I had the privilege of interviewing DREAM activist and community leader Tanya Cabrera for New Futuro. Check out this video with Cabrera detailing the educational rights of undocumented students, and share the full article with any interested students.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHkUJ8ZVZG8&w=480&h=270]
Cristina para Obama
[youtube=http://youtu.be/N_Xh4gzcjD4]
Excerpts from my thesis: My Shtreimel
My Shtreimel is a video blog that features my fiancée Loren, who is a reoccurring character in my work. Sitting in a dimly lit room, Loren shares a personal Sabbath ritual. Behind him is the large painting of the Rebbe that appears in Obsessed with Frida Kahlo video. Although Loren is alone, he addresses the camera as if he were speaking directly with his eventual audience.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNAxEUEE43Y] My Shtreimel, YouTube Video, 2006.
"I think it is very important for each of us to have an enjoyable Shabbos experience. And to be able to in some ways personally define what that Shabbos experience entails. There's a lot of different minhags that I think a lot different people have that not every one has. And there are certain things that we develop not necessarily because they are passed down from our father, or our mother, or your mother's father, just because it is something that makes your Shabbos experience a little bit more enjoyable a lot these personal minhags that we all have..."
Casually citing the Chofetz Hayim and the Talmud Yerushalmi, he acknowledges both his relationship to, and awareness of traditional Jewish texts; thereby, indirectly aligning himself with a more observant Jewish community. Using humor, he offsets the implied exclusivity of those ties, by adding that he is actually wearing a woman’s hat that was purchased at a thrift store.eruv stl is “posted as a response” to My Shtreimel. eruv stl is intended to link Berlin’s Eruv to St. Louis. In this low quality thus “authentic video blog” Loren and I drive around the Washington University in St. Louis area, with a map in hand, trying to locate St. Louis’s eruv. In the background you can hear Guns and Roses famous song Welcome to the Jungle. Loren assumes a role similar to the one of Matisyahu, a halakically informed Jew, who does not the traditional model for the other and is thereby able to communicate with the secular world.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv8YTCXv8xY]eruv stl, YouTube Video, 2009.I ask Loren why he thinks the eruv extends as far as it does and if he thinks that there area lot of Orthodox Jewish families living in the area. Loren tell me that the eruv has extended this far because of the Hillel on campus, and that while there are not many Orthodox families living on the streets that we are driving, that the presence of the Hillel on campus is enough to create an eruv-worthy Jewish community.Not only does it become clear that Loren familiar with Orthodox Jewish practices and the neighboring streets, but also he is still not sure exactly where the eruv is located. Meaning that even though the eruv is present, Loren is either a) so religious that he doesn’t abide by it, OR b) he doesn’t lead a Jewish life that would involve abiding by an eruv. As the conversation continues Loren continues to distance himself from vocabulary that you would expect to come from a more observant Jew, as he casually engages in humorous banter with me surrounding the eruv.I ask him how it felt to finally “find” the eruv, he responds that he “feels pretty good” but he didn’t feel like “it was an actual wall” - which it isn’t, so this statement is made in jest. He continues, “its like finding Waldo, Waldo had curly hair and glasses, he might have been a frum Jew [...] maybe it is a statement about jews begin such a small percentage of the population...
The Rebbe, Acrylic on Canvas, 2004.more thesis excerpts coming soon...
CPS Students Campaign for Miguel del Valle, Video Goes Viral: PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (please forward or repost)
CPS Students Campaign for Miguel del Valle, Video Goes Viral
Tuesday, February 1, 2011, Chicago – High school students may not vote, but they can still impact elections. On Sunday, January 29, students from Sullivan HS in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the northside, wrote and starred in a campaign ad for Miguel del Valle that got over 1,000 hits in the first 48 hours on YouTube and Facebook. Their message is clear, Del Valle is the candidate who will invest in public education for all students, who like them who do not go to selective enrollment or charter schools. No press outlets caught Rahm Emanuel's slip up, played twice in the video, until today when the Huffington Post picked up the story.Christina Henriquez, Gerardo Aguilar and Alexandra Alvarez, in order of appearance, scripted the video in a neighbors living room before filming outside their school an hour later. Their effort to mobilize their community to support Miguel del Valle has been developing ever since they went to the Mayoral debate for youth put on by Mikva Challenge last month. Inspired by del Valle and angered by the other candidates they got together with the Latino Club, and tireless sponsor Jackie Rosa.Last week they stopped by the newly opened northside office for Miguel del Valle, to learn to canvass their neighborhood.The video uses a clip from the WGN Mayoral debate in which Rahm Emanuel wrongly states that "if you take away Northside Prep and Walter Payton, the seven best performing schools are all charters". The next seven in fact, the top nine performing Chicago schools are all public. The video clearly questions anyone who would vote for a Mayor who does not care enough about the students in public school to even do his homework. Delivered with passion and confidence, the last words the students leave us ring true "you want a real school turnaround? Invest in us!".Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afonAiiMTm8Press Contacts:Carlos [email protected] @cdrosaJackie [email protected] @floreciendo_coSandi [email protected] @floreciendo_co
NOW THIS IS GRASSROOTS!!
