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ETST 430 - Chapters 33-35

Chapter 33 is about how monsters are both omens and signs, essentially bringing out either the best or the worst in all of us. It also examines the experience of both learning the perceptions of monsters and being perceived as a ‘social monster’, per se. The concept called ‘monstrous colonial encounters’ is introduced, thus defining violent, cruel experiences that reflect the European colonial power complex as it instills fear in the vulnerable Latina/o. Additionally, it also invalidates the Latina/o, since American society has always had a tendency to suppress other types of knowledge that are not seen as suitable for their metaphorical hierarchy. Since communities in the United States view Latina/os so negatively, this is what invalidates their community’s knowledge in the eye of America, therefore impacting their national development. What I find ridiculous is that even with conscious knowledge that Latina/os aren’t monsters, American legislators continue to do nothing to stop the oppression that Latina/os go through. A form of resistance in legacy is the tale of La Llorona. Her mission is to always look after her children, and never give up on them.

Chapter 34 was about narco cultura, and how Latina/o citizens have been misrepresented through it. Also, it takes careful measure in explaining what narco cultura actually is. However, there are deviants to this, like the politicians who bring down Hispanic culture as a whole by promoting these false narratives. For instance, the words of Donald Trump that stated that “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re packing bazookas and grenades. They’re rapists. They’re disturbed.” (Rashotte 398). There is also an immense amount of fashion influence that goes into the narco culture, influencing narco juniors to get brands ike Hollister, Abercrombie, etc. just to fit the profile. Meanwhile, there are young Latina women who are hypersexualized into becoming narco beauty queens/ narcas, therefore promoting both the stereotypes of both nymphomania and the conformity to U.S. and Mexican media standards.

Lastly, Chapter 35 was about smuggling, and migration in Latina/o pop culture. There are people who are referred to as coyotes/polleros, meaning that they are greed-driven people who do not find the exploitation of their own people to be problematic. What I found to be personally interesting yet immoral was the fact that there are Latina/o people who have no problem supplying to the voyeuristic interests of people who want to live their story vicariously. It is ridiculously immoral and is taking advantage of the grounds of a narrative to dramatize (and potentially capitalize) from an experience that often renders people dead.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 29-31

Chapter 29 is about the progression of Latina/os into American sports, and how their presence and activism has changed the American sports culture. The introduction of Latina/os to American sports didn’t come easy, especially since the origins of American sports were like the rest of the country: white and exclusive. This is referred to in the text at the mention of Adolf Rupp, and his “unshakable belief that the best Kentucky Wildcats basketball team was one that would be composed only of all-white players.” (Gonzalez, 335)*. It was American baseball that would serve as the pioneer sport that would incorporate Latinos, therefore opening the opportunities for other sports. However, since universities served as a springboard into professional sports, the low admittance rate for Latinos (as a marginalized group) proved problematic when seeking training/ career opportunities in professional sports. This has also been a socioeconomic issue, with examples like Jim Plunkett and his home situation providing a concrete example of Latina/o hardships. These dreams were also thwarted by stereotypes that have been discussed multiple times in the discourse of this class, such as Latina/os being “short, meek, and lazy” (337). What I found interesting was the thought experiment that was mentioned, with the exploration of possibilities had the pioneers of Latina/os in sports been represented on a platform like ESPN. I personally found this interesting because I think that given the Latina/o youth representation on social media that we have explored throughout class, we would have had a lot more people come forward with aspirations to be a professional athlete.

*:https://www-taylorfrancis-com.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/books/edit/10.4324/9781315637495/routledge-companion-latina-popular-culture-frederick-luis-aldama

Chapter 30 is about the resources that gave rise to the Latina/o athletes that made it, and also the various struggles of said athletes. Texan ideology in the 19th century was very harmful towards Tejano/ Mexicano people, having referred to them as a primitive race. This branched out when Elmer D. Mitchell published a multitude of essays called “Racial Traits in Athletics”. Upon reading this, I made a connection to a series of essays that I learned about in my ETST 100 course this semester by Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau called “Essay on the Inequality of Human Races”. Both express racial superiority and inferiority, leading to widespread racist views worldwide. These narratives depicted Latina/os as physically and mentally inferior, thus ruining many chances that Latina/o athletes would have with recruiters, coaches, etc. One of the multiple unnecessary adaptations that many Latina/o athletes have had to make include either becoming more colonized (ex. Albert Pujols as opposed to Jose Alberto Pujols), or even hyper-exoticized to incite crowds and team spirit. Athletes like Al Lopez and Leo Najo battled these harmful narratives in the 1920s, while Latinas resisted attrition with teams like Las Senoritas de Glendale coming to the mound.

