The social sciences portray the Chicana or Mexican American woman almost exclusively as a submissive maternal figure. The tenacity with which the social sciences have perpetuated stereotypes about Chicanas appears to be related to an on-going trend to support studies of interpersonal or cultural characteristics of Chicanas and a resistance to undertake evaluations of systemic discrimination against Mexican American women. Given that the variables of sex, ethnicity, and social class as well as race continue to be confounded in much of the research on Mexican American families, an analysis of the existing stereotypic images of Chicanas generates policy recommendations to institutions of higher education and other organizations involved in bicultural research for the development of vigorous affirmative action programs to recruit and promote Mexican American women.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Achor, S.Mexican Americans in a Dallas barrio. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1978.
2.
Andrade, S. J.Family planning practices of Mexican Americans. In M. B. Melville (Ed.), Twice a minority: Mexican American women. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby, 1980.
3.
Baca Zinn, M.Chicano family research: Conceptual distortions and alternative directions
. The Journal of Ethnic Studies, 1979, 7, 59-71.
4.
Bean, F. D.
, Curtis, R. L., Jr., & Marcum, J. P.Familism and marital satisfaction among Mexican Americans: The effects of family size, wife's labor force participation, and conjugal power. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1977, 39, 759-767.
5.
Bean, F. D.
, Swicegood, G., & Linsley, T. F.Patterns of fertility variation among Mexican immigrants to the United States (Report to the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy, Washington, D.C.). Austin, Texas: Population Research Center, 1980.
6.
Bermúdez, M. E.La vida familiar del mexicano. Mexico, D. F.Antigua Libreria Robredo, 1955.
7.
Bradshaw, B. S.
, & Bean, F. D.Some aspects of the fertility of Mexican Americans. In C. F. Westoff & R. Parke, Jr. (Eds.), Demographic and social aspects of population growth (Vol. 1, Research Reports of the U.S. Commission on Population Growth and the American Future). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972.
8.
Brickley, L. T.
, Garfunkel, G., & Hulsizer, D.Foreword: Women and education. Harvard Educational Review, 1979, 49, v-vi.
9.
Caplan, N.
, & Nelson, S. C.On being useful: The nature and consequences of psychological research on social problems. American Psychologist, 1973, 28, 199-211.
10.
Clark, M.Health in the Mexican American culture. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1959.
11.
Cooney, R. S.Changing labor force participation of Mexican American wives: A comparison with Anglos and Blacks
. Social Science Quarterly, 1975, 56, 252-261.
12.
Cotera, M. P.Diosa y hembra: The history and heritage of Chicanas in the United States. Austin, Texas: Statehouse Printing, 1976.
13.
Cromwell, R. E.
, & Ruiz, R. A.The myth of macho dominance in decision making within Mexican and Chicano families. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1979, 1, 355-373.
14.
Diaz-Guerrero, R.Neurosis and the Mexican family structure
. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1955, 112, 411-417.
15.
Diaz-Guerrero, R.Psychology of the Mexican. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1975.
16.
Esparza, R. The value of children among lower-class Mexican, Mexican American and Anglo couples (Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, 1977). Dissertation Abstracts International, 1977, 38, 1397-B. (University Microfilms No. 77-17, 991).
17.
Gurak, D. T.Sources of ethnic fertility differences: An examination of five minority groups
. Social Science Quarterly, 1978, 59, 295-310.
18.
Gurak, D. T.Assimilation and fertility: A comparison of Mexican American and Japanese American women
. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1980, 2, 219-239.
19.
Hawkes, G. R.
, & Taylor, M.Power structure in Mexican and Mexican American farm labor families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1975, 37, 807-811.
20.
Hernández, J.
, Estrada, L., & Alvirez, D.Census data and the problem of defining the Mexican American population. Social Science Quarterly, 1973, 53, 671-687.
21.
Hoffman, L. W.The employment of women, education, and fertility
. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1974, 20, 99-117.
22.