The Student's @DelValle4Mayor video just made it into the Huffington Post!!
Rahm Emanuel Hit On School Policy By High Schoolers For Del Valle
A group of Chicago high school students has decided to take Rahm Emanuel to task for his education policy.
Cristina Henriquez, Gerardo Aguilar, and Alexandra Alvarez appear in a YouTube video, uploaded Sunday, entitled "Invest in Our Public Schools." The spot attacks Emanuel for his praise of the city's charter schools, and backs rival candidate Miguel del Valle for supporting neighborhood schools.
"I go to Roger C. Sullivan High School," says Henriquez. "This is not one of the schools Rahm Emanuel cares about."
The students, who wrote the script for the video, according to its description on YouTube, also point out what they describe as a factual inaccuracy in Emanuel's portrayal of the city's charters. "When you take out North Side, and you take out Walter Payton, the seven best-performing high schools are all charters."
"Someone didn't do their homework," the video says, listing the seven top schools as reported by the Chicago Tribune. None of them is a charter school.
The video says it has no connection to any candidate, and judging by the del Valle camp's reaction, they seem to be telling the truth. Spokeswoman Joanna Klonsky didn't know much about the video's origins, except to say that "we didn't orchestrate it."
Watch the students take on Rahm:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afonAiiMTm8]
YouTube Video Reel
AM and I are applying to another residency!Unlike our current Wonder Woman Residency, where we applied as Escobar-Morales, this particular program does not accept joint proposals. So we are submitting seperately and hoping (and hoping and hoping) we will both be accepted.I am applying to the #InternetArt section.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk54gsndAQY]And she is applying to the Photo section.
Invest in Chicago Public School Students
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afonAiiMTm8]On January 30, 2011 Chicago Public school students and graduates (from Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood) got together to film a grass-roots/guerilla campaign ad to "tell it like it is," and support the best candidate to improve our neighborhood public schools.The footage used is filmed outside of Roger C. Sullivan High School and from WGN's January 27th mayoral debate. The stars and script writers of this ad are Sullivan HS students (in order of appearance) Cristina Henriquez, Gerardo Aguilar, and Alexandra Alvarez.On February 22, 2011 vote to improve our neighborhood schools - Miguel del Valle!http://www.delvalleformayor.comThis ad was not paid for or endorsed by any candidate or candidate's committee. Labor & love donated.Source of top seven high schools: Chicago Tribune 
Mas Maiz
Clearly, The Fat Free Elotera has played a major role in last few corn related posts. And, just when you thought she was gone... she's back. And she's doing what she does best... dancing with the crew.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIAL-MCPe_A][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz1kVvMO0os][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAbJPSCofh8][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CWxcXbbWzE][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYqf6DEqAfk][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkKW9UEQb5E][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ucteHb6j-M][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32apk7hVlwo]
yer boy matis is back, and this time he's wearing a santa suit
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv-7WdpB72o]Matisyahu also ice skates and dances in a Shakira Loba cage.Happy Hanukkah, Channukah, Hannukah, Chanukah, Feliz Janukah...(or all of the above)
Elotes
¿Sabes una cosa? ¡A los Chicagüenses les encanta comer elotes! En el verano, puedes encontrar elotes en muchos vecindarios, especialmente en los parques.Aquí hay una colección de vídeos donde el tema principal son los elotes. Si tú tienes un vídeo de elotes, por favor compártelo aquí.Y pronto tendremos recetas saludables e interesantes de elotes en Are You My Other?[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epv1oYmIX5Q][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZb8XYAeufw][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r887rSMq6fQ][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viI2opape6k][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJm5Zw76vvI]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r887rSMq6fQ
AM I her or is she ME: The Chronicles of The Fat Free Elotera
The Fat Free Elotera is a (developing) character on Are You My Other? The Battle Between The Self and The Other, an ongoing self-portrait dialog exchange project, produced by myself (ME) and Philadelphia-based performance and installation artist Andria Morales (AM). Through a series of weekly exchanged blog posts, Andria and I publicly negate, deconstruct, and reconstruct our individual histories, identities, and conceptions of self.
