Chicana Feminism and Western Feminist Thought:Gloria Anzaldúa’s Fractured Chicana Identity and Rosi Braidotti’s Nomadic Consciousness

Abstract

In the United States, the notions of race, gender and class remain much debated topics, not only as separate domains, but also in relation to each other. For non-white women the three notions often overlap in their struggle since they often see themselves as triply oppressed: by their gender, race and class. For Chicana women this is no different. What stands out when taking a closer look at their movement, is that their struggle is generally characterized by its isolated focus, and its exclusion of the white feminist movement and Western critical theory. The reason is that, in the Chicana’s view, the white feminist movement is not able to address the problems of colored women. However, by remaining in its own circle of feminist theory and hardly taking into account the works of white feminists or other Western critical theory, the development of Chicana feminism remains fairly limited, as it finds itself “stuck” in its own context. In this thesis I will try to demonstrate that the postmodern ideas from the white feminist movement, are in fact very relevant for the development of the Chicana’s particular situation. Moreover, I will try to show that white postmodern feminist theory by definition is capable of including women of all races and classes, since it promotes multiple subject positions and fluid identities.