UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA ‘JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO’

Faculdade de Ciências e Letras Assis

Professor Guilherme Magri da Rocha
Thiago Jardim Amantea

In Anzaldua’s writing we clearly see that she argues for the permission to define her
own Chicano/ Feminist voice without being hindered by stereotypes and limitations. As she
said “wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out,” and different accents stir up
one big culture.

“We oppress each other trying to oust Chicano each other, tying to be
the “real” Chicanas, to speak like Chicanos.”

“We speak a patois, a forked tongue, a variation of two languages”

“We needed a language with which we could communicate with

ourselves, a secret language”.

By doing this they make not only themselves uncomfortable speaking Spanish but
get others to think they aren’t the ideal Chicano/a. That’s why the writer aims “I will no
longer be made to feel ashamed of existing. I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white. I
will have my serpent’s tongue - my woman’s voice, my sexual voice, my poet’s voice. I
will overcome the tradition of silence.
I see her point and I totally agree that America’s diversity is what makes this
country so great. Also, everyone should retain a sense of identity and who they are and
what their cultures are like and bring that where they go because it’s impossible to
separate it from you – your language is what you are. Language is a source of identity
and a language that individual speaks is crucial to identity. It is ethical responsibility of
an individual to value other’s diversity especially the language through which they
communicate