Pachuco
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Pachucos are male members of a
Pachucos emerged in El Paso,
Pachucos were perceived as alien to both Mexican and Anglo-American culture–a distinctly Chicano figure. In Mexico, the pachuco was understood "as a caricature of the American", while in the United States he was perceived as so-called "proof of Mexican degeneracy."[9] Mexican critics such as Octavio Paz denounced the pachuco as a man who had "lost his whole inheritance: language, religion, customs, belief." In response, Chicanos heavily criticized Paz and embraced the oppositional position of the pachuco as an embodied representation of resistance to Anglo-American cultural hegemony.[10] To Chicanos, the pachuco had acquired and emanated self-empowerment and agency through a "stylized power" of rebellious resistance and spectacular excess.[11][12]
Etymology
The origin of the word "pachuco" is uncertain, but one theory connects it to the city of El Paso, Texas, which was sometimes referred to as "Chuco Town" or "El Chuco". People migrating to El Paso from Ciudad Juarez would say, in Spanish, that they were going "pa' El Chuco". Some say "pa El Chuco" comes from the words Shoe Co., a shoe company that was located in El Paso in the 1940s during the war. The majority of Mexican migrants would cross the border in order to work for this famous shoe company in El Paso. Throughout the years the term "pa El Chuco" was used when Mexican immigrants were heading to El Paso looking for a job. In order to cross the American border with success the migrants would have to dress nice and look nice other wise they would get rejected at the border. These migrants became known as pachucos.[13]
"Pachuco" could also have derived from the name of the city of Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico,[6] as the majority of Mexican migration to the United States came from the Central Plateau region, of which Hidalgo is a part.[14]
Another theory says that the word derives from pocho, a derogatory term for a Mexican born in the United States who has lost touch with the Mexican culture. The word is also said to mean "punk" or "troublemaker". Yet another theory is put forth by author Laura L. Cummings who postulates a possible indigenous origin of the term.[citation needed]
Connections have also been found between "Pachucos" and mixed civilians who lived near the Mexican–American border during the turn of the century, and between "Pachucos" and the poor soldiers who fought in the Mexican Revolution in the armies of Pancho Villa.[15]
Pachucos called their slang
Style
Pachuco style was a dominating trend among Mexican-American youth in the 1930s-40s. Pachucos became known for their distinguished look, dialogue, and actions. Pachucos dressed in recognizable Zoot suits, and often styled their hair into ducktails. Things like decorative chains and tattoos were also sometimes part of the pachuco look. The unique speech of pachucos was a very important element of their defined style. Consisting of creative phrases and some English words, Caló was a very popular form of speech among pachucos. Pachucos were seen as gangsters in the eyes of conservative Americans with ethnic prejudices.[citation needed]
Culture
The Mexican
While he was not the first Mexican comedian to perform as a Mexican American zoot suiter, Mexican comedian and film actor
Pachuco culture in America was at its height during World War II. The Wartime Productions Board in 1942 thought it necessary to cut back on fabric consumption, so they enacted regulations on the amount of fabric used for suits. This enactment targeted Pachucos in particular because of the excess fabric used in their zoot suits. Pachucos boldly chose not to follow these regulations, demonstrating rebellious attitudes and pride in their culture. Pachucos continued to flaunt zoot suits, now attained through bootleg tailors. As a result, these flashy zoot suits were seen as unpatriotic by other Americans. This controversial series of events helped shape Pachuco culture, and zoot suits became a symbol of cultural pride among Mexican-Americans. It didn't all end well, however, as this also led to rising tension between Pachucos and other Americans, playing a part in the start of the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots.[17]
The pachuco subculture declined in the 1960s, evolving into the Chicano style. This style preserved some of the pachuco slang while adding a strong political element characteristic of the late 1960s American life.
