Chicano Feminism and Sexuality - Term Paper Example

?Chicano Feminism This paper intends to discuss Chicana feminism issues that have affected the social development of the Mexican American orChicano population in the U.S. after 1848. The paper starts with an introduction to feminism, and goes on to relate the concept with Chicano feminism. Chicano feminism in relation to sexuality is discussed. Next section describes three main descriptions of the Chicano feminism, followed by some main Chicano issues, which include child and health care, employment, education, political familialism, domestic abuse, and machismo. The report is summarized in a concluding paragraph. APA referencing style has been used properly throughout the paper. Introduction Let’s first get familiar with the concept of feminism. Feminist theories or feminism, in general, addresses the issues regarding body and the gender differences encompassing the popular culture (Leslett & Thorne, 1997). All feminist theories share some basic issues. These all talk about women being treated differently than men, which is gender discrimination favored basically by male domination. Feminist theories talk about women’s understanding about sexuality, their experience at the workplace, and how they manage their families alongside work. The important thing these theories have to say is that women can tend to change the whole scenario by using their practical and empirical knowledge. This would help construct a future non-sexist society, which is the focus of attention of feminism. There are some feminists who characterize women as slaves in their houses, doing work for their families without getting paid, and thus their houses become a sort of prison for them. This is often referred to as domesticity. Feminist theories say that this domesticity has to be ruled out from women’s lives, if they want themselves to be treated at an equal status with men and considered as modern. Chicano population in the U.S. is an ethnic minority. Chicano people are Mexican Americans. The Chicano woman is oppressed by the men of the society, firstly because she belongs to an ethnic group, and secondly because her cultural heritage has been exploited by the Anglo society. Emerging in the mid 1960’s and extending throughout the 1970’s, the Chicano feminists wanted to liberate Chicano women from racism, sexism, and homophobia (Rochin & Valdes, 2000). Chicano feminists started to raise their voices during this period when they experienced conflicts and troubles as women in the Chicano social protest movement (Garcia, 1997, p.1). Garcia writes in her book that it was during this period that a lot of Mexican-American or Chicano population launched a militant civil rights and ethnic nationalist movement, that was much like the Black nationalist movement and the Mexican-American community’s past heritage of prejudice and structural disparity in the American society. Since then, “Chicano and Chicana social scientists have been producing revolutionist studies that disprove the debilitating stereotypes of Chicano family pathology…” (Saldivar-Hull, 2000, p.128). Women trying to identify themselves as Chicano not only wanted to get identified with the Mexican culture, but also wanted to have a stance over the political and social issues related to inequality, just like the second wave feminism, which arose in the late twentieth century when feminist activities increased. Women started to contend against discrimination, in which they were given second class status. This wave focused mainly on working class of women, which was obvious from the 1968 strike of working women at the Ford car plant, protesting for equal pay. Women also started understanding their social, political, personal, sexual and reproductive rights, under the slogan ‘the personal is political’. This is what Garcia (1997, p.2) has written about in her book, that is, the Chicano movement, the movimiento, was based on promoting equalities for the Mexican-Americans, especially women, in political, social, and economic infrastructure throughout the United States. The aboriginal Chicano women were not given much protection by the law. The number of Chicano women in prisons had always been higher than that of men, which shows discrimination against them. When Europeans arrived, the aboriginal Chicano women were even deprived of their right to vote. European economic and cultural development proved to be catastrophic for them. Their children were sent to residential schools at very early ages, to return after many years or never to return. The awareness and desire for equality gave rise to women’s grassroots on the U.S.-Mexico border “mobilizing within women’s nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)” (Meyler & Pena, 2008, p.97), which is an indication that the Chicano feminists have been struggling to make the Chicano women gain their cultural heritage and identity. Also, the Chicano women are no more unaware of the inequality they face, due to which many associations are working to protect their rights. Chicano Feminism and Sexuality Much has been written in literature about the sexuality issues raised by Chicano feminism. The Chicano movement focused on the feminist discourse, in which the feminists brought forward a visual imagery of the political identity of the Chicano women. In the start, the Chicano movement did not directly address the status of Chicano women in the society, and emphasized only on the elimination of racism and discrimination of the Chicano population. Women activists of the movement were also expected to fulfill their gender roles, as household, cooking, and bearing children. Gender roles came into discussion at the Crusade for Justice’s first Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in 1969. An end to machismo was demanded, along with an equal representation in the movement’s leadership by the conference participants. Radical, liberal, and Marxist feminism, collectively called as white feminism, became the main strength of the movement. Chicano lesbian discourse and political activity were targeted. Chicana sexuality is continued in a later section in this paper, titled machismo. Descriptions of Chicano Feminism Researchers (e.g. Fregoso, 2003) suggest that there are three descriptions of Chicano feminism: Chicano liberal feminism, Chicano insurgent feminism, and Chicano cultural nationalist feminism. These are described below in brief. Chicano Liberal Feminism It aims at improving the status of women, while giving them access to employment and other societal rights. This is to improve the overall status of the Chicano community in the society. The Chicano liberal feminists want the Chicano women to gain access to social institutions and gain an equal status at workplaces as men. They work out political strategies to benefit the Chicano population. Chicano Insurgent Feminism This description of Chicano feminism intends to bring a revolutionary change to the Chicano women’s identity, by focusing on production and