Ask a Chola
The Chola referred to in the title of this podcast never reveals her name (any more than the Ninja in Ask a Ninja does), but she says this about herself:
“I am Ask A Chola. You can call me ‘Chola’. I am a new media artist/chola/anarchist/cultural critic who resides in LA. I make videos that some people think are funny. Sometimes I am in magazines and on TV. I spend a lot of time on MySpace. I am interested in historical revisionism. I believe that the Chola has systematically been written out of Western history and I’m determined to write her back in.”
Mike Deem, who chose her as his favorite female podcaster, describes Ask a Chola as “way smart and funny” and particularly recommends the shows about Best Buy and the writers’ strike.
Watch or subscribe at http://www.askachola.com/.
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Gracias for featuring me in your blog. Chola is honored.
Have you ever wondered who “Ask A Chola” is, behind that green guise? Do her ridiculous accents and sordid attempts at humor ever leave you doubtful that a real Mexicana/Chicana/Latina could possibly create such humiliating attempts of humor? If so, you’re not alone.
“Ask A Chola” made several ludicrous assertions about herself. Namely, she states, “I am Aztlan. I am Mexican,” when the reality is that she is white. Chloe Michalopoulos is a white woman who lives in an expensive loft in the gentrified section of Santa Ana. She was educated at Berkeley, UCLA and Harvard, and she thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to capitalize off of a particularly vitriolic form of brown face. What she cannot accept is being questioned. In other words, she’s a complete bigot. i have it on very good authority that she is greek-american, is the wealthy daughter of a prominent academic, has spent a lot of time in mexico and south america picking up slang, and lives in the gentrified part of santa ana — where mexicans and chicanos used to lives, and is now populated by whites.
This is how postmodernism goes really wrong. You can not just take on any identity without a real stake in what it means to be in that skin with all the negative and positives that come with it. I see the complexity and desire to use performance as a way to challenge truths you might not be able to do from your own body but:
Black face, brown face, yellow face. Cholas can speak for themselves. Appropriation of culture without any respect for history is lame and is exactly what it looks like. A cheap imitation.
In all honesty, I’ve never listened to the podcast. You’re making a fairly serious accusation, one that it’s probably better to make directly, not to mention citing your sources.