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Masculinity In Oscar Deyoung And Zeglery's

407 Words2 Pages

The male figure in a Dominican culture has to act and have a certain charisma. They must be aggressive or rough, and if a man doesn’t match the reputation as macho, he’d be lost in life. Being manly is something that a male is born with which is where Oscar is seen as unexperienced for not living up to the male reputation. Masculinity is a word that is often found synonymous with the word courage. In Oscar's eyes, Yunior with his physical attributes and the social respect he garners from his peers is the human embodiment of the word masculinity. However; while he is seen as a macho man, Deyoung and Zeglery defines masculinity as something that “involves invulnerability, courage, and honor” (Asencio 17). He does not symbolize any of the traits of masculinity. …show more content…

He never displays his true identity out of the fear of what others think about him. For instance, Yunior references sci-fi through out the book such as when he relates Oscar's nerdy tendencies to, “ a Jedi [who] wore his light saber or a Lensman her lens.” (Diaz 21) This quote is an example of how Yunior is educated on the sci-fi world but doesn't show it because it doesn't fall under machismo. Diaz utilizes identity to further show the hardship of how Oscar wears his nerdy-ness like a “light saber” vs. Yunior trying to hide his geeky-ness deep down due to his pride, reputation and not wanting his peers scold him like they do with Oscar. The use of a light saber is the mark of a Jedi. As it is used for the force, it symbolizes knowledge as well. The Jedi is identified as someone who is above ordinary, someone who is different for their particular set of

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