On Monday, November 26, Dr. Reina Prado will be coming to our seminar. In preparation you should start following her on Twitter (if you don’t already). Her Twitter handle is @santaperversa.
Then, go to her website: http://santaperversa.com and look around.
Read her poetry: http://santaperversa.com/poetry.htm
Watch her on YouTube:
And check out her alter ego: http://goodmexicangirl.tumblr.com
http://www.facebook.com/goodmexicangirl
Then discuss your thoughts and questions you’d like to ask Dr. Prado. 🙂
See you Monday!
Dr. Prado is seems very unique in her approach and i would have liked to see more videos. I still feel that i would need more exposure to really grasp her work. I am looking forward to seeing what she is going to share with us today.
Here are a few questions i have for her:
In your poem Love’s fool, can explain more on why you chose to mention Izumi shikibu? Or if you can elaborate on the significance.
In the poem, Red August Moon what did you mean by
“Your presence vivid in my memory, all that remains
Volcanic ashes scattered by the river’s edge
Remnants of an evening together”?
I remember the first time I read this: “A good mexican girl keeps dry in the kitchen and wet in the bedroom.” The quote did take me by surprise but by no means did I find it wrong or offensive – if anything, I acknowledge it as words of truth. The quote reminds me a lot of what my mother has told me growing up. She is always trying to give me dating advice, but in her eyes dating can only serve as a stepping stone for marriage (i.e. any boyfriend I have ever brought home has been examined as the future son-in-law). My mother always tells me that marriage will require me to be a good friend to my husband, a good housewife in the kitchen, and a good lover in the bedroom. I still do not know how I feel about this – patriarchy resonates! – but in some ways it does make sense. I think the quote embellished on Good Mexican Girl products expresses this very well.
I find Dr. Reina Prado’s ironic embodiment of traditional chicana/latina gender roles amusing and thought-provoking. I think these roles need to be challenged as much as possible. The fact that she plays with these expectations in her performance art but also sells baked/home goods in traditional Mexican style is ironic. Shows that you can have the positive aspects of cultural roles, but not be suppressed or victimized by them.
My favorite poem of hers was “Lucha: A Bout in Three Rounds,” I loved the narrative, and found it more personal, vivid, and moving than the other pieces. I wonder if this was an autobiographical piece, or what exactly inspired it.
I think that Dr. Prado’s work is really brilliant. Ale made a really important point. I remember seeing a bag with “A good Mexican girl keeps dry in the kitchen and wet in the bedroom” and being shocked, being really taken aback by the how blunt but how true the statement was. This video especially reminded me of the Vagina Monologues, but more like the Chicana version. Her work has definitely sparked my interest because it’s fun and playful, but she is addressing serious topics.