Author Archives: cmarroquin11

Honoring the Dead: My Dia de Los Muertos Altar for My Grandmother

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As el Dia de Los Muertos fast approaches, I can’t help but think of all the people who passed away in my family. Fortunately, I have not experienced the many deaths that have occurred in my family since I was not born yet when most of my family members passed away. Although I was not present at the time of my family members’ passing, my family and I still reminisce about the times when they were alive.

One family member that my family and I reminisce the most about is my grandmother on my mother’s side of the family who I never had the chance to meet. Even though I did not have the chance to meet my maternal grandmother, I still decided to dedicate my Dia de Los Muertos altar to her. The reason why I decided to dedicate my altar to my grandmother is not only because she’s family, but also because she was an admirable woman. My grandmother was a marvelous woman who has been painted as being this strong person who sacrificed a lot to take care of her family, despite the struggles she faced during her lifetime. In fact, my grandmother actually endured a tremendous amount of suffering before she married my grandfather, and even while she was married to my grandfather. Though there was love, loyalty, and trust between my grandparents, my grandmother did not end up having the blissful life she hoped to have after leaving an unhealthy family to marry my grandfather.

Growing up, my grandmother lived in poverty. Due to this poverty, her family forced her to work at such a young age. Because my grandmother was too young to take on the same types of jobs adults tend to have, my grandmother failed to bring home enough money, causing her to be scolded by her parents. For years, she endured emotional and mental abuse from her parents because she was seen as not a good enough to them. That is why, when my grandmother met my grandfather, she had hoped to marry him in order to leave her family and live a better life with him. However, although my grandfather loved her very much, she continued to live in poverty until her dying days while taking care of all her children on her own.

It is for this reason that my grandmother is such an admirable person. I look up to women like my grandmother, and even my mother, who was fortunate enough to have the same family values my grandmother had, who put their families first, no matter what, since family plays an important role in my life. Thus, I built this altar for my grandmother to convey the love and admiration I have for her, as well as to help her with her journey through the afterlife, in spite of the fact that I did not meet her in person.

Though I never got the chance to meet my grandmother in person, I have had the opportunity to get to know her through the family stories my mother has passed down to my siblings and I. Unfortunately, my mother was not able to “convivir” with her mother for too long since, sadly, my grandmother passed away when my mother was barely twelve years old. Nonetheless, my mother was still able to tell me fascinating stories about my grandmother that my mother was able to either hear, experience, or witness herself.

One story my mother told me as a child that I still remember till this day is the story of how my grandmother passed away. My grandmother died from complications after giving birth to her tenth child (my uncle). My mother told me that her mother, while married to her father, unfortunately, suffered two miscarriages that hurt physically and emotionally. In addition to the miscarriages she endured, my grandmother suffered the loss of a child, due to poison, as well. For this reason, my grandmother’s body was not strong enough when she gave birth to my uncle, which caused ended costing her life. Nevertheless, my mother told me that my grandmother passed away loving every single one of her children.

Aside from the story of how my grandmother died, there is another story, out of all the stories my mother has told me about my grandmother throughout the years, in particular that I will always remember. My mother once told me that one day, my grandmother was extremely worried about not being able to have food for the family since my grandfather, who was a farmer, was struggling to produce any money with the beans and vegetables he was growing at the time. So, that day, my grandmother started to pray to have something, anything, on the table to eat. A few hours later, a neighbor came by to see my grandmother, hoping to see if she had any extra textiles, since my grandmother sewed during her free time, that the neighbor could buy off of her to make a tablecloth. Recently, my grandmother had received some nice textiles as a gift from one of her friends, and she had initially planned to make her children clothes in time for the warm weather. However, because she needed the money to buy at least some “frijolitos y torillas,” she decided to sell her neighbor these textiles. My mother, then, told me that when my grandfather came home that day, he walked into the house with his head held down ready to give my grandmother the bad news that he did not end up making any money that day; but, to his surprise, he came home to food on the table and a look of relief came across his face.

