Questions for Professor Gaspar de Alba essays

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

Question: What do you think is the best or most successful way for Chicanos and Chicanas to remember their Mexican roots and past? Personally, I feel that growing up in a predominately White suburb has made it difficult to keep up my cultural roots. The  ways I have been able to truly maintain my connection to my ancestors and culture is through my family and my Spanish speaking friends. I am interested in this question because it is a struggle that I face in my own life. I am always fearful of being likened to a “coconut” (brown on the outside, white on the inside) and am searching for ways to keep my connection to my Mexican heritage alive. I think that some possible answers to this question could be to support cultural events and do research in order to get a better understanding of wherever your family originates from. It is not just the history of your home country that is important, but the culture that makes it unique. By strengthening your connection to your past, you both learn more about your roots and really help to solidify your identity.
   

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

Question: How do you suggest we continue to change and transform the representations of women in both Chicana art and everyday life? In the essay, it seemed as if most of the art in the CARA (Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation) exhibition reaffirmed and reflected roles created under the existence of a dominant patriarchy. Also, when possibly thousands of art viewers and museum-goers are seeing depictions of women obeying typical gender-roles (women in the kitchen, women catering to her man, e.t.c..), it might be harmful for the progression of equality between genders and race. Where do you think the fine line exists between showing these gender roles to emphasize the injustice that exists versus showing these gender roles in ways that ultimately reaffirm the subordination of women and girls? I am interested in these questions because I have a fascination in breaking down systems of oppression that work to maintain the harmful sexist nature of society. I personally believe that as long as art is making a statement by calling out injustices, than the art is fulfilling its purpose of activism. How graphic or censored the art piece is is ultimately up to the artist.