Is the want of Chicana women to be treated as equal their men absurd or an abnormal expectations? Based on their Native American background culture, equality between men and women was the norm for some indigenous tribes.It was understood in most Native cultures that men and women’s work was seen as complimentary to each other. While the men hunted game, the women would prepare the game that the men caught.The women had knowledge of plant life around them, they knew how to preserve food,and they also knew how to use plants for cures, just to list a few of their attributes. The objective of the men and women of the tribes were to work together for the betterment of the band. There wasn’t the sense among such tribes that the man was greater than the woman, or vice versa, because the they both needed each others skills to successful survive. Women even were able to give their opinion in political matters, and their opinions were all valued. There was an understanding between the men and women of these tribes that one did not function well without the other. To show the amount of respect and power that were given to these women of the tribes,many societies, including the Iroquois, Cherokee and Navajo were matriarchal and some were matrilocal.
After the Spanish colonizing of the Native Americans, the equality men and women shared start to change for the Chicanos and Chicanas.In Latin America, which was the area of the indigenous people where the Spanish colonized, the role of women started to get restricted. Women for centuries started being treated by their fathers, brothers and husbands with discrimination. In Latin America, including Mexico , women were seen as only child-bearers, homemakers and caregivers. Womens expectation by men was restricted to watching their children, performing household chores, and cooking for their husbands. Many men did not consider women to be capable of working outside the home, which is part of the reason why the term “weaker sex” was coined for women.
During the Chicano movement of the 1960’s, the Chicana women weren’t content with just doing secretarial jobs. When ever a Chicana women tried to voice her opinion for the Chicano movement, they were either shunned, ignored, or both. The Chicana women then started their own movement so their voices could be heard by creating autonomous woman-centered organizations that would facilitate their protest activities. In 1969, a group of Chicana university students started Las Hijas de Cuauhtemoc (Daughters of Cuauhtemoc), which served as a consciousness-raising organization, and a basis for other feminist activities. The group started their own newspaper two years later and named the newspaper after their group.Other Chicano women groups were formed to give the women a voice to address their issues such as The Comision Femenil Mexicana Nacional(CFMN, or National Mexican Women’s Commission), which was founded in 1970 as a result of a resolution written by a group of Chicanas at the National Chicano, and Concilio Mujeres (Women’s Council), a women’s support group based at San Francisco State University, formed by Dorinda Moreno just to name a few.
Even though the Chicano women roles became restricted after the Spanish colonizing of the Latin America areas, they naturally became who they were. It was not foreign for some Chicana women in their minds to think that they should have an equal voice and responsibility as men if they choose. The same way some indigenous women were viewed as equal to the men in their tribes and society is the same mindset that some of the women of the Chicana feminist movement believed they should also be perceived by men.
- Sources:
- http://www.lurj.org/article.php/vol1n1/running.xml
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/2713052?seq=2
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicana_feminism
- Kehoe, A.B. (1995). Blackfoot persons. In L. F. Klein & L. A. Ackerman (Eds.), Women And Power in Native North America (pp.113-125). University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
- http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6048/Chicana-Feminism.html
Very informative blog. I didn’t know this info about the native Americans. I like the way you related the native American traditions to the Chicana movement.
This was a great way to connect the past to the present to make a Chicana feminist storyline, kind of how Maylei Blackwell did. I’d maybe like a little more information on how Spanish colonization was so effective at changing gender roles.
There were a couple of grammatical errors throughout, but besides that, I really enjoyed this!
This is a great topic Kelsey because society could learn a lot about indigenous tribes especially the Navajo who were an egalitarian society. Work was not gendered like it is structured in our society but rather it was based on skills and what would be more effective. I like how you try to find connections between Chicana women and indigenous women because all women’s experiences are important. Some of my comments are about some grammatical errors and you need space between some words. Other than that, I really like hearing your perspective about the readings in class.
Kelsey, be careful with your writing. I know sometimes we make grammar and spelling mistakes because we read things that aren’t there. A way to avoid this is to read your work out loud. This is regarding you opening sentence as well as in a later sentence in that first paragraph.
Also in first line of the last paragraph you talk about Chicano women, did you mean to say Chicana women?
Overall great job, your blog reminded me of the things I learned in my Native America and Christianity class I took here at LMU this past summer. In the class we learned about the Native American culture and I remember how important the Women’s role is to the Navajo Nation.
Kelsey this was a great blog and a great topic, I really enjoyed reading it. Like what many of the others said watch your grammar but that’s something really easy to fix. I would also add more personal opinion to the blog like what your views on Chicana women’s roles. I think it might add something extra but other than that great job!
This is a cool and interesting blog. I did not know that there existed this equality between men and women at some point long ago, it always seems as though the beginning always goes back to women being subordinate, but it was nice reading otherwise.
Kelsey, I would suggest you look over the first three sentences of the introductory paragraph and reword some things to make your point clear. This is good topic and I like the way you link women in the matrilineal society to the patriarchal society, and to chicana feminists. You might want to include a better transition speaking about indigenous women in a matrilineal society to chicanas in a patriarchal society. This way your blog does not include a separation between these two things you are connecting. Good topic!