Click on images below to experience the creation of our latest persona.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIAL-MCPe_A]
On Being Pauly D by DJ Pauly D
Over at Are You My Other? AM and I have been having some pretty intense conversations about what it means to become oneself. Needless to say, when I saw this video of DJ Pauly D as DJ Pauly D, I was speechless.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMBMbvLzK8k]
and...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_pbnMIhunE]because this is somehow oddly fascinating and YES because we are still watching
want more? here is a recent Snooki tumbl.
el es frida kahlo at the gallery
el es frida kahlo is currently on view in the New Media Room at the Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis, MO.
el es frida kahlo, 2007-present
Frida Kahlo played with the identity that she wanted to project and the identity that was placed on her by others. Kahlo used her clothing, political affiliations, sexual escapades, and personal traumas, to create a character that informed her body of work. She inscribed her identity, painting her image over and over, constructing a mythology around her persona.
In el es frida kahlo I confront the ambivalence I experience as a result of my simultaneous obsession with Frida Kahlo and weariness towards her commodification. Viewed from a tiny pinhole, dressed as Kahlo, I stand before a reproduction of one of her self portraits. With a mixture of rage, anxiety, and complete fear, I chant “el es Frida Kahlo, ella es Frida Kahlo, el es Frida Kahlo, yo soy, yo soy, yo soy Frida Kahlo,” he is Frida Kahlo, she is Frida Kahlo, I am, I am, I am Frida Kahlo. As I yell, the painting behind me begins to fall. I violently tear down my braids and smudge off my makeup while continuing to scream “I am Frida Kahlo, I am Frida Kahlo, yo soy Frida Kahlo!”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BJmaYn5IIE]
el es frida kahlo at the Bruno David Gallery (video filmed and edited by Felicia Chen)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlMPoFXRT18]
el es frida kahlo YouTube video
FREE el es frida kahlo animated gif avaliable on MayaEscobar.com
link to translation of recent review by David Sperber in Ma’arav Israeli Arts and Culture Magazine:
Frida Kahlo at the synagogue: Maya Escobar and the young Jewish-American Creation
Jewish Women on DovBear
Last night @DovBear sent me this tweet:
@Mayaescobar posted your jewish women clip w\o realizing it was parody. A little too well done. ;)
I visited his blog and found a post on Jewish Women called Too much kool-aid. The comments generated by this post are really interesting and address the video from a multitude of perspectives.expert from his post:
"Aside: At the end, the woman on the film suggests that Jewish women who are dissatisfied with their back of the bus status secretly wish to be men. There's some truth to that, of course. Jewish women wish to be men in the same way that Jim Crow blacks wished to be white, meaning they want the same freedoms and opportunities that are available to men. Though Judaism has made much progress in this regard, the RW and Ultra circles still run like MadMen. Telling women they're more spiritual, pat pat, run along, is just a way to protect the status quo."
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H8mpau6dSc]
Jewish Women from the series Acciones Plásticas 2007
click here to see FULL POST and COMMENTS
selection comments posted below:
zapp645if you follow the link-trail, it becomes clear that this video is likely making fun of the attitudes it depicts. so as right as what you say in this post is, it's not really aimed at this video... urielSo are you opposed to any distinction whatsoever between men and women in Judaism? Do you think we should get rid of the mechitza and the laws of niddah and negiah and tzniut because they all make distinctions between male/female and thus somehow discriminate against and oppress women? If so, why aren't you a Conservative Jew? If not, why not? What kinds of distinctions between men and women are not discriminatory in your book?The fact is, Judaism have a very conservative halachic process that makes it difficult or impossible to change most things. Do you think we should change that process to make it easier to make big changes? If so how is that different from the Conservatives?People mistakenly think that every explanation for distinctions between men and women must be some kind of conspiratorial justification for the status quo. But that's not true. You have to look at the history of the explanation. For example, consider shelo asani isha. The explanation is, women, slaves and gentiles don't have to perform certain mitzvot, so we're thanking Hashem for giving us more mitzvot to do. Conspiracy to trick people into thinking Judaism isn't sexist? No -- it's in the tosefta to the earlier version of the three berachot (which thanked Hashem for not making one an ignoramus.) So that supposedly "P.C." explanation was from before the mitzvah was even finalized!It's a mistake to think about Judaism in the same terms you think about American history. It's apples and oranges. If not, you'd be calling someone a "bigot" for not accepting the ordination of women, just like many liberals today