To clarify:

I do not regret one teeny iota of the self-imposed, self-education trajectory/personal curriculum on which I’ve embarked. I am just wondering how the reality of capitalism can damage the idea of education, for those of us who grew up thinking capitalism is a cage. And how access to formal education can butt heads with one’s particular social “place” (economic, racial, personal, familial factors, etc.). I am VERY pro-people exploring other options before they go to school. I believe nomadic DIY culture, activist self-education and supportive alt.school communities such as the one we have in Portland–i.e. PDX Freeschool–are important, feasible, healthy. But I am also of the belief that taking down The Man is more effective when you know how to speak his language.
Speaking of education, and parental discouragement: Real Women Have Curves, the movie, is one of the sweetest, honest films I’ve seen RE: the matriarchal relationships of first gen. Mexican American women. It was first written for the theater, so its embers burn slow and its characters are deep, a fact which apparently disappointed some commenters on the thoughtful, reliable IMDB boards. If you are all tempted to see M. Gibson’s crucifixion peep show this weekend, but don’t want to give yr money to scary crazy people, you should rent that, maybe.
Also on that topic, I am starting to read “Our Lady of Guadalupe: Faith and Empowerment among Mexican American Women”, a 1994 text by Jeanette Rodriguez. Its thesis: the icon of La Virgen, and her equal (-or-higher?) footing with Hey-zeus in Mexican Catholicism, fosters feminism in first and second generation Mexican American women. How hot is that topic, muchachas?