Homegirls in the Public Sphere

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 15 No. 1 (2005) ISSN: 1546-2250 Homegirls in the Public Sphere Miranda, Marie (Keta) (2003). Austin: University of Texas Press; 211 pages. $45.00 (cloth), $19.95 (paper). ISBN 0292705468 (cloth) & 0292701926 (paperback). This ethnographic study examines how Mexican-American female gang members in the Fruitvale community of Oakland, California represent themselves in the public realm. This is not just another gang study where a researcher goes into the “‘hood” to objectively examine issues of gang life, but instead a study of representation itself (Miranda 2003, p. 45). It is a collaborative story of ethics, engagement, enlightenment, and empowerment. Through the eyes and voices of gang members and the author, Marie “Keta” Miranda, we begin to understand the roles of the media and public representation. Cultural stereotypes, patriarchal structures, and expectations of democratic citizenship are challenged. In addition, Miranda’s honest and introspective view of the role and methods of an ethnographer are constantly explored. But most importantly, throughout this study, marginalized youth speak out in defense of who they are and why they matter. The book is deceptively easy to read. A well-written, frequently poetic dialogue between the author and her subject carries readers through the realities of fieldwork investigation. Through a chronological narrative we are taken into the realm of academic inquiry as well as the political forum of the public realm. Miranda began her study with a thorough theoretical understanding of gangs and gang activity. Although she entered the research with a set 407 framework of investigation she was not limited by it. As her subjects talked, she listened, and what she heard led her to redirect her focus. Her ability to question assumptions and challenge previous methods makes her an exceptional ethnographer. The linear progression of her “ethnography moves from a study that began with audience reception to a study of girls in gangs to a study of the girls’ representational practices” (Miranda 2003, p. 144). Miranda does not present this work as a comprehensive study reflecting all aspects of Chicana gangs. Rather, she invites gang members into an informal dialogue of what it means to be represented and included in the public sphere, as well as how public perception and representation can be directed and altered through public discourse and discovery. Miranda challenges the field of gang studies by creating an opportunity for the young women in her study to represent themselves through film and offer criticism and feedback throughout the ethnographic process. The first three chapters of Homegirls in the Public Sphere set the stage for the study. Chapter 1 is an overview, explaining the need for an expansion of discursive space to “broaden the issues and interests of subaltern publics struggling for democracy and social justice” (Miranda 2003, p. 6). Chapter 2 provides supporting literary reviews of other ethnographic studies and gang research, reception and representation theory, and a thorough analysis of the social, political, economical, and physical context of Oakland. In Chapter 3, we learn of Miranda’s process of discovery leading her to the project at hand. Miranda set out to study media representations of Chicano/a youth, with a focus on “gang genre films” such as Boyz N the Hood, American Me, Bound by Honor, and Mi Vida Loca (Miranda 2003, p. 21). She planned to interview Latina teenagers, members of a pan-gang alliance called Norteñas With Attitude (N.W.A.) at the Centro de Juventud, a community center in Fruitvale. However, her subjects’ reactions to her questions about images of gangs in the mainstream media prompted her to reevaluate and, ultimately, to revise her project’s focus. Initially designed as a study about the reactions of female 408 gang members to male-dominated media images of gang life, the project was refocused around the concerns of the participants: the logistics and significance of being a homegirl. Miranda found that, instead of talking about representations—or the lack thereof—of Latinas in these films and in the mainstream media in general, the “girls wanted to talk about their lives” (Miranda 2003, p. 33). Indeed, they “felt the drive and impulse to talk about themselves” precisely because of the absence of young...