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Language
English (en)
Date of Award
5-1-2012
Author's Department
International and Area Studies
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Restricted
Abstract
Mexico is a historically machista country, that is to say male dominated with limited opportunities for female advancement. While feminism has made great strides in Mexico, the progress has been slow. Cartel women violently push through sexist barriers to rise to the top of criminal organizations. For obvious reasons this is not ideal for feminism as it shows the socalled “bad girls” getting ahead while the majority of Mexican women push against a slowly shifting bureaucratic paradigm. The women at the top of cartels are not the role models Mexican feminists hoped for nor are they the ideal mechanism for the state to show its liberalism. The ways in which these women are incorporated into Mexico’s imagination given these prejudices is critical to understanding Mexican perceptions of gender and power. Through a study of song, soap opera and sensationalist journalism, I seek to expose how Mexican drug queens have stamped themselves into the visual culture of Mexico. The impact of their representation can be found in the reactions popular audiences have to these different sources and can be interpreted more broadly as vital aspects of Mexican identity, influencing conceptions of nation, gender and power.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7936/1kbb-d818
Mentor
Ignacio Sánchez Prado
Recommended Citation
Baker, Sara, "Cartel Queens: Mexican Narcas and the Visual Culture They Create" (2012). Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses. 141.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.7936/1kbb-d818
Comments
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