Chicanas, Xicanism, and the Chicano Movement

I am a third-generation Mexican-American woman, therefore a Chicana. A Chicana by definition is a woman of Mexican-American decent, born and raised in the United States.  It is a woman's choice to go by the term Chicana because we choose to recognize and embrace our Mexican side along with our American side. For me, I am both Chicana and second-generation Salvadorian-American.

The term Chicana was coined after the Mexican Civil War in the 1940s  and the African American movement which helped spark the Chicano Movement in the 1960s. Chicanos wanted to acknowledge the racism and prejudice felt by Mexican Americans. They protested and marched for social, political, and economic equality. Chicano students also started a movement in the 1960s and 1970s for better education and more diversity. But, back to Chicanas.

Chicanas have realized that in our Mexican heritage, men are sort of in not so many words, placed on a pedestal. Men are supposed to be the breadwinners while the women cook, clean, and birth children. However, Chicana Feminism came into play and challenged these gender roles in regards to Mexican heritage. It is not to say that these same gender roles don't apply to other ethnicities, because they do, but Xicanism is focused on shedding light on breaking these gender roles and Chicanas working harder than ever before to break the mold. For example, I am a proud to be Mexican-American and Salvadorian-Mexican. However, I have worked my way to college and will hopefully go on to be a doctor. I am not ready to get married nor have children. This is not what has typically been seen in Mexican heritage nor Salvadorian heritage. My grandma got married at the age of 18 and had her first child at the age of 19. She came to America to have her children and learned some English, but till this day she does all of the cleaning and cooking. She serves food to my grandpa first then grandchildren then children, and only after everyone else is served does she sit down to eat. She did not got to college and she has been a nanny for more than 40 years. I have broken that mold and do not follow in her footsteps.

To read more about Chicanas, Xicanism, and the Chicano Movement, click the link below.
http://umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects07/latfem/latfem/whatisit.html