Hair flying everywhere… that intensity… the confidence in those eyes, and muscles, muscles, and more muscles! Oh I forgot to mention that cape and the high tops. There is so much action, sparks are flying. And that tattoo…

This is a silkscreen print entitled, Don’t Mess with La Reina. She is a Luchadora, which in Mexican culture can mean wrestler, but can also mean a woman who perseveres through life’s struggles and injustice.

In Mexican wrestling, the names given relate to the characteristics of the wrestler. She is a wrestler embodying strength, stature, character, and the the status of a victorious woman. She is fighting a Diablo, inner obstacles such as fear, and insecurity, but also the external forces of oppression. She is larger than the Diablo, depicting the size of her self-assurance and has muscle, stature, strength, and confidence that shows in her eyes. So, in other words, Don’t mess with La Reina.

In Mexican culture, as in many cultures a woman may be held in high regard but there is also machismo through the men. Many families however, are held together by La Reina, the woman. Often sons refer to their wives and mothers as their Reinas. She is strong, pushes through the struggles of life, and more often than not, is victorious. It goes without saying that the Mexican culture has no corner on the machismo market.

I also like that this image taken another way is not gender specific, nor is the title, really. A name or identity is not something that can be put on us, although the culture can try. Sometimes as relentlessly as if we could be given tattoos.

I stumbled unto Pilsen Outpost in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago while walking around to get to know that part of town. Pilsen Outpost is a non profit organization that provides space and resources for community engagement through arts and culture.

Ricardo Xavier Serment’s show Round One, had just opened. I met Teresa Magana, the director and also an artist with whom I spent a lovely hour finding out about the work, her art and their work in the community. I was lucky to get one of the ten prints made in Serment’s series.

Teresa, also told me about her friends who had shops in the community, or were borrowing space to show their art. This was not just a community of individual luchadoras, but they had learned how to tag team.

The poet, Kate Baer, writes about wrestling with inner and outer forces and bringing in the reinforcements of friends to tag team. There is no point running, the diablos chase us one way or another, even in our dreams.

So….I think the future is wrestling. Wild hair and sparks flying to fill the sky.

To Take Back a Life

First, you must learn desire. Hold its

fruit in your hands. Unmarry it from

the hunger to be held, to be wanted, to

be called from the streets like the family

dog. You are not a good girl. You are not

somebody’s otherness. This is not a dress

rehearsal before a better kind of life.

Pick up your heavy burdens and leave

them at the gate. I will hold the door for

you.

—Kate Baer, What Kind of Woman

Kate Baer’s Author’s note: This book is not intended as a substitute for medical emotional, or spiritual advice. The reader should regularly consult their own inner voice in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms of lust longing, and the desire to be free.

Be well, and may the new year give us all a soft landing,

Marlene

*Round one: Primera Caida

Round One: Primera caida (Round One: the first fall) draws on imagery from my childhood fascination with wresting and symbolic characters in Mexican folklore, such as calaveras y diablitos, to create allegorical narratives. Through Round One, I explore the array of emotions and physical expressions one undergoes at the beginning of a bout, which is sometimes the hardest to overcome. Feelings of struggle, loss, and triumph are depicted in my work to resemble the emotions experienced in the face of adversity, or simply in our everyday lives. Woven into these narratives are my own ideas surrounding good versus evil, as well as unexpected outcomes.

—Ricardo Xavier Serment

*You can find Teresa Magana, @tereamagart and pilsenartscommunityhouse.org

*Thank you to my friend and magnificent luchadora, Elizabeth Sutherland, @ehsutherland, for inspiring this post and the wonderful book by Baer.