Fresa

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In Mexico, fresa (which is Spanish for strawberry) is a slang term for a cultural stereotype of superficiality in youngsters.

The term fresa (preppy), was born in the 60's to define teenagers with a conservative mentality, who didn't drink and enjoyed being from traditional families. During the 80's the meaning changed and became a mock of the "rich kids" lifestyle, soon after it became a desired trait.

Initially only people with more Spaniard than native looks and belonging to the middle or high classes could be called fresa, and unlike popular belief a fresa is not a well-off person, they can be working class people or even poor people but it's how they talk and act that can label them as fresa^[1]. The term has been made popular in other Latin American countries due to exchange in the region of TV productions.

Is in some terms the opposite of naco, and it is not always derogatory, traditionally teens who attend expensive schools or have wealthy parents are called "niños bien" (nice kids) or "gente bien" (good people), but due to the increasing division of social classes and economic differences between them the "fresa" was born as a popular aspiration since it's based solely in giving a sense of superiority inside any social group. The fresa accent is also different than the typical Mexican accent, with a different tone and vocabulary, it also encorporates many English words.

A typical fresa male in American terms would be described as a metrosexual. Popular fresa brands are mainly Armani Exchange, Diesel, Lacoste, and Abercrombie and Fitch.

[edit] Fictional Fresas

A well-known "fresa" is the fictional persona El Pirruris, created by comedian Luis de Alba, a parody of the real-life so-called juniors, the young and presumptuous son's of Mexican politicians and entrepreneurs.^[2]

This stereotype still exists as of 2006, with fictional "fresa" characters as Mia Colucci from the hit group Rebelde or "Barbie" in the popular Mexican soap opera "Amor en Custodia".^[3] Actress Paola Nuñez who plays Barbie and describes the character as a "niña fresa"^[4] states that she based the character, who is an arrogant, vain, and superficial young woman, on her observations of many "chicas fresas".^[5]

[edit] Further reading

Valentina Cardenas (2006-07-13). Mi familia méxicana / My Mexican family. LA Youth. — Cardenas discusses being labelled as a "fresa" by Mexicans and as a Valley girl by Angelinos
Fresas. — Wesite dedicated to Fresas
WordReferenceForum. — More Fresa definitions.
Mil de bien. — An analysis of the Fresas from various points of view.