Gender Roles in Salt of the Earth, El Norte and Zoot Suit

Throughout the tale of Chicano film and literature, sexuality roles and gender specific stereotypes have vie a monu mental role, defining an entire generation of cinema. Whether it is the Latin lover and his irrepressible charm, the machismo who demonstrates native strength, the Dark Lady who invokes trust from men of every race, or the influential and hard functional women who overcome insurmountable obstacles. \nIn the film Salt of the Earth, enjoin by Herbert J. Biberman, the gender roles enquire a dramatic slope never seen before in Chicano film. The obvious differences in how inn treats the men and the women of this mining townspeople are quickly make clear; the men turn tail and are part of the totality while the women stay place and take care of the family. These men, and in particular those men from this generation with Mexican heritage, often saw women as weak and n earliest worthless in anything other than sister rearing. \nThis dependence seen in women of this term period was largely imputable in part to economics. The inordinate gender distinction that created men as the working clan prevented women from seeking means to plough economically independent, thus never allowing them to act freely or to make key decisions regarding their commit in life. \nIn the early twentieth century, Mexican women adhered to relentless gender roles; while roman Quintero was forced to deal with more and more poor work conditions, his married woman Esperanza could only continue to turn over their home as she passively waited for change to come. Esperanza had literally no power in spite of appearance her home, or the wider community, so that the concerns she had for practical matters were nearly completely ignored by the activities of the male Union activists. The women within the mining community were systematically treated with the same pixilated disdain that the Anglo workers displayed toward their Mexican counterparts. However, as time we nt on she and some(prenominal) of her peers found the strength and powe...