Females in mariachi

Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles

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Now let's talk about females in the mariachi tradition. Historically this has been a male tradition. The guys used to play in bars or at fiestas. They used to be hired by men to serenade their girlfriends. In the early days, during the last century (1900s), the women that were involved in mariachi music and culture were mostly singers. Lucha Reyes is certainly the best known of the early female singers. Without a doubt, she was one of the best.
Lola Beltrán, who participated in the Tucson Conference a few times, was also a great interpreter of cancion ranchera. She performed with mariachis throughout the world, including in France where she made a live recording. Lucha Villa and many other women have performed with mariachis, mostly singing the canción ranchera.
Linda Ronstadt falls within the tradition of female singers performing with mariachis. She recorded two albums - "Canciones de mi Padre" and "Mas Canciones" with mariachis and she even went on tour with a mariachi one year.
That has been the tradition for women. They did not play any instruments while performing with mariachis. They just sang with them.
In the contemporary mariachi, women are involved in every role, from owning (or leading) mariachis to the producing the music and playing every single instrument. There are a number of all-female mariachis in both Mexico and the United States, in fact, there are more such mariachis in the U.S. And there is an endless number of mixed mariachis, that is, mariachis that include both men and women.
The main criticism about mariachi women is that they're not strong enough on the trumpet. That their sound is just not as powerful as that produced by men. You can judge that for yourself.
They sometimes also get criticized because they can do things men can't, like wear hot pants and mini skirts and things like that.
But women now play all of the instruments and the all-female mariachis are very popular. Most of the female mariachis tend to be show mariachis as opposed to working mariachis, except those that play at mass.
The first all-female mariachi was founded in the mid-1940s in Mexico, Las Coronelas, which is also the name of one of the songs played by mariachis. This group was comprised of eight members and they included the trumpet, but they did not dress in the traditional dresses. They wore knee-length dresses with pantaloons - like square dancers wear - and high heels. Then in the 1950s another all female mariachi was formed in Mexico City, Las Adelitas (a name given to women involved in the Mexican Revolution). They wore charro jackets and long skirts, but they were not charro skirts. Mariachi Michoacáno, another all-female mariachi included had two very young girls. In fact, many mariachis, incidentally, have family members in them, both men and women. One of the earliest mariachis to go to Mexico City,for example, included the owners' 10-year old son who played in this mariachi. He played the vihuela.
The 1960s. Las Estrellas de Mexico was formed as well as the first University-based mariachi in the U.S. (at UCLA) which included women, even Anglo females. Also, the first elementary school-based program was started in in the 1960s San Antonio.
The 1970s gave the women's movement a great boost. All kinds of things happened in the '70s. Mariachi Estrella was formed in Topeka, Kansas - the second all-female mariachi in the United States. It met with a tragic accident in a hotel in 1981 when four of its six members were killed by a roof that caved in while they were in the lobby. But that mariachi, with several new members, of course, still performs Sunday masses in Topeka, Kansas.

Mariachi Reyna de los Angeles at the 1995 Tucson International Mariachi Conference.

In the 1970s, a lot of women became involved in mariachi music and culture. The first festival in the United States was organized by a woman, Belle San Miguel Ortíz in San Antonio, Texas. That's where Tucson got the idea for a conference. Mariachi Cobre played there and brought the concept here and over the years many people have been involved in making the Tucson International Conference what it is today, the best of such events.
Throughout the 1980s, mixed mariachis continued to grow and new all-female mariachis were formed such as Las Perlitas Tapatias in Guadalajara (the controversial mariachi I mentioned earlier). They still perform today. I personally think they put on quite a show. Las Perlitas Tapatias are a show mariachi and they do a terrific job, in my opinion, although some of the traditionalists criticize them.
The 1990s have been really explosive in terms of both female involvement and the overall popularity of mariachi music in the United States. When the mariachi conference started here in Tucson 20 years ago, there were probably two or three schools that offered mariachi music programs. Today there are probably 20 and perhaps more, including at the Davis Bilingual Learning Center (an elementary school), University of Arizona, Pima Community College, and many high school such as Pueblo and Tucson. ASU has a mariachi and so does UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, Stanford University, Texas - you name it, they are all over. There are mariachis in Chicago, literally, not just "mooriachis." Mariachis in Washington, D.C., everywhere.
People come from throughout the U.S. to participate in the workshops here and at other festivals. Over the years, thousands of people have participated. Every year there are more people, particularly young girls that enter the mariachi tradition.
In 1991 there was a tribute paid to female mariachis at the Mariachi USA Festival in Hollywood. To date, this was the largest gathering of female mariachis in the world. Given the current level of female participation in mariachis, I suspect it will not be long until another such event will take place and a much larger group of female mariachis will gather to celebrate themselves and this cultural, musical tradition.