Abstract

ORTEGA HERNANDEZ, María Luisa. Raising social awareness in the classroom: Spanish proverbs that kill. Rev Med Cine [online]. 2022, vol.18, n.1, pp.71-81.  Epub June 20, 2022. ISSN 1885-5210.  https://dx.doi.org/10.14201/rmc.27922.

Part of this work was presented by the author on January 9, 2019, at the MLA (Modern Language Association) Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois. It addresses the didactic role of Spanish sayings and proverbs as authentic cultural capsules in the context of medical Spanish, a necessary field in the United States. The leading role of language in culture (and vice versa), synthesized within maxims echoing a collective consciousness, frequently conveys high levels of sexism. It is male chauvinism that, openly or covertly, feeds the institutionalized mechanism of violence against women and against the LGBTQIA+ community. Thus, this short journey through dissonant tones will talk to us about oppressive cultural beliefs that still impact women's health and the health of others whose rights have also been historically violated. The objective of this learning experience (mine and yours) is that the voice that we hear will call us and our students to examine inherited ideas so remote from life and hope, that they sicken and kill. In so doing, we will be empowering individual and social change towards improved health and the defense of human rights.

Keywords : Medical Spanish; Spanish speakers; women; Latinas; LGBTQIA+; gender-based violence.

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