Junot Diaz’s story on “How to Date a Brown Girl, Black Girl, White Girl or Halfie” is an enjoyable read. The story presents a real-life situation that is easy to relate to especially o teenage boys and contributes to a significant topic of dating which is sensational to many youths. In the story, Yunior who is in high school and goes all out to change and disguises himself in a bid to impress girls. The story is presented in a satirical and humorous as it portrays Yunior who comes from a poor family which is reliant on government welfare program appeal to girls depending on ethnicity and social status. Its satirical call brings out the understanding and thoughts of boys towards the female gender and their strive to connect to the partners in relationships He appears confident experienced and assured and thus he makes the story unforgettable as a unique character whose life seems exciting and full of adventures each different from the last.
Yunior is a realistic character in the story. He is real because he is not afraid to express his feelings, expectations, and actions. His actions present a picture of a typical student who aims is to know and interact with the opposite sex from different ethnicities and social classes sensitive to the preference of each. Yunior fits with Cleeve’s concept of spring alive as described in the story where he pretends to be sick to escape from his brother and mother and later rises to do all manner of chores to prepare the house for his girlfriends. He is also creative and imaginative knowing where and how to deal with each circumstance like when to have dinner or to leave the girl be. He is factual on his advice when he purports to be experienced as a man and offers different manipulative tips on dealing with different girls regardless of their social status class or ethnicity.
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The major themes of the story are poverty, ethnicity, sexuality, and relationships. The minor topics include stereotypes and gender bias. The story concentrates on the social status of Yunior, the narrator who comes from poverty indicated by the government cheese that shows his family is on welfare. His involvement and implied expertise in the dating of different girls as describes in the story brings out the theme of ethnicity by exposing various ideas associated with women from different ethnic groups. His description of his changes in outlook and performance towards different ethnic groups portrays ethnicity and social stratification in the society at all levels including teenage relationship. His advice on sex bring out sexuality and stereotypes associated with it. The narration about the behavior, appearance, and responses of girls present a gender bias and discrimination exhibits an offensive approach.
The story is ironic in its settings and narration. Dating advice from a teenager who has little or no experience in sexual matters but views everything around relationship as sexually suggestive or implying sexual engagement is overly ironic and humorous. The specific advice on how to be ‘smooth’ is ironic. He says “Tell her that you love her hair, that you love her skin, her lips, because, in truth, you love them more than you love your own…. You'll sound smooth.” Yunior presents himself as experienced, knowledgeable and confident that the words would win a girl every time and this would make him appear smooth. In the real sense, he is inexperienced with underlying self-esteem issues and fails to realize that a real connection with people of the opposite sex does not come from manipulation or becoming a trickster but by being true to himself and avoiding pretense.