will call you a bigot if you don't accept gay marriage. Of course bigot is an implicit reference to anti-black American racism. Which is a lot different from differing roles of the sexes in Judaism. NoPeanutzActually, oppressing women is the best reason to get rid of the mechitza. Nidda has nothing to do with this.And Tzniut has nothing to do with this. Tzniut has everything to do with social norms. Oppressive double-standard tzniut should be abolished immediately, NoPeanutzAnd you do not have to be a Conservative Jew to understand this. You just have to be an Orthodox woman. AnonymousAFIK the mechitza is an outcropping of the orthodox halachic process. It is at least a universally (amongst orthodox) practice minhag. How would abolishing the mechitza be consistent with orthodox Judaism?I enjoy davening in my own (men's) section, because I would likely feel distracted/embarrassed by any attractive women in our shul standing next to me, hearing me sing, etc. I don't see how this translates into a desire on my part to oppress women. I'm sure there are men who wouldn't feel this way, and would probably daven just fine, just as there are young men, on the other side of the spectrum, who would maybe even ogle women. But it's impossible to satisfy everyone in a community.I agree that there are misogynists in Jewish communities, but I don't think allocating separate space to men and women in the synagogue automatically translates into oppressing women. NoPeanutzIn most Orthodox shuls, I would agree that most mechitzot themselves are misogynistic.Buried in the back, or the corner, with an obstructed view of the proceedings.The purpose of the mechitza is to allow for the inclusion of women in the service. Not the exclusion.it depends on who you're dealing with. i do remember once watching a woman scream at someone for reverse sexism and when iu asked "what about me? i do the same!" they replied "you take the additude seriously and actualy believe we're inherently better than men... and act in a fashion ment to prove it"so it really depends upon how it is felt about and put into practice lemaise. I remember one woman quoting a sicha of the lubavitcher rebbe ztz"l a"h and saying "it sounds like litvish appologetics doesn't it?" she then adds "well there is a difference, the litvishers are telling this to women, the rebbe first said this sicha to men!"
urielThis wikipedia article seems to support your views, except for the citation of R' Hirsh (who might be hard to depict as a feminist). But the article may be leaving out earlier sources.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_women_in_Judaism#Debates_within_Orthodoxy RubyVIt's part of a series called Acciones Plasticas by a Jewish Latina artist. http://mayaescobar.com/accionesplasticas.html It looks like an examination/satire of the stereotypes associated with her heritage. E. FinkTITCR Sh'lomo'Whoah, that lady had the most steriotypical modeof Ashkenazi-Jewish speech I ever saw... DovBearUriel do you really and truly think everything frum Jews say and do is authentically Jewish? well guess again. The post is a critism of the man made culture, not the god decreed religion. urielThe answer to your question is no. Will you answer my questions? urielLook at the quote from Rav Hirsh in the wikipedia article and you'll see that the idea that women are more spiritual than men is indeed authenticly Jewish (unless you see Rav Hirsch as some kind of pre-feminist apoogist). How old it is, I'm not so sure. DovBearThe idea that women have a better nature or more spiritual is NOT authenticly Jewish. We know this because non Jews got fed the same horse manure as a way of keeping them satisfied with less. Look, I dont even know what youre arguing: The more right you go the worse off Jewish women are -in satmar they cant even drive and have to shave their heads. Thats an inrefutable facr. urielThat's an odd way of proving something, you have to admit. I think a better way is to see how old an idea is. But even if it's not that old, if Rav Hirsh and Rav Aaron Soloveichik said it, I would say that's pretty authentic. Something doesn't have to be somewhere in the Mishnah to be authentic (though the older the more authentic). Much of kabbalah, mussar and chassidus would be inauthentic if that were your standard. At that point you'd be creating your own special denomination that is very picky and choosy about what in modern Judaism is authentic to you -- and that sounds like Reform. urielAre you saying Satmar is more authentic than other Jewish groups? Chazal surely had more contact with heretics and gentiles than Satmar does. E. FinkI think Zapp is right.
This is a parody / satire for sure. She is NOT serious.
Also check out comments generated by a 2007 post by DovBear on Shomer Negiah Panties called Tzittzit for women?.
Latina Women Respond
Recently Latina Role Model was featured on TikiTiki Blog: stories with cultura, color and sabor, in a post by Carrie Ferguson Weir called Smart Latina vs. Sexy Latina. Carrie asked readers:
So, has your Smart Latina run up against the Sexy Latina? What do you see when you watch Maya’s video? What does it bring up for you? Why can’t we be both Smart and Sexy? Let’s talk about this, break it down, maybe shatter some stereotypes, and bust our own too.
