Portraits Of 70’s & 80’s Chola women
October 29, 2016 9:15 PM Subscribe
Chola fashion. "...set claiming was not forgein to me. Latino gangs played by their own set of rules, meaning they had different rules and a sense of fashion than their African American counter parts. In my book, Cholas were Deathrock before there was even the term Deathrock. Their steez has always looked rad to me, from the pancake make up to the chola braclets to the hairspray-drenched hair to their heavily starched jeans."
Brought back memories. Where did this style come from? I remember thinking the combo of drawn-on eyebrows and crunchy hair was so strange, and something I could not pull off even if I wanted to, but those girls clearly knew they looked rad as hell. I just had no context for the look in my own pop culture, and I still don't.
In my school it seemed like they also always wore super contrasting lip liner but maybe that was later than these pics are from.
posted by potrzebie at 9:39 PM on October 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
In my school it seemed like they also always wore super contrasting lip liner but maybe that was later than these pics are from.
posted by potrzebie at 9:39 PM on October 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
Gotta give a shout out to the Pachucas.
posted by rhizome at 11:03 PM on October 29, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 11:03 PM on October 29, 2016 [17 favorites]
An amazing collection of photos. How is it that the photographer of this one is not famous? Or is s/he? Most of the photos are amateur and uncredited but this photo is a work of art. Anyone know the credit?
posted by spitbull at 9:48 AM on October 30 [2 favorites +] [!]
According to this Vice article, that photo (and some of the others) are by Graciela Iturbide. That Vice article is a much better read coming from someone who lived within the scene as opposed to a spectator (with uncredited photos). It references the Pachucas that rhizome links to, and rhizome's link is definitely worth the read all on its own. (Added to my list of heroes)
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:17 AM on October 30, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by spitbull at 9:48 AM on October 30 [2 favorites +] [!]
According to this Vice article, that photo (and some of the others) are by Graciela Iturbide. That Vice article is a much better read coming from someone who lived within the scene as opposed to a spectator (with uncredited photos). It references the Pachucas that rhizome links to, and rhizome's link is definitely worth the read all on its own. (Added to my list of heroes)
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:17 AM on October 30, 2016 [20 favorites]
From the Vice article:
From 1929 to 1944, in a shameful incident known as Mexican Repatriation, the US government forcibly removed around 2 million people of Mexican descent from the country—over 1.2 million of them United States citizens. These people were snatched from their homes and workplaces and illegally deported.
I am stunned. I've never heard of this before! There are people who want to make it happen again, and one of them is running for president.
posted by LindsayIrene at 8:45 AM on October 30, 2016 [22 favorites]
From 1929 to 1944, in a shameful incident known as Mexican Repatriation, the US government forcibly removed around 2 million people of Mexican descent from the country—over 1.2 million of them United States citizens. These people were snatched from their homes and workplaces and illegally deported.
I am stunned. I've never heard of this before! There are people who want to make it happen again, and one of them is running for president.
posted by LindsayIrene at 8:45 AM on October 30, 2016 [22 favorites]
I am stunned. I've never heard of this before! There are people who want to make it happen again, and one of them is running for president.
posted by LindsayIrene at 11:45 AM on October 30 [+] [!]
If you have half an hour to kill, there's an informative yet entertaining show called Adam Ruins Everything, and they touch on this in their episode on immigration. The show lists all of it's sources in case you want to do all of your own fact checking for follow-up research.
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:54 AM on October 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by LindsayIrene at 11:45 AM on October 30 [+] [!]
If you have half an hour to kill, there's an informative yet entertaining show called Adam Ruins Everything, and they touch on this in their episode on immigration. The show lists all of it's sources in case you want to do all of your own fact checking for follow-up research.
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:54 AM on October 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
See the Woody Guthrie song "Plane Crash at Los Gatos"
posted by johngoren at 9:39 AM on October 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by johngoren at 9:39 AM on October 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
That was a great read, FirstMateKate. Thank you for posting it.
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:44 AM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:44 AM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
My soon to be son in law has a big, Latin band Mento Buru, over in Bakersfield. His dad had a band too over in McFarland. Dad was a labor organizer and mom is a community leader to this day in her nineties. Matt Munoz has a band called Mento Buru, they do classical Latin music, and when they do their punk performances the band becomes Cholo Biafra. Matt writes for the Bakersfield Californian and does the entertainment section. He PR's for many Latin bands out there. One topic they cover in their celebration of Latin culture is the multi-purpose Chancla, the flip flop, that has many uses, one film showed an intrepid Chola slapping her chanclas together to scare off a crocodile. Lots of love for the Latin culture of Bakersfield. He organizes the Latination festival out of the Bakersfield Museum of Fine arts to celebrate the culture, and does the Altares de Famiglia (excuse my spelling,) for Dias de la Muerte, coming up soon. My daughter sits on the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as well as the Bakersfield North of the River chamber where she this year's chair. She offered the Hispanic Chamber a suite above her offices in a credit union where she is a marketing manager. Then, the Latin community has a solid presence in regular banking, and can assure their community that regular banking and loans for business are accessible, and much lower cost than more unscrupulous lenders. When I go over to Cali, I find myself in a rich culture, full of family and life, and lots of love. The Munoz's have worked to keep their culture and people alive and engaged in both Latin and American ways. You can imagine the deportation talk is just a depressing, probably infuriating reminder of everything Hispanics have struggled against all along their multi-generational history in California.