Chapter 31 is about the intimate connection between Santa Muerte and her devotees. There are devotees who crave more than what some may see as a simple request. Devotees of Santa Muerte address her like a lover in terms of a relationship in order to mirror the one that she may seek with a lover in real life. In order to be a devotee, the pledge is lifelong devotion, all in exchange for the favors asked by the devotee. However, it is a dangerous thing to interfere with, considering that neglecting the wishes of Santa Muerte could easily result in her namesake: death. Regarding other saints, they are all adopted through the Catholic presence within Latina/o culture, and are therefore seen as holy mediators and protectors. In other terms, saints are seen as the bridging gap between the divine and the human. What I found really interesting is how most religions around the world see the connection of humans to spirituality and mediators as immoral, primal, or even witchcraft, yet Catholicism possesses so many saints that Mexicans and Mexicans have the availability and comfort to confide in.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 26-28

The main point of Chapter 26 was to highlight the Los Angeles rockabilly scene, where racialized and gendered notions of the rockabilly scene are challenged by Los Angeles Chicana/os and Latina/os. The reason why the rockabilly scene is especially important for Latina/o and Chicana/o culture is because it is an environment of community building, and also the collective reminiscing that enthusiasts partake in, since they did not experience the rockabilly scene firsthand. Nonetheless, there is still a large amount of authenticity in actively embracing the nostalgia that rockabilly culture provides. I found it particularly interesting that Vicky Tafoya has the ability to gender-switch her vocals, which is rather interesting. With talent like that, it’s really shocking that she wasn’t on a stage earlier in her life.

Chapter 27 was about the concept of rasquachismo, and how it is used as a form of resistance as well. Rasquachismo is often seen as a Chicana/o aesthetic, and is a vivid combination of post-modernism and authentic parts of Chicana/o culture that undermine the colonized viewpoint of the poor Mexican aesthetic and lifestyle as a whole. There are multiple projects, including The Big Girls Code, which address these derogatory stereotypes towards lower-income Latina/os. There is also Rasquache Yoga, which was created by Hidalgo Newton to spread body positivity. Tomas Ybarra-Frausto is a pioneer of the rasquache aesthetic, and has published an extensive amount of publications on Latinx culture. His main focuses in rasquache aesthetics were centered around the working class, which I found interesting. What really intrigued me was the idea that rasquache art is a large announcement of one’s presence. I never considered that to be the case, yet I knew that the art was meant to consume a suitable amount of space. However, Ybarra-Frausto taught me that rasquache aesthetics are meant to hold space for Chicana/o merit and respect in this colonized country.

Chapter 28 was about Latina self-styling practices, and how marketing and sexualizing Latinas is detrimental to the natural sexuality and gender identities of Latina women. What struck me as interesting yet disappointing was the statement from Cotton Incorporated. I never made the connection of red and lace to be a racialized notion, but when placed in such blatant, harmful context, it’s very difficult to not see why. It’s honestly very disappointing and crude theat society still perceives Latinas as hypersexualized figures instead of women, just like the rest. From this comes a constant trauma that is reflected in the shopping habits of Latina women, spending an extra 25-45 minutes in the store just to find clothes that fit the stereotyped and praised public appeal.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 23-25

Lowrider culture is very important in the Mexican/ Mexican American culture. The plaques that are on the back of some of the cars identify the car clubs that the drivers are a part of. Lowriding is a cultural practice that symbolizes the relationship between Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Lowrider style represented the Mexican American working class, and also the growing consumer market that they made up as well. This started to become popular in the 1930s in the barrio. Lowered suspension, bright paint colors, velvet interior, chrome wheels, and other accessories made lowrider culture very prominent among car enthusiasts, especially throughout the state of California. However, this type of culture was taken advantage of by capitalist corporations (especially beer companies) and their eagerness to colonize new consumer markets. However, Mexican Americans have been present in the car scene before lowriding. For example, there was a drag-racing team in San Diego that are called the “Bean Bandits”. Car clubs also fit under the portfolio of being a jacket club, which established a confident Mexican identity amongst the White neighborhood cliques.

