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Abstract

Critical scholarship regarding the philosophy of Gloria Anzaldúa has proliferated in recent decades, especially in the fields of feminist theory, phenomenology, and epistemology. However, there is little analysis of the metaphysics which undergird their work and make possible their views on identity, experience, and community politics. First, this article will explore the significance of Anzaldúa’s ‘nos/otras’ and its relation to Mexica (Aztec) monistic metaphysics. Such a concept resists an us/them construction of the world because it situates the other as us: the Spanish word for ‘we’ is ‘nosotros’ and holds the ‘other/otros’ as its root, which Anzaldúa feminizes to ‘otras’. Second, we will compare Daoist and Mexica metaphysics, two monist systems, and unpack the moral implications for spirituality. Doing so, we will see that according to Anzaldúa’s monistic view, we are affected by each other’s spirit and have an obligation to be spiritually active in the world. This claim is found throughout Anzaldúa’s philosophy and is the key to understanding the spiritual implications of her work. Lastly, we will apply such a view to sexual trauma and see that Anzalduan metaphysics lays out a path of recovery. If sexual violence is the severing of trust with others, then Anzaldúa’s understanding of how the world is constructed gives us a way to re-establish trust with ourselves, each other, and our communities.

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