Rasquachismo means to use the resources that are readily available, such as common materials and objects. It is often viewed negatively in the United States and Mexico by people in the upper class. The term referred to the Chicano working-class, it means to take advantage of a particular resource and is rooted in the idea of survival. It isn’t something that can be easily understood and immediately applied into one’s life. Rasquache is an aesthetic used by working-class people during the Chicano art movements where they create items using what’s at hand. In Rasquachismo-A Chicano Sensibility, Tomas Ybarra-Frausto states “limited resources means mending, refixing, and reusing everything. Things are not thrown away but saved and recycled”. Domesticana is the Chicana version of rasquachismo, it’s "A defiance of an imposed Anglo-American cultural identity and the defiance of restrictive gender identity within Chicano culture have inspired a female rasquachismo”. It focuses on works related to domestic life at home, within their community, and church. This included altars, embellishments, and traditional religious iconography. I feel like I can relate with rasquachismo much more because it reminded me when I got my first dog. My sister and I wanted to buy many toys for him but my mom convinced us that we can make him toys using everyday objects we had around the house. In the image below I included an example of the toy teddy bear my sister and I would create for our dog. It’s made out of a towel and three hair ties forming the body of a teddy bear. We were always blown away by the many creative items that could be made using simple materials we had around our house. I haven’t made the teddy bear in a while but it represents such a joyous memory in my life that brought happiness to my sister and I.
Hi Christian! Your dog toys made from repurposed materials remind me of my mother's stories about creating corn husk dolls as a child with her siblings. Growing up, my mom experienced extreme poverty therefore her family found ways to make the most out of the limited resources they had access to, a quality of rasquachismo. Corn husk dolls are a Native American craft that my grandmother taught my mother how to make and although she hasn't made one in years, it's nostalgic to think back to a time where individuals were less materialistic and more inventive.
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