Rasquachismo and Domesticana

When thinking about the term rasquachismo, it’s interesting to think how an attitude can be so heavily gendered. From the reading, I got the impression that rasquachismo is largely a Chicano attitude despite the lived realities it responds to being shared by the entire Chicanx community. It is interesting to see how Chicana rasquache, or domesticana, has emerged as a result of women’s restrictions within the Chicanx community. The use of traditionally domestic (and feminine) spheres, such as home altars or dressers, uses the lived reality Chicana women face in the domestic space. I question the purpose of reflecting of femininity and glamour within domesticana art because it risks labeling itself as merely “feminine” art instead of feminist art. However, I can also see how using traditional forms and markers of femininity can both align with and rebel against certain cultural norms. 

It seems that both rasquachismo and domesticana share origins of finding purpose within lived realities to surmount adversity. This lends itself to the seemingly paradoxical idea of rasqachismo being flamboyant yet making do with limited resources. Similarly, domesticana seems to emphasize ephemeral attitudes despite utilizing domestic spaces. It is also interesting how these attitudes are applied not only to artmaking, but also to a way of living within a Chicanx society. Similar attitudes about “making do” can be seen in other cultures as well, and I am interested in rasquachismo’s relationship to other similar cultural attitudes. While rasquachismo and domesticana seem like gendered attitudes, they both share parallels and moments of paradoxicality that complicate them beyond a black and white binary.