Barbara Calderón-Douglass’ magazine article, “The Folk Feminist Struggle Behind the Chola Fashion Trend,” published April 13th, 2015 on Vice, a digital media and broadcasting company, writes to a generalized audience as a previous chola who resents the fashion trend appropriated by pop-culture. She explicitly argues its ineffective execution in culminating the true essence of cholas and neglect in considering the struggles and values that which formed the chola culture. Calderon begins the article by describing the defining features of cholas and their aesthetic, illustrating the fashion through the view of her older sister—who of which a revered chola— and the author herself growing up in south Texas. She recounts the berry-colored …show more content…
eyeliner, thin eyebrows, baggy polo shirts, and gold jewelry. The author proceeds in speaking about the morals taught to her developing in a rough neighborhood, having to showing resilience if challenged and fierce independence as a Mexican-American woman. Despite later resigning from her life as a chola and into one of academic prosperity, those attributes remained.
Her appeal to ethos as a former chola with personal experience on the matter establishes authority, convincing the reader of the validity of her claim and confirming it as one of significance. Mentioning her past and current influence of the culture invokes the ability to properly engage the reader into a convincing argument. Calderon’s standpoint on the overall claim expresses the tone that she takes with the article. She understands the premise behind its embezzlement and acknowledges the chola aesthetic for its values and as a style to aspire to. But regarding this, the trend is a direct infringement on not only her character and identity—but other authentic cholas who have experienced the culture. She writes, “it gets stripped of context and becomes little more than a costume” (par. 7) and rejects the trend’s attempt at accurately portraying the …show more content…
culture. Elaborating on this statement, Calderon informs the reader about the conception of the chola culture. She identifies the societal norms of the 1940s and the prevalence of racism, gang warfare, violence, poverty, and conservative gender roles. The predecessors of cholas—pachucos/pachucas--radically challenged these norms. Even though pachucas were met with severity and injustice, despite inherent disadvantages, they had the indomitable willpower to live a modest life and feminism values that clashed against a patriarchal society. The transition into the distinct chola aesthetic followed shortly after and constructed itself with these same values also in response to societal disorder such as loyalty, pride, identity, self-esteem, and belonging. Through this, she appeals to reason and logic. Her implementation of logos and providing research on the context of cholas emphasizes the worth of her argument, giving the reader more reason as to why the attempts of those procuring the chola aesthetic are in vain. While their appearance seemingly exudes a fierce impression, the culture has a vast history and other values not acknowledged in the fashion trend and lacks the depth established by authentic chola culture. Calderon expresses the overall struggles of Latino culture and oppression the Mexican-American community faced.
She goes into detail about the Mexican Repatriation, an event from 1929 to 1944 in which the government removed Mexicans—including actual citizens—from the country and forced to sell their land and the Zoot Suit Riots that took place across LA and Southern California where white military servicemen attacked pachucos. In addition, she details the whitewashing of Mexican-American history in current times as the prime factor as to why appropriation of the culture is distasteful and rude and the continuous racism that pervades the US today. By this point, the author’s appeal to pity and use of detailing graphic scenes emotionally prompts the reader to subjectively accept her
claim. Calderon’s attempt to inform a generalized audience on the importance of her claims stands out through her various executions of rhetorical strategies, appealing to emotion, reason, and establishing authority to support the overall argument: pop-culture’s ineffective execution in culminating the true essence of cholas and neglect in considering the struggles and many values that which formed the chola culture.
