In “The Verse of the Godfather”, the third chapter in “Next of Kin” by Richard T. Rodríguez, there is an analysis of the Chicano hip hop scene and how it portrays La Raza. Hip hop is made up of many different elements which include “graffiti, urban aesthetics, break dancing, DJ technologies, and, particularly in a Chicano context, tattooing.” A lot of these elements focus on men. Women tend to be underrepresented in these elements. While they are underrepresented, women have and are still very involved in hip hop and it’s many elements.

One of the elements of hip hop that women are still very involved in is DJing. In the article “Meet the Latina DJ Crews Fighting Cultural Erasure, One 45 at a Time” by Michelle Threadgould, two all women DJ collectives are the focus. Chulitas Vinyl Club and The B-Side Brujitas are women’s DJ collectives that “are creating a positive space for their community to do the hard work of healing.” The healing the community is doing is against police brutality and gentrification. While the two collectives do not play hip hop music, they are spreading a message similar to that which many early hip hop DJs were putting across. Chulitas Vinyl Club and The B-Side Brujitas are two groups trying to bring notice to the issues their communities in the Bay Area face. These two groups relate to the reading because they show that women can actually represent and be a part of the hip hop movement. These groups show that women are able to get a message across similar to the way men do through rapping. Chulitas Vinyl Club and The B-Side Brujitas are two examples of how women can be part of hip hop and end the misrepresentation.

Article link:

https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/07/20/meet-the-latina-dj-crews-fighting-cultural-erasure-one-45-at-a-time/

I came across this article and found it both uplifting and curious because it raised certain questions that I never thought to think about. Growing up we never really celebrated Dia de los Muertos but my mother did tell me about it because every year we would visit Mexico in October. The concept of celebrating love ones who have passed instead of morning and mopping over them is amazing. What I found most interesting about this is how the article portrays the Day of the Dead as a “cool holiday.” That concerns me in several ways because lately main street media has revamped the holiday. Disney will release “Coco” in fall 2017 and they base it on Day of the Dead. They also announced that they would be trade marking the phase “Dia de los Muertos” for “various merchandising applications” —-I just hit a wall and fell when I found out!! But of course the Latino community had an up roar about it and they stopped the giant before he would walk away with that idea. Don’t get me wrong, I think its “cool” that people are so interested in our cultures tradition. It’s a great way for them to understand us and appreciate all we have to offer, but when is it too much? I know that the doll franchise “Monster High” came out with a doll who reflects the day of the dead. She looks fashionable but I only hope the audience its intended for understands it. In conclusion I hope we don’t over kill the Day of the Dead and instead show people all the marvelous things it has to offer, both spiritually and physically.

Wallstreet journal http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303843104579167982472259344

Disney Trademark
http://www.theflama.com/mixed-feelings-about-pixar-releasing-coco-a-film-about-dia-de-los-muer-1448630854.html

After reading chapter 2 of Rodriguez’s book and Noriega’s article, I started thinking about how the Hollywood industry has treated Latinos in film and television. For the most part, Latin actors have been typecast to play roles that give in to the stereotypes about Latinos. In addition, these actors also seem to be typecast to play Mexican characters, even if they are not from Mexico. In my opinion, this is becoming a much bigger problem than a couple of decades ago since the Latino population in the United States is rapidly growing.

The Huffington Post published an article (http://huffpost.com/us/entry/4039490) a couple of years ago titled “10 Latino Stereotypes That Must Go.” In this article, The Huffington Post put together a video of clips that demonstrate some of the popular Latin stereotypes that Hollywood needs to let go of. The video shows clips from films and TV shows, both old and modern, that show Latin actors playing the maid, drug dealer, and “Latin lover” roles. But, Latinos are more than these glorified clichés and this needs to change. Therefore, Hollywood needs to start to open its eyes and needs to provide these Latin actors roles that will make them the next Oscar or Golden Globe winner instead of another stereotypical punch line.

Rodriguez, in Next of Kin Focuses on the representation of Chicanos in the Media, Specifically the recent representation of Chicanos on media. Films like Mi Familia focuses on what every other ethnicity is supposed to think about Chicanos. This Film shows the extreme Patriarchal lifestyle that every Chicano is supposed to live within their family structure.

