Professor Gaspar de Alba's Essays

Essay 1: There's No Place Like Aztlan: Embodied Aesthetics in Chicana Art

Basing your topic of discussion on Dorothy’s situation from the Wizard Of Oz and how she struggled to differentiate herself in an unfamiliar land, how might you relate to the issues artists have faced living in exile in Aztlan?

This question sparks my interest because I would like to know if Alba can relate to this situation, and if she has, how did it impact her? If not, I would like to know why these artists have been living in exile and what had brought them to this unfortunate situation of being exiled. I am also interested in knowing about how the journey of these artists has impacted their art, if so, and what obstacles they had taken, in relation to Dorothy, in overcoming this difficult time. While reading this essay, I noticed how much Chicano artists have struggled in the past and Alba does a great job of representing this in a more specific and deep level. 

Essay 2: Out of the House, the Halo, and the Whore’s Mask: The Mirror of Malinchismo

In The Mirror of Malinchismo, we see that “real” Chicanas only lived for two things: for their men and families and for the struggle, and that the Chicanos believed that anybody who stood for feminism or wanted to be a feminist would be a white “wanna-be”, men haters, and lesbians; Are there still people who live with this mindset?

In recent society, we have come so far along with the topic of feminism and I believe that anybody, whether male or female, should be able to express himself or herself through art without inequality. I also strongly believe that women should be more than just mothers, virgins, or just bodies for men to do what they want.