Week Six Blog
Anzaldua’s consciousness is one of a divided nature. She feels torn between two cultures, countries and ways of life. She lives on the borderlands, being neither one country nor the other. She rejects the one or the other idea and says that all countries and cultures are hers. Anzaldua is torn between these two cultures, that of the white American and that of the Hispanics. She feels rejected from both cultures for trying to pursue the other. When she tries to be American she is being disloyal to her Hispanic culture. When she tries to be Hispanic she is rejected and looked down upon by the American culture. Even though she talks a lot about being pushed away from both cultures she really focuses on the mestiza, this idea of being one. She wants to show us that we need to stop rejecting everyone and start including everyone.
In contrast, Gunn Allen’s consciousness is more of a hybrid. She is struggling to find a balance between her Native American culture and her White one. She grew up with women that were strong and reasonable and taught her to be those things. However, she lived in America and was told that women should be helpless and mindless. She talks a lot about the images of women created by different cultures, but she counters that with specific women who went against those images. She shows us that it is the system or culture that creates these images and these are not necessarily true for every woman in said culture.
Both Anzaldua and Gunn Allen seem to be reaching for a happy medium but in very different ways. Anzaldua wants one, whole and inclusive culture whereas Gunn Allen is striving to be both at the same time. Anzaldua shows that if there was one culture that power would be good and equal. Gunn Allen focuses more on women being strong and standing up in a culture that’s telling them they aren’t worth anything.