Check out the PROFOUND difference in the nature of the comments left on this post (comments posted below) vs the ones left on YouTube.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_1X1igrL4U]my contribution to post on Tiki Tiki:
I perform over-the-top representations of different identities. I group together these representations (characters) as a means of challenging limited perspectives of what women are like, and in this case, what Latina women are like.
This character is supposed to be an intellectual, accomplished, socially conscious woman- who will forever be seen as the “Sexy Latina.” The low quality video blog is meant to mock scenes in movies, where the hot high school teacher walks down the hall and all the boys undress her in their minds.
But I am not taking a negative or positive stance either. I want to question the role Latinas play in perpetuating this persona, and question if that is even a bad thing? Are we limiting ourselves by continuing to have this same conversation, even though the behavior persists, are we enforcing it by bring more attention to it?
I haven't always been so impartial. Out of all of the characters in Acciones Plásticas, The Latina Role Model is the one I identified with the most. My original description of the way this character was perceived by others was much more reactionary and much angrier than it is now. (see below)
The Sexy Latina© from Acciones Plásticas free (stereotype) postcard, 2007
The Sexy Latina© is an educated woman who cares about important social and political issues. She wears suggestive provocative clothing to compensate for giving up her role as a homemaker. She uses her sexuality to obtain positions in the work world.
Latina Role Model from Acciones Plásticas プリクラ 2009
Over the last two years this character has really evolved. Here is the new description of The Latina Role Model, re-imagined as part of my Acciones Plásticas プリクラ collaboration with artist Rio Yañez:
The Latina Role Model is a diploma totin’ intellectual, sexy, social media goddess.
What do you think? How does the earlier description of The Sexy Latina© differ from this new description of The Latina Role Model? How do these two images relate to the Latina Role Model YouTube video?
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Sra. López says:
This is an excellent post and an excellent video. It really does make you think.I am really not qualified to speak from a “Latina perspective” on this topic because I am Anglo. (If you read my blog, you’ll know I’m Sra. López only because I married a Salvadoran.)That being the case, I can’t speak from personal experience on Latina stereotypes, but I would like to contribute an opinion or two on topics that are pretty closely related.For example, it really bothers me that the Latinas picked as reporters and journalists on Univision and Telemundo seem to be more for the purposes of eye candy than to report the news and add intelligent commentary — not that they aren’t intelligent women, but I think the sexism by the head honchos over there is pretty evident, not just on the news, but on other programming as well… And English language channels aren’t always much better. I think Western women in general – no matter what their race, fight very hard to overcome the sense that we are valued more as objects of sex/beauty, than for what’s inside.It’s very frustrating and I don’t envy the difficult job many women have of raising daughters in this world. (I have 2 sons) … With my own self esteem issues, I can’t imagine what a challenge it would be to raise a girl who is confident in herself and who doesn’t let Hollywood, fashion magazines, men, or even other females, get her down.I don’t know the solution to achieving true equality, but I think talking about it all is a good start.
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Angelica Perez says:
Very interesting…The role model I immediately identified with was the socially-conscious, smart role model, which made me realize how loaded that role is. Being an accomplished and educated Latina comes with so many expectations — the whole giving back to the community, serving your community, being a role model and mentor for others, etc. — that’s not something that an accomplished non-Latina woman has to worry about (or feel committed to).With regards to the sexy role model — I always say that there is no sexier woman than the one that exudes confidence in herself and who she is — the sexy clothes are just extras…Great conversation…
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[...] Tiki Tiki: Stories with Cultura, Color and Sabor, thanks to post by Carrie Ferguson Weir entitled Smart Latina vs Sexy Latina. Check out the post and be sure to leave your [...]
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Ana Lilian says:
I guess I just never even thought of myself as the Sexy Latina…but a cute one yes! LOL! But once I´m on the dance floor, then the sexy comes out and it´s all good.But,seriously, I guess I just lack the perceived-Latina sassy-ness as I´ve never felt that bias towards me.I will definitely agree with dear Sra. López that the media, especially the Hispanic media, is completely promoting the hot Latina stereotype, and not much of the smart Latina one. Why do their “news” anchors feel they need to have their breast augmented to be taken seriously?
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Kikita says:
I think it is inherent in our culture to be “hot” in every sense of the word because we are so passionate.I love what Maya was trying to accomplish and say with her video, but I found that she couldn’t hide or deny her Latin sensuality even when she was trying to play the part of an “intellectual, accomplished, socially conscious woman.”This DID make me stop and think, but what I realized is that I tend to shoot for a 3rd type. I go for “Classy Latina.” You know, the one that can wear the big hoops and sexy top with a pant suit. Someone like Ingrid Hoffman or Karla Martinez.