reproduction. It tends to eliminate racial and gender discrimination that Chicano women have to suffer from. A revolutionary change in gender roles is intended, with Chicano women motivated to perform radical actions rather than staying passive in their social and private lives. Chicano Cultural Nationalist Feminism Chicano Cultural Nationalist Feminists tend to maintain the traditional heritage of Chicano women while wanting to bring about a change in their gender roles (Fregoso, 2003, p.73). Garcia (1997, p.4) writes in her book: …Chicana activists traced the emergence of their feminist “awakening” to the internal struggles within the cultural nationalist Chicano movement. In the course of their political activism, directed at reforming the structures of social inequality embedded in American society and of proposing alternative restructuring, Chicana activists turned part of their attention inward, embarking on a feminist journey that would change dramatically the course of El Movimiento. Hence, the target of the Chicano Cultural Nationalist Feminists is to maintain the Chicano tradition along with modernizing gender roles. Chicano Issues Child and Health Care One of the main issues of the Chicano movement is that the Chicano feminists want the women of the Chicano community to gain rights on their bodies. They should be given the right to make personal choices regarding child bearing, abortion, reproduction, child care, and health care. There should be Chicano representation in the health care sector of the society, which should be governed by the Chicano community. Chicano women have been subjected to forced sterilization in the past because of poverty or not being able to afford children, so, the Chicano feminists propose that Chicanas should be given the right to provide their consent in such complicated heath related issues. Child care should be bilingual and bicultural, and should be considered as the duty of the community rather than the duty of the mother solely. Employment and Education of Chicanas Chicano feminists argue that the Chicano women should be given such education that is at par with the modern world, and is free of racism and sexism. This is because the Chicanas have always been underrepresented in the education sector, which has affected the literary rate of the Chicanas to a great extent. Chicano women want that their children should be given such education that is in accordance with their Mexican culture, while being modern, so that their cultural heritage is maintained. Also, such problems should be eliminated in employment and workplaces which keep the Chicano women from working freely. These problems include sexism, lack of information, communication barrier, and ethnic prejudices. The Chicanas must be paid at an equal basis as Chicano men and Anglo males and females. Promoting Political Familialism The Chicano feminists want the Chicano women to have proper political identities, along with fulfilling their gender roles, like running the household efficiently. The role of a mother and wife should be enhanced through projection to the larger community, so that the Chicanas gain unique identities as modern citizens of the society. Domestic Abuse Since the Chicano women have always been victims of domestic abuse, government and non-government organizations should play their part in liberalizing the Chicanas to an extent that they fight back the domestic abuse with strength. Rape cases and violence against the Chicanas must be addressed seriously to give integrity to this ethnic minority. Machismo Chicano feminists also demanded an end to machismo. Machismo is related to male dominance in the Mexican culture. The male sexual culture had always suppressed the females of the community, limiting them to their gender roles inside their domestic boundaries. Machismo is related to the concept that males have the absolute power over their sexuality, and that female sexuality is under control of the males of the community. Males can satisfy their physical appetite in any way they want, and females do not have the right to nurture themselves physically. Males can have multiple sexual partners outside the bond of marriage, while the females are not allowed to find a partner outside marriage. Males want a responsible housewife but enjoy sexual relations more with prostitutes than with their own wives. Wives are, however, not allowed to enjoy sexual relations other than their husbands. Hence, machismo suggests that females should carry a punitive attitude toward their sexuality, considering their sexuality as only a process of reproduction and nothing else. They should play roles of responsible home makers, while giving least importance to how they feel sexually. It was this machismo that gave rise to Chicana lesbianism, because the Chicanas wanted to gain power over their bodies, irrespective of what men wanted them to do. The sexual dominance of males of the Chicano community motivated the Chicano feminists to raise their voices in support of the Chicano women, so that they start enjoying their sexuality the way they want. Conclusion The Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s voiced the rights of the Chicano population, and especially the Chicano women, in the social and political infrastructures of the society. The Chicano feminists wanted the Chicanas to gain their political and cultural identities while maintaining their traditional gender roles. Since Chicanas had always been subjected to domestic abuse and sexism, the Chicano feminism suggested that they should be given equal opportunities in employment and education. Also, they should be entertained just like the Anglos citizens in the health care sector. They should be given the right to make personal choices of abortion and reproduction. Chicanas wanted an end to machismo, which is why Chicana lesbianism came out of its tabooed status, and became a focus of discussion for Chicana feminists. In short, Chicana feminism demands that the Chicanas enjoy their status as modernized and liberal women of the society, while performing their cultural/gender roles at the same time. References Fregoso, R.L. (2003). MeXicana Encounters: The Making of Social Identities on the Borderlands, Part 1. Los Angeles, LA: University of California Press. Garcia, A.M. (1997). Chicana Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings. New York, NY: Routledge. Laslett, B., & Thorne, B. (1997). Feminist Sociology: Life Histories of a Movement. New Jersey, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Meyler, D., & Pena, M. (2008). Walking with Latinas in the struggle for justice: a case study of El Centro Mujeres de la Esperanza. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 24(2), pp. 97-113. Rochin, R.I., & Valdes, D.N. (2000). Voices of a New Chicana/o History. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. Sladivar-Hull, S. (2000). Feminism on the Border: Chicana Gender Politics and Literature. Los Angeles, LA: University of California Press. Read More