Summary

Social workers often discuss the lives of Latinas in the context of broad cultural values such as marianismo. Marianismo is linked to Catholicism and patriarchal values that reinforce traditional gender scripts for women. Although Latina feminists have challenged these values for decades, social workers must deepen their understanding of the lives of Chicanas and Latinas through critical theories and their use of self. From this perspective, mujeristas and Chicana feminists who emphasize liberative work, often use the term comadres, or comothers, to explore Latinas’ roles and relationships. The distinction between the traditional motherly role of marianismo and the collaborative and empowering role of comadres was evident in our feminist-informed study about the lived experiences of trans Latina immigrants who are activists and agents of change in their Southern United States communities. The participants generated change by moving from a selfless marianista position to a comadre role where they cared for each other.As Latinx qualitative researchers, we started to see ourselves and our loved ones reflected in the participants’ narratives. Hence, we decided to engage epistemologically with the transcripts of our conversations with them. We wondered how our understandings of gender roles, the Latina feminisms theoretical literature, and our participants’ experiences expanded our conocimiento about marianismo and comadrazgo. How did these conversations with trans Latina immigrants contributed a non-cisnormative perspective to Latina feminisms? How were these women reconceptualizing gender roles through the potentially liberative role of madres and comadres? How can we as practitioners and researchers redefine joint social action through epistemological connections? Through this process, we started to develop our theoretical understandings of these relationships using reflexive conversations. In this workshop we will encourage an open discussion about the use of self and how the lived experiences of marginalized participants connect with critical theories and social action.

Keywords (separate with commas)

transgender, immigrants, social action, Southern United States, Chicana feminism, Latina feminism, epistemology