Volume 6, Number 1 (2002)

Volume 6 presents a special focus on Latinas with topics not often discussed publicly, ranging from domestic violence to abortion, to mental illness, to sexuality and sexual identities, and alternative accounts from Latina perspective of women as submissive, deviant, and passive. Articles discuss the growing number of women in prisons and the racist policies that exist within our criminal justice system; the representation of Latinas in media and film; the negative characterizations of Latina sexuality and the need to break the silence while promoting healthy attitudes through open conversations on issues of sexuality; the devastating effects of mental illness, alcoholism, and domestic violence on families through personal narratives; the effects of gentrification and displacement in the Chicago microcosm; the effects of war, violence and crime on women in Latin America; excerpts from the life histories of two incarcerated Latinas, and the importance of testimonio through poetry.