What Oft Was Thought

WHAT OFT WAS THOUGHT Volume 15 | 2020 / 2021

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WHAT OFT WAS THOUGHT Volume 15 2021/2021

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WHAT OFT WAS THOUGHT Volume 15 2020/2021 Published by the Alpha Alpha Xi Chapter Sigma Tau Delta, The International English Honor Society Barry University, Department of English and Foreign Languages

Faculty Sponsors:

Dr. Andrea Greenbaum Dr. Lillian Schanfield Dr. Patricia Feito

Faculty Editors: Dr. Andrea Greenbaum

Dr. Aimee Jones

Chapter Members: Lana Sumner-Borema Joshua Caley

Johania Charles

Jonathan Gonzalez

Jeanelle Jacobs

Gabriela Jansen

Shayne Kearney

Joselie Laguerre

Briana Lopez

Chabeli Montas Jeremiah Paul

Paris Razor

Copyright© 2021 Sigma Tau Delta, Department of English and Foreign Languages.

Barry University, Miami Shores, FL All rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alpha Alpha Xi Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, The International English Honor Society

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

FICTION

Untitled 2 Anndi Partridge

A Better Place

Preface

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Destiny Ricks

Amerikah Bal

POETRY Flying Makes Me Sick

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Michidael Ceard 9

Jeremiah Paul

At the Door

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Jonathan Gonzalez

Bending, Shaping My Thighs

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Allyn Krenzien

The Art of Surviving

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Ana Carolina Aguiar

The Eternal Wound Dad Left

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HINT FICTION

Orianna Camarago

Invitation

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Michidael Ceard

Note Sent with Edible Arrangements

Despair Michidael Ceard

ESSAY

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Ruht Lovos-Chicas

Pack Mind

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Women on Spanish Television: Representations Seen in Ugly Betty, Jane the Virgin and Modern Family

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Gendering the #MeToo Movement

Stephanie Stubbs

Armor Made of Glass

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Tabitha Sanchez 63

Tara Gleba

Jada Mohammed

Released

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Barriers Undocumented Students Face When Reaching Higher Education

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Sarah Ruiz

Noel Doreen

What I Carry

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Bryce Reddick

Misguided Representation of the LGBT Community in Film

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Destiny Ricks

GRAPHIC NOVEL On the Brink

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Yanni Robaina

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A Visual Analysis of Rock Music and the Hysteria of Women During the Beatles Era Allyn Krenzien

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Masquerade

TABLE OF CONTENTS 79

Chaos

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Mayra Cordero

Stephanie Torres

Machismo, Sexism and Gender Roles Shape the Dominican Male Identity

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Sarah Ruiz

Untitled 14

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Tracy Perez

Spanglish: Living in-between the Hyphen

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Untitled 1-7

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Alexandra Tercius

Jonathan Gonzalez

PHOTOGRAPHY

Untitled 3

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Anndi Partridge

Upside Down

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Untitled 1

Soné Keith

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Joy Johnson

Untitled 1

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Untitled 7

Anndi Partridge

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Joy Johnson

Untitled 13

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Untitled 6

Tracy Perez

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Joy Johnson

Untitled 8

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Tracy Perez

Untitled 6

BIOGRAPHIES

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Mayra Cordero

100 Years of Coffee

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Mayra Cordero

Untitled 3

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Ethan Hofstad

Untitled 7

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Mayra Cordero

Untitled 1-3

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Alexandra Tercius

Untitled 1-2

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Alexandra Tercius

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PREFACE The members of Sigma Tau Delta (STD), the International English Honor Society (Alpha Alpha Xi Chapter), are pleased to present the work of student authors, artists, and photographers of Barry University. Our journal is open to an array of genres, including fiction, poetry, hint fiction, essays, photography, and graphic novels.

We are able to gather these entries through sponsoring an annual writing competition. Our chapter members solicit entries, vet the submissions, and render their opinions as judges, a service for which they are formally recognized at the University Honors Convocation each spring. The activity of reviewing and deciding on particular entries as worthy of publication helps them confront essential critical questions of artistic merit.

We are pleased to include as well the winning submission for the Dr. Helen Connell Film Essay Award. This award is intended to honor the memory of a faculty member who was a remarkable film scholar, historian, and critic and to promote the study of film as a critical art form.

With each new issue we feel the need to explain the allusive title of our journal. What Oft Was Thought is a clause taken from Essay on Criticism, a long poem by the eighteenth century poet, Alexander Pope.

The words appear in the following couplet:

True wit is nature to advantage dressed What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed.

It means that while many have insight into human experience (“what oft was thought”), few have the ability to express these thoughts eloquently. We believe that those selected for this year’s issue articulate the struggle and the wonder of what it means to be human.

Our chapter is indebted to Dr. Karen Callaghan, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who generously supports this project.

Matt Haig, author of The Humans and Reasons to Stay Alive, observes the writing process as follows:

The 5 Stages of Writing

1. This is genius.

2. This isn’t working.

3. This is useless.

4. Really useless.

5. But this toast is nice.

What he is saying is obvious to anyone who has confronted the arctic white page: the process of creating art is perilous, and the writer continually confronts his or her self-doubt. The writers and artists in this collection bravely overcame their fears and insecurities and chose to share their art with us, and the university community is made whole by their contributions.

Upside Down, Soné Keith

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FLYING MAKES ME SICK Jeremiah Paul This is a story About a little bird (but maybe perhaps it’s just an allegory) Nay, it’s true as true can be I swear it’s what I heard, word for word For he whispered it to me from a tree.

“Flying makes me sick” He would complain aloud Ever since he was a chick Yet he had beautiful wings Of which he was very proud For he loved them above all things.

Once there was a bird So small and innocent was he Who lived in a world undeterred Of the harsh reality of what he was A bird he was not meant to be For he had one great fear that gave him pause.

“Flying makes me sick” Perhaps it was just an excuse Or the wild ravings of a lunatic A reason to never leave His own little white spruce For he had more than one would believe.

A bird ought to go flying To the south and to the north An experience truly mystifying And yet whenever one would pick The little bird to go forth “Flying makes me sick.”

“Flying makes me sick” He would say to himself As he waddled along the stick He would wonder why God had decided To create a bird that resented itself For he flew rather lopsided.

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“Flying makes me sick” As he flew above the clouds Watching the ground go by quick He knew that birds ought to fly Alas, he went against the crowds For he it would never satisfy.

First Place, Poetry, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2019

Untitled 1, Anndi Partridge

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BENDING, SHAPING MY THIGHS Allyn Krenzien Bending, shaping my thighs To meet the crevice of my hips Hands pressed firm around my rounded edges A pull and a push to feel erotic To my sensual agreement in which possesses my tantric talk I hum and murmur to the sound within Relying on the heaviness of my heart to speak the thoughts That aren’t really spoken at all A sharpness ceases to exist Because soft is all that lives Maybe a little dense of the undertone that surfaces Because when dense meets soft is when Liberation ratifies its existence The duality of separate controversies Enact a premonition of acquired taste The fact of the matter is: A wild woman is wild when life begins She’s torn and battered but also glazed with retention A formula of divine satisfaction Heart space so magnetic only continents can hold the passion My inner workings expel forgiveness With various ways of expression I am tall I am strong Fortified with the flow of the wind and the shape of the moon A conscious recollection of ancestral twine Shaping the endless curvature that resembles the woman in my reflection She is marching with her staff Moving mountains with laughing gas Constantly thriving even when residing in the shadows Smallness makes her tall Silence makes her strong She is remarkable with all that she is She is I I am me Forever a conversation of Love.

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THE ETERNAL WOUND DAD LEFT Orianna Camarago Six months have passed, A year is almost gone, Our hearts have been destroyed, But life does not stop.

Around, nothing has changed, People think now it is better, But does grief have a time limit?

Or, have we not yet overcome it?

It sounds so easy to say, Is there something wrong inside me?

Sometimes I think everything is fine, That there are things better to forget…

The more I forget, the more I lose him, The more I forget, the more I lose myself, I pretend everything is fine, But my heart silently screams why?

The days pass without stopping, The hours of the day do not stop, It is like being trapped and not being able to wake up.

The routine continues as if nothing, Her mind knows how to guide her, Her body follows her mind, But her heart is absent.

In the absence, I hope she finds him, In the absence, I hope she can recover, In the absence, I hope she can heal, The eternal wound Dad left her with.

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INVITATION Michidael Ceard All is lewd, and water is only but still.

Until it drips, elongating its mixed form into a penché, Sliding down and making itself whole The Full Bowl.

Arrows quarrel over whose hands feel The wooden veins of its cover, Whose mouths drink the source That morphs.

It’s soul lusts after your joining, When will you become one?

Untitled 13, Tracy Perez

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NOTE SENT WITH EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS Ruht Lovos-Chicas Hi honey, This is a sweet reminder that You mean the world to me Thank you for being with me I love you, Your cheating husband Ps. I’ll be home late tonight n

Honorable Mention, Poetry, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2019

Untitled 8, Tracy Perez

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PACK MIND Stephanie Stubbs Had I lived in the time of Pilate, would I be shouting ‘CRUCIFY!’?

Convinced of my own righteousness,

Betraying Jesus?

Denying Him? Sentencing a man to die Had I lived through the Holocaust, would I have spat on a Jew?

Convinced of my superiority,

Shunned them?

Abused them?

Told them what they can’t do Had I lived in the time of slavery, would I be excited to see the ships?

Convinced they’re not equal to me,

Bought them?

Sold them?

Punished disobedience with a whip Who am I today vs the alternate of my past?

Would I be of pack mind

Or liberated soul?

A leader?

A blind believer?

Convinced of the ‘truth’ as I’m told?

Untitled 6, Mayra Cordero

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ARMOR MADE OF GLASS

RELEASED

Jada Mohammed

Noel Doreen

a sexual object without a choice. a broken window that had no voice. of my independence there was no mention. like I was nothing without his attention.

I’d like to follow you through the forest you have carefully constructed.

rewards of compliments when I was complicit. his hands around my neck when I wasn’t. he told his friends how easy I was but none of what happened came easy to me.

Trees of confidence creating a dark ceiling.

The warmth of your hand is but a few inches away, and every time I reach for it, your pace accelerates.

I cannot seem to grasp some things: Why your forest has such complicated paths or why you choose the most difficult to lead me into.

other girls filled the role I desired. waited for him until I was required. always the plaything kept in the dark. soul not body is where he left his mark. sexual violence is part of my past. impacting my present. paving my future. healthy relationships a distant dream I fear I can never reach. looking for love in all the wrong places. falling for so many faces. loving them more than I loved myself. like a plate falling from a shelf.

When did love become so painful? Physically painful. Emotionally painful.

When did it stop being a choice? A chore. A duty. don’t try loving me I don’t know what love is. with every hand that touches me all I feel is his. a sexual object without a choice. a broken window that had no voice.

Looking back at me, smiling, shows that you knew I would follow.

Walking a head, leading You know precisely where the ground unsteadies I see you move so swiftly, yet I cannot help but let myself fall.

It’s always dark at the end of this Road.

I’d like to persuade myself that I’m not looking for an exit from you.

You turned my wondering into wandering Just before, you vanished Leaving me to walk vaguely into your forest trapped Until I found you again.

Every word forming a leash around my neck.

Every touch making it shorter.

Forever broken.

Trauma left unspoken.

Wounds get deeper.

I grow weaker.

A silent shame.

Part of me like my name.

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WHAT I CARRY Bryce Reddick What I carry is a book bag for books

and a brush for good looks.

A pen and a pencil for writing

and don’t forget those markers for highlighting.

What I carry are glasses to see

just to figure out if that number actually says three.

Some money and a pack of gum,

chewing the minty flavor just like a drummer’s drum.

What I carry are key chains

to remind me of what still remains.

Alabama Roll Tide !!!

#1 College Football team in the country by a landslide.

Jeremiah 29:11, A Bible Verse,

to always remind me God has a plan for me even when things get worse.

What I carry is my phone,

something I can never replace or disown.

Inside the phone is a letter to my late teacher, Mrs. Streeter.

I promise you she was the best 1st and 2nd grade teacher.

She helped me through a lot

and Lord knows at a young age I was a long shot.

What I carry is a kid’s dreams

to one day make this world acknowledge who is KING. The hurt and the pain the kid experienced

got to the point where things got serious.

Now life is no game to him,

it’s a drama/action real life film.

Currently the kid pushes himself for others

to help them through their pain so they don’t see his true colors.

Those are some things in my life that I would like to be withdrawn.

Things that I am afraid to admit to

because it was hard to get through.

What I carry are the thoughts of a little child

who always seems to feel exiled.

He never seems to fit in right,

I guess that is why he always writes.

What I carry is the weight of several names on these shoulders

and they are all investing in me to be a high roller.

Generations and generations have been my ladder to success,

that is why in everything I do I can’t be careless.

What I carry are the feelings of anger and love

both emotions I just want to get rid of.

Both are destructive

but one can become addictive.

What I carry is my future

and to one day have a Junior.

Hope is what a lot of things are based on

but hard work is what makes a phenomenon.

There are still many many more things I still carry

hoping to one day bury.

It is what it is, it’s a part of me

and Bryce Reddick is exactly who I want to be. n

First Place, Poetry, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2018

What I carry is a heavy heart

that just wants to make you restart.

Divorced parents, bullying, anger issues, and the list goes on and on.

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100 Years of Coffee, Mayra Cordero

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Evening in an ordinary neighborhood in Maricopa, Arizona.

tHESE ARE DAYS i HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF IN A LONG TIME...

oR RATHER THESE ARE DAYS i WOULD HAVE LIKED TO FORGET...

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AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT I USED TO THINK. 2

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eARLIER...

Later...

gUESS i BEAT MOM HOME.

sigh...

why do my teachers give so much homework?

wONDER IF HE'S DOING BETTER...

