Machismo? More like MachisNO. Am I right ladies?
It is common for Xicanx individuals to grow up hearing the music of Vicente Fernandez, a symbol of bravery and chivalry, and watching the iconic movies of the ultra-feminine Maria Felíx. La Dama and El Catrin become iconic images that people grow up seeing when they play Lotería[1] with family. Many Xicanxs grow up internalizing the rigid gender roles that manifested themselves in music, film, religious practices, and family values. It is because of this reason that queer Xicanxs attempt to find a balance between two identities, which seem to be almost incompatible. Queer Xicanxs grow up in a toxic environment when they grow up internalizing cis-heteronormative gender roles they they do not identify by. Art, however, has been a popular medium for queer Xicanxs to demonstrate their experiences of being caught in the middle of a culture clash, as we can see through the work of Hector Silva.
Hector Silva is a Xicanx artist based in Los Angeles who blends elements of Xicanx icons, religious iconography, and queer erotica in his art. The piece I will analyze, Amor y Luchas (2012), is from his art collection called Homeboy Art. Through the strategic use of color, the useage of Mexican iconography, and the integration of queerness, Silva creates a commentary on how queer Xicanx men continuously struggle to which presents an uncommon representation of the intersection of the Xicanx identity and the queer identity, reveals how the coexistence of the queer and Xicanx identity is crucial in the deconstruction of toxic heteronormative norms.
Amor y Luchas is a pencil drawing that depicts two muscular bodies facing each other in a tender and endearing way. The piece is drawn to show the profiles of the individuals. The individuals are drawn only from their chest and up. Both individuals are wearing luchador masks. One man is in formal attire: a button up shirt and a black blazer. The other man is shirtless, and his mask has a vibrantly colored rainbow running up the side of his face. Unlike the man in formal attire, the shirtless man’s mustache is not covered by the mask. The entire piece is black and white except for the rainbow on the mask of the man seem to be made of leather, latex, or other type of reflective material. The contour on the body and the way the blazer bunches up around one man’s bicep demonstrates how both individuals are very muscular. The man in the formal attire is holding the shirtless man in a very gentle manner with his hand around the other’s shoulder, and his other hand is holding his head. He is pulling the shirtless man towards him. The drawing captures the exact moment before the two men kiss. The man in the blazer and button-up shirt is gazing into the eyes of the other person. The other person’s eyes are almost closed, preparing to kiss the man. The lips of both men are pouting in anticipation of the kiss. The background to this piece is all white, so all the attention is placed on the two men.
This piece has blended Mexican and queer iconography to reveal an unusually harmonious representation of queer and Xicanx identities. The two men are wearing luchador masks, which allude to La Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) a distinct aspect of Mexican culture. The masks and muscular bodies also demonstrate influence from the iconic Tom of Finland drawing, which have become notable art pieces of queer culture. Similarities between Tom of Finland’s work and Silva’s work can be seen in the fact that that both artists use “hypermasculine” figures in their often homoerotic art (Beesley). Tom of Finland often includes depictions of men in fetish clothing, which are most often leather. His work became p opular because of his “hypermasculine” way of drawing gay men was not a typical representation of gay men at the time these art pieces were published. We can see similarities to Tom of Finland’s work in the way Silva depicts the men wearing luchador masks, which seem to be made out of latex, leather, or some other similar material. In addition to giving a nod to an iconic gay artist, the masks in Silva’s work are blurring the line of distinction between Mexican iconography and icons representative of sexually deviant cultures. The rainbow on the side of one person’s masks demonstrates a much more explicit allusion to the queer community. Instead of categorizing the masks as a queer image or a Xicanx image, Silva is reclaiming the luchador/fetish mask as a representation of his Xicanx queerness. Joey Terrill, a major figure in the Chano Art Movement, describes that the queer Xicanx art he made alongside his peers during this movement in the 1970’s was meant to “expand the definition of Chicano art” (Assunção). Silva is doing precisely what Terril is talking about by strategically merging queer and Xicanx imagery and references in order to expand the Xicanx identity to include the queer identity. Silva is creating a space for queer individuals in the Xicanx community, which was largely inclusive of queer individuals. Silva is intentionally nuancing his references in order to reveal his commentary that embracing one of his identities does not have to result in the compromising of another one of his identities.
The masks do not only serve as a reference to queer art, but the masks can also be interpreted as Silva’s struggle to come to terms with his own queerness. Although the drawing depicts two figures, it can be interpreted as a representation of the internal battle Silva encountered as a result of his Xicanx and queer identities. The piece as a whole is somewhat symmetrical in the way that both figures of facing each other, which leads me to believe that this is Silva’s depiction of his own struggle his identities. The way both individuals face each other implies that they represent two entities meant to interact in someway, whether it be confrontationally or cohesively. One man is dressed in a blazer and white button up shirt while the other man is shirtless. This is symbolic of how he struggled to balance his sexuality, represented by the shirtless man, with the image of the man he was expected to be, represented by the man in the blazer and button up shirt. Both figures are wearing a mask because Silva believes that if he embraces either identity, he would be suppressing the other and be ingenuine.
