english

Make sure you read the introductory paragraph that accompanies “The Story of My Body”.
Why do you think Ortiz Cofer organizes her autobiographical essay around different aspects of her body (and specifically her body as seen by other people)?
It’s important to think early on about the relationship of the body to identity, in particular as body politics relate to race, ethnicity, and gender. Of special interest for our current conversation is the way Ortiz-Cofer understands her body is being read by others and the way she reads the bodies of others. There’s a relationship here between this depiction and the Self-Other theories we read last week. Can you tease it out, articulate it, differentiate what Ortiz-Cofer is saying or implying vs. what Hegel or deBeauvoir wrote?
You can answer these questions or make other comments on the reading for discussion with your classmates. You may want to put your topic in bold to make the forum easier to navigate.
example:
Society’s Impact on our Self-Consciousness
Throughout Ortiz-Cofer’s novel, she explains the difficulties she faced as a young girl living in America. One example that she gave that stuck out the most to me was being called “dirty” in the market (page 436). As a young girl, it is hard to find acceptance and love for your body, especially in the early teenage years when your body is changing. Having someone comment about how you look, especially something you have no control over, is at the least very traumatizing and impactful. Ortiz-Cofer organizes her essay on the different aspects of her body because these were all experiences that she had to face as a young girl. There was not just one instance where she felt judged or pressured for the way she looked, there were multiple.
As far as relating Ortiz-Cofer’s essay to Hegel, Hegel states that in order to build some self-confidence, man needs reassurance from society. Unfortunately for Ortiz-Cofer, she did not get this “reassurance” until college, where she states that she “dated heavily then married young” (page 442). Hegel is correct to an extent about his statement. Reassurance about one’s appearance or skills is beneficial to building confidence. However, confidence comes from within. Luckily for Ortiz-Cofer, she was able to overcome the comments that she endured as a young girl and built up her own confidence. She faced setbacks and times when she purposefully hide her body or critiqued her looks, but those setbacks turned her into the person and writer that she is today.