Conchademar

I am a non-traditional adult student pursuing my first undergraduate degree. I am majoring in Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Louisville.

My topics of interest in gender studies center on the ways that gender is understood as a social construction in different ways as we move across time and space, specifically in Latin American and Indigenous cultures. I am also interested in the discourse around gender-specific issues historically faced by women in the Americas, and in the use of neutral gender pronouns, particularly in other languages.

I have chosen to focus on editing and improving the Wiki article Chicana feminism. Specifically, I would like to add information on the role of La Malinche as an evolving icon from the perspective of Mexican and Mexican-American women.

La Malinche has historically molded Chicana women's view of themselves. In the past few decades, she has been reclaimed as a vital component of the Chicana feminist movement. One source that seems particularly useful in examining the role of La Malinche in Chicana feminism is Jean Wyatt's "On not being La Malinche: border negotiations of gender in Sandra Cisneros's Never marry a Mexican and Woman Hollering Creek."

Aída Hurtado's "Sitios y lenguas: Chicanas Theorize Feminisms" provides a historical overview and synthesis of the various contributions of Chicana feminism from activism to more subtle theorizing. Since she explores how sexism is experienced and reproduced in Chicana communities, this article is helpful in establishing a basis from which to understand a Chicana feminist perspective.

Pilar Godayol's "Malintzin/La Malinche/Doña Marina: re-reading the myth of the treacherous translator" re-examines La Malinche outside of her historical narrative. La Malinche has historically been portrayed as a symbol of conquest and a traitor to her people. This article examines how La Malinche's portrayal has historically changed with time, inflating or deflating her importance and negative and positive qualities.

Martha J. Cutter's "Malinche's Legacy: Translation, Betrayal, and Interlingualism in Chicano/a Literature" discusses how La Malinche represents a point of view that exists between Spanish and English languages and worldview, which is directly related to the negative myths surrounding her.

Kristina Downs' "Mirrored Archetypes: The Contrasting Cultural Roles of La Malinche and Pocahontas" examines the dichotomy of these two figures as cultural archetypes. Interestingly, she notes that in both cases, the stories created around these women reflect the position and motive of the storyteller more than that of the woman about whom the story is told. This will be useful in clarifying why the myth of La Malinche is dangerous and worthy of re-examination.

Leslie Petty's "The “dual”-ing images of la Malinche and la Virgen de Guadalupe in Cisneros's The house on Mango Street" examines the images of la Malinche and la Virgen de Guadalupe, helping her readers resist the tendency to define their worldview by a rigid binary, instead acknowledging individuality and the possibility for infinite differences. This will be useful in redefining the myth of Malinche, especially juxtaposed to her supposed moral counterpart, la Virgen de Guadalupe.

"Exploring intergenerational changes in perceptions of gender roles and sexuality among Indigenous women in Oaxaca" by Tahilin S. Karver, et.al. examines social values and norms surrounding sexuality among women in Indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. Interviews conducted as part of their studies revealed that in general, feelings of shame and fear permeate the expression of women's sexuality and virginity continues be a determinant of a woman’s worth. This source is useful in showing the negative effects of the myth of La Malinche as a female archetype for Chicana women.