The Maid's Daughter - Ch. 3 Being the Maid's Daughter

Ch. 3 finds Olivia living as the maid’s daughter. Now more than ever Olivia embraces this role and wishes to be seen as such, not as the Smith’s sociological experiment. Olivia is highly aware that her privilege allows her to cross social boundaries not afforded to all working immigrants’ children. Olivia is cognizant to the sharp contrast of wealth and poverty just outside of her gated community. She fears becoming “white-washed” and chooses to take pride and embrace her culture.

On weekends, Olivia and Carmen sometimes head over to the San Fernando Valley to visit their padrinos and “cousins”. Here is where Olivia can embrace her language and culture and what she imagines her life would be like if her mother weren’t working the kind of labor she does. Her extended family do everything together, and Olivia sees her mother Carmen take on different nurturing roles, not just that of the maid. Olivia also realizes her privilege and that of the Smith’s kids. Olivia realizes that the Smith kids will always have an out, a backup, because their wealth affords them that. The Smith kids and others like them can use drugs, drink and drive and get pregnant, without having to worry so much about the consequences. On the other side of the spectrum, Olivia’s “cousins” succumb to gang life, overdoses, or teen pregnancy to fill the void provided by extracurricular activities. As Olivia ages, she has less and less in common with her cousins. Olivia crosses class and cultural boundaries.

Olivia is also beginning to realize the strength and multiple roles her mother embodies. The employers are blind to the outside lives of the maids and really have no idea of the social networks being created out of a need for support. Carmen has weekly meetings with the maids and helps place them accordingly and make sure they are getting paid properly and not suffering abuse. The maid network also pools money together every week in order to send back home to family in Mexico. On top of all this, Carmen is building a nest egg in Mexico with multiple investments that help keep the extended family afloat. This is important as it shows that Carmen is so much more than just a maid. She is a super strong feminist with agency over her own life!

While Oliva learns to code-switch at an early age, this double consciousness is pretty advanced survival technique that Olivia has had to learn from a young age. As a teenager, Olivia begins to embrace her Chicana femininity. She experiments sociologically by dating out of her class and race, but also within. She pushes boundaries with the Smith’s white privilege. She refuses to deny her roots so chooses to stylistically and proudly, literally wear her culture.