In other parts of Mexican culture, upon a girl’s quinceanera, she must pray to the Virgin Mary. There is a mass involved by micro-tradition, and you must make an offering to the Virgin Mary. In most situations, you are promising her your virginity until marriage, in which heterosexual marriage is the only acceptable form according to Catholicism. Some have seen this as controlling and shaming the lifestyle of the female at subject.

There is also the cultural aspect called cultura joteria. One of the prime examples that I was able to find regarding cultura joteria was transgender artist/ filmmaker Danny Flores. He was born in Mexico, and has lived in South Carolina for a majority of his lifetime. He is best known for his reimagined La Loteria cards, now including a card branded ‘La Migra’, with the devil smiling and wearing an ICE vest. His form of art through cultura joteria is also a form of resistance towards the Anglo-American society that has branded things like ‘La Migra’/ ‘f****t’ as things to denounce in both cultures.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 20-22

Movement-era photographers embraced documentary mode as well, but also realized that documentaries and their perspectives/ images being hardly impartial. They also tended to objectify ethnic subjects. One of the prime motives of being a Chicano/a photographer was to flip the perceptions and narratives about Western/ Chicano/a culture upside down. Delilah Montoya is a perfect example of Chicana photographer. She was born in Fort Worth, Texas to a White father and a New Mexican mother. She was influenced by the Chicano Movement, including the Brown Berets of Nebraska. These movements allowed for Montoya to display and explore her Chicana/ Hispana ancestry. She has done multiple works, all of them representing an authentic barrio aesthetic. Pictured below is La Guadalupana:

In other issues, Hispanis food has been colonized in America for a long time, with places like Taco Bell, Del Taco, and El Pollo Loco maintaining the American love for Mexican food, all while still remaining hostile towards Hispanic people. American culture wants to take Hispanic food, but not assist its people/ creators. There are also a lot of controversial jokes that go along with Mexican food, such as “What do you call a Mexican baptism? Bean dip”. However, despite these negative notions, the “farmworker-to-table”/ sustainable and ethical Mexican cuisine is beneficial both ecologically and in terms of establishing oneself in social justice. Poets like Jose Antonio Burciaga and Paul Martinez Pompa have made their mark. There is also the message explored that suggests that Mexican food was the result of conditions of coloniality/ oppression. Yet, there is also the factor of a lot of Hispanic’s place in the socioeconomic index, and how the food availability is ultimately unhealthy and leads to things like diabetes and other illnesses, sometimes fatal.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 17-19

There is a lot of Mexican immigrant influx to New York City for art, and at its current rate, Mexicans will be the “largest Latino national subgroup sometime in the early 2020s”. Har’d Life Ink. Conceptualizing Latinao art is described as ‘a three-legged stool’, because one leg is the culture of the U.S., another is Latin American visual culture, and the last one is Latino culture. Latino culture is considered more unsteady in this analogy. Latina/o graffiti formed into techniques that showed visibility and status of the artists. This became an element of hip-hop, including hip hop slang, and became an important visual aspect of the genre itself. Many people see graffiti as vandalism and destructive/ devious, it’s actually establishing identity and strengthening community bonds. Secondarily, it is an art outlet for those who don’t have many art resources.

Latina/o pop art has usually been trapped in the labels of “ethnic” or “alternative” art. It is also seen to be unaligned to American values. This same art is neglected and excluded from getting displays in museums, media presence, and financial assistance. A museum curator even saw Chicanos as simply being in gangs, and being incapable of making art. Although there has been massive criticism about Chicano art in response to oppression, it’s actually a display of a love-hate relationship as opposed to what the public sees as an attempt to overthrow the Americanized culture. Latina/o art has also taken more involvement in interacting with popular parts of culture, such as Star Wars and El Chavo del Ocho for Dia De Los Muertos.

Chapter 19 discusses the aspects of art and the Chinese-Chicano experience, and how with increased experiences of Asian transmigration comes more aspects of their artwork. The transcultural passage opens multiple creative routes for thematic material addressing all dynamics, with arrival/ dwelling emerging as motives. Mexipino populations found in San Diego have been noted for establishing the importance of interethnic collaboration and coalition building.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 14-16

