"Becoming Me" Text Set: Blog Post #3

Write at least 500 words (or make a video of approximately 3 to 4 minutes) about your learning from your readings sharing at least one golden line/strong line each and explaining how these lines relate to the topic of identity and how they might (or might not) relate to your paper.

From Sandra Cisneros Learning Center Mural Project

https://sparcinla.org/sandra-cisneros-learning-center-mural-project/

When I first saw the list of texts, my attention immediately focused on the text titled “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros. I chose to read this text because I am also the only daughter in my family, and somehow I can understand and connect with the author's story. While reading the text, the line that struck me most was Sandra Cisneros's repeated statement about "Being the only daughter in a family of six sons." Growing up and being the only daughter in a Mexican family of six sons, Sandra often felt left out by her six brothers and faced the problem of her father expecting her to go to college to find a husband. Although this made her sad, Cisneros used her loneliness to her advantage. Cisneros used her isolation as a time to advance as a writer to receive affirmation from her father. Throughout her story, Cisneros emphasizes how isolated her family made the person she is today. After reading the text “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros, it reminded me immediately of my story as the only daughter in my family. As an only daughter in an Asian family, I also faced a lot of pressure and I believe it took a huge role in shaping the person I am today. Due to the heavy influence of Confucian conceptions, gender inequality still abounds in Vietnam. Most of the elders in Vietnam believe that when girls come to a certain age they have to get married, and my parents think the same too. Due to the impact of social culture, since I was just a child, my parents had always told me such as the role of a woman often associated with taking care of the family; or being an only daughter and older sister, I must study well and take care of my brothers. In my growing up process, I always had to try to do my best to get the approval of my parents and prove to my parents that girls can also bring other good things, not just become someone's wife. Throughout the text “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros and my own story, I learned that a parent’s lack of acceptance and encouragement could shape a person’s life. Being the only daughter in a family can have a lot of impact on a person and also help shape who they are.

Before reading the article “Intersectionality, positionality, and privilege,” I had no idea what intersectionality or positionality actually mean but after reading the article and doing some research, I learned that they are “terms that can be used to explain the ways in which multiple social identities can coincide to create frameworks of inequality and oppression.” Intersectionality is basically a framework for forming the concept of a person, a group of people, or a social issue affected by some discrimination. Positionality, in contrast, creates your identity in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability status. This is a very interesting topic. As we go deeper into the topic, I hope I can learn something new about intersectionality, positionality, and privilege.

Work Cited

Cisneros, Sandra. “Only Daughter.” Latina: Women's Voices From the Borderlands, 1995.

“Intersectionality, Positionality, and Privilege: Infographic: U-M LSA Center for Social Solutions.”

LSA; Center For Social Solutions; Diversity and Democracy; Infographics, 8 Dec. 2021,

https://lsa.umich.edu/social-solutions/news-events/news/insights-and-

solutions/infographics/intersectionality--positionality--and-privelege.html?

fbclid=IwAR1h3vn4s7Bhx1Ut5RCs4msPdiyuucYlacoiuF4JjoTNwN8NscxzUUIfSUE.

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