Rasquachismo is a perspective and realization from a person who is considered “an underdog” (p.85, T. Ybarra-Frausto), or someone who is considered low or middle status. This perspective enables people to be resourceful and adapt to their environment, to make what they have fit for their own lifestyle. This style can be found in objects or the very style and work of a person. For example, in my Chicano 10A class— just prior to the pandemic— one of the subjects of study was Rasquachismo, not simply the portrayal of a person, but also the art. Being a rasquache is an out-of-the-norm style, but it is useful, ‘making do with what you have at hand.’ In that same class, we had a rasquache zine project, which helped me channel my inner artist, with the very few things I had at my disposal. As a first year, but also an artist, I had some art supplies, some skills, and a printer nearby, to save some time in the writing of my zine. As shown below, in the cover and a few pages of that zine I created, I did as much as I could relying on my own, with a little help of technology.
Had it not been for this project, and learning of this subject, I would not have realized that a lot of the things my family and I do are actually in line with rasquachismo as well. For example, the cookie tin with the sewing materials, the makeshift picket fence my grandpa built on his property, using whatever materials he had handy to build his house, or even the manteles my grandma made and inherited for the kitchen. Rasquache is also within our communities, especially in Chicanx and Latine communities. In my grandpa’s community in Tijuana, most of the houses are small, adorned outside with any plants or decor to make them seem more than they are, or are simply painted a completely different color, to stand out.
Rasquachismo is a way of living that I cannot imagine my life without, it brings life to the environments and communities I have lived in, and defines a lot of what I do to be where I am today.
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