Torres, Jacqueline (Jackie)

Hi all! My name is Jacqueline Torres. I am a first-generation student going into my third year here at UCLA. I am majoring in Geography/ Environmental Studies, and I have recently picked up a minor in Chicana/o/x Studies. My preferred pronouns are she/her, and I prefer being called Jackie. 

This past summer, I took a Dead of the Dead course at UCLA which piqued my interest in the artistic aspect of the CCAS major/minor. Up until now, I have pretty much only been exposed the social science aspect of Chicana/o/x Studies. After taking this class over the summer, I was able to learn more about some prominent Mexican and Mexican American artists through the Day of the Dead ritual. Even though we did examine some Chicana artists, the art that we were learning about still felt heavily dominated by male Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, and/or Latino artists. For this reason, the class focus on Chicana Art and Artists motivated me to take this class. 

While reading Linda Nochlin's Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists, the ideas that were being expressed to challenge this question reminded me of the same arguments that people use to counter why Black folk in America have more or less of something even if they are supposed to be equal to America's other counterparts. The main argument that people make in these situations is that it is based on hard work, and if you work hard, you can be just as successful. However, what these people fail to realize is what Nochlin pointed out in her essay. Nochlin pointed out that the answer to this question is realized through the nature of our institutional structures and the reality for those who are a part of them (Nochlin 3).