Tías and Primas
On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us
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4.8 • 6 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
From the author of For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts, a celebration of the women at the heart of Latine families.
“This love letter to intergenerational relationships opens every window and door to one’s heart... A healing work of art.” —Yesika Salgado, author of Corazón
Born into a large, close-knit family in Nicaragua, Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez grew up surrounded by strong, kind, funny, sensitive, resilient, judgmental, messy, beautiful women. Whether blood relatives or chosen family, these tías and primas fundamentally shaped her view of the world—and so did the labels that were used to talk about them. The tía loca who is shunned for defying gender roles. The pretty prima put on a pedestal for her European features. The matriarch who is the core of her community but hides all her pain.
In Tías and Primas, Mojica Rodríguez explores these archetypes. Fearlessly grappling with the effects of intergenerational trauma, centuries of colonization and sexism, she attempts to heal the pain that is so often embodied in female family lines.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With disarming honesty, writer and activist Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez’s cultural study holds a mirror up to the way that Latine women are seen and see one another. She examines the female archetypes that are applied repeatedly to her tías (aunts) and primas (cousins), specifically in the Latin American culture in which she was raised. Each chapter explores a particular type, like the Book-Smart Prima and the Divorced Tía, diving into what created that view of women and sharing personal insights and stories from her own life. As a native of Nicaragua who immigrated to the United States as a young person, she’s seen the archetypes repeat in multiple settings. Mojica Rodríguez’s goal is never to denigrate but to thoughtfully examine the ways in which patriarchal societies and white colonialism have shaped Latine women. Tías and Primas is filled with just the kind of frank discussion that can make us think about how we see our friends, our family members, and ourselves.
