Cholo (subculture)

Last updated

Cholo style, originating from Chicanos in the US, can be seen here as adopted by men from Cacos 13, a gang from Nezahualcoyotl. Cacos 13, Cholos Neza.jpg
Cholo style, originating from Chicanos in the US, can be seen here as adopted by men from Cacos 13, a gang from Nezahualcoyotl.

A cholo or chola is a member of a Chicano and Latino subculture or lifestyle associated with a particular set of dress, behavior, and worldview which originated in Los Angeles. [1] A veterano or veterana is an older member of the same subculture. [2] [3] [4] Other terms referring to male members of the subculture may include vato and vato loco. [5] [6] Cholo was first reclaimed by Chicano youth in the 1960s and emerged as a popular identification in the late 1970s. [1] [7] The subculture has historical roots in the Pachuco subculture, but today is largely equated with antisocial or criminal behavior such as gang activity. [8] [9]

Contents

Usage of terms

Historical

Cholo was originally used to denote a racialized individual of lower socioeconomic status. It first emerged in the early 17th century as a term used by Spanish colonizers. "The children of these they call cholos. Cholo is a word from the Windward Islands; it means dog, not of the purebred variety, but of very disreputable origin; and the Spaniards use it for insult and vituperation." [10] In the latter part of the 19th century, it referred to "culturally marginal" mestizos of Native American origin, [11] being applied to "peasant mestizos as a pejorative ethnic label to distinguish the rich, the upwardly mobile, and other aspiring members ... from the working class." [7]

Clearly the origin is complex, Jose Cuellar writes in 1982:

Racial and cultural status, along with social class, are reflected in the term cholo itself, which was adopted in California in the 1960s by youth following the pachuco tradition, as a label for that identity (Cuellar 1982). In 1571, Fray Alonso de Molina, in his Nahuatl vocabulary (Vocabulario en Lengua Castellana y Mexicana Y Mexicana y Castellana), defined the word xolo as slave, servant, or waiter. The Porrúa Dictionary defines cholo, as used in the Americas, as a civilized Native American or a half-breed or mestizo of a European father and Native American mother. The word has historically been used along the borderland as a derogatory term to mean lower class Mexican migrants, and in the rest of Latin America to mean an acculturating Indian or peasant. [12]

Pachucos

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Chicano look known as pachuco appeared and was associated with the zoot suit and hep cat subcultures. [13] The press at the time accused the pachucos in the U.S. of gang membership, petty criminality, and a lack of patriotism during World War II leading to the Zoot Suit Riots. [14] Continuing until the early 1970s, the typical Chicano hairstyle was a variant of the pompadour, piled high on the head and kept in place with large quantities of wet-look gel.

Reclamation

In the 1960s, the Chicano Movement turned the term cholo into a way to express Chicano pride and identity. [1] [15] Since then, it has been more widely reclaimed among Latinos of mixed heritage. [6]

Style

Cholo style graffiti in Los Angeles. Eastside Playboys Varrior.jpg
Cholo style graffiti in Los Angeles.

Cholo

Cholo style is often associated with wearing some combination of a tartan, flannel, or Pendleton shirt buttoned at the top over a white T-shirt or tanktop, a hair net over short hair combed straight back or a shaved head, a bandana tied around the head and pulled down just above the eyes, reverse baseball caps, dark sunglasses, loose-fitting khaki pants (chinos) or shorts, long chains, long socks, white tennis shoes, and stylized tattoos. [8] [16] [17] The style has been described as both a necessity and a style of empowerment. [1] Cholo style represents a large part of cholo subculture, although it does not represent it in its totality. [5] Cholo style has been identified as combining the loose-fitting comfort of the traditional huipil and baggy draping of the zoot suit donned by the pachuco. [7]

Adopting cholo style has also been identified as a way for youths to assert their Chicano identity, especially for those who are only English-speaking. James Diego Vigil analyzes how some barrios in the United States that were predominately Spanish-speaking in the 1960s became mostly English-speaking by the 1980s. Some use cholo style to deny their anglicization or cultural assimilation as well as to separate themselves from affiliating with Mexican migrants. As stated by Vigil, "much of this interethnic friction revolves around ... competition for scarce job resources, especially between members of the depressed underclass and desperate immigrants." [11] However, it is also cultural, with "Mexicans making fun of a Chicano's inability to speak 'proper' Spanish and conversely" Chicanos and cholos sometimes using interethnic pejoratives against Mexican migrants, such as "chuntaro" and "wetback." [11]

Cholo style graffiti is a unique writing and lettering style. [18] The artist Chaz uses a calligraphic variant in his works. Retna's work is inspired by Cholo letters. This designation may also be associated with black ink tattoos, commonly involving calligraphy and art. A cholo might also stereotypically own a lowrider. Another staple of cholo fashion is long hair tied into braids as depicted by actor Danny Trejo.

