reflection on Delilah Montoya's Lecture

I thought that Delilah Montoya's lecture on the "chicana bad-girls" exhibit was interesting.  She talked about putting together this exhibit of women artists considered to be 'hociconas' or girls that talk back. The works came from women of a number of different backgrounds and artistic styles, but almost all consider themselves to be women who rebel against what society expects of them. Being familiar with the Latino culture myself and its expectations of women, I found Delilah's presentation to be interesting. It is difficult to understand the exact significance of these pieces unless one understands the culture they are created in. Oppression of and violence against women is commonplace in my Latin American cultures. The Catholic influence in these cultures also prescribes a weak, humble, gentle woman. When Alma Lopez created her own version of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the response was tremendous because the image of the virgin is so important. But, as Alma said, she was not trying to be sacrilegious, she believed that as a Latina, she understood the Lady better than a white priest who circulated her image in the church. Delilah montoya's exhibit was about recognizing that the voices of chicanas often go unheard and those that try to speak out are ignored or punished. The chicana bad-girls exhibit was about embracing those voices and paying homage to voices that have been silenced. I thought it was especially interesting that the last image Delilah showed, of nude men tied up, was censored from the show. The entire show seemed to be expressing the ways women are restrained and more than once portrayed them nude. The images of restrained nude, men seemed appropriate to me to show the viewer how uncomfortable it makes one to see men in this way when women often find themselves there. Perhaps society is not quite ready for a full-reversal of roles.