Chicana Feminism: Historical Debate and Gender Role Challenges

Introduction: Chicana Feminism and the Gender Roles Debate

Gender roles in America have undergone dramatic change since the Women's Movement began, with figures like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem leading the way. Friedan was an avid activist and strong supporter of equal rights for women whose The Feminine Mystique sparked the gender roles revolution. In her book she described coming "to political consciousness out of a disillusionment with her life as a suburban housewife," and out of that consciousness grew the activity that would see women establish themselves in roles previously held and dominated by men.¹ Likewise, Gloria Steinem founded Ms. Magazine and called for women's liberation in 1969 when she penned an article about how admitting to having had an abortion had empowered her.² Yet the gender roles revolution in America also drew a great deal of support from Chicana feminists — Mexican-American, Chicana, and Hispanic women in the United States. Normative gender roles of the 1950s onward faced pressure from many directions. This paper will show not only how Chicana feminists challenged these gender roles but also how Chicana feminism has been written about in the past.

The historical debate surrounding Chicana feminists has not so much been about whether they challenged gender roles — there is no denying that they did — but rather about how effective they were in transforming traditional gender roles into the more progressive standards that the Women's Movement promoted, such as gender equality and sexual autonomy. For instance, some critics accused Chicanas of drawing attention away from the male-oriented Chicano movement, which had been established to promote the needs of Mexican-American men in economic, social, and political spheres.³ But the whole point of the Chicanas was to refocus attention on themselves in light of the wider feminist movement, which challenged patriarchal privilege. As Alma Garcia notes, Chicanas were criticized for destroying "family values" and being too "individualistic" — however, the Chicanas themselves never set out to destroy anything, but only to redefine womanhood and to challenge the gender roles assigned to them within the male-dominated Chicano structure.

This question of destroying the family structure could equally be aimed at the Chicanos or at patriarchal societies of the past — yet those leveling the charge are unlikely to turn the criticism upon themselves. Nonetheless, because the debate surrounding the Chicana feminist movement has been framed in such negative terms by opponents, it is important to see another side — namely, the Chicanas' own perspective. By framing the historical debate in more positive terminology (for instance, asking whether the Chicanas were successful in promoting the progressive ideals of the Women's Movement), one can view the historiography of the Chicana movement in a more complete, impartial, and historically accurate light.

Origins of the Chicana Feminist Movement

To appreciate the historiography of the Chicana movement, it is helpful to understand how it began. The term Chicana was coined by Chicana feminists who wanted to self-identify in a movement where identity and self-assertion were everything. These were Mexican-American women who first established their voice in contemporary social and political spheres in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly at the 1969 Chicano Youth Liberation Conference. It was here that women began participating more fully in what had until then been a largely male-oriented discourse. From the Chicano Conference emerged la Chicana — a Hispanic-American woman who would challenge the traditional or normative gender roles handed down by older patriarchal generations.⁴

Religion, Liberation Theology, and Mujerista Theology

The Latin American tradition had largely been shaped by the values of the Roman Catholic Church. But with Liberation Theology finding grassroots support throughout Latin American countries — and making its way into Mexican-American heritage — the Women's Movement found a new group ready to challenge traditional gender roles. Yolanda Taranga was one such Chicana who joined with liberation theologian Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz to promote religious feminism within the Church and Catholic Latina communities.

Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz combined feminist theory with Liberation Theology to form mujerista theology. This was not merely a theology for women, but one by women — and Liberation Theology itself attracted critics within the Church who adhered to more traditional standards of religious interpretation.⁵ A mujerista, Isasi-Diaz believed, was a liberator and helper of Latina women; mujerista theology was designed to give voice to women and the Latino communities in which they lived. Isasi-Diaz took up this struggle more than a quarter of a century ago, when she first enrolled in the feminist movement: "I was born a feminist on Thanksgiving weekend, 1975, when over one thousand Roman Catholic women met to insist on the right of women to be ordained to a renewed priestly ministry in our church."⁶ This movement was a communal experience for Isasi-Diaz, making her feel that she was finally part of something truly revolutionary. If the Catholic Church introduced her to the idea of salvation, the feminist movement introduced her to the idea that salvation could be achieved through solidarity with the oppressed and the lifting up of the human voice.

However, the Chicana theologian Maria Pilar Aquino took issue with the term Isasi-Diaz coined — mujerista — "because of the negative connotations of 'mujerismo' (the feminine stereotype complementing machismo) in Latin American feminism."⁷ This was one instance in which two closely aligned movements, similar in initiative and aim, contributed uniquely to a discourse in which identity and terminology were deemed vastly important because of the sensitive meanings associated with traditional ideas. Aquino wanted to break completely with the male-oriented identities of the past and, differing from Isasi-Diaz, chose to view herself simply as a Latina feminist. Isasi-Diaz had formulated her self-identity in favorable terms that drew from the patriarchal tradition while re-orienting the paradigm in a feminine context. For Aquino, that re-orientation carried too much patriarchal baggage and should have been avoided. In this sense, one can see the historiography of the Chicana movement as internally contested even among its most prominent voices.

Conclusion: Evaluating the Chicana Feminist Legacy

In conclusion, the birth of the Chicana feminist was due to the conjoining of two movements — the Women's Movement and the Social Rights Movement, which celebrated minority voices and opinions. While the Chicanos sought to find their place in male-dominated society, their female counterparts sought to find theirs. Some Chicanas pushed more vigorous agendas and sought to redefine moral codes in the footsteps of feminist counterparts like Gloria Steinem. Others sought only to establish a womanly bond among themselves and to define their roles within a newly changing society.

Even within the Chicana movement, there were disputes. Loyalist Chicanas argued that others were being too heavily influenced by white feminists like Steinem, whose worldview was too much of a departure from Chicano culture to be truly relevant to Chicana feminists. In short, the historical debate has been about degrees and worldviews — places where cultures and subcultures merge and blend into one another. Authentic voices are plentiful, but in the end the debate about the Chicana feminists must adopt a less general tone and focus more on individual Chicanas. One can say that, in general, Chicana feminists challenged gender norms — but individually, each was unique.

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