Latina Activists Across Borders: Women's Grassroots Organizing in Mexico and Texas

admin — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:10:00 +0000

Milagros Pena’s book, Latina Activists Across Borders, is a significant attempt at recording the oral histories of women responsible for developing and running NGOs (non governmental organizations) in Mexico and the border cities of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez. This particular kind of work is necessary to further understand how women organize as activists outside of more privileged academic, feminist settings.

As a feminist who chose to leave the academy, I am often baffled by how women comfortably practice their feminist values outside the sanctuary of women’s studies departments and women’s centers on college campuses. In many ways, practicing feminism outside of the ivory tower takes guts, particularly in those parts of the U.S. (and elsewhere) that insist men and women practice and participate in traditional gender roles. Pena’s book provides some insight on how women outside of the academy practice feminist values in what could be considered hyper-patriarchal locations.

The notion of taking “baby steps” has a very real impact in places where feminist ideas and beliefs are considered foreign, feared or maligned. I was impressed by one interviewee from Michoacan when she proclaimed what an achievement it was for women to meet (outside of the home) to discuss feminist-informed initiatives. Of course, there are places in the U.S., other than the border, where minute actions would also be considered quite significant—the small, southern town where I live, for example.

The importance of networking between NGOs, even those with a religious impetus, is vital for the survival of these grassroots efforts. It is important to note, that the organizers interviewed in Mexico saw a natural relationship between the goals of organizations with religious roots and those with more feminist ones. In other words, they were not mutually exclusive. Both types of organizations worked to help those in need. Yet, many of the women in Mexico were careful about labeling their efforts feminist since local reactions to preconceived, reduced views of what feminism entails (primarily, those who reduce it to “man hating,” and those with religious reasons for resisting feminism) are rather entrenched. Instead, these organizers have labeled their activism as part of a “woman’s movement” to help soften the edges of public misperceptions of feminism. While this magical renaming no doubt helps to get women in the door that need the services and programming these NGOs provide, it also has the potential to further entrench the idea that feminism is something to be feared, denigrated and resisted.

The book is worth reading for those who work in NGOs, study feminist theory or consider themselves feminists. The tone is academic, as is the language, but the excerpts from the transcripts are quite interesting and warmer in tone than the whole of the book. There are varied ways of practicing feminism and this book underscores those multiple practices as being necessary for surviving a patriarchal and capitalist reality.

Written by: Denise Menchaca, July 23rd 2007

Sex in Revolution: Gender, Politics, and Power in Modern Mexico

admin — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 03:22:00 +0000

Edited by Jocelyn Olcott, Mary Kay Vaughan, Gabriela Cano

Duke University Press

Mary Kay Vaughn, in her introduction to Sex in Revolution: Gender, Politics, and Power in Modern Mexico, asserts that while paternalism, Catholicism, Victorian morals and patriarchy experienced a fierce health before, during and after the Mexican Revolution, the women’s movement, while slow, was undeniable and, ultimately, irreversible. This book’s purpose, then, is to crack the monolith of rhetoric (verbal, literary and visual) that women have had little voice or agency within the confines of the social-political space and place known as Mexico in the post revolution.

While rampant machismo threatened the health of feminist progression, these essays point to significant fissures that fractured the surface of such patriarchy as the dominant social practice. The contributing authors are quick to note that there were subversive performances occurring at multiple sites. Some actions were bolder than others but all of them comprised an undeniable collection of evidence supporting a vigorous women’s movement. However, it is also significant to note that this movement was not singular in motive: some activism was in service to right-wing politics and bringing back to center the conservatism of religious (primarily, Catholic) practices. This anthology, thus, is interested in naming, when and where possible, certain actions as feminist. Yet, it also recognizes that not all activism by women was necessarily feminist in ideal.

Each of the essays explores a collection of evidence primarily through textual analysis of newspapers, films, magazines, public records and photographs. The ethnographic interview is also used to gather qualitative transcripts for analysis. In these pages, expect to encounter diverse and rich sites of inquiry: transgendered performances, las pelonas (the flappers of Mexico), filmic depictions of indigenous ideals and femininity, divorce, education, labor politics, the process of adoption, Catholic women’s activism and grassroots organizing.

There are few popular culture artifacts in the U.S. that depict Mexican women as brave, courageous, and willful agents. Indeed, there are many more reinforcements of the Mexican female as subservient (the maid), as hyper-sexualized (the whore), or as over pious (the virgin). These sorts of historical and contemporary images represent only part of a complex reality for Mexican women. As a feminist project, this collection of essays credits women of the post revolution as agents of the Modern state capable of challenging dominant patriarchal practices with significant performances resistant to traditional femininity. This text is well written, interesting, and a necessary read for understanding further a significant era in Modern Mexican history. It is an enlightening addition to any women’s studies reading list (undergraduate or graduate) and to any special topics course dealing with Mexican history, cultural identity or popular culture. This book is scholarly in tone, but is very accessible.

Written by: Denise Menchaca, April 4th 2007