Our Genes Don’t Match With “BrownPride” Clothing
6 June 2008, 9:00 AM. By Daniel Mauser
One thing that’s kind of irked us about the term “Latino” over the years is, beyond how its used to encompass such a wide range of people, is that it’s often used in mainstream media as a synonym for “Chicano,” specifically the cholo and chola subculture, which is a very insular, unique group. We find all the most superficial trappings of that group: Chola style, lowriders, art, literature slang like “firme” interesting enough and we definitely think Chicano culture has been an asset to the Latino community at large but, you know. It’s just not who all of us are.
So when “BrownPride.com” declares itself a site for “Firme Clothing and Latino Fashion,” we’re both all “This is awesome!” and “So we guess we’re not… Latina?” If we, like their model, were to ever step out wearing a tank top that said “Firme” and our hair in cornrows, we would systematically get punched in the face. Hell, we’d punch ourselves in the face. It’s both not what we’re comfortable with or a subculture that’s for us. We’re not allowed to participate, almost. We’re not much good at it, either. If we tried to make this model’s “Attitude Face,” we’d probably be advised to eat more roughage to clear that problem right up. Arugula, at that.
So while we love Chicano culture and chola style, we don’t love umbrella terms or being misrepresented. Not by mainstream media and certainly not by one another. Because, if you allow us to get a little Hallmarkesque on you for a quick second, being Latina is in our genes. Not our jeans.
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This is probably the most pc post I’ve seen yall do. Man, things are really changing around here.
really, guanabee. don’t you know you have to be grossly racist and insensitive to be a blogger?
Amen. This is so much like the “black enough” b.s. that African Americans have to deal with. I hope my daughter doesn’t grow up buying into this crap.
Score one for commidifying identity with the intention of ’showing pride’.
OMG! This Nicaraguan-Venezuelan girl is running in circles screaming “go guanabee”! preach it sister!
I’m a “Chicano” if that’s what you wish to call me but I wouldn’t be caught dead in the tacky crap that site sells nor would I date a woman who did. Maybe I would wear a chavo del ocho t shirt though… :D
BROWN PRIDE!!
sorry i dont know what is wrong with me today.
anyway… the only people i can imagine wearing this line is those hoochie mammas that go to those lowrider car shows, the shows that Lowrider magazine sponsors.
Why would you wear this when Naco and INKA are far superior? Oh, that’s right- not all Latinos dress alike!
So whitey thinks we all look like this and that what makes it automatically embarassing? Hardly, it’s tacky because it just IS. PUH-LEASE! Chola’s have a big market share in this area but hardly sole provenance.
If you really care about what the “mainstream” thinks and how were to be perceived as individual cultures (yeah for us!), then lets start with having them STOP calling us all Spanish. (oh yes, it still happens)
Well, what an interesting pic. Somebody watched Tyra’s how-to-smile video.
@lola: Word. Just two nights ago my friends and I were teasing a White friend for calling us Spanish. (We’re Mexican-American.)
Just like Latino isn’t synonymous with Chicano, Chicano isn’t synonymous with cholo. Brownpride sells clothes that specifically appeals to the veterano/Art Laboe crowd because thats their niche market, but it is only one aspect of the awesomeness that is Chicano culture.
If you don’t dig the clothes, it doesn’t mean you’re excluded. It means you have good taste.
@marytza: Thank you!
Even though some of the cholo culture is tied to Mexican americans or xicanos, not all xicanos are cholos. And not all latinos can say they are xicanos b/c being xicano is a political identity specifically for mexicans in the US.
or should I say politicized mexicans in the US
@ Cindy @lola:
Anecdote time!: A white co-worker of mine once was jokingly called a “racist” by an Irish (from Ireland) coworker because she was making fun of his “accent”. Her response? She claimed she wasn’t being “racist”, because “Irish is not a race. Not like Spanish, Spanish is a race” and by Spanish she meant “spanish speakers”, not people from Spain, who are also not “a race”.