I enjoy hearing stories of my grandmother because, even though she lived a stereotypical Latina life of being a stay-at-home wife and mother, she was by far a strong woman who did anything for her family. My grandmother, unfortunately, lived during a time where society was short-minded, and expected the woman to stay at home to take care of the home and children while the man went off to work. During this time, the Latino family, as Richard Rodriguez notes in his text, Next of Kin,was romanticized as being a heteropatriarchy in which “la familia” was comprised of a strong husband-father that supported the loving wife-mother who took care of their children. Rodriguez argues that “in this romanticized haven- a ’nation’ defined within the contours of domesticity-the archetypal [Latina] would necessarily provide a feminine spirit of maternal consolation (in spite of her suffering) while ensuring the procreation, hence survival, of [Latino] culture” (2). In other words, my grandmother was expected to support her husband and have lots of children despite her any suffering she endured by doing so. In addition, she had to keep up with society’s expectations by also having to cook, clean, and take care of her children while society allowed her husband to run the house, control his wife, and direct his children without taking into consideration the hard work a woman did for her family.

Regardless, though my grandmother had to play out the stereotypical Latina role of the stay-at-home wife and mother within the heteropatriarchy of “la familia,” through the stories my mother told me, I believe my grandmother was able to prove that women are far more stronger than men think. Although society tries to paint women as inferior to men within a heteropatriarchy family, women like my grandmother demonstrate that a woman’s job is not easy. Women sacrifice as much, if not more, than men do for their families, and that is exactly what my grandmother proved when she was still alive. Therefore, what my grandmother has proven is what I admire about her; it is precisely what empowers me as woman myself.

Before I move on to discussing how I structured my altar, I would like discuss how, despite not being Mexican, as a Guatemalan, I still appreciate Dia de Los Muertos because I like the idea of honoring the dead. Although I have come to learn that Dia de Los Muertos is celebrated in Guatemala, we don’t and have never celebrated this holiday in my family. Interestingly enough, I found out that Guatemala does celebrate Dia de Los Muertos, in spite of my belief that didn’t, except their version of the holiday differs in comparison to the way Mexicans celebrate it. In Guatemala, el Dia de los Muertos, or Dia de los Difuntos as they call it, is a celebration that marks the beginning of the holiday season for most Guatemalans. It is a three-day celebration that starts off the holiday season, which is then followed by La Quema del Diablo, Las Posadas, Noche Bueno, Navidad, and Año Nuevo. Similar to Mexico, on October 31st and November 1st, many Guatemalan families gather to honor their dead in family cemeteries; however, they do not tend to build altars for their dead loved ones. Then, on November 2nd, people tend to continue to honor the dead by flying giant kites overlooking the main cemetery in Sumpango, Guatemala. During this day, there is music, dancing, and food while kites are raised in the air for all to admire.

Nevertheless, regardless of the fact that Dia de Los Muertos is celebrated in my home country, my family does not partake in this holiday. Because of this, I admittedly had trouble constructing the altar for my grandmother. This is the reason wh my altar may not be big in scale nor has many details. Still, I made the altar in honor of my grandmother, and that is good enough for me.

When I built my altar, I covered a table with a purple tablecloth. I chose a purple because it’s the color of mourning. The only image my mom has of my grandma, is the image I placed in a gold-colored frame. Since yellow was her favorite color, I placed a bouquet of yellow carnations beside the photograph of my grandmother. I also placed yellow carnations in my altar because carnations symbolize health and energy, along with love, which is what I hope my grandmother feels wherever she is. Aside from that, I placed a sugar skull ornament in my altar as well to symbolize death since skulls represent death. I used white candles to light my grandmother’s path to the afterlife because white candles give off pure energy. The salt I placed in front of my grandmother’s photograph is used to help keep her from rotting as she journeys to the afterlife. The last things I then added to my altar was fruit and a cup of water to give as an “ofrenda” to my grandmother that she can feed off of during her journey to the afterlife as well.

My altar may not be as extravagant as the many altars people have built for their loved ones, but I know my grandmother appreciates and honors her, but it also pays respect to her. I may not have had the chance to meet the incredible woman, but I thank her for raising my mother to become the incredible woman my mother she has been to me. Maybe one day, I’ll get to meet my grandmother on the other side; for now, I will do my best to honor her until then.