The cholo/a subculture has spread to cities in the United States with large Chicano or Latino populations, including New York City. It has also been adopted as a subculture in Thailand as well as in Japan [19] and has been introduced to Mexico (such as in Nogales, Sonora, and Mexico City) in a modified form as documented in the 2015 photo documentary book Cholumbianos by Amanda Watkins. [20]

Chola

Chola style is often associated with wearing some combination of a long white T-shirt or tanktops, sometimes worn under plaid shirts, baggy jeans, flat black shoes, long hair, spiked bangs, dark or heavy eyeliner, and dark lipstick and lip liner. [1] Chola style has been identified as exhibiting "a radically criminalized femininity, situating them in the purview of official and unofficial policing as well as legal and extralegal sanctions." Chola style is perceived with less menace than cholo style, although it has been described as more directly challenging to the gendered expectations placed on women. [1]

Criminalization

Chicano/a youth who adopt a cholo or chola culture endure criminalization, with police and other institutions equating cholo style with a 'gang member'. [9] While older residents in barrios initially embraced cholas and cholos as "a larger subculture not necessarily associated with crime and violence (but rather with a youthful temporary identity), law enforcement agents, ignorant or disdainful of barrio life, labeled youth who wore clean white tennis shoes, shaved their heads, or long socks, as deviant." [8]

Gilberto Rosas describes the fashion of cholos as a style which has become criminalized–"a radically conditioned choice to be visibly and self-consciously identified with a criminalized class" [1] Because the way cholo style has been criminalized, it commonly excludes cholos from employment opportunities while opening them up to routine police harassment and arrest. [1]

In a study of cholos in a Southern California community renamed "Riverland" (to protect the confidentiality of the participants), [21] Victor Rios and Patrick Lopez-Aguado discuss how cholos are marked as "human targets" and come to understand their own perceived criminality. [9] Rios and Lopez-Aguado identify that cholos experience routine harassment and arrest by police. As stated by Rios and Lopez-Aguado, cholos remain "steadfast in their stylistic stance because their visible opposition appeared to be the entire point," as it is "intentionally oppositional to the mainstream." Cholos are aware that their style will not grant them social mobility and often maintain their style after having been rejected by multiple institutions, including "family, schools, police, and the labor market." Rios and Lopez-Aguado explain:

Nonetheless, the feeling of dignity and affirmation often outweighed the punitive consequences meted out by the state... Conscious of the few opportunities to find legitimate career paths, Latino youth adopted appearances they knew would block them from the low-level service positions they were expected to fill. They tapped into racist fears of their inherent criminality to create a public impression that would counter the image of the submissive, stigmatized servant. In a racialized, hyperexploited service economy, these youths deliberately put themselves out of service to retain their dignity. [9]

Media

Film

Games

Literature

Music

Television

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicano</span> Ethnic identity of some Mexican Americans

Chicano or Chicana is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. Chicano was originally a classist and racist slur used toward low-income Mexicans that was reclaimed in the 1940s among youth who belonged to the Pachuco and Pachuca subculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoot Suit Riots</span> 1943 race riot by U.S. Armed Forces servicemen against Latinos in Los Angeles

The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residents. It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities where race-related riots occurred during the summer of 1943, along with Mobile, Alabama; Beaumont, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and New York City.

<i>Cholo</i> Loosely-defined Spanish term that has had various meanings

Cholo is a loosely defined Spanish term that has had various meanings. Its origin is a somewhat derogatory term for people of mixed-blood heritage in the Spanish Empire in Latin America and its successor states as part of castas, the informal ranking of society by heritage. Cholo no longer necessarily refers only to ethnic heritage, and is not always meant negatively. Cholo can signify anything from its original sense as a person with one indigenous parent and one Mestizo parent, "gangster" in Mexico, an insult in some South American countries, or a "person who dresses in the manner of a certain subculture" in the United States as part of the cholo subculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowrider</span> Customized car with a lowered body

A lowrider or low rider is a customized car with a lowered body that emerged among Mexican American youth in the 1940s. Lowrider also refers to the driver of the car and their participation in lowrider car clubs, which remain a part of Chicano culture and have since expanded internationally. These customized vehicles are also artworks, generally being painted with intricate, colorful designs, unique aesthetic features, and rolling on wire-spoke wheels with whitewall tires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoot suit</span> Mens suit style of the 1940s

A zoot suit is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. It is most notable for its use as a cultural symbol among the Hepcat and Pachuco subcultures. Originating among African Americans it would later become popular with Mexican, Filipino, Italian, and Japanese Americans in the 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pachuco</span> Anti-assimilationist Chicano counterculture from the late 1930s through the early 1960s

Pachucos are male members of a counterculture that emerged in El Paso, Texas, in the late 1930s. Pachucos are associated with zoot suit fashion, jump blues, jazz and swing music, a distinct dialect known as caló, and self-empowerment in rejecting assimilation into Anglo-American society. The pachuco counterculture flourished among Chicano boys and men in the 1940s as a symbol of rebellion, especially in Los Angeles. It spread to women who became known as pachucas and were perceived as unruly, masculine, and un-American.

