Precilla Jazmin Gutierrez

To my right you can see a portion of La Virgen's robe

Hi my name is Precilla, I am a third year transfer student from East Los Angeles College majoring in Gender Studies. I am from East LA and my family lives in El Sereno (like Professor Lopez did). I was interested in the class because I think as a Latina I noticed how bland we become once those of us from lower SES move up on the social ladder. I am meeting professionals that came from a similar background as I did and although they may physically look like my family, the material items they possess adopt a neutral palette. Affordable houses that are being built tend to be beige or tan in color and typically blend in the desolate areas their house was plotted on. Instead of going to our grandparents, swap meets, or thrift stores for our decorations, we go to Target, Wal-Mart, or Ikea. The bright and conflicting colorful colors that once inundated our lives is now gone. While we may be more comfortable in the middle class, the reminders of our culture has diminished. I am taking this course to connect to the art of Chicana culture and essentially bring color back into my little dorm room located in dull Westwood.

The image of The Virgen de Guadalupe has always been a part of my life. My mother is from a small farm town in Michoacan, Mexico, therefore she was raised with the Catholic values. When I was younger I would be forced to go to church on holidays like Easter and Christmas but since my mom had so much to juggle with as a single parent, she couldn't find time or was too tired to go regularly. My mother isn't able to read the bible and she does not attend many sermons, her knowledge of the stories in the bible are limited. I never knew the story of La Virgen until class. However, similar to other's stories, La Virgen represented hope and safety in my life. Whenever there would be a power outage, my mom would whip out the candles with Lupita's image on it. Every time I leave my house to drive back to campus, my mom prays for me as well. My mom has children that depend on her and look to her for safety so I think La Virgen is who my mom looks to for protection. Recently, I have seen more images of Chicanas depicted the same way as La Virgen and I am slowly understanding that to others, she represents the strength and beauty of Latinas. In many ways Latinas are disadvantaged and given very few resources, so La Virgen may symbolize the only person we can trust, other Latinas.