Gonzalez, Melissa

 

Hi everybody! 

I'm Melissa Gonzalez and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I am a second-year transfer majoring in American Literature & Culture and minoring in Chicana/o & Central American Studies. I am a copyeditor intern for the newsmagazine La Gente and this is my last quarter at UCLA. After graduating, I hope to enter the book publishing field in New York City and eventually move to London, England. Aside from reading and writing, my other interests include running, watching scary movies, and playing dnd (a new hobby thanks to quarantine). 

I took this class because I do not know a lot about Chicanx art and artists. The topic has come up briefly in other classes that I have taken but I like the fact that this class is dedicated to learning just that. While I do enjoy seeing art at face value, I hope to gain a greater appreciation and understanding of Chicanx art and artists. In Holly Barnet-Sanchez's, Where are the Chicana Printmakers?, something I found interesting was the contrast in how Chicanx's were portrayed in artwork. On one hand, they were portrayed as icons from Mexican history, soldadera's, and political activists, while the Anglo image stereotypically portrayed Chicanx women as maids, long-suffering mothers, dancers, and performers. I was aware that women were confined in the way that they are portrayed within the community but I did not realize how Chicanx women are portrayed by Anglos. I hope this topic is something that the class can touch further upon.