Image Taken from Vice, Shot Originally by Todd Antony. Somewhere above the clouds in Bolivia, a bright pleated skirt is snapping in the wind — and the woman wearing it is halfway up a wall of ice. #CholitasEscaladoras #WomenOfTheMountains #PolleraPower #AymaraPride #AndeanCulture #MountainAndTradition Today, all over the world, there are women taking action against a patriarchal, machista system. Discrimination, most of the time, does not come from gender alone, but also from

Photography taken by designer’s Facebook What happens when a garment that was historically stigmatized at home becomes desirable abroad? Opinions are widely divided on what is the proper way to wear polleras, not only in the Andean Altiplano but also abroad. Some take a more conservative stance, insisting that the correct way is the traditional one—no low necklines, no sheer fabrics— while others look to the future with the goal of bringing polleras not only to new generation

Jon Robson via Wikimedia In the highlands of Bolivia, a group of Indigenous women in full traditional dress — wide skirts, braids, and bowler hats — are climbing into wrestling rings and flipping the script on decades of discrimination. The Cholitas Luchadoras turned a slur into a statement, and a fighting ring into a stage for cultural reclamation. #CholitasLuchadoras #IndigenousIdentity #CulturalResistance #WomenEmpowerment The first time I saw a clip of the Cholitas Luchad

Luisa Dörr (2023) One is associated with tradition and femininity, the other with movement. One carries generations of cultural history, while the other has become a symbol of youth, freedom and rebellion. Yet in Cochabamba, Bolivia, young women are bringing the two together, rolling through the streets in brightly colored polleras. #AndeanIdentity #WomenInSports #PolleraPower #CholitaSkaters #ImillaSkate #AymaraPride #QuechuaCulture Credit: Norma Ibarra Credit: Celia D. Luna