Justine Fernandez

September 8, 2014

Professor Young

Eng 1100

What defines you Essay

            In the reading “How to Tame A Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua  talks about how identity defines you as a person, and that its says a lot about who you are. In her writing she states that “I am my language” and I agree with this statement because I strongly believe that your language says a lot about you as a person and where you come from. Spain defines me in everyway possible from its language to its food.

             Identity is what makes you, you and how you want the world to see you. It defines you as a person, and it shows more than just what the world see you as. Identity to me is who you are, starting from where you were born, your language, religion , heritage, to what you want to be . when I think of my identity I think of Spain in every way, Spain defines me as a person because not only is my whole family from Spain but it is a culture and a lifestyle that I have grown up with, it is also why I am the person I am today. In the text by Anzaldua she was constantly faced with whether or not she should go with society and they fact that they want her to be Americanized by speaking English instead of the language that she spoke. She was torn between what she knew all of her life and what she wanted to be, and what society wanted her to be. That applies to my life situation, growing up I was always taught to speak Spanish to be Spanish in every way possible from the language to the food that I eat at dinner. But as soon as I got to kindergarten I got smacked in the face with different instructions on how to be as a person. I had to speak English, I had to write in English, it was the complete opposite of what I was told to do my whole life, and the decision that I had to make was do I conform to what they want or stay the way that I was always taught to be. In reality I had no choice in that decision, I had to conform to what everyone else wanted.

            You’re suppose to be proud of your identity, and stand behind it, but quite frankly that was something that took time for me to get comfortable with, I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin for quite some time. Anzaldua talks about in “ How to Tame A Wild Tongue” how chicanos felt uncomfortable talking in Spanish to Latinas. They felt uncomfortable speaking basically the same language, while in my case I had to speak a totally different language to people I have never met before. It took me a while to be proud of the language that made me who I am

In addition, Anzaldua talks about how people get categorized into different social groups from the language that they speak and they make assumptions right off the back. In my life I have encountered many different struggles dealing with my background such as being called different names and being made fun of because of my ethnicity.

            In conclusion, just like Anzalduas story that she tells in the end she is proud of where she comes and the language that she speaks. And I can proudly say that im one hundred percent proud of where I come from and what I speak. Im confident enough to say that society cannot change me or the language that I speak but it can only enhance my view  of life with different languages under my belt, and knowledge of different cultures. You decide what your identity is, and how you want others to see you. Don’t let the world define you, you define the world.