A Critique of How to Tame a Wild Tongue, an Essay by Gloria Anzaldua

Textual Analysis

“How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, is a beautiful essay that she writes about different social issues and cultures that she faced while she was growing up. In her essay she talks about the hardships she had speaking two languages. She spoke many different forms of Spanish, also english, and she thinks that she was judged by the way that she spoke. Throughout the essay she begins to talk about many different social issues that she had to face along with the language barrier that she already dealt with. Although there are many themes expressed throughout the essay about social issues, the underlying issues expressed are racism, identity, low self-esteem, and culture.

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Racism is expressed throughout the essay. At a young age, Anzaldua had to go through racism due to her cultural background. Because of her background she was picked at school and was told she couldn’t speak Spanish. At Pan American University, all Chicano students were required to take two speech classes as a way to get rid of their accents. When she spoke Spanish or made a mistake, she was always punished. “Attacks on one’s form of expression with the intent to censor are a violation of the First Amendment” (Anzaldua 34). Anzaldua felt as if her culture was being taken away from her because they forced her to only learn english. Then she discovered Chicano Spanish, as another way to communicate with each other, like a secret language. By creating this, she hopes to keep her culture alive so it doesn’t get taken away from them.

Not only was racism expressed throughout the essay, identity was another social issue. It was hard for Anzaldua to find her identity as a Chicana because she was told that her language is wrong. She felt uncomfortable talking to Latinos because she felt that she was judged. Shad low self-esteem because she did not want to be an outcast or she didn’t want to be judged. “So, if you really want to hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity- I am my language” (Anzaldua 39). It is because of the language she speaks, that gives her a hard time finding her identity. She is saying that whatever background you come from , you should be able to express your an identity. She started teaching High School English to Chicano students as a way for Chicano students to understand and hopefully understand their identity.

Not only was identity a big part in her life, she also had low self-esteem. As being a Chicana, she was afraid of being looked differently or judged. In her essay, she talks about how Chicanas would wear long skirts around each other because there low self-esteem. “If a person, Chicana or Latina, has a low estimation of my native tongue, she also has a low estimation of me” (Anzaldua 39). Because Anzaldua had low self-esteem it caused others to see and made them feel uncomfortable around her. Having low self-esteem, causes her to have a difficult time finding her identity.

Lastly, culture as a Chicano was a big social issue back then. When she was young, Anzaldua felt unattached to her culture because she was only allowed to speak english. She talks about different ways that she can connect to her culture. She learned how to connect to her culture by music, food, emotions, and forms of images. She also teaches high school english to Chicano students as a way to get them to understand the background of their culture. “We know how to survive. When other racers have given up their tongue, we’ve kept ours” (Anzaldua 44). Even though they may have lost their culture, they still find ways to keep their Chicano culture.

In the article, “Targeting Chicano”, Barbara Gonzalez talks about accepting her Chicano culture. She writes, “In my own way, I discovered that CHicano means true love of self so that I could love you and all, so that I would not do to others what had been done so brutally to me” (Gonzalez). She learned to embrace her culture because others hated her for who she was. This is credible to Gloria Anzaldua because at a young age she had difficult time finding her identity. Because she had a hard time, she started to create low self-esteem. She was afraid to show people who she really was because of the word “Chicano”. Now she embraces her Chicano culture and teaching other Chicanos to understand their culture.

In conclusion, Gloria Anzaldua wrote an essay that underlies many social issue that are being talked about today. One social issue she talks about is racism. At a young age she was being punished for the languages she spoke at school. She was told to only speak english as the primary language. Because of this, she lost her Chicano identity. Another issue she talks about is identity. Since she is a Chicano, she had a difficult time finding her identity because she didn’t want to be judged. Without an identity, she also developed low self-esteem. She didn’t want to be judged by how she talked or looked around other Chicanos or Latinos. Lastly she talks about culture. Even though she lost her culture at a young age, she learned how to develop it by different images and emotions. Overall, this essay was well written because she touches on many important social issues that important today.

Works Cited

1. Gonzalez, Barbara Renaud. "Targeting Chicano." The Progressive, July 2002, p. 27+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A90307159/OVIC?u=cypressc&xid=34f7876e. 

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