Del Cid, Natalie

La Virgen de Guadalupe

Growing up I was raised by a very religious Catholic mother who firmly believes in what the Virgin of Guadalupe stands for. My mother would always tell me to pray to her if I felt lost or need help, that she would be there to protect me and I would do so. As to what she meant to me as a child was a protector; a savior, but at the same time you cannot be certain of anything we you are young especially for you have been mold to think in a certain way. Now as to what she means to me as an adult I cannot really put into words because I am not a very religious person so I do not really think about what she means to me anymore, but I do believe in a higher power just not in a bible. Sometimes I ask myself if I would still be a believer is I wasn’t socialized to be one. When I saw the ways these female artist from CARA depicted La Virgen, the images really spoke to me because this was the first that I actually saw images like these and I really took them in with an understanding that it was not a disrespectful way to portray her in these versions, but instead a way to see Chicana women outside of the mold, the “pedestal” that we are expected to be in because of iconism/expectations La Virgen represent for the women of Latin communities. The feminist interpretations made me feel proud that there are Chicana women out there willing to question the mold we are put into.