Full Description
At the end of the nineteenth century, William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal glorified cubanas as "the most feminine and simple women in the world." Ever since, the stereotype of Cuban femininity as chaste and dutiful has informed Cubans' racial, social, and ethnic identity in the dominant American imagination, and this gendered and deracialized narrative has taken different forms and served various purposes throughout the Cuban diaspora.
In Making the Miami Cubanita Paula Davis Hoffman examines the cultural precepts and political aims underlying the construction of Cuban femininity in pop culture outlets produced by, for, and about Cuban Americans of the Cuban diaspora. By incorporating academic texts, oral interviews, and elements of popular culture as well as personal accounts of growing up in a first-wave Cuban exile family, Hoffman discusses the historical forces that molded vacillating constructions of Miami Cuban women. Organized by decade, this book traces internal and external articulations of Cuban American culture and examines how Cuban American exceptionalism played into the evolution of the term chonga, originally an insult disciplining young cubanas who performed stigmatized ethnic signifiers that has today become a label some proudly own. Not only does Hoffman fill a gap in academic research surrounding the subculture of Cuban American women, she further demonstrates how migration, race, gender, and sexuality are informed by popular culture and political agenda within the diverse context of South Florida.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Introduction: Let There Be White
Part 1. In the Beginning, Hearst Created Cubanas
1. In the 1950s, Desi Did Domesticity
2. In the 1960s, the Voice of America Had a Cuban Accent
3. In the 1970s, la Virgen de PBS Asked, "¿QuÉ Pasa, USA?"
Part 2. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been a Chonga?
4. In the 1980s, the World Said Hello to Tony Montana's Little Friend
5. In the 1990s, the Chongas on the Bus Sang "Doo-Doo Brown"
6. In the 2000s, the Mamis Went to War
7. In the 2010s, Born-Again Chongas Learned to Lip Line
Epilogue: Let's Make Miami Chonga Again
Acknowledgments
Appendix: Lyrics to "Chongalicious" by the Chonga Girls
Notes
Bibliography
Index
