Week 6: Xandra Ibarra

Upon reviewing the work of Xandra Ibarra, I was fascinated by the way she manipulates symbols of degradation applied against the Chicanx and Latinx community, especially toward women. She presents their vulgarity on full display through her striking performance art. One performance that I was most drawn to was entitled La Tortillera, the second installment in her Spictacle series. Many of the presented symbols address the gendered issue of fetishizing Chicana and Latina women as “exotic” or “spicy”. As Xandra performs under her alias La Chica Boom, she creates an image that bluntly places this salacious social code in the face of the audience. Her dancing in housewife attire appears to reflect the expectation of docility and domesticity among Chicanas and Latinas who are taught to serve the pleasure of men. Additionally, he periodically annoyed or angry facial aggressions suggests that she is aware of the oppressive cycle she is caught in. This is also demonstrated by her foreword glance at the viewer as she momentarily shows displeasure in between her exaggerated smiling. The act of taking off her underwear and placing it into the tortillas also visualizes the fetishized consumption of Brown women’s bodies. The underwear with Mexican flag print further shows the eroticization of the Mexican identity as something that can be consumed or exploited. She literally strips herself of these symbols while simultaneously acknowledging their presence. Lastly, the Tapatio strap-on that she wears explicitly illustrates the sexist trope of Chicana and Latina women whose supposed foreignness makes them more attractive or “spicy” to the white male gaze. I would interested in Xandra’s decision to wear the phallic symbol, since it facilitates her active reclaimation of erotic pleasure and control. Her work then both critique the discriminatory racialized and gendered relations, while also imagining women as capable of experiencing sexual pleasure. Overall, my one question to Xandra would be: What informed your decision to perform under an alias (La Chica Boom) during the Spictacle series? What is the deeper meaning behind the name and identity?