Johnson, C. A. Fertility differentials among Mexican Americans of the five southwestern states. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas Health Center at Houston, 1970.
23.
Johnson, C. A.Mexican-American women in the labor force and lowered fertility
. American Journal of Public Health, 1976, 66, 1186-1188.
24.
Kay, M. A. Health and illness in the barrio: Women's point of view. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona, 1972.
25.
Kiev, A.Curanderismo: Mexican American folk psychiatry. New York: Free Press, 1968.
26.
Linn, M. W.
, Gurel, L., Carmichael, J., & Weed, P.Cultural comparisons of mothers with large and small families. Journal of Biosocial Science, 1976, 8, 293-302.
27.
Madsen, W.Society and health in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Austin, Texas: Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1961.
28.
Madsen, W.The Mexican Americans of South Texas. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1964.
29.
Melville, M. B.Mexican women adapt to migration
. International Migration Review, 1978, 12, 225-235.
30.
Moore, J. W.Mexican Americans. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970.
31.
Moquin, W.A documentary history of the Mexican Americans. New York: Praeger, 1971.
32.
Naranjo, M. S. Cross-cultural comparison of social psychological factors contributing to the effectiveness of genetic counseling therapy. Unpublished master's thesis, The University of Texas at Austin, 1976.
33.
Padilla, A. M.Psychological research and the Mexican American. In C. A. Hernandez, M. J. Haug, & N. N. Wagner (Eds.), Chicanos: Social and psychological perspectives. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby, 1976.
34.
Paredes, A.On ethnographic work among minority groups: A folklorist's perspective. In R. Romo & R. Paredes (Eds.), New directions in Chicano scholarship. La Jolla: Chicano Studies Program, University of California, San Diego, 1978.
35.
Parelius, A. P.Change and stability in college women's orientations toward education, family, and work
. Social Problems, 1975, 22, 420-432.
36.
Peñalosa, F.Mexican family roles
. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1968, 30, 680-689.
37.
Rubel, A. J.Across the tracks: Mexican Americans in a Texas city. Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1966.
38.
Ryan, W.Blaming the victim. New York: Vintage, 1976.
39.
Sabagh, G.Fertility planning status of Chicano couples in Los Angeles
. American Journal of Public Health, 1980, 70, 56-61.
40.
Teller, C. H.
, Estrada, L. F., Hernández, J., & Alvirez, D. (Eds.). Cuantos somos: A demographic study of the Mexican American population. Austin: Center for Mexican American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, 1977.
41.
Texas Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
. A report on the status of minority group members and women in public employment and public education in Texas during 1977. Status of Civil Rights in Texas (Vol. 3). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1980.
42.
Uhlenburg, P.Marital instability among Mexican Americans: Following the patterns of Blacks?Social Problems, 1972, 20, 49-56.
43.
Uhlenberg, P.Fertility patterns within the Mexican American population
. Social Biology, 1973, 20, 30-39.
44.
U.S. Bureau of the Census
. A statistical portrait of women in the United States: 1978 (Current Population Reports: Special Studies, Series P-23, No. 100). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980.
45.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
. Counting the forgotten: The 1970 census count of persons of Spanish-speaking background in the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974.
46.
Urdaneta, M. L. Fertility regulation among Mexican American women in an urban setting: A comparison of indigent vs. nonindigent Chicanas in a Southwest city in the United States (Doctoral dissertation, Southern Methodist University, 1976). Dissertation Abstracts International, 1977, 38, 1507-A. (University Microfilms No. 77-18, 607).
47.
Valdez, R.The Mexican American male: A brief review of the literature
. Newsletter, Mental Health Research Project, IDRA, San Antonio, Winter, 1980, 4-5.
48.
Warren, R. L.The sociology of knowledge and the problems of inner cities
. Social Science Quarterly, 1971, 52, 469-491.
49.
Williams, M. A.A comparative study of postsurgical convalescence among women of two ethnic groups: Anglo and Mexican American
. Communicating Nursing Research, 1972, 5, 59-73.
