Bruja positionalities: toward a chicana/latina spiritual activism

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Irene Lara

Abstract

This essay elaborates on constructions of “la Bruja” — a female practitioner of spiritual, sexual, and healing knowledges — in our contemporary cultural imaginary grounded in a legacy of the otherization of women healers in Europe and las Américas. Specifically, I analyze Ricky Martin’s song “‘Livin’ la Vida Loca” about the ambivalent witchy power of a racialized woman over a man. The essay explores the ways that “brujas” are feared for their knowledge and power and hence subjected to oppressive treatment. I argue a bruja positionality within Chicana/Latina studies that includes developing our own bruja-like epistemologies. As a practice of what Gloria Anzaldúa might call “spiritual activism,” a bruja positionality is built on healing the internalized beliefs that demonize la Bruja and the transgressive spirituality and sexuality that she represents. 

Author Biography

Irene Lara, Universidad Estatal de San Diego en California

Profesora chicana asociada al Departamento de Estudios de la Mujer de la Universidad Estatal de San Diego en California. Activista espiritual con un doctorado en Estudios Étnicos, con énfasis en la mujer, género y sexualidad de la Universidad de California, Berkeley.