What's up with the "@"

Reading Chican@ Like a Queer: The De-Mastery of Desire

 Sandra K. Soto describes the use of the "@" in "Chican@ [because it] signals a conscientious departure from certainty, mastery, and wholeness, while still announcing a politicized collectivity," adding that the "@" catches "our attention with its blend of letters from the alphabet on the one hand...at first sight looks like a typo and seems unpronounceable"(Soto 2). 

The "@" in poch[o]tec@ announces its gender inclusivity while making Soto's same political announcement. The "@" separates some of the trapping of "a/o" binary of gender and other trappings that might be associated with older unifying messages. 

This reminds me of the Kid Frost song "This is for La Raza" in which there are messages of Chican@ pride that might be conflated with misogynist ideology. Chican@ scholars like Soto point to gaps where the generative aspects of something can be emphasized and the less desirable aspects dismissed.

Kid Frost "This is for La Raza": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REEu9Oua47M


Click on the subtitle or here for the Google Book link: http://books.google.com/books?id=MWuGctuYpj0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=sandra+soto+reading+like+a+queer&source=bl&ots=fqAwDRGvuT&sig=SXkxTn-GX-ZdSVBLXq838C7Jge4&hl=en&ei=ARxtTZW6Oon0swPrnZzABQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

Pocho como Estereotipo...

Fronteras y representaciones sociales: La figura del pocho como estereotipo del chicano

"JMV Arce - Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, 2004 - UCLA
Las representaciones sociales son construcciones colectivas a través de las cuales se construyen
a los otros(as) generalizados y se producen explicaciones de sus rasgos y
comportamientos. Las representaciones sociales, de acuerdo con Jodelet, son ..."

A good article that looks at the perceived transgressions of the 'pocho' by Mexico-born persons. It points out the tie to language and call, "No te apoches" with regard to the language.

 I really don't know the origins of this picture except that I found it on wax.fm, but I would say there is some stereotypical connotations of the style that this guy is putting out there.

If you have access to JSTOR through your university library, I would recommend finding this article that way.