Sandra Cisneros Story Woman Hollering Creek - Book Report/Review Example

Text and Context: Woman Hollering Creek Although most feminist literature seems to focus upon the traditional conception of woman as she has been envisioned in the white, middle-class suburban ideal, feminist issues extend well beyond this highly defined world into the worlds of women of color. Regardless of color or family circumstance, it seems all women have been victims of the Cinderella ideology only to find that life is rarely like the movies. Once they’ve entered into that ‘happily ever after’ world following the wedding, the traditional concept of women has them managing the household, caring for the children and entirely confined within the boundaries of the husband’s property. While the fairy tale suggests this life will be full of fancy dresses, grand parties, leisure and pleasure in domestic felicity – the songbird in the golden cage – the reality is all too often a life dominated by the dragon. If the story takes this turn, women find themselves as the beaten-down house slave forced to bend all of her effort to someone else’s thoughtless whims and desires regardless of the harm this might bring upon herself. It is only with the assistance of other women that they are finally able to break the vision of the fairy tale to understand their realities and find a new means of approaching life. An understanding of how the Cinderella fairy tale has affected the female psyche, whether it is the actual fairy tale presented or merely stories couched on a similar theme, provides a great deal of insight into the feminist issues illuminated through Sandra Cisneros’ story “Woman Hollering Creek.” Sandra Cisneros’ main character, Cleofilas, grows up watching telenovelas on TV, which are like soap operas, in which the classic Cinderella themes are evidently played out over and over, reinforcing Cleofilas’ fantasies regarding what her future life will be. In the telenovelas, life was seen to be full of “all kinds of hardship of the heart, separation and betrayal” (220), but a loving woman, always patient and always kind, could expect happiness in the end. “Cleofilas thought her life would have to be like that, like a telenovela…” (226). The Cinderella story exists in some form or fashion in just about every culture of the world. The archetype encourages girls to take on the social roles of a patriarchal society (Welter, 1966). In other words, the one thread of truth through all of these tales is that the woman is expected to be at home, is not expected to take any aggressive actions regardless of her home situation and this subservience will win her recognition, love and splendor. However, rather than teaching us to be content with this position as we live through it, the story encourages women to compete with each other in the strength of their subservience. She who is most obedient is she who wins the prize. It is very fair of Rob Baum to claim that “Cinderella serves the female, directing us to similarly anti-social behaviors and antipathetic familial relations: to hate and compete with other females, suffer in silence, and seek rapport with males through the mysteries of flirtation, fashion and marital fitness” (2000). Thus, not only is she deluded into an expectation of marriage that is both unrealistic and potentially dangerous to her own well-being and that of her children, but she is cut off from the very people in society who might be able to understand and help her through a built-in antipathy toward women and is directed to exert all her attention and energy in competing with women rather than the men who oppress them. The spell of the Cinderella story, in all its many variations, is only broken when the role of the subservient wife comes into conflict with the role of the caretaker of the children. Cleofilas is willing to sacrifice herself, numbly accepting Juan’s unexplained beatings, as she silently witnesses her neighbors’ troubles. Soledad’s husband leaves without giving her any indication of where or when he’ll return, rumors exist that Juan’s friend Maximiliano has actually killed his wife, and yet these women didn’t leave their husbands. Cleofilas gradually loses all misimpressions that things will somehow turn out right. “Now the episodes got sadder and sadder. And there were no commercials in between for comic relief. And no happy ending in sight.” (226). Her final despair doesn’t come, though, until she begins to consider the implications of her husband’s beatings upon the bodies of her young son and as yet unborn child. These fears are well-grounded in scientific research. In homes where domestic violence has been reported against wives, the children are 15 times more likely to have been abused and/or neglected. “Over 3 million children are at risk of exposure to parental violence each year” (McKay, 1994). The majority of women who have been forced to seek a shelter to escape their tormentor report that their children are also being abused. These children are “three times more likely to have been abused by their fathers” (McKay, 1994). While Cleofilas understands that she should sacrifice her own welfare for the sake of the family and as a means of earning her future happiness, she begins to realize that this ‘someday’ has not come fast enough to protect her children from the dangers. The maternal instinct to protect her children finally overwhelms her submission to the Cinderella syndrome enough to force her husband to get her to a doctor. Although Cleofilas doesn’t necessarily openly confess her problems to Graciela, the nurse at the doctor’s office, Graciela’s narrative account of Cleofilas’ visit highlights the need for women to help each other rather than suspect each other. As Graciela explains how a pregnant woman, presumed to be Cleofilas, came in with bruises all over her body, couldn’t speak English and had not been permitted to call or write home since moving to Texas. This emphasizes the degree to which Cleofilas has been isolated from the rest of the world and the dangerous position she’s in. Graciela arranges for her friend Felice to give Cleofilas and her young son a ride to San Antonio, from where she might be able to reach her father and return to her home. As they leave, Cleofilas discovers the tremendous degree of Felice’s independence. At no level does Felice need a man to survive, having purchased her truck herself using money she earned herself, “she didn’t have a husband” (228) and yet she was doing just fine. As the women crossed over Woman Hollering Creek, Felice lets loose with a great scream that first terrifies, then liberates Cleofilas. Within the feminist circles, this scream is recognized as a scream of liberation, defiance and self-assertion. “We are damaged – we women, we oppressed, we disinherited … We are damaged and we have the right to hate and have contempt and to kill and to scream” (Dunbar, 1969). To scream with such abandon is to act assertively, undeniably, deliberately and independently. On her way to a strange city, speaking only Spanish, traveling with a small child, pregnant and unsure of what her future might hold, it might be assumed that Cleofilas would be terrified of what might happen between this moment and the hoped for moment when she is reunited within the safe arms of her family. Her laughter indicates through the help of these other two women her own power to bring about change and the better life she’d always hoped for. The struggle for equal rights for women will never be completely successful until the insidious elements of the fairy tale myths conveyed through so many media channels begins to provide alternative routes to happiness for women. As Cisneros’ story reveals, her young Mexican woman was exposed to the Cinderella myth through the story progressions of her novellas on television, constantly reinforcing the idea that her job was to get married, suffer and patiently endure through unnumbered and unknown trials and difficulties to finally be rewarded in the end with the perfect life she’d always dreamed of. Expecting her life to be taken care of through marriage, that she would live ‘happily ever after’, Cleofilas, like many other young woman, soon discovered that this was not the case. After marriage, she was considered the property of her husband, to be used and abused as he saw fit and stored in the household when she wasn’t interested in playing. This was endured for as long as possible, again by many women, not just Cleofilas. Rather than fighting for her own rights or expecting to be appreciated or cared for to the same extent that she cared for others, the woman had been taught to remain submissive, to accept whatever difficulties came her way and to never complain. To complain was to forfeit whatever rewards would be forthcoming. However, as time went on and things continued to get worse, many women realized that these rewards would never come. While some resigned themselves to their fate, such as the women on Cleofilas’ street, Cleofilas managed to escape this fate thanks to the help of other women willing to reach out and help. By providing the necessary physical assistance as well as demonstrating the possibilities, Graciela and Felice open Cleofilas’ eyes regarding what she might accomplish in the future and clear the airways for Cleofilas to develop her own scream of liberation. Works Cited Baum, Rob. “After the Ball is Over: Bringing Cinderella Home.” Cultural Analysis. Vol. 1, (2000). Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek: And Other Stories. New York: Vintage Books, 1992. Dunbar, Roxanne. “Who is the Enemy?” No More Fun and Games: A Journal of Female Liberation. Cambridge, MA: Cell 16, Vol. 1, N. 2, (February 1969). McKay, M. The Link Between Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Assessment and Treatment Considerations. Child Welfare League of America, N. 73, 1994, pp. 29-39. Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American Quarterly. Vol. 18, N. 2, P. 1, (1966), pp. 151-74. Read More