 

 

Week 13: The Best of Both Worlds

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This week’s readings deal with two common issues: the documentation of Latino history, and the challenges of identifying with two cultures/ethnicities. In “CHICANO HISTORY: AN ORAL HISTORY APPROACH,” Mario T. Garcia argues the importance of having primary documentation of the Mexican experience in the United States since there seems to be a lack of sources for historians to use when studying Mexican American history. For this reason, historians have “begun to employ oral history techniques to compensate for [this] non-existing documentation.” Such oral history techniques include interviews.  In the article, Ms. Salazar interviews four members from two families, the Sandovals and Mendozas. Ms. Salazar interviewed the two mothers from each family as well as one of their children respectfully. This technique provided an insight on the experience of one generation compared to another generation. During these interviews, the questions of whether each interviewee considered themselves a Mexican-American or a Mexican, and whether each family continue to speak Spanish or continue to represent Mexican customs were asked to each person. While the Sandovals consider themselves American, due to their citizenship, but felt Mexican, and have kept some customs, but not their language, the Mendozas consider themselves Mexican, even if they are Americans, and have kept most of their customs and language. These interviews not only proved that every Mexican has different experiences in the United States, but also that every Mexican deals with the issue of identifying with either their American or Mexican ethnicity differently as well.

Now, this article ties into the article “‘Blaxicans of L.A.’: capturing two cultures in one” since this article also deals with the issue of documenting Latino history and question of whether one identifies with one culture or the other. This article focuses on Walter Thompson-Hernandez, a researcher with the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at USC, who began a research project on “Blaxican” identity. For his project, Thompson-Hernandez interviewed individuals of African American and Mexican descent like himself, while capturing portraits of Blaxicans and their families and posting them on the Instagram account called “Blaxicans of L.A.” In the article, Thompson-Hernandez claims that with his experience documenting Blaxicans, he hopes to “challenge the way we think about race and force us to think about racial identities in more inclusive and broad ways” since “Blaxicans are dual minorities [and] we represent two of the largest ethnic minority groups.” Similar to the Sandovals and Mendozas, Thompson-Hernandez probably had questioned himself as to whether he considered himself to be Black or Mexican, and as we can tell, he considers to be both (hence, the nickname).

These readings made me think about my experience with having to balance feeling Guatemalan, even though I am American. Because of my fair-skin, people always assume I’m white, and because of this, I went through a period in my life where I was leaning towards accepting being American while ignoring my Latin roots. However, as I grew up, I realized that I can be both. I partake in many Guatemalan customs just the same as I do in many American customs. I speak Spanish at home, but English outside of my home. I eat Guatemalan food and American food. I balance my Guatemalan culture with my American culture. I get to have the best of both worlds without having to compromise, and that allows me to be my true self.

Now, I want to ask you, what do you consider yourself to be? Do you feel as though you lean towards one culture as opposed to the other? Or do you accept the best of both?

Wonder Women Fighting Against Machismo

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http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21661800-latin-american-women-are-making-great-strides-culture-not-keeping-up-wonder-women-and

This week’s reading had me searching for articles or video clips that respond to this notion of how successful women are shaking up machismo in the Latin community. While, I came out successful in my search and found an article titled “Wonder women and macho men” in an Argentinian magazine titled The Economist. This magazine article discusses how, although women have been great making progress towards equality with men, social attitudes towards women are not changing for the better. As women rise to the top, society keeps trying to drag them down. For example, the article opens up with a description of a caricature of Argentina’s female president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is seen in a tabloid news magazine titled, Noticias, showing the president “in mid-orgasm, her head thrown back, her mouth open.“ This caricature highlights how women’s accomplishments and ambitions are often belittled by society, causing hostility towards them. The reason for this is because these thriving women are challenging machismo, masculinity, and patriarchy since having women in politics and positions of power emasculates men in many ways.

 

The Economist’s article relates to Pablo Martinez’s “Masculinity Reconfigured: Shaking up Gender in Latino/a Literature” article since Martinez delves on the fact that the women presented in the novels he discusses are able to defy machsimo when they find success in the U.S. Both articles highlights how Latina women are achieving the same or more than men, no matter thr backlash. Although I think it will be a while until the Latin culture fully appreciates the achievements of their women, at least women are putting up a fight against machismo.

That’s So Carol: Collage Reflection

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Aside from my education, my family is the most important aspect of my life. My family is everything to me and my life has always been family-oriented. While I grew up, my family would eat together, go to the movies together, and would squeeze on the couch to watch television together. However, unfortunately, when I turned fourteen years old, my family suffered a few setbacks which has changed our family dynamic drastically. My family consists of my mom, step-dad, sister, and brother. Both my parents (including my biological father) are from Guatemala. While my mom has been fortunate to have had the opportunity have had papers, my step-dad did not. Although marriage could have changed this dilemma, my step-dad and mom did not get married until after my step-dad got deported. His deportation caused a strain in my family, and things have not been the same since.

