From Out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America | 
| Author: Vicki L. Ruiz
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy Used: $11.09
You Save: $7.86 (41%)
New (15) Used (32) from $11.09
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 194850
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 0195130995
Dewey Decimal Number: 305
EAN: 9780195130997
ASIN: 0195130995
Publication Date: April 22, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
For centuries, Mexican-American women have been creative, innovative forces shaping the cultural and economic development of what is now the American Southwest. Whether living in a labor camp, a boxcar settlement, or an urban barrio, Mexican women nurtured families, worked for wages, built extended networks, and participated in community associations--efforts that solidified the community and helped Mexican Americans find their own place in America. Now, in From Out of the Shadows, historian Vicki L. Ruiz provides the first full study of Mexican-American women in the 20th century, in a narrative enhanced by interviews and personal stories that capture a vivid sense of the Mexicana experience in the United States.
Beginning with the first wave of women crossing the border early this century, Ruiz reveals the struggles they have faced, the communities they have built, and also highlights the various forms of political protest they have initiated. What emerges from the book is a portrait of a distinctive culture in America that has slowly gathered strength in the last 95 years. From Out of the Shadows is an important addition to the largely undocumented history of Mexican-American women in our century.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Dry and timid June 21, 2006
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
The theme is interesting, although unsubstantiated and weak. For centuries, Mexican-American women have silently been shaping the cultural and economic development of the Southwest. These women have raised children who have integrated into the US culture, worked, built networks. Their efforts have helped Mexican Americans find their own place in America. However, this book does not do the justice it probably had the intentions on doing. The strong aspect of the book is the distinctive culture that has slowly gained momentum in the last Century. Either the strength just isn't there, or this author was not able to accurately portray it.
 A fast paced research April 25, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The information is priceless as a sort of reference-compendium and salute to Latina and Mexicana immigrants. A good chunk is dedicated to a case analysis of a Protestant social service mission working in a Texas community to imprint anglican values and culture on the new immigrants. Another dedicated cultural aspect explores the affect of Americanization on young unmarried women and the system of chaperoning stemming from the honor of the family having to be upheld by orthodox views of virginity. The book is inspiring in its scope but meanders a bit excitedly like a river through early immigration, americanization and chicana feminism. Starts off slow and nurturing upon each theme but gradually erodes into a more sporadic form.
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