meXicanas book review

Rosa Linda Fregoso’s book, meXicana encounters: The Making of Social Identities on the Borderlands, discusses the importance of culture in creating social identities on the borderlands. Fregoso examines the cultural practices of meXicanas in creating their identity as well as “nation-building narratives” (xiii), which emphasize the contradiction between the “visibility of meXicanas in cultural representation and their invisibility in the history of the nation” (xiii). To support her exploration by looking back to the past with knowledge of the present, Fregoso investigates the role of violence towards women, the use of cinema and the “othering” of women when discussing the nation.

The role of violence in meXicana culture is most apparent in the city of Cuidad Juárez, just over the border from El Paso, Texas. Fregoso opens the first chapter with the frightening statistics from 2002, stating the there have been a reported “282 victims of feminicide…and more than four hundred disappeared women” (1). Throughout the chapter, she points out the blatant ignoring of the horrible situation from the Mexican government and their claim of “la doble vida”, or double life, despite the truth. Sadly, these women are not taught to speak out as is illustrated on page 30 in the “Ten Commandments of Marianismo.” Latinas “do not discuss personal problems outside the home.” This denies help to the victims of domestic violence and continues to contribute to the patriarchal society. Violence belittles women and renders them unimportant, as in the case with Cuidad Juárez, and sadly, these women are taught to not speak up.

The use of mainstream cinema illustrates both the importance of meXicana culture and their invisibility in national history. Fregoso discusses Lone Star, which addresses the Mexico-US border. Although the movie highlights the role of American-Mexican relations, there is still an undertone of racial hierarchy. She also addresses Martyrs of the Alamo, which highlights the classic Texan idea of the Good (Texans) versus the Bad (Mexicans). This movie completely ignores the Mexican point of view. Fregoso often studied early cinema images of Mexicana subjects to determine “their role in the nation-building project” (128). Interestingly, the frontier movies addressed the anxiety of the Mexicana presence, portraying them as “objects of derision” to “objects of desire” to the “embodiment of moral limits of white womanhood” (128). One film, in particular, Red Girl, portrayed the Mexican woman as a thief of both money and husbands.

Women are often separated and not addressed when speaking of the nation. As Fregoso points out in Chapter 4, nations are often represented by the idea of “family”, which displays gendered hierarchy. She points to films such as Selena and Spy Kids. Fregoso also discusses the often rejection of women who defend themselves and take on certain masculine characteristics.

The visibility of meXicana culture and invisibility in national history is most prominently displayed in cinema. Life on the border is not easy and the violence towards females, the misconceptions illustrated in film and general invisibility of meXicanas strengthens the gender hierarchy.