La Chicana is the story of a marginal group in society, neither fully Mexican or fully American, who suffer under triple oppression: as women, as members of a colonized culture, and as victims of a cultural heritage dominated by the cult of machismo. Tracing the role of Chicanas from pre-Columbian society to the present, the authors reveal the antecedents and roots of contemporary cultural expectations in Aztec, colonial, and revolutionary Mexican historical periods. A discussion of the contribution of modern Chicanas to their community and to feminism and a look at literary stereotypes and the emergence of Chicana literature to counter them round out this perceptive and sympathetic analysis.

In this study, Irene I. Blea describes the social situation of La Chicana, a minority female whose life is influenced by racism and sexism. Blea analyzes contemporary scholarship on race, class, and gender, scrutinizing the use of language and labels to examine how La Chicana is affected by these factors. The wide-ranging study explores the history of Chicanas and the meaning of the term Chicana, and considers her socialization process, the consequences of deviating from gender roles, and the evolution of Hispanic women onto the national scene in politics, health, economics, education, religion, and criminal justice. To date, little attention has been paid to the political, social, and cultural achievements of La Chicana. The shared lives of Mexican-American women and men at home and inside and outside of the barrio are also investigated. This unique volume highlights the variables that effectively discriminate against women of color. Following a chapter that reviews the literature on Chicanas and focuses on their participation in three major social movements, the text discusses the conquest of Mexico and the blending of Aztec and Spanish cultures. Next, the life of colonial Hispanic women in Mexico and the United States and the role of the Mexican War in shaping the Mexican-American experience are investigated. The following three chapters explore how Americanization disempowered La Chicana; discuss the contemporary cultural roles of la mujer (woman) and their impact on men's roles; and consider the lives of older women. Chapter Seven looks at how some women are defining new roles for La Chicana. Current social issues are compared with and contrasted to those of the 1960s. The final chapters develop a theory of discrimination based on the academic work of racial and ethnic minority scholars and feminist scholars, exploring new directions in the study of Chicanas. This volume is valuable as an undergraduate or graduate text, and as a reference work, as well as a useful resource for social service providers.

Explores the resounding musical performances of Mexican American women such as Chelo Silva, Eva Ybarra, Eva Garza, and Selena within Tejano/Chicano music

Examines Mexican-American history from the time of the Spanish conquistadors to the Civil Rights movement and recent immigration laws.

From the white boy who transforms himself into a full-fledged Chicano, to the self-assured woman who effortlessly terrorizes her Anglo boss, to the junior-high friend who berated her "sloppy Spanish" and accused her of being a "Chicana Falsa," the people and places that Michele Serros brings to vivid life in this collection of poems and stories introduce a unique new viewpoint to the American literary landscape. Witty, tender, irreverent, and emotionally honest, her words speak to the painful and hilarious identity crises particular to the coming of age of an adolescent caught between two cultures.

La Gente traces the rise of the Chicana/o Movement in Sacramento and the role of everyday people in galvanizing a collective to seek lasting and transformative change during the 1960s and 1970s. In their efforts to be self-determined, la gente contested multiple forms of oppression at school, at work sites, and in their communities. Though diverse in their cultural and generational backgrounds, la gente were constantly negotiating acts of resistance, especially when their lives, the lives of their children, their livelihoods, or their households were at risk. Historian Lorena V. Márquez documents early community interventions to challenge the prevailing notions of desegregation by barrio residents, providing a look at one of the first cases of outright resistance to desegregation efforts by ethnic Mexicans. She also shares the story of workers in the Sacramento area who initiated and won the first legal victory against canneries for discriminating against brown and black workers and women, and demonstrates how the community crossed ethnic barriers when it established the first accredited Chicana/o and Native American community college in the nation. Márquez shows that the Chicana/o Movement was not solely limited to a handful of organizations or charismatic leaders. Rather, it encouraged those that were the most marginalized—the working poor, immigrants and/or the undocumented, and the undereducated—to fight for their rights on the premise that they too were contributing and deserving members of society.