The Cholitas are an Indigenous group who faced years of marginalisation in their home country of Bolivia. In the present moment, a film follows five of these women as they look to further defy archaic prejudices – by scaling the colossal Mount Aconcagua.
Text: Vuyokazi Mtukela ⭑ Photography: © Arena Comunicación Audiovisual
CHAPTER 3
THE CHOLITAS HAVE long been ostracised from society. Until relatively recently, the Indigenous group of Aymara and Quechua women, native to Boliva and known for their distinctive bowler hats and colourful layred skirts, faced heavy discrimination in their home country.
These attitudes spilled over from Spanish colonial rule. Cholitas – a once pejorative term, handed down to describe the maid classes – endured significant racial abuse and marginalisation. They were barred from entering certain public spaces, routinely refused entry on public transport, and generally viewed as lesser-than by the vast majority of city-dwellers.
While civil rights movements had existed since the ’60s, things began to progress significantly with the 2006 election of Evo Morales – Bolivia’s first Indigenous president. Since then, aided by a raft of supportive social and economic policies, attitudes have shifted considerably. “Cholitas can [now] be seen on magazines, walking in fashion shows, and teaching at universities. There are even markets that sell Cholita fashion,” says Jaime Murciego, director of 2019 film Cholitas. Needless to say, these are all scenes that would have been unimaginable just over a decade ago.
In his se
