence is your education. Life out here is difficult with the lack of a college diploma and this is why we encourage you to go to college so you won’t have to face all the difficulties and discrimination we’ve faced.” When I was a little girl and till this day I like to sit down and listen to my parents stories about how they made it to this country without having an education or knowing the language. And this is something that I do not want to face.

I believe a college education is essential for both men and women. It is important to get educated and try to better ourselves. And I am not discriminating anyone without an education I think that people without an education can do the same things as those with an education even though it may be a lot more difficult for them to do it. But a college education or an education in general gives the individual a little boost to reach their goals.

As I read in the book American Indian Stories I realized the importance of an education.  “She will need an education when she is grown, for then there will be fewer real Dakotas, and many more palefaces. This tearing her away, so young, from her mother is necessary, if I would have her an educated woman.” This quote is basically saying that in order to survive or do well in society an education is important. And I believe this is equally true for men and women. And again I repeat I am not discriminating against anyone that does not have an education but having an education allows us to interact with society in another level and see things differently it can open our minds to many things. And I believe an education is needed for both men and women.