Mariachi, Hip-Hop, and Gender Roles (My First Post!)

Hello, Feministing readers! This is my very first post on the community blog, and I’m very excited about it.
What actually inspired me to write this blog was a debate that took place on the comment thread to another post–a post about a married woman taking sexy pictures for a men’s magazine. The comments thread quickly turned into a debate about the merits of such provocative photographs–whether it’s empowering or degrading.
It might be a somewhat long and confusing train of thought, but this discussion eventually reminded me of an essay that we read in my Women & Folklore class this past semester.
The essay was called “Transgressing the Taboo: A Chicana’s Voice in the Mariachi World” by Leonor Xochitl Perez. I’m not exactly sure how recent it is, but it was a great, really interesting essay about Perez’s own personal experience performing Mariachi.
Perez talks about the traditional roles for a good Chicana when she was a young woman, which were either to be a mother, a nun, or a prostitute. There were no other options. And she discusses at length how Mariachi music offered her a way to get outside that and carve out her own path.
When Perez first began performing mariachi, it was an almost entirely male-dominated form of expression. It was not appropriate for a woman, especially, a young woman to participate, and so she was not taken seriously.
Now, however, there are all-female mariachi groups that have gained considerable popularity. But Perez points out that these all-female groups are still directed by men, and there are some highly significant differences between female and male mariachis. The all-female groups typically wear pastel-colored outfits, in pale pinks, blues, or yellows, instead of the traditional black suit. They also often perform popular music, like Celine Dion songs and things of that nature, and not strictly traditional mariachi songs. In mixed groups, with both male and female performers, the women usually only play the smaller instruments, like the violin. They typically don’t play the larger instruments like the guitarron, because this would cover the player’s body, and they usually do not play the trumpet because it distorts the face.
I liked the article because it really made me think. The questions it seems to pose is whether or not these female mariachis are achieving something. Yes, they are still under the direction of men, and still playing to feminine stereotypes, but they are also breaking down some barriers in participating in a form of expression that women were previously barred from.
In my class, we also discussed the similarities between the female mariachis and women in the hip-hop community. We talked about how more and more women are breaking into those traditionall male forms of expression like rapping and breakdancing. We also talked about how, oftentimes, those women play to the same feminine stereotypes that are part of the problem in that community. So is it a good thing that they’re gaining access to this mode of expression? Or does the fact that they might be reinforcing stereotypes counterbalance that?
I personally don’t really know the answer. Part of why I enjoyed that essay so much is that it’s definitely given me a lot to think about. I just wanted to see if anyone else has thoughts on the subject, because I’d love to hear some other opinions!