#Guatemalan Culture

[seashorepics]

Day 29: Guatemalan Wooden Masks: Tradition, Craftsmanship, and Cultural Inspiration

— Introduction Guatemalan wooden masks are vibrant artifacts that embody the culture, history, and artistic expression of the country’s diverse ethnic groups. Rooted in centuries-old traditions, these masks have served many purposes in religious rituals, celebrations, and storytelling, providing an intimate glimpse into the cultural identity of Guatemala. Whether used in traditional dances or…

[kisari-vibes]

Re-listening to the Coco soundtrack and all I can think about is that the moment that Imelda realized that Miguel was in this situation all because he was so sure that his great-great-grandfather was Ernesto de la cruz she was probably all like "Aw no not this fucking bitch again-" lol

[deathsmallcaps]

Blue beetle spoilers. And spoilers for Macario (1960)

There’s plenty of articles out there already with this info but these are my thoughts.

Ok I just saw Blue Beetle and I’m in love with Xolo Maridueña!!! His character Jaime Reyes is so enthusiastic and loves his family and ultimately kind. And he has sweet eyes XD. It’s really cool he got the role because of his martial arts skills.

Harvey Guillén is in there! He plays another character with the same last name, de la Cruz, so maybe we can jokingly have crossovers in this universe with What we do in the Shadows. Blade (admittedly Marvel but still) is semi-canon already. (I didn’t catch the entirety of his real name sorry, just definitely the end.)(idk if Guillermo de la Cruz is his full name or if his name was shuffled around/inaccurately represented due to USian naming customs)

I loved George Lopez as Uncle Rudy. He rocks the kookiness!

Nana was hella cool. Between her implied revolutionary backstory (she hates Imperialists! The way she pulls out her braids when it’s time to attack makes me think that she was part of a pro-Mexico or maybe pro-Indigenous force back in the day) and Ignacio’s backstory (his mother, his only family, murdered in a ‘anti-communist’ attack in Guatemala, and then he was sent to ‘Escuela de las Americas’, a USA funded ‘school’ that basically churned out child soldiers and later adult destabilizers sent out to disrupt Latin America in the name of USian interests (its still in operation), and then he was experimented upon by the very people that ruined his life (a la the Tuskegee Airmen Experiment) really speaks to the racism and imperialism that affects the family in the movie and many people face today (preaching to the choir I know). The fight ain’t over.

(First link is in spanish, second link is the English Wikipedia page)

I appreciate that a good half of Jaime’s family were not in the US legally. The constant terror and unwillingness to seek help for fear of attention was quite palpable, and I think really adds to the idea that superheroes are supposed to make sure ALL people live safely and happily - legality should not contradict human rights. And hell, even though they were in the USA, their home was still threatened - by gentrification!

The poor Dad’s death is sadly not an uncommon phenomenon. Many immigrants, but especially undocumented ones, work themselves to the bone, both physically and emotionally. Poverty and instability kill more than any capitalist would ever like to acknowledge. And yet Alberto still found it in his heart to be kind whenever possible. I really respect that. And I think his kindness inspired Rocio (the mom, who is totally cool) and Milagro (sister) to keep on after his death.

The body horror aspects were interesting, for both Jaime and Ignacio Caripax. I hope they lean into that in later works.

But what really caught my eye was the cave of candles that appeared twice in the story. There’s a European story, Godfather Death, about a godchild of the personification of death who gets given the power to heal, and ultimately (in some people’s views) wastes it in greed and/or love. He gets to watch his life, represented as a candle, blow out. However, in Spanish, death is a feminine concept, and so Death is a godmother in that situation. Godmother Death* is thus a common story in Latin America too, but especially in Mexico and Guatemala, where Maya beliefs mixed with Catholic ones.

It turns out, the creators wanted to bring in some Latine magical realism and reference the classic Mexican film, **Macario, which is based on a novel based on a local legend that was likely based on La Madrina Muerte. I’ve ordered the book, lol, and will watch the movie soon. I’m quite excited to see it.

I found it quite interesting that Jaime’s acceptance of Khaji Da and the Macario/Madrina Muerte scene happened really close to each other. In a way, he chose compromise to continue with life, as opposed to Macario’s/the Godson’s stubbornness which lead to their deaths. His willingness to work with Khaji Da (scarabs are symbols of rebirth btw) shows a willingness to work with his place in the life and death cycle, and the Madrina Muerte themes showcase his interest in alleviating suffering***.

