Essay Example on Immigration in Mexican Women and Real Women Have Curves

Women from Mexico often migrate to America in search of job opportunities. The most popular sector in which migrants work in agriculture. Understandably, the women migrant usually opt to migrate with their husbands and other male members from their families. The agents who work for the employers on migrant's behalf designate women and their children as the male migrants' agricultural helpers. The women migrants are usually paid less compared to their male counterparts. However, most recently, there has been a shift in the norm where some women are offered independent contracts with no connection to their male colleagues (Marsiglia et al. 49). It should be noted that the number of women migrants working in the agricultural sector has been increasing as they are rapidly getting relevant documentation which makes them independent. Moreover, the women who have no legal documentation usually wield less power and have low status in the host country.

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It is imperative to note that, some of the research ideas outlined may enable us to get a better understanding of the play, Real women have Curves. The idea around the Mexican women migrants in the research shows the connection with the women in the literary play where they work in a tiny sewing factory, and they converse literally about everything ranging from their husbands, lovers to their future aspirations. The struggle of Mexican migrant women to gain a foothold in the agricultural sector in the United States by getting legal documentation mirrors the struggle in the play, Real Women Have Curves, where Ana, the youngest of the five women have aspirations of going to college and becoming a revered writer. "...even with employer registration, migrant women usually report retention of documents and pay". Additionally, "domestic workers are often subjected to physical and sexual abuse." These quotes elucidate the difficult situations Mexican women migrant often find themselves (Marsiglia et al. 49).

In the literary work of Lopez, Ana, the youngest says, "here in case he hugs me, here in case he kisses me." This points to the fact that migrant women usually go to the extreme in making their bodies to attract men. Undoubtedly, the women are viewed as the objects of men, and this is evidenced by the actions of Estela who sprays wherever Ana has asked her. Concerning the research article, migrant workers are used as sexual objects to satisfy the sexual needs of men in society (Marsiglia et al. 49). Also, Ana had little motivation to work in the sewing factory and a difficult relationship with her coworkers. It also points to the benefit of working together as women.

Although the play portrays an element of women going at great lengths to please men, it also shows the differences between women who have high self-esteem levels and those with low self-esteem levels. That is seen when Anna and Jimmy are about to have sex. Anna says "Turn the lights on. I want you to see me. See, this is what I look like." That indicates that Anna has learned to accept herself, which is contrary to her mother who hates herself because she is fat. Later in the play, the women working at the factory become exhausted and due to extreme heat, they all strip down to their underwear except Carmen. The women laugh at each other while they compare their body shapes, cellulites, and stretch marks. That moment inspires confidence among the women as Anna tells them to be happy and accept their bodies because they are beautiful women. Those scenes are better explained by Marsiglia et al.'s article which posits that Latinos who manage to combine both the culture of origin and the host culture or bicultural Latinos have better mental health outcomes and higher resilience than those that are culturally separate (49-52). That is true in Lopez's play where Anna, who appears to have integrated the Mexican culture and the American culture, has higher self-esteem levels than her mother hence and consequently influences other women at the factory to become more resilient of societal standards of beauty and be proud of their bodies.

One of the primary problems facing immigrants anywhere in the world is adapting to the new society. The complexities arise due to differences in language, religion, and culture. This is evident in Lopez's play where Anna's mother appears to cling strongly to the Mexican culture and way of life, that was characterized by exploitation of laborers (low wages and poor working conditions), gender inequality, objectification of women, and low confidence levels among women. On the other hand, the American woman is renowned for championing gender equality, self-love, high self-esteem, and individualism. That is noted when Carmen cautions Anna not to eat too much cake to avoid getting fat so that she can get a husband and sire children. However, Anna says "How dare anyone tell me what I should look like or how I should be when there's so much more to me than just my weight." Carmen also pursues Anna to work in the factory so that she can take care of the family. The mother fears that if Anna goes away to college, she will come back as a different person. In addition, the women working at the factory are unhappy with their bodies, unlike Anna who is happy and confident. These instances are well explained in Marsiglia et al.'s publication which shows that immigrants who acquired the skills to navigate in both the original culture and the host culture had a higher likelihood of life satisfaction (50-52). In addition, the publication illustrates that people who identify with the family norms have higher resilience and life satisfaction levels. That tendency could be applied to Anna's case whereby she remained connected to the Mexican family norms as she acquired skills to help her navigate the American culture. Anna's father and sister appear to have embraced both cultures hence they welcome her idea of going to college. However, Carmen opposes that idea and instead wants Anna to work in the factory so that she can help in the family with the financial problems as well as keep the family closely knit. Thus, Anna is portrayed to have better mental health outcome and resilience despite the hard economic times, she was still optimistic she would manage college.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the interconnection between the play and the research article on the Mexican migrant women point to the need to appreciate the women workers in every undertaking in society. More often than not, women get mistreated in the host nations as they always labeled as male helpers in the agricultural sector. As noted from the play, Ana became resilient in work despite harboring bigger dreams, and she recapped her experiences by writing a journal. She later wrote an essay that made her secure a journalism fellowship (Marsiglia et al. 49). This describes the power of women and that they also have the energy and knowledge to enable them to achieve their dreams.

Works Cited

Lopez, Josefina. "Real Women Have Curves." Imdb. Directed by Cardoso Patricia, 2002. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296166/?ref_=adv_li_tt

Marsiglia, Flavio F., et al. "Acculturation and life satisfaction among immigrant Mexican adults." Advances in social work14.1 (2013): 49-54 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3881437/