I have been at a disadvantage since the day I was born. This is simply because I was born as a female. My perceived notion of gender began with my family. I grew up in a Mexican traditional home as a first-generation citizen. The rules that I grew up with were distinct from others who had assimilated to the United States culture. I learned by being exposed to their behaviors and have adapted them becase they are the norm in our culture, just as the Social learning theory explains (Brannon, 2011, p123). Unspoken and traditionalist rules about my expected behavior were established. My attributes had to be aligned to those of a lady and essentially to follow the four cardinal virtues of The Cult of True Womanhood, as explained by Barbara Welter “piety,…show more content… 2). For instance, the gender power dynamic was evident in our everyday lives, even in the most minimal ways. I was never told directly that men were more powerful than women, but I witnessed the interactions between my parents. My father, well made Mexican macho, was the breadwinner of the family and my mother a housewife. My mother would cook, clean, and take care of my siblings and me. My dad would come home from work expecting a clean house and food on the table. She would never complain because she was proud that she was fulfilling her role in the family even if it meant putting herself last. She was devoted to tend to her family. I imagine myself in the future as a mother and a wife. Although I anticipate to be part of a more equal partnership, I recognize that the “girl” housework will be skewed more to be my responsibility. As a mother, I will undoubtedly put my children’s need before my own but I will be a modern mother who will have a career and raise a family successfully. I use my mother as a model of who I want to be but in a modified and more empowered way breaking some of the cultural chains placed on
