WK4: Rasquachismo & Domesticana

As described by Tomas Ybarra- Frausto, rasquachismo is “neither an idea nor a style but more of an attitude or a taste (85).” The concept of rasquachsimo was a bit difficult for me to understand at first but when presented with examples, I immediately started grasping the idea. The way I came to comprehend it was by the ideas of “do-it-yourself” or “d-i-y” or making do with what one has. My mom would use empty butter buckets and put frijoles cocidos in there to freeze or to save in the fridge, she’d also use sour cream containers to send me home with some of her homemade salsa, that way I wouldn’t take home her prized “topers” (Tupperware). In this attitude of rasquachismo, we can sense resilience and resourcefulness, survival and inventiveness. It is the underdog stance and is looked down upon by Anglos. To be rasquache is to prefer bright, shimmers, high intensity, and patterns, in no way muted. I think this especially says a lot to what Chicanos and brown people have constantly been told to do—to be quiet and be submissive, it is a response to that.

Amalia Mesa-Bains explains the concept of Chicana Domesticana, which is pretty much the female counterpart of rasquachismo, although the latter still applies to females. In Chicana Domesticana, “…as the signs of making do [rasquachismo] are both an affirmation of the domestic life and the subjugation of the women in the domestic sphere (95).” In regards to the realm of art and the concept of Domesicana, we see artists such as Patricia Rodriguez, Patssi Valdez , and Amalia Mesa- Bains use rasquachismo to add their voice to the master-narrative of the Chicana/o Movement and combat against the patriarchal restrictions to gender roles in Mexican & Latina/o culture.

Patricia Rodriguez’s “box” art

Amalia Mesa-Bains shrine work

Patssi Valdez’s “Black Virgin”