Cisneros’s work has become a landmark for American minority women writers, and she is one of the most famous Chicana and Latina writers. The House on Mango Street is set in a barrio (primarily Latino neighborhood) of Chicago, and portrays both the poverty and the male-dominated culture of Cisneros’s own upbringing. Her work criticizes both the sexism of the Mexican-American barrio and the racism and classism (and sexism) of English-American culture, and has become an important part of the increasing dialogue surrounding these issues.
