Chicana/o Studies Department

California State University, Dominguez Hills

Colonial Borders

Melissa Prado
CHS 460-01: Las Chicanas Dr. Corina Benavides López 21 March 2021
Table of Contents
Page

Brown girl............................1

DIVISIVE TOOLS.......................2

pERFECT=RACIST................3

Advertisement...................4

works cited.........................5
 Brown Girl
Erika L. Sánchez's I Am Not Your
Perfect Mexican Daughter describes
the social and political experiences of
Chicanas and Latinas in contemporary
U.S. society through Julia. Julia
recognized the manifestation of white
supremacy ideology as a child. As a
result, she learned to be “suspicious of
white people” as an ethnic Mexican in the United States (Sánchez, p. 167, 2017). One
of the individuals that Julias became wary of was Mr. Ingman, her high school
English teacher. Mr. Ingman proved himself through time to be an ally by helping
Julia progress in her academic journey. However, Julia felt no remorse in taking
initial precautions because of the Anti-Mexican sentiment in U.S. society. She
recounts being a victim of racial profiling and has heard of threats of deportation
against her undocumented family (Sánchez, p. 167, 2017). While trying to survive,
Julia acknowledges her racial classification in U.S. society before making decisions
in her daily life.
In addition, Julia considers her gender as she navigates everyday life in the
United States. Through understanding the complexity of her identity as a young
Mexican girl, Julia maneuvers through life with a mestiza consciousness (Gloria
Anzaldua, 1987). Julia acknowledges how male dominance has impacted her
existence. She once expressed being “tired of being harassed by pervs” in her
neighborhood (Sánchez, p. 91, 2017). She is not only vulnerable to racism but
gendered violence. Julia symbolizes the interconnectedness of white supremacy
and the patriarchy, where society distinguishes the “white race and the colored”
and “females and males” (Gloria Anzaldua, 1987). The various intersecting identities
of Chicanas and Latinas become apparent as they learn to negotiate their identities
against existing colonial power relations.

1
 Divisive Tools
Borders portray migrant women as
economic ventures. As globalization
and transnationalism transpired, the
dehumanization of migrant women, like
Julia’s mother, progressed within U.S.
society. Julia describes her mother as
a “Mexican cleaning lady” that
migrated to the United States
(Sánchez, p. 99, 2017). She regularly

cleaned houses in the “richest neighborhoods in Chicago” (Sánchez, p. 99, 2017).

Despite working for wealthy people, Julia’s mother still produces low-wage labor out
of financial necessity. Cleaning jobs are stigmatized for migrant Chicanas and Latinas
because of the feminization and racialization of domestic work. Julia’s mother
exemplifies how migrant Chicanas and Latinas are disproportionally susceptible to
experiencing economic exploitation because of gendered relations.
Borders withhold the structures of colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalism
(Pendleton Jiménez, 2006). The notions of gender and the “illegality” of migrant
women stem from the creation of borders. Eurocentric ideals deemed land as a
possession that needed to be “discovered” and “claimed” (Pendleton Jiménez, p.
221, 2006). Moreover, borders occurred through the feminization of women and
land, where the term femininity is interchangeable with exploitability. Society treats
migrant women as utilizable tools for personal profit and sexual desire. For instance,
Julia’s mother was a victim of sexual violence when she first migrated (Sánchez, p.
99, 2017). However, Julia’s mother persevered through patriarchal violence to obtain
a better life in the United States. Although she experienced brutal hardships, she
represents how the European conquest did not succeed. Therefore, Julia’s mother
symbolizes years of resistance as she persists against colonial domination.

2
 Perfect=Racist
The patriarchy conveys ideas of
perfectionism through a nuclear family.
Notions of familia urge Chicanas and
Latinas to be exemplary. Mothers teach
their daughters how to embody notions of
womanhood, which intertwine with ideas of
motherhood. For instance, Julia’s mother
taught her daughter to “stay at home” and
look after the family (Sánchez, p. 289, 2017).
Julia challenges such ideals as she tells her
mother, “I want a different life for myself”
(Sánchez, p. 289, 2017). Julia resists the marianismo teachings of her mother. Her
independent nature disrupts conventional familial ties that rely on gendered
conceptions. As a result, Julia’s family regularly critiques her existence as
immoral and flawed.
Gendered conceptions within the familia are harmful practices. While Chicanas
and Latinas learn how to “suffer and survive as a woman in the patriarchy,”
Chicano and Latinos inherit dominating roles (Villensa, p. 149, 2006). Many who
do not conform experience alienation within their own families and communities.
For example, the notions of familia project heteronormativity to be the source of
happiness. Julia’s friend, whom she knows as Juanga, further unveils the
oppressive nature of Chicanx and Latinx families. Juanga’s parents “kick him out
[of the house] every other week” because he identifies as gay (Sánchez, p. 320,
2017). Through the reliance on the nuclear family, Juanga’s parents internalized
homophobia. Like Julia, Juanga disrupts traditional familial ties by not
suppressing his queerness. He does not conform to a Eurocentric universal way
of being.

3
4
 WORKS CITED

Alejandra Elenes, C. (2006). Transformando Fronteras: Chicana Feminist

Transformative Pedagogies. In Delgado Bernal, D., Elenes, C.A., Godinez,
F. and Villenas, S. (eds). Chicana/Latina Education in Everyday Life:
Feminista Perspectives on Pedagogy and Epistemology (pp. 245-259).
New York: State University of New York.
Anzaldua, G. (1987). La Conciencia de la Mestiza: Towards a New
Consciousness. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (pp. 99
-120).
Sánchez, E. L. (2017). I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books.
Pendleton Jiménez , K. (2006). “Start with the Land:” Groundwork for
Chicana Pedagogy. In Delgado Bernal, D., Elenes, C.A., Godinez, F. and
Villenas, S. (eds). Chicana/Latina Education in Everyday Life: Feminista
Perspectives on Pedagogy and Epistemology (pp. 219-230). New York:
State University of New York.
Villensa, S. (2006). Pedagogical Moments in the Borderland: Latina
Mothers Teaching Learning. In Delgado Bernal, D., Elenes, C.A., Godinez,
F. and Villenas, S. (eds). Chicana/Latina Education in Everyday Life:
Feminista Perspectives on Pedagogy and Epistemology (pp. 147-159).
New York: State University of New York.