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C. Morales says:
My impression is that Latina women play into the stereotype because Latino men often expect them to, and they are threatened by a smart woman. It is not just non-Latino men who expect a mujer caliente and nothing more.
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Liz says:
How you project yourself, depends on you, no matter what. I, like Ana, never felt that I was looked at differently because I am Latina. I don’t see my self as a Sexy, Hot, Latina(I hope my husband does, though). Hell, I’m 33, been married for 12 years, and have 3 kids. I don’t get “chifles” anymore… ): LOL!This is directed towards the younger, single generation. How they present themselves as the future “Latina Generation”, depends on how they are raised. It’s up to us, as moms, to teach our daughters to go and be the BEST they can be. It’s up to me to raise my daughter to know what it right from wrong. Do guys really still think that girls are still destined to be “home/baby makers? Really??Forget Hollywood. Forget the Media. Heck, forget the evening news. If those ladies felt that they need to have their lady lumps hanging out in order to get the job, then I feel sorry for them. But, it is what it is.I will raise my daughter to know that education is the key to being classy and sexy! Not exposed Humps and Lady Lumps! Also, I will raise my boys to see women and they see themselves. Whether they marry a Latina or not.Ay, me pase de mas! he he!
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SUZ says:
A smart and fun video commentary on the stereotypes of women in general…the educated intellectual, the hot babe, the innocent women. I like that Maya uses humor to deflect the extremes. Also that she creates a fine line between integrating the different role types. This is interesting because everyone is never just one thing…but we may choose to identify one way.
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Melissa Garcia Logan says:
I think it’s part of a male dominated culture. Many women have this problem of having to manage male expectations in their professional lives, whether it is living with objectification or men projecting their need for nurturing from any woman they meet. I’ve had jobs where men thought it was okay to flirt with me and expected me to fulfill some messed up hot secretary fantasy, and I’ve had jobs where men I worked with expected me to be maternal and when I was driven, I was labeled aggressive. I’m not a dog, I’m not a hooker, and I’m definitely not your mother, guys.I think we have to teach men when they’re children that women can fill many roles and to expect them to be as capable and androgynous as any man performing the same duties. By the same token, I don’t know how I feel about using gender or sexuality as an asset to get ahead, my feeling is that anything you do that is manipulative in nature, is skirting unethical, if not flat out crossing the line.Having a sense of humor about stereotypes though, I don’t know if I see a problem as long as you don’t go too far and reinforce them. If it’s clear it’s a joke and part of the joke is how ridiculous stereotypical behavior really is…
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Carrie says:I love the feedback, ladies. All great points and fabulous reflection.I am left wondering this, after reading Ana and Liz’s comments: Is stereotype/perception felt/seen at a greater level when we don’t live in predominately Latino communities?This comes to mind because your comments made me realize I never thought too much of my Latina side and my American side until I lived in cities where there weren’t a bunch of Cubans running around me everywhere. My otherness was apparent and pointed out. It was almost like, wow, I am different?Interesting!
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Marta says:
I don’t fit into the Sexy or Brainy Latina mold at all. Probably because I look very Anglo – light skin, blue eyes. I blend pretty seamlessly into my So Cal suburban life.Except for the Latina “chispa.” That’s always the big giveaway right there. =D
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Carrie,I emailed your post to my niece, whose studying at Penn State, this is what she had to say:Well, I agree with her lol. A lot of people especially here in Pennsylvania, see me as exotic because I’m Hispanic. They expect me to speak Spanish all of the time and a lot of them expect me to be kinda stupid and slutty. But when people get to know me, they find out that I’m extremely smart. Smarter than most people they encounter. And it sucks because I’m always having to prove myself to people and to teachers. But in the end, I’m the one that’s dropping jaws for my intellect and not for my attractiveness =)The end haha. Hope that helps.I am one PROUD Tia!!! (:
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Carrie says:
Liz, aha! Thank you for sending the post to your niece and validating my theory. I love how your niece wrote to you and the “stupid and slutty” line made me bust out laughing — especially because she obviously is not.Gracias, proud Tia!(Maybe she needs to write for the Tiki Tiki? hmmmm?)
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Veronica says:
Great video and excellent points.I think that this expectation for Latinas to appear sexy is one reason why I reject the hot mom movement. I wish there was just as much social pressure to be smart Latinas, smart moms, smart women as there is to be hot, sexy, etc.
