A Reader in Latina Feminist Theology

CONTENTS

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FOREWORD

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pp. ix-xii

It is indeed an honor for me to write this foreword. About thirty-five years ago, when I gave one of my first Latina feminist talks at a small college in Iowa, I declared, “We are going to look into the future of Latinas and imagine many voices contributing to our understanding of God, justice, and feminism. We Latinas cannot be divided ...

INTRODUCTION

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pp. xiii-xx

This collection of original articles represents the critical reflections and voices of Latinas engaged in theology in the United States of America. Other well-known feminist anthologies have brought together and identified the “experiences of women.” However, the experiences presented in those anthologies continue ...

PART I. SOURCES, THOUGHT, AND PRAXIS OF LATINA FEMINIST INSIGHT

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p. 1-1

Chapter 1. SEEING BEAUTY WITHIN TORMENT: SOR JUANA IN�S DE LA CRUZ AND THE BAROQUE IN NEW SPAIN

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pp. 3-22

Very few women’s voices emerge in the history books and theological texts of colonial Latin America. Many, in fact, would argue that there are few substantial figures in this region whose impact is significant beyond their local context. Latin America has historically been set apart from the remainder of the New World and, as a ...

Chapter 2. PROPHESY FREEDOM: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN’S LITERATURE AS A SOURCE FOR LATINA FEMINIST THEOLOGY

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pp. 23-52

In his controversial and still relevant book of essays titled The Docile Puerto Rican, author, playwright, and literary/cultural critic René Marqués identifies the mission of the writer as one who aspires “to defend humanistic values, to search for the truth, the truth of his own circumstances, to be a rebel, to be free and therefore ...

Chapter 3. ANA CASTILLO AS SANTERA: RECONSTRUCTING POPULAR RELIGIOUS PRAXIS

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pp. 53-79

In June 1997, an item appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune that recounted the miraculous appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City’s Hidalgo Subway. Spotted by a fifteen year- old girl who was mopping the floor, the Virgin has attracted hundreds to the site,who come bearing candles and flowers to Our Lady. ...

Chapter 4. READING FROM OURSELVES: IDENTITY AND HERMENEUTICS AMONG MEXICAN-AMERICAN FEMINISTS

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pp. 80-97

As one of the few feminist voices from the racial and ethnic minorities doing biblical studies in the United States, often I have felt alienated from the Western academic dialogue. When it comes to reading and interpreting the Bible from my own perspective, I find that there are not enough critical approaches that respect the ...

Chapter 5. PERCEPTION MATTERS: PENTECOSTAL LATINAS IN ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

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pp. 98-113

The phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America has had a significant effect on Latin American societies in recent decades. Edward Cleary notes in his introduction to Power, Politics, and Pentecostals in Latin America: “Without this understanding [of Pentecostalism] one has an incomplete view of Latin ...

Chapter 6. LATINA ACTIVISTS: TOWARD AN INCLUSIVE SPIRITUALITY OF BEING IN THE WORLD

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pp. 114-130

Latinas have a unique contribution to make to their communities,churches, and nation. As the foundation of the family, pillars of our communities, preservers of the culture, and transmitters of the faith, Latinas are particularly suited to lead their communities forward. Theologian Elizabeth Dreyer states, “A sense of community is both a prerequisite and an outcome of meaningful ...

PART II. U.S. LATINA FEMINIST THEOLOGICAL INSIGHT

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p. 131-131

Chapter 7. LATINA FEMINIST THEOLOGY: CENTRAL FEATURES

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pp. 133-160

I am opening my contribution to this book with the words of three feminists of Latin American ancestry to clearly indicate its focus and direction.¹ The growth and development of the powerful tradition of Latina/Chicana² feminist theories correspond to the contemporary growth and development of a plural sociopolitical movement and of a plural sociopolitical subject, both constituted as ...

Chapter 8. THE UNNAMED WOMAN: JUSTICE, FEMINISTS, AND THE UNDOCUMENTED WOMAN

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pp. 161-176

The person of Hagar in the Genesis narrative has been used as a symbol by womanists. Delores Williams finds similarities between the story of Hagar and the reality of African-American women, especially Hagar’s role as slave who is sexually used by her master and is mistreated by the master’s wife.¹ The story of Hagar is one ...

Chapter 9. JUSTICE CROSSES THE BORDER: THE PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR IN THE UNITED STATES

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pp. 177-203

Arising from the heart of the Latin American experience, the expression “preferential option for the poor” appeared on the horizon in 1979 at Puebla de Los Angeles, Mexico, in the final document of the Third General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate.² More than a year later, it was repeatedly affirmed by name by Pope ...

Chapter 10. IGNORED VIRGIN OR UNAWARE WOMEN: A MEXICAN-AMERICAN PROTESTANT REFLECTION ON THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE

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pp. 204-216

Since all human beings have a story, a context, a perspective, theology cannot be articulated in a vacuum. The last decades have witnessed an increased tendency to acknowledge the theologian’s perspective in the theological task. As a consequence, the classical notion of an objective, general, universal, unchanging theology ...

Chapter 11. PATHWAYS TO A MESTIZA FEMINIST THEOLOGY

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pp. 217-240

I will be exploring the rich contributions that the Hispana-Latina is making in an evolving mestiza feminist theology with its roots in the history, culture, and faith of Latin America, as well as describing how this theology is becoming an original and unique liberating presence within the United States.¹...

Chapter 12. NOTES TOWARD A CHICANAFEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY (AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR LATINA FEMINIST THEOLOGIES)

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pp. 241-266

Epistemology,¹ which deals with the origin, nature, and limits of knowing, and with the validity of what constitutes knowledge, plays a preeminent role in Latinas’ drive toward full humanity.² The very process of creating and validating “knowledge” vitally contributes to the “humanization” of subordinated populations ...

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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pp. 267-282

CONTRIBUTORS

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pp. 283-286

INDEX

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pp. 287-300