Feminism is the “belief that women should have economic, political, and social equality with men” (Gustafson). Many inspiring feminists have “challenged traditional gender roles and demanded more opportunities for women throughout history” (Gustafson). In 1920, women finally won the right to vote in the United States after a long struggle against this particular injustice. After winning this opportunity, feminists began to focus on more societal issues, such as the fact that they had fewer rights in the workplace and lower social status than men. Sandra Cisneros was one of these women who addressed gender roles in her own writing, using her experiences as a Mexican-American woman. Sandra Cisneros' short stories "Woman Hollering Creek" and "Barbie-Q" present Cisneros' own experiences with poverty and sexism through the voices of female characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essaySandra Cisneros is a Mexican-American “novelist, poet, and short story writer” (Saltzman). She was born on December 20, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. In her books and short stories, she combines "feminism with her Mexican-American heritage, creating a dialogue on topics such as ethnic prejudice, poverty, and gender roles" (Saltzman). The female characters in her stories are “often torn between asserting their feminist feelings and adhering to traditional, male-dominated Mexican cultural attitudes” (Saltzman). Sandra Cisneros' depictions of female characters in her stories are typical of the setting's era, as her female characters struggled in her stories against societal expectations, poverty, and rampant sexism. Women were expected to be perfect in society when they fulfilled their roles as mothers, housewives. , and his wife. Society had very different views of men and women during this time. Men were expected to demonstrate “morality, honesty, and professional success” (Parker). Their role was to work and provide for the family. Women were expected to be “physically attractive, caring, and empathetic” (Parker). They had to take care of the children and stay at home. Women were also expected to take care of their husbands. The young girls in the story "Barbie-Q" are very excited about the dolls they find at a flea market, which were burned in a warehouse fire and which are for sale. An example of their happiness with these dolls would be when a girl said: "If you dress her in her new 'Prom Pinks' outfit, a satin splendor with matching coat, gold belt, clutch and bow for the hair included, as long as you don't. I'm not lifting her dress, am I? — who should know” (Cisneros 2). This line shows how appearances can hide disappointment, just like in “Woman Hollering Creek” where Cleófilas hides her dissatisfaction with her life by busying herself with washing dishes and taking care of their house. The second example would be “What if our Barbies smell like smoke when you hold them to your nose, even after you wash them and wash them and wash them” (Cisneros 2). This quote from “Barbie-Q” shows how little girls accepted that their dolls smelled like smoke because they had few of them due to poverty. Another example of acceptance of a bad situation in Cisneros' writings occurs in "Woman HolleringCreek", when Cleófilas accepts her husband's faults because she thinks she must be content with him due to her view that love is pain and therefore she must be content with an unhappy marriage Mexican American women were looked down upon by men of their culture and seen as having no place in politics or conversations. Women faced many issues like "sexism, racism, and class barriers" (. Orozco). While men were "advanced in electoral politics" (Orozco), most women "immigrated from Mexico to Texas" (Orozco). the food, made and washed the clothes, and raised the children” (Orozco) They were treated very differently, a point that Cisneros often brings up in his short stories, particularly when Cleófilas dines with her husband in “Woman Hollering Creek” and counts on them. him to tell him when to talk and laugh. Cleófilas is a young Mexican woman who marries and endures abuse from her husband. Her husband beats her for no reason. Cleófilas says: “No, she won't talk about it. She promises. If the doctor asks that she could say that she fell on the front door steps or slipped while in the yard, slipped backwards, she could tell him” (Cisneros 226). The quote shows how her husband abused her and she is so used to his abuse that she lied about it to cover it up. Her husband doesn't care about Cleófilas' health either, and she says, "She has to go, so she can make sure the new baby is okay, so there won't be any problems." his birth, and the appointment card says next. Tuesday” (Cisneros 226). The quote shows how much she had to depend on her husband to take her baby to the hospital. She couldn't take the baby herself without problem. She relies on her husband to take her because men are more dominant in their culture. At the end of the story, Cleófilas is shocked when Felice screams as they pass through La Gritona because she is not used to women being assertive or loud in her culture. Many Mexican American women have struggled with poverty in their culture. Poverty is described as “the lack of sufficient income and resources to live adequately according to community standards” (Allard). Poverty causes “suffering, malnutrition, poor health and loss of life” (Allard). It is said that “inadequate nutrition, medical care and education reduce the economic and social contributions of poor individuals” (Allard). Many people around the world struggle with poverty, including Mexican American women. In "Woman Hollering Creek", Cleófilas and her husband struggle with poverty throughout the story. They struggle to pay their bills and take care of the baby. Cleófilas knows that “it’s hard to save money with all the bills they have, but how else could they get out of debt with the truck payments” (Cisneros 226). The quote shows how they don't have much money and are in debt. Another example would be "and her demands to fix this and this and that because if she had a little brain in her head she would realize that he got up before the rooster, earning his living to pay for the food in her belly and the roof above her. head” (Cisneros 223). Cleófilas puts extra effort into repairing their home, while her husband doesn't mind her efforts to make their home nicer. 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