A review by readouid
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria E. Anzaldúa

5.0

My experience of reading this book as a feminist white woman was interesting. So many passages resonated with me, although I also feel it important to note the distinction between saying they *resonated* with me and saying I *related* to Anzaldua's perspective. The process of reading this book is a process of examining your own intersections of race, geography, gender, sex, religion, spirituality, and culture. Sometimes you bump up against something in this book that you can't claim or own, although you find it beautiful. A few pages later you encounter something that feels like it really articulated something you've always felt and wanted to say about your own life. That's one of the magical things about Anzaldua's exploration of living in various borderlands, between genres, between races, between countries, between cultures, between generations, between spiritual outlooks, etc., and why this book is such an important foundation for current conversations about intersectionality-- finding where you intersect with Anzaldua and where you find a wall is just as educational as what she shares about her experience.