ABSTRACT

Through both creative and scholarly writing, I document the experiences of biopedagogies and body-becoming pedagogies for three generations of women in my family. The writing begins with the early twentieth century Hollywood aspirations of my light-skinned Mexican grandmother, moves to the 1950s diet pill frenzy inflicted upon my plump mother’s childhood body, and concludes with my butch body’s resistance to the harmful body lessons of homophobic/transphobic culture.

The writing includes discussion of Chicana body experience, and queer/fat collaboration, drawing upon the works Real Women Have Curves by Josefina López, and “Big Fat Pussy Girl,” by tatiana de la tierra. The stories explore how economic struggles increase control over the bodies of Chicana daughters by their concerned mothers who perceive the possibility of financial security through beauty and the subsequent attainment of a husband. The daughters challenge these constraints placed upon their bodies and revalue the beauty of their mothers. The combination of queer desire and the lessons from fat women provide a foundation for transformative body-becoming pedagogies. The narrative is delivered in four acts: Act 1: Mothers and Daughters: Snow White’s Legacy; Act 2: Chicana Bodies: “Real Women”; Act 3: Bodies of Resistance: Revolution on Olvera Street; and Act 4: Queer Fat Solidarity: Big Fat Pussy.