In the introduction of “Next of Kin,” author Richard T. Rodriguez explains the heteronormative and masculinity that is practiced in Latina/o families. Latina/o families tend to practice these problematic ideologies because they carry the belief that this family structure is traditional and appropriate. Intersectionality is also a common theme in the introduction because Rodriguez claims that in order to address the issues of machismo within Latina/o families, we must understand the concept of “nationalism” and how it comes into play with the gender roles within our community. In Chapter One, Rodriguez further illustrates in one perspective “families from which many Chicano student activists emerged were of poor or working-class backgrounds, a fact that jump-started in many an activist the sense of struggle” and in another perspective “young Chicano activists believed that their own parents and grandparents had been passive and accommodating to discrimination and exploitation” (Rodriguez, 21). As much as some of our ancestors have tried to break the cycle of abuse and devaluing of other presences, it gets difficult because that is what superior “communities” have taught them to do. The men in Latina/o families tend to like power and control because for a long time, many had mistreated and taken advantage of their presence. Do you think Latina/o masculinity should be blamed on amongst our own community or should our colonizers and so-called superior populations (Whites) be labeled the culprits for the insecurities?

Masculinity is practiced in an endless amount of spaces, one of them being academia. In the article “The Interdisciplinary Project of Chicana History: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” author Miroslava Chávez- García explains how important it is for women to take charge in writing the stories and histories of our community. She states, “…Chicana writers and activists, many of them untrained scholars, took up the tasks of recovering their untold histories and did so collectively and creatively. Unlike the males working in the field, the females relied on each other to build histories (and futures) they could call their own” (Chávez- Garcia, 543). Men have the tendency to voice the stories of women and get a lot of credit for using up spaces that are supposed to be shared and accepting towards everyone. Without each other’s support, women would not be able to create a unified community in which they could combat the misogyny and masculinity all around them.

Even though the masculinity we experience as women could be draining, we have the control and power to make a difference in our spaces and community.

Chávez-GarcÍa, M. (2013). The Interdisciplinary Project of Chicana History.Pacific Historical Review, 82(4), 542-565.