Week 2: CARA Essay

What the CARA (Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation) essay written by Professor Alicia Gaspar De Alba reveals to me that even though Chicana artists were greatly underrepresented, Chicana’s were able to create space in this very limited space to represent their own feminist beliefs and community aspirations. These Chicana artists represented through their art what they wanted for their future and the Chicanx movements future. Chicana women were sick of only being valued for their role in their family and as partners for men. Women were either represented as single-faceted people: melinches, señoritas (feminine and subdued), motherly, or adelitas. The Chicana was often viewed for what she could be for others rather than a whole complete person. The women that did present at the CARA exhibition used politics of identity (definition on page 22) to motivate their art. A piece that aimed to prove the multifacetedness of women that showcased at CARA was Judy Baca’s Tres Marias. The mirror in the piece allowed for Chicana women is continuously evolving and doesn’t need to exist between as one or the other (the tomboy and modest Chola or the feminine and floozyPachuca). 

  I would have not known without reading this essay that the basis of encouragement for Chicanas to go to college was to find college educated Chicano men (via  Armando Rendón in Chicano Manifesto). I knew many white women (who had the most access to college) went to college during mid-twentieth century to get husbands as well, but I never would have thought to make the connection that the same patriarchal ideology were at play. I was also glad to learn about the Mujeres Muralistas and how important they were for the Chicanx movement. Even though they weren’t showcased in the exhibition, they were very influential in challenging notions of women in society and as artists. Another interesting fact I learned that Judy Baca wrote a Woman's manual: How to assemble Scaffolding, I actually want to read that!  I guess the question I would have asked Professor Alicia Gaspar De Alba is: Have you seen any changes in exhibitions showcasing Chicanx artists? (More of them being curated and developed by Chicana or Latina women?).