In a business and culture that is dominated by males, the narcocorrido, “La Reina Del Sur” by Los Tigres Del Norte, is considered an anthem towards the empowerment of females among the narcoculture. A narcocorrido is a song-style under the regional Mexican music genre that narrates a story related to the drug business (Beezley 11). In a music industry that tends to narrate and honor men’s experiences, Los Tigres Del Norte sing a narcocorrido to celebrate a different character: Teresa Mendoza, a female drug leader. Unfortunately, the music video fails to fully honor a female drug leaders and reinforces Mulvey’s Male Gaze concept. Mulvey argues that Male Gaze occurs when an image is constructed in a way that objectifies women in order to please
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Though the song was written by the men, Teodoro Bello (Notimex 1), and interpreted by the male group, Los Tigres Del Norte, the story attempts to focus on the success of Teresa Mendoza, a woman from Sinaloa, México. Teresa scapes to Spain after the murder of her boyfriend, “El Güero” Davila, a pilot who worked for the Ciudad Juárez Cartel. By the recommendation of Epifanio Vargas, she began selling and buying drugs from both Europe and America along with Mr. Santiago Pisterra. Because of Teresa's determination, loyalty, and bravery, she soon gains control over the drug business and becomes known as “La Reina Del Sur” (“The Queen of the South”). At the end of the story, Teresa mysteriously disappears and though her whereabouts remain unknown, she is still admired (Los Tigres Del Norte, 1). Teresa challenges the traditional social standards that dictate women to be silent, docile, and passive by being a leader, opinionating, and daring (Kilbourne 265)--most importantly, the complexity of her character challenges becoming just something to be be looked at as the male gaze risks women to become (Mulvey 383). The hypermasculine messages, the violence, and the male-dominated Regional Mexican Music industry and drug business, contribute to a genre that is appealing to an audience that is mostly males and that have normalized hypermasculinity. …show more content…
This is concerning because the way men construct “La Reina Del Sur” might encourage women to a mythical and dangerous idea of success through a life-threatening hypermasculine business. The narcocorrido created by men who might not know the real common drug-business-woman experience, leaves out the stories of the mulas, the traffickers, the ones who get involved in human trafficking, the ones who fall in prostitution webs. Women who become Reinas del Sur are extremely few and their story end incarcerated, raped, or killed. The construction of Teresa’s story in a way that pleases men is a similar occurrence in the drug business--women exist as long and in the way that the males allow it. For this reason, it is important to have more female producers in the Regional Mexican Music industry to dismantle media techniques that threatened women’s existence and to accurately represent women
Though the song was written by the men, Teodoro Bello (Notimex 1), and interpreted by the male group, Los Tigres Del Norte, the story attempts to focus on the success of Teresa Mendoza, a woman from Sinaloa, México. Teresa scapes to Spain after the murder of her boyfriend, “El Güero” Davila, a pilot who worked for the Ciudad Juárez Cartel. By the recommendation of Epifanio Vargas, she began selling and buying drugs from both Europe and America along with Mr. Santiago Pisterra. Because of Teresa's determination, loyalty, and bravery, she soon gains control over the drug business and becomes known as “La Reina Del Sur” (“The Queen of the South”). At the end of the story, Teresa mysteriously disappears and though her whereabouts remain unknown, she is still admired (Los Tigres Del Norte, 1). Teresa challenges the traditional social standards that dictate women to be silent, docile, and passive by being a leader, opinionating, and daring (Kilbourne 265)--most importantly, the complexity of her character challenges becoming just something to be be looked at as the male gaze risks women to become (Mulvey 383). The hypermasculine messages, the violence, and the male-dominated Regional Mexican Music industry and drug business, contribute to a genre that is appealing to an audience that is mostly males and that have normalized hypermasculinity. …show more content…
This is concerning because the way men construct “La Reina Del Sur” might encourage women to a mythical and dangerous idea of success through a life-threatening hypermasculine business. The narcocorrido created by men who might not know the real common drug-business-woman experience, leaves out the stories of the mulas, the traffickers, the ones who get involved in human trafficking, the ones who fall in prostitution webs. Women who become Reinas del Sur are extremely few and their story end incarcerated, raped, or killed. The construction of Teresa’s story in a way that pleases men is a similar occurrence in the drug business--women exist as long and in the way that the males allow it. For this reason, it is important to have more female producers in the Regional Mexican Music industry to dismantle media techniques that threatened women’s existence and to accurately represent women