“Being in the Middle”: Latina Ideology, Fictive Kinships, and the “Imagined Latina/o Community” Within College

• In Event: Roundtable Session 79
  In Roundtable Session: Power, Agency, and Success in the Secondary and Postsecondary Lives of Latina/o Students

Abstract

This interview project focuses on the hegemonic experiences of 20 self-identified Latinas at a community college, NMVCC , located within the southwest region of the United States. Using a critical hermeneutical approach, 2 long interviews were administered to 20 Latinas between the ages of 18-30. Topics that were discussed included the navigation of college, along with past and present intimate relationships, and the micro-aggressions of friends and family. Preliminary discourse from this project pointed to an “insider” member construct, deemed the Imagined Latina/o Community (ILC). The ILC, along with fictive kinships, appeared to monitor and act as a surveillance marking the participants’ experiences with race, class, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

Author

• Sarah Leah Santillanes, University of New Mexico