TW for violence against women, transphobia
Rural Women in Latin America Define Their Own Kind of Feminism
“Rural organisations in Latin America are working on defining their own concept of feminism, one that takes into account alternative economic models as well as their own concerns and viewpoints, which are not always in line with those of women in urban areas.
Gregoria Chávez, an older farmer from the northwest Argentine province of Santiago del Estero, said feminism must include “the struggles and support of our fellow farmers in defending the land.”
Until recently, feminism was an alien concept for her. But like so many other women farmers around Latin America, she is now a leader in the battles in her province against the spread of monoculture soy production and the displacement of small farmers.
“I think women are important in the countryside because they are braver than men,” she told IPS. “I’m not afraid of anything. I always tell my compañeras that without courage we won’t gain a thing.”
The term “feminism” scares many rural women, said Rilma Román, a delegate of Cuba’s National Association of Small Farmers and one of the members of the coordinating committee of the international peasant movement Via Campesina, where half of the leaders are women, she noted.
“It scares people because many think that feminism means women on their own fighting against men, that it’s two different sides,” she told IPS. “It’s practically a new subject in our debates. I think more time is needed to be able to explain it and reach a consensus.”
Carrizo said some aspects have to be explained, such as the question of sexual diversity. “It used to be very uncommon to find transvestites revealing themselves in rural communities. There was a lot of self-repression and repression, and there still is.
“It’s really hard for older people to understand that there are people with different sexual orientations. We’re gradually seeing how to address the issue and how to encourage them to accept it,” she said.
The question is how to tackle these problems, which are often just seen as a normal part of life.
“In the countryside there’s a lot of machismo and many women grow up with that from birth,” said Román, from Cuba. “There are women and men who think we want to break up families, or encourage divorce.”
For that reason, Carrizo said, “the different cosmovisions of the people of each country should be taken into consideration.”
“Rural women in Colombia, for example, don’t identify as feminists. What makes it hard for them to understand (urban women) is a question of class, that they have certain conveniences and activities that are different from their lives,” Molina said.
Carrizo said “Sometimes we have that concept of feminism which we have learned, that to fight sexism you also have to take an oppressive stance. But that’s not what we’re trying to encourage – we want feminism to be an act of solidarity between women and men.”
Photo: A group of indigenous women participating in one of the debates at the Fifth Continent-wide Assembly of Rural Women during the sixth congress of the Latin American Coordinating Committee of Rural Organisations - Via Campesina, held in Ezeiza in Greater Buenos Aires. Credit: Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS
