Guest Speaker Readings

Catherine S Ramírez, “Crimes of Fashion: The Pachuca and Chicana Style Politics,” Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism Vol 2, No 2 (1-35)

Dionna Espinoza, “Revolutionary Sisters”: Women’s Solidarity and Collective Identification among Chicana Brown Berets in East Los Angeles, 1967-1970

Reading assignment for Wednesday, March 7. Your reply (under Comments) is due before class. Remember, you don’t need to answer all or even any of the questions, but your response should demonstrate you’ve done and thought about the readings. Be sure to check and make sure your response posts.

What are the connections you see between Chicana feminism, style and community?

7 thoughts on “Guest Speaker Readings”

  1. The Pachuco and Pachuca style really shows how there are peaceful and creative modes of resistance. I like how the author explains that style politics is a expression of difference via style (from Meridians pg. 3). Difference because through style Pachucas were forming an image that opposed the standard idea of beauty, womanhood, and what it meant to be an American. It is incredible how times have changed but Mexican American women in the 40’s were really challenging gender norms by merely what they were wearing. What they were wearing is nothing that would be considered edgy or risky in today’s context. However in their times it was a really a revolutionary style of life. Also some things don’t change and that’s society’s negative view of female sexuality. By making female sexuality some how interrelated with society’s wellbeing makes it an issue of mass concern rather than what it should be and that’s a woman’s personal choice. In all the Women’s Studies classes I have taken to this point, I have never really studied how Latina women have influenced the Feminist movement but Pachuca’s show that did they contribute to the liberation of rigid sex/gender roles. Any time any racial groups other than the dominant one tries to demonstrate individuality, they are considered subversive and so called ‘deviant’ which is a method of control. Also women of color have always been hypersexualized and considered morally impure in order, to instill fear and pressure men too control women. Pachuca’s wanted to take agency over their life which was displayed through their choices in fashion and behavior. They also helped construct their own idea of femininity and gender rather than conform to the one being imposed on them by mainstream society.

  2. In “Crimes of Fashion, The Pachuca and Chicana Style Politics,” Ramirez states the zoot suit which was a “distortion of the sober business suit became a signifier of both conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption during World War II” (7). The fact that pachucos and pachucas spent so much money on buying these zoot suits as working class men and women during a time of war with limiting source of production, they were making a political statement by spending money just like a middle class person would. This was controversial because immediately these working class men and women were stepping into the grounds of what would be consider a place of luxury of middle class persons. The accusations toward the chicana zoot suiter who dressed in very short skirts, or in long pants like the men zoot suiters, were meant for the public to be fearful of them and finds ways of “stopping” them from continuing to dress like that. But for pachucas, dressing in zoot suits like the men empowered them to face the society that reinforced their oppression as Mexicans.

  3. I completely agree with Yara’s comment. I think that the Zoot suit of the pachuco and the dress style of the pachuca was used to make a statement in society. As Ramirez says, “pachucas like their male counterparts, carved out a distinct generational and ethnic identiry, defied middle-class ethics, aesthetics, and expectations, and affirmed the qualities of Chicana difference.” I also think that this “fashion style” gave them an identity that they were proud to show during this time. The pachucas and pachucos may not have always had the best reputation, but their style of clothing really showed their presence around the communities, “pachucos occupied public space” and this was not a very good thing to many Mexican-Americans because the pachuco embodied the stereotypes of the “lazy Mexican” (5). Therefore, while this was seen as a negative image for many, it was still very important to the pachuco or Pachuca itself because when someone is able to take up public space and leave that much of a statement behind, with merely their image, then this gives them some type of importance and value, because they know that they have an identity. The concept of having an identity is important to this youth group just as it was to Chicana feminists, because it gives the marginalized a sense of belongingness into some community, and if for much of the youth this was the only group they felt they could easily connect to, then they would become these pachucas and pachucos. As we have been discussing in class, I think the importance of finding an identity continues to be a central theme because everyone wants to identity themselves with a group.

  4. Catherine Ramirez’s essay places style as yet another device for Chicana feminists. It’s purposes were the same as their written works in that it aimed to define the identity of the women that had been forgotten in texts that spoke about the pachuco movement. According to Ramirez, whenever the style and resistance of the pachuco would come up during the Chicano movement, the women of the movement were left out. Like many fashion movements of the past, the pachuca’s unique and often subversive style was a protest against the trends of other social communities. It was a way of stating “we, as a group have our own ways and we are here to stay.” Likewise with Chicana poetry, essays, art, etc., the purpose was to declare their collective identity outwardly.
    Chicanas in the Brown Berets sought what they have always fought for – a sense of community and equality. Although always criticized for attempting to actually break the community, and opposing the social norms of Chicana women, themes such as family are not forgotten as a means to bring the women together and as a foundation of the culture. Dianne Espinoza recalls that in a flyer for Las Adelitas, the following call to action was found: “Join Las Adelitas de Aztlan…porque somos una familia de hermanas.” The Chicana feminists, before, during, and after the Brown Beret movements have always been about reclaiming their status within the Chicano community which is often belittled to simply standing against traditions and the status quo of the culture.

  5. This article was interesting to see the different styles that were in, in the olden days. I was always told stories by my grandmother about the dress and how the pinstripes were the symbol of their masculinity and reading this article is like seeing her side of the story. I have heard of the male Panchucos but never the female Panchucas. They were scandalous especially in the 1960s wearing short dresses and making their hair big. I feel like the Panchucos and Panchucas have evolved into what we now call gangsters and instead of pinstripes and the chains they now where hoodies but nonetheless they still have the same purpose and it is to impress. I really like this article because they included visuals in the beginning so that the audience can visually imagine them and can relate to the symbolism.

  6. It was interesting to read that some writers thought that zoot suits that the Pachucos wore were seen as being or having feminine parts to them. I haven’t read that idea before in any of the articles that I have read before this one. The Pachuco style and image has influenced cultures such as the lowriding culture. One part that caught my attention is some attributed to the Zoot Suit Riots due to the clashing of the how each group dressed. The other theory that I read behind the riots was one of ownership of the land. The areas where the riots took place were areas where they could escape racism. But when the soldiers came, they acted liked they owned the place, and the people living in these communities saw them as trespassers. I think one of the main things that people think about the Zoot Suit Riots is that only Mexican-Americans wore zoot suits. One thing that I never thought of was that the soldiers were doing what the army did to them. Which was breaking them down to fall in line. Its sad that the Mexican-Americans worked so hard to afford the suits to only be called lazy and viewed as the anti American way. Do the clothes make the person? Or do persons choose the clothes that best represent who they are?

  7. The styles of the panchuco/as and the brown berets, both were the expression of taking a stance for both groups. The panchucos saved up money to buy the expensive zoot suits because they wanted to express to others that they were capable of climbing up the class ladder. The Panchucas I think had the loud make-up, short skirt, and big hair, so that they could be noticed and not be women that were overlooked, especially when their men were climbing the class ladder(p.11-12) I think the women wearing the female version of the zoot suit was a way of them symbolizing that they could be equal with men. The chicano brown berets wore “military style clothing” which represented how they were protectors of their communities(p.19 ). The militant uniform for the brown berets almost made it official to the community that they were their to protect them. The brown beret women wore heavy mascara and indigenous styled garments. I think their indigenous garments represented their ancestor women whose responsibility was to take care of basically the community, especially when the men left to hunt (p.27) The mascara they wore was in style for women to do during the ’60’s, I think it symbolized how the women understood that they were in a new age. In this new age they could set up clinics and still help the community, despite the lack of support from the men

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