Reading: “Chicana Print Culture and Chicana Studies”

9 thoughts on “Reading: “Chicana Print Culture and Chicana Studies””

1. In works such as Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, it is evident that white middle-class feminism often centers around the idea that women are not satisfied to live the span of the lives inside the home. The concept of family, however, is not as integral to white culture as it is to the cultures of many women of color. Among other reasons, the intense focus placed on the family in Chicano culture gives Chicana feminism unique problems. To many Chicanas, the concept of handing over your children for someone else to raise during the day as you go out to focus on yourself is alien and Anglo. Due to the notion of the Chicana woman as sexually pure, and the failings of education systems, reliable sex education is not necessarily something young Chicanas are exposed to. This, unfortunately, leads often to young or unwanted pregnancies, which will more often than not lead to a mother forgoing education to care for her fledgling family.

   This is why Anna NietoGomez’s mention the childcare system set up by Mujeres Unidas left such an impression on me. Only a Chicana can truly understand the unique problems and experiences of another Chicana. As Chicanas who understood that education is important but the family is not to be neglected, the mother-daughter team behind Mujeres Unidas developed a system that incorporated both of these needs. By ensuring that children would be cared for by other Chicanas, they could somewhat free the minds of mothers to complete or continue their educations. It eliminated some of the alienness Chicanas might associate with the thought of leaving their children in the care of a stranger. White feminists tend to believe that their feminism is ultimately right for everyone: this creates more problems than it solves. By tailoring to specific Chicana needs, Mujeres Unidas made feminism more personal and accessible.

2. During the 1970’s, Chicana feminism became mainstream through print media, this helped professors like Anne NietoGomez to develop a Chicana studies curriculum. At the time, there weren’t any textbooks on Chicana studies, so the primary sources for the classes came from articles, magazines, oral histories, and newspapers written and published by Chicana feminists. These publications “played a vital role in the development of the Chicana studies curriculum” (91). This resulted in an expansion of Chicana print culture because Chicana students created their own student newspapers and organized annual conferences and used this media to document “Chicana Thought” (93). They discussed important Chicana issues such as Chicana health, day care in higher education, sexism in the movement, and the Chicana feminist movement. Chicana students joined the feminist movement and brought knowledge to their college community. Through these forums they were able to bring change to their campus like the campus student/parent childcare co-op, and made it a requirement that all Chicano studies majors had to take at least one Chicana studies class.

3. Anna NietoGomez’s piece is reflective of some of my experiences in my upper division Women’s Studies classes because like she points “Access to these women was essential to the development of an accurate and relevant Chicana Studies curriculum”(92).Class should be a positive experience not an one sided conversation which typically happens when professors place an extreme emphasis on lecture and only want you to regurgitate the information they give you. As a result you miss out on great conversations and it doesn’t improve a student’s analytical skills. The reason NietoGomez experience was so impactful is because she learned the benefits of bringing real life to the classroom. A real education embraces the whole person which the Chicana Movement strived to achieve and also happens to be a component of LMU’s mission statement. Professors can teach until their blue about theory but it resonates more with students when there’s a connection made. I agree with Sarah that print culture was crucial for the development of Chicano/a studies classes because there weren’t that many textbooks on it and since a lot wasn’t being documented, therefore turning to the community and reading oral histories allowed them to formulate the curriculum to their needs. They were able to be participants in the process rather than just being passive actors in their own story or worst yet not even there.

4. I think that the Chicana print culture is important and just print in general. By writing down the thoughts and conversations that occurred in the different groups and meetings, they can never be lost. By having it on print, it allows more people to have access to it. These pamphlets or newsletters, allowed others who weren’t at these meetings to be able to know what was going on. It allowed ideas and information to spread to a wider group of people who didn’t have to be physically at that one location. I’m in agreement that print brings people closer to one another. Being able to read and know that there are other people in the same situation as it can reassures one that they are not alone. With modern technology I think it’s even easier to spread information to people. There are online forums where people can have full on regular conversations while at the same time-sharing links to videos and articles that the others can have access to immediately. At the same time I think artwork can convey similar messages that print culture does. Like the public murals that have been created, it allows all that pass by to see it. Art can sometimes evoke emotions that words can never bring out. These public murals allow the artists message and thoughts to be seen by any person that walked by it.

