Velvet Barrios


Book Description

In Chicana/o popular culture, nothing signifies the working class, highly-layered, textured, and metaphoric sensibility known as "rasquache aesthetic" more than black velvet art. The essays in this volume examine that aesthetic by looking at icons, heroes, cultural myths, popular rituals, and border issues as they are expressed in a variety of ways. The contributors dialectically engage methods of popular cultural studies with discourses of gender, sexuality, identity politics, representation, and cultural production. In addition to a hagiography of "locas santas," the book includes studies of the sexual politics of early Chicana activists in the Chicano youth movement, the representation of Latina bodies in popular magazines, the stereotypical renderings of recipe books and calendar art, the ritual performance of Mexican femaleness in the quinceañera, and mediums through which Chicano masculinity is measured.




Chicano Rap


Book Description

Powered by a driving beat, clever lyrics, and assertive attitudes, rap music and hip hop culture have engrossed American youth since the mid-1980s. Although the first rappers were African Americans, rap and hip hop culture quickly spread to other ethnic groups who have added their own cultural elements to the music. Chicano Rap offers the first in-depth look at how Chicano/a youth have adopted and adapted rap music and hip hop culture to express their views on gender and violence, as well as on how Chicano/a youth fit into a globalizing world. Pancho McFarland examines over five hundred songs and seventy rap artists from all the major Chicano rap regions—San Diego, San Francisco and Northern California, Texas, and Chicago and the Midwest. He discusses the cultural, political, historical, and economic contexts in which Chicano rap has emerged and how these have shaped the violence and misogyny often expressed in Chicano rap and hip hop. In particular, he argues that the misogyny and violence of Chicano rap are direct outcomes of the "patriarchal dominance paradigm" that governs human relations in the United States. McFarland also explains how globalization, economic restructuring, and the conservative shift in national politics have affected Chicano/a youth and Chicano rap. He concludes with a look at how Xicana feminists, some Chicano rappers, and other cultural workers are striving to reach Chicano/a youth with a democratic, peaceful, empowering, and liberating message.




Chicano Popular Culture, Second Edition


Book Description

Chicano Popular Culture, Second Edition provides a fascinating, timely, and accessible introduction to Chicano cultural expression and representation. New sections discuss music, with an emphasis on hip-hop and rap; cinema and filmmakers; media, including the contributions of Jorge Ramos and María Hinojosa; and celebrations and other popular traditions, including quinceañeras, cincuentañeras, and César Chávez Day. This edition features: Chicanas in the Chicano Movement and Chicanos since the Chicano Movement New material on popular authors such as Denise Chávez, Alfredo Vea, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Juan Felipe Herrera Suggested Readings to supplement each chapter Theoretical approaches to popular culture, including the perspectives of Norma Cantú, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Pancho McFarland, Michelle Habell-Pallán, and Víctor Sorell With clear examples, an engaging writing style, and helpful discussion questions, Chicano Popular Culture, Second Edition invites readers to discover and enjoy Mexican American popular culture.




Routledge Handbook of Chicana/o Studies


Book Description

The Routledge Handbook of Chicana/o Studies is a unique interdisciplinary resource for students, libraries, and researchers interested in the largest and most rapidly growing racial-ethnic community in the United States and elsewhere which can either be identified as Chicano, Latino, Hispanic, or Mexican-American. Structured around seven comprehensive themes, the volume is for students of American studies, the Social Sciences, and the Humanities. The volume is organized around seven critical domains in Chicana/o Studies: Chicana/o History and Social Movements Borderlands, Global Migrations, Employment, and Citizenship Cultural Production in Global and Local Settings Chicana/o Identities Schooling, Language, and Literacy Violence, Resistance, and Empowerment International Perspectives The Handbook will stress the importance of the historical origins of the Chicana/o Studies field. Starting from myth of origins, Aztlán, alleged cradle of the Chicana/o people lately substantiated by the findings of archaeology and anthropology, over Spanish/Indigenous relations until the present time. Essays will explore cultural and linguistic hybridism and showcase artistic practices (visual arts, music, and dance) through popular (folklore) or high culture achievements (museums, installations) highlighting the growth of a critical perspective grounded on key theoretical formulations including borderlands theories, intersectionalities, critical race theory, and cultural analysis.




