Identity in the Borderlands

In her book Borderlands, Gloria Anzaldua describes a remarkable struggle in discerning self identity. She describes the ostracism faced at coming out as a lesbian, as well as the hardships she needed to face in society for her choice of language.

In chapter four of the book, she introduces the Coatlicue State. She named this state after the Aztec Goddess of life and death, Coatlicue. She compares the many contradictions found in Coatlicue to her own difficulties and contradictions faced in uncovering her own self identity, and she claims that this Coatlicue State is a period that all Chicana's undergo.

I found her description of Coatlicue to be very interesting in that it can be applied to almost any conflict in  identifiying ones self. Like the Goddess Coatlicue, an Identity crisis is usually accompanied by a seeming contradiction in our sense of self. Anzaldua was torn between speaking English and Spanish, identifying as Mexican or Latino, Homosexual or Heterosexual, the Goddess Coatlicue is torn between Life and Death.

These ideas are prevalent in Anzaldua's poem, To Live in the Borderlands. This poem provides a perfect description of how an identity crisis can affect one's life, with both external and internal conflicts. In lines five-six of the poem, she says "While carrying all five races on your back, not knowing which side to turn to, to run;" This line shows how Anzaldua considered herself a member of many different races, yet at the same time, she did not know which one she belonged to. In lines eleven and twelve she says "That denying the Angelo inside you is as bad as having denied the Indian or Black." These lines show that Anzaldua feels that we should embrace all parts of our ethnic identity, not just certain parts of it. She believes we should be proud of our heritage.

The remainder of the poem describes how one should incorporate all aspects of your heritage into your identity by:
"Putting Chile in your Borsch"
"Being both man and woman"
"Speaking Tex-Mex with a Brooklyn Accent"
The poem also goes on to explain that sometimes, you may need to fight in order to get society to accept your identity- "You are the battleground... the mill with the razor white teeth wants to shred off your olive red skin".

Her last stanza in especially powerful-
"To survive the borderlands,
you must live sin fronteras,
be a crossroads."

This stanza summarizes the solution she arrived at in identifying oneself. We should not live as 'just' Mexican, or 'just' White, but embrace both, and be a 'crossroads' for the two cultures to meet together. She shows that even though the way we identify ourselves might not be preferred by society, but that it should not stop us from being who we are.