Culture, Translation, and Universalism Theme Analysis

Much of “The Myth of the Latin Woman” is devoted to describing how Latina women feel uniquely excluded and marginalized in Anglo-American society. Behaviors, styles, and modes of expression that protected or empowered them in their native countries, Cofer explains, are often perceived differently in the United States. However, the essay argues that, though cultural customs can be distorted when translated into new contexts, people from different cultures often have more in common than one might think. In short, Cofer asserts that by exploring the experiences of Latina women and their attempts to translate certain cultural practices into a new context, she can speak to universal human truths.

For example, when describing her feeling of being left out as a teenager based on the clothing her mother made her wear, Cofer acknowledges that while the experience of exclusion was heightened for Latina women, most of her peers felt “out of step” regardless of their ethnicity or gender. Further, Cofer points out that cultural customs are not innate, but rather learned and imposed from history and tradition, implying a fundamental commonality between children of all cultures who grow up influenced by the habits of their families and neighbors. At the end of the essay, Cofer explains that she hopes non-Latino audiences will be able to appreciate and relate to her writing in a way that transcends her particular ethnicity, native language, or cultural heritage. Cofer sees the experience of translating across cultures as generative, permitting her to articulate some “bilingual” or universal human experience.