Afro-Mestizo Imaginaries in “Música Tropical”: Gender Differences in the Representation of African Mexican Subjectivities in Musical Expressions

Abstract

Some songs pertaining to the “música tropical” genre, or music exhibiting tropical rhythms from both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, feature Afro-mestizo protagonists in their lyrics. My study explores the imaginaries constructing the subjectivities of Afro-mestizo men and women and posits that these gender constructions are different between the two sexes. Men tend to be depicted more harshly than women. Both, however, are depicted in a stereotypical and racist manner. My study incorporates feminist and critical race theories as well as postcolonial theories in the analysis and hermeneutics of the representation of Afro-mestizos in the lyrics of these songs.