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Chingona Alert



Sandra Cisneros -- not an author I've read much of, but she's thought highly of in writing circles, and under the current political climate, I feel like I should be reading her and more authors like her. Not that literature should be politicized and part of the culture wars, but it is. And if I have to pick a side, I will side with Cisneros. She's a chingona, or roughly translated, a "bad ass." 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sandra-cisneros-chingona-definition_n_59ae10ade4b0dfaafcf2030b

I think we typically do want to "read" authors from different backgrounds differently. If I'm reading Raymond Carver, it's not natural for me to think about his background or why he picks a certain theme or approach. But if I'm reading Cisneros, I find myself starting to think that way. Do you?

It's 2025. Unfortunately, we live in a moment of time when if you're not a white man (and bring straight helps), you might be labeled as DEI or un-American or insignificant. Why is that? Why do certain white men, white men who probably see themselves as alphas, and wouldn't mind being described as "fuckers," why do they feel so threated by the Other? Why are they so threated by chingonas?

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