ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief overview, based primarily on Cotera's influential monograph, including the importance of history, of the theoretical paradigm proposed in the field of Chicana feminisms. It illustrates how Chicana feminisms are deployed in Chicana art and performance to produce social justice. Early Chicana feminist organizers used art as un sitio to articulate an incisive critique of gender relations in Chicano/a communities, with a specific focus on the sexism present in the Chicano movement. The dedication among Chicana feminists to address all sources of oppression and exclusion is aptly captured in Arredondo's and her co-authors' proposal, which states that the Chicana feminisms paradigm can be best conceptualized as a glorieta, with the inquiry and writings in the field addressing diverse audiences to avoid exclusions. Chicana feminisms are characterized by "finding absences and exclusions and arguing from that standpoint". Arredondo and her colleagues claim that "Chicana feminist writings move discourse beyond binaries and toward intersectionality and hybridity".
