Cholo culture is not a mainstream culture in Vietnam though, and is very overstated in the article - it's more counterculture and a mix of Cali Kieu who "returned" to Vietnam or people who are cult fans of content like the Fast and Furious franchise ("familia")
Hallyu is the primary mainstream culture having impact in Vietnam. Can't walk a meter without bumping into something Korean.
> particularly among older generations of Vietnamese, who are inclined to associate tattoos with gangs and violence
Younger generations too excluding the Thao Dien or the D3 type. You see plenty of heavily tattooed lecherous older Japanese men in D1, and everyone knows the implications of that.
NY Times did a similar piece in 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8bMLcCxxAA
I'm not into Hip-Hop as a cultural thing but I love the way Mona aka "Sad Girl" does her linguistic code-switching, there's something intoxicating about it.
A text search for “cholo” yields no results. I found that kind of surprising. That is the type of aesthetic that seems to have spread the most but I would hope that all these people learn beyond more than gang-life stories. I’m thinking the stories of Rudolfo Anaya, “Corky” Gonzales, Sandra Cisneros, etc.
Culture is so portable now. And people seem happy to adopt new things.
I like it.
The coolest low rider I ever saw was in Tokyo.
If you've ever been to SoCal or Dallas, the embracement isn't that surprising.
It's been years since I've been to Vietnam, and I can't say I ever encountered this sub-culture. Closest was going on a few dates with a trophy-winning bachata dancer / dance instructor. But I'm not that surprised it has spread, knowing that it's "A Thing" here in Japan for ages as well.
Encountered a few other American/Caribbean sub-cultures though, like a twerk contest in a hip-hop club, and a reggae dive bar. These were 2015-2019 in Hanoi.
Love it. Have fun, world is just a playground. Enjoy yourself
Latin America actually has a very significant Asian population.
Everyone can be Latino, white , indigenous, black, Asian, etc.
That was definitely an interesting ese.
I wonder how much of this is driven by hispanic immigration to Vietnam. United States folks go there to live cheaply, and surely the same is true of people in hispanic countries looking for a better economic deal.
anecdotally, outside of East Asians, I see a good amount of Latinos in pho shops
When a buddy and I used to go out to bars, he would dress and act Mexican too. I think he enjoyed the style but, on some level, also the attention when girls would mistake him for being Mexican rather than his Chinese heritage.
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I grew up in SoCal (Westminster in particular), which is highly vietnamese, and in the context of SoCal, which is VERY Mexican. So, honestly, this aesthetic is very familiar to me. Most of my school friends(mexican and vietnamese) growing up were very into it. My Catholic parish was basically run by the Mexicans and Vietnamese communities. This combination is very common in LA / Southern California.