In the website about.com Five Common Latino Stereotypes in Television and Film, the different roles Latinos take in the media are explained. With Latinos being the largest racial minority in the United States today, racial stereotypes about Latinos abound in television and film. The most common portrayal of Latinos in media are gangsters and maids. Latinos had replaced African Americans in the domestic worker portrayal.

I find it interesting how most assume that a Latino in television is automatically a Mexican. I guess, other ethnicities find it easier to categorize us all into one large Mexican group.

When it comes to representation of men in media, throughout history they were being represented as sexy, thugs and now immigrants.

This article is able to describe the transition of Latinos in the media both for men and women, and it just supports the idea the stereotypes will continue to grow in the world. This means that the idea of Latinos relies on media, and unfortunately many people will believe what the media wants them to believe about Latinos

Nittle, Nadra K. Five Common Latino Stereotypes in Television and Film, January 8^th, 2016 http://racerelations.about.com/od/hollywood/a/Five-Common-Latino-Stereotypes-In-Television-And-Film.htm Accessed September 09, 2016

One of the main themes for this week’s reading was machismo and the way that it affects the family unit. An article from my favorite magazine Bitch Media, talks about the way that advertisers for self-care products such as hair care, moisturizers, and fragrances are now focusing on marketing for Latino men because their buying these products heavily. they mention the fact that they no longer feel the need to make their products seem “manly” in order to appeal Latino men because they no longer feel uncomfortable about keeping up with their appearances. Chiqui Cartagena from Ad Age goes on to describe latino males as the original metrosexuals because they like to look good and get primped and groomed. She also mentions that being the original metrosexuals is a description that is the farthest description she could get from machismo. I think when we think about a “macho latino man”, most people don’t necessarily imagine some guy going into Ulta Beauty to get his eyebrows waxed and pick up some skin care products. Which i think their trying to point out that although machismo definitely exist in our culture that there are also a lot of stereotypes about what a macho latino men is like and looks like. I also really like this article for this week’s theme of machismo because it puts into question why machismo pops up when we think about latino men. The article mentions that the influence of the Catholic church, the Spanish conquest, and socioeconomic inequity could play a role on why we see machismo in latino culture.

Bitch Media Article

In the introduction of “Next of Kin,” author Richard T. Rodriguez explains the heteronormative and masculinity that is practiced in Latina/o families. Latina/o families tend to practice these problematic ideologies because they carry the belief that this family structure is traditional and appropriate. Intersectionality is also a common theme in the introduction because Rodriguez claims that in order to address the issues of machismo within Latina/o families, we must understand the concept of “nationalism” and how it comes into play with the gender roles within our community. In Chapter One, Rodriguez further illustrates in one perspective “families from which many Chicano student activists emerged were of poor or working-class backgrounds, a fact that jump-started in many an activist the sense of struggle” and in another perspective “young Chicano activists believed that their own parents and grandparents had been passive and accommodating to discrimination and exploitation” (Rodriguez, 21). As much as some of our ancestors have tried to break the cycle of abuse and devaluing of other presences, it gets difficult because that is what superior “communities” have taught them to do. The men in Latina/o families tend to like power and control because for a long time, many had mistreated and taken advantage of their presence. Do you think Latina/o masculinity should be blamed on amongst our own community or should our colonizers and so-called superior populations (Whites) be labeled the culprits for the insecurities?

Masculinity is practiced in an endless amount of spaces, one of them being academia. In the article “The Interdisciplinary Project of Chicana History: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” author Miroslava Chávez- García explains how important it is for women to take charge in writing the stories and histories of our community. She states, “…Chicana writers and activists, many of them untrained scholars, took up the tasks of recovering their untold histories and did so collectively and creatively. Unlike the males working in the field, the females relied on each other to build histories (and futures) they could call their own” (Chávez- Garcia, 543). Men have the tendency to voice the stories of women and get a lot of credit for using up spaces that are supposed to be shared and accepting towards everyone. Without each other’s support, women would not be able to create a unified community in which they could combat the misogyny and masculinity all around them.

