Findings and Discussion

Code-Switching

"You Bring Out the Mexican in Me"

The tequila lágrimas on Saturday all through next weekend Sunday.
The raw navajas, glint and passion in me.
The mariachi trumpets of the blood in me.
The berrinchuda, bien-cabrona in me.
The barbacoa taquitos on Sunday in me.
Me sacas lo mexicana en mi, like it or not, honey.
The Flecha Roja mountain disaster in me.
The dengue fever in me.
The ¡Alarma! murderess in me.
Piñón. Copal. Sweetgrass. Myrrh.
Virgen de Guadalupe, diosa Coatlicue, I invoke you.
Quiero ser tuya. Only yours. Only you. Quiero amarte. Aarte. Amarrarte.

"Old Maids"

Aunt Ariadne,
Tia Vashti,
Comadre Penelope,
querida Malintzin,
Senora Pumpkin Shell--

"Loose Woman"

They say I’m a macha, hell on wheels,
viva-la-vulva, fire and brimstone,
man-hating, devastating,
boogey-woman lesbian.
I’m la desperada, most-wanted public enemy.
¡Que se vayan a la ching chang chong!
I’m Bitch. Beast. Macha.
¡Wáchale!

Translations for Codeswitching in "You Bring Out the Mexican in Me"

Lagrimas: tears.
Navajas: Pocket knives.
Mariachi: denoting a type of traditional Mexican folk music, typically performed by a small group of strolling musicians dressed in native costume.
Berrinchuda, bien-cabrona: a person who becomes upset easily without clear motive
Barbacoa taquitos: (in Mexican cooking) beef, lamb, or other meat that has been slowly cooked with seasonings, typically shredded as a filling in tacos, burritos, etc.
Me sacas lo Mexicana en mi: You bring out the Mexican in me.
Flecha Roja: mountain disaster.
Dengue fever: a debilitating viral disease of the tropics, transmitted by mosquitoes, and causing sudden fever and acute pains in the joints.
Alarma: Caution!
Pinon: A pine seed.
Virgen de Guadalupe: In Roman Catholicism, the Virgin Mary holds a special place in religious life in Mexico.
Quiero ser tuya: I want to be yours.
Quiero amarte. Aarte. Amarrarte.: I want to love you. I want to bind you. I want to tie you to me.

Translations for Codeswitching in "Old Maids"

Tia: Aunt
Comadre: Godmother of one's child.
Querida: Dear
Senora: Woman

Translations for Codeswitching in "Loose Woman"

Macha: Woman with masculine qualities.
La desperada: A woman in dire need of something.
Que se vayan a la ching chang chong: Go to hell.
Wachale: "Look out!"

Codeswitching is a deliberate strategy used often in Cisneros' work. Although previously believed to be random and unpredictable, codeswitching actually conveys important social information about the speaker (Valdes, Latino Language and Communicative, 96). Although the main language of the literature is English, Cisneros intentionally uses Spanish words to highlight her Latina identity. The Spanish words she uses in lieu of English are words that carry a strong connection to Latino ethnicity. The words are not random, but rather carefully chosen as a way of portraying the author's own background, upbringing, and story.

Language is especially important in the construction of Mexican or Latino identity. Many speakers feel that speaking Spanish is one of the most important features of being Mexican, even more so than other aspects such as food and music choices (Fought, Chicano English in Context, 200). The use of Spanish in her poetry allows audiences to identify her as being a Latino woman; however, the Spanish words she uses are ones that specifically challenge widespread generalizations of Mexican women.

There are several instances in Cisneros' work in which she uses language and codeswitching to dismantle outdated ascriptions of gender roles. Cisneros' self perception as an anomaly in traditional Mexican culture is evident through her Spanish use.

Word Choice

"You Bring Out the Mexican in Me"

You bring out the Mexican in me.
The hunkered thick dark spiral.
You bring out the Dolores del Río in me.
The Mexican spitfire in me.
The eagle and serpent in me.
The rainforest disaster, nuclear threat in me.
The holocaust of desire in me.
The Mexico City ’85 earthquake in me.
The Popocatepetl/Ixtaccíhuatl in me.
I claim you all mine,
arrogant as Manifest Destiny.
I want to pull out the kitchen knives,
dull and sharp, and whisk the air with crosses.
I am the swallower of sins.
The lust goddess without guilt.
Love the way a Mexican woman loves. Let
me show you. Love the only way I know how.

