What Role Do Women Play In The Chicano Movement Of The 1960s

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We all remember the purpose of the Chicano movement of the 1960s and the importance of the movement; however, history tends to forget the importance of Chicanas, the women in the movement. Many of them were responsible for creating organizations and fighting for the rights of Latino people. Chicanas played a key role in the Chicano movement from their roles as leaders in organizations such as Las Mujeres de Aztlan and El Comité Pro-Estudiante to their participation in the walkouts. The roles of women in the movement were stereotypical domestic roles and duties, such as secretaries, cooks, and familial obligations. Unfortunately, there was a lot of ‘machismo’ in the Chicano movement, as in male dominance and control. This was one of the main points of criticism in the Chicano movement, that many women weren’t included yet were the ones doing the most work while all the men got the credit. “women for the most part were the “behind the scenes” organizers responsible for effective mass mobilization, communications, and the day-to-day tasks of movement building.”. (Pg. 114-115, Nannette Regua, Chicana/Latina Studies, Fall 2012. …show more content…

Who doesn't know the struggles of what it means to be Chicana, women who only had stereotypes to go off of, which made Chicana women feel more isolated? Therefore they began to start a movement within a movement, for Chicana representation and acknowledgment. Though there were many in the Chicano movement who thought that feminist ideals would hinder the movement with Chicana women, to them assimilation into white culture due to the feminist movement being composed of white women at the time. As well as being destructive to the stereotypical family traditions they held

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