In any case, if you have money for a ticket, I highly suggest going to see Blue Beetle! It’s totally worth it.

*La Madrina Muerte, in Spanish. I’ve been somewhat obsessed with it since I was a preteen, as I came across the Spanish version translated to English first. My tumblr name is *somewhat* related lol.

I was somewhat inspired by La Calavera Catrina art, Santa Muerte and the Grim Reaper when I drew this.

**for some reason tumblr has decided that two links is quite enough for this post. Sometimes it just doesn’t let me add more links? Or copy/paste!!? Anyway if you’d like to read a more knowledgeable article about the relationship between the two films, look up ‘macario blue beetle’ & then an article by slashfilm will appear.

***In the legend, the godson is given a plant, a potion, or just the power to heal. But he must abide by Death’s position by the bed of the afflicted person. If death is at the foot of the bed, then they were meant to live, and he gets to take away their suffering and cure them entirely. But if Death stood by the head of the bed, then the person was meant to die soon, and so the Godson had to leave them be. In either case, Death prefers to end suffering - through complete healing or a cessation of life. However, Jaime makes sure (when he can) to help people live and be able to choose what to do with their life (like in the case of Ignacio). And Khaji Da respects that.

[unown]

I ate mexican food growing up but I feel like more of what I ate was guatemalan likeeeee garnachas and atol shuco and molletes and rellenitos even this cauliflower dish I thought my mom made up but apparently it’s from somewhere in guatemala lmao

[panther-os]

til none of the three main Reyes family actors are mexican

everybody knows Rafa's Brazilian, but Roxana's Peruvian, and Benito's Guatemalan

I didn't look for the kids because they're kids but Ana's actress is Cuban-Mexican! And I can't find Luisa's actress' ethnicity, so she could be Mexican - but if she is Latino, then based on her last name she's most likely French Guianese or Brazilian. Also, these characters only appear in one episode - at the funeral and the wedding.

I'm kind of just resigned to this kind of thing at this point, and i do love the actors and their work on the show - I couldn't imagine anyone else as Carlos for sure - but also i just wish white people would Stop

[urboymutual]

sigh

[nickysfacts]

The surprising International origins of Happy Meals!🍔😁🍟

[languagexs]

Preserving the Unique Ixil Language and Cultural Traditions

The rare Ixil Language of Guatemala's highlands enables nuanced cultural expression for 90,000+ Ixils. But without conservation efforts, will this minority Mayan dialect survive?

The Ixil language represents an invaluable cultural resource for connecting to Ixil heritage. This article explores the origins, dialects, and modern role of the Ixil tongue, as well as the necessity of Ixil interpretation services in healthcare and daily affairs. Read on for insights into how safeguarding Ixil Language reinforces identity and cross-cultural communication for Guatemala’s vibrant…

[katrafiy]

I think about this image a lot. This is an image from the Aurat March (Women's March) in Karachi, Pakistan, on International Women's Day 2018. The women in the picture are Pakistani trans women, aka khwaja siras or hijras; one is a friend of a close friend of mine.

In the eyes of the Pakistani government and anthropologists, they're a "third gender." They're denied access to many resources that are available to cis women. Trans women in Pakistan didn't decide to be third-gendered; cis people force it on them whether they like it or not.

Western anthropologists are keen on seeing non-Western trans women as culturally constructed third genders, "neither male nor female," and often contrast them (a "legitimate" third gender accepted in its culture) with Western trans women (horrific parodies of female stereotypes).

There's a lot of smoke and mirrors and jargon used to obscure the fact that while each culture's trans women are treated as a single culturally constructed identity separate from all other trans women, cis women are treated as a universal category that can just be called "women."

Even though Pakistani aurat and German Frauen and Guatemalan mujer will generally lead extraordinarily different lives due to the differences in culture, they are universally recognized as women.

The transmisogynist will say, "Yes, but we can't ignore the way gender is culturally constructed, and hijras aren't trans women, they're a third gender. Now let's worry less about trans people and more about the rights of women in Burkina Faso."

In other words, to the transmisogynist, all cis women are women, and all trans women are something else.

"But Kat, you're not Indian or Pakistani. You're not a hijra or khwaja sira, why is this so important to you?"

