Madwell’s Post

Transcript

Pachucas were young Mexican American women who created and participated in the pachuca culture. Most Americans don't know who pachucas were. However, if we step back, we see their influence in American culture, in particular style and makeup and ohls Labios SCADA provides us with a platform for amplifying their stories and what we see in the video is. Celebration of their culture in the face of pressures to conform. And like a lot of other people of colour, they simply weren't supposed to be seen in public. They were supposed to be silent and invisible. They were supposed to use the servants entrance, quite literally. And the zoo look was a very loud, bold proclamation of their presence in cities like Los Angeles. So some people think that makeup is very superficial, that it's only skin deep. But makeup is a tool. It's a tool for facing the world, for challenging a world that excludes or marginalizes. And with their winged eyes, their red lips, they undermined assertions that beauty was the purview of only a certain group of people. And they lifted themselves, and by extension others, to new heights by claiming. A look and claiming beauty, self-esteem and pride for themselves.