Real women have curves

a play by Josefina Lopez

Mariela Peña4th IRM

The author Josefina Lopez (born1969, San Luis de

Potosi, Mexico) is a Chicana playwright, best known by her play Real women have curves.

She was five years old when she immigrated to the United States and settled in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

Josefina was undocumented for thirteen years before she received Amnesty in 1987 and eventually became a U.S. Citizen in 1995.

The author• Josefina has been an

activist and has been doing public speaking for over 20 years and has lectured on various topics

• She has been the subject of countless TV & Radio interviews in which she has passionately discussed immigration issues and other controversial subjects concerning women and minorities.

The author Josefina also paints, writes poetry,

performs, designs, and is a mother of two boys and resides in Silver Lake.

She is the Founder and Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater in Boyle Heights, where she teaches screenwriting and playwriting and nurture a new generation of Latino artists.

Interview to Josefina Lopez

Overall summary Real women have curves is a coming-of-

ag story about Ana, a first-generation Chicana, torn between pursuing her college ambitions, a personal goal, and securing employment which is a family expectation.

Ana confronts a host of cultural assumptions about beauty, marriage and a woman’s role in society. 

Characters ANA :18, plump and pretty, sister of Estela,

daughter of Carmen. ESTELA: 24, plump, plain-looking, owner of

the "Garcia Sewing Factory". CARMEN : 48, short, large woman, mother

of Ana and Estela. PANCHA : 32, a huge woman. ROSALI : 29, only a bit plump.

Conflicts Person-against-self - an internal

conflict of feelings. Person-against-person - the typical

protagonist vs. antagonist scenario. Person-against-society - the

protagonist battles against the larger organizations of society(or a system of beliefs held by society).

Person-against-nature - the protagonist is threatened by a component of nature.

Themes

themes

Fear of La MigraBody consciousnessAmbitionand the value of money

Women’s roles

themes Body consciousness (Weight,food,diet

pills) Impossible ideal of what beauty is. Distortion of beauty.

Women’s roles Conservative vs. Modern (or Liberal).

Fear of “La migra”Living as a segregated minority. Ambition and the value of money

To have goals and objective in lifes. The desire to mark the difference.