2020 Ojeda, joel Rasquachismo/Domesticana

This week in the book Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology, the Chapters on Rasquachismo by Tomas Ybarra-Frausto and Domesticana by Amalia Mesa-Bains both are similar but share their differences respectively. First, Rasquachismo is defined by an underdog/ outsider perspective on simply surviving, a common trait among immigrant based families and more specifically in this context among Chicanos, by taking what most people would consider worthless or trash and recycling it for daily extended use. A few examples in the text included the use of empty cans and tupperware as flower pots and Christmas lights for altares. The reasoning stated in the text was that these serve as coping mechanisms to gain/ extend time and have hope for a better tomorrow. This mentality carries over in art works like poetry, theatre, and television; the use of found materials in pieces reflect the lived experience in the barrio with a witty, politically conscious attitude reflective of the many lives Chicanos live. The second essay Domesticana by Amalia Mesa-Bains takes the same rasquachismo attitude and fuses it with feminist Chicana messages, creating an elevated sense of Chicana's life in a patriarchal family setting and the added disadvantage already present in the world outside the home. Mesa - Baines mentioned that women within Chicano culture are expected to sustain an attitude of servitude, healing, beauty, and child bearing/ caring so these ideas are implemented in Domesticana art work by placing their narratives within a domestic aesthetic to share family and cultural experiences while still challenging gender norms by using irony, paradox, and subversion, as stated by Mesa-Bains, referencing prominent Domesticana Chicana artists like Patricia Rodriguez, Patssi Valdez, and herself respectfully. While both of these art styles and attitudes are separated by gender and other things, they both share cultural structures with messages of social and economic despair prevalent in these marginalized communities to spread awareness and to establish an elevated social consciousness on barrio living and the Chicano experience.