Origins of women's participation in mariachi and the cultural and transnational implications: California

Mariachi music is inextricably linked to the national identity of Mexico. Although the image of the male wearing a tight fitting black suit adorned with silver buttons has remained synonymous throughout the world with Mexican culture, the reality has been changing. Non-traditional performers' involvement has increased, most notably that of women. This paper explores the period of women's initial entry into the mariachi workforce through oral histories of two sets of female mariachi performers in California during the 1970s. Two members of<italic> Las Generalas</italic>, the first U.S. based all-female band, and four women from Northern California who were the first women to participate in and continue to perform mariachi music at a professional level, share in-depth descriptions of their experiences during this time which for many brought extreme cultural upheaval. The oral histories of these six women convey the paradigm of the era of the 1970s