posted by Oyéah at 10:03 AM on October 30, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 10:03 AM on October 30, 2016 [19 favorites]
Brought back memories. Where did this style come from? I remember thinking the combo of drawn-on eyebrows and crunchy hair was so strange, and something I could not pull off even if I wanted to, but those girls clearly knew they looked rad as hell. I just had no context for the look in my own pop culture, and I still don't.
Aqua Net represent! Most of my female cousins (1980s San Fernando) had fairly strict evangelical moms and weren't allowed to go full chola. None of them had the penciled on eyebrows, but there was a lot a plucking and shaping. I always assumed that it was an attempt to pare down their heavier natural eyebrows into something closer to Anglo beauty standards and the drawn on eyebrows were just a further exaggeration of that.
As usual be wary of the comments,
All of the pics with the raiders gear and bulky flannel was early 90s, back when I was in high school.
This is just "don't revel in your ignorance" levels of wrongety wrong. Raiders jackets and flannel were definitely a thing in the 80s. The Raiders were in Los Angeles for most of the 80s, but you wouldn't have known that in Oakland and West Berkeley. And cholo flannel existed well before grunge went mainstream, bringing a ton of flannel with it in the early 90s.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:26 AM on October 30, 2016 [11 favorites]
Aqua Net represent! Most of my female cousins (1980s San Fernando) had fairly strict evangelical moms and weren't allowed to go full chola. None of them had the penciled on eyebrows, but there was a lot a plucking and shaping. I always assumed that it was an attempt to pare down their heavier natural eyebrows into something closer to Anglo beauty standards and the drawn on eyebrows were just a further exaggeration of that.
As usual be wary of the comments,
All of the pics with the raiders gear and bulky flannel was early 90s, back when I was in high school.
This is just "don't revel in your ignorance" levels of wrongety wrong. Raiders jackets and flannel were definitely a thing in the 80s. The Raiders were in Los Angeles for most of the 80s, but you wouldn't have known that in Oakland and West Berkeley. And cholo flannel existed well before grunge went mainstream, bringing a ton of flannel with it in the early 90s.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:26 AM on October 30, 2016 [11 favorites]
One topic they cover in their celebration of Latin culture is the multi-purpose Chancla, the flip flop, that has many uses, one film showed an intrepid Chola slapping her chanclas together to scare off a crocodile.
Woman scares off crocodile with a flip flop
Somebody posted that on a friend's Facebook and set off a torrent La chancla stories, memories and videos.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:06 AM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Woman scares off crocodile with a flip flop
Somebody posted that on a friend's Facebook and set off a torrent La chancla stories, memories and videos.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:06 AM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Holy cow. I thought I had at least a passing familiarity with the major official racist actions of the US government in the past, but I had never heard of the Repatriation. Guess there's always a lower place! Thanks for the information.
posted by praemunire at 11:34 AM on October 30, 2016
posted by praemunire at 11:34 AM on October 30, 2016
I recognize a lot of the photos in the main link, some from previous FPPs here I suspect. The links in the comments are great (and with credit to the sources!).
I am stunned. I've never heard of this before! There are people who want to make it happen again, and one of them is running for president.
I've always figured that it has never attracted much attention because most Americans back then, and probably still today, didn't see the people being deported as in any way legitimately American, regardless of how many generations their families might have been in the US.
posted by Dip Flash at 1:33 PM on October 30, 2016
I am stunned. I've never heard of this before! There are people who want to make it happen again, and one of them is running for president.
I've always figured that it has never attracted much attention because most Americans back then, and probably still today, didn't see the people being deported as in any way legitimately American, regardless of how many generations their families might have been in the US.
posted by Dip Flash at 1:33 PM on October 30, 2016
Jaime Hernandez referred to the "chuca look", which I assume is derived from pachuca.
