The reading that I thought was one I could relate to was probably “Viva la Chicana and All Brave Women of La Causa.” There was a particular line that stood out to me which says that the Chicana of today is the “Chicana who wants to be more than a wife, mother and housekeeper” because it relates to today’s era. Women now more than ever are pursuing higher education and trying to succeed in life to be more independent and be able to provide for them and support themselves. Even though in many different cultures a women is still supposed to be the perfect housewife and mother, women are also trying to be more independent now and I think that the woman that is trying to do more than that is depicted in every single young Chicana or “Chicanita” as they say in the reading that is a college student. A woman pursuing and education and a higher degree is one that wants to pursue a career and be successful on their own account. Older generations were expected to be stay-at-home mothers but I believe the new generation is highly encouraged not to do that anymore. From a personal experience this is actually something that I always hear my father say, he wants me to have a successful career with the purpose of that being not to ever have to become dependent of any man to have a good living standard.
I really liked the descriptions in Lorna Dee Cervantes’ poetry and think that the mixture of English and Spanish in her and Anna NietoGomez’ poems make them more meaningful and definitely more powerful. The combination of the languages cannot only be seen as a representation of what is advocated for in the poem which is the unity of men and women, but it can also serve as a means to have the audience relate to it. The Spanish language is an important component of the Latino culture and to intermix this into the poem shows more credibility from the authors and also creates a more of an inviting audience for Latinos reading this because they know exactly what these words mean. Another way to think about this is that as “La Raza” moves forward, it brings a new mentality and creates new ideas, but it does not forget the old ones. Spanish being the first Native language of Chicanos, represents the beginning of the movement, therefore bringing the two languages together also captures that idea.