Nope...

cAN'T sLEEP aGAIN.

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My dad, Arian, fell into a deep depression after losing his job.

the only things he did all day were pace around the house and mumble to himself.

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right. you probably have more important things to do.

oye, yanni!

...

how was your day?

why can't he snap out of it?

it was okay, i guess.

A few Nights later... feel free to step in any time.

again!

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i have too much work to catch up on myself.

Why is this happening to him? God, Why my family?

my dad's condition wasn't getting better. Days of sleepless nights were taking their toll on him. He kept thinking that someone was out to get him, but that someone was never there. He was paranoid.

Yanni, can you help me right now?

there's nothing good on T.V.

i can't right now, pa. it's late. you should go back to bed.

Arian, NO!

a few days later...

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Ma, what's going on?

yanni, go back upstairs.

I'll handle this.

Don't Do it, Pa!

but ma...

Gasp! okay, ma.

If you say so... oh my god!

NO!

now!

ari, please put down the knife!

I can't take it anymore!

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...

ari, you're stronger than this.

We can get you help.

Vamonos. come with me.

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at that point, i knew exactly where they were going.

Thank god, he's finally getting help. do you want to pray with me later?

sure, Ma!

the next day...

It's not like I can do anything else at this point.

Why are all these knives in the trash?

Uh... Ma?

a week later... well, I got home late last night after i left your dad at the hospital. I was so scared I threw them away.

I spent almost an hour trying to convince him to check into the hospital. I couldn't do it for him.

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My mom and I visited my dad in the hospital a few times over the next week. He didn't show much change, but this time, I had a good feeling.

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The doc says I should be out in a few days.

This new medicine i'm on is really working.

that great news! Right, Yanni?

hello. we're here to visit.

yeah, that's awesome, Pa! I'm glad to hear that! see ya next time!

Please sign your names and the patient's name Here.

of course! I just need your IDs.

a few minutes later...

A few days Later...

We should celebrate.

How does lunch sound?

That's a great idea!

My dad was looking like himself. He was smiling and his voice was booming again.

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Well, Lord. It took you a while, but you have my thanks.

I haven't thought about those days in years.

That experience has taught me something.

In the end, my family is the only one I have. Good times or bad, we are always there for each other, Whether I like it or not. The next time something like this happens, I'll be there for them. no matter what.

The End 15

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Untitled 3, Ethan Hofstad

First Place, Graphic Novel, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2019

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A BETTER PLACE Destiny Ricks

The call came on a Wednesday.

The most ironic of all days, at least to Sofia. She always looked at the glass as half-empty, rather than half-full, and she applied the same philosophy to Wednesdays. Wednesdays were torture, plain and simple; they were simply reminders that while a person survived the first half of the week, they still have to make it through the second half. Sofia always found that to be cruel and unusual.

But maybe she was just being dramatic.

Back to the call—it interrupted her study session with her friend, Angela, who gave her a death glare when Sofia’s phone rang in the middle of the quiet library they occupied. At first, she was grateful for the call; she was often guilt tripped into studying with Angela when she would rather relax and rejuvenate. She was a diligent student, no doubt, but she knew when to take a break.

Angela did not, and she would be damned if she was convinced to relax by Sofia.

Sofia gave Angela an apologetic glance as she stepped outside the library to answer the call.

It was her mother. They had spoken the day before about her mother’s new workout regime and diet plan. She knew her mother would only stick with her plan for the next two weeks, but she let her have her moment. Not really an important conversation, but she always liked to talk with her mother, especially when she couldn’t see her every day, since she attended college in a different state.

“Sofia, I have some bad news.” Her mother’s voice was stressed; it immediately unnerved Sofia because her mother was an unwavering, strong woman who was not usually anxious or tense.

She prided herself on discipline, especially coming from her military background. She was barely able to steel herself before her mother spoke again. “Your grandfather passed away this morning.”

Sofia let out a shaky breath, unable to respond to her mother’s words. It had been years since Sofia visited her grandparents, but she was aware of her grandfather’s deteriorating health--his diabetes.

They never really talked about it. Sofia knew it was a sensitive topic.

“He passed peacefully, in his sleep.” Her mother continued to speak, almost as if she needed to. “He didn’t feel any pain… I guess it was his time. He’s in a better place now, I know it.”

“Mother--”

“They’re going to have the funeral soon; the end of this week, at the latest. I’m flying to Philadelphia tomorrow, to help my mom with the arrangements.”

“Mother.” Sofia tried to get a word in, but her mother continued to ramble.

“I know you’re really busy, but I was hoping you could come. You haven’t seen your grandmother in so long and it would really make her happy, especially in a time like this-”

“Mother, of course I’m coming to his funeral. I’ll buy a plane ticket as soon as possible.”

Sofia could hear her mother breathe a sigh of relief. She knew she didn’t want to be alone.

She didn’t know why her mother would be nervous about asking her to go to the funeral.

Of course she would go to her own grandfather’s funeral.

Like most, Sofia couldn’t stand funerals—the crying, the dismal atmosphere, the immediate

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feeling of depression once leaving the funeral. She certainly couldn’t stand the cold, and she knew Philadelphia would be cold in January. Sofia felt massively uncomfortable around her other extended family, who couldn’t seem to grasp that her memories of them were diluted because of her young age.

None of that mattered.

Sofia would go to her grandfather’s funeral, not only to honor his memory, but also to support her mother and her grandmother.

She could handle this.

She could not handle this.

Sofia wished that she was an unshakable force, unwavering even in the face of sadness and trepidation. Sadly, she did not inherit her mother’s disposition. But glancing at her mother now, sniffling with tears in her eyes in front of her own father’s open casket, she knew that even the strongest people could break.

Her mother had been divorced for several years now, so Sofia understood why she didn’t want to be alone at the funeral. Sofia’s grandmother had her own grief as well.

Sofia tuned out the priest’s eulogy about redemption and forgiveness. Instead, she studied her family’s body language. Everyone had turned in on themselves, arms crossed and heads down.

No one sought the comfort of the person beside them. She was confused. She hadn’t attended many funerals in her life, but she thought the point was to seek comfort in others, especially from people who knew the deceased. What’s the point of coming to a funeral, if you leave still feeling utterly alone and disheartened?

The cold only made the atmosphere worse. Snow was falling on the ground outside, and it seemed that the funeral home didn’t make an effort to turn up the heat. The cold made her feel stiff and uncomfortable, only making the mood of the funeral gloomier.

Sofia felt strangely detached as she looked at her grandfather’s casket; he looked like he was asleep and would get up at any moment. It was strange to think that she would never speak with him again, see him smile at her with pride, or smell his signature scent of tobacco and Peanut Chews when he hugged her.

The last time she saw her grandfather was the summer before her freshman year of college, which was her last visit to Philadelphia in the past three years.

Sofia and her grandfather walked throughout Fairmount Park with their arms linked, as they looked through the public art display.

“Thanks for bringing me here. I know you don’t like art as much as you pretend to,” Sofia said, playfully poking him on the arm.

“You’re going away soon, to become some big-time artist; I thought you would appreciate the scenery.” Her grandfather gave her a pleasant smile, squeezing the hand that was linked with his.

“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m just an Art Major, a lowly freshman in a new college; it’s very unlikely I’ll be a ‘big time artist’ as you say, so eloquently.”

“Don’t make fun of how I talk, girlie,” he said, giving her a good-humored glance. “I’m proud

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of you, you know? Don’t go telling on me to your mom or my wife, but I’m happy you’ve pursued what you wanted to do, Sofia, and not what someone else, namely my stubborn daughter, told you to do.”

Sofia smiled. “I happened to get my stubbornness from your daughter. Maybe my tenacious attitude got me here; it could be a good thing.”

Her grandfather rolled his eyes, looking at the sky in mock-frustration. “Don’t tell your mom that; she’ll never let it go.” They both glanced at each other and broke out into laughter. It slowly filtered into silence, as the sun shone down on them.

“I probably don’t say it enough, but thank you,” she said, halting their pace. Her grandfather gave her an exasperated look. “Before you say it, I know my hard work is my own, Pop. But there’s nothing better than knowing someone I love believes in me and what I want to do.”

Her grandfather said nothing, just gave her a sincere smile, and they continued their walk throughout the park.

She turned back to the priest, wondering if he could give her some wisdom. Sofia wasn’t as religious as the rest of her family, but still found comfort in Christianity, her family’s religion.

“We must not be downtrodden in the face of great sadness. We must persevere through the painful times of life, just as we must celebrate the good. While one’s passing will always be shadowed by the doubt and sorrow of one’s family and friends, we must always remember that God is taking us to a better place-”

A better place.

First, Sofia’s mother said those exact words while on the phone with her, and now the priest repeated those same words. While many times, Sofia sought comfort in her religion, she could never understand “a better place”.

She was always too rational, too logical, always over-thinking and calculating.

She asked too many questions.

Sofia supposed she believed in a heaven, she had to. But she had a right to feel sad that her grandfather was no longer on this earth. While she may not be openly emotional like her family, the sounds of their sniffles and sobs surrounding her, she didn’t think it was healthy to bottle up sadness with the false comfort of “they’re in a better place.”

Maybe Sofia is just overthinking. Her mother always said it was a character flaw. Sofia never listened; she could never stop asking questions.

“While tears may be shed today, we should also share in love and in laughter in remembrance of God’s child, now in Heaven, surely looking down on us, with nothing other than shining eyes and a magnificent smile-”

She watched as many of her family members nodded along with the priest, their heads now up and their tears dried.

“When we all leave here today, we should leave with our heads high and with smiles adorning our faces, because we know we shall all meet again under the glory of our Lord.”

Her family murmured in agreement, and some even shouted “Hallelujah” while raising their

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hands to the ceiling.

Did the funeral just turn into a church sermon?

While it had been years since Sofia saw her grandfather, it had been even longer since Sofia attended church. She preferred to worship in solitude, a more intimate, quiet relationship with God.

Her family was not the same; they were in church every Sunday, in their best dresses and suits, with Bibles in their hands, ten o’clock on the dot. They prided themselves on appearance and punctuality, even her mother.

The wake was just what the priest recommended, full of love, laughter, and tales of her grandfather.

Sofia sat between her mother and her grandmother, scraping her fork against her empty plate.

Food always makes people feel better.

“I’m so glad you came, Sofia.” She turned to look at her grandmother, a warm smile filling her face.

“He would be so happy that you were here; he always asked about you.”

“I’m just sorry I couldn’t come visit you two more,” Sofia said. Her grandmother always gave off an honest warmth, always full of love and pleasantness, even in the worst of times. She honestly didn’t know why she didn’t visit her grandparents more; she supposed life just got in the way.

Her grandmother gifted her a pleasant smile, placing her hand over Sofia’s.

“Don’t worry about that, darling. It only matters that you’re here now.”

“Seems like it’s a little too late, doesn’t it?”

Her grandmother just smiled and patted her hand again. “It’s never too late, sweet girl. We often reveal our true colors, after someone’s death.”

Sofia wondered how she could be so calm. Her own husband passed just a few days ago, but she still kept her happy spirit, content with her family and friends surrounding her. She never fed off the energy of others like her mother and grandmother did.

That’s another character flaw to add to the list.

Sofia looked around at her family, at her grandfather’s friends-- old and new. Their stomachs were full and their cheeks were red from laughter and happiness. How were these the same people from earlier-hunched over in grief and sorrow merely an hour ago?

She guessed that food and family could really change a person’s outlook.

Sofia was just numb.

She wasn’t used to expressing her emotions in front of people, and she definitely wasn’t used to crying. She hated crying. She hated to watch others cry; she hated for others to watch her cry. She hated to cry alone. Crying just took so much energy out of a person.

At the end of the day, Sofia felt that she could handle grief on her own. She didn’t feel rejuvenated from being surrounded by people--quite the opposite, actually.

She was better alone.

Sofia returned to her college dorm on a Wednesday, immediately greeted by Angela waiting with flowers and chocolate.

“I’m so sorry about your grandfather, Sof. I understand if you can’t meet up for our regular study

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sessions for a while. I remember when my grandfather died. I was so devastated. I can only imagine what you’re going through.”

She found it ironic that it took a family death to get Angela off her back about the study sessions. Their study sessions were the last thing on her mind, but she wasn’t surprised that Angela was concerned about them.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Angela continued to speak when Sofia didn’t respond. She was used to filling Sofia’s silence with her own words. “You can always talk to me, if you feel sad or anything. I won’t mind.”

“I’m fine, Angela.” She placed the flower arrangement on her desk, studying the appropriate bouquet of lilies and roses.

“I know you always say that, Sofia, but I’m your friend and you don’t have to hide your grief from me. What are friends for, anyway?”

When Angela wasn’t guilt tripping her into study sessions she didn’t need or stressing about the next exam she knew she would ace, she was a really good friend to Sofia.

But she didn’t need a friend right now.

She just needed to be alone.

“Angela, I promise I’m fine. And I’ll give you a call if I change my mind. My grandfather…”

Sofia wanted to tell Angela that she hadn’t seen her grandfather in years. She wanted to tell her that she didn’t cry at the funeral and she was sure that she wouldn’t cry now. Maybe even tell her that her grandmother didn’t shed a tear at the wake, only happy to have all of her family surrounding her for the first time in years. But she didn’t. “He’s in a better place now. I can’t be sad about that.”

Angela gave her a smile, the one that people always gave her when they didn’t quite believe her.

Still smiling, Angela pulled her into a tight hug, surrounding her with the smell of roses and the vanilla shampoo that she used daily.

She left Sofia’s dorm with the reminder to give her a call if Sofia needed anything, even if it was only someone to talk to.

Sofia smiled, lied, and said that she would.

Later that day, Sofia was studying her calculus notes with soft classical music playing in the background. She could never study in complete silence like Angela. Silence distracted her more than noise. Music helped her focus. Usually.

