Debra Blake's "Chicana Sexuality and Gender"

Too often, women of color’s contributions and advancements in society are discredited and erased. An illustration of this all too common narrative is encompassed within the Chicana community. Chicanas are often either erased or rewrote as timid, quiet, “respectable,” and traditional in history rather than as strong, intelligence and resilient women. Debra J. Blake analyzes this phenomenon in her work Chicana Sexuality and Gender: Cultural Refiguring in Literature, Oral History and Art. In this publication, Blake reconstructs the image of Chicanas using inspiration from Chicana writers who have done the same. She analyzes how common misconceptions of Chicana women created through history have shaped the way a Chicana acts and navigates herself throughout society and her community with this assigned identity.

Before understanding the new images and framework being created for Chicanas, one must acknowledge exactly what Blake and the other Chicana writers are attempting to produce with their work. “Chicana and U.S. Mexicana cultural refiguring participates in transcoding by confronting the elisions and denigrations of women in history through a dual remembering process of reclaiming female-oriented symbols and preserving cultural memories” (14). According to Blake, to “transcode” is to reappropriate existing meanings and to assign new meanings. Blake intends to debunk the stereotypes and confront the falsehoods of Chicana women by reclaiming the image and creating a new one where history is not erased. The importance of history not being HIStory is emphasized throughout Blake’s work. Using images of Malintzin Tenepal (La Malinche) and La Virgen de Guadalupe, she aims to “disrupt and unify Spanish and indigenous cultures.” The unrealistic role portrayed of Chicanas is under scrutiny by addressing how this image has forced many Chicanas to believe their only role is to be the mother, the daughter, the sister, the caretaker, and the birther and nothing else. She is to be docile, quiet, and respectful to men and never think she is above him, let alone on his level. This is extremely problematic in the way that it negates all contributions of Chicana women throughout history and labels them as submissive characters in the background.