Starting with the first chapter, Deverell examines the racial and ethnic violence that took place in the wake of American defeat. In no more than thirty years or so, ethnic relations had appeased and the Mexican people were outnumbered quickly (as well as economically marginalized and politically disenfranchised), as the second chapter discloses. The author examines a variety of topics to further his case but the most compelling and captivating sections of the book come into the third, fourth and fifth chapters. The third chapter focuses its attention
Norma Elia Cantu’s novel “Canícula: Imágenes de una Niñez Fronteriza” (“Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera”), which chronicles of the forthcoming of age of a chicana on the U.S.- Mexico border in the town of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo in the 1940s-60s. Norma Elia Cantú brings together narrative and the images from the family album to tell the story of her family. It blends authentic snapshots with recreated memoirs from 1880 to 1950 in the town between Monterrey, Mexico, and San Antonio, Texas. Narratives present ethnographic information concerning the nationally distributed mass media in the border region. Also they study controversial discourse that challenges the manner in which the border and its populations have been portrayed in the U.S. and Mexico. The canícula in the title symbolizes “The dog days of 1993,” an intense part of summer when the cotton is harvested in South Texas. The canícula also represents summer and fall; also important seasons and concepts of that bridge between child and adulthood. She describes imaginative autobioethnography life growing up on ...
Traditionally history of the Americas and American population has been taught in a direction heading west from Europe to the California frontier. In Recovering History, Constructing Race, Martha Mencahca locates the origins of the history of the Americas in a floral pattern where migration from Asia, Europe, and Africa both voluntary and forced converge magnetically in Mexico then spreads out again to the north and northeast. By creating this patters she complicates the idea of race, history, and nationality. The term Mexican, which today refers to a specific nationality in Central America, is instead used as a shared historic and cultural identity of a people who spread from Mexico across the southwest United States. To create this shared identity Menchaca carefully constructs the Mexican race from prehistoric records to current battles for Civil Rights. What emerges is a story in which Anglo-Americans become the illegal immigrants crossing the border into Texas and mestizo Mexicans can earn an upgrade in class distinction through heroic military acts. In short what emerges is a sometimes upside down always creative reinvention of history and the creation of the Mexican "race (?)".
Martínez, Elizabeth Sutherland. 1998. De Colores Means all of us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century. U.S.: South End Press.
Rosales, F. Arturo. Lecture 2/14 Film The US-Mexican War Prelude. Weber, David J. - "The 'Path of the World'" Foreigners in Their Native Land: The Historical Roots of Mexican Americans.
Bladerrama, Francisco E., Raymond Rodriguez. Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s. Alburquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. Galarza, Ernesto. A. Merchants of Labor: The Mexican Bracero Story.
The eternal endeavor of obtaining a realistic sense of selfhood is depicted for all struggling women of color in Gloria Anzaldua’s “Borderlands/La Frontera” (1987). Anzaldua illustrates the oppressing realities of her world – one that sets limitations for the minority. Albeit the obvious restraints against the white majority (the physical borderland between the U.S. and Mexico), there is a constant and overwhelming emotional battle against the psychological “borderlands” instilled in Anzaldua as she desperately seeks recognition as an openly queer Mestiza woman. With being a Mestiza comes a lot of cultural stereotypes that more than often try to define ones’ role in the world – especially if you are those whom have privilege above the “others”.
When contextualized by historical precedent, does the ethnographic method expose the contrasted emotions that migrants have felt as inhabitants of Mexico and the United States? In historian Deborah Cohen’s first book entitled Braceros! Migrant Citizens and Transnational Subjects in the Postwar U.S. and Mexico, readers follow the voyages of the Mexican-born men who chose to leave their homeland for the United States as agricultural laborers in the so-called Bracero Program between 1942 and 1964. Throughout her historiography, Dr. Cohen’s credentials as a dedicated investigator of U.S. and Mexican socioeconomic policies manifest themselves in her findings. Currently, Dr. Cohen is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Missouri
There was no better defining example of the division of mainstream views and that of a particular ethnicity as in The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria. Ortiz Cofer provided me with a very clear and a very defining expression of how her Puerto Rican culture could easily be misinterpreted. When discussing the dressing habits of her Puerto Rican culture Ortiz Cofer stated “As young girls it was our mothers who influenced our decisions about clothes and colors – mothers who had grown up on a tropical island where the natural environment was a riot of primary colors, where showing your skin was one way to keep cool as well as to look sexy.” (307).... ... middle of paper ...
