Reimagining Medea: A Critical Exploration of Gender, Identity, and Resistance in Cherríe Moraga’s Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea by Cherríe Moraga offers a powerful reimagining of the Medea myth through the lenses of Chicana feminism and queer identity. Set in a fictional post-revolutionary nation, Aztlan, the play critiques the persistence of patriarchal structures that marginalize women and LGBTQ+ individuals, despite the promises of the Chicano movement. Drawing on Aztec and Chicano cultural frameworks, Moraga highlights how deeply rooted systems of gender and sexual oppression shape the protagonist’s exile and struggles. Medea, once a revolutionary leader, is betrayed by the very nation she helped to liberate, reflecting the intersectional challenges faced by Chicana women. This paper explores historical parallels, the symbolic nature of infanticide, and Medea’s descent into madness as acts of resistance. Through this narrative, Moraga critiques machismo and compulsory heterosexuality while expressing concerns about the future of Chicana feminism and the broader fight for jus-tice and equality.
Author: Keren He
Institution: University of Southampton
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4408511699