In other words, the one thread of truth through all of these tales is that the woman is expected to be at home, is not expected to take any aggressive actions regardless of her home situation and this subservience will win her recognition, love and splendor. However, rather than teaching us to be content with this position as we live through it, the story encourages women to compete with each other in the strength of their subservience. She who is most obedient is she who wins the prize. It is very fair of Rob Baum to claim that “Cinderella serves the female, directing us to similarly anti-social behaviors and antipathetic familial relations: to hate and compete with other females, suffer in silence, and seek rapport with males through the mysteries of flirtation, fashion and marital fitness” (2000).

Thus, not only is she deluded into an expectation of marriage that is both unrealistic and potentially dangerous to her own well-being and that of her children, but she is cut off from the very people in society who might be able to understand and help her through a built-in antipathy toward women and is directed to exert all her attention and energy in competing with women rather than the men who oppress them. The spell of the Cinderella story, in all its many variations, is only broken when the role of the subservient wife comes into conflict with the role of the caretaker of the children.

Cleofilas is willing to sacrifice herself, numbly accepting Juan’s unexplained beatings, as she silently witnesses her neighbors’ troubles. Soledad’s husband leaves without giving her any indication of where or when he’ll return, rumors exist that Juan’s friend Maximiliano has actually killed his wife, and yet these women didn’t leave their husbands. Cleofilas gradually loses all misimpressions that things will somehow turn out right. “Now the episodes got sadder and sadder.

And there were no commercials in between for comic relief. And no happy ending in sight.” (226). Her final despair doesn’t come, though, until she begins to consider the implications of her husband’s beatings upon the bodies of her young son and as yet unborn child. These fears are well-grounded in scientific research. In homes where domestic violence has been reported against wives, the children are 15 times more likely to have been abused and/or neglected. “Over 3 million children are at risk of exposure to parental violence each year” (McKay, 1994).

The majority of women who have been forced to seek a shelter to escape their tormentor report that their children are also being abused. These children are “three times more likely to have been abused by their fathers” (McKay, 1994). While Cleofilas understands that she should sacrifice her own welfare for the sake of the family and as a means of earning her future happiness, she begins to realize that this ‘someday’ has not come fast enough to protect her children from the dangers.

The maternal instinct to protect her children finally overwhelms her submission to the Cinderella syndrome enough to force her husband to get her to a doctor. Although Cleofilas doesn’t necessarily openly confess her problems to Graciela, the nurse at the doctor’s office, Graciela’s narrative account of Cleofilas’ visit highlights the need for women to help each other rather than suspect each other. As Graciela explains how a pregnant woman, presumed to be Cleofilas, came in with bruises all over her body, couldn’t speak English and had not been permitted to call or write home since moving to Texas.

This emphasizes the degree to which Cleofilas has been isolated from the rest of the world and the dangerous position she’s in. Graciela arranges for her friend Felice to give Cleofilas and her young son a ride to San Antonio, from where she might be able to reach her father and return to her home. As they leave, Cleofilas discovers the tremendous degree of Felice’s independence.

Read More