But not now.

She couldn’t stop thinking about her grandfather.

She wondered why her mind chose now to reminisce and not at the funeral or at the wake in his honor.

Sofia shared good memories with her grandfather and she cherished them. Surprisingly, her grandfather loved math and he was naturally smart in the subject. Honestly, he had an interest in all education and he always seemed interested in what his granddaughter was learning every time Sofia

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came to visit him. He would stop whatever he was doing and devote his entire attention to Sofia’s ramblings about her most recent discovery.

No one really listened to Sofia like he did; no matter what the topic, her grandfather would always lend an ear. It made Sofia feel special. She supposed she would miss that the most about her grandfather, his willingness to listen to her and to share his knowledge with her as well.

Sofia blinked, surprised to find her eyes wet and her nose stuffy. Reaching up, she wiped her eyes, trying to stop the tears from escaping.

How could she cry now?

Alone in her room, studying her class notes.

Reminiscing about math with her grandfather brought Sofia to tears faster than being surrounded with sobbing family members, even her own mother.

But once the tears started, they couldn’t stop. Sofia sniffled, as she came to the realization that the same man who listened to her speak without hesitation and cared about her thoughts was now gone.

The tears wouldn’t stop.

Sofia struggled to control her breathing. She knew it was a useless endeavor, but she still tried. It was the only thing she could do. She glanced down at her phone, wondering if she should call her mother and share her sorrow with her. Maybe even take Angela up on her offer. She knew that Angela was being genuine in her offer to talk and she wouldn’t turn Sofia away; even her mother would try her best to comfort her daughter over the phone.

In the end, she turned away. Maybe it was better to suffer through the tears than to share her devastation with another person. This is where she thrived—alone. She didn’t cry when she received the news of her grandfather’s death, she didn’t cry at the funeral, and she definitely didn’t cry at the wake.

Sofia had to stop doing this. She knew this wasn’t healthy. Yet, she has always found it easier to separate herself from others, even her own family, rather than seek comfort and security.

Sofia sniffled, noticing that her tears finally stopped while she was trapped in her thoughts.

She cleared her face of the dried tears and took a deep, steady breath.

She could handle this. n

First Place, Fiction, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2018

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AMERIKAH BAL Michidael Ceard

The white picket fence stood there beckoning me. The beginning of its V form slanting into vertical abandon, stood there. It did not budge but it beckoned me. The way the green lushness of the earth held its feet while providing comfort. I wanted to go, but stayed stuck behind the gray fuzziness of my box TV found in la ville’s thrift stands. I knew that this would never be my reality.

But still, it beckoned.

“Is it really like that in “Amerikah?” I wondered. I sat on the brown table chair that adorned the bare grayness of the concrete wall. A touch-tone cellular phone rested on the side of it. A Haitian gourde lied beneath reminiscent of the woodwork I completed for Tante Stella last week.

I took it and exited the brown doorpost heading down the hillside to go to Madan Paul’s boutique.

I needed to get my peanut butter sandwich for the day. Ten minutes down the muddy road, I saw Rosie filling her white five-gallon bucket with water from the source Konpe Eric sold for fifteen gourdes. Water splashed on the top part of her red moumou, and I saw the buxom curvature of her breast push forth. She folded the red cloth of her moumou into the crease of her thighs, while her cassava-toned skin contrasted the black straight hair that was pulled tightly into a small ponytail.

Her dark brown eyes dilated when she saw me trudging down the concrete stairway and she smirked as if she hid a secret in the bottom part of her lips. My right hand raised quickly to bid her a flirty hello and I moved quickly to help her mount the bucket on the rolled moushwa that adorned her black hair. Our nearness was cut quickly by the young awkwardness of her virginity, and she walked quickly down the steps with her bucket in tow. I watched the listless movements of her plush backside press against the red cloth. Soon enough, when things were good, that awkwardness would be stripped by my husbandly command. But, that was for later.

I had to get my bread with Mumba.

I walked down the muddy brown hill to the boutique. Madan Paul’s boutique was always well-stocked with items. Her boutique was the prettiest in Jalousie’s ghetto. As I stood in line, I saw the glistening cans of Bongu milk line the peeling brown shelves, and the mamite tin embellishing the bottom corner near the Shelah rice.

What a luxury.

There I stood waiting for Uncle Koukou to finish up his order, all while wondering if the bread was still hot for peanut butter. When Koukou finished he turned around quickly and shone his yellow, crooked teeth in eager familiarity.

“Junior, you going to the bal tonight?” he said eagerly. “I hear many diaspora women are going to be there; I’m trying to find me an Amerikah fanm.” Koukou was a man of about thirtythree years who wore his pepe boyfriend cut jeans with a faded t-shirt everyday day. He finished his signature look with papaya orange sandals that never got scuffed with the malice of Jalousie’s dust.

“Ah, they ain’t bon, neg,” I responded with comical distaste. “These Miami and New York

Untitled 7, Mayra Cordero

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fanm come here to trap us. Why can’t they find a man over there? Besides, Rosie is the woman for me. She’ll be my girl before fete saint Paul comes around.”

“Junior, you think Madan Charles is gonna let you have Rosie? Come to the bal tonight neg.

You’ll get yourself a fanm and a passport to Etazini. Money is long over there. You have no money over here in Jalousie.” With those words, Koukou went on his way down the wet and muddy ravine pleading with energy-stagnant steps, scoffing with his brown sandals and smiling with fake need.

Etazini. Amerika. Those two words danced in my brain, as I walked back down to my gray room in the ghetto quarters. The white picket fence resurfaced in my brain, and as I looked around my muddy bleak surroundings characterized by broken palm leaves and yellow, green-colored walled-in box rooms, I noticed how it was lackluster in comparison.

I would go to the bal tonight. Not for the Amerikah diaspora fanm. For the white picket fence. For Rosie. n

First Place, Fiction, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2019

Untitled 1-3, Alexandra Tercius

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AT THE DOOR Jonathan Gonzalez

“Stay out of this Alex,” she said glaring at me.

“Camilla, why can’t you-”

“Why can’t I what?!” she said interrupting me.

Silence fell into the light pink room. It’s been that color since she was twelve. She never changed it.

She was seventeen already, and she didn’t even bother to change it.

“Can you just--” my voice trailed off. I didn’t know what to say anymore.

“Just what, Alex?” She asked. Her voice full of exasperation. “Listen? I’m tired of listening!”

She didn’t know any better. I knew the kind of guys she wanted to date. I was friends with those guys. She didn’t know what she was getting into. I didn’t want her to get hurt.

I wanted to yell, “I’m just trying to protect you,” but I knew my sister. I knew I couldn’t yell.

I’ve known her too long to know that yelling doesn’t help.

“Why can’t I date him?” she said defiantly. “Brody is a great guy!”

“He isn’t right for you,” I said, trying to put every ounce of persuasion into my voice. “If you aren’t careful he-”

“Why do you always do this?” she asked. Her brown eyes still vexed and staring straight at me, “You don’t even know him.”

I didn’t need to know him. I didn’t need to know his tactics for trying to get with my little sister. I didn’t want to know him. But I couldn’t tell her that. I didn’t know how else to tell her that all I want is for her to be safe. I was six when I held Camilla’s three-year-old hand and took her into the new apartment. Our mom carried boxes out of the car. I knew I needed to protect Camilla. From everything: getting a scrapped knee at the playground, getting a bad sun burn, getting heartbroken. I saw what love could do.

After he left, my mom cried endless nights. She tried to swallow tears whenever we were around, but it was obvious. Camilla was too young to understand. I tried to keep her oblivious for as long as I could. It didn’t work. She had an uncanny way of finding out the truth. But, I didn’t want her to feel what mom felt. I couldn’t always protect her. I could never fill shoes that never fit me.

There was a knock at the door.

“Camilla,” our mother’s sweet voice said from outside the door. She entered the room. Small drops of sweat on her face. A small apron hugged her waist. She was cooking. “There’s someone at the door waiting for you,”

My eyes widened quickly. I turned my head toward my sister whose once irritated face had lightened. She quickly got up and ran to the mirror. She was smiling and looked genuinely happy.

“You asked him to come here?” I asked furiously. I felt my face getting hot. I felt adrenaline rush though my veins. I couldn’t believe she invited a guy to the house.

“I told you,” she said already getting annoyed, “Stay out of it.”

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“No,” I said defiantly.

“Stay out of this Alex,” she said glaring at me, “You’re not my father.”

The room was silent and Camilla was the only one moving. She quickly grabbed her purse, looked at herself in the mirror again fixing her brown wavy hair, and ran out the door to meet the guy waiting for her down stairs.

My mother hung her head low and left the room leaving me there. Alone. I stared out the window. Camilla was at the door talking to Brody. He wasn’t very tall. Not taller than me at least.

He looked stronger though. His shaggy hair engulfed his face making it impossible to see him clearly.

They stayed on the front porch talking for a while. He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a small kiss on her forehead. He led her to the car and drove off. n

Honorable Mention, Fiction, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2019

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THE ART OF SURVIVING Ana Carolina Aguiar

He was there again. Eighth weekend in a row, two whole months. Not that she was counting… but she had eyes, you know. And eyes are supposed to see things. Even though the stage spotlights would eventually mess with her perception of the crowd, after the second weekend it was impossible not to notice the tall, innocent-looking figure at the back. Same table at the right, next to the bar because, for some reason, he was always thirsty. Funny habit, always drinking a glass of iced water. No alcohol. It was a nightclub. He was drinking water in a nightclub.

Not that Carmel was watching him, but then again, she had eyes.

The last song of her Saturday setlist came to an end, and she graciously thanked her audience, feeling a drop of sweat dripping down her back. Velvet on stage was a nuisance, but all efforts in the name of art, they say. She waited for the lights to go out to remove her headset microphone and finally take a deep breath, still hearing the applause. Carmel walked away from the stage, and as the character started to slip off, so did her finesse.

Noah never knew what finesse was really about. Carmel had always been the one who seemed to know way more about it (and so much more) than him. He could learn a thing or two from her, but to be honest, he didn’t have time for that.

“He’s here again, isn’t he?” said Jules, as a new song started to play. He was waiting for Noah in the backstage because his best friend, who was also a great performer at the nightclub, used to say that watching Carmel perform was better than performing himself.

“Yeah, I guess,” Noah shrugged; his masculine features now completely apparent peeking from under Carmel’s long lashes. Even his walk seemed to change, with less hips and more stomping.

Carmel was gone and would only be back in a week.

They reached their dressing room door, one of many in that straight long corridor, and Jules opened it. Noah didn’t even wait for the door to close to take off Carmel’s heels, as carefully as the outfit was pricy. Always manage your outfit with extra caution, first rule of the business. He placed them beside one of the dusty sofas, right next to the coat rack burdened with sequin dresses and chiffon scarves.

“It seems you’ve got a new fan, Carmel.” Jules sat down at one of the sofas and stared at Noah while he pulled his chair from his dressing table. After a long sigh, Noah looked back at him, knowing that his friend was about to start something. Once again, as he had so many times before, Noah admired Jules’ great beautiful legs; they were Yummy’s best tool along with her formidable collection of shiny pantyhoses.

“I don’t have fans. I have an audience. Big difference.” Noah glanced at his melting madeup face before starting to remove the wig. Blonde and voluminous with perfect waves: Carmel’s signature. Not a single strand of hair was ever out of place; his grandma wouldn’t approve of a messy hair had she still been alive to meet Carmel.

Untitled 1-2, Alexandra Tercius

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He kept the net that held his own hair, contemplating the amount of work he still had ahead of him before Carmel could truly rest for the next seven days.

“Well, Puppy proves you wrong. He doesn’t even blink when you perform. It’s actually rather cute. I wish I had a fan like him.” Jules had this smirk on his lips that could drive Noah crazy. They had opposite points of view when it came to their business. To Noah it was pretty simple: this was his job. The means he found to help his mom at home, since his father vanished just like a fly does when you try to smash it. You blink, and it’s gone.

“He’s annoying,” Noah grumbled, getting a cleansing tissue to begin the long process of removing the layers of foundation on his skin. As the painting came off, he noticed he had nice skin, except for that huge scar above his eyebrow. Make-up always covered it perfectly, but at the end of a long night like this, the mirror reminded Noah of the irony. His father was the reason behind that scar. His father and his pocket knife called Ginger, because he had a huge, nasty crush on Ginger Rogers. Oh, well. He always liked blonde girls, after all. As long as they were not his own son.

Unlike his make-up or his father and his lust for Ginger Rogers, Jules was not ready to let it go. He kept on prying. “Why? Because he loves Carmel? You think the kid is annoying for supporting you? Honestly, Noah…”

He was getting upset. It was just a job. Nothing more than a job. Dress up, perform, go home. There was no place for Carmel out there. He didn’t even want a place for her. Carmel wasn’t supposed to be a star, even though the concept created by Noah two years ago was remarkable. Pure soft Carmel, who was all vaudevilles and Happy Birthday Mr. Presidents. Noah was a smart guy; he had to admit it. But it was all for his mom and his little sister’s sake. The means to an end; just a way he found to survive.

God, the gloves were annoying him. Jules was distracting Noah and he didn’t even realize he was still wearing them while removing his make-up. Rookie’s mistake. With extra care, he took them off, the delicate fabric sliding through the same arms that used to cover his face when the boys from school hit him saying Noah had a feminine face and that it was distracting and wrong. “’A way to balance the Universe,’” one of them used to say.

“I just want to be able to see my sister smiling at the end of the month, that’s it. I don’t need any fans. I don’t want any fans. If he likes Carmel that much, it’s not Noah’s business. Not my freaking business.” His voice was brisk, rough around the edges, very much unlike Carmel’s soft huskiness.

