La Virgen De Las Mujeres
While there are several artists who have depicted La Virgen de Guadalupe in a feminist representation, of all these authors, Alma Lopez is one whose works have been both revered and heavily contested. Of her works, one titled Our Lady is less of a recreating of the classic image of La Virgen de Guadalupe but rather a melding of a confident, natural Chicana woman and the common identifiers associated with La Virgen. Our Lady acts as a role model for the Chicana woman, it acts as a strong example of empowerment. The woman in this painting is not ashamed of body “With her hands on her hips she assumes a ‘Latina Power pose’ (Nunn 165). Some viewed this image as a strong commentary on the changing role of Chicanas, the women who fight against the pre-established machismo culture of Latin America countering the Madonna-Whore binary that we discussed earlier. This image shows the combination of strong confident Chicana woman and the iconic details of the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Others viewed Lopez’s image as “blasphemous” and “Sacrilegious” (166). These opinions speak to the power of La Virgen De Guadalupe’s symbolism, which is usually associated with purity a mother figure void of any sexuality. In Our Lady, Alma Lopez uses the pre-Colombian symbolism, roses, and Angel present in the classic La Virgen De Guadalupe image. Here Lopez reinterprets the classical image in a manner that is not blasphemous, well at least in my opinion, because it seems that Alma Lopez’s intentions for this piece were less focused on sexualizing the Virgin. But rather, She utilizes the symbols representative of La Virgin De Guadalupe, which instantly draws the focus to the cultural unifying aspect inherent in La Virgen and then uses these symbols to show the power of the Chicana woman pictured.
In Nancy Pineda-Madrid’s novel Suffering and Salvation in Ciudad Juarez, Madrid makes a commentaries about the killings in Juarez and how they speak to rape culture. Pineda-Madrid explains how some of the locals blamed the women for their assault. She explains the locals believed the murdered women had sealed their own fates because they dressed like woman of the night. These excuses are what I think Alma Lopez’s Our Lady is trying to combat; she is attempting to break the existing social perceptions of the Madonna-Whore binary that exists in the male dominated society. Pineda-Madrid’s commentaries introduce us to a common binary that exists within the Machismo culture of Latin America. This binary has been coined the Madonna-Whore binary by feminist. As scholar Browyn Conrad writes
“…Woman’s sexuality is fragmented into opposite possibilities: ‘good girls’ submit themselves to a male-defined double standard that says women should not consummate a sexual relationship too often, too quickly, with too many men, or under the wrong circumstances, while ‘bad girls’ proudly defy this standard, only to find they have been played as pawns in a sexual game conceived and controlled by men. The existence of this bipolar sexual code for women is by no means a new observation feminist scholars have long referred to it as the Madonna/Whore complex (or duality)” (310).
In Defense to the harsh commentaries, strong oppositions and even death threats, Alma Lopez writes, “I see beautiful bodies that are gifts from our creator. I see nurturing breasts. I see the strong nurturing mothers of all of us… I wonder why they think that our bodies are so ugly and perverted that we cannot be seen in an art piece in a museum.” (Lopez) Looking past the painting itself, it is interesting to not that the model Alma Lopez used as the centerpiece of this digital image, was a rape survivor further charging this piece with energy. Her piece seeks to break the Madonna-Whore complex by melding both in a way that belittles the importance of either image. It is clear that the Chicana woman is not supposed to represent La Virgen instead it is supposed to work jointly with the symbolizes to hone in on the fact that the woman is a Chicana. And by allowing herself to be criticized for her appearance she is using the revolutionary aspect of La Virgen that we have already seen to comment on the binary.
Yolanda Lopez is another artist who bravely tries to break the Madonna-Whore binary like Lopez melds the renowned image of La Virgen de Guadalupe with an image of the Greek goddess Aphrodite specifically the image created by Sandro Botticelli. In her work titled Love Goddess Yolanda Lopez takes a more direct approach to restructuring the image of La Virgen as a instrument as a commentary on the strict Christian traditions imposed on female sexuality. Yolanda Lopez artistically melds The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli and the classical image of La Virgen de Guadalupe. In Greek Mythology Aphrodite was praised for her beauty, she was not shunned nor degraded for her sexuality. By melding the two images, Lopez is able to shift the focus from La Virgen’s conventionality and focus on virginity so that the image is refocused to fit the imagery of true womanhood as it exists today. Making the image a symbol of power for the Chicana, not one of purity and docile nature.
While I am able to understand where these artist are pulling their inspirations there is a very sensitive boundary that is in place, and these artists have to tread very lightly when working with La Virgen De Guadalupe. The Virgin is not only a religious symbol it a cultural symbol as we have noted, those who are not religious still treat La Virgen with the utmost respect so when the artist distort that purity that is revered by so many there is inevitable opposition. Which is from the backlash to Alma Lopez’s Our Lady the “Bikini Virgin” (Nunn 165) as one reporter puts it. When you try to recreate an image like that of the Virgins you have to work with extreme care. The cult of La Virgen is an immense ethnically diverse group of individuals. The Virgin represents something different to every one of us. We each carry her in a special way, whether in our hearts or on our skins. Take for example when Sister Hilda came to give a discussion in our class, she asked us to describe La Virgen de Guadalupe and the Virgin Mary in one word. While there were some similar responses given by my peers there was, however, a great deal more variety than there was unity. Every student seemed to have his or her own special relationship to La Virgen. A symbol that reminded one girl of her father, another a symbol of Mexican culture, a mother, with each response the significance of La Virgen’s importance grew. Similarly, in both of works above we witness a personal devotion made public, both female artists craft a brand new interpretation to the classical model. One that suits their desires and their needs, they break free of the shackles that bond them to traditional cultural practices and create La Virgin in a controversial way but in this controversy both artists find peace. They both create a Virgin who helps in their own personal rebellion; they carry their Virgin iconography as proudly as Caesar Chavez and Father Hidalgo. Their Virgin stands for womanhood and equality. Thusly, even though both of their works corrupt traditional values associated with La Virgin, by sexualizing an image meant to be pure, they are at the same time keeping intact the same meanings and symbolism present in the classical image. To them their Virgen’s still signify hope, inspiration, cultural unity, and Rebellion.
Works Cited
Blake, Debra. “Chicano Art vs. Censorship.” Solidarity. <http://www.solidarityus.org/site/node/3537>.
Conrad, Browyn Kara. “Neo-Institutionalism, Social Movements, and the Cultural Reproduction of a Mentalité: Promise Keepers Reconstruct the Madonna/Whore Complex.” The Sociological Quarterly 47.2 (2006): 305-31. JSTOR. Web. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/4120820?ref=search-gateway:f1c20659539702c8271a60a1e2c4c957>.
Day to Day. “Mr. Cartoon, Tattoing the Virgin: NPR.” NPR: National Public Radio: News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts: Npr.<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor.php?storyId+4212651>.
Lopez, Alma. “The Artist of ‘Our Lady.” Censoring Our Ladies, Alma Lopez Speaks on Her Art. La Culturas. April 2, 2001.
Mister Cartoon. <www.skidrowtattoo.com/?p=1572>
Montoya, Delilah. “Artist Statement.” <http://wwww.delilahmontoya.com/artiststatement.html>
Nunn, Tey M. “The Our Lady of Controversy: Chicana Art, Hispanic Identity, and the Politics of Place and Gender in Nuevo Mexico.” (n.d.): 163-81. Web. <https://mylmuconnect.lmu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-718234-dt-content-rid- 1140373_1/courses/72805.201410/The%20Our%20Lady%20Controversy.pdf>.
Olguín, B.V. “Tattoos, Abjection, and the Political Unconscious.” University of Minnesota Press, Cultural Critique. Vol. 37 (1997): 159-213.
Orozco-Flores, Edward, and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo. “Chicano Gang Members in Recovery: The Public Talk of Negotiating Chicano Masculinities.” Social Problems 60.4 (2013): 476-90. JSTOR. Web.<http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/sp.2013.60.4.476?ref=search- gateway:e8d52486c5e4e952c537b64c4b033a36>.
Salinas, Raul R. Raúl R. Salinas and the Jail Machine: My Weapon Is My Pen. Austin, Texas: U of Texas, 2006. Print.
Santos, Xuan. “The Chicana Canvas: Doing Class, Gender, Race, And Sexuality through Tattooing in East Los Angeles.” The John Hopkins University Press 21.3 (2009)
“Tatuajes Religiosos Chicanos: La Virgen De Guadalupe.” Gangster Tattoos. < Web.
Works Referenced
Dupre, Judith. “The Virgin Mary Becomes a Pop Symbol.” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, n.d. Web. Apr. 2014. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/12/11/lady-of-guadalupe-virgin-marys-new-symbolism-for-gangs-and-commerce.html>.
Peréz, Laura E. Chicana Art: the Politics of Spiritual and Aesthetic Altarities. Durham: Duke Up, 2007