Haq, Maha

Hello class! I'm Maha Haq, I'm from the Pasadena/Arcadia area in Northeast Los Angeles, and was raised in Houston, TX. I'm a fourth year transfer student from Pasadena City College majoring in math and sociology. I am primarily a business consultant and project manager for an international cannabis business consulting and development firm. I really have no reason to take this class or any other class I've taken at UCLA since I have a stable job, but I might as well finish my degree if I've gotten this far! I'm taking this class as an elective with the expectation of it being interesting and more colorful than the other classes I've taken and currently taking. I've been surrounded by Chicana/o art since I was young, even though I'm not a Chicana. I believe having lived both in Houston and Los Angeles gave me an extra perspective on Chicana/o culture and art as a non-Chicana; I expect the art to have some cultural state differences despite both cities representing Chicano/a art.

This week's reading elaborated on the fact how often female artists were restricted more in comparison to male artists, and especially with Chicano/a artists. This is due to the past patriarchal societal structure of most Chicano communities; this feedback discouraged women from pursuing the arts and left them no tool of creativity since the woman's place was considered to be in the house and with family. I believe this mentality reaches a variety of cultures and societies which makes Chicana art more relatable. The female struggle is mutual and patriarchal structures may have diminished the publicity of Chicana artists in the past, but it sure didn't stunt them!