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The Virgin Of Guadalupe And La Virgen De Guadalupe

Decent Essays

In the final resolution concerning religion, Chicanas declare, “Revolutionary change of [the] Catholic Church or for it to get out of the way.” On the resolutions listed under sexuality, Chicanas mention how they recognize their suppression under the Catholic Church, how religion and culture control their sex lives, and the “guilt complexes” pressured onto them when they challenge the institution. Each of these themes are depicted through the cultural and religious symbol of the Virgin of Guadalupe. La Virgen de Guadalupe or The Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, represents a central image of Mexican Catholicism. The Catholic Church utilized the symbolic image of the Virgin of Guadalupe to represent feminine virtue through a …show more content…

The Virgin ordered Diego to collect Castilian roses around the hill and she helped him arrange them into his cloak. On December 12 when Diego returned to the Archbishop, he opened his tilmátli or cloak in which the image of the Virgin appeared. In response, the archbishop honored the Virgin’s request and built an altar in her honor. Today, The Basilica de Guadalupe in Tepeyac stands in dedication to the Virgin’s first appearance and remains the most visited Catholic shrine. Because of the Virgin’s Mexican history, she holds great significance to Mexican Catholics, so it is no surprise why the Virgin remains inherent in Mexican culture, or as literary scholar Debra J. Blake so aptly defined, “Guadalupe equals Mexico.” Both men and women admire the Virgin, but her religious setting provides a context for oppression through the church. NietoGomez explains how the church utilized Guadalupe’s image, "Marianismo, the veneration of the Virgin Mary, became the model of how to make oppression a religious obligation. This is the heritage of the Chicana." The church created a patriarchal role for themselves by weaving the Virgin’s image as a pure mother to model ordinary women’s behavior. By applying this method through the guise of subjugation, the Church rationalized their need to “protect” women in order to maintain their pure, moral status. Paradoxically, feminine virtues expressed by the Virgin as to be employed by women represents many contradictory elements. Debra

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