The Chicano Movement’s Significance in Sudden Fiction

For years, women have faced issues that reflect decade old habits such as receiving lower wages than men in addition to sexual harassment. It is no surprise that women have revolted against these things and have shed light on countless unequal situations.

The three sudden fiction pieces, Impossible Story, Hair, and Tia characterize the Chicano movement by creating an echo of the colonization of women from years ago to the continued treatment of women now.

The purpose of these stories is not to entertain the reader but are used in such a way to expand “critical discussions” that have ceased to exist before. The unwillingness to attempt to understand the value of language, history, and culture is disclosed throughout these three dysfunctional literatures.

Impossible Story by Carmen Boullosa

Impossible Story is an impactful and haunting story based on the true relationships between a man and woman in the Mexican culture.

The author gives the notion that this story is not limited to one culture or time, it can happen to anyone at any time.

The title of this story is ironic to the fact that this is the norm in Mexican culture relationship. The overarching narrative of this story is not quite impossible. When the reader looks at the symbols of the characters in the plotline it is obvious that this could very well be a true story.

This is very relative to a relationship in the Mexican culture and the reader can understand this by taking a closer look and the words chosen to describe certain aspects of the story.

Characters

• Montezuma
• Aztec leader = men are presented as being superior and powerful
• Laura
• Represents women
• Caring, giving, loving  
• The repetition of the things she did for Montezuma represents the amount of work that women put into their relationships with the Montezuma-like men.

Hair by Claire Contreras

Hair uses sexualization as well as objectification of women to show an echo of colonization. The author’s usage of lust and obsession are how she expresses how women are sexualized by men on a daily basis.

Many points in the story can be referred to how men look at women as objects of lust and being sexualized even in the most natural ways. The man is overwhelmed by the sight of the girl’s hair, which is a cover for his lust towards her. One can only imagine the amount of control an obsession can have on a person and in the end, Luciano had to take out his sexual frustration on his wife, whether she was asleep or not. Therefore, sexualizing and objectifying her physical being.

Characters

• Natividad (representation of nature)
• Young girl = representation of women
• Luciano's Neighbor  
• Luciano
• Married man/ Pharmacist = representation of men
• Thought only of physicality’s when he daydreamed about Natividad 

Tia by Carmen Tafolla

Tia is told through a family-like structure and the objectification of women is told by the echo of colonization which can be experienced from one’s of flesh and blood. This story exemplifies the significance that the family had on the Chicano movement. Tia suggests that the family could be one of the reasons for the objectification of women.

Although families are supposed to have a tight knit bond, this one does not. It is implying that even though one may have a title they can take advantage of anyone that can be of service to them.

Characters

• Niece
• representation of women
•  Compassion, love, and endless giving without receiving
• Grandmother
• represents the repetition of how generations of women were taken advantage of without a care
• Ex-husband and Brothers
• representation of men
• objectify females by creating the stereotype that women are the ones who should clean and be caregivers only 

The Raw Elements 

Women can be grounded in the commonalities they experience and through these experiences is the construction of the feminist moral.

This is the reason why the authors used derogatory language to explain their story. It is used in a way that shows masculine domination.

“The intimate exposure of the body gives a perspective on the social and political fragmentation, and also reflects on the atmosphere of censorship and self-censorship in that the discourse of the body is apparently [manageable], yet ironically in a country crushed by torture the body can take on a highly political meaning”

In the end, these three stories show an echo of colonization from the Mexican culture to the colonization of females in today’s society. Together, these stories are the roots and structures creating this cultural colonization.