Week 4: Rasquachismo and Domesticana

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto article “Rasquachismo” describes rasquachismo as an underdog attitude “rooted in resourcefulness and adaptability yet mindful of stance and style.” According to Amalia Mesa-Bains article “Domesticana,” domesticana is the “feminine aspect of rasquachismo,” rooted in the “sincere decoration in the domestic space.” From the Bains article, both are practices that serve the “dual function of resistance and affirmation. To me rasquachismo and domesticana is creative and artistic innovation meant for people to create a space and look they feel at home and as complete people. The underdog perspective is not staying defeated from the limited available resources and to make the best from what one’s got. I had never heard of rasquachismo but I never realized how present it was in my life. A great example of rasquachismo given in class was old tires being made into flower pots (my grandma had a few of them). Or when my grandma would use the pull-tabs from soda cans and would crochet them into the purses she would gift to family members. I had never thought altar building as a form of domesticana. I never grew up with altars, not even my super catholic devout mother had an altar for. But I was fascinating in learning the artistic adoption from chicana artists. Baines wrote the domesticana can be a strategy response toward the “oversimplification of Chicana art.” Altars can represent one culture, history, spiritual, and self. Just like Amalia Mesa-Bains altar called An Ofrenda For Dolores del Rio (1991). Dolores del Rio was iconic actress of old Mexican cinema, the first to cross over into Hollywood. Her wikipedia page claims she became a mythical figure of cinema in Latin America. I think this altar was an homage to a feminine icon (who amplified both history and culture), spiritual in paying proper respects to her, and of the self based on how she put the altar together.