Once again I'm back with another image as a submission for the weekly CCC's Street Art Contest #125 where you can find and share amazing examples of murals, stencils, graffiti, or the like from all over the world. It seems like I've been doing this forever, but there are always new murals appearing around me, which is not surprising in a place like Mexico City. And after the last mural I posted, depicting a woman in an old and traditionally role, walking demurely behind her husband, today I would like to offer the opposite end of the spectrum.
Parque Lira, a Favored Hang-out for Skater Kids
I found this image in the Parque Lira, not far from where I live in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. Though relatively small, this park offers a variety of interesting features, including a skater park where young people like to hang out and practice their skateboarding skills on the numerous ramps and other structures made for this purpose. And while they're at it, they also put a great deal of effort into decorating these ramps with stickers and images of their choice... like this one.
A Self-Assured Manga Girl
This young woman seems to be perfectly fine with herself, reclining on her long board, which she no doubt knows how to use very well. She's drawn in the style of Japanese manga or anime, with enormous eyes on her tiny face, which may seem completely exaggerated and doll-like, but is obviously of great popularity among her peers. Her choice of clothing, a tight bodice and matching tights, seems to support the same attitude of "I'm sexy and I know it", putting her in full control, rather than the exploitable image of a girl in a world of male skaters. The tattoo of a cat on her butt only emphasizes this further.
As it turns out, the crowd of kids hanging out in that skater park was quite a diverse bunch, made up of about as many girls as boys. That's a huge difference to my own youth, when most skaters were male, with the occasional female skater having to be twice as tough and three times as skilled to stand her ground. Otherwise, certain other things, like the preference for wool beanies and manga drawings, don't seem to change at all.
To see more murals from Mexico I posted, please visit my ongoing series Mexican Murals.