Are All Raza Womyn Queer? An Exploration of Sexual Identities in a Chicana/Latina Student Organization

Abstract

Chicana/Latina feminists have long struggled to sustain social movements dedicated to eliminating multiple interlocking oppressions. Often, they have struggled against narrow definitions of Chicano/a identity and feminism. This article is a case study of Raza Womyn, a Chicana/Latina student organization, whose members organize around a Muxerista (a Chicana/Latina feminist activist) vision of social justice that rejects patriarchal notions of Chicano nationalism, white and/or middle-class-dominated perspectives of feminism, and static definitions of sexual identity while building on the legacy of Chicana/Latina feminist thought. Specifically, this research documents the experiences of activists who worked to rectify the mistakes of earlier social movements that were undeniably patriarchal and heterosexist. Toward this end, the women in this organization created the space for sexual identity exploration, questioning, and sexual fluidity by rejecting social constructed norms and fixed definitions of hetero and lesbian identity .

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