Chicanas’ Involvement
On left: Chicanas Sylvia Gutierrez and Adelita Medina distributing copies of El Grito del
Norte in Las Vegas, New Mexico during the early 1970s ; On right: the front cover of “La
Batalla Esta Aqui,” (the battle is here) written by Chicana activists Nina Genera and Lea
Ybarra. The illustration was done by Chicano Movement artist Malaquias Montoya.
Dolores Huerta and the UFW
Dolores Huerta during the Delano Grape Strike (1965-1970) and marching
with supporters in Chicago in 1971.
Chicanas’ Experiences of Sexism
and Gender Roles




Brown Berets of East Los
Angeles (photo on upper left)
At first the Berets inspired
women, but later they
experienced subordination.
Women left the Brown Berets
and formed another group, Las
Adelitas de Aztlan. (photo on
lower left)
Former Beret women used the
skills, political beliefs and
relationship with other Chicanas
to build their own organization
they could control and remake
the meaning of the Chicano
Movement.
Areas of Contestation for
Chicanas

What is the
history of
Chicana and
Mexican
women’s
involvement in
social change?
 How does
“Chicano Culture”
define the roles
of women?
 What is
characteristic of
the Chicano
family?
This couple timed their wedding so they could emerge from
the ceremony and join the Chicano Moratorium march on
August 29, 1970. In this way they combined a traditional
ideal with their involvement in the Chicano Movement.
Relationship to Second Wave Feminism

White women were not immune from
racism just because they were
feminists.
 “Feminist-Baiting”: Feminism as an
“Anglo-trip”
 “La Adelita”: Women’s empowerment
as inherent to Chicano history
On the left: A Chicana
Brown Beret whose
dress evokes “la
Adelita” from the
Mexican Revolution.
On the right: An article
which describes
Chicanas who
challenged what they
saw as a the lack of
representation of
women of color during
the International
Women’s Year
Conference in Mexico
City in 1975.
Loyalists, Feminists and
“La Mujer”


1971 Conferencia de
Mujeres Por La Raza
in Houston, Texas
Split occurred,
conference continued
with two separate
groups
Cover of the Program Booklet for the Conference
Special Issues for Chicanas
Sterilization
 Welfare
 Education
 Employment

From upper middle clockwise:
Chicana picketing with a sign that
questions the imprisonment of local
men during the Tierra Amarilla
incident; 1977 article from the
Modesto Bee regarding sterilization
abuse; Guadalupe Briseno and
Martha del Real chained together
to the main gate of their workplace
striking for recognition of a union of
Floral Workers in 1968, Brighton,
Colorado; Mary Sailas trying to
prevent deputy sheriff from cutting
chain on same picket line.
Further Reading
Arredondo, Gabriela, ed. Chicana Feminisms: A Critical Reader. Durham N.C.: Duke University
Press, 2003.
Cotera, Martha P. Diosa Y Hembra: The History and Heritage of Chicanas in the U. S. Austin,
Tex: Information Systems Development, 1976.
Garcia, Alma. ed. Chicana Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings. New York:
Routledge, 1997.
Gutiérrez, Elena R. Fertile Matters: The Politics of Mexican-Origin Women's Reproduction.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008.
Longeaux y Vásquez, Enriqueta. Enriqueta Vasquez and the Chicano Movement: Writings from
El Grito Del Norte. Houston, Tex: Arte Público Press, 2006.
Martínez, Elizabeth Sutherland. 500 Years of Chicana Women's History = 500 Años De La Mujer
Chicana. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press, 2008.
Medina, Lara. Las Hermanas: Chicana/Latina Religious-Political Activism in the U.S. Catholic
Church. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004.
Niemann, Yolanda Flores, ed. Chicana Leadership: The Frontiers Reader. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 2002.
Roth, Benita. Separate Roads to Feminism: Black, Chicana, and White Feminist Movements in
America's Second Wave. Cambridge. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Ruíz, Vicki. From Out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
-----, ed. Las Obreras: Chicana Politics of Work and Family. Los Angeles: UCLA Chicano
Studies Research Center Publications, 2000.