प्रतिरोध

resisitng discipline 

[pratirodh-blog1]

aguyje che ra’a

the silence you have shared is precious

the space you gave me is vast

like the endless sea or the deep black sky

how could only words lead to such a deep connection

how could silence make that connection even more profound

i shared your silence

you gave me your labor

you heard me

you told me it was not my fault

i told you it wasn't want you wore

or where you were

aguyje che ra’a

aguyje che memby

I am renewed

[pratirodh-blog1]

a collaborative journey

We are producing this blog because of our personal experiences of violence and our commitment to transforming gendered institutions which reproduce and exacerbate GBV. This is an opportunity for us to share experiences in a safe, confidential space in order to understand our emotions and trauma while simultaneously discovering ourselves and the other members in our group. This led to a collective sharing of stories and solidarity in our journey of healing, a rarity in today’s individualistic, consumption-driven culture. The following is a transcript from the first conversation we had when we decided to do a project together on sexual harassment.

[Context for the following transcript: The three of us (named here as L, J, & S) decided to focus our collaborative journey on exploring sexual and gender violence. We had a follow up conversation about how we planned on carrying out the collaboration.]

Conversation between L, J, and S.: 

L- So, I experienced sexual violence a week ago. I am still trying to figure it out.

J- Do you wanna shift from our class topic sexual violence?

S- Do you need some time off ? Actually you know I have had similar experience

S- Shared her story of sexual harassment

J- Are you guys sure you want to work on this topic for the final project? And how do we do that?

S- If we are comfortable, can we  first share our stories with each other?

J & L- yes that’s a good idea

S- Do we share stories with the class?

J- I can share my story with the class

L- Me too, I can do that

S- umm, I am not sure, not comfortable

J- we can use pseudonyms for our stories  if you would like

S- that would be great

L- so are we invisoning a tumblr post

S&J- Yes

L- How are we collaborating, do we want it to take everything and just one thing and one voice. Preference to be round table- have your own voices.

S-Our stories/ Our experience/ our academic stance

L-How each of our fields view sexual and gender violence- various critics and appreciation of this work, on resources that just came out to connect it.

J & L will design the interface on Tumblr,

J-Share a google drive to add documents. Writing is angry and antagonistic, play more like how we feel and different words we use.

S- Most of these reports on sexual harassment are so objective use pseudonym and mess around how we approach it. Bring out your inner feelings,

L-The pictures are super corporate in Google, using photos. Bring it external links as sort of citing.

J- Lot more journalistic, narratives, forms of writing.  

All three of us shared our stories and probably this was the first time for each of us to have shared our stories without any fear of judgement

[pratirodh-blog1]

Performance colectivo Las Tesis "Un violador en tu camino" en Chile 25 Noviembre 2019. 

Un Violador en Tu Camino

El patriarcado es un juez  que nos juzga por nacer y nuestro castigo es la violencia que no ves. El patriarcado es un juez que nos juzga por nacer y nuestro castigo es la violencia que ya ves.  Es femicidio.  Impunidad para mi asesino.  Es la desaparición.  Es la violación. ¡Y la culpa no era mía, ni donde estaba ni como vestia!  ¡Y la culpa no era mía, ni donde estaba ni como vestia!  ¡Y la culpa no era mía, ni donde estaba ni como vestia!  ¡Y la culpa no era mía, ni donde estaba ni como vestia!  ¡El violador eres tú!  ¡El violador eres tú!  ¡Son los pacos!  ¡Los jueces!  ¡El estado!  ¡El presidente!  ¡El estado opresor es un macho violador!  ¡El estado opresor es un macho violador!  ¡El violador eras tú! ¡El violador eres tú!  ‘Duerme tranquila,  niña inocente sin preocuparte del bandolero.  Que por tu sueño  dulce y sonriente  vela tu amante Carabinero.’*  ¡El violador eres tú!  ¡El violador eres tú!  ¡El violador eres tú

A Rapist in Your Way (English Translation by me)

Patriarchy is a judge that judges us for being born and our punishment is the violence that you don’t see. The patriarchy is a judge that judges us for being born and our punishment is the violence that you’ve seen. It’s femicide. Impunity for my killer. It’s disappearance. It’s rape. And It’s not my fault because of where I was or how I dressed! And It’s not my fault because of where I was or how I dressed! And It’s not my fault because of where I was or how I dressed! And It’s not my fault because of where I was or how I dressed! The rapist is you! The rapist is you! It’s the cops! the judges! the state! the president! The oppressive state is a misogynist rapist! The oppressive state is a misogynist rapist! The rapist is you! The rapist is you! “Slumber gently, innocent girl without worrying about the riff-raff, in your sweetly smiling dreams, will be revealed your loving lieutenant”* The rapist is you! The rapist is you! The rapist is you! The rapist is you!