Even though the masculinity we experience as women could be draining, we have the control and power to make a difference in our spaces and community.

Chávez-GarcÍa, M. (2013). The Interdisciplinary Project of Chicana History.Pacific Historical Review, 82(4), 542-565.

Living in a patriarchal society makes it difficult for women to be independent or liberal of their own lives. We are set to act, dress, and work in a certain way. We the women in the family are the ones that are supposed to take care of the family and make sure to make food, care for our children and take care of the domestic work at home as well. In the article, “5 Ways Latinxs Can Challenge Machismo in Our Families and Communities” writer Jennifer Loubriel discusses how machismo is “dangerous” to our culture and especially in our families. She mentions, “As niñxs, we’re taught that machismo attitudes are “traditional” attitudes. As people of diaspora, we’re raised believing it connects us to our roots, protects our cultures, and reminds us of what family should be like.” As young Chicanas, we grow with a mentality of having to serve the family traditions and culture beliefs of a woman having to care for the family. In her poem, “Machismo is Part of Our Culture” Marcela Christine Lucero-Trujillo mentions machismo is a huge part of our culture. because it is the way family structures are imposed in many Chicana/o families. Similar to Lucero-Trujillo, Loubriel said machismo is a construct that is created around our culture. We have grown up to follow certain norms that have become a customs that seem to come natural in most of our lives. It is embedded within ourselves and sometimes we may not realize it.

Furthermore, Loubriel gives various examples that we “Latinxs” or Chicana should challenge machismo in our family by engaging with changing our attitudes with them. One of the ways that was very interesting to me of her challenging machismo is not expect our mothers to do everything for us. Our mothers are hard working women, they are “exhausted from constantly having to look after everyone” (Loubriel). Loubriel’s article reminded of how social activist women in the film A Crushing Love such as Dolores Huerta, Elizabeth “Betita“ Martinez, Cherrie Moraga, Alicia Escalante, and Marta Cotera demonstrate that women are capable of being advocates for their community while raising a family of their own. These women leaders do not follow the norm of being the ideal mother that stays home, cooks, and take care of their children; instead they break the stereotypes of women in Chicano patriarchal structure. They go against all the beliefs and structures that women in the Chicano culture have to follow. Many of theses women were judge because they did not fill the women expectation of being good mothers. Women have an exhausting gender role in our culture. As Loubriel mentions, various of way to combat that machismo altitude in our households by doing thing out of the ordinary like engaging with the family, not to depend on our mothers, stop others to defer us, speaking to other Latinas, and maintain conversations with people in our lives. We as Chicanas or Latinas have to learn how break gender roles by challenging them within our lives but also acknowledge the hard work we as women contribute everyday in society.

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/11/how-challenge-machismo/

This week we read a poem “Machismo Is Part of Our Culture” by Marcela Christine Lucero-Trujillo in which she makes the connection that Machismo is part of our culture at the title ensures. Men are to remind the women that machismo is part of the culture in which we grew up in. The women is to be submissive to the male and just be vulnerable towards them. Lucero-Trujillo also touches upon how the men are the bosses to the women in our culture, however, if a gringa were to pass right in front of the male he would bow down to her.

In the article that I found online Family, Machismo, and Cultural Change by Ricardo B. Salinas, he has a different perspective on Machismo in our culture. Salinas points that there should be a stop in Machismo, and although in wanting to create an end to Machismo he will be called out on by other male he does not have any problem with. In getting rid of Machismo one should appreciate the work that women do in society. He mentions this concept of the “nuclear family in the society”, this image of a perfect family in which there is a male, female, and children. However, states that not all families are perfect. In some cases there are broken families in which the male is no longer present in the picture. Instead of blaming the women for the man leaving one should admire her, and acknowledge her work. We should also learn to honor the single mothers that are working hard to provide food for their children, and also to those mothers that are still trying to achieve higher education. If we continue to focus on Machismo and the negativity it causes in our culture then there will be no cultural change in society. Although this article talked about rather getting rid of Machismo instead of being remembered that Machismo is part of our culture, I personally agree with Salinas women should be taken into consideration as hard workers as well.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ricardo-b-salinas/family-machismo-and-cultural_b_4157544.html