La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness by Gloria Anzaldua
is an academic article about a woman who has to live up to the expectations of
two different cultures and the issues she has to deal with in order to do so.
The main purpose of this article is trying to accept and adapt a new
consciousness which the author is calling the “mestiza” consciousness. This new
way of thinking will allow us to take down our borders; which are both physical
and mental. The physical borders in the article is used as a metaphor for the
identity issues that the author explores, “la mestiza undergoes a struggle of
flesh, a struggle of borders, an inner war.” (Anzaldua, 1987, p.100) This inner
war is the battle between the most dominant culture’s views and beliefs and the
least dominant culture’s views and beliefs.
However, Anzaldua refuses to keep this “war” going. By using her life
experiences Anzaldua suggest we should change or actions and our beliefs to
adapt and accept the mestiza consciousness. Once we have accepted and have a
mestiza consciousness we will be able to create new mythos- “that is, a change
in the way we perceive reality, the way we see ourselves, and the ways we
behave” (Anzaldua, 1987, p.102). Embracing a mestiza consciousness will help
one deal with social and economic issues affecting oppressed groups in the
United States, because it will take away the ignorance. Ignorance is what
“splits people and crates prejudices” (Anzaldua, 1987, p.108). Only when the
ignorance is gone will we be able to accept everyone as our equal and learn
from each and every one of us has to offer and make this society better in both
the social and economic aspect; which I completely agree with. When everyone
works together towards a common goal they will be more prosperous. These new
ideas will help me understand and view different cultures in a positive way,
which will come in handy as I read The
Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie.
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