RELEASING THE SHADOW BEAST

Reading Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua has inspired me immensely because I too, am Spanish American, and can relate deeply with the authors experience. I have often felt a sense of displacement when I'm around Americans or Colombians. Even though I am fluent in both languages, I sometimes find it difficult to connect with people from either culture. However when my sister and I speak "Spanglish", we clearly understand each other and feel identified with one another. The title "Borderlands" is brilliant because it acts as a metaphor for those who may be trapped in between two cultures, two languages or two bodies. La Frontera is a barrier that splits society and people into two, creating a duality that confuses each and one of us because it imposes the belief that "we are able to be only one or the other" (1020) whether male or female, Spanish or American. As we know the US Mexico-border rejects those who don't belong and controls who enters the U.S. By using this concept of borders, Anzaldua represents the different forms of oppressions that we encounter in the 'Land of Freedom' as well as in countries that were colonized by Spaniards. Therefore, our fear of rejection leads us to unconsciously conform to the tyrannical system.

Anzaldua applies her own beliefs of releasing the "Shadow Beast" into her writing, which I thought to be very courageous and effective. She states, "Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I would rather speak Spanglish and as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate" (1027). Through this statement she is comparing the language Spanglish to a bastard child not recognized by the law. In her essay, she writes many cultural expressions in Spanish without offering any translation to non Spanish readers. I believe this is one of the ways of releasing the "... rebel in me - the Shadow Beast" (1018) by imposing a new language Spanglish and encouraging those who do not understand, to find out the meaning. In addition, she expands the possibilities of language and the need to unite communities by combining these.

Just as borders, and language are used as means of oppression, Anzaldua also brings up the concept of 'Cultural Tyranny' (1018) which helped me in the understanding of the concept "Machismo". In Latin America, women are expected to play submissive roles encouraging male oppression. I visualized this concept like a hierarchy where the powerful "MEN" are at the top and are the ones who impose a set of laws that are later on transmitted by women to their sons and daughters, therefore creating a vicious cycle in which people keep hailing these ideologies without a choice and without the freedom to question these. Therefore, Anzaldua encourages us to release the 'Shadow Beast'; a rebellious inner-self to escape any restraints that will limit our ability to move forward, to think for ourselves to be free of social dominion. Anzaldua does give women a fourth alternative to break from the three categories assigned to women in Spanish cultures, 'the mother', 'the prostitute' or 'the nun' (1018). Through education, women can escape these three submissive roles and subvert the power structure. Anzaldua inspires us to fight for our freedom and rebel against the oppressing cultural system that 'tames our tongues' (1023) and conflicts our gender, racial and sexual identities. I like that she identifies herself as RAZA (1029) before anything else, which celebrates our Indian roots and would unite all the Latin American and Caribbean cultures as a way to heal the cultural shock that one encounters when coming to America.