In the story “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the author Cofer explains how people stereotype Latina women generation after generation. Cofer begins his story with his own experience on a bus trip to London from Oxford University, when a drunk man comes out of a pub 'bar'. He knelt down and started singing “Maria” from “Wet Side Story.” Throughout the story, Cofer discusses her opinion on stereotypes of Latin American women. Cofer looks back on his high school days for career day, when teachers would tell them to come dressed like they were for a job interview. (573) She talks about the difficulty of finding something "appropriate" to wear. Not knowing what to wear due to few or no role models for a “career day”. Cofer mentions the stereotype of Puerto Rican girls “dressing up” in jewelry and ornate clothing (573). Years later, Cofer recalled a comment from her friend (an Italian-American) in business school that Puerto Rican girls stood out for wearing "everything at once." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. Cofer tells us about mixed cultural signals that have certain stereotypes (575). People would refer to Hispanic women as “hot tamales” or sexual firebrands. She explains how, when they were young girls, they were influenced in their decisions about clothing and colors by the older woman. She also explains how on the island women were not sexually harassed because showing skin was a way to stay cool. On the island they could dress more freely because in most cases they were protected by the traditions, mores and laws of the Spanish/Catholic systems of morality and machismo. Their main rules were "you can look at my sister, but if you touch her, I will kill you." Every race/ethnicity is stereotyped, some are worse than others. No matter where you're from or what you look like, people always "see" what you're trying to get away from. Honestly, I think stereotypes are wrong and need to be stopped. Stereotypes are passed down from generation to generation. I believe stereotypes are over because someone in your family has to “teach” them or “physically show” them. For example, Cofer said a man at a "bar" spotted her and as if inspiration struck him and started singing "Maria" from "West Side Story." Something must have made the man do this to Cofer. Most things in life need to be visualized before doing them. She handled the situation very well by simply putting on a smile and walking away. Not everyone has the strength to deal with such a mature situation. Toward the end of the story, a father called her “Evita” and kept reciting “don’t cry for me, Argentina.” Then his daughter said, “How about a round of applause for my daddy?” by doing this in front of her daughter, it tells her that it's "ok" to do something like that. Your race does not give a “title” to your intelligence or how far you can go in life. You determine how far you want to go. You can do anything, you put your mind to it as long as you work hard for it. For example, with her Cofer education and fluency in English, she generally does not fit the stereotype of "Latin American women." That is to say, occupying menial work, jobs of..