Chicana poet and writer Ana Castillo was born and raised in Chicago, but has spent most of her writing career studying her Mestiza heritage. In her first novel, The Mixquiahuala Letters (1986), Castillo explores the relationship between two women who travel to Mexico in search of a better understanding of their place in both the U.S. and Mexican societies. The novel, written in the form of letters between the two women, is considered the landmark …
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…in her writing. Because the Catholic church does not condone sex unless it is for the sole purpose of having a child, many women in Catholic cultures, including much of Latin America, lose a segment of their "self" by being denied their sexuality. Castillo believes that women have lost their sense of self on many levels, including psychologically, physically, and spiritually, and need to reclaim themselves. Castillo herself does this through her writing and activism.