Mexican American Women In The 1940s

During the 1940s, Los Angeles was a period with liberating and limiting experiences for Mexican-Americans, especially for women. After the events of the Zoot Suit Riots Mexican-American people were ostracized for their “violent” nature. In order to distance people away from that stigma the debate centers on the cultural overview of the period. Women were given a voice that centers on their contributions to the workforce during WWII. While men were away fighting in the war women were working in the defense industries and gaining the means to live a comfortable lifestyle. The historiographical debate showcased that Mexican-American women were acquiring higher status, as they refused marginalization. Escobedo (2013) answered the questions that

In contrast to the negative depictions of Mexican-American youths in Los Angeles newspapers, federal efforts at inclusiveness opened the door for mothers and daughters of Mexican descent to utilize wartime ideologies of racial liberalism creatively and to their advantage” . The minority within a minority, Mexican-American women, were given a voice in the historiography that captured the array of ways in which women were continuously advancing because of their involvement in the workforce. Before women entered the workforce the gangster zooter stereotype affected them just the same as men. Escobedo (2013) stated, “By August 1942, the Los Angeles populace began to recognize young Mexican-American women as an integral element of the gang menace allegedly plaguing city streets” . The Sleepy Lagoon case investigated women as well, the investigation led to a scandal within the population. Mexican-American women were going against the expected gender norms of society and seen as menaces. The courts and mainstream media used the term “Pachuca/o” after the

Anthony Macia’s Mexican American Mojo: Popular Music, Dance, and Urban Culture in Los Angeles, 1935-1968 (2008) and Ignacio Lopez-Calvo’s Latino Los Angeles in Film and Fiction (2011) served to, “Shed light on their creations, aspirations, acculturations, and associations, brushing layered details into a historiographic portrait of a generation” . The clean look that Mexican-Americans wore is what gave them the higher profile in society. They were able to steer clear of the stereotypes that depicted them as dirty, greasers, farmers etc… and present themselves as people who were worthy of the California good life. The influence of music is what kept Mexican-American youth off the streets. The start of weekend dances was a way they incorporated themselves into mainstream society, they were not these outlaws who were only looking for trouble. These authors approached the subject socially and culturally, contributing to the debate that the power of expression liberated Mexican-Americans from their