It was Jules turn to sigh. Noah knew he was hard to deal with. He knew it. But what can a man do? Change the way he is? He had to put Carmel to rest fast if he wanted to escape that annoying conversation. As he took off his fake eyelashes, the net that held his hair, his earrings and his long crème velvet dress, he realized that he had never brought himself back in such a hurry.

Now in his jeans and his sweater with a big hood to cover his face – he better not be recognized in the streets, second rule, but this one was personal – he said his farewells to his best friend and got out of the nightclub through the backdoor. Taking the subway back home was the worst part of the job, especially during the winter, but knowing that his mother and sister were

waiting for him was worth the adventure. It had always been about them.

The lights were all out when he tiptoed inside the apartment. His mom and his sister shared a room and he took up the living room, sleeping on the only sofa bed they had. A beer would do him good before going to sleep, so he turned the kitchen’s light on and his eyes were dragged to the kitchen counter, and he stared at a glass of water with melted ice wetting the surface. A low growl escaped from his throat as he opened the refrigerator to get his beer.

Leaning on the sink, he stared at the glass of water for a while, the kitchen light making him squint a little bit. At his third sip of the bitter liquid, still staring at the iced glass of water, he smiled.

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Honorable Mention, Fiction, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2018

DESPAIR Michidael Ceard

Thighs open afraid of intruders. A castle they want to seize.

Her creamy legs are cuffed to white sheets. Shadows capture her and rule supreme.

Chaos, Mayra Cordero

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WOMEN ON SPANISH TELEVISION: REPRESENTATIONS IN UGLY BETTY, JANE THE VIRGIN AND MODERN FAMILY

Historically, analytic research on the portrayals of Latina women in the United States media has often been stereotypically hypersexualized. According to “Gender Representation in Contemporary Spanish Teen Films (2009-2014),” Spanish television often replicates cultural gender roles, and the degree of sexualization, is greater and more explicit in female characters than male ones (Hernandez, Dominguez, and Esteban). In this paper, I will examine how Spanish women and girls are portrayed in the shows Ugly Betty, Jane the Virgin, and Modern Family. These three are well-known shows that illustrate how Spanish-based television participates in influencing and reinforcing the universal gender role stereotypes put on Latina women and femininity. I will also be looking at how prescribed gender roles and performances affect teen’s behaviors and lead them to make questionable decisions due to the misrepresentation of cultured women in television.

“Femininity” has an array of meanings depending on how the word is being applied. One of the most common definitions of femininity is to possess womanly traits. Characteristics naturally associated with womanliness are submissiveness, mothering, and being emotional. Compared to masculinity, which is consistently described as having strength, dominance, and being unemotional, femininity is merely overlooked and automatically associated as the weaker sex that can be run over by the male species and exploited. This comparison holds true when observing how girls and young women are portrayed, especially in the media.

In Ugly Betty, which is created by Silvio Horta and Fernando Gaitan, the lead protagonist Betty Suarez, played by America Ferrera, is a Latina wannabe writer who gets her dream job at a fashion magazine, but the job is only given to her because she is so “ugly” that the boss’s son will not want to sleep with her. In this series, you come across many traditional Hispanic stereotypes, beginning with Betty still living at home with her family, despite being an adult with an aspiring career, and the fact that Betty’s father Ignacio is an illegal Mexican immigrant. These two hispanic family stereotypes have been seen time and time again. We run into the gender roles situation again when we take a look at Christina, another cultured woman whose job is to be a seamstress while the men in the show are either company owners, sex addicts, or immigrants. It is either one extreme or another between the sexes. Another paradigm spotted on the show is when Wilhelmina, a cultured fictional character, is portrayed to sacrifice her family, her ideals, and to belittle herself, just to rise to the top of the industry. This is a typical expectation of a Spanish woman in a man’s world. This show conveys sexist ideologies and cultural values in relation to gender roles and stereotypes of women on Spanish TV shows.

Similarly, in Jane the Virgin, created by Jennie Urman, you can see two additional “virtues” of Spanish womanhood – the undamaged virgin and the whore/Madonna Split. Jane’s grandmother,

Alba is teaching 10-year-old Jane the importance of her virginity and that losing it is something you can never take back once given away. She illustrates this by having Jane hold a white flower in her hand, telling her to crush it, and then telling her to make it look the way it did before. Obviously, this was impossible, and it left Jane scarred for years to come. This scene implies that Spanish women are expected to always keep their womanhood safe because that is all men want. Another stereotype that can be caught onto quickly is the way Jane’s mom, Xiomara is dressed. She is a 39-year-old Latina who meets all the criteria for a typical Spanish woman on television--thin, very active sex life with multiple men, and dressed in skimpy clothing.

On the other hand, Xiomara refers to her old high school friend, who is also her neighbor, as “Slutty Crystal”. She repeats this about three times in the first season and by the looks of it, a few more times throughout the series. This type of female criticism supports the sexual double standard and encourages young teen viewers that it is okay to refer to another person with such defaming vocabulary just to fit into their environment. The continuous repetition of how women are portrayed in Spanish television and the ways teen behavior can be affected by these clichés seems to be very apparent in this show.

Comparably, ABC’s American sitcom Modern Family created by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd is about a big straight, gay, multicultural, traditional, happy family. It begins by introducing Gloria, the typified Latina trophy wife who meets all the social norms for a Spanish woman on television. “Links among Familial Gender Ideology, Media Portrayal of Women, and Sexual Behaviors in Mexican American Adolescent Young Women” states, “In both Spanish and English media, Latina characters are sexualized more often than male characters are and are portrayed as having highly sexualized features like red lips, big bottoms, large hips, voluptuous bosoms, and small waists as well as wearing sexually suggestive fashion, such as high heels and seductive clothing” (Sanchez, Flannigan, and Guevara).

These exact descriptions is how Gloria looks. Another prime instance of Gloria’s portrayal as the typical Spanish woman on a show is the fact that she is much younger than her husband Jay as well as being a housewife; therefore, she carries the most parental responsibility. As mentioned in the article, “A Content Analysis of Social Groups in Prime-Time Spanish-Language Television,” in terms of occupations, men held more professional jobs whereas women held more support and service jobs, such as maids and waitresses (Mastro and Ortiz). Jay, Gloria’s husband, is a white male from Youngstown, Ohio who is also the proud owner of Pritchett Closets and Blinds. Gloria on the other hand, is a Latina woman from Barranquilla, Colombia who has been a hairdresser, a taxi driver (a support service to other people), and is now, as previously mentioned, a homemaker. These are the types of traditional gender roles that the media provides to all its viewers.

Among audience viewers are young adolescents. A study done between 2009 and 2014 concluded that the importance of how a character is defined in the audio-visual narrative, especially film products and those intended to teens is immense. They absorb stereotypical audio-visual models for men and women, and sexist messages they receive have consequences in shaping future societies (Hernandez, Dominguez, and Esteban). The representation of women in Spanish television in such a

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stereotypical light can have detrimental effects on the future adults of society.

All three shows look at how women are portrayed in Spanish themed shows and how certain prescribed gender roles affect teen’s behavior’s and lead them to make questionable choices caused by the falsification of cultured women in television. The fame brought onto these shows “suggests that the existing cultural scripts regarding sexual stereotypes of Latina women may have an important impact on dating choices and sexual behaviors among Hispanic young women” (Sanchez, Flannigan, Guevara). Jane the Virgin and Ugly Betty both find themselves in similar traditional familiar situations while Modern Family continuously proves that Latina characters are sexualized more often than not.

Each one of these shows has extraordinary plots that all share the same stereotypical portrayal of women on Spanish television.

Works Cited Álvarez-Hernández, C., et al. “Gender Representation in Contemporary Spanish Teen Films

(2009-2014).” Revista Latina De Comunicación Social, no. 70, Jan. 2015, pp. 934-960

EBSCOhost, doi:10.4185/RLCS-2015-1079en.

Horta, Silvio. Ugly Betty, ABC, 2006.

Lloyd, Christopher. Modern Family, 2009.

Mastro, Dana E., and Michelle Ortiz. “A content analysis of social groups in prime-time

Spanish-language television.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1 Mar. 2008,

p. 101+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.barry.edu/apps/doc

A177361652/AONE?u=miam50083&sid=AONE&xid=e7c5d982. Accessed 6 Oct. 2018.

Sanchez, Delida, et al. “Links among Familial Gender Ideology, Media Portrayal of Women, Dating, and Sexual Behaviors in African American, and Mexican American Adolescent Young Women: A Qualitative Study.” Sex Roles, vol. 77, no. 7-8, 2017, pp. 453–470., doi:10.1007/ s11199-017-0739-x.

Urman, Jennie Syner. Jane the Virgin, 2014. n

Dr. Helen Connell Film Essay Award 2019

Untitled 14, Tracy Perez

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GENDERING THE #METOO MOVEMENT

Sexual assault is an enormous national issue. Perpetrators do not discriminate against gender, age, race or social class when violating a victim, but the media will portray these crimes in a singular fashion. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, RAINN, is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. Through advocacy and resources, they carry out many programs to not only prevent sexual violence, but “help survivors and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice” (RAINN). Along with this work, RAINN publishes a yearly national statistical report on issues regarding sexual violence. It has been reported that in the United States, someone is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds (RAINN). A large percentage of those victims are statistically women.

RAINN reports that “1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime” (RAINN). To many American’s surprise, the national sexual assault statistics regarding men isn’t too far behind, with a report that “1 out of every 10 rape victims are male” (RAINN). The media, unfortunately, often minimizes this discrepancy.

The undeniable issue of sexual assault in our country has led to an outpour of activism and media coverage, especially in regard to the #MeToo movement. Although created in 2007, the #MeToo movement took off in late 2017 when women all throughout Hollywood came out against the big-time director, Harvey Weinstein, which led to a media frenzy. The powerful accusations inspired many other women to come out against their own abusers. While impressive and necessary, many have found faults in this movement and its focus. The article, “In the Labyrinth of #MeToo: Addressing Sexual Aggression and Power in Contemporary Society also means Questioning What the Feminist Movement Has Really Been About,” mentions some of the movements flaws. The author states that, “at least until quite recently, its focus was on celebrities harassing celebrities” (Gilbert 18). While the movement’s focus may have shifted into including every woman, it has still neglected to include a large group of individuals. That group is men.

Due to these flaws, the #MeToo movement has left a significant number of individuals feeling as if they did not deserve to be part of such a motion. Many people had trouble distinguishing whether their story was worth telling. Often, people questioned the honesty of the female and whether or not the men were at fault in some of the accusations. A lot of people felt left out and confused. Some people might start to “expect young men to say #Who, me?” (Gilbert 21).

Gilbert questions, “even #MeToo, with its powerful and righteous emphasis on sexual assault- is this what feminism is about?” (21). The exclusion and lack of advocacy for male victims is one of the most undeniable flaws throughout this entire movement.

Amongst the multiple female celebrities who have become pioneers in the #MeToo movement, the media largely focused on Asia Argento, an Italian actress, director and singer.

Argento was one of the females who fiercely came out against Harvey Weinstein and accused him

of sexual assault. She became a huge advocate and supporter for all individuals who were victims of such heinous acts. It wasn’t until August 2018, that the tables turned, and Argento herself was accused of sexual assault by a young male named Jimmy Bennet. He was an aspiring young actor who was working alongside Argento on a film. Bennett claims that he was sexually assaulted by Argento when he was just 17 years old while she was 37. Amidst the scandal, New York Times reported that Argento, “quietly arranged to pay $380,0000 to her own accuser: Jimmy Bennett,” in order to ensure that he would keep quiet about the situation. Bennett also declined to be interviewed by any media outlets and announced he’d rather deal with his situation privately.

This scandal gained a ton of media attention and brought up a huge fault in the #MeToo movement. Michael Arceneux wrote an article for Glamour magazine titled, “If We Want Men to Be a Part of #MeToo, We Have to Stop Gendering the Movement”. The article articulates the idea that, “if we want men to be a part of the movement, we need to acknowledge that they too can be victims” (Arceneux). The problem is, society and the media have difficulty grasping that reality. Arcenuex states that, “the truth is, most men are forced to handle assault or harassment privately- men are not allowed to be victims. In fact, men praise boys when they are sexually assaulted by older women. It’s embedded in our slang (cougar, MILF) and our pop culture influencers” (Arceneuex). This ideology has led to mocking of male sexual assault survivors. For instance, rapper 50 cent horrifically mocked Terry Crews on Instagram, after Crews bravely came forward about being groped by a Hollywood executive (Arceneux).

We have seen other male celebrities including musician Chad Bennington, MLB player R.A. Dickey, NHL star Theo Fleury and even Tyler Perry talk about their past sexual trauma. An article released by NBC News highlights some of their experiences, including Andrew Schmutzer, a professor of biblical studies at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Schmutzer states, “as a male survivor you’re always an adjunct. You’re never the leading subject of a conversation” (nbcnews.com).

The stigmatization of male sexual assault survivors is portrayed and promoted by the media outlets.

Male sexual assault is often stigmatized. The article, “An Intersectional Approach to Understanding Stigma Associated with Male Sexual Assault Victimization,” portrays many of the issues that follows with this type of societal stigmatization. “Throughout popular media, there are stories about people being victimized because they are seen different from the majority of people in society” (Ralston 283). To this day, we are part of a male dominated culture where women are still seen inferior in many aspects of life.

On the contrary, men are often pressured from many different outlets, including media, pop culture, music and film to maintain and portray this masculine identity. This ideology may contribute to the reasoning that “men are 1.5 times less likely to report sexual assault victimization compared to women” (Ralston 283). Male victims of sexual assault tend to internalize these incidences in a specific manner. The article states that “male victims face multiple levels of victimization, including the victimization of the male by the perpetrator, rejection and stigmatization by family, friends and society, internalization and self-blame, and the continued negative reaction by society reinforces the self-blaming” (Ralston 283). While it is difficult for any

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victim of sexual assault to tell their truth, society has yet to portray a safe haven for men with this experience.

