The real value of women in Mexico

We live in a society where family is important and having one on their own must be the principal achievement for all women. However, violence and disrespect toward women have always been present in our society, and it is a problem that is now evident in the increasing number of women’s deaths. We live in a male chauvinistic society. Everything in our behavior reflects that condition. We all learn and grow up with this. People don’t realize it but even the insults that we use refer to women and reflect the value that society gives to women. For example, insults like “chinga tu madre” and “hijo de puta” make reference to women. In some cases it is explicitly referring to “your mother”, in others just using the feminine gender of the word. Insulting the mother is the worst offense that you can make to another person, but at the same time it is frequently used in colloquial speech when referring to things that are not working well for us.

This negative assumption has been present in the evolution of our Mexican society. And now as a result of this, this negative assumption crossed the borders of respect and human rights. With all this said it is incredibly scary to see the negative perception that feminist women could have. They seem like “crazy women that don’t want to settle down”, that want their freedom to become a libertine, or in best of cases as unruly groups. This irrational argument has tried to discredit these women’s work to guarantee the respect of human rights. And in some cases is taken seriously. That is one of the reasons why the crimes in Ciudad Juarez haven’t been prosecuted, why the domestic violence is increasing in conservative or rural communities.

This is not the only problem that Mexico has, but I think this is a problem that can be overcome using tools like PulseWire to support the efforts made in the country to educate our population and re-educate women about their own value and capacity as women. Women educate boys and girls on how to treat women. And we need to empower organizations that seek gender equality and human rights. In Mexico each governmental level has a gender equality office that works most of the time without real political support and with limited funds to educate women in rural communities. We need to use this forum to facilitate their communication with the world, to promote their work and contribute to build their capacity as institutes in charge of guaranteeing the respect and empowerment of women in Mexico