One personal experience of mine echoed in The House on Mango Street is texturism and how hair can be used as an identifier for an individual. In “Hairs,” readers learn about the personalities of Esperanza’s family by the way she describes their hair. Growing up, my mom used to call my hair “nappy.” This was usually followed by a statement that if my hair texture was “soft” like hers I could have grown it out. So when I think about it, I didn’t have a “personality” growing up because I was not allowed to express myself via physical appearances such as my hair. The vignette itself reveals a lot about Esperanza’s family through their hair, and that in itself is a beautiful thing! “Hairs” is my favorite vignette that we read so far because it speaks on the appreciation of different hair textures within one family, which I think is a beautiful thing!
Powered by:
top
One thought on “JBoland Discussion Board 14”
Hi Jayveon
Yes, the chapter ‘Hairs’ in ‘The House on Mango Street’ uses everyone’s hair to show their character traits and personality. We often use similar descriptions as we grow up, though we might not specifically use hair. We might refer to someone by their physique, or we might search for another characteristic in them to create a ‘nickname’ that describes them based on their personality or attitude.