Week 2 Assignment: 1st readers Blog-Francisca Chavez

Upon reading the introduction in the Next Of Kin, I wanted to pick your brain about the social construction of “la familia” and/or family to make sure that we all know who falls outside the regulatory borders…So tell me, what kind of families do not meet the traditional social construction of family???? What type of families are perceived as inferior in the Chicana/o Community???? Also, based on the reading, the Next of Kin, thus far, in the intro, what seems to inform this idea la familia???? Do you agree that “close connections of the structure of the nation informs the structure of the family?” What does the author Frantz Fanon mean by this when referenced on page 4 of the text???

And, since I am a single mother, I found Garcia’s views on the family interesting. On page 5 of the text he asserts that single parent families are inferior due to the lack of a male being at the center. What do you all think about that???? Are single parent families really deficient because there is no male in the home??? Is this assertion reinforcing this idea of patriarchy??? Is this a sexist ideal???? Is this a very narrow perception of the family???? Is the family Static????

Okay, moving on to the interviews about Perspectives  — I absolutely loved how poetry, corridos, and comedy in the Chicana/o community/family has been passed down and used to inform the public about issues facing brown communities-really making the personal political. How do you all feel about this idea of story telling/folklore being used to express the daily struggles of Chicana/os and/or people of color period, as evidenced in the corrido that Juan Felipe sings to raise awareness about police brutality in the black community. Or, how the comedian feminist scholar Laureate shows how racism plays out, touching on the everyday racist microagressions that people of color face simply due to their race/ethnicity???? All in all, I love how Laureate’s mother shaped her social justice activism without even knowing it; this signifies how strong of an impact family values have on the individual. Both Juan and Laureate learned at a very young age how to negotiate their  identity, becoming prominent voices from the margins for the Chicana/o community.

2 thoughts on “Week 2 Assignment: 1st readers Blog-Francisca Chavez

  1. Hi Francis,
    I love your questions and how the reading made you be open-minded about these concerns.
    I believe that family structure and family values come from generations passed on from your family.
    Being a single parent must be hard and challenging, but I do believe women are the most strong human beings in this earth. Many single mothers do not need a male figure in their life, because of the morals the mother has and will be passed on to their child.

    • Yes,I agree-single mothers are strong, me being one of them. I really think this representation of the male being at the center is very biased and sexist rooted in patriarchy. Across time and space the institution go the family has changed, it is not static. Meaning, for a long time now, the grandparents have played a central role in raising children, the gay community have also played a strong role in this idea of the family. In addition, I can think of foster parents who raise children, and/or even adopt children, which brings me to this idea of kinship. At the end of the day, not a days, there are many types of families, not just one with the male at the center. Times have changed, and there is more variety when it comes to what defines the family– the definition is broad, which is why I had a problem with Garcia’s view on the family. His notion that families without a male are inferior is troublesome.

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