After my step-dad’s deportation, my family endured a lot of hardships. During this time, my mom had to take over my step-dad’s position of the head of the household. As my step-dad was in Guatemala figuring out ways to come back to the United States, my family transitioned from a heteropatriarchy to a “woman family,” similar to what Lorna Dee Cervantes refers to in her poem, “Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway,” even though my brother has been a part of the family. My mom became what the women in Cervantes’s poem ended up becoming within the Chicano, or Latino, family. My mom had no choice but to take on the traditional male role in the traditional Latino family. By taking over my step-dad’s duties, my mother was able to eliminate the machismo embedded in “la familia,” while my step-dad was away, and my family was no longer a heteropatriarchy.

Since my family spent twelve years without my step-dad in the picture, he literally has not been in in the picture, or pictures. The pictures I specifically chose to include in my collage do not have any trace of my step-dad. However, I do not know whether I did this subconsciously or not; yet, I actually do not have many photos of my complete family. I believe that I probably did this as a way to demonstrate how comfortable I have become with having my mom be the head of the household in my family. In fact, the only males seen in the photos that make up my collage are my brother and grandfather. Consequently, these males do not exert the kind of machismo that Richard Rodriguez asserts in his text, Next of Kin, which conditions men as dominant and women as submissive. In other words, my family ends up contradiction Rodriguez’s description of the traditional and appropriate family structure. Thus, my family could be seen as being “anti-familia” since my mom is able to have a voice of her own in my family without a man undervaluing her.

Although my family is not traditional, based on the criteria that the nuclear Chicano family exemplifies, my family is traditional in terms of our Guatemalan culture. Expressing and discussing my cultural roots is extremely important to me because, unfortunately, my skin color does not emphasize my true ethnicity. As my photos demonstrate, I have a light complexion, and even though not all Latinos are dark, I still feel ashamed that my outer appearance does not show my Latina roots. For this reason, a photo of Antigua Guatemala (shown on the lower left-hand corner) is included in my collage. I decided to not include a picture of the Guatemalan flag because Guatemala is more than its flag. Guatemala is such a beautiful country, and so, I wanted to display its beauty by adding a photo of one of its well-known features.

Compared to the Mexican culture, the Guatemalan culture does not have too many traditions. Nevertheless, my family still embraces the culture. In fact, my mom has always made Guatemalan dishes and we have always celebrated the holidays in the Guatemalan fashion. This includes having traditional Guatemalan tamales on Christmas Eve. This tradition is what I look forward to all year long, which is why I added a meme photo (shown on the upper right-hand corner) joking about eating too many tamales. Consequently, I realized after posting my collage that this very picture expresses one of the many stereotypes against Latinos regarding eating a lot of tamales. Not only does the picture pokes fun, but it does it in an offensive way by having a Caucasian girl demonstrating this joke/stereotype visually. Although this meme is not the kind of stereotype Rodriguez’s discusses in his text, it still fulfills the Latino stereotype due to it being offensive in light of it being simply a joke. Regardless, my intention was to demonstrate my humor, which I share along with my family.

Overall, I appreciate my family, and I embrace my culture and my familial traditions. Even though my family would not fit the “la familia” mold, it is still an example of a Latino family, only a modern one. I am glad I was able to grow up in a family where a woman is the superior one as opposed to a man because, now, I have better expectations of the kind of family I wish to have in the future.

 

Latino Home Remedies

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I loved reading Ana Castillo’s So Far From God this week because I felt like it was relatable for any Latino living in the United States who embrace the Latino traditions and folklore. I found Doña Felicia’s ways of healing funny because throughout my childhood, my mom would use the same home rememdies Doña Felicia teaches Caridad in the reading. Like Doña Felicia, my mother, too, uses remedies such as the ones to cure mal de ojo and empacho. Though many people do not believe in home remedies to cure certain illnesses, I have seen how powerful these remedies can be growing up in my Latino household.

