From the dandies of the early 19th century to greasers, punks, teddies, mods, hicks, Goths, thugs and metrosexuals, social stereotyping has forever been part of our culture.
Mexico’s naco and fresa phenomenon is a societal chasm that accentuates two ends of the cultural spectrum. It’s also sprouted a rash of jokes and a now famous cartoon series on YouTube. Some definitions:
Naco, naca: classless, pretentious, obtrusive, the Mexican version of white trash.
Fresa: superficial youngsters many of whom come from a high class family.
“Nacos dye the front of their hair blonde and have a mullet at the back,” says Marian Vega, dressed in a business suit and in between meetings. “They listen to banda music all the time and are always swearing.”
Says Silvia Ortega, a young woman with little to do in the central plaza of Guadalajara: “Generally nacos are lower class, not very cultured, use a lot of vulgar words with double meanings and don’t seem to care what clothes they wear. More than anything though it’s how they speak.”
More likely to be fans of cheap tequila, banda or mariachi music, lucha libre, street tacos and soccer, nacos are in touch with the grass roots of Mexican culture whereas fresas tend to look north, peppering their speech with English phrases. “Happy,” “sorry,” “fresh,” “que cool,” “super” and equally infuriating Spanish phrases like “que oso,” “o sea” and “vales mil” are the hallmarks of the fresa vernacular.
“Fresa kids are either from wealthy families or they act as if they are,” says Ana Cordoba, off school for the week. “They dress in brand clothing, always have their hair done and rely on their parents for money to travel to Europe and places like that.”
Mexicans seem open to talk about naco and fresa stereotypes but few define themselves as one or the other.
“I’m definitely not naca,” says Irma Mercado, a music student at the Universidad de Guadalajara. “I like banda music but I don’t go around playing it loud in my car and I don’t dress naca. I’m not fresa either, I’m normal!”
The cartoon series on YouTube entitled “Naco y Fresa” has attracted some 700,000 hits over its five short episodes, each one ridiculing aspects of both genres. The characters, appropriately called Fresa and Naca, take turns giving their opinions on subjects such as holidays, iPods, shopping and films.
Fresa, wearing smooth clothes and sunglasses, talks derogatively about old ranchero films, the fact he can’t drive down Reforma in Mexico City in his BMW with his “baby” because of a Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador protest, how he wants to holiday in Colorado where the nacos can’t reach him and how he threw away his old iPod Nano because he couldn’t be seen with his friends without the latest model. Of course, he only buys American products.
Naco, dressed in what looks to be a Chivas soccer shirt, is delighted to buy a cheap DVD player and some pirated ranchero films from the tianguis, wonders who on earth “Nicole Kissman” is, shops at cheap supermarkets and loves banda music.
YouTube has a range of videos with cringe-worthy footage of both nacos and fresas. Although it’s not easy to describe the differences, generalizations are easy to come by. Translated into Guadalajara terms, the videos more or less say:
- Fresas shop in Plaza Galerias whereas nacos can be found in San Juan de Dios.
- Nacos listen to music such as Norteño band Los Tigres del Norte, compared to North American fresa-influenced groups such as Nikki Clan and Rebelde.
- Fresa central is any of the city's upmarket malls or nightclubs, where a designer bag and accompanying flip phone are essential attire. For nacos, the working class popular neighborhood of Oblatos is the capital.
- Whereas pictures of a fresas wedding dress might make their way into society magazines such as the Gente Bien section of El Informador, a naca could well walk down the aisle or celebrate her quinceañera (15th birthday) wearing a red-and-white Chivas inspired dress.
One internet jokes site lists a series of differences:
- A fresa with crutches has a sprained leg / A naco with crutches is about to hit someone
- A fresa in fancy dress is going to a fancy dress party / A naco in fancy dress is drunk
- A fresa with a NoteBook laptop is an intellectual / A naco with a NoteBook is a roaming streetseller
As with most things Mexican, beneath the surface there are deeper societal roots to the subject. In different forms fresas and nacos have been part of Mexican society since the conquest: nacos usually seen as being darker and of indigenous descent; fresas of more European background. The term “naco” itself is thought to come from an expression from the colonial days of Mexico. Since the most important institution of the time was the Catholic Church, it was imperative that if one were to be respected or stand out in society they regularly attend the church’s services. The wealthier families would send their servant or “naco” to reserve their seat hours before Mass.
The vast difference in wealth between rich and poor also helps fuel the naco versus fresa divide that in some ways is an ongoing narrative of modern Mexico. Wealth in Mexico is concentrated in few hands with the richest ten percent controlling 35 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the poorest ten percent have 1.6 percent. That means wealth is far more concentrated here than in the United States, where the top ten percent holds 30.5 percent of the wealth.
While many Mexicans may not consider themselves either fresa or naco, the terms highlight a chasm that continues to plague Mexican society and – for some of us – produce some great YouTube moments.
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