Chicana Sexuality, and Gender: La Llorona

Debra Blake analyzes the role that cultural figures play in the upbringing of women of color through her book, Chicana Sexuality, and Gender. Blake focuses on three historically prominent female figures including La Llorona, and La Virgen de Guadalupe, La Malinche. Although the stories that surround these figures are hundreds of years old, Blake highlights the importance of oral storytelling in Mexican culture as this has continued to keep these stories intact. Blake concludes that these three figures have played a pivotal role in the upbringing of many Mexican women and that the role of each figure has been purposely enforced as a form of control and oppression.

The narrative of La Llorona has served as a myth to scare people into believing that there’s a spirit of a woman who drowned her children in a river and now wonders as a lost soul in search of children to replace her own. Although this figure is used to scare children, it is also a representation of a bad mother who goes against the rules of womanhood and fails to protect her children. “The legends [la llorona] are used to socialize women into traditional roles, control their conduct, and define what constitutes Mexican femininity.” (pg. 49) The act of drowning her children can be associated with abortions or desire to not have children and the implication that women are created to reproduce and protect their children. As the legend says, La Llorona drowned her children as revenge to her husband who cheated on her; this figure exists as a reminder to women to not act on infidelity and remain silent regardless of the humiliation. She is depicted as the bad mother for her actions but is never questioned about the motives as that would reverse the story.