Reading Response: Latin American Women and the Myth of (Colonial, Cultural) Patriarchy

When people attribute gender inequality in Latin America to European conquest they mean that the historical patriarchal and hierarchical structures that existed and oppressed women within Europe were then moved over to Latin America during conquest and used to oppress women in the “new world”. While the conquest certainly provided more than enough oppression of Latin America, this argument does not actually serve any of the communities today. Saying that locates the misogyny, but does nothing to combat it. I find that it’s often largely used as a throw-away argument and allows more traditional historiography to continue without problematizing any of its long-held assumptions about the agency of women, and the social and communal structures that were created. Assuming that women have never done anything to work around the structures that were put in place, intentionally or unintentionally, minimizes women and assumes a level of inherent subservience.

On a somewhat different, and slightly more personal note, the last paragraph of Ahmed’s article tied back in a really interesting way to the last few weeks of readings. The argument that feminism is a western or colonial import and therefore has no place in modern Latin America, and perhaps especially within its indigenous communities, sat with me in a way as I often feel the basic tenets of equality should be universal, as I can forget to challenge my western biases. After reading Ahmed’s piece I was reminded that the presentation and conception of feminism in both Latin America and the Middle East (in the case of Ahmed’s work) is framed through traditional western feminist literature which complains of the oppression of women with no recognition of their own lack of background in the socio-political and historical contexts within which these societies exist. Ahmed’s final point that the mischaracterization and malignity of the idea of gender-based equality and justice by men to hold their position of power is ultimately a fool’s errand, as the revolution will succeed seems to me to be a bit more optimistic than perhaps I think is reasonable. However, it stuck with me and I hope she’s correct.