"Old Maids"

We're too old
by Mexican standards.
And the relatives
have long suspected
we can't anymore
in white.

"Loose Woman"

They say I’m a beast.
And feast on it. When all along
I thought that’s what a woman was.
Diamonds and pearls
tumble from my tongue.
Or toads and serpents.
Depending on the mood I’m in.
I like the itch I provoke.
The rustle of rumor
like crinoline.
I built my little house of ill repute.
Brick by brick. Labored,
loved and masoned it.
By all accounts I am
a danger to society.
I’m an aim-well,
shoot-sharp,
sharp-tongued,
sharp-thinking,
fast-speaking,
foot-loose,
loose-tongued,
let-loose,
woman-on-the-loose
loose woman.
Beware, honey.
I break things.

"A House of my Own"

Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s.
With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias. My books and my stories. My two shoes waiting beside the bed.
Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody’s garbage to pick up after.

Cisneros' word choice in her writing highlights her Chicana identity. Although Cisneros was born in the United States, she carefully selects words that identify and mark her identity as both Mexican and American. In "You Bring Out the Mexican in Me," she mentions historical events that are an important part history for the two worlds she navigates. She demonstrates this connection and understanding through her choice in words.

In "Loose Woman," Cisneros' choice of words are used in a way that go against typical gender norms for Latina women. Her words fight against marianismo. This is the phenomenon that encompasses sacred duty to family, subordination to men, subservience, selflessness, self renouncement, and erotic repression (Leyva, 26). In a study conducted on first generation Latina women which focused on how they balanced their professional identities with their more traditional familiy roles, the researcher found that there was a persistent theme in the women's conversations regarding their expectation to serve others, particularly males (Leyva, 26). Cisneros' challenges this expectation of Latina women by highlighting her fierce and bold nature. She makes it clear with her words that she is not a weak and submissive individual. "I’m an aim-well, shoot-sharp, sharp-tongued, sharp-thinking,fast-speaking, foot-loose, loose-tongued, let-loose, woman-on-the-loose, loose woman. Instead, the protaganist in this poem is the exact opposite and exudes pride in those qualities.

Use of Similes and Metaphors

"You Bring Out the Mexican in Me"

I am the memory that circles your bed nights,
that tugs you taut as moon tugs ocean.
I am the filth goddess Tlazoltotl.
I am the swallower of sins.

"Old Maids"

My cousins and I,
we're all old
maids at thirty.

"Loose Woman"

They say I’m a beast.
They say I’m a b----h.
Or witch. I’ve claimed
the same and never winced.
All the same, when I open my mouth,
they wobble like gin.
Diamonds and pearls
tumble from my tongue.
Or toads and serpents.
Depending on the mood I’m in.
The rustle of rumor
like crinoline.
Heart as sail, ballast, rudder, bow.
Rowdy. Indulgent to excess.
I’m Pancha Villa.

Cisneros uses figurative language in her poetry in a way that eludes a sense of confidence and assuredness in the speaker of the poem. In "You Bring Out the Mexican in Me," she uses a metaphor to compare the speaker to a memory that circles her lover's bed. Comparisons are made between the speaker and The Filth Goddess of Tlazoltotl who is the Aztec goddess of guilty pleasures. Cisneros uses these metaphors in her writing as a way of redefining the essence of Latina women.

In "Old Maids," a similar purpose can be attributed to the use of figurative language. The speaker of the poem describes the conversations that often take place with her aunts about marriage. She uses a metaphor to sarcastically compare herself to an old maid at only thirty years of age. In this seemingly biographical piece, Cisneros questions the expectation that women should be married and have children by a certain age. In fact, she questions the expectation that women should even have to marry at all. This is relevant to Cisneros' own experience as a woman who opted not to marry and instead have a home of her own in which her marriage was with the literature she wrote.

"Loose Woman" uses metaphors that go against the traditional gender stereotypes of Latina women. Cisneros uses words such as beast, b---h, witch, serpents and toads tumbling from her mouth, and even uses a reference to Pancho Villa, a Mexican revolutionary general. Cisneros uses the metaphors proudly and unapologetically in her interpretation and construction of identity.