Dear Americana

Ep. 4: Gallerinas

Note: This episode is in video recording on my YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@dearamericana]! Check it out if you want visuals :-) And check out my feature on the Stevie Nicks [https://open.spotify.com/episode/6N1FfDkaApQbhlFgl1BJaq?si=k2YjhlR6QnGbEZ8Cz8lzmQ] Stargirl episode! Welcome back! Today, we’re talking about “gallerinas,” this late 90s-early 00s archetype of women who worked in the art scene in NYC. Think Charlotte York and the protagonist of My Year of Rest and Relaxation. We go into the history of the turn-of-the-century art boom, the appeal and depravity of “aesthetic labor,” and the gallerina connection to other SATC-esque creative industries such as fashion and print media. Thanks for watching, and sources below! * Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him, Danielle Gannet (2007) * “Gatekeepers to the Art World [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/fashion/30gallerinas.html],” Jan Hoffman, The New York Times (2008) * “How Chelsea Became the Unlikely Center of the Art World, [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/28/t-magazine/chelsea-new-york-art.html]” Zoe Lescaze, The New York Times Style Magazine (2023) * Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art, Michael Shnayerson (2019) * “Aesthetic Labor for the Sociologies of Work, Gender, and Beauty,” Ashley Mears, Sociology Compass (2014) * “A Brief Survey of Gallerinas in Pop Culture [https://www.flavorwire.com/305388/a-brief-survey-of-gallerinas-in-pop-culture],” Heba Hasan, Flavorwire (2012) * “Incidentals,” Girls S3E8 * “The Power of Female Sex,” Sex and the City S1E5 * “Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl…” Sex and the City S3E4 * Gallery Girls (2012) * “Fashion didn’t invent the gallerina—it simply caught up to her, [https://www.vogue.com.au/fashion/trends/gallerina-style/image-gallery/01d9a7b75988d7c5c6710c54da2a47e1]” Alexandra Leclerc, Vogue Australia (2026) * “Gagosiennes,” Vogue (2011) * My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Ottessa Moshfegh (2018) * “Gallerina,” Beatrice Bonino (2024) * “Gallerina [https://www.emergentmag.com/articles/gallerina],” Bryony Dawson, Émergent magazine (2024) * TikTok gallerina [https://www.tiktok.com/@lillivanillyyy] *** Cover Photo: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. Spanish-American girl threading the loom at WPA (Works Progress Administration/Work Projects Administration) weaving project. Costilla, New Mexico Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0a547940-392e-0137-af82-535e56c46bfc

Ep. 3: Alpha Kappa Alphas, or AKAs

Welcome back! This episode, we enter the world of the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority, the first Black Greek Life Organization for women. Founded at Howard University in 1908, the sorority has a huge legacy of civic work and professional networking. We discuss the positive and negative associations with AKAs, from their groundbreaking mobilization to their stereotype as elitist. Our base text is Deborah Elizabeth Whaley’s Disciplining Women: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Black Counterpublics, and the Cultural Politics of Black Sororities, with some intertextual analysis between Whaley and contemporary ideas about AKAs. Featuring Kamala Harris, Beyoncé, and more. Happy Black History Month, and Happy Year of the Horse! <3  Sources: * Disciplining Women: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Black Counterpublics, and the Cultural Politics of Black Sororities, Deborah Elizabeth Whaley (2010) * Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé, Netflix (2019) * A Different World (1987) * School Daze, Spike Lee (1988) * “Reunited, Okay?” Insecure (2021) * “'Insecure' Faces Backlash Over Portrayal Of Tiffany As An AKA [https://www.essence.com/entertainment/insecure-backlash-aka-shield-divine-9/],” Essence * “DOING A GOOD JOB AT A BAD THING: PREVALENCE AND PERPETUATION OF STEREOTYPES AMONG MEMBERS OF HISTORICALLY BLACK SORORITIES [https://scholarworks.wm.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/17d361ba-d452-4644-b8c8-6a2be12dc1b2/content],”  Natalie T. J. Tindall, Marcia D. Hernandez, and Matthew W. Hughey, Oracle: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors (2011) * Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Website  [https://aka1908.com/] * “The Tight-Knit World of Kamala Harris’s Sorority, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/10/28/the-tight-knit-world-of-kamala-harris-sorority]” The New Yorker (2024) * “Howard University AKA Sorority, Inc. Alpha Chapter Probate | Spring '25 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuHJEDG-4Zs&t=22s],” Youtube * “Liberian Girl” majorette dance trend [https://www.tiktok.com/@jshun0729/video/7592702936413785375]on TikTok * @stompworld [https://www.tiktok.com/@stompworld] on TikTok * TikTok Critique of Latina Sorority Strolls [https://www.tiktok.com/@angelfromthebloc/video/7350010495899864363] * “The History and Importance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) [https://collegewise.com/blog/dei-the-history-and-importance-of-hispanic-serving-institutions],” College Wise  *** Cover Photo: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. Spanish-American girl threading the loom at WPA (Works Progress Administration/Work Projects Administration) weaving project. Costilla, New Mexico Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0a547940-392e-0137-af82-535e56c46bfc

