Chicana feminism
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Chicana feminism, also called Xicanisma, is a group of social theories that analyze and historical, social, political, and economic roles and of Mexican American, Chicana, and Hispanic women in the United States, especially as they concern issues of gender.
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[edit] Overlook
Through history, women have been relegated, often even abused, in many different societies. In Latin America in particular, many women were, for centuries, treated by their fathers, brothers and husbands with discrimination. Women in Latin America, Mexico included, were seen as child-bearers, homemakers and caregivers. These women had to watch their children, perform household chores and cook for their husbands. Many men did not consider women to be capable of working outside the home, which is part of the reason why the term "weaker sex" was coined.
In Latin America in particular, women at those times had to act according to some social standards. In many Latin American cities, for example, women were not seen with good eyes if they spoke to men they did not know. Meanwhile, prostitution, for example, was legal in many Latin American areas, and men were not criticized, but rather seen as heroic, if they had several girlfriends, even if the man was married.
During the 20th century, Hispanic immigration to the United States began to slowly but steadily change American demographics. By 1940, Los Angeles was one of cities with the largest group of Chicanos in the United States.
American women also had their own problems: they were also stereotyped as homemakers, caregivers and child-bearers. Unlike women of minority races, however, White women largely evaded dealing with racism, unless she and/or her husband befriended people of Black or Hispanic background.
Mexican-American men often spoke about "La Familia" ("The Family"). Mexican and Mexican-American women felt they were being left out by men when they spoke about "La Familia".
During the 1970s, a feminist movement took place across the United States. Chicanas wanted to be part of the movement, and so, in 1973, the Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional was formed. This commission became an important part of Chicana feminism, as many Chicanas viewed the commission's presidents as heroines. Former United States President Jimmy Carter spoke with one of the commission's former presidents during the early 1980s.
Starting in the 1970s, many Chicana writers (such as Myrta Vidal, Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldua and Ana Castillo) have exposed their own definitions of Chicana feminism through their books.
[edit] Theoretical Perspectives
Paula M.L. Moya, Assistant Professor of English at Stanford University, reconceptualizes Chicana feminism in her book Learning from Experience and offers an alternative to some influential philosophical assumptions about identity and experience in contemporary literary theory. She provides eloquent analyses of such postmodernist feminists as Judith Butler, Donna Haraway, Norma Alarcón, and Chela Sandoval and counters the assimilationist proposals of minority neoconservatives such as Shelby Steele and Richard Rodriquez. Her analysis of postmodernism as the theoretical perspective that has shaped feminist discourse is brought up to date from a advanced realist proposals for multicultural education and offers and understanding of the interpretive power of Chicana feminists including Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Helena María Viramontes. As well, she opens the discussion to include new ways of understanding race, gender, class, and sexual orientation in discourse and politics.
For example, Moya elaborates on Moraga's Theory of the Flesh into five concepts central to Moraga's theoretical apprach:1. The family as the primary instrument of socialization ("my family...made me the lover I am" 2. The need for theory to be grounded in emotional investment ("political change...can't be theoretical. It's got to be from your heart" 3. The link between social location and experience (Moraga represents being Chicana and lesbian in her society as a "dilemma" 4. The body as a source of knowledge ("you know it ain't cause it lives in your body") 5. The centrality of struggle to the formation of her political consciousness.
[edit] Further reading
- Anzaldúa, Gloria, and Cherríe Moraga, editors. This bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color. Watertown, Massachusetts: Persephone Press, c1981. ISBN 0-930436-10-5.
- Arredondo, Gabriela, et al., editors. Chicana Feminisms: A Critical Reader. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8223-3105-5.
- Castillo, Ana. Massacre of the dreamers : essays on Xicanisma. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8263-1554-2.
- Cotera, Martha. The Chicana feminist. Austin, Texas: Information Systems Development, 1977.
- García, Alma M., and Mario T. Garcia, editors. Chicana Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings. New York: Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0-415-91800-6.
- Moya, P., & Hames-Garcia, M. R. (Eds.). (2000). Reclaiming Identity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Moya, P. M. L. (2000). Postmodernism, "Realism," and the Politics of Identity. In P. M. L. Moya & M. R. Hames-Garcia (Eds.), Reclaiming Identity: Realist Theory and the Predicament of Postmodernism (pp. 67-101). Berkley: University of California Press.
