Clarification:  This research documents the participation of female mariachi musicians in Mexico and the United States.  A female mariachi <musician> performs as an instrumentalist  in a mariachi ensemble, with a mariachi uniform matching the rest of the group, on any of the following standard mariachi instruments:  violin, trumpet, vihuela, guitar, guitarra de golpe, guitarrón or acoustic harp.  The gender combination within the mariachi group in the research is based on both mixed-gender and all-female.  The ranchera singer tradition is an entirely different performance tradition, albeit related to the ranchera genre, which includes mariachi performance.  (A ranchera singer is many times accompanied by a mariachi ensemble in live performance.)  A ranchera singer is not considered a member of the mariachi unless performing in the group with an instrument from the above list.  (For example, Vicente Fernandez, the icon of contemporary male ranchera singers, is NOT a mariachi.)   Lucha Reyes, the ranchera singer, is only mentioned in this study as the mark of an important milestone of women's participation within the ranchera genre in general.