*from Policeman’s Hymn of Chile

//

My decision to translate El Violador en tu Camino into English was deliberate. The piece was written by, for, and about women in Latin America, specifically in Chile, capitalism’s Latin American poster-child. But it was also written for me. It was written for you. It is a call for civil society to stand up to the state. For us to stand up to misogynistic violence. I also deliberately chose to use my own translation for this piece and not translations which are floating around on the internet. My translation, of course similar to others, changes a few words which I believe better captures the meaning for me. This is part of the power of translation. By emphasizing certain words or feelings without changing the meaning, I can share the sentiment which is implied yet not explicit in the original language. Some collectives have altered the words to fit their experiences. In Paraguay, participants chanted, “Es la milicia! Los fiscales! La prensa!” They also added, “che rete che mba’e,” meaning “mi cuerpo es mío”, or “my body is mine,” in Guarani, an indigenous and the second official language of the country. 

This particular performance piece is only made possible through collaboration. It was made viral through further collaboration world wide. There are now videos of this performance in México DF, Los Galapagos, Paris, Sydney, London, and many others. It’s widely performed in Spanish, but there are versions in various languages. This is the power of a collective which allows for innovation, cooperation, and engagement. A collective with a powerful imaginary which has many manifestations in many locals, but which leads to empowerment, action, and visibility.

[pratirodh-blog1]

hanging from the flag pole

The judge handed down her ruling: he would be sentenced to three years. 

She told him, “If I could hang you from flag pole outside this courthouse, I would.”

How did we get here?

Who told them? 

I swore to never write again--that way it could never be stolen.

I was 14. 

When I left, I decided not to share my pain with anyone. My original disclosure was forced out by the state. 

But now I had a choice, and I chose to live a life in which no one knew that piece of me. In which only I had control of the narrative.

But today I choose to write as an act of healing. As an act of resisting silence. To ground my present and future in something true. I am here today because of, not in spite of. The pain ignited a fire. A hunger.

[pratirodh-blog1]

Gavin Power Plant by Megan Marzec. 

Retrieved from https://meganmarzec.tumblr.com

[pratirodh-blog1]

sush..silence

Running towards the silent stairs,

my mind screams,

as my blood rush in,

I question within

why did he do that?

but I have no answers,

my mind is stubborn,

doesn’t let the pain of his touch go away,

taking me back to the dark classroom anyway,

where else will you go? my mind asks,

this not your home and nobody would believe you,

I tremble, I cry, I look for a warm hug,

my mind was right, nobody believed me,

warden says don’t make excuses,

you have no interest in education,

that classroom doesn’t haunt you nor does the teacher,

teacher is your guru,

and education is for your good,

one day you will realize,

and thank us,

I do realize now,

but different from a 11-year-old me,

I realize, I shouldn’t be guilty

I realize, I was not at fault

I realize, I was brave

but the classroom still haunts me and so does the teacher

[pratirodh-blog1]

an anti-disciplinary consideration

Gender-based violence (GBV) is an umbrella term that encompasses countless forms of abuse including but not limited to intimate partner violence, sexual harassment and assault, judicial impunity, femicide, patrimonial violence, obstetric violence, and discriminatory laws and policies. As a part of gender performance, GBV is an ever-shifting reality that is shaped by the socio-cultural situation in which it takes place. Violence itself is a social construct, shaped by cultural understandings of pain and suffering. It is not only physical, but sexual, psychological, economic, and structural. In fact, structural violence may be the most insidious form of GBV. It is an often invisible, normalized form of violence which is situated in the cotidious details of life, such as poverty, racism, sexism, and other forms of inequity. But structural violence is inseparable from direct or interpersonal violence. 

In this collaborative blog, we bridge public policy, transnational feminist, and decolonial theories and frameworks with “non-academic” forms of expression such as story-telling and poetry. This will provide us the opportunity to engage with topics such as GBV and sexual harassment through modes which are undervalued in the academy. We are challenging this authority and duality of academic institutions by openly sharing our stories and creating a space to discuss issues which are uncomfortable or are seen as not “academic enough”. 

We will use this blog to explores the role of GBV within institutions. Questions we consider include How we can move beyond understanding GBV in the binary?  What forms of GBV receive attention and which do not? What innovations and transformations would need to occur in order to truly eradicate misogynistic and queerphobic violence?  How does sexual harassment within educational institutes impact an individual’s self- efficacy and abilities to learn?  How are educational institutes a part of perpetuating sexual violence/harassment. What role does implicit gender discrimination play in universities? How can we attempt to broaden the view of what actions we consider to GBV?