The Latino Body


Book Description

Publisher description




Global Migration, Social Change, and Cultural Transformation


Book Description

The essays in this collection work toward a larger goal of separating 'globalization' from strictly economic considerations. The authors instead look at globalization as a force that produces profound social and cultural consequences, including migration, struggles for social change, and the transformations of aesthetic practices.




Gender and Women's Leadership


Book Description

This work within The SAGE Reference Series on Leadership provides undergraduate students with an authoritative reference resource on leadership issues specific to women and gender. Although covering historical and contemporary barriers to women's leadership and issues of gender bias and discrimination, this two-volume set focuses as well on positive aspects and opportunities for leadership in various domains and is centered on the 101 most important topics, issues, questions, and debates specific to women and gender. Entries provide students with more detailed information and depth of discussion than typically found in an encyclopedia entry, but lack the jargon, detail, and density of a journal article. Key Features Includes contributions from a variety of renowned experts Focuses on women and public leadership in the American context, women's global leadership, women as leaders in the business sector, the nonprofit and social service sector, religion, academia, public policy advocacy, the media, sports, and the arts Addresses both the history of leadership within the realm of women and gender, with examples from the lives of pivotal figures, and the institutional settings and processes that lead to both opportunities and constraints unique to that realm Offers an approachable, clear writing style directed at student researchers Features more depth than encyclopedia entries, with most chapters ranging between 6,000 and 8,000 words, while avoiding the jargon and density often found in journal articles or research handbooks Provides a list of further readings and references after each entry, as well as a detailed index and an online version of the work to maximize accessibility for today's student audience




Beyond the Frame


Book Description

Beyond the Frame explores the importance of visual images in the identities and material conditions of women of color as they relate to social power, oppression, and resistance. The goal of the collection is to rethink the category of visual theory through women of color. It also explores the political and social ramifications of visual imagery for women of color, and the political consciousness that can emerge alongside a critical understanding of the impact of visual imagery. The book begins with a general exploration of what it means to develop a women of color criticism (rather than an analysis of women of color), and goes on to look specifically at topics such as 90s fashion advertisements, the politics of cosmetic surgery, and female fans of East LA rock bands.




A History of Latinx Performing Arts in the U.S.


Book Description

A History of Latinx Performing Arts in the U.S. provides a comprehensive overview of the development of the Latinx performing arts in what is now the U.S. since the sixteenth century. This book combines theories and philosophical thought developed in a wide spectrum of disciplines—such as anthropology, sociology, gender studies, feminism, and linguistics, among others—and productions’ reviews, historical context, and political implications. Split into two volumes, these books offer interpretations and representations of a wide range of Latinxs’ lived experiences in the U.S. Volume I provides a chronological overview of the evolution of the Latinx community within the U.S., spanning from the 1500s to today, with an emphasis on the Chicano artistic renaissance initiated by Luis Valdez and the Teatro Campesino in the 1960s. Volume II continues, looking more in depth at the experiences of Latinx individuals on theatre and performance, including Miguel Piñero, Lin-Manuel Miranda, María Irene Fornés, Nilo Cruz, and John Leguizamo, as well as the important role of transnational migration in Latinx communities and identities across the U.S. A History of Latinx Performing Arts in the U.S. offers an accessible and comprehensive understanding of the field and is ideal for students, researchers, and instructors of theatre studies with an interest in the diverse and complex history of Latinx theatre and performance.




Women Singers in Global Contexts


Book Description

Exploring and celebrating individual lives in diverse situations, Women Singers in Global Contexts is a new departure in the study of women's worldwide music-making. Ten unique women constitute the heart of this volume: each one has engaged her singing voice as a central element in her life, experiencing various opportunities, tensions, and choices through her vocality. These biographical and poetic narratives demonstrate how the act of vocalizing embodies dynamics of representation, power, agency, activism, and risk-taking. Engaging with performance practice, politics, and constructions of gender through vocality and vocal aesthetics, this collection offers valuable insights into the experiences of specific women singers in a range of sociocultural contexts. Contributors trace themes and threads that include childhood, families, motherhood, migration, fame, training, transmission, technology, and the interface of private lives and public identities.