On having/being a mother: Yxta Maya Murray's portrayal of motherhood and barrio girls

Abstract

The marked patriarchal essence of Mexican and Chicano culture and the relevance of the family as a foundational institution, has «relegated» Chicana women to being perceived mainly through their reproductive and childrearing functions. Despite the innumerable achievements of the Chicana Feminist Movement, there is still a group of young, uneducated women who understands motherhood as an ultimate act of survival within a society that denies them their basic rights. This essay observes the way motherhood and mothering are portrayed in Yxta Maya Murray’s Locas (1997) and What it Takes to Get to Vegas (1999), whose protagonists’ lives are determined by a difficult social situation and an unbreakable dependence upon men.