Gloria Anzaldúa writes much about borders, physical and social, and how some of us cross these borders on a daily basis. Reading Borderlands/La Frontera I started to wonder about my borders. The types of “borders” I cross on a day to day basis are more social than physical. The social borders I encounter focus primarily on me being a woman of color. My gender and race are aspects of my social location that cause social borders to arise in my daily life. As a student, I notice these borders in the education system, specifically at a University. At home, I am loved and respected as a woman of color, a Chicana. However, the moment I step onto campus I am crossing from a place of comfort to a place of stereotypical expectations. This is a place where I am forced to prove myself as an intellectual woman, an American citizen, and a person worthy of respect. These social borders define my struggles as a woman of color but they do not define me. Identifying these social borders is the first step I need to take to be able to overcome them.
What types of borders do you cross?
-Katherine Batanero
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