"Sadistic Cholas" — Olga Rodriguez-Ulloa's book on the reclaiming of a racial stereotype in contemporary Peru
A monograph on how Peruvian transfeminists reclaim the figure of the chola.
On June 16, 2026, University of Texas Press published the academic monograph Sadistic Cholas: Transfeminist Provocations in Contemporary Peru by American scholar Olga Rodriguez-Ulloa. The book examines the history of the racial stereotype of the chola in Peru and analyses how contemporary artists, activists, and queer performers are reclaiming this figure as a tool of resistance.
In Peru, colonial and later national elites used chola as a slur against Indigenous Andean women. The book examines how artists and activists reclaim the word to challenge racism and sexism.
Rodriguez-Ulloa traces this reclamation through music, visual art, literature, and grassroots organising. She looks at how artists and activists use the figure of the chola in work about violence, resistance, and care.
Olga Rodriguez-Ulloa is an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Latino Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. She received her doctorate in Latin American and Iberian Cultures from Columbia University in 2014. Her research interests encompass race theory, feminist theory, Indigenous Andean studies, Afro-Latinx culture, visual arts, and popular music. She previously co-edited the volume Punk! Las Américas Edition (Intellect Books, 2021).
Transfeminism is a strand of feminism that insists on the inclusion of trans women in feminist discourse and recognises the interconnection of different forms of oppression. In the context of Peru, where deep racial and class inequality persists, a transfeminist reading of the reclaiming of racial stereotypes offers a specific angle on the colonial legacy and its present-day consequences.