<i>Zoot Suit</i> (play) Musical

Zoot Suit is a play written by Luis Valdez, featuring incidental music by Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero. Zoot Suit is based on the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the Zoot Suit Riots. Debuting in 1979, Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway. In 1981, Luis Valdez also directed a filmed version of the play, combining stage and film techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homies (toy)</span> Series of small toy figurines

Homies are a series of two-inch plastic collectible figurines representing various Chicano Mexican American characters. The line of toys was created by David Gonzales and based on a comic strip that Gonzales created featuring a cast of characters from his youth. Introduced in the year 1998, Homies were initially sold in grocery store vending machines and have become a highly collectible item, and have spawned many imitation toys.

<i>Zoot Suit</i> (film) 1981 film by Luis Valdez

Zoot Suit is a 1981 American independent drama musical film of the Broadway play Zoot Suit. Both the play and film were written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film stars Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos—both reprising their roles from the stage production—and Tyne Daly. Many members of the cast of the Broadway production also appeared in the film. Like the play, the film features music from Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero, the "father of Chicano music."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caló (Chicano)</span> Cant language that originated during the early 20th century in the United States

Caló is an argot or slang of Mexican Spanish that originated during the first half of the 20th century in the Southwestern United States. It is the product of zoot-suit pachuco culture that developed in the 1930s and '40s in cities along the US/Mexico border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicano art movement</span> Movements by Mexican-American artists

The Chicano Art Movement represents groundbreaking movements by Mexican-American artists to establish a unique artistic identity in the United States. Much of the art and the artists creating Chicano Art were heavily influenced by Chicano Movement which began in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whittier Boulevard</span> Street in Los Angeles County

Whittier Boulevard is an arterial street that runs from the Los Angeles River to Brea, California. The street is one of the main thoroughfares in both Whittier and East Los Angeles. At various times, portions of Whittier Boulevard carried the designation of U.S. Route 101. Whittier Boulevard also carries a portion of El Camino Real. Its west section leading from the Sixth Street Viaduct was demolished in 2016; the replacement was officially opened in 2022.. Currently, Whittier Boulevard carries two Caltrans controlled highways. The portion between Rosemead Boulevard and Beach Boulevard carries State Route 72 and the portion between Beach and Harbor Boulevards carries California State Route 39. The portion of State Route 72 up to State Route 19 was relinquished back to Pico Rivera in the early 2000s and the portion of State Route 72 between State Route 19 and Downey Road was deleted from SR 72 in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles</span>

Mexican Americans have lived in Los Angeles since the original Pobladores, the 44 original settlers and 4 soldiers who founded the city in 1781. People of Mexican descent make up 31.9% of Los Angeles residents, and 32% of Los Angeles County residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pachucas</span> Female Mexican–American subculture

Pachucas were Mexican American women who wore zoot suits during World War II, also known as "cholitas", "slick chicks", and "lady zoot suiters". The suit was a symbol of rebellion due to the rationing of cloth for the war effort. Wearing the longer and loose-fitting jackets and pants was therefore seen as being unpatriotic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of articles related to Mexican Americans</span>

A Mexican American is a resident of the United States who is of Mexican descent. Mexican American-related topics include the following:

This is an alphabetical index of topics related to Hispanic and Latino Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinto (subculture)</span> Member of a Chicano subculture

Pinto or Pinta is a member of a Chicano subculture of people who are or have been incarcerated. It is an in-group moniker used to distinguish oneself from the general prison population or from "model inmates." It is a term which embraces the oppositional elements of being a Convicto. The term came from a bilingual play on the Spanish word for penitencia (penitence), since pintos and pintas are people who have spent time in penitentiaries. The term has also been traced to the Spanish word Pintao.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gringo justice</span> Sociohistorical critical theory

Gringo justice is a sociohistorical critical theory developed by Chicano sociologist, lawyer, and activist Alfredo Mirandé in 1987, who used it to provide an alternative explanation for Chicano criminality in the United States and challenge the racist assumption that Chicanos were inherently criminal, or biologically, psychologically, or culturally predisposed to engage in criminal behavior. The theory is applied by Chicano and Latino scholars to explain the double standard of justice in the criminal justice system between Anglo-Americans and Chicanos/Latinos. The theory also challenges stereotypes of Chicanos/Latinos as "bandidos," "gang-bangers," and "illegal alien drug smugglers," which have historically developed and are maintained to justify social control over Chicano/Latino people in the US.

