Shifra Goldman: Iconography ofChicano Self-Determination

The article, "Iconography ofChicano Self-Determination: Race, Ethnicity, and Class"  by 

Shifra M. Goldman, described the importance of self definition and ethnic preservation through resistance, maintenance and affirmation. As different ethnic groups migrated to the United States, the physical and language differences between the whites and the new arrivals became the factors to dehumanize the new arrivals. Soon, the '"acceptable ethnics" are those who can be assimilated into the middle class and who accept the values of the "American Dream" as a realizable goal' (169). In order for the culture to be preserved within these people,  the peoples must resist integration with methods like continue speaking their native language, pass values like these for several generations and affirm their importance. 
A form of resistance has emerged as art. For example, Yolanda M. Lopez has created several paintings and collages that represent the history and sometimes current struggles of the Chicano peoples. This method of reproducing the lives and culture of these people through art is a form of resistance, maintenance and affirmation. One of the paintings that portray the resistance within a culture is the collage above. Yolanda depicts a Chicana mother breast feeding her child after being inserted in a Virgen de Guadalupe background. The woman becomes the Virgen e Guadalupe and she is appreciated and celebrated. People often find great feeding as uncomfortable or displaying nudity but the nature of breast feeding, the beauty of being able to feed another living being and give it energy through milk, has been idolized by being incorporated into the painting of La Virgen. We are shown that it is important and must appreciate the beauty that comes with it. This painting resists sexual categorization and supports female abilities. Many other of her works do the same.