Virgin of Guadalupe - Book Report/Review Example

Guadalupe the Sex Goddess: Sandra Cisneros’s Reimagination of The Figurehead of La Virgen de Guadalupe Word Count: 284 page) While unashamedwhite women walked around naked in locker rooms, Sandra Cisneros grew up not knowing her body like she thought she should.1 Sandra Cisneros managed to co-opt the Virgin of Guadalupe, splintered her personality, and saw in herself these pieces of the Virgin that she could use to empower her sexuality. Sandra Cisneros co-opted the Virgin of Guadalupe—reimagining her not as the patron saint who is so highly-revered at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but as a sex goddess.

Yes, for all of Cisneros’s adolescent longings, she makes the Virgin Mother a point of interest, fueling the fire when she mentions about how so many young girls and women do not have the luxury of knowing their own bodies. Sandra Cisneros divides Guadalupe’s personality into the separate Aztec goddesses that make up her historical persona. She finds Coatlicue, Tontzin, and various other Aztec names that represent—like a prism—various elements of her personality. Finally, Cisneros utilizes the various elements of Guadalupe’s pantheon to realize the budding gem of her sexuality.

Once she could look at the Virgin of Guadalupe and begin to commiserate with all the womanly issues that make the joys and sorrows of being female more real to her, then and only then could Cisneros make peace with her own body and, indeed, finally feel comfortable in her own skin. Sandra Cisneros, in her article Guadalupe, the Sex Goddess—covers many issues that Latina women deal with on a daily basis. She chose to respond to this figurehead in her upbringing by co-opting the Virgin’s backstory, fragmenting her persona, and being able to see pieces of herself reflected in this prism of personalities that unfolded before her.

WORKS CITEDCastillo, Ana. Diosa de las Américas. US: Riverhead Books, 1996. Pp. 46.