For this reason, I decided to search for a list of home remedies used in Latino community. The following website lists a couple of home remedies that you may or may not be familiar with. From mal de ojo to mollera caida, this list briefly displays one of the most important folklore in the Latino culture.

http://www.dimensionsofculture.com/2010/10/folk-illnesses-and-remedies-in-latino-communities/

 

High Five to Chicana Lesbians

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This week’s reading were very interesting to read. The reading I found the most compelling was Carla Trujilo’s article, “Chicana Lesbians: Fear and Loathing in the Chicano Community. ” In her article, Trujilo discusses how all women in general suffer from male oppressions, but at the same time, she points out that there are different levels of patriarchal oppression which separates Chicana lesbians and feminists with heterosexual Chicanas. Altough she goes on to describe how Chicana lesbians are oppressed by and rejected from the Chicano community because they pose a threat to the established social patriarchy, Chicana lesbians have learned to confront their sexuality, to love their bodies, and become independent of men unlike heterosexual women. Still, in the end, Trujilo recognizes that Chicana lesbians and heterosexual Chicanas need to come together as a collective to establish their own voices as women since both groups of women share the status of woman, universal of the body, and the suppression of sexuality. She ends her article by stating “we must fight for own voices a women, since this will ultimately serve to uplift us as a people (193).” I foumd this statement empowering even though I’ve heard other versions of it from many strong Latina women.

What I liked the most about this article is Trujilo’s argument that Chicana lesbians learn to love their bodies earlier or more than heterosexual Chicanas since she must love herself both as a woman and a sexual being before she can love another woman. I found this fascinating because I never thought about this before since I am not a lesbian myself, but it sure makes sense.  I honestly think this group of Chicanas do not receive the credit they deserve. Not only do they face the same obstacles as heterosexual Chicanas, but they also have to confront their own sexuality in order to come out on top these obstacles, and that is admirable.

The Maid, the Drug Dealer, the Latin Lover, Oh My! Latin Stereotypes in Film and TV

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After reading chapter 2 of Rodriguez’s book and Noriega’s article, I started thinking about how the Hollywood industry has treated Latinos in film and television. For the most part, Latin actors have been typecast to play roles that give in to the stereotypes about Latinos. In addition, these actors also seem to be typecast to play Mexican characters, even if they are not from Mexico. In my opinion, this is becoming a much bigger problem than a couple of decades ago since the Latino population in the United States is rapidly growing.

The Huffington Post published an article (http://huffpost.com/us/entry/4039490) a couple of years ago titled “10 Latino Stereotypes That Must Go.” In this article, The Huffington Post put together a video of clips that demonstrate some of the popular Latin stereotypes that Hollywood needs to let go of. The video shows clips from films and TV shows, both old and modern, that show Latin actors playing the maid, drug dealer, and “Latin lover” roles. But, Latinos are more than these glorified clichés and this needs to change. Therefore, Hollywood needs to start to open its eyes and needs to provide these Latin actors roles that will make them the next Oscar or Golden Globe winner instead of another stereotypical punch line.

Curvas sin Frenos: Film Review of Real Women Have Curves

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Real Women Have Curves is a coming-of-age, funny, and charming movie that deals with issues of gender by displaying the struggles of poor Hispanic women living in East Los Angeles. The Garcia family is portrayed as the nuclear heteropatriarchy Chicano famliy that Richard Rodriguez describes in Next of Kin which represents the wife-mother as a woma who’s sole purpose in life is to support her husband, raise her children, and be mindlessly obedient to everything she is expected to do as a woman. However, Rodriguez’s thoughts on the Chicano family is evidently interrupted by the character of Ana. Through Rodriguez’s eyes, Ana would most likely be viewed as “antifamilia” because she personally desires liberation from her family, despite her mother’s belief that a woman should not be allowed to think for herself. Throughout the film, Ana is seen stuck in a crossroads due to the fact that the sense of duty to her family, which has been instilled in her throughout her life by her mother, is keeping her from fulfilling her dreams of going to college. Thus, this obligation to fulfill her family duty consequently traps Ana to traditional Latina roles. Still, as the film progresses , Ana is slowly breaking away from these traditional Latin women roles.

