Junot Diaz and Female Stereotypes

Junot Diaz shows a form of masculinity that is often excessively masculine. His male characters are prone to violence and sexual escapades in an attempt to obtain or further solidify their state of manhood. While there is a one sided view of masculinity in Diaz’s stories, his female characters tend to fall in to two main groups. His women are either mothers who are the only parent figure or simple whores, sometimes nameless altogether. These are both common stereotypes for women as is the fatherless and violent image for men of color, particularly Latinos.  Diaz seems to thrive on stereotypes for both genders which is usually detrimental in literature. However, his picture of women as either mother or whore is not necessarily a negative depiction of the women in his stories. 

            In Diaz’s story, “Ysrael”, Rafa and Yunior’s mother has shipped them out to the country for the summer because she is a single parent and works long hours. She thinks she is doing a good thing by sending her sons for a summer with their uncle. She is the typical working mother who tries to do what is best for her children but is too tired to do it by herself.

Later in the story, Rafa talks about all the girls he has had sexual encounters with while staying at their uncles. These girls are coming into their own sexuality which is the same thing as what Rafa is doing, but women in literature who are exploring their sexuality outside of a relationship are often pegged as whores. Many readers write these girls off as Diaz forcing women into the whore image, but he is showing the same thing through Rafa. It is a double standard and it is the readers job to use the text to move beyond it.

 

            In Diaz’s story, “No Face”, the whore image is not present but the mother image is in the background. Ysrael’s mother makes him put on the mask in the end to protect him from his father picking at him. She takes care of his little brother even while Ysrael is left alone. She is the mother figure and tries to care for her children. She is a more complex mother figure though because by trying to protect her son she accidently isolates him further.

 

            In Diaz’s story, “Negocios”, the whore image is present in the beginning of the story when Ramon is having an affair with an unnamed temptress.  The next woman in the story is Mami. She is the ultimate mother image. She loves her children and hates their father for the affair. She continues to have complex emotions about her marriage even after Ramon leaves for America. She is more complex than the simple mother/whore image that Diaz is so often accused of perpetuating in literature.

Many people claim that Diaz does not respect women or see their full complexity. I strongly disagree. It would be easy to say that Diaz only shows two versions of women in his stories. However, while the recurring image of mothers and whores is there, his characters are all more complex than a stereotype would normally allow.

The Burden Lessens

Homosexuality and mental illness are both often misunderstood in their own unique ways. Many people are ostracized or struggle to come to terms with themselves. It can be hard to live happily under such circumstances. However, as demonstrated in “Fun Home” and the film “Tarnation”, it does get easier to cope with these tough topics of homosexuality and mental illness with each passing generation.

In “Fun Home”, Allison’s father had to live a life that was a fabricated identity of heterosexuality.  He was gay in a time when that was not an acceptable lifestyle. He felt isolated and did not embrace his sexuality as a positive. He spent most of his life hiding who he really was and what he wanted. In contrast, Allison was able to find her sexuality without as much shame. She joined gay clubs in college and had a girlfriend. She told her parents and friends she was gay. This is all because the social climate had changed drastically from when her father was her age and struggling with his sexuality.  While homosexuality is far from being totally accepted, it is less of a taboo than ever before in history.

 

Likewise, in the film “Tarnation”, the newer generation has it easier than their parents’ generation in regards to mental illness. Jonathan’s mother, Renee, was treated for mental illness in a period of history that was ill equipped, due to a lack of medical knowledge, to effectively treat mental illness.  Renee was forced to have shock therapy treatments which sent electricy through her brain. This series of treatments is no longer in use today because doctors know that it does not help the patient and actually does more harm than good, but in Renee’s time it was widely used partly because so little information existed on how to treat chemical imbalances in the brain. She suffered lifelong repercussions that she never recovered from such as a loss of her original personality by age twenty-five and mental incapacity that rendered her childlike and incapable of leading a productive, normal life. Jonathan, on the other hand, was able to deal with his mental illness in a healthier way. He had a very difficult childhood and did drugs that contributed to his unstable mental health. He suffered from depersonalization which was a mental illness that made him feel disconnected and as if he were living in a dreamlike state or a movie. Jonathan had an easier time dealing with his mental illness than his mother did. He did not have to have shock therapy because it was no longer used to treat mental illness. He was able to move to New York City and have an apartment of his own which lends to the fact that he was, most likely, a functioning member of society in ways his mother was never stable to achieve. He also managed to use his mental illness to express himself artistically. His mental illness made him feel like he was in a film or watching himself in a film. He used that to his advantage in that he starting actually making films.

 

 

For every generation, the struggles and scrutiny seem to get easier to bear. These two stories prove that fact beautifully. With any luck, the generations to follow will be even less misunderstood and mistreated.