La Malinche is reviled throughout Mexico as a traitor, a whore, the ‘Mexican Eve’ who sold her people out and was directly responsible for their downfall. Now, to pin the blame for an event as significant as the collapse of the Aztec Empire on a single person is pretty ridiculous anyway, but why would it land in particular on a translator who had been sold into slavery and was likely doing what she had to to survive?
mexican women
X is for… Xtabay
La Xtabay is a Yucatec Maya myth which seems to invert the typical Madonna/whore complex that is often seen in folktales. The story contrasts two women - one promiscuous, the other chaste - but it may not turn out like you expect.
F is for… Female archetypes of Latin America
La Malinche, La Virgen, and La Llorona are three archetypal women from Chicano folklore who have historically been used as tools of a patriarchal society to repress women's bodily agency and sexuality. However, recently there has been a pushback by Chicana feminists to reclaim these figures - but how are they doing this, and why?
Frida Kahlo – Painting Her Own Reality
Though her image is easily recognisable today, Frida Kahlo spent her lifetime in relative obscurity. Now an icon of the feminist, Chicano, and LGBT movements, many aspects of Kahlo's life are often overlooked, including her disability and bisexuality.