What does it mean to be a badass? And you're asking me? You're the badass!

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Anyone familiar with poetry will know what the subtitle refers to. Also, if you’ve read Octavio Paz, you’ll know that the essence of “awesomeness”—and everything related to it—is a formless, gaseous entity. If you don’t get the literary reference, and/or haven’t read Octavio Paz, don’t worry. Not all women writers—no matter how widely read or prolific they may be—are invariably badass. There are some who are very conceited and stiff—who only fail to be badass because they’re such suck-ups.

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So what does it mean to be “chingona”? It’s hard to say for sure, even though it’s the quality we Mexican women use to validate one another. I say it to others, and I say it about others. Also, people have said it to me from time to time. However, if we think about it, “chingonería” is something like the burning bush. It denotes a powerful yet ineffable quality. In that sense, a chingona resembles the Almighty God of the People of Israel. And since there’s no way to define it, it can at least be identified by the following traits:

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1. A "chingona" is a woman who "inspires." 

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In its primary sense, according to the RAE, “to inspire” refers to drawing air into the lungs, while it also means “to instill or give rise to feelings, ideas, intentions, and so on in the spirit or mind.” To inspire is to evoke a feeling that can manifest physically through inhalations and exhalations. It is a feeling accompanied by a physical reaction. Thus, a badass provokes in us that desire—both physical and mental—to do something or to be something better. If you ask me who has caused that feeling in me, the first person who comes to mind is Jane Goodall, the primatologist and anthropologist, with the great misfortune that I have not lived in Africa surrounded by chimpanzees, which fills me with longing and frustration. I sigh… 

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2. They're always in a bind. 

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Real badasses are always “fully booked.” On WhatsApp, their status will say “Busy” or “No calls, WhatsApp only.” Even with this warning, I’ve had one of my 12 dogs run off with my phone in its mouth and call—not once, but 10 times—the busiest person of all, at the worst possible moment. My dogs have called CEOs, CFOs, Deputy Secretaries of State, and countless Board Members, among other powerhouse women, right at the moment they’re about to change the world. Blame my dogs for the fact that these women couldn’t stop the climate crisis, achieve a just energy transition, or abolish modern slavery, among the many other calamities plaguing the world. 

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3. They belong to one or more groups of badass women. 

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To be among the badass women. That’s what many aspire to. A few months ago on LinkedIn, I saw a post by a young woman who, finally!, had been accepted into a group of Archi-Chingonas, after being rejected several times. Once inside, she said she had cried with emotion when she saw the president of this collective dancing a waltz with Nelson Mandela on YouTube, which is why she tried to join a ton of times until she succeeded. Now she’s finally received recognition for her badassery. Good for her. As for me, what I’d really like is to be in Africa, surrounded by chimpanzees—instead of begging them, I’d have told them to fuck off. 

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