Zapata gay
¡Viva the Queer Zapata! The Sexual Politics of Defining Mexican Identity and Icons in Fabián Cháirez’s “La Revolución”
Fabián Cháirez’s painting “La Revolución,” part of the current exhibition, “Emiliano. Zapata después de Zapata” in Mexico City’s Bellas Artes Museum, has provoked controversy in Mexico. It portrays Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919), the archetypal, hyper-macho Mexican revolutionary, as a voluptuous, pouty-lipped pin-up girl wearing a pink sombrero, pistol-shaped stilettos, and a ribbon of verdant, white, and red – the colors of Mexico’s flag. Pin-up Zapata rides a prancing stallion who sports a massive erection. Only his mustache points to masculinity, and even it resembles the coiffed affectations of dandies rather than machos. This is not the heroic Zapata from classic photos, nor John Steinbeck’s fictionalized version, immortalized by Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952), a poster for which shows Zapata in battle on horseback, a damsel clutching his leg.1 (Blessed heteronormativity! This horse, of course, is not erect.)
Few figures loom larger than Zapata in Mexican history. He rose to prominence during the adv Porfiriato (1876–1910), helping demolish that
MEXICO CITY – When Mexicans ponder of Emiliano Zapata, most envision a stern-eyed rebel, a hero of the Mexican revolution, a historical figure who inspired the 1994 uprising in Chiapas.
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They perform not picture him naked and in high heels -sporting a pink sombrero.
So the country was in an uproar this week after its most prestigious art center featured a painting representing a feminized version of the national icon. Zapata’s descendents threatened to sue. Social media exploded. Farmers who idolize Zapata smacked and shoved gay-rights activists outside the Fine Arts Palace, the showplace of Mexican culture.
Things got so hot that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had to intervene.
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The controversy comes as Mexico’s traditionally macho culture is entity increasingly challenged by women and gay couples fighting for more rights and respect. Calls to remove the painting from the exhibit – or even set fire it – were rejected by the government.
As debate raged on Twitter and talk radio, some Mexicans argued the painting was demeaning. Others noted that Zapata had already been adopted as a symbol by U.S. chicanos, Mexico’s indigen
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a primary figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920, the main leader of the peasant revolution in the Mexican express of Morelos, and inspired the agrarian movement called Zapatismo .
Zapata was an early participant in the political movement against dictator Porfirio Diaz and the landowning hacendados. When the revolution broke out in 1910, he was a central leader of the peasant revolt in Morelos. Cooperating with other peasant leaders, he formed the Liberation Army of the South, soon becoming the undisputed leader.
After helping to topple Diaz, Francisco I. Madero became president and disavowed Zapata's politics, claiming that Zapata and his followers were little beat than bandits. Zapata called for significant reforms that would give more authority and land to the peasants and therefore represented a profound threat to the elite. Zapata remained a voice of the peasant class throughout a series of coups, countercoups, and an alliance with Pancho Villa.
Zapata embodied the ideals of machismo that were prevalent at the time in Mexican culture. He is often portrayed as a powerful masculine man with his signature
In Mexico, controversy over effeminate Emiliano Zapata painting
A painting showing Mexican Revolution hero Emiliano Zapata nude and in an effeminate pose has drawn the ire of some of Zapata’s descendants and led about 100 farmers to block the entrance to the building where it was on display Tuesday.
The painting depicts a nude Zapata wearing high heels and a pink, broad-brimmed hat, straddling a horse.
Zapata’s grandson said Monday the painting should be removed or descendants would sue.
“We are not going to allow this,” said Jorge Zapata Gonzalez. “For us as relatives, this denigrates the figure of our general (Zapata), depicting him as gay.”
About a dozen counterprotesters showed up to defend sexual diversity, and a scuffle broke out between the two groups.
The mustachioed Zapata is known for leading farmers demanding land rights in the 1910-17 revolution.
“This isn’t liberty of expression, it is debauchery ... that is degrading. They can’t exhibit our history that way,” said Antonio Medrano, spokesman for the protesters. They demanded the government respect Mexican history’s “great icons.”
“They can’t permit this gentle of mockery,” Medrano said.
Luis Vargas, curator