Moreover, throughout the film, the mother-daughter relationship that Rodriguez also highlights in his text is being testes. Ana is seen constantly arguing with her mothet Carmen over one another’s ideas of what a “real woman” is and looks like. The definition of “real woman” “is essentially the main theme of the film, as suggested in the title. While Carmen believes that a real woman is someone who is young and thin, and who is defined by her husband, Ana believes the opposite. She believes that a woman is more than her weight, sexuality, and her servitude to her husband. The movie displays a diverse group of Latinas, in regards to beauty, to try to determine this definition; yet, regardless, the movie ends up validating Ana’s perspective by allowing her to be accepted for who she is, and then attaining independence by defying her mother and departing from her family.

All in all, the character of Ana is used in the film as a feminist critique of Latin cultural norms that pressure women into serving the heteropatriarchy. For the most part, the women, in general, are portrayed as women who have given up on their dreams in exchange for patriarchal servitude. But, then, there’s Ana, who is the opposite, who is able to lead these women into slowly realizing the errors of their ways at the end. This is shown after the women follow in Ana’s lead in taking off their shirts as a way of liberation. Although, Carmen trys her best to convince Ana to compromise her personal independence and accept a traditional life of humble labor and enslavement to a man, fortunately, Ana is able to reinforce the feminist message that nothing and nobody can take a woman’s independence away. Therefore, Ana becomes a representative of the real woman that the film desires to define through liberating herself from patriarchy by pursuing personal fulfillment that patriarchy opposes.

My personal opinion of Real Women Have Curves is mostly positive. I can relate to Ana, both in her views of a “real woman” and by pursuing a college education instead of becoming another Latina cliché. It’s also refreshing to see a woman who is not white or thin in film who is just as talented as the actors who had defined beauty in Hollywood at the time of production. I would recommend this movie to all the young Latinas out there as inspiration to find themselves despite the pressure to stick to cultural or familial norms. Real Women Have Curves provides women the opportunity to open their eyes to the wickedness of patriarchy in the same way Ana opens her eyes.

Disrupting La Familia: Heteropatriarchy vs. Homosexuality

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Back in the day, I used to be a major “Gleek,” a term used for big fans of the television show Glee. Though the show ended two years ago, I began to binge watch it again on Netflix. Recently, I re-watched the episode of the show in which the Latina character, Santana, comes out as being lesbian to her (“traditional”) abuela. The reason I’m bringing this topic up is because while I was reading this week’s assigned readings, that very scene was freshly playing in my mind.

What I took from this week’s readings was that Chicanos must use their nationalism as a means for mobilization and organization; yet, in order for them to mobilize and organize, Chicanos must first embody la familia, or la raza, arrangement, even if la familia has been romanticized. In the past, during the Chicano movement of the late ’60’s, la familia was seen as traditional. It was romanticized as being a heteropatriarchy in which the Chicano family was comprised of a strong husband-father that supportef the loving wife-mother, both of whom supported their kind children. Comsquently, if this Chicano family romance becomes disrupted in any way, la familia would become defective, and in turn, the impact la familia has on the Chicano cultural nationalist sentiment would become disrupted as well.

What could disrupt this romanticized notion of the nuclear Chicano family, you say? Well, anyone who is believed to be antifamilia, of course. Someone who is antifamilia would be someone who is not heterosexual nor a man who has strong machismo traits. Many people, like the poet Abelardo Delgado, believe that machismo is needed in order for la familia to function within the Chicano culture because machismo allows heterosexual men to be able to run his house, to control his women, and to direct his children. Without machismo, the idea of la familia would dismantle. Delgado claims that women are not able to run a household on their own. In other words, they are not able to embody both the mother and father roles. If women try to, they run the risk of becoming “feme-macho” by liberating themeselves from men. Although he does not state it exactly, I did get the idea that perhaps Delgado was making negaitive comment against not only independent women, but homosexual women as well since they usually liberate themselves from men and tend to have this idea of the feme-macho label.

Now, going back to that episode of Glee I was referring to earlier, when Santana told her abuela that she is a lesbian, the abuela became disappointed in Santana and ended up disowning her own granddaughter. I question whether the writers of the show made the only Latina character gay on purpose or not because it sure demonstrates Delgado’s agrument. Although Santana does not have a family of her own, she is still considered someone who is antifamilia because when she does have a family, it will not be run as a heteropatriarchy.

By comparing the readings with the episode of Glee, I became aware of how much we have grown as a society today. La familia has changed a lot since the Chicano movement of the late ’60’s, even though many people today still wants to keep things traditional. However, one question I have to ask is whether the Chicano nationalism has been affected by how la familia is today?