From Coveralls to Zoot Suits PDF

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History of Women---Zoot Suits...

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From Coveralls to Zoot Suits, Elizabeth Escobedo 2015

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What does the introduction reveal about the author, her/his intent, the source material, accomplishments and challenges of the project? The author, Elizabeth Escobedo, provides a valuable contribution to the literature on women in the World War II era. By sifting through the evidence, she is able to bring to light a previously neglected subject; that being, the plight of Mexican American women during the World War II era. The evidence consists of court records, Spanish and English language newspapers, and other documents from wartime agencies, like the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC). Other material includes the work of Eduardo Obregon Pagan’s Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon, Race and Riot in Wartime (2003) and Catherine Ramirez’s The Woman in the Zoot Suit: Gender, Nationalism and the Cultural Politics of Meaning (2009). What is the main argument of the book? How does each chapter speak to this purpose? How Latinas were able to maneuver through previously held biases and stereotypes in order to improve the world around them during that period and after the war had ended.

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Consider each chapter individually - what is the thesis of each chapter? Ch. 1: Once defense industries realized they were grossly understaffed during World War II, they extended employment opportunities to Mexican Women, by changing their racial views to conform to wartime needs. The companies and individuals that supported the hiring of minority workers were comfortable with the idea because they believe that these women would only work for “‘for the duration’ of the war” and would be back to their place in the racial hierarchy that was US America pre-World War II Ch. 2: How women of Mexican descent negotiated their place, from the factories to the dance floors, on the US American home front. Ch. 3: The fact some Mexican American women adopted the “pachuca” image or the label of delinquents by wearing “zoot suits” and rejecting the social traditions of both Anglo and Mexican societies. In each chapter, what source material provides evidence for the argument?

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What do you find most convincing about the argument? I found these chapters to be particularly convincing, because the war seriously shook the bedrock of America’s social hierarchy; whereby one racial group could simultaneously be a threat and a necessity to both America and Old World Mexico, this made it difficult to

generalize, however, it fueled those in power to maintain racism and perfect it with patriotism.

Reference Escobedo, Elizabeth R. from Coveralls to Zoot Suits. Chapel Hill: UNC, 2013....