Voicing Chicana Feminisms : Young Women Speak Out on Sexuality and Identity

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.Voicing Chicana Feminism enriches mutlitple areas of our academic world including but not limited to Chicana feminist theory, Mexican American studies, Women of Color scholarship, and sexuality research. The book is divided in three sections, each one offers rich, textured, and nuanced narratives exposing key aspects of these women's lives. Voicing Chicana Feminism is the book I fantasized about reading in my feminist theory class as a graduate student. This important academic contribution is beautifully written with elegant clarity and heartfelt passion. I look forward to using it with both my undergraduate and graduate students - Chicana, Xicana, Latina, Hispanic, Mexican American, Mexicana, Tejana, or whatever identity they may choose to embrace.--SexualitiesChicana voices are missing from the psychology of women. Though Chicana feminisms have only recently been enumerated, a feminist perspective has long existed in Chicano communities without ever having been explicitly named. Grounded in specific aspects of Chicano culture such as the contested role of La Malinche and the complexities of Marianismo, the distinguishing feature of Chicana feminisms has been their embrace of diversity. Chicanas readily acribe to many feminisms and do not expect there to be only one.Focusing on young women between the ages of 20 and 30, Chicanas Speak Feminisms explores the relationship between Chicana feminism and the lived experiences of Chicanas. What do they see as their day-to-day manifestation of feminist consciousness? What is the relationship between what Chicana feminists propose and their lived experiences as women and as members of other significant social groups? Including rich ethnographic testimony based on questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and shadowing, Hurtado allows the women to speak in their own terms about how they see their femininity, sexuality, gender identity, ethnic/racial identity, and ties to other feminisms and political struggles.

Aida Hurtado is a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.