The use of chola is interesting. Cholo/chola is a very old (16th century) term for mestizos, i.e. people of Indian-white ancestry. In Peru it's also used as a general term for Peruvians. Etymonline thinks it's from Nahuatl xolotl 'dog, mutt'.
posted by zompist at 3:26 PM on October 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
The use of chola is interesting. Cholo/chola is a very old (16th century) term for mestizos, i.e. people of Indian-white ancestry. In Peru it's also used as a general term for Peruvians. Etymonline thinks it's from Nahuatl xolotl 'dog, mutt'.
posted by zompist at 3:26 PM on October 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
I just saw a piece on Chola wrestling in Bolivia, right here.
posted by Oyéah at 3:39 PM on October 30, 2016
posted by Oyéah at 3:39 PM on October 30, 2016
Joseph Rodriguez did a ton of work in the early/ mid '90's on Latin gangs and their families in LA. His east side stories work is similar but grittier.
posted by photoslob at 3:52 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by photoslob at 3:52 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
These women look amazing and fierce. Fantastic piece, fantastic photos.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:57 PM on October 30, 2016
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:57 PM on October 30, 2016
Fierce af. I really like the photo of the crouching woman with the poofed-back bangs and hard-outlined lips and Chucks. The two grainy B&W photos by the graffiti wall are also really arresting; I love the women's expressions, and that kind of softer-but-edgy version of this style.
posted by en forme de poire at 4:45 PM on October 30, 2016
posted by en forme de poire at 4:45 PM on October 30, 2016
I just saw a piece on Chola wrestling in Bolivia, right here.
"Chola" means something pretty different in Bolivia, I think.
posted by Gerald Bostock at 4:48 PM on October 30, 2016
"Chola" means something pretty different in Bolivia, I think.
posted by Gerald Bostock at 4:48 PM on October 30, 2016
However any one else experiences the Chola women of Bolivia, I love their dress, their skirt, and the whole thing. I love the weaving from there. I would like to visit some time.
posted by Oyéah at 4:54 PM on October 30, 2016
posted by Oyéah at 4:54 PM on October 30, 2016
from Nahuatl xolotl 'dog, mutt'.
Curiously:
axolotl (n.) genus of Mexican salamanders, from Spanish, from Nahuatl, literally "servant of water," from atl "water" + xolotl "slippery or wrinkled one, servant, slave" [see Frances Karttunen, "An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl"].
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:21 PM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Curiously:
axolotl (n.) genus of Mexican salamanders, from Spanish, from Nahuatl, literally "servant of water," from atl "water" + xolotl "slippery or wrinkled one, servant, slave" [see Frances Karttunen, "An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl"].
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:21 PM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I remember when I was a kid, my cousins had some friends who did the whole woven O-ring bracelet thing. I think they developed some kind of code wherein they way they were worn would signify some kind of meaning.
It was a fun time as a kid, back in the early-mid 70s. The cholas were mostly angsty young women. A few were kind of scary hostile, but were mostly on the cusp of what would be being grown up/married/motherhood. Which tended to come fairly early in this group. Most were paired up and with kids by 20. Some married. Kind of interesting how fleeting the marriages in my extended family were. Regardless, family events were always the same, the cholas all hanging together, some with small kids being passed around, talking about boyfriends/husbands. The men, some cholos, all hung together, drinking beer, smoking pot, while fiddling with a car. Wasn't unusual to end in a fight or someone driving off drunk, kids crying, women yelling, etc.
My other was youngest of a slightly older generation, her eldest sisters well versed in the pachuca era. They didn't seem to understand the cholo thing much.
The family was generally upwardly mobile, however, and mostly gave up on the cholo aesthetic as the 70s wore on. The younger, unattached women kind of adopted more mainstream, disco clubbing, independent lifestyles. It seems the younger, married/paired cholas kind of carried the torch longer. I suspect they felt more driven to keep the faith. Interestingly, being married/paired didn't seem to translate into security all that well. The men were often marginal characters themselves, and being a couple seemed to burden the women more than the men, being care givers for the kids, and often breadwinners for the household.
Deathrock is a funny interpretation. I don't think they ever listened to anything recorded later than 1964.
posted by 2N2222 at 11:22 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
It was a fun time as a kid, back in the early-mid 70s. The cholas were mostly angsty young women. A few were kind of scary hostile, but were mostly on the cusp of what would be being grown up/married/motherhood. Which tended to come fairly early in this group. Most were paired up and with kids by 20. Some married. Kind of interesting how fleeting the marriages in my extended family were. Regardless, family events were always the same, the cholas all hanging together, some with small kids being passed around, talking about boyfriends/husbands. The men, some cholos, all hung together, drinking beer, smoking pot, while fiddling with a car. Wasn't unusual to end in a fight or someone driving off drunk, kids crying, women yelling, etc.
My other was youngest of a slightly older generation, her eldest sisters well versed in the pachuca era. They didn't seem to understand the cholo thing much.
The family was generally upwardly mobile, however, and mostly gave up on the cholo aesthetic as the 70s wore on. The younger, unattached women kind of adopted more mainstream, disco clubbing, independent lifestyles. It seems the younger, married/paired cholas kind of carried the torch longer. I suspect they felt more driven to keep the faith. Interestingly, being married/paired didn't seem to translate into security all that well. The men were often marginal characters themselves, and being a couple seemed to burden the women more than the men, being care givers for the kids, and often breadwinners for the household.
Deathrock is a funny interpretation. I don't think they ever listened to anything recorded later than 1964.
posted by 2N2222 at 11:22 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
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