In the early 1970s, a recession and the increasingly violent nature of gang life resulted in an abandonment of anything that suggested
La Pachuca
The "Pachuca," the female counterpart of the Pachuco, had an aesthetic sensibility as strong as the male zoot suiter. The Pachuca's hairstyle tended to be a high "coif" or
Costa Rica
The term "pachuco" is used in Costa Rica to define Costa Rican slang. It nevertheless differs from the Mexican slang.[citation needed]
In Costa Rica the term "pachuco" refers to someone who has common habits and who is often very rude.[20] In Costa Rica the word pachuco refers to a person who has manners that are socially unacceptable and often uses shocking language when speaking. Pachuco is also a pejorative name given to certain colloquial words and expressions. Some consider pachuco and its pachuquismos to be Costa Rica's second language.[citation needed]
See also
- Zoot Suit Riots – a confrontation between pachucos and U.S. servicemen in Los Angeles during World War II in which unarmed pachucos were brutally beaten and jailed
- The opening scenes of the film American Me depict confrontations between pachucos and white American soldiers during the Zoot Suit Riots.
- The Sleepy Lagoon murder was a confrontation between two Los Angeles pachuco gangs that resulted in a crackdown on the culture.
- Cholo and Vato are terms for modern-day Chicano street gangsters, though the association with the zoot suit is no longer present.
References
- ^ ISBN 9780313332111.
- OCLC 272303247.
- ISBN 9780674038264.
- ISBN 9780822389385.
- ^ Ramirez, Catherine S. (2008). Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society: Volume 1. SAGE Publications. pp. 1005–006.
- ^ ISBN 9780292786776.
- ^ ISBN 9781478003007.
- ISBN 9780816526475.
- ISBN 9780292798038.
- ISBN 9780813589886.
- ISBN 9780809387021.
- ISBN 9780521478038.
- ^ Zoot Suit Discovery Guide. L.A. in the Zoot Suit Era. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
- JSTOR j.ctvss3xzr.5. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
The central plateau area includes the country's most populous states, with population density ranging from twenty to sixty people per kilometer. Mexico, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, Hidalgo, Jalisco, and Aguascalientes are some of the states in this region. . . . These areas provided two-thirds of the emigrants to the United States.
- ^ ARNOLDO, DE LEON (2010-06-15). "PACHUCOS". tshaonline.org.
- ^ Guzmán, Romeo (23 February 2017). "Mexico's Most Celebrated Pachuco: Tin Tan". KCET. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "L.A. in the Zoot Suit Era: Zoot Suit Discovery Guide". research.pomona.edu.
- JSTOR 25443504.
- ^ Ramírez, Catherine S., The Woman in the Zoot Suit: Gender, Nationalism, and the Cultural Politics of Memory. Durham: Duke University Press, 2009. p. xii [1] Archived 2012-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Green Energy Network. "Pachuco". Costa Rican Spanish Dictionary. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
Further reading
- Barker, George Carpenter (1950). Pachuco: an American-Spanish argot and its social functions in Tucson, Arizona. University of Arizona Press.
- Cummings, Laura L. (2003). "Cloth-Wrapped People, Trouble, and Power: Pachuco Culture in the Greater Southwest". Journal of the Southwest. 45 (3): 329–348. JSTOR 40170329.
- Cummings, Laura L. (2009). Pachucas and Pachucos in Tucson: Situated Border Lives. University of Arizona Press.
- Fuentes, Dagoberto; López, José A. (1974). Barrio Language Dictionary. La Puente, CA: El Barrio Publications.
- Madrid Barela, A. (Spring 1973). "In Search of the Authentic Pachuco. An Interpretive Essay, Part I.". Aztlan. 4 (1): 31 60.
- Paz, Octavio (1961) [1950, pub. by Cuadernos Americanos]. "The Pachuco and Other Extremes". The Labyrinth of Solitude. Translated by Kemp, Lysander. Grove Press.
- Ramirez, Catherine Sue (2002). "Crimes of Fashion: The Pachuca and Chicana Style Politics". Meridians. 2 (2): 1–35. S2CID 197688724.
- Ramirez, Catherine S. (2009). The Woman in the Zoot Suit. Duke University Press.
- raúlrsalinas (1980). Un Trip Through the Mind Jail y Otras Excursiones. San Francisco: Pocho Ché.
- Sánchez-Tranquilino, Marcos (1992). "The Pachuco's Flayed Hide". In Tagg, John (ed.). Grounds of Dispute: Art History, Cultural Politics, and the Discursive Field. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Serrano, Rodolfo G. (1979). Dictionary of Pachuco Terms. California State University.
- Cantú, Manuel (2007). Pachuco Dictionary. Computer Images. ISBN 978-0-615-15944-7. Archived from the originalon 2016-10-22.