So after many years of saying I will do a blog, the time has come for it to appear. I will address you, my readership, as "queerid@s" as my dear super smart colleague and friend Armando Garcia suggested. Armando tells me that he first encountered the term as an undergraduate and that it might have been first coined by Jorge Huerta, professor of drama and scholar of Chicano performance extraordinaire.
I decided to use the name "Tenured Chicana" in honor of my friend Alicia Muñoz, amazing literature and culture scholar, who gave me a mug with that phrase when I was awarded tenure. As there are so few of us in academia, and even fewer of us with tenure, this was one of the best gifts I have ever received. I take my mug to class and meetings with pride.
My intention with this blog is use it to discuss relevant issues in Chican@ and Joteria Studies, mostly focusing on film, popular culture, and television. I welcome your comments and suggestions on possible topics and approaches.
My first entry is just an introduction to some of my forthcoming entries. In honor of día de los muertos (which has always been my absolutely favorite holiday), I leave you with the thought of how to queer the holiday and spirituality in general. Lourdes Portillo's documentary La Ofrenda: Mexican Days of the Dead features in its second part queer raza celebrating the holiday, introducing us to some queer everyday practices of religiosity.
Most institutional religions exclude many of us from its normative constructions of identity - a very painful experience for those of us who are spiritual and seek community. I have joined a synagogue (yes, Virginia, there are Jewish Chicanas) in Vancouver, BC, Canada, that is affirming and supportive of all Jewish peoples. As I live in Walla Walla, WA, I do not get to go often to pray with my community, but at least I have found one. For those of you interested, check out Ahavat Olam at http://ahavat-olam.ca/
But what about the rest of our raza, queer and queer-friendly, who have not found a spiritual home? To you, I leave you my how to queer your día de los muertos thoughts below.
1. If dressing up, mess it up. Gender trouble (not only the book, but the practice) in Halloween is a great opportunity to both transgress boundaries and also be safe, as you are like in a costume, no?
2. Channel your inner Llorona and educate others about día de los muertos as a religious practice of the Americas and one that has recently been commercialized and to a certain point gentrified. So, as la Llorona, say "Ay, my día, ay, mi día" and demand it back!
3. Build an altar. Every year I try to do one to honor my familia. In your altar be assertive of who you are and whom your familia truly was. The altar building tradition is both therapeutic and calming. It is also a way for you to establish who you are.
4. Eat pan de muertos or another traditional food. Okay, it is hard to queer eating, but I like my pan, y que! Many recipes exist out there, make your own if you can. That can be a queer practice - queer the kitchen! Cook in drag!
5. If trick or treating, be an example for our comunidad. It is inspiring to see others of us out there. Sometimes it is lonely, so visibility of kindred spirits makes my day!
6. Pray; yes, I said pray. Religiosity is part of who we are (even my atheist mom would agree on this as she likes her Virgen de Guadalupe iconography). So, come out of the closet and pray to your deities - be it Adonai, God, Chango, Yemaya, la Virgen, and others in our panteon.
So, that is it for now. Next entry will be my reading of the film La Mission (2009) directed by Peter Bratt and staring Benjamin Bratt.
Yours, Tenured Chicana
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