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FROM TWO CULTURES TO ONE IDENTITY​

            Narration is key. A narrator can provide context to situations, detail to settings, and affect the reader’s interpretation of a text. In I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (2017) by Erika Sanchez, Julia Reyes narrates her life experiences in Chicago as a Mexican-American adolescent who recently lost her older sister and is trying to understand a world without her. This narrative reflects Julia’s perception of both the “Mexican” and “American” cultures seen in her family, friends, and community, and how the interactions of those entities affect her ability to achieve her dreams by creating bicultural stress.

            According to research from Romero, Pina-Watson, and Toomey, bicultural stress can impact mental health and lead to depressive symptoms and feeling hopeless (Romero et al, 58). Bicultural stress is “the subjective perception of stress that may result from navigating and seeking acceptance in two different cultures that may have conflicting cultural norms, values, and different languages” (Romero et al, 50). This stress can include being ostracized by family, friends, and communities such as school or neighborhoods (Romero et al, 50). In these cases, havens to avoid feeling marginalized are often nonexistent for adolescents. For Julia, bicultural stress and a lack of havens means daily struggling against her perception of Mexican and American cultures.

            Following the Romero et al definition, the first part of Julia’s bicultural stress is from her family via language and values differences. Julia first feels bicultural stress when she compares her mother Ama’s relationships with her two daughters: “Ama and I … don’t hug and say, ‘I love you,’ like on TV shows about boring white families who live in two-story houses and talk about their feelings. She [Ama] and Olga were practically best friends, and I was the odd daughter out” (Sanchez 4). Julia does not feel connected to her mother like her late older sister Olga, which creates a cultural divide as Ama prefers stereotypical TV dramas and Julia doesn’t appreciate the sexist remarks (Sanchez 21). This cultural difference is due to Julia viewing her family beliefs and values as traditionally Mexican. This opposes Julia’s idea of women’s rights and her dream to leave Chicago. Because they don’t share affectionate words and enjoy time together, Julia feels she does not fit in with her mother nor the rest of her family. Julia’s aunts think she is a “devil child” because she does not go to church (Sanchez 9). The “perfect” Olga always went to Saturday prayer group and Ama tries convincing Julia to go (Sanchez 69); however, Julia struggles with the idea that anyone can love her, including Jesus (Sanchez 47). Julia’s Tio Bigotes outs her because she cannot speak Spanish satisfactorily (Sanchez 84), which often occurs when children such as Julia are born in America. Even though Julia’s parents speak Spanish, she has become “Americanized.” This “Americanization” happens when children learn to speak and write English in school and the community. In her mind, Julia’s family represents Mexican culture where cultural beliefs and values are strong and family comes before school or society, as opposed to her more American view of speaking English, wanting rights, and questioning Catholicism due to it “hat[ing] women” (Sanchez 21).

            The second bicultural stressor for Julia occurs at school, where Julia seeks to fit in with other students and teachers but is embarrassed because her Mexican cultural background opposes the school’s American culture. This is perceived when Mr. Ingman, the English teacher, asks the class what teaching them standard English means. Julia wants to answer, but instead looks over at another girl in class named Leslie, who smirks (Sanchez 30). This encounter shows Julia is not accepted by at least some of the students, but non-acceptance continues with some of Julia’s teachers. Mr. Simmons, the math instructor, fails to pronounce Julia’s name correctly: “He says my name the wrong way (Jewlia), even though I told him how to already pronounce it” (Sanchez 36). Ama and Julia agree on one thing: that Julia’s name should not be pronounced the “English way” and people should try to pronounce it correctly in a Spanish pronunciation (Sanchez 36). These student and teacher encounters show that Julia struggles to identify with her school community due to discrimination and language differences, which causes her to have self-doubt and feel less accepted by society ...

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Works Cited

• Romero, Andrea J., et al. “When Is Bicultural Stress Associated with Loss of Hope and Depressive Symptoms? Variation by Ethnic Identity Status among Mexican Descent Youth.” Journal of Latina/o Psychology, vol. 6, no. 1, Feb. 2018, pp. 49-63. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1037/lat0000078.

• Sanchez, Erika L. I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Alfred A. Knopf, 2017