By Brain El Oso
Mexican Spanish is very distinct, as any child or language learner will see. The game “Loteria” is a very common way of teaching both the language and the customs, and it is so ubiquitous in Mexico that you might notice that the logo of Corona Beer is very similar to the “La Corona” card in this game. There are also several words in the game that are specific to Mexico, such as instruments like the “bandolo,” the apache, and the “catrin.” As a result, Loteria is not only a way to learn a lot of vocabulary, it is also seen as a way of co-constructing Mexican identity. I first encountered the game as a Spanish student in Mexico. You play it basically like Bingo: you take a game card with a bunch of squares on it, and then turn over the individual cards and call out the names (there is a very theatrical way of doing this, which my Spanish teacher liked to mimic). The first player to cover all of their cards calls out “Loteria!”
Mexican queer artist Felix D’Eon began an interesting project: to create a new version of Loteria that incorporated queerness into Mexican identity. In the card above, you can see some clear examples of this, specifically the flag, “La Bandera,” which here is the pride flag instead of the Mexican flag; notice that it is drawn in almost the exact same way as the flag in the original Loteria game. The card of “La Luna” is also a direct adaptation of a specific card in the original game. D’Eon also cleverly incorporates visual references to a few of the many double entendres in Mexican Spanish, specifically the chile and the trio.
In the card above, there are also clear examples of anglicisms and what van Herk (2012) describes as “nativization.” “El Oso” is an translation of the “bear” in English, which refers to a big and hairy gay man, whereas “El Sugar Papi” is only a partial translation of “Sugar Daddy,” an older man who lavishly gives gifts to a young lover. “El Trans” comes from transgender, but is used as a noun rather than an adjective. In the example below, the spelling is changed:
Through his work, D’Eon has found a way to celebrate the original “Loteria” and also create a repository of contemporary queer Mexican slang, which documents some of its incorporation of English terminology.
Click here to buy the game! The price has been reduced!
Reference:
Van Herk, G. (2012). What is sociolinguistics? (Linguistics in the world). Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell. (2012).
What a fun read! I just wished your title had a “Not Safe For Work” mention, because I opened it in my classroom. Luckily, all the students were at recess 😉 Hahahaha!
When I travelled in Latin America 10 years ago, I got a sens of prominent machismo. I wonder if the mentalities are slowly changing…
In that case, I advise you to ensure your privacy before checking out Felix D’eon’s work on Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram, or doing a Google image search for “twink.”
As for machismo in Latin America, it is slowly changing but emphasis on slowly. But I found that young people in particular were very accepting of gay people in general, at least more than I had expected.
Reading this post would put a tuincl into anybody’s eye!
I really can’t get over how epic this is. And, yes, I did swiftly begin following the artist on Instagram, as one must.
Still, you’re definitely not an “oso.” Let the real big boys have their time to shine! You’re more of “una nutria.”
–Maximo la (otra) nutria
That was an early morning eye opener LOL. In a recent discussion with my colleague, our generation is taking a while to catch up with the pace as to which society is changing. We sometimes come across as insensitive. Not because we are against the idea of LGBTQ community, but a lot of these things were not discussed while we were growing up. I’m unsure the terminologies to use without offending anyone.
It gives me a clear sense as to what its like, when people want to know about my culture.
I know exactly who will be getting this card game for Christmas.
As a person of age myself I do understand how quickly things can change, and new terms come along all the time. The best thing is to continually educate yourself and follow the news.