Summary and Response #3 – How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua

In Gloria Anzaldua’s autobiographical book, “Borderland/La Frontera: The New Mestiza,” published in 1987 Anzuldua discusses issues surrounding feminism, gay rights and Chicanas. She was born in 1947 in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, initially working as a migrant worker. She eventually became a school teacher who became passionate about writing and speaking about issues that concerned her. In the excerpt taken from her autobiography previously mentioned, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she discusses the importance of language, how it’s tied to culture and a person’s identity.

Gloria mentions the idea of “taming” a wild tongue. What does this even mean? What does it mean for a person to have a “wild” tongue? She mentions a memory she had in grade school where she was punished for speaking Spanish at recess. Since she was little everyone around her including her own family would tell her to speak “American” which is another way of saying “proper” English. Her own mother would tell her that speaking English in a Mexican accent would hold her back from getting good jobs. She was forced to take speech classes in university to get rid of her accent, along with other Chicano students.

This makes Mexican Americans feel forced to leave behind their culture, which happens with most Latino Americans as well. You either get judged for not sounding fluent in Spanish, or you get judged for not sounding fluent in English. It’s a game that no one wins and the only thing that ends up inevitable is the fact that people start to resent their own culture because they were taught to do so. Gloria combats all of these ideas by choosing to speak however she wants to speak, not how she’s been told to speak. She wants to be able to speak Spanglish if she wants to and not feel ashamed for simply speaking like she has been for most of her life. This is a form of rebellion, even though it seems small.

Personally, I related to this excerpt and felt seen by the way she speaks of her experiences. When I was younger I would feel ashamed of my culture because I felt so outcast at school, so I decided to stop speaking Spanish unless I had to. My English is what I focused on and even though that was important too, I started to leave behind a very important part of my identity. As I grew older I started to feel more comfortable speaking Spanish but then I didn’t have the same accent as my family members. When I went home they would make fun of my “gringa” accent. This made me feel ashamed because it almost felt like I wasn’t part of my culture anymore. The text was very inspiring because we had very similar experiences and she made me realize that I wasn’t alone in how I felt. She provided examples of her experiences, as mentioned earlier and she explained how we are taught to feel this way. It’s a common experience for latinos who grew up in the U.S. but what we can do to combat it is to speak in our native tongue without shame or judgment.