Chicana Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings
During the turbulent 1960s, Chicanas who funneled blood, sweat, and tears  into Mexican American protest movements such as La Raza were often relegated to  supporting the men who leapt to the ramparts. Stung by such sexual discrimination and  disheartened by--or disinterested in--the largely middle-class Anglo agenda championed  by the women's liberation movement, Chicana feminists fought to carve out a niche.  Though dry at times, the outspoken essays and writings collected inChicana Feminist  Thoughtrecord this struggle as it occurred. Not surprisingly, the writers' voices  overlap but don't necessarily blend: one rationalizes machismo and seeks only to redirect  it, while another impatiently calls for its end. These writings, from the 1960s to the  1990s, chronicle the development and dissension of Chicana feminists faced with the  high-wire balancing act of saving a culture while serving their own needs. The result is an  enlightening, thought-provoking piece of feminist history.