"Chicana Sexuality and Gender..." Quote

"Women are robbed of subjectivity, agency, and identity; if not for their abject bodies they would be obliterated from being" (page 42).  

For too long, women of color have had their histories written for them. One way that Blake addresses this issue, is by bringing up the stories of women famous within the Mexican culture- la Malinche, la Llorona, la Virgen de Guadalupe, and Mexican goddesses- and demonstrating how they were used as a way to socialize Chicana women to a point where they are too afraid to express their feelings, are extremely prude in hopes of not "shaming" their families, and are willing to do whatever is asked of them. Most of these stories have remained relevant because they serve as a "warning" to daughters to follow in the footsteps of women like la Virgen, and not follow the footsteps of la Malinche or la Llorona. The main reason women receive attention is when they've done something "wrong" with their bodies- having sex before marriage, getting pregnant "too young," showed too much skin with their outfits, etc. Women would basically be invisible if it weren't for these moments of "resistance," even if not intentional, these are building blocks amounting to a future without oppression. Rather than giving alternate versions to these stories, and trying to understand the reasoning for the actions of the women, parents enforce these sexist ideologies, because they feel their daughters will live safer if they abide by the rules that prevent them from becoming a Malinche or Llorona. As more and more Chicanas become aware of the nefarious way they were raised through the telling of these stories, they will learn to take the stories and apply them to their lives and use them to empower their fight against the sexist norms set in the culture, and in their families.