progressive, upwardly mobile Dominican community

strangerinastrangeland · #1 09-06-2009, 04:50 PM

For the record, I am not an elitist, "comemie%^&". In fact, I have contempt for the contemputuous.

However, I am a home grown Dominicana, NYC born and bred, and have felt like a fish out of water most of my life. The sistahs despise me for my swagger and my typical Latina, triguena looks, Dominicanas think I am PRican and won't allow me to join in any reindeer games and I just can't relate to the bland Anglo culture with no salsa or fire in the belly. Any middle class, college educated Dominican communities outside the mother land? I have been a hopeless wanderer, in exile, for some time folks.

I need to get in touch with my "inner Latina" again, having been married outside "la raza" for many years.

(HUGE MISTAKE!!!).

Tired of having to tone down the swagger and the "cache". Need to feel that I have to stop reigning in that beautiful, Latin joie de vivre.

Ay, yay yay, where's a Latina gotta go where her progressive Latina-ness is celebrated and not perceived as a threat to be annihilated by non-Latinas at all costs?

Not trying to foment trouble here muchachas y muchachos, but it is what it is....

ElvisNYC · #2 09-06-2009, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strangerinastrangeland

For the record, I am not an elitist, "comemie%^&". In fact, I have contempt for the contemputuous.

However, I am a home grown Dominicana, NYC born and bred, and have felt like a fish out of water most of my life. The sistahs despise me for my swagger and my typical Latina, triguena looks, Dominicanas think I am PRican and won't allow me to join in any reindeer games and I just can't relate to the bland Anglo culture with no salsa or fire in the belly. Any middle class, college educated Dominican communities outside the mother land? I have been a hopeless wanderer, in exile, for some time folks.

I need to get in touch with my "inner Latina" again, having been married outside "la raza" for many years.

(HUGE MISTAKE!!!).

Tired of having to tone down the swagger and the "cache". Need to feel that I have to stop reigning in that beautiful, Latin joie de vivre.

Ay, yay yay, where's a Latina gotta go where her progressive Latina-ness is celebrated and not perceived as a threat to be annihilated by non-Latinas at all costs?

Not trying to foment trouble here muchachas y muchachos, but it is what it is....

If you are in NY, go to Washington Heights to places like Umbrella, Arka Lounge, Jubilee, Mamajuana, 809 to name a few and you'll see how the middle/ upper middle Dominicans party. It's a different crowd up there. Just mingle !

bob saunders · #3 09-06-2009, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strangerinastrangeland

I need to get in touch with my "inner Latina" again, having been married outside "la raza" for many years.

(HUGE MISTAKE!!!).

Tired of having to tone down the swagger and the "cache". Need to feel that I have to stop reigning in that beautiful, Latin joie de vivre.

You'll have to tell, one of those Bland Anglo's, how to keep my Latina's joie de vivre from overwhelming me. Sounds like you are caught between cultures and yearn for the one you originate from, but no longer fit into. Inner happiness is just that, it comes from within, but perhaps you'll be more at peace if you find that elusive moving target you're seeking.Good Luck.

ExtremeR · #4 09-06-2009, 06:51 PM

Why would Dominicanas think you are boricua?? aside from the accent and a few cultures differences they both dress almost the same way, and may have the same walking swagger. It would be good if you start hanging out in Washington Heights clubs and places more to get more in touch with the Dominican culture, or better yet book a trip to the main island, you will have a blast and get to know the DR culture better.

strangerinastrangeland · #5 09-06-2009, 10:26 PM

I don't think of it as an either/or thing, Bob. That polarity is so Americano, you know, always missing the nuance - like it can only be either white or black. Also, I don't think happiness exists in a vacuum.

I don't see it as outgrowing my ethnicity, rather, I see it is a matter of bicultural hybrid vigor. Precisely what a maturing Latino population needs and we just might be the ones to pull it off with style, eventually. After all, we are used to navigating the merging of racial, cultural worlds. I just wish it were sooner rather than later. I suspect the Cubans may have already succeeded to some extent, though I have never visited Miami to really know for sure.

Thanks for the 411, ElvisNYC. I actually did live in the badlands of Washington Heights for many years but it may have a different vibe now that it's been diuted and sanitized for your protection, more or less. It's been 10+ yrs since I've left and since we've been legitimized on Broadway recently, maybe it's high time for another look-see. When I first moved to WH, most of my peers were glamming it up and naming their babies after their favorite soap opera characters. Siobhan Bermudez, Paige Fernandez????? Gran poder de Dios!!!

Re: being mistaken for Boricua, I think it may very well be the accent and the degree of assimilation. Possibly. You're right about the swagger of both Dominicanas and Boricuas, nearly identical at first blush. The only way a trained eye can distinguish between the two is on the dance floor.

Tee-hee.

Luperon · #6 09-06-2009, 10:37 PM

Why not move to the DR?

BTW, I don't think your post is genuine.

strangerinastrangeland · #7 09-06-2009, 10:40 PM

BTW, I meant to post:

"I need to stop feeling like I have to stop reining in my Latina joie de vivre."

strangerinastrangeland · #8 09-06-2009, 10:45 PM

Absolutely wrong. Why does it strike you as phoney or inauthentic?
Specifics please, if you are so inclined. Thanks.

That suspicion just might be at the core of my alienation with other hispanics from DR and PR. I am very curious. Why do I strike you as not being the real thing?

cobraboy · #9 09-07-2009, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strangerinastrangeland

Absolutely wrong. Why does it strike you as phoney or inauthentic?
Specifics please, if you are so inclined. Thanks.

That suspicion just might be at the core of my alienation with other hispanics from DR and PR. I am very curious. Why do I strike you as not being the real thing?

Instead of just being yourself, you paint yourself into a specific cultural box.

Just be comfortable in your own skin. Quit worrying what others think and how you're gonna fit in.

Water seeks it's own level naturally. Find yours.

strangerinastrangeland · #10 09-07-2009, 10:40 AM

No worries. It is precisely because I am so damn comfortable in my tan skin and bicultural Latina-ness that it is so very, very puzzling to me. What is up with that? I mean, it is not like I am trying to emulate any other cutlure or its values other than the one that I was genetically programmed to embrace.

True, water does seek its own level. It can also become stagnant and even evaporate too. It may take another twenty years for the Dominican culture to mature in this country perhaps. In the interim, I'll continue to thirst for comprencion(sp?).

Just stop giving me disapproving looks, my coveted Latino men, when I am hanging off the arm of a non-hispanic man who can never really understand me or hit those high notes. It's just not the same. I know how very, very busy those gringas are keeping you all.

Just trying to understand and share my perspective a bit.