Fashion is known to be a form of expression throughout many cultures, just like the Mexican American culture. Over the decades Mexican American women's fashion evolved to celebrate beauty and fashion standards of the day. However, such evolution wasn't often well seen by society, instead it was often deemed non-normative or un-American. This style evolution started in the 1920s with American influence creating the Pelonas, the 1940s when the Pachuca culture came to be, and later evolved into the Chicanas in the 70s and the Cholas in the 90s.

Teen Angels was an independent American magazine focused on the Chicano culture of California and the southwest, published from approximately 1981 to 2006. The publication featured art, photos, and writing celebrating pachuco culture, lowriders, cholo street culture, fashion, tattoos, prison art, and varrios, or neighborhoods. The magazine consisted of photocopied photographs, hand-drawn portraits and lowrider art, typographic pages, poetry, community notices, comic strips, dedications, obituaries, articles, and other works. It was produced in self-published zine format.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rosas, Gilberto (2012). Barrio Libre: Criminalizing States and Delinquent Refusals of the New Frontier. Duke University Press. pp. 80–88. ISBN   9780822352372.
  2. ↑ Diego Vigil, James (Spring 1983). "Chicano Gangs: One Response To Mexican Urban Adaptation In The Los Angeles Area". Urban Anthropology. 12 (1): 45–75. JSTOR   40552988.
  3. ↑ Gómez-Peña, Guillermo; Taccone, Tony (2003). Culture Clash in America. Theatre Communications Group. p. 144. ISBN   9781559362160.
  4. ↑ Christof, Tag (August 15, 2019). "Cruising low and slow: The 'Lowrider Capital of the World' is seeing a rolling revival—thanks to local pride, pageantry, and hydraulics". Roadtrippers. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Diego Vigil, James (2010). Barrio Gangs: Street Life and Identity in Southern California. University of Texas Press. pp. 40–42, 113. ISBN   9780292786776.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "13 Things You Should Know About Cholo Culture". we are mitú. November 7, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Chavez Candelaria, Cordelia. Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture: Volume 1. pp. 160, 266.
  8. 1 2 3 Plascencia-Castillo, José S. (2019). Gringo Injustice: Insider Perspectives on Police, Gangs, and Law. Routledge. pp. 154–69. ISBN   9780367276065.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Rios, Victor M.; Diego Vigil, James; Patrick, Lopez-Aguado (2017). Human Targets: Schools, Police, and the Criminalization of Latino Youth. University of Chicago Press. pp. 75–85. ISBN   9780226090993.
  10. ↑ de la Vega, Garcilaso, Inca (1609). Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas. pp. ME.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. 1 2 3 Vigil, James Diego (1988). Barrio Gangs: Street Life and Identity in Southern California . Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN   0-292-71119-0.
  12. ↑ Cuellar, J. (September 21, 1982). The Rise and Spread of Cholismo as a Border Youth Subculture. Southwest Border Regional Conference's Third Annual Binational Border Governors' Conference, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico: Unpublished manuscript.
  13. ↑ LA Almanac
  14. ↑ Zoot suit riots media Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Alexandra de F. Szoenyi, V. (January 17, 2020). "Cholo: 23 Facts About the History of the Word". Hip Latina. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  16. 1 2 Mayorga, Luanne (2014). Cholo Style. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 81–82. ISBN   9780759121508.
  17. ↑ Luis Aldama, Frederick (2013). "Glossary". The Routledge Concise History of Latino/a Literature. Routledge. ISBN   9780415667876.
  18. ↑ Chastanet, François (2009). Cholo writing : Latino gang graffiti in Los Angeles. Dokument Press. ISBN   978-91-85639-21-2. OCLC   318421538.
  19. ↑ "LOOK: Japanese 'Cholos' Embrace Lowriders And Chicano Fashion". HuffPost. September 11, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  20. ↑ Watkins, Amanda (2014). Cholombianos. Trilce Ediciones. ISBN   978-607-7663-64-5. OCLC   880356978.
  21. ↑ Rios, Victor M. (2017). Human Targets: Schools, Police, and the Criminalization of Latino Youth. University of Chicago Press. p. 14. ISBN   9780226091044.
  22. ↑ Beale, Lewis (August 6, 2006). "The young stars of an award-winning new film reflect on their Mexican roots". USA Weekend.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  23. ↑ "Cholo goth". San Diego Reader. November 6, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  24. ↑ Lisa Derrick (March 25, 2014). "Prayers: Cholo Goth Is 'Ready to Bleed' and to Rock | Lisa Derrick". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  25. 1 2 Vineyard, Jennifer (July 12, 2006). "Black Eyed Peas' Fergie Gets Rough And Regal In First Video From Solo LP – Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. Archived from the original on March 2, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  26. ↑ Martinez, Kiko (October 4, 2022). "New Hulu series 'This Fool' takes comedic look at Cholo lifestyle". mySA. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.