Latina Role Model on Tiki Tiki
Latina Role Model is on Tiki Tiki: Stories with Cultura, Color and Sabor, thanks to post by Carrie Ferguson Weir entitled Smart Latina vs Sexy Latina. Check out the post and be sure to leave your responses!
maya carrying maya
The wonderful Suzan Shutan has agreed to help me with my resume/cv/statements in exchange for web design and video work. I couldn't think of a better collaboration. Here is one of the many projects (and its many iterations) that I am attempting to catalog for said documents...
Tallit Rebozo, from the series Hiddur Mitzvah, Quilted, Embroidered, Woven, and Recycled Fabric, 2006
Comodification Series: Modeling Tallit Rebozo, Performance 2006
Comodification Series: Maya Carrying Maya, Photo Collage, 2006
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr8B1u0jw0c]
Gringa Loves Guatemala, YouTube Video, 2007
Maya Carrying Maya, YouTube background, 2009
Maya Carrying Maya, Twitter background, 2009
Former Myspace Profile Picture, found internet photo (repeated here 3 times), 2006
a guest post by seenoga
a guest post by seeNoga.
As you doggedly pursue, chase, and snap at the heels of your Self, you do so knowing there is no chance you will ever catch up. For each of us, throughout our individual lives, we will be ever distant from knowing our own selves. When a person pursues his or her Self in an aggressive, determined way, the resulting hyperactive sensibility allows for a greater adaptability and sensitivity. This flexibility can be useful in contemporary human life, but only to a certain extent. It is also due to the fast-paced nature of today’s engineered environments, that there is a strong tendency (especially among young people) to go to extreme lengths in order to sustain within their own lives the hyperactivity and intensity they witness in popular culture and media. Consider the called-for constant reachability via cell-phones and laptops, as well as many other forms of expedition in our ‘lived-in’ world. These accommodations range from aerodynamics to ATMs. As many workers in today’s professional world simultaneously lament and extol their parasitic relationships with a Blackberry or other such Pocket God, I, too, have at many times felt chained to my laptop (i.e. the Internet), fearing I would miss something absolutely critical. Unfortunately, the fact that missing anything important has not happened for the most part, hardly affects the worry and anxiety that it might happen.Yet still, it seems, this once motivating anxiety is becoming a repressed urge, one which is less and less a bother, the more my environment becomes one seamless, semi-omniscient “news” feed. On the evening of President Barack Obama’s Address to the Nation, Maya Escobar recorded “Obama Tweet: How a New Generation Gets Their Information.” In this video Escobar documented a particular event, an important cultural event, one which incidentally brought the use of Twitter to the fore in popular culture.[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=359HwupsY1s]
Obama Tweet: How a New Generation Gets Their Information, 2008
I was with Escobar on this evening and was struck by the depth of her interaction with the digital realm. She was sitting in front of a T.V. broadcast of the speech, while she was also further mediating that media via her computer, on which she was following Twitter and CNN.com’s coverage of the event. Beyond all that, Escobar was creating her own real-time, indexical document of the event on television along with CNN and Twitter as instantaneous forms of annotations to the President's speech. Escobar was watching, sitting one more stage removed, behind the lens of a video camera. Because of the way in which she layered the television screen the computer screen and then the interface of any viewer's monitor, Escobar has effortlessly choreographed a multi-layered, engagement with the very most current of events. However, though I may have somewhat qualified and rationalized instant-communication tools, I still believe there must be a deliberate effort to complement those socially-prescribed media with other, independent forms of digital exchanges. While I do believe in the great social potential of our rapidly advancing communications media, my work seeks to push and pull on parts of these evolving global ‘informachines,’ in an effort to challenge the omnipresence of commercial media.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0ZvYQOp89I]
Look Out, 2008
That sort of layering of non-dimensional spaces is unique to the contemporary world, with the inception of digital technologies, and this collage-like aesthetic is of great interest to the work of Maya Escobar, as much as it is to my own. Although, unlike the deceptively referential works of my counter-part, in many of my works, I use and refer to popular media sources and specific Internet sites indirectly and rarely with any superficial visibility. It is with great deliberation and much hypothesizing that I curate my works in the manner in which I do. I intend my works to avoid specificity and leave wide-open their readings to a much more self-guided analysis by viewers. In the piece “Look Out,” the projected video came directly from YouTube. I simply cut off the last second of the original video, thus shortening it to 17 seconds. I then prepared it as a video-loop for its installation underneath a staircase at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. Because of its placement, where it fills a