Anyway, I’ve actually had more than one White person get angry and insist on their misuse of the term “Spanish” because apparently I was the one that didn’t get it. But we don’t call all English speakers “English”, right? Spanish is such a lazy term, oh they speak Spanish so they’re “Spanish” right, who cares about how they call themselves or where they’re from?
chicanos/chicanas only works in california/texas because honestly come to chicago or the mexicans in the midwest and call us that we’ll be like “WTF”. i think the movement started over there because it doesn’t go over well here. and the NACOS of any one society cannot identify everyone. It would be the same as hick/redneck for all white people etc.
and WTF is brownpride??? i am white skinned and mexican. we need to stop stereotyping ourselves.
@lilly: Actually ‘Chicano’ only signifies California Mexicans. Those from Texas are Tejanos.
OK, am I the only one who thinks that Mexican Americans are a confused bunch? Some people agree with Liily; others agree more with Cindy; and still others don’t agree with either. Here’s what I’ve observed (and it’s more confusing than spending an evening with Paula Abdul):
1. Some Mexican Americans (from California to Texas and beyond) prefer to be called Chicanos. I’ve met people from El Paso who use the word Chicano to describe themselves. There are academic programs at Universities that are called Chicano Studies programs and they only cover Mexican American history and culture. All of this contradicts what Cindy just said about Chicano=California Mexicans. I think she’s wrong, but, hey, I may be wrong.
2. Some Hispanics from Texas and New Mexico HATE being called Mexicans. I have a college friend from McAllen, Texas who looks like Alex. I once made the mistake of calling her a Mexican American. Boy, did she give me a piece of her mind. She went on to tell me that her ancestors were Spanish and that her family has been in Texas for many generations. Some Hispanics from New Mexico are the same. Take, for example, Alisa Valdes. She’s written on her blog that some of her ancestors were “Spanish speaking” New Mexicans. LOL. Why can’t she just use the word Mexican? It’s like a dirty word for these people. Why is that? I don’t consider Cuban or Venezuelan a dirty word. I’m proud of my heritage, but that’s just me.
In my mom’s family, we’re all just Cubans (even Cuban Americans are just called Cubans in some instances). My point: Mexican Americans need to get their act together.
@Cindy
Not true, there are many mex-americans in tejas that identify as being chicano. Being chicano is not about mexicanos location in the U.S., it is a political mind-state.
Chicano comes from the aztec way of saying mexico, the “x” being pronounced as a “ch”. therefore mexico= xicano.
@guana
Mexicans and Mexican-Americans have a more complex relationship with the US than other latin american countries, well, b/c this used to be our land. The area I live in was anciently known as Aztlan b/c the Aztecs migrated south down from califas to central east mexico. Our identity is not just about blood and lineage, it is about reclaiming our place in history. we didn’t migrate here, they did. It is about having asian, african, arabic, and european blood. Being all those combined with an equally global mentality = being Super Xicano Cosmico.
I think your just confused.
@xica xicana:
don’t qualify every politicized Mexican or Mexican American as a Chicano. Many of us are far from being Chicano and actually hate being called that.
And on another note, Chicanos need to stop idealizing the Aztecs and Aztlan. If we’re to reclaim our place in history should we start sacrificing people again?
“we definitely think Chicano culture has been an asset to the Latino community at large but, you know…” Okaayy… I’m not even gonna touch that.
But for the love of Aztlan, people. The Brown Pride movement has mostly been a Mexican American Civil Rights Movement (e.g. Brown Berets, MALDEF, MEChA). Not a “Latino” movement. Ergo,brownpride.com even though they do have “latino” labeled products, appeals mostly to CHICANOS. So, if you don’t know what a Firme Hyna is (what the shirt says), then your genes probably don’t match . But mine do, and I’m happy to rock my Firme shades along with my custom Firme Dodgers hat.
Aztlan is a myth. There’s no evidence that it ever existed.
Aztlan is a myth to you. It is a sacred myth to me. Also, I am from Chicago and I am xicano. How can one person decide that if I am from Chicago then I cannot identify as xicano. Some of you are fucked up.
BLEH, there is no evidence that you exist.