Week 6 Blog Post

Rasquachismo is a term coined in the 1900s. Originally, it had a negative connotation and was used to describe a person who is of lower class, impoverished and has bad taste. However, during the Chicano art movement, the term was positively redefined. Now, it describes someone who is bawdy, spunky and transforms social and economic issues into something positive in a witty and irreverent manner. Due to this, rasquachismo is not best defined as a style, but rather an attitude. Specifically, it is an attitude where resourcefulness and adaptability is honored and celebrated. When things are falling apart, they’re held together by the resourcefulness and the motivation of a person. Refixing things involves using anything and everything that is able at one’s disposable, such as plastic bottles or cans. Thus, things that are rasquache are temporary and often involve elaborate and creative plans or details. Ultimately, rasquachismo is meant to be playful and delightful, not something to be taken seriously. It’s also worth noting that rasquachismo can be used to describe a person, especially their behavior or an object, like a car. Using the examples provided in Gonzalez’s reading about Rasquache, I partake in this attitude by owning and proudly wearing chanclas and by shopping at JCPenney. However, the most notable example of me being rasquache is when I made bags out of capri sun pouches. When I was around twelve years old I loved crafts, but my family didn’t have enough money to buy art supplies, so I had to use whatever I had at hand. Since I loved sugary drinks, especially Capri Sun we always had a bunch of empty Capri Sun pouches at the house. Due to the abundance and the low cost of the pouches, I stitched them together in multiple panels to create a bag. The bag was very colorful, but not sturdy, so I only used it to carry light weight items.