The Oppression of Latina Mothers: Experiences of Exploitation, Violence, Marginalization, Cultural Imperialism, and Powerlessness in Their Everyday Lives

Cecilia Ayón, Jill Messing, Maria Gurrola, Dellanira Valencia-Garcia

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Despite Latinos being the largest growing population in the United States, research has not examined the impact of social structures on the well-being of Latina immigrants; negative social discourse and restrictive laws exacerbate inequality and discrimination in this population. Through combined inductive/deductive analysis of in-depth semistructured interviews, we examined immigrant Mexican mothers’ (N = 32) descriptions of oppression in the United States. All five forms of oppression, described in Young’s oppression framework are evident: exploitation, violence, marginalization, cultural imperialism, and powerlessness. Discrimination places a high burden on Latinas due to the intersection of forms of oppression and nondominant identities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)879-900
Number of pages22
JournalViolence Against Women
Volume24
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2018

Keywords

  • Latinas
  • discrimination
  • immigrants
  • mothers
  • oppression
  • qualitative analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Gender Studies
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Law

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