Mexico’s corrupt government and the extreme poverty and inequality, have resulted in narcocorridos that celebrate those who achieve economic mobility and success by rebelling against institutionalized poverty and joining the drug business; however, women are not portrayed with the same opportunities, leadership, nor independence as males. The corridos first gained popularity as the Mexican Revolution storytellers (Beezley 11), but the increment of drug trafficking transformed them into narcocorridos, ballads that narrate stories related to the drug business. Since, 51.3% of Mexicans live under the poverty line (México is the 21st country with the largest population under poverty) (Population Below Poverty Line 1), Mexico places as the 62nd …show more content…
In this essay, we will examine En La Sierra Y La Ciudad (In The Mountains And In The City) by Javier Rosas, a narcocorrido that, though the main character is a buchona, “la China” (“The One With The Curly Hair”), the male-dominated production limits, undermines, and objectifies the powerful women and ironically misrepresents the song’s main character. This will be achieved by first, providing a background on important terms. Later, we will summarize the narcocorrido’s lyrics and proceed to describe what occurs in the music video. Afterwards, it will be measured the amount of time in which each character appears in the music video to analyzing how “la China” is illustrated, the camera techniques used on her, and who has the opportunity to voice out opinions. This is important because, not only are narcocorridos ignoring and silencing the stories of women involved in drug trafficking, but they are also reflecting a reality of a business where it is difficult for women to achieve wealth and …show more content…
In the beginning of the video, a red Cheyenne truck arrives to an immense cream house that looks like a mansion. Red often symbolizes passion which is no surprise that the woman representing “la China” is driving it. When “la China” gets off the truck, she is wearing golden high heels, a tights orange mini dress, and a big golden watch. As she walks inside the house, it can be seen her long wavy hair as she is followed by three males dress in black, wearing bullet proof jackets, and holding cuernos de chivo, suggesting that they are sicarios. Throughout the music video, the camera switches between focusing on “la China” and on Javier Rosas, who is dressed as a buchon: bottom shirts, a jacket, jeans, and a big watch (Illianardz 1). Rosa always sings to the camera and it is unclear whether the house where the video takes place is Rosas’ or the “China’s.” However, if the video tried to recreate the scene of “la China’s” arrival to the meeting, then that would suggest that Rosas might also be a drug dealer that is attending to the “important meeting.” Therefore, it is logical to see some scenes in which the two characters are together in a room that seems like a living room. In this scene, Rosas keeps switching from looking at the camera to looking at “la China,” who is wearing sunglasses and is holding a
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly captures a Mexico in its true light.
Sanchez voices her fictional narrator with precipitous diction. As her tone fluctuates, she guides listeners into the narrator’s mind, granting them a second hand experience of the occurrence and aftermath of trauma. As the characters are humanized, they are recognized as victims of systemic violence rather than condemned and typified as weak or criminal. Finally, the consequences of addiction culminate when the child is sold, raped, and stripped of her sense of security. Surely, it would be absurd to hold her accountable for these acts.
In Cholas and Pishtacos: Stories of Race and Sex in the Andes, Mary Weismantel provides an extensive, detailed understanding of cholas and pishtacos in the Andes. Through further analysis, Weismantel distinguishes the main difference between the two stories: the pishtaco is only but a figment of the Andean’s imagination, and the chola is an urban Indian women working in the city. The details about the pishtacos and the cholas will be carefully described with the symbolism of each figure. Secondly, this paper will contrast and compare the two figure’s roles and characteristics regarding sex and race. Finally, the changes of the cholas and pishtacos due to colonial enterprise will be discussed, also in terms of race and sex within the Andes. The estrangement of the cholas and pishtacos creates an uncanniness feeling for others within the Andean community.
Failing to find a positive opportunity for work, Maria’s next job is seemingly much worse in multiple ways. Maria gets offered enough money to hold her over for a long time in Colombia, by becoming a international narcotrafficker, even though it still “yields ve...
