La Virgen

 La virgen de Guadalupe is probably the most important icon in my household. Growing up I saw her everywhere, every room, every tia’s house, at church, and on my necklace. La virgin was important to me because it was one of the few religious and non-religious icons that was meant to be dark skinned.  In my family, I have always been the darkest. Often times I’d feel uncomfortable and question my skin color. The consolation my mom had was that “La Virgencita” was also a morena like me, and she was beautiful and so was I. With this in mind, I was always upset when images of her were portrayed any lighter. La virgin was also crucial as a mother figure. My mom always took us on December 12 to sing las mananitas.

Once I began reading about colonization and religion as a tool for genocide and rape, la virgen was an icon I had extreme difficulty with abandoning. I have known Catholicism and her all my life and I could not come to terms with abandoning her. I was very confused and conflicted until I read Sandra Cisneros’ Tepeyac. Her interpretation of La Virgen as being resilient and strong helped me come to terms with my politics and spirituality. Seeing her Chicana feminist interpretations help me confront my in-betweeness of political believes and spirituality.