Chapter 14 was about the entrance of hip-hop through subcultures and different identities being developed for the sake of social movement/ justice. As mentioned in the reading, identity is something to examine closely and carefully, since it provides very important insight about the Chicana/o experience, Xicana/o political activity, etc. This chapter also focused on colonialism, capitalism, and the war on drugs. Chicana/os were starting to establish their presence in the United States, yet the state government was constantly delivering new tactics to try and control this group. Their attempts included neoliberal economic strategies and the War on Drugs Ruling. Starting in the 1960s, the ruling elites allowed for international law to provide more access to foreign markets and labor. Since manufacturing became more internationalized, the United States deindustrialized. This stripped many manufacturing jobs from people of color who were financially recovering from World War II, and those who fled the new economic order of the Mexican government. However, Nixon and his administration created the War on Drugs to set back the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, and the working class revolution of the 1960s/ 1970s. The same downfalls in the Black community occurred in the Latina/o community, when their prison admissions for drug-related crimes increased by 20 times more from 1983 to 2000. This rhetoric and legislation created very harmful narratives for Black and Latina/o people, thus leading to mass incarceration and an inherited second-class citizen status/ treatment.

Although faced with a lot of opposition to incorporation, English is very well-set for linguistic pluralism, yet there are many against it. Punk in this sense is defined as ‘novice, beginner’. Punk Spanglish is found everywhere in music, television shows, sports, books, Internet, etc. The beauty in a young language is that it is constantly evolving, it’s ‘slipperiness and intangibleness’ is what gives it a youthful character. It has since reached corporations as a middle language. For instance? Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” is quite possibly the unofficial Spanglish anthem. In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda is a pristine theatrical example of linguistic crossovers and combinations.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 11-13

Mestizaje (of mixed race) is a very beautiful and intriguing art form amongst Indigenous people. One of the main purposes of performing mestizaje is to create visible acts in acknowledgement of your Indigenous identity, all while practicing body and spiritual motion throughout Latina/o culture at the same time. It displays the transformation between identities to explain the duality of mestiza/o while bringing Indigenous consciousness and spirituality into the culture. Mythology and symbolism are very strong components of Indigenous rituals, and includes many beautiful dances. Pictured below is the burning of El Kookooee, where scraps of paper with people's worries and fears are tossed inside the giant wooden sculpture, then burned.

In the next chapter, the constant struggle for Latina/o residency in big places with theater (such as Broadway) came to surface. Broadway has had a small amount of self-represented POC productions, especially Latinas/os. It upsets me that economics are one of the sole reasons why Latinas/os cannot be on Broadway, and that the market was neglected for so long by other producers that Latinas/os didn't have a chance. Zoot Suit is the perfect example. People weren't ready for its realistic depiction of Latina/o life in a production, and had a very brief residency on Broadway. In the Heights became the successor, all while bringing the struggles of the barrio to the big stage. This is the genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also wrote Hamilton.

In the last chapter, spoken word was redefined as performance poetry, and brought a lot of attention to the integration of both Latina/o spoken word and lifestyle in the African American communities simultaneously. There is a large amount of activism tied to Latina/o culture, which heavily influences the performance of spoken word.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 8-9

In these two chapters, the central focus is the industry of comic books, and the inclusion of Latina/o people in the sci-fi industry.

Firstly, the comic book industry has some very deep roots among Latina/o people, and with many regional contrasts as well. Since Hispanic culture includes the practice of Catholicism, this specific set of beliefs is often glorified in comic books as well. Priests are often included, and are either depicted as heroes or villains. This is a bold move to criticize the Mexican government in such an artful way, yet the message gets across. As for its Latinx counterpart, the comics created are more diverse in thought and characters, with a more free ideological sense as well. Latina/o comics are very notorious worldwide, most famously bringing the creation of Zorro in 1919 to the pages, who was made by an American writer named Johnston McCulley.

When addressing the politics of comic books, there have been plenty of ups and downs among the Latina/o community. There was the Comics Code Authority seal of approval in 1958, which was largely beneficial. It was a self-censorship institution that American companies created to battle controversies amongst publishers. While the code protected children from certain violent and sexual aspects, it did not shift focus to eradicating racist depictions. Latinas/os were still seen as thieves in most comics. However, there has since been a shift, all of which started showing support rather quickly. Ever since the 1960s, the English-Spanish language canon amongst comics has been widely accepted in all communities.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 5-7

Although disadvantaged when it comes to having laptops at home leading to a 9% difference in Internet usage from the White person, Latina/os are still heavily involved in online entertainment. They interact more on YouTube and Twitter than any other social media platforms. When Vine was at it's peak in 2015, "40% of the top 30 Viners in 2015 were Hispanic". Needless to say, connecting Latina/o culture via the Internet has become an important aspect of surfing the internet for Latina/o youth. However, the messages can easily become mixed when the celebrities themselves neglect their true culture. Let us look at Perez Hilton, for example.

