Chicana Traditions

Book excerpt: The first anthology to focus specifically on the topic of Chicana expressive culture, Chicana Traditions features the work of native scholars: Chicanas engaged in careers as professors and students, performing artists and folklorists, archivists and museum coordinators, and community activists. Blending narratives of personal experience with more formal, scholarly discussions, Chicana Traditions tells the insider story of a professional woman mariachi performer and traces the creation and evolution of the escaramuza charra (all-female precision riding team) within the male-dominated charreada, or Mexican rodeo. Other essays cover the ranchera (country or rural) music of the transnational performer Lydia Mendoza, the complex crossover of Selena's Tejano music, and the bottle cap and jar lid art of Goldie Garcia. Framed by the Chicana feminist concept of the borderlands, a formative space where cultures and identities converge, Chicana Traditions offers a lively commentary on how women continue to invent, reshape, and transcend their traditional culture.