Week 4 - Rasquachismo and Domesticana

The author of Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology, describes rasquachismo as a label placed upon a person's lifestyle. It can also be a more insensitive way to describe an underdog. In a sense it is used to describe a person of low class, with little money, or habits of reusing items to save money. Rasquachismo to me is similar to the term "ghetto" which many of the people in my high school would use to describe someone who was cheap or came from an area that was underprivileged. Someone who would rather reuse a plastic cup from a fast food restaurant rather than buy new cups. Although it is thought of as being derogatory and demeaning, a person described as rasquache has multiple layers especially since some people have attempted to reclaim it as a more positive term. Domesticana is more gender specific, meant to describe the social expectations placed on women. Both rasquache and domesticana go together when it comes to describing Chicana art in the sense that people, although offensive, may view Chicana art as domesticana or rasquache due to the certain views that an be emphasized in them. For example, an audience might see the artist's work as feminine or domesticana due to the work being an example of the struggles that a woman faces.