Throughout my time here in Mexico I wanted to immerse myself in the feminist movement. To be a woman in Mexico is no easy task, the UN (while acknowledging the white basis that stems from the United Nations) deemed Mexico as one of the most violent countries to be a woman in. Women are abused, murdered, and assaulted every day here. So when learning about Mayan and Mexican culture I wanted to know which spaces were safe for women and which were not (also important to note this is not something unique to Mexico. As a queer woman I have always done the research before traveling anywhere, to protect myself).
During our guest lecture, I thought it was interesting that women in ancient Mayan times were permitted to hold positions of power like the Ajaw or K’ahul Ajaw. I would assume, like the case in most of history, that women weren’t allowed to asume positions of power.
I have also noticed this within Mexican culture. In my time here, I see women, their faces/bodies/identities are used for profit, which is interesting considering the lack of support for women in this country. For example, Frida Kahlo’s face is EVERYWHERE, as if queer woman who didn’t commit to the gender binary is a person that is openly accepted.
