ALL Children Just Want to Fit In

Sandra Cisneros is an extremely well known Latina author. She is definitely one of the most prominent figures within the Chicana literary movement. She has written numerous novels, some including: The House on Mango Street, Caramelo, Loose Woman (Poetry book), and many others. Cisneros explores controversial topics within her writing, like gender, ethnicity and economic inequality. She came from a Mexican background and lived in the U.S., so she went through that identity crisis growing up. She said she had difficulty because so much was expected from her as an American. Yet, she was trying to stay in touch with her Mexican roots at the same time. She often felt like she didn't belong to either culture.

In Cisneros short story entitled, Barbie-Q, she delineates the life of a young girl growing up in Chicago. This young girl goes to a flea market where she picks up a barbie who has survived a warehouse fire. Therefore, the doll has some defects. Cisneros tries to address many heavy topics within this two paged story: gender stereotypes, economic inequality, and societal expectations. The barbie doll embodies perfection and for this little Latina girl, it's a mold she's never going to fulfill. Barbie is white with a perfect body, fair complexion, and luxurious wardrobe. This young girl gets the idea that this is an identity she has to take on to be an American. The barbie doll is supposed to represent the American cultural norm. The idea of a cultural norm even seems ludicrous. Differences are supposed to be celebrated and not frowned upon. This young girl has this flawed barbie doll, which perhaps suggests that she too is flawed. Should this young hispanic girl have to change herself to be accepted?