In the United States, prior to the World War II, the large influx of Latino population to some states brought the fear to local residents from foreigners. In the Los Angeles area the large numbers of US soldiers were stationed during the War, and soon the conflicts between them and Latino youth broke out. One of the conflicts that were important for the recognition of Mexican-Americans in the United States was the “Zoot Suit Riots”, which is known as a series of attacks, in June 1943, by white American servicemen against Mexican-American youth. It had a significant effect on ethnic consciousness among young Mexican-Americans and for the recognition of their identity within American culture.
During this trivial time period, “La Raza”—a group of people mainly conformed of Hispanics who expressed their racial pride—outnumbered the whites and somehow were still forced to accept the poor living conditions they were being submitted to. “Most of La Raza owned no property and worked as cotton pickers and were locked out of the higher-paying jobs in foundries, machine shops, creameries, cotton oil mills, and small factories” (Orozco 20). The constant belittling of races would eventually lead to a divided society, a society that would soon become segregated. Restaurants, schools, barber ...
“Just as Journalists, novelist, and propagandists appealed on behalf of servicemen went to emotions of empathy compassion and brotherhood the injunctions against zoot suiters solicited fantasies of revenge, retribution and annihilation” (Mazon). The press had from the start instigated and fueled hostility against zoot suit wearers and pachuco culture. One example, city newspapers began running stories about the “ juvenile war” being waged on the country streets by latino kids. During this disorder their daily and false accusations sparked up the flames. “The media constantly referred to the latino youth as delinquents, goons, and hoodlums” (Acuna). The media portrayed the chicano youth as a nuisance and applauded the servicemen for their “heroic” acts making the pride and joy of the public. Headline after headline, stories of how the servicemen were being mistreated making them the victims by only telling one side of the story, made civilians want to help the servicemen. Now not only were the servicemen beating and humiliating Zoot Suiters but civilians as well, because of what they read in newspapers, reasoning their violence by saying they were doing their part for the war
He highlights the fact that the combined community of Mexican-Americans and Indian Mexican-Americans communities have been subjected to pillaging by saying, “and took what they could use” (378). The Latin people have been subjected to forced labor, rape of their women, looting of their precious materials, and the subjugation without representation within the areas the Anglos have moved into and taken over. While “they” removed anything of material value, “they” neglected what was of real worth which is their “art”, “literature”, and “music” (379-381). This is an additional theme that once again places the Latin community at odds with the Anglo community. “They” robbed the community. “They” took what was “ours”, but our author points out that their true culture is based in their shared history and art. Those are the most vital elements that strengthen their culture and community identities. Those are the very things that the Anglo community least appreciates, but the Hispanic community could uses as badges of honor and sources of true cultural identity. While “they” can still hire Latinos to plant their fields and do other seemingly menial jobs, the very music that the workers play to help them get through their day can be used as an anthem to inspire them to keep going and strive for better. Gonzales emphasizes the importance of these cultural artifacts by indenting the
This essay is one that seeks to discuss and educate you the reader about, “Whe Dem call Hot Dress ah jus excuse fi sho aff Dem badi.” In the contemporary trends of today (21st century), people become more and more independent and break out of their shells. Dress is defined as “an assemblage of modifications of the body and/or supplements to the body”, (Roach-Higgins & Eicher 1992).
As a Cuban writer, Carpentier has an in-depth understanding about the development of the entire Latin American Literature as a result of his experience working in journalism as well as being exiled and prisoned several times in his life. The Kingdom of This World and perhaps many other Carpentier’s works have demonstrated the influence of Western civilization, while Carpentier is aware of its limited effect on real Latin American culture in essence. For example, there is this depiction of a pastoral ball held in Santiago by the Cubans who try to imitate outdated French fashion style. “An air of license, of fantasy, of disorder swept the city. The young Cubans began to copy the fashions of the émigrés…Cuban ladies took lessons in French etiquette and practiced the art of turning out their feet to show off the elegance of their slippers.” On the other h...