Borderlands La Fronter The Role Of Women In The Chicano Movement

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Gloria Anzaldua depicts in her book “Borderlands La Frontera” the injustices women face on the U.S.-Mexican border. While, Mayeli Blackwell describes the discrimination of race, class and gender women experience in educational institutions. In addition, women also struggled over gender and sexuality within the Chicano movement. The Chicano Movement during the 1960 and 1970’s was initiated due to the many issues and challenges (farmworkers struggles, the ins and outs of political organizing, the right to quality education) the Chicana/os faced. Issues that were in dire need of a solution, where many Chicana/os participated in the movements to protest and advocate for social change. Although, solutions for some issues may have been achieved through …show more content…

Roles such as activists, recruiters for new Chicana/o members, to counselors, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) advisors, and peer mentors to prevent dropouts, but not before experiencing the effects of oppression within the Chicano movement. The women in the Chicano movement felt they were being disregarded as real political actors and relegated to the kitchens and mimeographing rooms of the movement (Blackwell, 2015). Therefore, Anna Nieto-Gomez formed the group “Las Hijas De Cuauhtémoc” in response to the Chicana activists being prevented from taking leadership roles within the Chicano student organizations. However, the women in the Chicana student movement also played an important role in the creation of the new word hermanidad, which is a political philosophy of Chicana sisterhood and solidarity. Hermanidad was a call for action, a call for all Chicanas to work together to initiated a political education program that would address the oppressing issues they faced. With the construction of the word hermanidad, it emphasis the creation of a more comprehensive political tradition that would inform many generations of women in Chicano organizations to come (Blackwell, …show more content…

and Mexico border. Therefore, the theory of the new mestiza consciousness is the end result of the identity conflict of individuals living in the borderlands between Mexico and the United States, where diverse cultures and societies come together. The new mestiza embraces ambiguity, it is an intertwine of cultures that does not have an identity on either side of the border, hence, the individuals are left feeling alienated and discriminated by the Anglos in the U.S. Southwest (Anzaldua, 2012). Individuals who live along the borderlands have to overcome the cultural dilemma, the state of being in-between by fostering a consciousness that goes beyond the dualistic notion. However, ethnic nationalism is referred to as belonging, in which, individuals are defined by their ethnic identity, language and/or religion. For example, individuals who speak the same language may also practice the same culture values and beliefs, shared customs, and follow the same religion. As a result, these individuals will develop a sense of identity with an attachment to the lands in which they live in and will see themselves different from other groups of people who speak a different