In being openly queer, Silva is labeled as part of a counterculture or a subculture of the Xicanx identity. The fetish masks create a sense of taboo because Silva is implying that his sexuality is always seen as taboo in Xicanx culture, and they serve as a representation of the stigma that is associated with his identity. The masks represent the feeling of guilt that he feels if he embraces his Xicanx identity. This is seen in how he masks are disruptive to the harmonious tone created by endearing pose the men are in. The masks cover the faces of both individuals which creates a disconnect between both individuals despite them being in a very intimate moment. The disconnect represented by the masked faces can also be seen in how both men are not kissing. The two individuals are extremely close to kissing, but there is a sense of suspense created by the small space between the lips of both individuals. The anticipation and suspense created by the men almost kissing is meant to show the difficulties in learning how to merge the Xicanx ad queer identity. The longing that both men demonstrate for each other in Amor y Luchas is the same feeling of longing Silva feels about having an identity that does not invalidate other identities of his. In having two figures represent his own struggles in a symmetrical drawing, Silva reveals that these two identities juxtapose each other, but they can also merge harmoniously as represented by the endearing pose the two figures are depicted in.
Through his piece, Silva also makes the commentary that being openly queer in the Xicanx culture is an act of activism and defiance. Silva’s choice to use two masculine individuals as his subjects demonstrates his defiance of Mexican values of masculinities because he is queering an icon that represents the epitome of Mexican masculinity. Men of color are often held to “hypermasculine” standards meaning that they are held to standards of exaggerated masculinity where physical strength and aggression are the most paramount values, which is what Silva is representing by using two very muscular men as his only subjects in the piece (Beesley). The muscular figures depicted embody the values “hypermasculinity” conserved in Mexican and Xicanx cultures (Beesley). By depicting embodiments of “hypermasculinity” in this manner, Silva is demonstrating how openly queer Xicanx men are actively deconstructing machista values of “hypermasculinity” by simply existing (Beesley). Silva is arguing in his piece that queer individuals, like the subjects in Amor y Luchas, are living proof of deconstruction of values of “hypermasculinity” and machismo (Beesley).
Amor y Lucha also demonstrates how gender roles are racialized, meaning that standards of masculinity vary depending on the race of that individual. Machista values are values of masculinity in the context of Latinx culture. Machista values associate masculinity with aggression, violence, and the degradation of women. Silva’s piece demonstrates men in a vulnerable, tender, and queer way which is the antithesis of machista values. This concept is further supported by Halberstam’s Gender in which the author talk about the importance of analyzing identity as an “intersectional” concept because all aspects of identity contribute to creating a unique experience for each individual (Crenshaw). In Halberstam’s piece Gender, the author claims that there are “histories of gender formations in relation to racial projects that attribute gender and sexual pathology to oppressed groups” (Halberstam 117). Drawing from this claim, racialized gender roles means that in order to analyze the origins and functions of a gender roles in any given situation, the racial context must also be taken into consideration. Amor y Luchas also demonstrates the importance of analyzing identity from an “intersectional” perspective, meaning that all facets of a person’s identity is analyzed in relation to the other aspects of that person’s identity (Crenshaw). Silva represents how his identity “intersectionally” on how the his piece merges queer and Xicanx iconography and in how the background to Amor y Luchas is white (Crenshaw). There is not one aspect of this piece that can be separated or isolated from other aspects of this piece. Neither one of the men is being emphasized more than the other, and the significance of once man is dependent on the presence of the other man. Silva drew the piece to be symmetrical but also so that each subject juxtaposed the other subject. Silva does this in order to put the viewer’s complete attention on the only subject in this piece: the two men embracing. The unity of the two individuals in the piece reiterates the importance of analyzing identity as a multi-faceted concept.
Silva demonstrates through his piece the unique manifestation of masculinity in the context of Xicanx culture. Silva piece is also a demonstration of how he copes with his intersectional identities, and it also demonstrates how his intersectional identities asa queer Xicanx is a form of defiance. Amor y Luchas is a demonstration of the importance that queer Xicanxs play deconstructing standards of hypermasculinity and machismo.
Works Cited
Assunção, Muri. “Queer Chicano Art Is as Timeless As It Is Vital.” Vice, 15 Sept. 2017, www.vice.com/en_us/article/8x8nxz/queer-chicano-art-is-as-timeless-as-it-is-vital
Beesley, Francis; McGuire, James (2009). “Gender-role identity and hypermasculinity in violent offending”. Psychology, Crime & Law. 15 (2–3): 251–268.
Burgett, Bruce, et al. “Gender.” Keywords for American Cultural Studies, New York University Press, 2014.
Kimberlé Crenshaw. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color,” Stanford Law Review, Vol. 43, №6 (Jul., 1991), pp. 1241–1299.
Silva, Hector. Amor y Luchas. 2012.
Tom of Finland. Untitled, 1985. Graphite on paper. Collection John McConnell, San Diego
[1] Loteria is a popular bingo game with images on the playing cards. It was originally popularized in Mexico.
