Murder in Juarez.THANKS CONSCIENCE FOR publishing Ana Castillo's article "Conditioned for Murder," in the last issue. I have been reading about these murders for years and this article ever so poignantly articulates what it means to be a brown woman and perhaps a Brown Catholic Woman in our world. So often as social change movements "evolve," their focus is on policy reform and legislation. The theoretical construct of misogyny misogyny /mi·sog·y·ny/ (mi-soj´i-ne) hatred of women.mi·sog·y·ny n. Hatred of women. mi·sog and the subsequent articulation articulation In phonetics, the shaping of the vocal tract (larynx, pharynx, and oral and nasal cavities) by positioning mobile organs (such as the tongue) relative to other parts that may be rigid (such as the hard palate) and thus modifying the airstream to produce speech of sexism sex·ism n. 1. Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women. 2. Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping of social roles based on gender. within various institutions has led us to make changes within structures that perpetuate per·pet·u·ate tr.v. per·pet·u·at·ed, per·pet·u·at·ing, per·pet·u·ates 1. To cause to continue indefinitely; make perpetual. 2. harmful practices against women. But in Ciudad Juarez, misogyny moves from theory into feminicidio or practice and the intersection of race, class and gender on the body of a brown woman leaves an "X" on her chest and marks her for death. Ana Castillo Ana Castillo (born 1953) is a Chicana novelist, poet, short story writer, and essayist. Castillo was born and raised in an inner city barrio of Chicago, Illinois. After completing undergraduate studies, she immediately began teaching college courses. talks about what it means to have indigenous features and to be a working woman. Far too often we forget to include indigenous women in our definition of "woman" and it continually leaves them wide open for the kind of violence seen in Juarez. Thank you, Ana, for reminding us to not ignore the individual lives of working women in Juarez, while simultaneously working for global change. M. CARMEN LANE Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, Ohio |
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