La Virgen

Growing up in a Catholic family, the icon of the Virgencita was always omnipresent. I was very familiar with the story of Guadalupe because she was someone that was heavily emphasized as a figure of unconditional love in my catechism classes. Even though I knew about her, I did not really care for her, mostly because she was mentioned all the time and because I was not interested. Now that I am older and have studied her more in depth, I feel that she represents the atypical woman of modern times simply because she was deemed to be the epitome of perfection. By today's standards, this type of woman does not exists. This is why, I believe, that Chicana artists interpret La Virgen in their own way, so that she becomes more relatable. Also, I think that this reinterpretation of La Virgen serves as a means to deconstruct the legacy of patriarchy in social and family circles.I really enjoy seeing La Virgen as something other than "holy" because I can actually envision the more modern woman and average mother in her. Instead of seeing her as saintly and divine, the reinterpretation by Chicana artists help me to see the hardworking mother or the mother in leisure. The only time where I feel a bit awkward is when I see La Virgen being depicted as a lesbian because that is not how I grew up knowing her. So in seeing her as a lesbian, I do feel shocked.