Chola Salvation by Estella Gonzalez (review)

The front cover of Chola Salvation draws readers to an image of La Virgen de Guadalupe as “chola,” a Mexican American urban identity associated with street gangs— an indication that this collection of short stories will be far from what’s expected. The book is dedicated to the “fierce chingonx in and outside East Los.” Estella Gonzalez delivers sixteen cuentitos, Mexican American stories, reflecting the lives and cultures of Mexican Americans in the 1980s as they ponder questions of identity and possibility (v). Along each character’s journey readers are immersed into conversations of race, colorism, machismo, and struggles for happiness as they traverse traditional Chicana/o/x culture.

Gonzalez’s first story in this collection, “Chola Salvation,” investigates what’s possible for those who suffer from pressures to live up to the expectations of a traditional Hispanic culture. Isabela is one of the many characters within these stories who finds expectations and labels placed on her to be contradictory to her identity. Stuck between wanting to be herself and wanting to respect her parents, she takes advice from Frida Kahlo and La Virgen de Guadalupe, who exhibit resistance to well-grounded institutions like Mexican Catholicism and Mexican societal hierarchy by being different from what people expect them to be—by being “cholas.” In “Chola Salvation” Frida Kahlo states, “Hermosa Isabela, your parents say they just want you to be a ‘decent’ girl,” presenting readers with a real and common expectation associated with young women in Hispanic culture (3). Such idols signify Chicanas’ historical opposition to patriarchal standards and critique many of the customs associated with the stereotypes of what a Chicana is “supposed to be,” demonstrating possibilities outside of their generalized milieu. Isabela seeks to challenge her repressed agency, the patriarchal gender roles her parents enforce, and the traditional ideologies of her culture rather than remain complacent with the way things are.

The sixteen stories within this collection, some connected and others standing independent, cover a wide range of conflicting scenarios of Mexican Americans living through their struggles, which are common within Chicana/o/x identities. Some stories reflect struggles to maintain businesses and bring honor to one’s parents while also attempting to hide queer relationships from their families. At other times the stories depict characters selling themselves to survive the wait for a lover’s return or battle with self-hatred and the adjustment to differences of class, race, and gender between those outside the Hispanic community. In nearly all the stories music features as a motif in the search for answers or finding one’s way through the difficult struggles of Hispanic culture. Through the vivid connection Gonzalez makes to the experiences and cultures of these characters, readers are presented with themes that challenge both imaginary and physical barriers for their future. Scenarios within stories like “Sábado Gigante” depict real portrayals of traditional expectations of Hispanic culture. The male/female relations within this story show that, “they lived in East LA, not Guadalajara or Chihuahua, but the women still had to take care of the men” (38). In stories such as this, where women appear to lack agency, or when women are independent and powerful, Gonzalez not simply questions stereotypes but challenges Chicana stereotypes and patriarchal traditions.

Gonzalez’s cuentitos offer a wide range of discussion points for readers and scholars alike who are interested in western regionalism, marginalized peoples, Chicana/o/x studies, and/ or gender and queer studies. Many of the stories within this collection can be seen as metaphorically taking a step into the unknown, outside the bounds of what is expected and what is possible in traditional Hispanic culture. Gonzalez provides readers and scholars a way of thinking surrounding the discussion of oppressive ideologies and Chicana/o/x identity. Chola Salvation explores a variety of questions enveloped in the search for identity, and in this way Gonzalez presents possibilities for Mexican Americans as they course through the difficult struggles of life. As the reader progresses through each story, Gonzalez beautifully...