Irene Perez

In this weeks reading which is titled “Out of the House, the Halo, and the Whore’s Mask: The Mirror of Malinchismo” written by Alicia Gaspar de Alba speaks on the hardships that Chicana artists have been through. While reading this I was able to finally realize the oppression that these female artists are being put through, on top of already being minorities because of the color of their skin they are also being put down because of their gender by their own people.

Early onto the reading the Gaspar introduces the idea that there is a certain mannerism that is expected from Chicana women and if they do not follow this mannerism then they are labeled as “malinches” meaning traitors. Chicana women were expected to blindly follow and support their men, any sign of them standing up for themselves or having their own opinion lead to the idea that these women were men-haters. 

Although there is progress for female Chicana artists they are still under represented within the art community. For example in the CARA exhibition Chicana women were greatly under represented in a lot of sections there was only one female compared to the greater number of males. In conclusion this reading really sheds light onto the ongoing problem within the art community that needs to be resolved and the only way it can be resolved is to give Chicana artists more recognition. 

Question: Why is it so difficult for people to acknowledge Chicana artists as much as Chicano artists?