From birth, men and women are expected and taught how to behave according to societal and cultural norms. Unfortunately, today’s media illustrates how “dominant cultural narratives of hegemonic masculinity become pervasive in pop- culture and thus reify our beliefs surrounding male and female gender roles” (Phillips 262). This portrayal of gender roles makes it difficult to break the cycle of male induced violence. It also makes it difficult for men to come forward when some type of abuse has been aimed at them. The inclusion of men in the movement may help aid in ending violence against women while ending the shame that comes along with men having the same experience.

The Voice Male Magazine is an in-print publication that proclaims itself as “male positive, profeminist and open- minded” (Phillips 259). The article, “Engaging Men and Boys in Conversations About Gender Violence: Voice Male Magazine Using Vernacular Rhetoric as Social Resistance”, focuses on the male’s role in ending violence against women, children, and other men. Statistically, in acts of violence and sexual assault, men are represented as the perpetrator, while women as the victim. This does not necessarily mean society has to exclude men from the female dominated movement.

Works Cited Arceneaux, Michael. “If We Want Men to Be a Part of #MeToo, We Have to Stop Gendering the Movement.” Glamour, Glamour Magazine, 28 Aug. 2018, www.glamour.com/story/me- too-movement-men-sexual-assault-survivors.

Gilbert, Sandra. “In the Labyrinth of #Metoo: Addressing Sexual Aggression and Power in Contemporary Society Also Means Questioning What the Feminist Movement Has Really Been About.” American Scholar, vol. 87, no. 3, 2018, pp. 14-25.

Phillips, Joshua Daniel. “Engaging Men and Boys in Conversations About Gender Violence: Voice Male Magazine Using Vernacular Rhetoric as Social Resistance.” The Journal of Men’s Studies, vol. 20, no. 3, 2012, p. 258- 273.

“Some Male Sexual Assault Victims Feel Left behind by #MeToo.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/some-male-sexual-assault-victims-feel-leftbehind-metoo-n867386.

RAINN. “Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics.” Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics |

RAINN, www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence Ralston, Kevin M. “An Intersectional Approach to Understanding Stigma Associated with Male

Sexual Assault Victimization.” Sociology Compass, vol. 6, no. 4, 2012, pp. 283-292. n

First Place, Essay, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2019

Untitled 1-7, Alexandra Tercius

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BARRIERS UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS FACE WHEN REACHING HIGHER EDUCATION

Imagine being brought to the United States as a young child without having the choice to come here. Many undocumented immigrant students are in this situation that they live with every day. Parents bring their children to the United States for a better life and more opportunities especially being educated. By law, undocumented immigrants are able to attend school from Pre-k-12th grade (Olivas, 2012). However, after 12th grade, there is minimal opportunities for undocumented immigrants to attend postsecondary education. This makes going to college difficult because of their status. Undocumented immigrant students face many barriers when it comes to postsecondary education, such as not having enough availability of outreach efforts/information assisting them, financial aid/money, and laws that prevent them from going to college.

The status of undocumented immigrants can be problematic when it comes to applying and attending college. There are not a lot of colleges that undocumented immigrants can apply for because of the high tuition they are unable to pay. However, there are some colleges that have extended their opportunities to undocumented immigrants to reach postsecondary education but this is not the case for every college or every undocumented student. According to Nienhusser (2014) only 17 States permit certain undocumented immigrants to pay reduced tuition. Most of the colleges undocumented immigrants are able to attend are community colleges instead of private or public colleges. This does not include every state or every college which causes a problem of reaching postsecondary education for undocumented immigrants. There are many undocumented immigrants who want to achieve postsecondary education, but are hindered from doing so because of tuition and their citizenship status.

Undocumented students do not have enough availability of outreach efforts and information assisting them in postsecondary education. There is not adequate or accurate information given to undocumented students in the college admission process (Nienhusser, 2014). Not having the correct information to apply to college, makes it difficult for undocumented immigrants to know valuable information so that they can reach postsecondary education. There are also college staff who are insensitive towards undocumented students who do not care to provide information to them and discourage them from accessing the answers they need regrading financial aid, courses, and more (Nienhusser, 2014). Undocumented immigrant students are at a disadvantage because they are not receiving the proper information to reach their goals that prevents them from achieving postsecondary education.

College administrators should begin to understand that ignoring and refraining from giving undocumented students the information they need is pushing them to the margins of society.

Asking for Social Security numbers for nonfederal scholarships and resources has a huge impact on undocumented immigrant students. Undocumented students do not take advantage of resources

and services from colleges because they fear people will know their status (Muñoz, 2013). College administrators should be able to understand what undocumented immigrants go through and be considerate of students who want to continue their education. There should also be one-on-one counseling between college officials and undocumented students to address their needs (Nienhusser, 2014). Overall, colleges should provide resources for undocumented students to learn more about their institutions and assist them in reaching their goals of attending college.

Additionally, undocumented immigrants face the barrier of paying for postsecondary education because they are ineligible to apply for financial aid and in-state tuition. Undocumented immigrants do not qualify for any federal financial aid programs (Nienhusser, 2014). By not being able to receive federal grants, it is difficult to pay the cost to attend college. Many undocumented students are unable to secure employment to offset the cost of tuition. Even students who are able to find work are often paid below the minimum wage (Muñoz, 2013). Since undocumented immigrants are unable to make a sufficient amount of money, they are unable to pay for college which makes it unfair for them not to be able to receive financial aid to attend college.

Undocumented immigrants could create many benefits for the United States economy if they are able to pay in-state tuition and receive scholarships. According to Rincón (2010), in-state tuition laws would allow undocumented students to add to the American economy by increasing employers’ profits, state and national budgets. Others argue that in-state tuition laws a preserving “American culture” and “sound values” (Rincón , 2010). If undocumented immigrants are able to pay in-state tuition they are able to obtain a college degree which according to Muñoz (2010), gives some undocumented immigrants a “sense of strength” and “confidence.” In-state tuition would help undocumented immigrant students achieve their dream of attending college.

There should be laws enacted and expanded to support immigrants wanting to reach postsecondary education such as DACA and the DREAM Act. By expanding these laws, undocumented immigrants would be able to fight their deportation and be able to stay in the U.S. to go to college (Rincón, 2010). Undocumented immigrant students should have the opportunity to be educated since they are living in the U.S. and not face discrimination based on their status. Students who already have DACA are scared that since it is temporary, it is constraining their opportunities for higher education and leaves them with the perception that education is not for them (Sahey & Thatcher, 2016). There should be the continuation and expansion of laws and programs that help aid undocumented immigrants in postsecondary education.

DACA is more important to expand and keep for undocumented immigrant students for many reasons. Since the DREAM Act was not passed in congress, Obama signed DACA to become the alternative (Sahey & Thatcher, 2016). DACA aims to provide undocumented immigrant students with citizenship (Sahey & Thatcher, 2016). Providing undocumented students with citizenship would help them when it comes to postsecondary education. However, through DACA, undocumented immigrants are not entitled to all the benefits U.S. citizens receive. One benefit they are unable to receive is federal financial aid. However, under the new presidential administration, President Trump ended DACA, which contributes to the barrier undocumented immigrants face when

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wanting to reach postsecondary education (Krieg, 2018).

Undocumented immigrant students are often scared to apply to college and for scholarships because of their status. They are afraid to share their immigration status with education officials (Nienhusser, 2014). By being afraid, this prevents them from seeking resources to access postsecondary education. In addition, many scholarships require Social Security information which is something undocumented immigrants do not have (Muñoz, 2013). This is another factor that causes fear when it comes to postsecondary education. According to a study by Muñoz (2013), the undocumented immigrants she interviewed felt helplessness, frustrated and ashamed when it came to their legal status. This has a huge impact on their success in postsecondary education.

Undocumented students become stressed and feel anxiety in the whole college process.

In conclusion, undocumented immigrant students should have the right to achieve postsecondary education and receive the same opportunities as U.S. citizen students. It is unfair for undocumented students to be educated until the 12th grade. Education goes beyond the 12th grade on to college. They face many barriers just to achieve postsecondary education. College administrators should become more sensitive towards undocumented students and provide them with the information they need. There should be scholarships and financial aid available for undocumented students to attend college. DACA and the Dream Act should not be abolished because they help thousands of undocumented immigrants reach their dreams of attending college and remaining the United States. Instead, DACA should be kept and the Dream Act should be passed in congress. The lack of access to postsecondary education for undocumented students prevents them from contributing many great things to the American society and economy.

MISGUIDED REPRESENTATION OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY IN FILM Destiny Ricks

References Krieg, G. (2018, March 05). Someone please remind Trump that he ended DACA. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/17/politics/donald-trump-daca-blame-thewall/index.html Muñoz, S.,M. (2013). “I just can’t stand being like this anymore”: Dilemmas stressors and motivators for undocumented mexican women in higher education. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 50(3), 233-249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jsarp-2013-0018 Retrieved from https:// search.proquest.com/docview/1703448962?accountid=13738 Nienhusser, H. K. (2014). Role of community colleges in the implementation of postsecondary education enrollment policies for undocumented students.Community College Review, 42(1), 3-22. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1477574449?accountid=13738 Rincón, A. (2010). ¡Sí se puede! Journal of College Admission, (206), 13-18. Retrieved from https://

search.proquest.com/docview/219110904?accountid=13738 Sahay, K. M., & Thatcher, K. (2016). “It’s Like We Are Legally, Illegal”: Latino/a Youth Emphasize Barriers to Higher Education Using Photovoice. . The University of North Carolina Press .

Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=a9h&AN=119182261 &site=ehost-live

On September 25, 2015, Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich, was released for public viewing in the US, where it immediately received negative criticism. The criticism was mainly targeted towards the script, production design, and the lack of respect given to the non-white characters in the film. In the New York Times, Stephen Holden states that “its invention of a generic white knight who prompted the riots by hurling the first brick into a window is tantamount to stealing history from the people who made it” (Holden para. 5). Not only did the film receive generally negative commentary, it was also a box office failure. According to Box Office Mojo, Stonewall only made $187,674 from a $17 million budget. Often times, a film may be successful in the amount of money it makes, yet it can receive negative reviews. One of Roland Emmerich’s own films, Godzilla, made $379 million on a $130 budget, yet it received generally negative reviews from critics.

The rhetoric of Godzilla is more of an action, blockbuster film that audiences can turn their mind off for, yet Stonewall was given no excuse for its own rhetoric, being that it is a small, indie film.

Stonewall’s failure to translate both commercially and critically raises the question of Emmerich’s rhetorical choices and possibly his inexperience in a more eclectic, artistic film that caused the film to translate poorly to the audience, or for the audience to be put off by Emmerich’s change of pace.

According to Walter M. Frank, “The first night of the Stonewall riots was extraordinary in that it marked one of the rare times in all of the sixties protests, including the anti-Vietnam War and civil rights protests, in which the rioters got the better of the police” (Frank 33). Using Frank’s meaning of the Stonewall riots, a writer or director could use this to exhibit a more rebellious vibe to the film. Their rhetoric would be targeted towards the civilians’ triumph over the police and the political implications of that triumph. Roland Emmerich’s rhetoric is more flashy and stylized in terms of the visuals for his movies, which is characterized by The Day After Tomorrow and 2012. He is used to often pleasing the mainstream audience with the typical formula for blockbuster, action movies: a lot of action and explosions, mildly attractive leads, and a happy ending. This formula cannot be applied to small drama films, which Stonewall would be categorized as due to its subject matter and much smaller budget. Instead of trying to take the formula he uses for his blockbuster films, Emmerich maybe should have been more open to new ideas and different ways to portray the topic he wanted. In Coming Out to the Mainstream: New Queer Cinema in the 21st Century, B. Ruby Rich “…proposes that these ‘new queer films’ are ‘bringing the self out of the closet, annexing whole new genres, revising histories in their own image,’ and, seemingly most impressive of all, rapidly becoming ‘the ‘in’ thing’, such that you don’t have to be queer ‘to get the picture’” (Jones and Juett 2). The idea of ‘queer cinema’ was first emphasized in the 1980s and the 1990s and being more open about homosexuality and its portrayal to the mainstream audience. Jones and Juett both emphasize the new meaning of being ‘queer’ and what ‘queer’ may mean to other people. They claim

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that,“…the term “queer” became an increasingly prominent term of positive self-identification, yet far from simply a newly fashionable term to denote a commonality of identity among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people” (Jones and Juett 4). As time goes by, the idea of ‘queer cinema’ has transformed into LGBT films.

LGBT films have recently started to translate well with the mainstream audience, with films like Milk (2008) and Blue is the Warmest Color (2013) both receiving widespread critical acclaim. Milk is a biographical film based on the gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California. Blue is the Warmest Color is a French coming-of-age drama film about a French teenager who finds freedom with a blue-haired aspiring painter. Both films were notably praised for their raw performances and stellar writing. Even though depictions of the the LGBT community has been a somewhat of a controversial topic in the US, especially in recent years, audiences always love a good story. Milk and Blue is the Warmest Color are wholly different, yet they both tackle key tropes in the film industry--one tells the story of an activist and politician and his struggles and achievements, while the other tells a coming-of-age love story. Because these films took both of these tropes and addressed them so well, the audience was more open to the LGBT aspect of it.