theretofore, unaddressed space, it is as though the rolling image is part of the museum structure itself. The particular clip, which I chose after viewing dozens of similarly tagged videos (‘storm,’ ‘tree,’ ‘willow,’ and ‘weeping’), was selected for very specific compositional reasons; reasons which are the very same principles of design taught to anyone working in commercial design or the visual arts: complimentary colors, rule of thirds, dynamic composition and varied textures, to name a few. Because of my focused selection process, this video, although created for very different (and unknown) reasons, still fits very well into the installation space as a deliberately designed, and potentially permanent use of what is otherwise a neglected space. The video became part of the stairwell. By existing within a predetermined, architectural frame, it became part of the space, as opposed to sitting on the surface as a painting does. This projection did not exist in the way that many (most) installations do: as obvious alterations or obtrusive interjections into a space. This work asserts itself as a physical part of the space, as the projector beams through from behind the scrim in the stairwell. It also assumes a living presence, as it reiterates itself, by many reflections and refractions, split and scattered, bouncing around the main hall of the museum. The video functioned as a decorative element but also an illusory window to an outside world, whereas, the space without that piece is simply a pane of glass that looks into the shadowy crotch of a stairwell. I do not mean every square inch should be taken up for some sort of visual activity or illusionary window. Simply, this work proposes how our constructed spaces, in this case a venue for art viewing, might be reinterpreted. Insofar as, a corner can conceivably become a window, as illusory and impermanent as my particular interpretation may be.
*NOESCO is seeNoga and maya escobar
Darja Bajagić
Darja sent me a beautiful email on YouTube earlier this week. Needless to say, I was quite taken by her.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuZtuDZjvQE][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hY2_e-HWYI][vimeo=http://vimeo.com/3465404][vimeo=http://vimeo.com/3064268]
acciones plásticas goes プリクラ chicano style
Acciones Plásticas プリクラ
Acciones Plásticas プリクラ is a collaboration between artists Maya Escobar and Rio Yañez.
The Latina Hipstera bad-ass Morrissey-lovin’, tuff-girl sexy chica
The Latina Role Modela diploma totin’ intellectual, sexy, social media goddess
The Homegirla hybridized version of Escobar’s Midwestern Chach and Yañez’s West Coast Chola.In Acciones Plásticas Escobar created a multi-faceted “doll” by assuming the role of designer and distributor, and even posing as the actual doll itself. Each doll was a satirical characterization of some of the many roles that have been projected upon her, and into which she has, at points, inevitably fallen. In conjunction with these images, she developed a short series of low-definition youtube video blogs through which she inhabits the lives of “real women” who have each been visibly defined by societal constructs.Recently, Yañez has been utilizing Japanese photobooths (known as Purikura or “print-club”) as an artist’s tool for creating portraits. These booths are much more common in Japan than their United States counterparts. As a catalyst for creative expression and social interaction they are used primarily by young urban Japanese girls. A standard feature in all Purikura booths allows the user to digitally decorate their portraits after they take them. The options are vast and include wild characters, excessive starbursts of light, pre-made phrases and the option to draw your own text directly on the image. Purikura gives the subjects near-divine powers of self-expression in crafting their own portraits.The two artists who met over the web, decided to bring together Escobar’s highly charged and evocative Acciones Plásticas characters with Yanez’s notorious Chicano graphic-art style and new found obsession with Purikura images, as a way of addressing the construction of Latina identities.Maya posed as The Latina Hipster: a bad-ass Morrissey-lovin’, tuff-girl sexy chica; The Latina Role Model: a diploma totin’ intellectual, sexy, social media goddess; and finally, The Homegirl: a hybridized version of Escobar’s Midwestern Chach (or Chachi Mama) and Yañez’s West Coast Chola. Maya sent digital images to Rio, who in turn drew portraits of her as each of these constructed identities. He approached each portrait with a Purikura sensibility and decorated them each as the characters represented might accessorize themselves. The final series of portraits is the result of negotiating multiple identities and influences. Guatemalan, Jewish, and Chicano sensibilities reflected back through a Japanese Purikura aesthetic. Acciones Plásticas プリクラ challenge and question the thin line between archetype and stereotype. The Purikura elements present the novel signifiers of each social construct represented in the series.This collaboration is the first of many to come as Maya and Rio explore the commonalities and differences of their cultural identities.For more information on Acciones Plásticas プリクラcheck out Rio's blog and stay tuned for guest post by seeNoga aka Carianne Noga on meeting the Chach Homegirl in real life.(video of the Chach featured below)[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj3Q42YF40Y]