Perspectives in Mexican American Studies: Mexican American Women Changing Images (review)

204 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Perspectives in Mexican American Studies: Mexican American Women Changing Images, Volume 5 (1995) Edited by Juan R. Garcia The strength of any collection of essays does not depend solely on the individual merits of each contributing author's work, but on the vision that shapes the entire volume. In this respect editor Juan R. Garcia succeeds, for he has brought together in a women-centered Perspectives in Mexican American Studies a solid group of essays which work together to provide greatly needed historically -grounded insight into Chicana labor and activism. Yet that these essays "work together" does not imply conformity. On the contrary, the range of historical periods and subjecr matters means that even the terminology changes between articles from "Chicanas" to "women of Mexican descent" to "Mexican American women" to "Latinas." Although this slippage never receives the critical gloss that it surely should, it does signal how rapidly the field of Chicana/o studies is evolving, a fact which GarcÃ-as compilation has certainly captured. While the volume overwhelmingly reflects the effort to recognize Chicanas and their contributions to various histories—whether they be of voluntary groups, the National Association for Chicano Studies, an economic cooperative in New Mexico, or the Midwest—other threads link the articles together even more thoroughly . Thematically, all of the essays suggest, to some degree, the centrality of Chicanas's labor activity. Methodologically, each author finds that in order to enable a focus on the Chicana experience, she or he must challenge disciplinary assumptions and prejudices in order to provide "a corrective to the traditional works and models" that subsume or belittle women's presence (x). While this is apparent in all of the essays, Cynthia E. Orozco's "Beyond Machismo, La Familia , and Ladies Auxiliaries: A Historiography of Mexican-Origin Women's Participation in Voluntary Associations and Politics in the United States, 18701990 " spells out this intent concisely: "Scholars have rarely asked how gender mattered in the associations, and have hardly considered women's participation in them" (1). Orozco's careful attention to prior researchers on this matter and her dedicated and thorough notes supporr her assertion that new theoretical frames are needed if we are to address the specific experiences and importance of Chicanas' involvement in voluntary organizations. "Beyond the Adelita Image: Women Scholars in the National Association for Chicano Studies, 1972-1992," by Gilberto GarcÃ-a, offers anorher detailed survey of the literature. Positioning NACS as the center and origins of Chicano Studies scholarship, Garcia uses a database he created from the programs of all NACS annual conferences from 1974-1992 to examine the low representation of female participation in the 1970s and the slow but steady increase in the years after. GarcÃ-as notes document many Chicana scholars' contributions to an emergent field.The strength of Gardas work resides in his pointedly diachronic analysis of Chicana scholarly production. Book Reviews 205 Richard Santillán's essay offers a perspective similar to GarcÃ-as in its broad historical base." Midwestern Mexican American Women and the Struggle for Gender Equality: a Historical Overview, 1920s-1960s" examines the efforts of this population to achieve equality in a "hostile social environment" (79). Because of the scant amount of information on both Mexican American women and the Midwest, the author uses the anecdotes of 150 interviewees to construct a compelling history. Yolanda Chávez Leyva, on the other hand, narrows the focus to El Paso in "'Faithful, Hard-Working Mexican Hands': Mexicana Workers During the Great Depression." This essay examines closely Mexican women's efforts to organize labor unions and improve rheir working conditions. Chávez Leyva's work highlights the contradictory nature of this era and the limited successes realized by these women, without losing sight of the importance of their ability to participate in the struggle. "Cooperative Re/Weavings: Artistic Expression and Economic Development in a Northern New Mexican Village" discusses the successful Tierra Wools venture in Los Ojos, New Mexico. Interviews with the cooperative's members inform Maria Ochoa's complex analysis of the connections between economic survival, cultural knowledge production, community building, and environmental preservation. Maria Cotera analyzes another type of production, the literary...