Where Milk and Blue is the Warmest Color succeeded, Stonewall ultimately failed. While Stonewall tells the story of an important point in history, it falls flat in other aspects, such as how to tell the story. One main criticism of the film was the unknown identity that Stonewall portrayed, being that the audience was not sure if Stonewall was more of a blockbuster film or an artistic, indie film. Emmerich unsuccessfully tries to combine the two. Richard Lawson from Vanity Fair faults the director, Roland Emmerich for taking “one of the most politically charged periods of the last century” and making it into “a bland, facile coming-of-age story.” This implies that Roland Emmerich’s inexperience with historical films, especially one of deep importance not only to the history of the LGBT community but to the history of the US as a whole, caused him to falter in the making of the film. He took different conventions of his well-known blockbuster films such as the usually Caucasian male lead, action, and an ethnic character as the comic relief and applied it to Stonewall. The casting of Jeremy Irvine was immediately criticized and Lawson claims that the film shows the riots through a “white, bizarrely heteronormative lens”. He also points out that even though they portray Marsha P. Johnson, an African American drag queen and gay liberation activist, the role is played as comic relief. Emmerich taking common tropes used in his own films and trying to apply it to a wholly different genre of film may have triggered the mainstream audience and the LGBT community to immediately turn on the film following the trailer’s initial release.

A movement often compared with the gay rights movement is the women’s rights movement, also becoming known as the feminist movement in recent years. While one movement should not be compared to the other in their importance, the feminism movement has received criticism and it is often dubbed as “women complaining” rather than an important problem in society. In Queer Cinema: Schoolgirls, Vampires, and Gay Cowboys, Barbara Caroline Mennel tries to synthesize the two movements by declaring, ““The women’s movement, the demands for free love and liberated

sexuality, and the Stonewall rebellion appear in unrecognizable traces, emptied of explicit politics…”(Mennel 52). Because of extremist feminists, there is often a misconception that women of the feminist movement want to be above men and over the years, feminists had to work hard to emphasize that they just want women to be equal to men. Often in the history of film, women have been made to walk a fine line in the portrayal of their character. Ursula Frederick and Silke Andris point this out by saying, “It is difficult to see why a ‘true female action hero’ must embody the traditional feminine qualities of being “nurturing, loving, sexual, vulnerable, and feminine’ as well as embody traditional male qualities of heroism, that is, kick-ass aggression and violence” (Andris and Frederick 30). This common struggle of women’s portrayal in film leads to postmodernism being combined with feminism to find a common ground.

In Feminist Film Studies: Writing the Woman into Cinema, McCabe asserts, “Feminist inquiry into race and representation grew out of a wider encounter between feminism and postmodernism…” (McCabe 65). McCabe’s assertion implies the synthesizing of feminism and postmodernism into film, and the way women, and especially women of color, are portrayed in a film. While feminism advocates for women to be represented accurately and not as a caricature, postmodernism rebels against general representations of women in any format. While these two movements have been making steps throughout the film industry, another common criticism of the feminism and women’s rights movement is erasing women of color from the history of the liberation movements. A recent film, Suffragette, is criticized for doing this even though it received mostly positive reviews overall. The rhetoric of film-making is complicated especially when it comes to portraying historical events; the creative team behind a film often decide to address one issue, but completely erase a key aspect of the event. Films often have to choose between being faithful to a historical topic and teaching people about important parts of history or appealing to the mainstream audience to date. With Stonewall and Suffragette, both fail to address the ethnic parties that were present at key events and played a pivotal role in the movement. For example, Jeremy Irvine responded to concerns about racial representation in Stonewall much of the backlash had been targeted towards the trailer wherein Irvine’s character seemingly throws the first brick that starts the Stonewall riots. He wrote on his Instagram account that “it is a fictional black transvestite character… who pulls out the 1st brick in the riot scene.” While this is true, Irvine’s character is actually the one taking action and throwing the first brick that starts the riot. This portrays a higher problem within the movie industry, regarding racial roles. Even though there are ethnic characters in the background of the film, audiences want to see them portrayed as taking action, not instigating and then stepping down from the fight to let someone else take over. While Suffragette has the advantage over Stonewall of favorable reviews, both films can be a lesson to the movie industry.

Audiences are no longer willing to be complacent with something they disagree with and movies will never draw those audiences in, if they do not address the key issues.

The portrayal of a certain character is complicated to execute, especially when the portrayal needs to be faceted instead of stereotyped and typical to the classical representations of that character. What may have confused Emmerich’s rhetoric was the identification of the film-

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blockbuster or indie, drama or comedy. Frederick and Andris state, “Central to the heroine’s journey of self-discovery is her awareness of her new identity, which is in a state of fluidity and change” (Andris and Frederick 24). While a character’s awareness of their own identity is essential, this statement can be applied to films as well, and the people working behind a film. A writer or director needs to know the identity of the film they are making so that can lead to a greater discovery and representation. Their rhetoric relies on the identification of the film and how they choose to present that to the audience. Yet overall, the rhetoric of filmmaking is a complicated art that not only relies on the artistic value and success of the film, but also on the audience’s perspective because they are the ones paying to see a movie and what makes it successful. There are often times where a film, may not be critically successful, but it succeeds at the box office or vice versa. But the movie industry is moving into an era where audiences are becoming less and less willing to accept “cash-grab” films, and especially inaccurate portrayals of history. If studio executives in Hollywood don’t accept these new expectations and desires from their own audience, they will soon find themselves swept away into the dust.

Works Cited Andris, Silke and Frederick, Ursula. Women Willing to Fight: The Fighting Woman in Film.

Newcastle, UK. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2007. Print.

Frank, Walter. Law and the Gay Rights Story: The Long Search for Equal Justice in a Divided

Democracy. New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers University Press. 2017. Print.

Jones, David M. and Juett, JoAnne C. Coming Out to the Mainstream: New Queer Cinema in the

21st Century. Newcastle upon Tyne. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2010. Print.

McCabe, Janet. Feminist Film Studies: Writing the Woman into Cinema. London, England.

Wallflower Press. 2004. Print.

Mennel, Barbara Caroline. Queer Cinema: Schoolgirls, Vampires, and Gay Cowboys. London,

England. Columbia University Press. 2012. Print. n

Dr. Helen Connell Film Essay Award 2018

Untitled 3, Anndi Partridge

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A VISUAL ANALYSIS OF ROCK MUSIC AND THE HYSTERIA OF WOMEN DURING THE BEATLES ERA

There have been many iconic eras in the 20th century, but few have been filled with starstruck shrieks and mobs of overly excited teenage girls. When the Beatles first appeared on the radio, little did the world know the impact they would make on the music industry. Their songs struck chords in women’s hearts and inspired waves of musicians and styles of music that we enjoy today.

Although the Beatles were a superb group of musicians, filled with brilliance beyond their time, they are not solely responsible for their success. The power and influence of femininity has played a key role in the band’s success. Their music was articulated, rightfully so, in a way that it merged the chemical romance of masculine and feminine identity at the time. This monumental revolution provided amped enthusiasm and conscious creation. This paper will further examine the significance of rock music and other distinct countercultural groups, the rise of feminine romanticism, and the hysteric fandom that granted the Beatle’s success.

Rebellion of the 60’s era granted coverage for the worldwide spread of freedom. Rock music provided a counterculture of philosophical views that initiated a transformation within the collective of society. Smith and Inglis state, “the social benefits of belonging to a community of like-minded peers are among the most persistently cited reasons for immersion in fan culture” (311).

This is a remark on the behalf of social activities that were conducted in correspondence to the Deadhead community. The Grateful Dead were a 60’s revivalist jam band with measures to realign what it means to be a human being. Similar to the Beatles, this band propounded a revolution of divine altercation within society. The premise of their imprint upon their fans were the loyalty and dedication the followers faced when fixated on the ethereal effects of the musical magic that these artists produced. Rohr adds, “…screams constituted as a rebellion against the gendered norms of public behavior governing the era as well as a precursor to the also gendered social, cultural, sexual, and political rebellions of the 1960s” (1). In other words, rock music within the 60’s movement offered a chain of reactive voice engines. Not just through the screams and shrieks of fandom, but through the voices of humanhood. Other musicians during the 60’s like Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service were subsequent reflections of the hippy movement, curating timeless musical imprints of their fandom. Above all, the Beatles and these rock musicians led a revolution of typical rejection upon what is “normal,” by creating an alliance with their fans rather than a “music-led production” and a “fan-led consumption” (Smith and Inglis 1). The 60’s era encouraged fans to be affectionately nostalgic and to question their humanness in a way which allowed freedom to take reign. Within the liberation of humanity, femininity became a vibrant topic that the Beatles welcomed into the world.

The Beatles initiated equality through their curiosity in the romanticism of femininity. As an all-male group, their reflection upon the world held great magnitude. Men were dominating the

corporate and political world, and even the musical world. Female groups such as the Shirlelles were known to sing songs titled, “Hold Me Tight,” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” which signify a male-dominant possessiveness. The Beatles, however, curated a “semiotic sphere of language” (Bradby 361) through acts of performing covers to female-girl group songs. By this, Bradby says that songs have a change in meaning when sung by a different gender. Bradby does so by applying analysis to the feminine and masculine position in bi-gendered discourse to redirect the androgynous thought that trails the Beatles’ identity. Clearly stated and well-articulated, Bradby draws evidence from numerous songs between 1950-1970 and formulates charts to merge pronouns with their respective mode and to announce the idea of the impossibility of androgyny. The song, “She Loves You” is a prime example of reporting the discourse of active female desire. The song reads, “She said she loves you,” which, in other words, translates as “She said, ‘I love him.” The pronoun “him” is what allows the female to escape the restriction of the “you-me” binary. The Beatles were seen as androgynous because they chose to sing covers of many female girl groups such as the Chiffons and the Shirlelles because they were fascinated by the romanticism that the women expressed. By changing the gender of the subject singer, the songs were told in a dichotomy, that was dictated by discourse. A quote reads, “One of the most successful songs of all time represents men as actually saying to each other that women wanted them to” (Bradby 361). This is an implication of feminization, through dialogue rather than impersonation, Bradby adds. In other words, the Beatles recreating female lyrics brought an equivalence in nature rather than a merging.

A complete male group discourse whom impersonated female musicians allowed for feminine energy to be exalted. Hysteric women provided the Beatles the ability to rise in stardom.

The cultural uprising of the Beatles brought a significant wave to the feminine identity. Through the shouts, screams, and intensified fandom of many female followers, the rock era promulgated simplicity through the vibration of sound. A gendered justification promotes that without the hysteria of a woman, the rock era would never have made its debut. ‘Beatlemania is described as a coined term by the British press” (Rohr 2) to describe the intensified shrieks and chaos that formed because of the Beatle’s upbringing. This revolution was a rebellion within a rebellion. The 60’s were a time of avid creativity, sexual flexibility, and gendered equality. The Beatles brought a fancied version of everything that was already imminent. They enhanced the economic, political, social, cultural, and sexual paradigms that existed. “It introduces conflict into a form of singing typically associated with its opposite- “harmony” singing- and can well be heard as representing and anticipating the extraordinary social difficulties that emerged around feminine/female identity from the early 1960s on, as women took on a whole new phase of the management of human reproduction and sexuality (Bradby 364).Young women were kicking and screaming and creating chaos among cities, producing the conundrum of acting less than “ladylike.” “While these girls were characterized as acting hysterical on account of their gender (especially when considering the origins of the word hysterical as a condition unique to women, from the Greek hystera, meaning womb) they rejected many of the confines of their gender in their protracted neglect for the rules governing public behavior and gendered expectations of public expression” (Bradby 5). The word has been directed

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towards women from the primordial origin of the word. Voluntarily, without a female role during the upbringing of the Beatles, the 60’s rock band may have never acquired such a fame.

The Beatles created a whirl of imagination through their psychedelic art form such as sound.

They wooed their female audience and correlated a synergistic reiteration of certain female discourse songs that changed the way feminization is seen through the realm of music. Other bands such as the Grateful dead rose to impede a counterculture of vast non-conformity which allowed people across America to revamp their consciousness into a laid back, unfettered, and cosmic state. These “hippie” movements curated a radical redefinition of morality through the power of personal choice.

The music of this time allowed for opportunities of shared connection, intimacy, and compassion.

Most importantly, this revolution created a community among others. A unified sense of source, through transformations of self-love, experience, and musical adherence. A female fandom created the rock era in the 60’s to evolve with magnitude. Without the screams and shrieks of the feminine, the Beatles would not have seen the type of fame they were bestowed. A connection between the masculine and feminine through the musicality of the treble clef, has left an imprint of curiosity that will stand the test of time.

Works Cited Bradby, Barbara. “She Told Me What to Say: The Beatles and Girl-Group Discourse.” Popular Music & Society, vol. 28, no. 3, July 2005, pp. 359–390. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/03007760500105180 Rohr, Nicolette. “Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Sixties Screamscape of Beatlemania.” Journal of Popular Music Studies (Wiley-Blackwell), vol. 29, no. 2, June 2017, p. n/a-N.PAG. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/ jpms.12213.

Smith, Peter, and Ian Inglis. “A Long Strange Trip: The Continuing World of European Deadheads.”

Popular Music & Society, vol. 36, no. 3, July 2013, pp. 305–326. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/0300776 6.2013.798542. n

Honorable Mention, Essay, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2019

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MASQUERADE Stephanie Torres

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was the holy grail of my childhood; day after day, I would patiently wait for my mother to finish cleaning the house to watch the only show that was in English: Sesame Street. Even now, I have the theme song “Elmo’s World” stuck in my head. “¿Stephanie quieres ver ‘Cesami Es-street?” (Stephanie do you want to see “Cesami Es-street”?), this was the common phrase my mother would say daily. Sesame Street was never pronounced in my household the way typical all-American family would, but rather a unique English that cut corners with Spanish phonetics. Once I started to go to public school, located in the heart of Tamiami, Florida, my Hispanic accent with my broken English was never questioned since the school population was Hispanic. However, the day that switched to the “privileged kid” school, located in a dominate American area, my elongated “Es” sounds mixed with Spanglish (a mixture of Spanish and English) became improper. My English teachers would always pull me aside and tell me that I needed to start reading more books and listening to English programs to develop familiarization with the proper way to speak English.

