Queering paisa style: The chunti style of buchonas, queer rancheros and Paisaboys

This article examines a Mexican and Mexican American style of dress referenced to as paisa style. This style of dress is often associated with corrido, norteño and Banda culture. In fact, after the Quebradita movement, during the 1990s, Mexican American youth adopted this style to create what is referred to as Chalinillo paisa subculture, which was heavily inspired by corrido singer Chalino Sanchez. Following Dick Hebdige’s definition of subculture as ‘the expressive forms and rituals of those subordinate groups’, in this article, I study how paisa style was worn to signify cultural pride in a moment of heavy anti-immigrant sentiment. In an effort to study the contemporary examples of paisa style, I analyse the work of four artists: queer photographer Fabian Guerrero, queer model Jose Hernandez, beauty influencer Jennifer Ruiz and brand designers Paisaboys. Using a performative discursive analysis, I show how contemporary queer artists and influencers, most of whom are not in the music world, have reappropriated the paisa aesthetic to centre feminine and queer embodiments. These queer artists are not only demanding the recognition of queer sexualities in this subculture, but they are also asking us to think about paisa dress as archives that hold memories, migration stories and their potential to change past narratives. The artists studied in this article add new signification to paisa subculture that centres a Brown queer lens.