Chicana Lesbians and Ovarian Psycos: “The squad you been warned about”

Abstract

Chicana Lesbians provides a fruitful theoretical framework to examine the documentary Ovarian Psycos, directed by Joanna Sokolowski and Kate Trumbull-LaValle, about a radical Latina women’s cycling collective founded in Los Angeles in 2010. Many of the group’s members are lesbians, and all of them are feminists with radical politics who organise cycling-related events to protest against the gentrification of East Los Angeles, racism and violence against women. The film interweaves interviews with the collective’s members with footage of their moonlit group bike rides. In one such interview, founding member Xela de la X explains that the group provides a safe space, a community and even an alternative family for its members, while their cycles are both a form of activism and a celebration of active Latina bodies. This article will situate the film’s celebration of the group’s activism in a brief overview of the history of cycling in order to highlight why cycling is a particularly apt symbol for the intersectional feminism espoused by the Ovarian Psycos. It will also examine the connections between the film and the exploration of issues such as family, motherhood, violence, and racial politics in Chicana Lesbians.