1. Subject: Mr. C
Presenter: Rebecca Rothstein
SWK 542-033
Adelphi University School of
Social Work
Professor Abu-Rass
12/17/09
“I am a Man of Consequences”

2. Background
 Mr. C is 46 years old and identifies as a
Puerto-Rican male.
 He is the oldest of four brothers that were all born in
Queens, N.Y.
 Both of his parents came to the United States from
Puerto Rico during the 1960s when there was an
increase in migration.
 The focus of our interview was on race and gender
related issues

3. Racial issues
 Nuyorican vs. Puerto-Rican
 Nuyorican- Second or third
generation Puerto-Ricans that live in
the New York area and are raised in
American culture (Johnson, 2009).
 Puerto-Rican- A person who has
Puerto-Rican lineage (Johnson,
2009).
 Mr. C was given the label of
Nuyorican by family members which
can have pejoritive undertones
VS

4.  Mr. C was physically disciplined
by his father at the age of eight
for not fighting back when
bullies accused him of being gay
 He described himself as a shy
kid, not as outgoing or
aggressive as his brothers
 Mr. C was told by his dad to
“stop acting like a fag and be a
man”.
 He took care of his accusers the
next day
Gender issues at home

5. Gender issues in professional life
 Mr. C is working as a
dispatcher while going to
school for nursing
 Professors have openly
discouraged him and
female classmates have
questioned his sincerity
 Family members have
told him that nursing is a
“woman’s job” and he
feels that they question
his manhood

6. research
 literature I reviewed covered gender role
expectations in Puerto-Rican culture,
evolving history of term nuyorican, and
brief history of Puerto-Rico
 Important term for social workers to know
regarding gender role:
Machismo- “Interaction of social, cultural,
and behavioral components forming male
gender-role identity in the sociopolitical
context of the Latino Society” (Torres,
1998).
x Generally associated with aggression and
dominance which is also how Mr. C was
raised to be a man. Torres argues though,
there are positive aspects such as
empowerment.

7. Research continued
 Research on evolution of term
Nuyorican
 Johnson (2009) argues it was once
a pejoritive
 Now there is a Nuyorican Poets Café
and famous celebrities such as
Supreme Court Justice Sonia
Sotomayor are proud to give
themselves that label.
 Final piece research on the history of
Puerto-Rico. Early colonization remains
polarizing issue for PR who debate
independence (Bonilla-Santiago, 2004).

8.  Mr. C was oppressed based on gender, race, and
ethnicity
 He struggled with cultural expectations of gender roles
during childhood and now during adult life as he
pursues a career in nursing. Faced oppression and
discrimination from family and classmates.
 Regarding race/ethnicity, oppressed by family for
being nuyorican. Also faced prejudice/stereotyping
during High School.

9. Stereotypes, advantages/disadvantages
x Common stereotypes about
PR: all on drugs, in a gang,
like to get girls pregnant at
young ages, lazy, good in
bed, poor, feisty, not willing
to learn English, prideful,
feed off the government.
x Advantages to being PR
Male: head of the family,
culture of respect (respeto)
and pride.
x Disadvantages: Heavy
responsibility placed on
males, supposed to be
strong and not show
emotions.

10. It all comes together
 Oppression/Discrimination is enforced and maintained by
our society’s institutions on down to our individual
families’ cultural values.
 Mr. C’s family are practicing Catholics whose religious
institution reinforced their traditional gender beliefs
 Mr.C’s experiences with oppression have resulted in
feelings of stigmatization/powerlessness which is often
the case with oppressed groups
 This interview allowed me to get to get to know my client
better and I believe as a result I will be a better advocate
for him

11. references
 Bonilla-Santiago, Gloria. (2004) Social Work Practice
with Puerto-Ricans (pp.571-591). In Morales, A. &
Sheafor, B. (Ed.). (2004) Social Work: A Profession of
Many Faces (10th
ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
 Johnson, Reed. (2009, May 30). Nuyoricans bask in
the spotlight. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from
http://articles.latimes.com
 Pharr, S. (2007) Homophobia as a weapon of sexism.
(pp. 168-177). In Rothenberg, P.S. (Ed.). (2007) Race,
class, and gender in the United States: An Integrated
Study (6th
ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.