Cotera (born January 17, 1938) is a librarian, writer, and influential activist of both the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and the Chicana Feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
Her two most notable works are Diosa y Hembra: The History and Heritage of Chicanas in the U.S.
and The Chicana Feminist.
Cotera was one of six women featured in a documentary, Las Mujeres de la Caucus Chicana, which recounts the experiences of some of the Chicana participants of the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas.