A Fronterizo Father: (Con)Viviendo en los mundos del otro lado

Abstract

This memoir-like essay highlights the disruption of a relationship between a father and a son on the Texas-Mexico borderlands which is caused by immigration status, education, class, sexuality, and type of communication. The essay begins in a contemporary and key moment that transports the author to analyze his relationship with his father and pinpoint what it was like to grow on both side of the Frontera simultaneously. With the hopes of achieving the American Dream, the father of the author tries to fulfill the role of the breadwinner without realizing that the lack of nurturing language and not being able to live in the same country affected the relationship and the emotions of his child. This essay serves as a reminder of the psychological and emotional trauma that people on the borderlands endure in order to survive while being critical of the various geopolitical and social structures influencing these relationships. This essay aims to open conversations about the importance of fatherhood and fathering on the borderlands as a phenomenon, especially when the fathers fulfill this role while being physically and emotionally absent from a child’s life.