Sandra Cisneros- "My Name"

            Although I am far from being fluent in speaking Spanish, the name Esperanza is derived from the Spanish verb esperar which can be defined as to hope for or to wait for. In relation to Cisneros’ vignette, it is understood that to wait, or the act of waiting is associated with a sense of sadness. “It means sadness, it means waiting” (10). Esperanza, who inherited her name from her great-grandmother describes the story of her great-grandmother, and expresses a sense of despondency from this inheritance. Esperanza is fully aware of the herstory behind her name, and often times wonders in curiosity the way her great-grandmother looked out the window her whole life, on whether her fate will turn out the way her great-grandmother’s did.

            From Cisneros’ work arises a strong sense of feminism and gender role stereotypes. Through our most commonly understood ideologies like the institution of religion as well as the social construction of gender, women are expected to be delicate, patient, and fragile. Ironically, these were all of the characteristics that Esperanza’s great-grandmother was not. “She was a horse woman too” (10). Esperanza’s great-grandmother was a strong woman, and perhaps a rebel. It can be comprehended that because her great-grandfather essentially forced his wife without her consent to marry him, that Esperanza’s great-grandmother was as stubborn as a horse too. In the era in which Esperanza’s great-grandmother lived her life, it was expected for women to marry, have children and inherently become the property of their husbands. “Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier” (11). Her great-grandmother may have been many things to her husband: fancy maybe, a chandelier perhaps, yet once legal documents were in place, it was now certain too that she was now property. Once married, women like Esperanza’s great-grandmother were nothing more than a possession, and no longer could exercise their own will. Her great-grandmother knew this, thus being the reason why she never forgave him.

            This work offers a lot to its readers on the beliefs of Sandra Cisneros. Although she may or may not call herself a feminist writer, her vignette “My Name” offers a lot on the gender stereotypes in which Chicano women fall victim to in their patriarchal society. Something as simple as a name carries a lot of significance to it because a name is nearly the primary source of our identity. Cisneros demonstrates the power behind a name, moreover on a much grander scale: the power behind the history of a name, and in Esperanza’s case the herstory behind her name. Esperanza’s voice has demonstrated that there are several components that comprise the act of naming- and among the many is a person’s fate. A name truly has the potential to hold a person’s fate.