Week 2 reading response:
In chapter 3 “Out of the House, the Halo, and the Whore’s Mask: The mirror of Malinchismo”, Professor Alicia Gaspar de Alba offers a critique of the CARA exhibit. Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, or CARA, was a a traveling exhibit of art produced by Chicano/a artists. The exhibit was presented in different cities across the United States from 1990 to 1993. Gaspar de Alba highlights the fact that although it was a triumph for the Chicano art movement, it lacked gender inclusivity. Many important artists such as Mujeres, who worked to challenge sexist and stereotypical notions within the Chicano Movement, were left out of the exhibit. Chicana artists used their art to resist and critique class and race oppression, much like their male counter parts did. In addition, however, many Chicana artists used their work to affirm their differences and fight some of the oppression they felt from within the Chicano movement. Many of the men involved in the movement, and a few women, thought that a push for gender equality was not necessary. They ostracized those Chicanas who called for greater gender equality and labeled them as traitors to the movement.
Gaspar de Alba explains that, following the gendered trajectories of the Mexican revolutionary movement, Chicano men assigned attributes to the feminine gender within the Chicano movement. Women were given the attributes of motherhood, virginity, and prostitution, and were primarily valued for their biological contribution to the movement. It is disheartening to see that the although the Chicano movement was meant signify greater inclusion for Chicanxs, who were oppressed peoples, the movement itself worked against Chicanas and did not valorize their contribution as much as men’s. This is why it is important that we question the inclusivity of the movement and recognize the voices and stories of all those involved.
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