Eradicating the glossy golden mask with pearl embellishments, depended on the type of masquerade one attends sincerely, becomes a full-time job of “code-switching”; code-switching is when one switches their vernacular language depending on the setting. “Say what? Watch your language” by James Hill (1997) a writer for the Chicago Tribune describes how, his personal experience as an African American in a private school leads him to understand that Ebonics is not a language. For instance, Hill (1997, p.1) discusses how “‘axe” is a form of Ebonics for “ask.” This use of Ebonics makes Hill (1997, p.1) “cringe,” but he reaffirms that just because he cringes at Ebonics does not make him an “uppity middle-class brother who has forgotten his roots.” His appeal to pathos serves to remind the reader that even though he assimilated to the proper way of speaking English, he is still tied to his roots of a symbolic African American “brother.” Hill even states that this decision to accept Ebonics is a cover-up for receiving state funds and the fact schools have “given up on educating students” (1997, p.2) who use Ebonics. Although Hill’s argument echoes how the school system cheats to retain funds that assist low-income schools, versus the private institution, where school funds come in left and right. Though Ebonics directly refers to African Americans, Ebonics is not only developed within African American communities as Denise Barron (1997) states in “Hooked in Ebonics.” Barron (1997, p.1) claims that “Ebonics is not only a black thing,” but that, “A significant number of whites, Hispanics, and Asian Americans” who live and work closely together speak dialects that can be characterized as “black English.” Language ranks class and leaves individuals to assimilate or associate by wearing a mask that hides their bare face.

Moreover, identity is the what defines individuals with categories, while language is the methods humans use to communicate or write. Based on these two definitions one can implicitly state that our method of communication certainly defines an individual with a label. TedEx speaker Robyn Griffen (2015) in her presentation “Identifying Yourself through Language” draws parallels

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between linguistics and identity through a personal anecdote. She states how co-workers would label her as American because of her accent. Even though she was an American by association, she was Canadian by heart and birth. She states how local vernacular linguistics identify us by using the word labor. She states, “word choice and diction identify the region or area we are from”. “If one spells labor as “L-A-B-O-R” one must have the dialect “of an American” since the Canadian and British English spell labor “L-A-B-O-U-R”. Griffen (n.p) implicitly addresses that “black communities face labeling” by their accent or even use of Ebonics. David D. Troutt (1997), a professor of law at Rutgers University would agree with Griffen (2015) in his blog “Defining who we are in society”.Troutt (1997, p.1) states “nothing defines us more than our linguistic skills” and brings up the same issue Hill (1997) does in “Say what? Watch your language”: Oakland School Board decision on recognizing Ebonics as a language “facilitates exclusion”, rather than “inclusion” (Troutt,1997, p.1) . Troutt explicitly states how those who speak standard English which Griffen identifies as “L-A-B-O-R,” “entitles us to access, membership and social riches.” Troutt (1997, p.12) writes “Ebonics lowers the English standard” by leaving a “separate-but-equal” education that was deemed “unconstitutional” in the United States in “Brown V. Board of Education.” However, separate-but-equal education is unconstitutional, but we disregard the fact that it still exists by wearing a mask to make us feel somewhat equal.

Regardless, of putting the whimsical façade to one’s identity by, a literal and figurative mask—once the masquerade is done, one is left to encounter the face in the mirror--one that you cannot wash away. Your roots can be hidden by the desire not to be classed by your identity, but “separate-but-equal” environments only create a lack of self-identity. “Cesami Es-street” still defines who I am in this world as a Hispanic regardless of wanting or un-wanting the label. Linguistically, being defined by bias, leaves me to wonder how a world craving zero judgment or labels still prefers the golden mask with embellishments.

References Baron, D. (1997, January 24). “Do you speak American? American Varieties: African American English Hooked on Ebonics.” Retrieved October 04, 2018, from https://www.pbs.org/speak/ seatosea/americanvarieties/AAVE/hooked/ Griffen, R. (2015, August 07). Retrieved October 04, 2018, from https://youtu.be/mr68goQ1d0s Hill, J. (1997). “Say What? Watch Your Language” (Francisco Examiner). Chicago: Tribune Troutt, D. D. (1997, January 12). Defining Who We Are in Society. Retrieved October 8, 2018, from http://articles.latimes.com/1997-01-12/opinion/op-17852_1_standardenglish

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MACHISMO, SEXISM AND GENDER ROLES SHAPE THE DOMINICAN MALE IDENTITY Sarah Ruiz

Yunior, the main character of Junot Diaz’s This is How You Lose Her, says “I’m not a bad guy. I know that sounds-defensive, unscrupulous-but it’s true... Magdalena disagrees though. She considers me a typical Dominican man: a sucio, an asshole.” Yunior’s statement sets the tone of a woman’s view of men which is being “sucio” and an “asshole.” This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz is about the love life of Yunior. Each chapter consists of his experiences and lessons he has learned via his interactions with different girlfriends and women in his life. These experiences were romantic and sexual experiences. Yunior’s brother Rafa, has had an impact on Yunior’s love life by influencing him to treat women in a sexist way and encourage him to cheat on every single girlfriend he has ever had. Yunior and other male characters show constant themes of what it is to be a man in the Dominican culture. Based on analysis, it becomes evident that machismo, sexism, and gender roles shape the Dominican male identity in a way that reinforces the patriarchal society of the Dominican community through the differences between men and women.

Dominican males represent being machismo by dehumanizing women and being tough.

Dominican males have the mindset of dehumanizing women because of the patriarchal society they grow up and live in. In fact, “Díaz himself is highly critical of what he describes as the strongly segregated masculine world he grew up in; he denounces the demands that are put on men’s public personas as having to embody constantly a stance of being “tough and constantly aggressive,” and finds that “the entire culture leads us toward dehumanizing women in our imaginations” (Horn 135).

This is the cause of the dehumanizing mindset and actions of machismo. According to Yaworski, other components of the machismo identity are “authority, confidence, coolness and sexual success” (149). These components are what Dominican men follow and act upon, which includes demonstrating being tough and macho so women and other men view them as authoritative. Rafa demonstrated his authority and toughness over his girlfriend. “He’d get so mad at her sometimes that he dragged her around the parking lot by her hair. Once her pants came unbuttoned and got yanked down to her ankles and we could all see her toto and everything” (Diaz 95). Rafa exerts his control over his girlfriend, thus machismo men are aggressive towards their girlfriends to show who them that they are in charge. This contributes to the differences between men and women because men want women to view themselves as submissive and obedient to their male counterparts and if they fail, they will face consequences such as being dragged by the hair. Another example of toughness is the way machismo treat other machismo. Rafa states “Don’t talk to me Yunior, he warned. I’ll fucking cut your throat” (109). The image to be tough in front of another man makes the machismo more authoritative and someone to not be treated as inferior. These characteristics demonstrate the role of dehumanizing and toughness in the Dominican male identity and how they act towards women.

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Gender roles are evident in representations of sex and infidelity within the novel; men can have consequence free sex with other women while they are in relationship; whereas, women who engage in the same activities are labeled a “sucia” which is “a Latino vernacular for dirty, nasty, and filthy” (Vargas 715). Yunior cheats on all his girlfriends, which is a common theme when depicting machismo. His actions are both par for the course and lauded by his peers, “Yunior, by contrast, seems a stereotypical Dominican tíguere or playboy hustler, a compulsively unfaithful macho, forever prone to self-sabotaging relationships with women he cares about for the thrill of bedding the next girl” (Ciosa 138). Yunior describes instances of infidelity, such as the following, with what seems to be a sense of pride and bravado: “I cheated on her with this chick who had tons of eighties freestyle hair. Didn’t tell Magda about it, either. You know how it is” (Diaz 3). It is clear from Yunior’s suggestion that the reader “know[s] how it is” that Dominican men do not view their infidelity as something wrong. Rather, it is something that is common and known to happen and thus acceptable behavior. Furthermore, sons learn infidelity from their fathers, as they often have front row seats to unfaithful acts and thus internalize such acts as normal: “Shit, your father used to take you on his pussy runs, leave you in the car while he ran up into cribs to bone his girlfriends. Your brother was no better, boning girls in the bed next to yours” (Diaz 161). In the identity of Dominican men, having sex with different women and casually is not only normal, it is encouraged. They are not scolded or looked at differently because of these actions. Machismo allows men to create and maintain this image of a sexual conquistador who conquers women’s bodies while purposefully disregarding the intricacies of creating and sustaining intimacy because, “presumably because little intimacies have no place in the codification of machismo” (Ciosa 138). By comparison, women’s fidelity is seen as a sign of dirtiness and being a “hoe.” Therefore, as part of the machismo identity, infidelity is common for men and accepted while if women acted the same way, it would be seen negatively.

Women in the novel know Dominican men are never faithful, not to be trusted, and yet they (the women) do nothing to break the cycle of machismo; rather, they are complicit in the continued infidelities through their silence and their participation. Yunior states, “All of Magda’s friends say I cheated because I was Dominican, that all us Dominican men are dogs and can’t be trusted” (Diaz 19). In the Dominican culture, infidelity is a common theme that women know is going to happen sooner or later. Ciosa states that a “national code of masculinity plays a big role in Yunior’s inability to be a committed, faithful lover, and in his subsequent personal apocalypse” (140). This code is an explanation as to why infidelity is evident in Dominican men. However, if these traits were part of the Dominican woman’s identity, they would be looked at in a negative way. Women who have casual sex and who act the same ways as men and their infidelity are labeled as “sucias” supported by “Indeed, the rigid division of women in the story into “good girls” on the one hand and, on the other, “sucias” for those women who are willing to have more casual sexual encounters with the narrator, reflects a gender system where women are constrained in ways that men are not, especially when it comes to sexuality ( Horn 135). It is acceptable among men to cheat and have several sexual encounters, but when it is women they are labeled as “sucias.” When Yunior finds out that Miss Lora is having sex with another man he is upset. “A few times you see Mr. Everson’s car outside her

apartment...You suddenly find yourself weak with fury. You think about fucking up his car. You think about knocking on the door” (Diaz 167). When a woman is unfaithful to a man, the machismo becomes upset and angry. Yunior also states to Miss Lora “You smell like shit, you say. You walk into her bedroom but the bed is made. Ay mi pobre, she laughs. No seas celoso. But of course you are” (Diaz 167). When the tables are turned on them, machismo dictates men to behave in anger and are unaccepting of the fact they are being cheated on. This demonstrates the patriarchal society and the differences between men and women in which women are constrained by who they can have sex with, and if they have sex with more than one man, the man will react in a negative way.

Sexism is evident in the Dominican male identity because their actions and mindset sexualize women by objectifying them and referring to them in sexist terms. Machismo men sexualize and objectify women’s bodies by engaging in moments such as, “Boys club moments where women are enthusiastically, uncritically objectified include straight male readers in the boys club, so they can delight vicariously in Alma’s ass and Laxmi’s fucking” (Diaz 204). The chapter titled “Alma” in This is How You Lose Her analyzes one of Yunior’s girlfriends who had the ideal body expected of a Dominican woman. The type of body Dominican men sexualize and expect to have sex with are ones with big breasts and big butts. In contrast, “But Miss Lora’s body type does not fit the ideal of femininity he has been taught to value” shows that there is a certain body type that men sexualize (Yaworski 158). Being skinny is not what these men desire. Instead, they desire “Who has a long tender horse neck and a big Dominican ass that seems to exist in a fourth dimension beyond jeans. An ass that could drag the moon out of an orbit” (Diaz 45). Instead of admiring her face or personality, Yunior sexualizes her body and objectifies her because of her curves. Rather than calling and referring to the opposite sex as a woman, female, or lady, Dominican men have various words in their sexist vocabulary. In the novel, Yunior says “chick was just wiry like a mother fucker, every single fiber standing out in the landish definition. Bitch made Iggy Pop look chub..”

(Diaz 154). The way Yunior refers to these women are sexist and inappropriate because no woman wants to be called a “bitch” or “mother fucker.” Yarowski writes,“Yunior’s description of Miss Lora is surprisingly derogatory, considering the liaison they will have. Given Yunior’s misogynistic outlook, he likely uses the derogatory terms “chick” and “bitch” as ‘neutral’ designations for females” (157).

These terms are used as if “woman, female and lady” do not exist in the English language. Another example includes, “She was what we called in those days brown trash. Her moms was a mean-ass drunk and always running South Amboy with her white boyfriends--which is a way of saying Nilda could hang and, man, did she ever” (Diaz 32). Here, a female character is being referred to as trash which demonstrates the inequality between women and men in which men are degrading women to trash. In the mindset of a machismo man, the sexist labels for women is common. There is no issue referring to women using these words. In Spanish, there are other sexist names that women are called such as “putas” and “sucias” which in English means “bitch” and “dirty.” Machismo men have the mindset that “Latinas should not be too sexual, among other characteristics that exceed normativity” (Vargas 175) which contributes to the reason why they call women these names.

Sexualization, objectification and referring to women as sexist terms are part of the sexist identity

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of Dominican men because of the patriarchal society of the Dominican community.

The Dominican male identity is shaped by machismo, sexism, and gender roles that reinforce a patriarchal society of the Dominican community through the differences between men and women. Diaz has conveyed this by demonstrating the mindset and actions of Dominican men.

These traits affect the treatment and viewpoints of women. Respect and equality is not evident in comparison between men and women, which contributes to a patriarchal society. In my analysis, I have found there are many instances and evidence that represents how the Dominican male identity contributes to the differences between men and women. Diaz’s literature creates the notion that the Dominican male identity is against women. Men are shown to be superior and more entitled than women. Infidelity, toughness, referring to women in sexist ways, treating women less than them and casual sex are part of the Dominican male identity. Diaz promotes this type of identity in his novel and sets up a theme of what Dominican males identity consists of.

