Feminism in South America

Lina Mariana Álvarez Vargas

Teachers:
Mabel Gutierrez and Sebastian Silva

10B

English class

Emmanuel d’alzon School

Bogotá, March 2023

 Table of contents:

Introduction: _____________________________________________________________ 3

Problem question: _________________________________________________________ 4

General objective _____________________________________________________________ 5

Conclusion ______________________________________________________________ 8

References _______________________________________________________________ 9
 Introduction:
Feminism history since its beginning has greatly impacted different societies including the South
American population. However, this part of America has suffered various sorts of violence. The
colony always put the native people in a hard situations with the dispossession of their territory,
culture, and including their own identity that it has lost through time. Then Europeans brought to
America Africans as slaves, which made the mixed race that gave the opportunity of having
different points of view never seen before. Nevertheless, the thinking of white people always
staying on the high made a system of oppression of the minorities and other types of thinking that
could support their way of seeing life is the correct and if you are different, you have to change
not the society.

This system has been maintained through time because the people who have benefited from them
fear losing them. But the population that is lower than them is willing to change their lives and
the future for equality by making different movements, one of them the feminist. For this type of
thinking the system has its name that is “The Patriarchy” which works to keep the woman
inferior and make her think less able to do the same things as a man. Besides South America's
complex history, the branches are fundamental for women because each is a different type of
feminism that could have distinct kinds of discrimination at the same time or a distinct way to
deal with the patriarchy. This is evidence of the huge diversity of women and their cultures that
regardless of their differences have a common enemy, their system.
 Problem question:
Why nowadays feminism is one of the most influential movements in South America?

First of all, according to UN WOMEN (2019), “1.1 million adolescent girls ages 15-19 have
experienced sexual violence or have been forced into a sexual act, and at least 1 out of 3 women
has experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in her life”, this data shows how for
just being a woman, it’s normal to be in constant danger for be the next number of rapes or even
be a victim of femicide. This type of reality should not be normalized because should not happen
and less because happens all the time, the fear is a common feeling between the streets or
“Vulnerable situations” that unfortunately, probably does not return home. Also when something
happens such as rape, sexual violence, or even femicide is normal that the authorities do not
make justice. In Mexico, where exist one of the biggest feminist movements, according to
Hernandez (2021), “In 2019, impunity stood at 92.4%, so the 2020 data indicates an increase in
impunity.” in other words, the cases regardless the demand that was put, it’s too probably that
nothing happens and the guilty never face his actions. The feminist movement wants a change in
reality for all woman who every day feel the pressure of the system and the fear of the
disappearance of each sister.
 Objectives

General objective
Feminism:
Is a movement that searches for the emancipation of women regardless of systematic Machismo,
this has existed for centuries ago. Also, methods of repression to minorities or people not
following the model of white-American-heterosexual-man. Indeed, the objective of the feminist
movement despite the time has been misunderstood in each decade even now. When social media
or even the news put nicknames to these movements that just want equality, shows that society is
not ready to advance.
Feminism is one of the most important points in South America nowadays. Because the
awareness that women have been collecting about the patriarchy made the possibility to have a
new dream about what females want in the future. Regardless of how much could delay, the wish
in the hearts of the people that want to change the world is bigger. Now the population want
changes because the ancient ideas are inadequate compared to the speed of technology or the
needs, the wish to have a better future and more quality

• Identify what the patriarchy is

The patriarchy is a system of subordination that begins in the family when the men is whose
control the main decisions of this community. When societies are patriarchal, one of the reasons
to keep it is biology, saying that the weak sex is the female and also that homosexuality is
unnatural. Besides, violence is one of the most used tools, making stereotypes and prejudices
about different communities bigger and less of an open mind. This makes the patriarchy
untenable because different classes, ideas or lifestyles shouldn't be judged in the same way.
However, the feminism and lgbt+ communities demonstrated that some of the most important
pillars are wrong. Also, showed that the base is violence and fear, a medieval form to control a
group. Even in advanced societies, this sort of system persists with new names or purposes
regardless of the same mind. After all, this is able to break rights in different ways.

• Research what are its branches

At the beginning of feminism, only existed one kind of liberty that was for privileged women, in
other words, women the only difference that they had with ideal men, is biology. While the
feminist movement was fighting for the vote of white women, the other part that had to deal with
the intersectionality of different kinds of discrimination was marginalized completely from
suffragism. For this, varied alterations with their own modifications to the theory or even new
theories have appeared to disappear some inconsistencies that help to keep the intolerance.
Emancipation has to be the bridge to equality for any woman in the world. It does not matter
anything because all women born on disadvantaged, against the system and the rules, ourselves
are everything.

Just like when a movement goes to different places or contexts, can have differences because
South America doesn’t have the same lifestyle or goals as Asia or even Europe, which was the
same thing with feminism. This part of America could collect a rich culture and history from
anywhere, a privileged, here live native people like the Incas, descendants of slaves and Asian
people, and above all the mixed race is the most. However, even now South America is still being
too vulnerable for different reasons such as inflation. This puts the perfect necessity to have even
more diversity in the feminist movement because everyone wants a change but there are too
many types of problems at the same time that affect all kinds of people.

• Understand which the objective of the feminist movement is

Even in a movement so diverse as feminism, it is possible to find some common ideas that
conform to this philosophy’s structure. One of them is that the enemy that makes all the problems
of inequality is the system, the patriarchy. In this point, the theory could give different sorts of
solutions or points of view that sometimes can be contrary. However, being critical of these
topics and debating about the objective of this movement since the beginning invites to
deconstruct and question everything, make the answers as diverse as its members.

• Clarify what is about radical feminism

The objective of radical feminism is to sort out the issues since the branch because all problems
that exist such as the class struggle and everything related to sex-gender are the consequences of
the patriarchy and this one gives benefits to the men, the only kind of person that does not affect
negatively the system. One of their most famous phrases is “The personal is political” because
the private sphere is influenced by the public one which includes ideologies, and stereotypes. Is
the reflection of the imbalance of powers and discrimination that make different social problems.
Also, this includes the sexual aspect of our own lives, the theory says that our wishes or ideas of
what should be the sex like in either aspect are influenced. The sexual aspect always shows the
oppression of the woman because the industry of porn and prostitution sees it easily as things,
only seeing bodies that could control and show the power that gives the patriarchy. Proposing the
only way to save women from that violence is the abolition of that system discarding the
regulation because it does not enough. Nothing is enough, the laws are not enough, and the only
way is abolition
However, this branch has a few stereotypes because some women that call themself feminists use
this kind of feminism to excuse their transphobia misunderstanding the theory, this marginalizes
transwoman people that are less accepted in society. When feminism discriminates against
another woman, feminism is part of the oppression system that females want to destroy. With
this, it’s quick to think this branch is transphobic, one of the biggest problems that have to deal
with the truly radical feminist, don’t get confused about abolition with transphobia.
 Conclusion
Feminism has impacted the lives of the entire South American continent, is the voice that woman
does not have but she needs more than ever, is the identity that is systematic and understands
more people happened with the same hard or awkward situations. Nowadays one of the most
important movements because is a non-stop fight against discrimination and injustice in women’s
daily life, now the fear is turning into the madness of living in a society that raised some men that
does not know respect women. Regardless of the evidence and the intention to follow the process
with justice correctly, nothing happens. Millions of women have suffered the machismo in their
own flesh or at least witnessed it, it’s like a safe place that believes in their testimony and protects
all kinds of women, such as family.
 References
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