yo cumbio

March 17, 2009 8:54 AM

Agustina Vivero, known also as Cumbio, a name derived from Cumbia Villera, a favorite music of hers. She is openly lesbian, 17, has a book, and is becoming quite famous, all from her photos.
posted by jester69 (20 comments total)

The Cumbio craze really took off after Guillermo Tragant, president of Furia, a marketing company, discovered Ms. Vivero and the floggers last April while scouting for fresh faces for a Nike sportswear campaign.

Now it makes perfect sense.
posted by Joe Beese at 9:03 AM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Congratulations, jester69, you've discovered the perfect gap in the system. Normally making an FPP about teenage girls kissing would get your post deleted and you'd feel the icy breath of the banhammer. But that NYTimes profile wraps the whole in a cloak of non-pervy legitimacy.

I'm imagining all MetaFilter on the edge of a knife right now. Which way will the mods break?
posted by felix betachat at 9:08 AM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

In the book link, we get the robotranslation: "Life as the country's most famous flogger."
Apparently, "flogger" is an Argentine teen fashion trend.
posted by beagle at 9:08 AM on March 17, 2009

For the record, I didn't find any NSFW images of 17 year old lesbians getting it on.

Not that I was looking.

I also didn't find her photography that compelling. She's a bit cute, but beyond that I don't get the appeal.

This often happens to me.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:15 AM on March 17, 2009

It wasn't my intention to offend anyone. I just did research and posted what I found. It seemed like an interesting story, and it was hard to separate her sexuality from the story. If the mods think it should be delete or modified, I have no problem with that.
posted by jester69 at 9:15 AM on March 17, 2009

Argentina is so weird. Last time I was in Buenos Aires this sort of thing was all over the news because a flogger gang and a cheto gang (Argentinian for preppies) had gotten into a fight at the mall. I use the term gang and fight VERY loosely, but this was frontpage/leading story news for quite a while down there.
posted by youthenrage at 9:17 AM on March 17, 2009

torn. intrepid youth utilizing available resources to create a voice and identity is a compelling narrative. but i'm with joe beese: i can't get the stink of nike off of this.

“I’ll have fun with this while it lasts,” she said. “When it ends, well, that’s that. I’ll still have all the photos.”

here's to hoping the fame and the money and the all the industries capitlizing on her don't turn into an argentinian paris hilton.
posted by barrett caulk at 9:37 AM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is a questionable FPP of seventeen-year-old girls kissing. It's just fucking weird. Why not post a link to Sapphic Erotica? At least the models are over 18.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:40 AM on March 17, 2009

this doesn't feel prurient to me. seventeen-year-olds kiss. and in this day and age, they take photos and post 'em up online. the question must be asked: does any of our reticence about this fpp stem from the homosexuality aspect? (not a direct charge against you, kokuryu! just a general question.)
posted by barrett caulk at 9:49 AM on March 17, 2009

Ditto the not terribly impressed by her photos (some are composed well, others look like most other social photos of teenage friends). Is being openly lesbian in Argentina a daring thing? It seems like most fashion circles are supportive of gays and lesbians, but I could be naive. But her style seems like North American hipster. Again, maybe it's edgy in Argentina. And there is "talk of a reality-based television show starring Cumbio and friends," which sounds like a (possibly) less pretentious version of all the North America pretty teen reality shows.

[She] describes herself and other floggers as “androgynous” for their unisex clothing. She is comfortable with not being model-thin, eschewing dieting and boasting of her love of junk food and chocolate.... “We are breaking a lot of barriers,” she said.

Ah, there is a difference. Androgynous clothing is also done by State-side hipsters, but embracing your body type is a commendable step in most media-saturated cultures.

And the concern about (young) women kissing - it reminds me of the concern over breast-feeding. People do it all the time. The fact you're focusing on it is what is questionable (she has pictures of other things, too, if you want to look away).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:49 AM on March 17, 2009

Goddamn. Y'all are snark machines. This post is about several things besides girls kissin:

-- A youth movement in Argentina that challenges mores about beauty, gender, and sexuality.
-- Media culture: this all started with a photo blog. Now she's got a book deal, modeling contracts, a fragrance, etc.

Discuss.
posted by flotson at 9:55 AM on March 17, 2009 [2 favorites]

FLOGGER! Haha, I got called a flogger once or twice while walking the streets of Jujuy in Argentina.

I was also called hippie, emo, maricon, yanqui de mierda, gringo, blanquito, rubio, polaco and every other offensive and non-offensive word under the sun. But flogger was my favorite.
posted by cloeburner at 9:58 AM on March 17, 2009

Agreed that there's nothing particularly offensive about the post, unless you happen to be offended by the fact that some teenage girls are lesbians. Also agreed that the pictures aren't that interesting...
posted by steambadger at 10:02 AM on March 17, 2009

Her photos are very typical of what teenage girl's photos look like these days, except they're within this specific "Flogger" culture.

She also sounds like a typical teen in her diary postings/captions:

Se que tengo señales que me cuidan tras de mi, por eso el enemigo ya no puede resistir, perderá su energía cuando intente contra mi y al final de la vía ya he pasado sobre ti


Whatever marketing they're getting out of her now seems like a flash in the pan novelty that the clock is ticking on. She's also cute, lesbian, and not starving herself which make her stand out.
posted by cmgonzalez at 10:12 AM on March 17, 2009

does any of our reticence about this fpp stem from the homosexuality aspect? (not a direct charge against you, kokuryu! just a general question.)

I object to the post because these are 17-year-old girls, and are not adults. Although I suppose it still must be rough for teens who do not identify as straight...
posted by KokuRyu at 10:14 AM on March 17, 2009

Flogger is a teenager fashion originated in Argentina at the end of 2003

The Cumbio craze really took off after Guillermo Tragant, president of Furia, a marketing company, discovered Ms. Vivero and the floggers last April while scouting for fresh faces for a Nike sportswear campaign.

So, Furia (Nike) are five years behind.

Also related, nu rave.

Here we have some video of the dance moves associated;

The most popular move, related to the French tecktonik and the Australian shuffle and the Charleston of 100 years ago, consists of rapidly spreading one leg, hitting the floor with the heel, and drawing the other leg backwards, and then quickly changing the position of the legs (spreading the other leg, and shifting backwards the one that was spread)...'

As regards the sexuality debate, and we have cameras, this may be of interest.
posted by asok at 10:19 AM on March 17, 2009 [2 favorites]

Weren't there like civil rights type marches of emo/goth/flogger kids in Argentina tired of being persecuted and such like or did I imagine them?
posted by PenDevil at 10:20 AM on March 17, 2009

Man, wait 'til Furia discovers Myspace!
posted by cmoj at 11:11 AM on March 17, 2009

For the Spanish speakers out there, does the name "Cumbio" sound as silly as I imagine it does? I imagine the American equivalent being a kid calling herself "Jazza" or "Hiphoppia." Then again, if it's just her online identity and she doesn't actually go by the name, it makes as much sense as anything.
posted by explosion at 11:21 AM on March 17, 2009

The most popular move, related to the French tecktonik and the Australian shuffle and the Charleston of 100 years ago
Oh! I've seen a lot of kids doing this dance around the streets. I never realised that it was the Australian shuffle.
posted by tellurian at 6:35 PM on March 17, 2009