Rasquachismo- W4

The previous negatively connotated word that originated in Mexico and has a Nahuatl origin of “rasquachismo” was socially associated with poverty, lower class and derived from an impoverished material. The result of this word always being seen through this particular lens has influenced the way generations in today’s world view the word. Rasquachismo today has been redefined in the Chicano/a/x art movement as a way of battling the necessity of having the required material to complete any task. Essentially rasquachismo is using the most out of the least which is reusing what we have. Moreover, the word domesticana which according to the author Ondine Chavoya “has been an attempt both to elaborate intercultural difference between Cuban Kitsch and Chicano racquachism, as well as establish the sensibility arising from the struggle for identity, sexuality, and power within Chicana domesticana.” This concept has given many women a platform to express what women have endured in various aspects of women’s life. These two forms are concepts that have been changed through the Chicano movement as a way to reestablish and reframing the context of these words. I think the word racquachism applies to many Mexican-Americans who come from a very humbling background which is why it's associated with a negative perspective. I’ve racquachismo in all sorts of aspects of my life from the top aware that we put food into simple things such as the art supplies we use to ever the way we talk. How we use these words now has influenced the way in which we value things that would be considered racquachismo.