Truly named Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., he is an extremely influential gossip blogger who's material focuses on celebrity life. He is Cuban-American, yet he has not recognized that as a constant part of his identity. Instead, he has received criticism for disregarding other celebrities of color and whitewashing his own Latino identity. He instead has appealed to a "mainstream" gay identity and audience, which also drew criticism when saying that "Homophobia is worse than racism".

Another primary example of the whitewashing transition from notoriety to fame is Dulce Candy, or Jesse Ruiz. She has incorporated both English and Spanish lifestyle into her YouTube blog as a beauty guru. She has a very feminine appeal in both her name and website appearance. The name Dulce Candy is a surrender to colonizing Latina/o culture itself, and her actions soon came to reflect the same. Beforehand, she had the Mexican-American hybrid of a personality that got her into the spotlight. There was a more natural approach, with her hair being worn down and curly accompanied by occasional curse words. She was unfiltered and in her culture. However over time, she started to straighten her hair, used less Mexican/ Mexican American music cues and references, and thus became whitewashed.

My reaction to both of these is sympathy and disgust. It's unfortunate that the most promising way of becoming a Latina/o star in popular culture is to first neglect your ethnic background and evolve to a more whitewashed model of things once you have achieved your debut, if not before.

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ETST 430 - Chapters 2-4

In Chapters 2 through 4, there is a lot of contrasting issues that arise in today's society when reflecting different depictions of Latina/o culture, along with different forms of activism through Latina/o film. For example, reflecting the activism of Cesar Chavez through a biopic film starring Michael Pena. This film was the first of its kind in Mexico, and came with conscious criticism for Mexico. It highlighted the farm worker's movement and social change, all while paying close attention to history and promoting the construction of coalitions. The first of its kind, there was a well-executed successor that strictly focused on labor conditions and policy, amongst gender as well. Firstly, let us look below at the following image.

Depicted here are six unnamed Latina women holding parts that they make in maquiladoras every day while being paid menial wages. This is a still shot from the movie Maquilapolis, which was released in 2006. These are the same women who live on the Mexico-U.S. border in houses made up of 5 abandoned garage doors. An unnamed teen girl stated that her ambition was to work at the Sony factory so she could supply for her family.

My reaction to reading this material included a lot of emotions. Firstly, I admired the strength in which Cesar Chavez had during his time as an activist, and the influence it had on the Mexican government. I also felt absolute sympathy and sorry for the Latina/os working at maquiladoras. Those kind of labor conditions and methods are inhumane, and the pay is almost nonexistent. I cannot believe that companies are consciously allowing for things like this to happen.

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ETST 430 - Chapter 1

In this section, Mary Beltran discusses the pitfalls of being Latina/o in the television/ entertainment market. There are very few people of the Latina/o community that are in powerful positions, and very few in creative positions prior to the 1990s. In fact, only 1% of producers, 2% of writers, and 4% of directors were Latina/o as of 2010-2013. This could also be due to the fact that in some parts of Latina/o culture, they see television as "a hopelessly demoralizing realm of popular culture". This is true to an extent. There have been ridiculously demoralizing depictions of Latina/o characters (whenever rarely present) on the big screen. They were either playing the roles of criminals, illiterate cowboys, people of lesser intelligence, or a henchman. Among this, there was also evident colorism in Hollywood, with "White Latinos" being the ideal ethnic man, and often a hero. The more "Ethnic Latinos" were seen as inferior, and only were seen as servants or sidekicks.

Although the previously mentioned was the situation for most Latina/os, there have also been a couple of notable exceptions. Perhaps the most notorious example is the case of Desi Arnaz. He was not only depicted as a financially successful, loyal husband on I Love Lucy in the 1950s, but he was also purely Latino. In addition, he went on to become the executive producer of the very same show, and founded/ chaired as the president of Desilu Productions as well.

While there are also more fortunate instances such as Mr. Arnaz's, it's worth asking the question: Why must it take lighter skin or sacrificing authentic speech for exaggerated accents to be a successful Latina/o in the entertainment industry? For when no Latina/o is supposedly good enough to represent their own culture, why must the role fall into the possession of White people? Robert Loggia had no right to play Elfego Baca, yet his debut role to stardom was playing a culture in which he had no roots in. It upsets me that the entertainment has seen people of color as secondary citizens for such a long time.