5. The invention of the printing press was a huge advancement in history because it allowed for the spread of new ideas. It allowed a faster production of literature which then made this more accessible for a larger community to read. I think this explains the importance of the printing of Chicana feminism ideas. As was stated in class, Chicana feminism was not happening in all regions of the United States, thus the Chicana print culture made it easier for Chicana feminists to spread their ideas to a broader audience.
   NietoGomez relates the Development of Chicano studies with Chicana Feminism because it has taken both the contribution of oral history to develop an accurate and relevant history. It is not through history books and records that we have come up with the history behind each of these stories, but through the experiences of Chicanos and Chicanas that we have learned about the real history behind these, which really emphasizes the importance of oral history, as Blackwell had pointed out in her book.
   I also found it interesting that one of the priorities among Chicanas was to create the funding of child care centers. I am aware that these exist on different college campuses, but I never thought these had come from a Chicana’s perspective and discussions at the Chicana conferences.

6. The issues that Nietogomez described are still relevant in today’s society. She has multiple issues, seven total and each an extremely important issue. Stereotypes of Mexican women in literature, has been in multiple readings of a Chicana woman being a wife, mother, and housekeeper. A woman of no higher education and that is completely false and I am glad they bring this up at the annual conference. She also addresses child care issues in higher education. When a woman has a baby her life doesn’t need to stop and she doesn’t have to adhere to the stereotype. Men are not held back, so neither should women. To help with the issue parents volunteered to work at the centers in exchange for childcare. I was actually surprised by this because only until 1973 was this possible. But reading on Chicanas did face multiple setbacks those including an issue mentioned, it being sexism in the Chicano movement.

7. “The Chicana print culture reported these activities [feminist proposal} and produced a collective knowledge that created a sense of collective feminist leadership for cultural social change,” (page 90). I really liked how Anna NietoGomez helps us acknowledge that through the collection of work we can get an insight into a history that isn’t always told. So in a sense history is being rewritten. Also in this sentence we see where all the Chicana thought was headed and from where. Chicana leaders were developing during the movement and all they were working towards was a cultural social change, like the Chicano movement as a whole but because their agenda or path towards this goal was a little different, it intimidate others so they felt under minded. Hence the tension we already know about.
   From this reading I really like to see how Blackwell wasn’t alone when it came to oral history as we are learning is such a valuable type of history. Since its general idea id the same but as it is produced it is not exactly the same every time. Also through it we get a more human approach, instead of just reading, we can relieve some of the emotions the speaker went through as it will be apparent through their account. I think she best sums it up when she says, “oral history … created a body of knowledge about different types of Chicanas,” (page 91) again showing how human history can become which is definitely not a way I would have ever thought about history or even describe it. I’m only left to wonder if NietoGOmez understood this before meeting Blackwell?
   Its funny to read about Chicana Studies, especially because all I have ever heard about is Chicano studies and didn’t think a difference existed. But as I have learned from this class in particular, there was a need to learn about the Chicana. Even more interesting it would have been to be a student hear first account this history from such an activist who is retelling her story as she teaches class. I guess in way we can say Dr. Perez does this as she tells us about her experiences as an undergrad and the likes. When she shares her story, she is not just telling us about an event in her life but explaining certain things as they pertain to the movement even if she didn’t experience it first hand, like when she talks about her experience with MEChA. Thus this creates a consciousness in the student as well as show the value of oral history.

8. What Anna NietoGomez is describing is the idea of funds of knowledge, where their knowledge, coming from experience with their family and culture, is implemented in the classroom so they feel included in the curriculum. This is exactly what happened with the early Chicana studies at CSUN. The oral history was a large component of this because it was deriving from first hand experience. It is amazing how these Chicanas developed different women organizations to combat what was not being included in the Chicano movement. NietoGomez refers back to the experiences of Chicanas in implementing different courses focusing on different issues/topics. For example “Contemporary Issues of the Chicana” was created from the organizing of Chicana feminists in having this kind of information be exposed to other students. Academia does not attest that knowledge comes from experience, but Chicana studies does.

9. I think the issues that are brought up about chicano/a are very strong and accurate because the subliminal oppression can easily be successful. Many times people dont go to the root of the problem to fix it in our American societ, especially when it is dealing with minorities. In this case you see how machismo was influenced to the Chicano men by Anglo men, and this machismo that was embedded into the Chicano men is what was used to basically frustrate themselves. When the Chicano men were being unfairly treated and looked down upon by their employers, or even worse, when they could not find a job, they would go home angry. The encouraged machismo of their personalities would almost justify they beat their wives or try to rule over their wives in a demeaning way. It also isn’t a surprise how Latino women who were born in America have a hard time finding who they want to identify themselves as to the public. America has made it so all minorities must act a certain way to be accepted by society. This is unnecessary pressure Latino Americans must deal with. I think you should atleast know what your culture is, even if you choose to blend in with the acceptance of American society.

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