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Vanessa Ochoa

Professor Diaz

English 01A-72802

28 June 2021

“A Hispanic Tradition”

Growing up, we are brought into the world with the traditions from our heritage. But

have you ever asked yourself whether these traditions should keep going? A tradition is

something that has happened for generations among our people. I grew up with a practice that

made an immense impact on my life, that is until I began to question the actual values behind it.

Some traditions are beautiful because you can embrace yourself. However, the practice I was

raised with was that a woman’s only job in a Hispanic household was to stay at home, while the

men are the ones who should go to work. This practice was engraved into my mind at such a

young age, and I believed it to be expected. Every day the world is evolving, and the traditions

should also be, for not all are right, especially those that could minimize the future of a young

Hispanic girl.

At first, I believed it was normal for a woman to do everything in the house when I was

younger. Tired, my father would come home from work to do nothing for the rest of the day, and

my mother would have to make sure everything was ready for when my father would come

home. Not to mention how my mother would never rest throughout the entire day since she had

to raise my two older siblings and myself. I saw this all as usual. For instance, imagine yourself

being me for a second, coming home from school only to see that your mom is doing everything

around the house. You would see this as usual. According to Krishnamurti, “The world follows

and accepts tradition” (11). Krishnamurti is insisting that when we grow up with something, the
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only thing we know to do is keep that tradition going. I was falling into this tradition because I

always thought it was what I would be doing after having my children and husband.

Then, at school I would hear about the mothers of my friends going to work. I saw this as

something unusual, something distinct. I knew I was looking into my own future for where I, the

woman, would have to do everything in the household, for a man’s job was only to go to work.

Now, when I look at this tradition of how a woman’s only purpose is to tend to a man’s

needs, I find it sickening. Recently, I went to the town where my parents were born and raised in

Mexico. I have been experiencing some awful things firsthand with seeing how tired the women

are but cannot complain because it is tradition. I was beginning to put these thoughts in the back

of my mind because I know I want to have a job, but when I have kids, will I have to be the one

to stop working to raise the children? According to Sullivan in the article named The

Occupational Prestige of Women Immigrants: A comparison of Cubans and Mexicans states,

“Family responsibilities often hinder immigrant women’s upward mobility” (1045-62).

Sullivan’s point is that a woman cannot do many things because she has more important things to

do, which is raising the children. While reading the book Freedom of the Known, I realized that I

should not have to modify my life to fit the traditions of a woman’s role in the Hispanic practice.

Moreover, we as women need to stop conforming to traditions to make others happy at

our own cost. Krishnamurti himself writes, “We look to someone to tell us what right or wrong

behavior [is]” (10). To put it another way, we often want to please others, so instead of doing

what we want, we do something appropriate for how we should be. This quote is how I felt when

thinking about whether I should follow the tradition. I was trying to make sure that my family,

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the people of my town, and my culture would accept me. I had an inner battle with myself for so

long, trying to figure out if my tradition was something I should not be proud of practicing.

Therefore, I now know that I should pursue whatever I want without worrying about rejecting an

appalling tradition where women have little.

In the future, I will not be worrying whether or not I am meeting an outdated tradition. I

will do what I want. I will make sure that I change this tradition for myself and my future

children. Moreover, I do not want my daughters to believe that they must drop everything to

serve a man. Of course, it may continue to occur from my parents’ town, and the people from

there may judge me for not leaving my job to become a full-time mother. However, I now know

that I do not owe an explanation to them. In Andrade’s view in the Social Science Stereotypes of

the Mexican American woman: Policy Implication for research, mentions how women are often

“a submissive maternal figure” (223-44). In making this comment, Andrade believes that

women do not have any rights but must yield themselves. Krishnamurti states, “It seems to me

that most of us are not aware, not only of what we are talking about but of our environment”

(31). Krishnamurti is insisting that most of us ignore the things around us, so we never really

know what is going on. To clarify, from now on, I will be focusing on the things around me. I

will make sure not to abide by the things I believe are wrong, whether it is tradition or not.

Therefore, I will begin to be my person ignoring the habits that are no longer benefiting

everyone, for they imply nothing good for the generations to come.

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 In conclusion, I still believe that some traditions should still embrace authentic Hispanic

culture. Not all practices are bad, but you should be able to choose that for yourself without

feeling guilty. On the other hand, we should know which traditions such as a woman’s only

purposes are serving the man and having his children. The world is advancing rapidly, and we

should not let certain countries or traditions fall behind. Therefore, making a change for

everyone is the best outcome possible in more ways than one. I am making a difference because I

never want another young Hispanic girl going through the same thoughts. I will be lucky enough

to let her know to believe that she can choose her future.

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 Works Cited

Krishnamurti, J. Freedom from the Known. HarperOne an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers,

2010.

Sullivan, T. A. “The Occupational Prestige of Women Immigrants: A Comparison of Cubans and

Mexicans.” The International Migration Review, vol. 18, no. 4 Special Issue, Winter 1984, pp. 1045–1062.

EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-

com.portalproxy.mccd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmedm&AN=12340228&site=ehost-live.

Andrade, S. J. “Social Science Stereotypes of the Mexican American Woman: Policy Implications for

Research.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, vol. 4, no. 2, 1982, pp. 223–244. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1177/07399863820042006.