1. Subject: Mr. C
Presenter: Rebecca Rothstein
SWK 542-033
Adelphi University School of
Social Work
Professor Abu-Rass
12/17/09
“I am a Man of Consequences”
2. Background
Mr. C is 46 years old and identifies as a
Puerto-Rican male.
He is the oldest of four brothers that were all born in
Queens, N.Y.
Both of his parents came to the United States from
Puerto Rico during the 1960s when there was an
increase in migration.
The focus of our interview was on race and gender
related issues
3. Racial issues
Nuyorican vs. Puerto-Rican
Nuyorican- Second or third
generation Puerto-Ricans that live in
the New York area and are raised in
American culture (Johnson, 2009).
Puerto-Rican- A person who has
Puerto-Rican lineage (Johnson,
2009).
Mr. C was given the label of
Nuyorican by family members which
can have pejoritive undertones
VS
4. Mr. C was physically disciplined
by his father at the age of eight
for not fighting back when
bullies accused him of being gay
He described himself as a shy
kid, not as outgoing or
aggressive as his brothers
Mr. C was told by his dad to
“stop acting like a fag and be a
man”.
He took care of his accusers the
next day
Gender issues at home
5. Gender issues in professional life
Mr. C is working as a
dispatcher while going to
school for nursing
Professors have openly
discouraged him and
female classmates have
questioned his sincerity
Family members have
told him that nursing is a
“woman’s job” and he
feels that they question
his manhood
6. research
literature I reviewed covered gender role
expectations in Puerto-Rican culture,
evolving history of term nuyorican, and
brief history of Puerto-Rico
Important term for social workers to know
regarding gender role:
Machismo- “Interaction of social, cultural,
and behavioral components forming male
gender-role identity in the sociopolitical
context of the Latino Society” (Torres,
1998).
x Generally associated with aggression and
dominance which is also how Mr. C was
raised to be a man. Torres argues though,
there are positive aspects such as
empowerment.
7. Research continued
Research on evolution of term
Nuyorican
Johnson (2009) argues it was once
a pejoritive
Now there is a Nuyorican Poets Café
and famous celebrities such as
Supreme Court Justice Sonia
Sotomayor are proud to give
themselves that label.
Final piece research on the history of
Puerto-Rico. Early colonization remains
polarizing issue for PR who debate
independence (Bonilla-Santiago, 2004).
8. Mr. C was oppressed based on gender, race, and
ethnicity
He struggled with cultural expectations of gender roles
during childhood and now during adult life as he
pursues a career in nursing. Faced oppression and
discrimination from family and classmates.
Regarding race/ethnicity, oppressed by family for
being nuyorican. Also faced prejudice/stereotyping
during High School.
9. Stereotypes, advantages/disadvantages
x Common stereotypes about
PR: all on drugs, in a gang,
like to get girls pregnant at
young ages, lazy, good in
bed, poor, feisty, not willing
to learn English, prideful,
feed off the government.
x Advantages to being PR
Male: head of the family,
culture of respect (respeto)
and pride.
x Disadvantages: Heavy
responsibility placed on
males, supposed to be
strong and not show
emotions.
10. It all comes together
Oppression/Discrimination is enforced and maintained by
our society’s institutions on down to our individual
families’ cultural values.
Mr. C’s family are practicing Catholics whose religious
institution reinforced their traditional gender beliefs
Mr.C’s experiences with oppression have resulted in
feelings of stigmatization/powerlessness which is often
the case with oppressed groups
This interview allowed me to get to get to know my client
better and I believe as a result I will be a better advocate
for him
11. references
Bonilla-Santiago, Gloria. (2004) Social Work Practice
with Puerto-Ricans (pp.571-591). In Morales, A. &
Sheafor, B. (Ed.). (2004) Social Work: A Profession of
Many Faces (10th
ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Johnson, Reed. (2009, May 30). Nuyoricans bask in
the spotlight. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from
http://articles.latimes.com
Pharr, S. (2007) Homophobia as a weapon of sexism.
(pp. 168-177). In Rothenberg, P.S. (Ed.). (2007) Race,
class, and gender in the United States: An Integrated
Study (6th
ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.