The Female Subject in Chicano Theatre: Sexuality, "Race," and Class

Abstract

The Chicano theatre movement can only be understood in relation to the larger political and cultural movement of which it was a part.' It was an oppositional theatre, an arm of the Chicano movement to resist cultural and economic domination. The term Chicano designates people of Mexican ancestry living in the United States.2 Since 1848, the historical experience of Chicanos has been one of economic exploitation, cultural domination, and social and racial discrimination.3 As a female member of the social group of Chicanos, the Chicana bears the additional weight of gender oppression, in the dominant culture as well as in Chicano culture.