Isabel Castro

The Chicana artist I have selected is Isabel Castro.

I find Alicia Gaspar de Alba’s chapter “Out of the House, the Halo, and the Whore’s Mask” very captivating as it establishes how we really are living in a man’s world.  Women are the subordinates while men are the dominant group despite similar work ethic. More Chicano artists will always be displayed at museums or exhibitions, gaining more power and fame than Chicana artists. I enjoyed how Alba incorporated Orwell’s fable and described how Chicana artists are the farm animals who work harder than the pigs (Chicano artists). However, the farm animals still ended up eating less while the pigs ruled the government, depicting how inequality exists in the Chicanismo world. I do believe that women must stop this inequality by stepping out of their expected gender role as a mother or housewife. The assigned role that Chicano men have given women are motherhood, virginity and prostitution. This is invalid because women can establish their own identities as a feminist, lebian or queer disregard of what men think. Gender is not the only parameter for a feminist identity. A Chicana identity addresses language and culture of nationality and citizenship of autonomy and choice. The purpose of Chicana art is to represent a Chicana identity and challenge the sexist and stereotypical notions that Chicano art displays. One important group who heavily contributed to the Chicano art movement was Las Mujeres Muralistas. This group painted public murals in the Bay Area, proving that they did not need the support of men when displaying their art. 

My question would be how Chicana women are depicted by Chicano artists today? Are the main subjects still motherhood, virginity and prostitution?