Works Cited Ciocia, Stefania. “Psychopathologies of the Island.” Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 41, no. 2,

Winter 2018, pp. 129–146. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2979/jmodelite.41.2.08.

Díaz, Junot. This Is How You Lose Her. Riverhead books, 2012.

Horn, Maja. “How Not to Read Junot Diaz” Masculinity After Trujillo: The Politics of Gender in Dominican, Literature. University Press of Florida, 2014. pp.123-138 EBSCOhost, search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=581451&site=ehost-live.

Vargas, Deborah R. “Ruminations on Lo Sucio as a Latino Queer Analytic.” American Quarterly, vol.

66, no. 3, 2014, pp. 715-726,880. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.barry.edu/login?url=https://search. proquest.com/docview/1562709024?accountid=27715.

Yaworski, Karen F. “Playing Rough: Racial and Gender Stereotypes, Performance and Misreading in the Fiction of Junot Díaz and Dany Laferrière.” University of Toronto (Canada), Ann Arbor, 2016, pp.157-240. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.barry. edu/login?url=https://search. proquest.com/docview/1916533731?accountid=27715.

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SPANGLISH: LIVING IN-BETWEEN THE HYPHEN Jonathan Gonzalez

Spanglish, according to the American Heritage dictionary, is “Spanish characterized by numerous borrowings from English.” However, how do we characterize Spanglish? Can it be considered a language or is it merely a regional dialect? Does it pose a threat to the English language?

Spanglish has been controversial since it gained traction in the Hispanic community in the United States. Critics see it at as a dialect that unifies and enriches Hispanic culture in the United States.

They crave to document this form of expression in dictionaries, television, novels, and plays. Those against it see it as a threat to English and Spanish and believe it has no place in media or literature.

Others are merely curious of this linguistic phenomenon.

Monica Moro, a lecturer of Linguistics at the University of Oviedo in Spain, writes about the syntactic constraints found in Spanglish. According to Moro, Spanglish can be divided into two categories: intersentenial (codeswitching) and intrasentenial (code mixing). She defines them as, “The concept of codeswitching is kept for examples of language alternation across sentence boundaries…the term of code mixing is used to refer to switching within sentences…in a rapid, frequent and unconscious way.” She argues that, bilinguals with a more dominant language will tend to only switch out “single word borrowings” or switch language between sentences, because it requires less control of two grammars.

Furthermore, she adds that codemixing is the complex type and it is typically used by the most balanced bilinguals. Moro also presents two approaches to analyzing codeswitching: the variationist approach and the MLF model. The variationist approach creates a restriction based on “the frequency with which different categories from two languages combine themselves to generate an utterance.” In other words, code switching will occur at any point where the surface structures of the two languages overlap. The MFL model suggests that there is an asymmetrical relationship between the matrix language, the one that imposes the word order and provides the grammatical elements, and the embedded language. Moro argues that the speaker then decides which language to use as the framework for the sentence depending on the social and psychological situation.

Typically, Spanglish has carried a negative connotation. For example, Octavio Paz, the Mexican author of “The Labyrinth of Solitude” and Nobel Prize recipient, is quoted to have said to a reporter in regards to Spanglish, “No es bueno ni es malo, sino abominable” [It is neither good, nor bad, but abominable]. Furthermore, in 2014, when the Royal Academy of the Spanish language incorporated the word “Spanglish” in the most recent edition of its dictionary, the term was defined as, “Modalidad de habla de algunos grupos hispanos de los Estados Unidos, en la que se mezclan, deformándolos, elementos léxicos y gramaticales del español y del inglés” [A form of speech used by some Hispanic groups in the United States, in which they mix and deform elements of vocabulary and grammar from both Spanish and English].

The use of “deform” shows the European opinion of Spanglish, as a deformation of the native tongue. Moreover, Spanglish is most often associated with poor, marginalized, and illiterate

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Hispanics. Scholars believe that Hispanics that use Spanglish do not have a mastery of English nor Spanish. As Ilan Stavans, Professor of Spanish at Amherst College in Massachusetts, puts it, “they are no longer fluent in the language of Cervantes but have also failed to master that of Shakespeare.”

Many Spanish scholars argue that Spangish does not threaten the Spanish language, but does threaten English. Humberto Lopez Morales, the director of the Royal Academy of the Spanish language, notes that as long as the school system and the Spanish language U.S. media uphold proper grammar. However, the same argument can be made for vise versa. Why, then, are scholars so uptight about Spanglish? The Spanish language is ever changing and has regional specificities and even accents. Spanish itself isn’t a pure tongue because it derives from Latin much like the other Romantic languages.

Ilan Stavans, whom many critics consider to be the expert in Spanglish studies does not agree with this. Stavans believes that, “[Spanglish] is a bridge of sorts that unites the Latino community in the United States, and also one that reaches out toward Latin America.” The United States is known as a nation of immigrants. Each group arrives with its own history, culture, and language. More often than not, the English language takes over the home as soon as the firstgeneration child is born. However, Latinos have broken this pattern. According to the Year 2000 report by the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 35 million Hispanics speak Spanglish. Though Spanish is the immigrant language of Latinos, first-generation children and even their parents embrace “the juxtaposition of the two” languages.

Furthermore, Spanglish has been compared to other immigrant tongues like Ebonics and Yiddish. Stavans argues that Spanglish, like Ebonics, is an “intraethnic vehicle of communication, used in the United States…to establish empathy among themselves.” However, the differences with ebonics are sharp. Stavans notes that Spanglish is more similar to Yiddish in that neither have been unified tongues rather, but regional ones. Much like Spanglish, Yiddish was also rejected in intellectual and even religious circles. None the less, by the nineteenth century, a vast majority of Jews spoke only Yiddish instead of Hebrew. And later, in 1978 Yiddish work by Isaac Bashevis Singer would be honored with a Nobel Prize in Literature. Similarly, many authors are beginning to include Spanglish in their writings such as the poet Juan Felipe Herrera, the essayist Gloria Anzaldua, and the novelist Rolando Hinojosa.

Additionally, it is evident that Spanish in many ways is not a singular language. This is due to the diverse groups of Hispanic immigrants that have come to the Unites States. Mexicans arrived in the twenties and onward, Puerto Ricans and Cuban-American in the sixties, and Salvadorans and Nicaraguans in the late seventies and eighties. This is why we have many localisms, like Istlos for East Los Angeles and Saguesera for South West Street in Miami. This is why Spanglish cannot genuinely have authoritative rules. Everything in Spanglish depends on context, who is saying it, where they are from, and whom they are talking to. Spanglish ultimately, is an oral tradition, much like the Haitian Creole and the Jamaican Patwa. Despite this, many feel it is essential to create dictionaries for Spanglish. Not as a way to turn the language to stone, but as a way to legitimize “a linguistic phenomenon,” says Stavans. Stavans argues that this is not a mere trend, but will

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ultimately shape the way we speak. Take Cyber-Spanish for example. Words like el maus [the mouse] and printear [to print] exist because of our internet driven lives and also, as Stavans puts it “the American domination of this enterprise.”

Thus, although many look down on Spanglish, attitudes toward that language will change in a similar fashion. The reason why: Spanglish won’t go away. This seemingly unsystematic and complex language is thus the natural outcome of two languages and two cultures in contact.

Spanglish is embracing the philosophy of living in between the hyphen.

Works Cited Artze, I. “Spanglish is here to stay.” The Education Digest, 67(1), 50-54. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.barry.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.barry.edu/ docview/218192553?accountid=27715 Montes-Alcala, Cecilia. “Bicultural dramas: Spanish-English code-switching in bilingual plays.”

Bilingual Review, vol. 31, no. 2, 2012, p. 125+. Academic OneFile, link.galegroup.com.ezproxy. barry.edu/apps/doc/A505468587/AONE?u=miam50083&sid=AONE&xid=b5b5240b.

Moro, Mónica. “The Universality of Syntactic Constraints on Spanish–English Codeswitching in the USA.” Language and Intercultural Communication, vol. 15, no. 3, Aug. 2015, pp. 391-406.

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2015751524&site=e host-live.

Sayer, Peter. “Demystifying Language Mixing: Spanglish in School.” Journal of Latinos and Education, vol. 7, no. 2, 2008, pp. 94-112. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=mzh&AN=2013301596&site=ehost-live.

Showstack, Rachel E. “Institutional Representations of ‘Spanish’ and ‘Spanglish’: Managing Competing Discourses in Heritage Language Instruction.” Language and Intercultural Communication, vol. 15, no. 3, Aug. 2015, pp. 341-361. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login. aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2015751521&site=ehost-live.

Smith, Andrew. “Spanglish in advertising.” Revista De Lenguas Modernas, (23), 167-184. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.barry.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.barry.edu/ docview/1765132264?accountid=27715 Stavans, Ilán. “Spanglish: Tickling the Tongue.” World Literature Today: A Literary Quarterly of the University of Oklahoma, vol. 74, no. 3, 2000, pp. 555-558. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/ login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2000097388&site=ehost-live.

Stavans, Ilan. “The gravitas of spanglish.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47(7), B7-B9.

Retrieved from http://ezproxy.barry.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy. barry.edu/docview/214708329?accountid=27715 n

First Place, Essay, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2018

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BIOGRAPHIES Orianna Camarago is a twenty-two-year-old student from the country of Venezuela. She writes as a way to express the feelings in her heart. Sometimes her writing develops into songs, and sometimes into poems. Writing is a way to make a white piece of paper into a story, and a story into a legacy.

Michidael Ceard is an English major at Barry University who found her love of writing in the books she read as a young child in her homeland of Haiti. Through books she found her passion and is currently working on a small collection of short stories for future publication.

Mayra Cordero uses photography as an escape. She can spend an entire day photographing people, surroundings, even objects; mostly the ones people don’t tend to pay attention to. Her favorite thing to do is to abstract the subjects, make the audience wonder, make them think again about the thugs they’re looking at.

Tara Gleba was born and raised in New Jersey, until she decided to move to Miami and continue her education at Barry University. She is currently a senior at the University, pursuing a major in Social Work and a minor in Criminology. She has a passion for victim advocacy and is excited to continue to gain knowledge and experience in that field as she begins her Masters in Social work in the Fall.

Jonathan Gonzalez has been passionate about writing since the age of fifteen. Gonzalez enjoys writing stories about authentic characters with real flaws, fears, and complex personalities. Gonzalez is an English Major graduating Spring 2019.

Ethan Hofstad has been doing photography for about 4 years so far. He has a huge fascination with photography, and it’s been growing since he started here last semester. He loves being able to capture an image and keeping it for a lifetime.

Joy Johnson chooses to create photographs mixed with still life and abstraction to create scenes that transport you to a different world of internal thought and emotion. She creates these images while she overcomes the challenges of being a young mother, having financial difficulties, upkeeping a home and furthering her education.

Soné Keith first became interested in photography when her my art teacher introduced the work of Carrie Mae Weems to the class. She saw how she interpreted situations she encountered or witnessed through photography, which made her see that she too can translate the world through just a set of lenses. She likes to think of herself as a spontaneous photographer – she takes pictures of any and everything that she thinks captures the true essence of beauty.

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Allyn Krenzien is a nurturing woman who feels the world we live in empathically. She strives to express herself through movement, words, and human connection. She will heal others in the process of healing herself. Self-Love is the greatest love of all.

Ruht Lovos-Chicas’ writing began on colored paper with crayons around the first grade. She started writing as a way to get familiar with words and increase her knowledge of language. She has known that she wants to teach English and give back to the community that she come from since she was twelve.

Jada Mohammed, while recovering from sexual assault and an abusive relationship, writing became a creative outlet to express her feelings in ways her words could not. Since then, she has continuously used writing as her main form of creative expression.

Tabitha Sanchez is a twenty-two-year-old Nursing student who is currently working on her bachelor’s degree. She has been a Barry University student for two semesters now and during those semesters she has written two research papers on Hegemonic Masculinity in Nursing and a Film Essay on Ugly Betty. She is excited to see what the future holds for her studies and her papers.

Stephanie Stubbs has always been interested in literature and language, as it provides mental escape.

Alexandra Tercius “shoots” people.

Stephanie Torres is a first-generation American, and English was naturally not her first language.

Through her experience with Hispanic Ebonics, writing became her medium to construct a bridge between two cultural worlds. Hence, her particular interest in writing narratives about the hindrance faced by non-English speakers.

Doreen Noel has been writing poems since she was eleven-years-old, in her own language, which is French. She never really had a chance to get them published. She writes poems to express herself about love, and any little thing she went through. Writing poems help her figure out how she feels. It also helps her see the world differently.

Anndi Partridge is a first-year General Studies major from Southern Illinois. She has been doing art for as long as she can remember. Her favorite form is abstract portraits.

Jeremiah Paul was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised in central and eastern Pennsylvania.

Jeremiah has long cultivated a love for writing and was inducted into Sigma Tau Delta in the Fall of 2018. Jeremiah’s work has been recognized with publication in two poetry collections, 7 selections in film festivals, two theatrical productions, and bylines including Movie Pilot, Now Loading, and All Things Reel (for which he is the Editor-At-Large).

Destiny Ricks is an English major with a concentration in Professional Writing and a minor in Film Studies. She would like to work as a film critic or an editor in the future.

Yanni Robaina’s short graphic novel On the Brink is his recollection of a series of events in high school that greatly impacted his family--mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Mental illness affects a vast number of people and can often lead to the destruction of a family if the problem is not handled correctly, given proper medical treatment, time, and patience. The graphic novel is illustrated in the style similar to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, which depicts a simplistic black and white panel scheme and dramatic use of line.

Sarah Ruiz has always enjoyed writing essays and researching topics that she thinks people should read about. English and writing have always been something she felt “good” at in high school and college.

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