It’s not easy to break with tradition.
Especially when that tradition is centuries old and as steeped in a way of life as mariachi music is in Mexican culture.
Traditionally played by men, with songs from the male perspective, mariachi music has generally not been a pursuit reserved for women. Maleness is so engrained in mariachi culture that even the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization describes it as a skill (that) is usually passed down from fathers to sons.
But for Mariachi Rubor, one of the very few female mariachi bands in Phoenix, those deeply embedded traditions have never been obstacles. Rather, the women use them as motivation.