Navigating the Sexual Politics on the High School Campus: Testimonios of Young Chicana/Latinas

• Main Author: Lara, Mayra Alejandra
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School 2018
• Subjects: Chicana/Latina Feminist Theory; Critical Pedagogy; Gender; High School Students; Sexual Politics; Testimonios; Educational Leadership
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/527; https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1537&context=etd

By employing pláticas y encuentros, this qualitative study examined the testimonios of Chicana/Latina youth and their experiences with navigating the sexual politics on the high school campus. Six young Chicana/Latinas, all of whom graduated from the same high school in South East Los Angeles, participated in the study. The study used two frameworks: Chicana/Latina feminist theory and critical pedagogy to analyze the young women’s testimonios. Findings speak of their daily struggle with adults policing, objectifying, and containing their bodies; as well as the benefit of a third space, counterspaces, for self-actualization. This study contributes to this field by identifying how Chicana/Latina youth experience schooling and what they believe must happen in order to ensure that the school community and larger society is more responsive to their experiences with navigating sexual politics in and outside of the educational context.