Have you ever heard of the Neapolitan third gender "femminiello"? It's the term my moniker "The Femme in Yellow" is derived from, and yes, I'm Neapolitan. Shut up.

I'm going to tell you a little bit about the femminielli, and I want you to see if any of this sounds familiar. Femminielli are a third gender in Neapolitan culture of people assigned male at birth who have a feminine gender expression.

They are lauded and respected in the local culture, considered to be good omens and bringers of good luck. At festivals you'd bring a femminiello with you to go gambling, and often they would be brought in to give blessings to newborns. Noticing anything familiar yet?

Oh and also they were largely relegated to begging and sex work and were not allowed to be educated and many were homeless and lived in the back alleys of Naples, but you know we don't really like to mention that part because it sounds a lot less romantic and mystical.

And if you're sitting there, asking yourself why a an accurate description of femminiello sounds almost note for note like the same way hijras get described and talked about, then you can start to understand why that picture at the start of this post has so much meaning for me.

And you can also start to understand why I get so frustrated when I see other queer people buy into this fool notion that for some reason the transes from different cultures must never mix.

That friend I mentioned earlier is a white American trans woman. She spent years living in India, and as I recal the story the family she was staying with saw her as a white, foreign hijra and she was asked to use her magic hijra powers to bless the house she was staying in.

So when it comes to various cultural trans identities there are two ways we can look at this. We can look at things from a standpoint of expressed identity, in which case we have to preferentially choose to translate one word for the local word, or to leave it untranslated.

If we translate it, people will say we're artificially imposing an outside category (so long as it's not cis people, that's fine). If we don't, what we're implying, is that this concept doesn't exist in the target language, which suggests that it's fundamentally a different thing

A concrete example is that Serena Nanda in her 1990 and 2000 books, bent over backwards to say that Hijras are categorically NOT trans women. Lots of them are!

And Don Kulick bent over backwards in his 1998 book to say that travesti are categorically NOT trans women, even though some of the ones he cited were then and are now trans women.

The other option, is to look at practice, and talk about a community of practice of people who are AMAB, who wear women's clothing, take women's names, fulfill women's social roles, use women's language and mannerisms, etc WITHIN THEIR OWN CULTURAL CONTEXT.

This community of practice, whatever we want to call it - trans woman, hijra, transfeminine, femminiello, fairy, queen, to name just a few - can then be seen to CLEARLY be trans-national and trans-cultural in a way that is not clearly evident in the other way of looking at things.

And this is important, in my mind, because it is this axis of similarity that is serving as the basis for a growing transnational transgender rights movement, particularly in South Asia. It's why you see pictures like this one taken at the 2018 Aurat March in Karachi, Pakistan.

And it also groups rather than splits, pointing out not only points of continuity in the practices of western trans women and fa'afafines, but also between trans women in South Asia outside the hijra community, and members of the hijra community both trans women and not.

To be blunt, I'm not all that interested in the word trans woman, or the word hijra. I'm not interested in the word femminiello or the word fa'afafine.

I'm interested in the fact that when I visit India, and I meet hijras (or trans women, self-expressed) and I say I'm a trans woman, we suddenly sit together, talk about life, they ask to see American hormones and compare them to Indian hormones.

There is a shared community of practice that creates a bond between us that cis people don't have. That's not to say that we all have the exact same internal sense of self, but for the most part, we belong to the same community of practice based on life histories and behavior.

I think that's something cis people have absolutely missed - largely in an effort to artificially isolate trans women. This practice of arguing about whether a particular "third gender" label = trans women or not, also tends to artificially homogenize trans women as a group.

You see this in Kulick and Nanda, where if you read them, you could be forgiven for thinking all American trans women are white, middle class, middle-aged, and college-educated, who all follow rigid codes of behavior and surgical schedules prescribed by male physicians.

There are trans women who think of themselves as separate from cis women, as literally another kind of thing, there are trans women who think of themselves as coterminous with cis women, there are trans women who think of themselves as anything under the sun you want to imagine.

The problem is that historically, cis people have gone to tremendous lengths to destroy points of continuity in the transgender community (see everything I've cited and more), and particularly this has been an exercise in transmisogyny of grotesque levels.

The question is do you want to talk about culturally different ways of being trans, or do you want to try to create as many neatly-boxed third genders as you can to prop up transphobic theoretical frameworks? To date, people have done the latter. I'm interested in the former.

