Week 4- Rasquachismo and Domesticana

Gathered from Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology, Rasquachismo is a paradigm in and of itself to put into words. The authors expressed how even the act of defining it is whats troubling about it, because it is more the essence of what the word is than the literal definition itself. It's an attitude, a viewpoint, a taste, the intricacies of Mexican vernacular traditions and the history of of los de abajo. One can be rasquache, in which they present a spunky attitude rooted in a deep manifestation of art and life in the Chicano community.

As a counterpart to rasquachismo, the authors present domesticana, a Chicana feminist reinterpretation of this idea. Domesticana has grown due to an increase in Chicana women taking a stand, affirmations of cultural values, and a resistance to women's restrictions within the culture. One of my favorite points made by the authors about domesticana is as follows: "To understand domesticana Chicana it is necessary to impose a criticality that places art production as more than reflective of ideology but rather as an art production that is constructive of ideology" (94). This argues that art is used as a tool to convey ideas, realities, and perspectives into life as a Chicana that would otherwise be silenced. Further, this domesticana incorporates aspects of the traditional gender roles imposed on women. For example, the use of the bedroom and kitchen both embody a centality and an inprisonment. The juxtaposition here posits these terms to allow for a reconstruction of their meaning, one that allows for Chicana women to gain power from them instead of being held down by them.