Ep. 2: Pachucas

In our second episode, we talk about pachucas, the Mexican-American girls who ran around wartime Los Angeles in large suits, red lip-liner, rose-adorned bouffants. The sartorial mother to Chicana style, the pachuca also encompassed many of the threats of Mexican-American womanhood, from public sexuality to conspicuous consumption. The episode is a geneology of sorts, touching on everything from the dandy to Lana Del Rey. Enjoy <3 Sources: This Pinterest board [https://www.pinterest.com/UnforgettableBayBeeG/zoot-suitpachucopachuca/] Viral pachuco video [https://www.tiktok.com/@steggie.mumzia/video/7487644681061403946?q=pachucas&t=1767753285289]on TikTok "Maluma’s Willy Chavarria-Designed Zoot Suit Honored Pachuco Culture at the 2025 Met Gala," [https://www.vogue.com/article/maluma-2025-met-gala-zoot-suit-pachuco-culture] Vogue "Kim Kardashian Wears a Croc Leather Chrome Hearts Set to the 2025 Met Gala," [https://www.vogue.com/article/kim-kardashian-chrome-hearts-met-gala-2025]Vogue Black Dandyism Met Gala 2025 [https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-black-dandyism] "The Greatest" MV [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrSX_OcpeJg], Lana Del Rey Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style, Kathy Peiss Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, Monica L. Miller The Woman in the Zoot Suit, Catherine S. Ramirez Chola photos archive: Veteranas y Rucas [https://www.instagram.com/veteranas_and_rucas/?hl=en] on Instagram "Inside Japan's Chicano Subculture, | NYT" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8bMLcCxxAA] New York Times "Why Japanese Women Are Dressing Like Cholas | Style Out There | Refinery29," [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1LqF03UUdc]YouTube "Taco Truck x VB," Lana Del Rey *** Cover Photo: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. Spanish-American girl threading the loom at WPA (Works Progress Administration/Work Projects Administration) weaving project. Costilla, New Mexico Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0a547940-392e-0137-af82-535e56c46bfc

Ep. 1: Hippies

Welcome to Dear Americana! In our inaugural episode, we discuss countercultural womanhood and its manifestations, focusing on the hippie women of the back-to-the-land commune movement. Sources: Dear America [https://www.scholastic.com/teachdearamerica/published_allBooks.htm]book series, Scholastic Daughters of Aquarius: Women of the Sixties Counterculture, Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo Slouching Toward Bethlehem, Joan Didion The Farm [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farm_(Tennessee)], Wikipedia Macrobiotic Diet [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrobiotic_diet], Wikipedia "Arcadia," Lana Del Rey *** Cover Photo: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. Spanish-American girl threading the loom at WPA (Works Progress Administration/Work Projects Administration) weaving project. Costilla, New Mexico Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0a547940-392e-0137-af82-535e56c46bfc