I guess what I'm really trying to say with all of this is that we're all family y'all.

[knightofburgers]

Re: Mikus of the World

When I see Mikus from North-North America & Western Europe: "I really like this artstyle and the references the artist has managed to sneak in. Oh, and it's really nice how different artists from the same area have different conceptions of their own culture."

When I see Mikus from the global south, indigenous cultures, and other less-frequently-seen cultures of the rest of the World: "FRHGFDSEARWTG HNBVCBNTYUIREDSCPWE THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER! I PLEDGE MY SWORD TO YOU, DEAR ARTIST! Oh look at the details in the clothing! Oh look at the beauty! I wanna see her life! I wanna be her! I wanna live in that place! THis is what the internet was made for!"

In no particular order:

palestinian miku

malaysian miku

polish miku

moroccan miku

west bengal miku

tang dynasty miku

gujarati and danish mikus

nigerian miku

belarusian miku

desi miku

afghan miku

palestinian miku

guatemalan miku

irish miku

latvian miku

bengali miku

afghan miku

italian miku

kosovo miku

black american mikus

métis miku

indian miku

nigerian miku

pakistani miku

brazilian miku

turkish miku

persian miku

cherokee miku

palestinian miku

paraguayan miku

south african miku

māori miku

brazilian miku

polish miku

taiwanese miku

south sudanese miku

welsh miku

bulgarian miku

...and many more!

Yet still not enough. Keep the Mikus coming, please.

[sadsquatch-art]

Hopping on the 'Miku from different countries/cultures' trend. I present Guatemalan Miku enduring the sun in the Land of Eternal Spring 🇬🇹🇬🇹🇬🇹

[faretheeoscar]

Feliz día de la independencia de Guatemala!

Today September 15 is the celebration of the Guatemalan Independence Day.

I share half Guatemalan nationality exactly the same this guy named Oscar Isaac does, so today is a party day and is a day to be proud of being Chapines 🇬🇹

Oscar wearing a traditional skirt from our culture is always so heart warming to me, and man he looks very good in it, doesn’t he?

Drawings Masterlist

[aerial-jace]

I don't have strong evidence but I suspect a) my family on both sides has probably been in Guatemala since the colonization of the Americas and b) my grandfather who immigrated from the countryside to Guatemala City was probably mixed indigenous to some degree, on account of skin complexion, the area he lived in, and his socieconomic situation growing up.

This poll is for people who live in North America, and consider it their permanent resident (ie, not people here for a couple years on a work or student visa). This is regardless of if you're documented.

For the ancestor of yours who immigrated (or was taken) to North America most recently, what is their relationship to you?

If multiple ancestors arrived together, pick the one who's the shortest distance from you (relationally, not geographically). For example, my mom arrived with my grandparents, so I would select "parent."

[galacticghoste]

Guatemalan Miku 🇬🇹

sketches :p

Silly lil fact about me both sides of my family were farmers back in guate one side specifically focused on coffee which is what my ver of Miku is holding since they start out in a cherry like fruit.

I wanted to play around with the color scheme of the Guatemalan flag as well as the national bird

The Quetzal bird (I love them they are so pretty!!!) found it perfect that they had teal and green so I made that her hair color.

Also cool fact theres a dish in Guatemala called Chow mein con tostadas (which is what miku is about to eat) and I just find it fascinating how two cultures combine their foods

[ed-recoverry]

Shoutout to all Latin American and Hispanic LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Mestizo LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Mexican LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Puerto Rican LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Cuban LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Salvadoran LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Dominican LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Colombian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Guatemalan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Honduran LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Ecuadorian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Peruvian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Venezuelan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Nicaraguan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Bolivian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Equatorial Guinean LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Panamanian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Peruvian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Paraguayan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to Spanish LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Costa Rican LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Chilean LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Uruguayan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Argentine LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Brazilian LGBTQ+ folks.

Take pride in it all. Your culture, your identity, it’s all so beautiful. Celebrate where you are from and who you are. It makes you you, and that is something to be proud of.

post for Asians, post for Middle Easterners, post for Oceanic folks, post for Pacific Islanders, post for Africans, post for Native Americans, post for Caribbeans

[undyinglantern]

anyways,

it was

a good chapter

WAIT WAIT WAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT HOW CAN YOU JUST TEASE THAT ON THE LAST PAGE OF THE CHAPTER LIKE THAT