Questions for Professor Gaspar de Alba

There’s No Place Like Aztlan: Embodied Aesthetics in Chicana Art.

Hows does Aztlan help Chicanos to better understand their identity and culture?

Aztlan is a state of being, from having both U.S. and Mexican experiences. Given, they are both the same land, with cultural movement constantly flowing in between borders. Identifying as both Chicana and American comes with having a rich culture/heritage and strong ties to Mexico. This gives a unique perspective of the world, while uniting people with similar experiences.

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

As represented in the CARA exhibit and in Mexican culture: Why were Chicanos for resistance except when it came to women’s roles? Do you think that men in the movement held on tightly to their power over women in such a way that they were projecting their own oppression? 

Chicanas were seen as having their own agenda. Chicanos may have viewed women who didn’t fit the traditional molds as a threat to culture preservation. Although Chicanas had their own struggles and viewpoints, they were not recognized as such due to the deeply ingrained machismo in Mexican culture (of all genders). Also, feminist tendencies in women were labeled as “white wannabes.” White culture was seen as oppression, and if Chicanas took on any ideals that were labeled as being held by white culture only, they were stigmatized. Chicana feminism struggled (and continues) to diverge from the ideals of machismo.