Desert Blood is based on a stereotypical context of the female commodization whereby Rubi, Ximena and Ivon try to fight against the patriarchy so that they can find their individual empowerment at deeper levels. In addition, Ximena and Ivon represent a network empowerment while Rubi represents organizational empowerment. Alba’s novel has given empowerment to the female characters where they manage to break the silence that surrounded the reality of Juarez femicide; this offers a long-awaited voice on the crime as well as the women that needed to speak-up. Alba shows that the women were considered almost worthless and were not considered as the tenable social construct which was maintained and established by the patriarchal
Rather, it criticizes this culture through its portrayal of women. The narrative is focused on a male and is told by a male, which reflects the male-centered society it is set in. However, when we compare how the narrator views these women to who they really are, the discrepancies act as a critique on the Dominican culture. Yunior, who represents the typical Dominican male, sees women as objects, conquests, when in fact their actions show their resistance to be categorized as such. Beli, whose childhood was filled with male domination by Trujillo and the family she worked for, attempts to gain power through sexuality, the avenue the culture pushes women toward. This backfires, creating a critique of the limited opportunities available for women. La Inca portrays a different side to this, working quietly but in ways that are not socially acceptable through self-employment. Society attempts to cage these women, but they continue to fight against it. Diaz, in an interview, quoted James Baldwin, stating, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced" (Fassler). He exhibits the misogyny in the system but does not support it, rather critiques it through strong female characters. By drawing attention to the problem, the novel advocates for change. Diaz writes, at the end of part 1, “Nothing more exhilarating… than saving yourself by the simple act of waking”
In his essay "Selena’s Good Buy: Texas Mexicans, History, and Selena Meet Transnational Capitalism,” Coronado (2001) argues that Selena embodies displaced desires that need to be situated in their historical content. By looking at how Texans and marketers reacted to Selena’s death, Coronado was able to show us how Selena’s death can be looked at form a psychoanalytic lens. The working class’ obsession with Selena can be seen as a fetish of sorts. A fetish is caused by trauma and can be applied socially to a irritable social construct. In other words, Selena could be a social fetish; the Latinx working class abruptly lost someone who was representing them in mainstream media, leading to the trauma. In this theory, Selena is no longer seen as a person who contributed hugely to the rise of colored people in mainstream media, but as
The popular revolutionary poem “I am Joaquin” by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales influenced many Chicana/os to embrace their heritage in the Chicano Movement in the 1960s. The poem created psychological work for the Chicano identity. Moreover, this poem developed and promoted social consciousness, commitment to activism, and cultural pride for many Chicanos. However, Gonzales primarily focuses on the identity and struggles of a Mexican-American male which excludes other narratives. Thus, the lack of inclusivity influenced me to recreate the popular poem, which centers on women from Central America who are rarely acknowledged in Chicano Studies. Therefore, our poem “I am Dolores” is focused on these three main themes: empowerment of women of color, resistance
Federico García Lorca’s poem “La casada infiel” depicts the story of a gypsy who makes love to a married woman on the shore of a river. When looking deeper into the poem, Lorca appears to provide a critical observation on the values of the conservative society at the time in which he lived. The woman, at her most basic reading, is treated as an object, elaborating on the sexist values in society at the time. Lorca addresses issues of sexism as well as issues of sexuality within society mainly through the poem’s sexist narrative voice, objectification of the female character and overriding sense of a lack of desire throughout the poem. His achievement to do so will be analysed throughout this commentary with particular attention to Lorca’s use of poetic techniques such as diction, personification and imagery.
The Mexican drug war began in the 1960s, with America’s love for illegal drugs fueling the fire. Narco-violence has claimed the lives of thousands of citizens in recent years. Drug cartels have become comparable to Mafia figures, and have resorted to Mafia-style violence to prove to the Mexican government that they remain in control. The violence caused by drug cartels is rumored to lead Mexico to become a failed state. George W. Grayson, regular lecturer at the United States Department of State, has made more than one-hundred and twenty-five research trips to Mexico, and is considered an expert on U.S.-Mexican relations. A recent book by Grayson, Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State, describes the depressing situation provoked by drug cartels, and debates the controversial argument of whether Mexico will become a failed state. Narco-violence in Mexico will be analyzed by the severity of the drug problem and the executives’ influence on the drug war, to determine if Mexico will reach the status of a failed state.
The Mexican banditry has appeared in many forms of culture since the early nineteenth century. The book “Bandit Nation” talked about a cultural impact that banditry had on Mexico from the period of its independence to the Mexican Revolution. The bandits did not come up with their own name but the Mexican and the elites are the ones that gave the bandits their name. The bandits are the lower-class outlaws and rebels who resist exploitation and oppression (Preface page). The elites did not just give them that name because they were poor but because they would do criminal activities. Some Mexicans would see the bandits as good but others saw them as just using it as an excuse to be rebels. Some of the Mexicans saw the bandits as heroes and some of the ones seen as heroes were Francisco Villa and the ones that followed him which were Chucho el Roto, Heraclio Bernal, and Santanon. The bandits were giving Mexico a bad reputation and that’s why they were trying to put a stop to them. It made it seem like the Mexican people could not even control their own people.
Drug related violence “has been exploding” and a pentagon report likens “the Aztec nation to the terrorist infested basket case Pakistan”-Time Magazine. The different drug cartels fighting between themselves has created problems for Mexico. According to both the NYDT and Time corruption is present “in all law enforcement agencies” and has been described as “endemic to Mexican politics”. Further to this NYDT has obtained information of gruesom...
...Halevi-Wise, Yael (1997). Story-telling in Laura Esquivel's Como Agua Para Chocolate. The Other Mirror: Women’s Narrative in Mexico, 1980-1995. Ed. Kristine Ibsen. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. 123-131.
Poverty is rampant in Mexico. As the country rapidly urbanizes, large corporations take over many sources of income for the average citizen, leaving them with no way to support their families. Rural farmers (called Campesinos) take the biggest hit from this method of industrialization as corporations start large farms and put them out of business. (worldsavvy) Masses of penniless Campesinos migrate to the city in search of better opportunities. The cities do not have the resources to support the large number of Campesinos and their families flooding into them, and the workers end up in a situation worse than the one they left. (uleth) Large corporate farms are causing Mexico’s economic disparity and forcing many families to be stuck in a cycle of poverty and substandard living conditions. (Edmonds-Poli, Shirk 269)