In the story "The Myth of the Latina Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, author Cofer discusses how people stereotype the Latin American woman generation after generation. Cofer begins his story with his own experience on a bus trip to London from Oxford University, when a drunk man comes out of a pub “bar”. He got down on his knees and started singing “Maria” from “Wet Side Story.” Throughout the story Cofer discusses her opinion on stereotypes of the Latin American woman. Cofer reflects on his high school days for Career Day, when teachers told them to show up dressed as if for a job interview. (573) Talk about the difficulty of finding something “appropriate” to wear. Not knowing what to wear due to few or no role models to dress similarly to for a “career day”. Cofer mentions the stereotype of Puerto Rican girls “dressing up” by wearing jewelry and ornate clothing (573). Years later, Cofer recalls a comment from a friend of hers (an Italian American) from business school in which she stated that Puerto Rican girls were notable for wearing “everything at once.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Cofer tells us about the contrasting cultural signals that certain stereotypes present (575). People would refer to Hispanic women as “Hot tamales” or sexual firebrand. Explain how as girls they were influenced in their decisions about clothes and colors by the older woman. She also explains how women on the island do not experience sexual harassment because showing their skin was a way to calm down. On the island they could dress more freely because in most cases they were protected by the traditions, customs and laws of the Spanish/Catholic systems of morality and machismo. Their main rule was "you can look at my sister, but if you touch her I will kill you." Every race/ethnicity becomes stereotyped, some are worse than others. No matter where you come from or what you look like, people always “see” what you are trying to escape from. I honestly think stereotypes are wrong and need to be stopped. Stereotypes are passed down from generation to generation. I believe stereotypes are overcome because someone in your family has to “teach it” or “physically show it”. For example, Cofer said that a man from a "bar" saw her and as if inspiration struck and he started singing "Maria" from "West side story". Something had to inspire the man to do such a thing to Cofer. Most things in life you have to visualize before you accomplish them. He handled the situation very well by simply mustering a smile and walking away. Not everyone has the strength to handle such a mature situation. Even towards the end of the story a father called her “Evita” and continued to recite “don't cry for me, Argentina”. Then his daughter said "how about a round of applause for my dad?" doing it in front of your daughter is telling her that it's "ok" to do something like that. Your race does not give a “title” to how smart or how far you can get in life. You determine how far you want to go. You can do anything, you are committed as long as you work hard for it. For example, with Cofer's education and knowledge of English, she does not typically fit the "Latin American women" stereotype. Which means doing menial jobs, waitress/kitchen jobs and factory jobs. Cofer is proving “The Myth of a Latina Woman” wrong because she has a career as a writer. Cofer says she has a Chicana friend who is working on her doctorate. in philosophy at a major university and his doctor continues to shake the.