On the television show Glee, Santana Lopez is a confident young Chicana who struggles as a lesbian high school student while gradually coming out to her family and friends. In the episode, “I Kissed A Girl,” Santana faces the challenge of coming out to her abuelita, meaning grandmother in spanish. In the beginning of the scene, Santana and her grandmother’s relationship appears to be loving as they talk and laugh over lunch. Santana shows her love for her grandma as she begins the conversation with, “I’ve watched you my whole life, and you have always been so strong, done exactly what you believe, and never cared what anyone else thought of you.” She then tells her grandmother that she “loves girls the way she is supposed to love boys.” After disclosing her secret to the one person she thought would love her under any circumstance, her grandmother tells her to “leave this house, I don’t ever want to see you again...it’s selfish of you to make me uncomfortable. Go! Now!” Santana’s experience with her abuelita, although heartbreaking, is not uncommon in Chicano culture. In chicano culture, the tradition of “la familia” and the concept of “machismo” dominate, and openly gay men and lesbian women have never been accepted. Santana’s story is a good example of the rejection of homosexuality in the chicano culture, and highlights the deeply rooted values centered around the traditional familia.
The Chicano people have a long history of oppression as they began to immigrate in large numbers into the United States during the twentieth century. Their frustration came to a head during the Chicano Movement in the 1960’s, which is when the idea of Chicano Nationalism was formed. Chicano Nationalism was a “commitment to preserving the integrity of the Chicano people,” but it was centered around the idea of “machismo” and it was blatantly heterosexist (Moraga 147-148). The heterosexism in Chicano culture stems from machismo, which is strong masculine pride. Openly gay men, especially openly femme gay men, are seen as threats to machismo culture so they are rejected by Chicano culture. Chicano youth are growing up in a culture so against their identity that it instills fear into expressing who they are even to their own family and friends. As seen in Santana’s case, these values are so deeply instilled in members of the Chicano population that people, such as Santana’s abuelita, reject their own family because they do not fit the cultural norm.
Another important aspect of Chicano culture is the idea of “la familia.” Tomas Almaguer explains that “Chicano family life remains rigidly structured along patriarchal lines that privilege men over women and children...At all costs, la familia must be preserved” (Almaguer 546). The traditional idea of family consists of a dominate male father and a passive mother. This type of family is the only acceptable form of family in Chicano culture, and “lesbianism, in any form, and male homosexuality which openly avows both the sexual and the emotional elements of the bond, challenge the very foundation of la familia” (Almaguer 546). Homosexuality is seen as betrayal of the sacred Chicano culture, which is another reason fear is instilled in queer youth growing up in this culture.
Machismo and the concept of the traditional family are two large forces in Chicano culture that makes life difficult for the queer youth population. From a young age they are taught that homosexuality goes against everything that is most important, and that is unnatural, not normal, and completely unacceptable. These values are so deeply rooted in their community that queer youth are rejected from their own families and are forced to chose between expressing their true identity or hiding it in order to be accepted by their own family and friends. These adamant values are represented well in the character of Santana’s grandmother when she banishes her own granddaughter just for coming out as a lesbian. Santana may have been rejected by her family, but she finds comfort and support from her more accepting peers at McKinley High.
References
Alamaguer, Tomas. “Chicano Men: A Cartography of Homosexual; Identity and Behavior.”
Social Perspectives in Gay and Lesbian Studies. Peter M Nardi and Beth Schneider, 1998.
Moraga, Cherrie. “Queer Aztlan: the Reformation of Chicano Tribe.” The Last Generation. South
End Press, 1993.
It is definitely unfortunate that the majority of the Chicano community is extremely homophobic and machista. Many Chicano individuals refuse to expose their sexuality for fear of being rejected by those they love. To the Chicano community, the family is the most important value. Being a homosexual goes against the family. When an individual is seen as doing wrong, the family is seen in that way too. To many Chicanos, being gay is wrong and therefore coming out can bring your family down with you. The mentality that Chicanos have is one hard to change. It is deeply rooted in their history and values. Not only race and sexuality play a role in this Chicano mentality, but class and gender too. In her article, Homophobia: Why bring it up?, Barbara Smith discusses how different component of who we are intertwine. In the case of Chicanos, being lower to middles class can add to the discrimination experienced from being gay or lesbian. It is already hard to fit in, so acting outside the norm is discouraged.
ReplyDeleteYou also mention that Santana finds support among her friends, which brings up another point. Many members of the LGBTQ are rejected from their biological families but are able to form bonds of kinship with individuals whom they identify with or receive support from. In his article, Kath Weston describes the family bonds that gays and lesbians form with their friends and partners. It is essential for the gay and lesbian community to know that even when a family rejects you, another one will always be there for you.
Weston, Kath. “Forever is a long time: Romancing the real in gay kinship ideologies.” 1998
Smith, Barbara. “Homophobia: Why bring it up?” from the Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader.
I am not a queer Chicano, but as a queer Asian-American, “yo comprendo tambien.” I understand what it is like being a minority within a minority group, and not being accepted where you seem to should be belong.
ReplyDeleteThe API culture and the Chican@/Latin@ culture are similar in both the family aspect and the normalized masculinity aspect. The rejection of homosexuality is also similar. Families are important, and as many queer Asian-American’s parents had to overcome hardships, these people are closeted in this space as they don’t want to burden their family any further. Also, many Asian-Americans, both male and female, are subject to various stereotypes, comparative to the idea of “machismo”, about their gender and sexual expression: gay males are considered to be either hypo or hyper-sexualized feminine twinks, while lesbian women are characterized as heavily butch dragon ladies and rarely as the juxtaposed lotus blossoms (Lee, 1996). Lastly, the rejection of homosexuality and the terms such as “joto or puto” that “speak to the passive sexual role taken by [gay] men rather than merely their gender attributes” can also be seen similarly in the API community (Almaguer, 1991). The Vietnamese word “be de” stemming, from what I recall, a French word when the country was colonized, can be considered to be derogatory, and used to reject gay men.
I’m not comparing the queer API community with the queer Chican@/Latin@ community. I’m saying that as a fellow queer person of color, I can understand struggles and issues that have affected both our communities. Albeit an ablest statement, I stand in solidarity!
Alamaguer, Tomas. "Chicano Men: A Cartography of Homosexual; identity and Behavior." Social Perspectives in Gay and Lesbian Studies. (1998): Print.
Lee, JeeYeun. "Why Suzie Wong is Not a Lesbian: Asian and Asian American Lesbian and Bisexual Women and Femme/Butch/Gender Identities." Queer Studies. (1996): 115-132. Print.