Questions for Professor Gaspar de Alba

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

Do you believe that establishing a more concrete definition of feminism would attract more people to identify as such?

            During lecture on Thursday someone asked whether men could be feminist. This is because people are not fully aware of what such an identity entails. For example, during the sixties and seventies feminist ideology was prominent and it could be argued that during this time it was popular and understandable because it was well defined and grounded. Over time, feminism seemed to have split into a variety of sub categories such as those mentioned in the article: Marxist feminism, liberal feminism, and “white feminism.” Each having its own distinct definition must have placed people in a position of not knowing what each feminist actually stood for. While intersectionality is important, since we’re all different, it’s also significant in cases such as this to not steer away from what hinders the advancement of all women. When a concrete definition is established I believe that more people will identify as feminist and will change the way things are structured and depicted such as in art and art exhibits.

2)Article: There’s No Place Like Aztlán: Embodied Aesthetics in Chicana Art

Would say that if people were to conceptualize Aztlán, as they once did, that striving for equality would play a much more prominent role?

            The article mentions that the Aztlán myth entailed equality of education along with also resisting assimilation, racism, and historical amnesia. In recent times, Chicana/o activism does not play a prominent role like it once did during the Chicano student movement. I personally believe that this has happened because the newer generations of Latin Americans are striped of any cultural consciousness during their early years in school. Also mentioned in the article is that Aztlán awareness pushed Chicana/os to separate themselves from the dominant culture. Today, this awareness would play a more important role than it once did because the United States system is not being challenged enough. This could be due to the fact that people have become entrenched within the dominant culture. While there are a few people that are conscious and critical of the system, bringing more awareness would allow for more voices to rise up and demand equality.