Week 8: A Week of Departures

Students getting acquainted with their new host families at the Homestay Convivio

Students having dinner with their new families

By Camille Hart

This past week was one of a few departures. Monday we departed CEMAL for the morning to visit the Benedictine Convent of the Hermanas Guadalupanas. Wednesday we departed for a two day seminar excursion in Mexico City and Friday we departed good ol’ CEMAL for our long awaited home-stays. Each departure was different in what we experienced. Some experiences will be longer lasting than others but over all, this past week was one of the most important ones of our semester abroad in Mexico.

During each excursion I learned about something I had never given thought to before but after experiencing each I have been more attentive to things that are or should be happening in the present and things that have happened in the past. For instance, Monday we met with two sisters, Hermana Fabiola and Hermana Teresa, of the Benedictine Covent of the Hermanas Guadalupanas. Hermana Fabiola gave us some history about the relevance of the name of the group and their beliefs. She said that both are Christ centered and that ties them together. The most interesting part of her speech to me was about what the Virgin of Guadalupe symbolized. One example of the symbolism is the sun that surrounds the Virgin of Guadalupe represents her being another god, which is interesting in itself because the group sees the Virgin as a reincarnation of God. Hermana Teresa’s part of the lecture reminded me of the Base Christian Community meeting we had attended a few weeks before. One student read an excerpt form the book of Exodus and then we discussed how the story of Guadalupe was similar to the story of Moses in Exodus. (Exodus 3:6-8) That was one interesting conversation. From there we talked about the periphery which another speaker had discussed during a previous visit to CEMAL. I can truly say that during that earlier talk I had no idea what was being said about the periphery but Sister Teresa had a way of making thing clearer. To her, the Virgin of Guadalupe was in the periphery along with different liberation theologies and in the center where people like the Bishop in the Catholic Church and institutions that marginalize others. One of the most important things to me that Sister Teresa said involved the formation of Liberation Theologies. She said that Liberation Theologies start with those who are in need but in no way is it saying that the poor are the best there are. So when we hear that the church needs to have “preferential option for the poor” it is not trying to exclude others.

As eye opening as the talk with the Sisters were on Monday I had no idea how I would analyze things differently after a couple of our visits in Mexico City. Our first speaker in Mexico City was Dr. Patricia Contreras, a Mexican psychologist, Baptist pastor, and professor of Women’s Studies & Pastoral psychology at the Communidad Teologica. Dr. Contreras spoke to us about the Mexican family and the different ways women are viewed within the Mexican culture. The “Mexican family … is the absence of father, excess of mother and many children.” Her reasoning for this composition of family in Mexico is due to the conquest by the Spaniards. Men were made slaves or killed if they resisted and women were used for sexual pleasure by the conquistadors. The mothers are left only with their children. I really liked that explanation. Dr. Contreras later shared her research with us about the four types of women in Mexico. We spent most of our time discussion the Mother figure which has some characteristics of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The other three figures were the Amazon who tries to defend her femininity so much that she ends up losing it. Then there is the partner who’s life in intergraded with her man. Last is the medium who apart of the universe making it difficult to be in touch with her self. The mother figure is valued the most in the culture because of her similarities with the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is caring, protective, and nourishing. This at times can become overbearing and detrimental to her children by making them dependent on her (the son) so she will never be alone. An example of that was shown to me later in the week.

While in Mexico City we also met with Catholics for Free Choice who are doing great things to educate others about such things as violence against women, contraceptives, safe sex, and the decriminalization of abortion. The goal of the group is the make others informed and empowered. They are an organization made up of young people. The organization is based in the United States but is doing much work in Latin America. We also met with Rebeca Montemayor, a feminist theologian & Baptist pastor. She discussed women’s role in the church. According to her women read the Bible through different lenses and their class also has a role in their interpretation. In some churches in Mexico women are not allowed to participate. Some churches even make men and women sit separately. In the church service I attended Sunday I viewed the opposite of this. Women, men, and children read scripture and lead songs for the congregation at the podium. I really enjoyed her answer to a question of how to keep youth involved in the church. Mrs. Montemayor said that the church needs to give youth the opportunity to talk about the issues they wish too and be open to listen to them. That is something that all churches should take heed to. The church should be a safe place for youth as well as adults to discuss different issues from the Bible to sex. If one can not talk about it in the church, then it should not exist. Therefore I feel everything should be free to be discussed there in my opinion.

Our last meeting in one of the most populated cities of the world took place at El Closet de Sor Juana (a lesbian organization). There we met with Gloria, one of the founders. The Closet of Sor Juana is currently an open safe space for working class women to come and relax. Originally according to Gloria it was to be a political group but the late eighties there was lack of interest in political involvement. They are involved in national groups. Gloria felt that the group needed to be more focused on political action (working to change policies) than social action such as providing workshops for the women.

Friday was a day that everyone has been looking forward to with mixed emotions of excitement, fear, and nervousness. It was the day we met and moved in with our host families. Friday afternoon began with a ice breaker then small group discussion with students and host families. You can only imagine the nervous but friendly tension in the air. We all had tamales and chocolate together before closing with a group meeting about the expectation and vulnerabilities of students and families. This was where I first encountered the mother figure that Dr. Contreras Ulloa as spoke of earlier during the week. The mother figure was my host mom! During the final orientation, I viewed my host mom urging her daughter in law to take her son a napkin for his eye because they were watering. The daughter in law refused but the mother kept urging. I remember thinking that is still her baby. It was neat revelation to have and keep having during my home stay. My eyes will stay open for more examples. That mother figure crosses many cultures. I think most of us can view our mothers that way-- always wanting to take care of us even though we are old enough to take care of our selves.

Emily and Dan getting to know their new families before departing CEMAL!

Crossing Borders students Jess and Janet talking with new family members

By Emily Schaffer


Frida Kahlo´s house in Mexico City

On Wednesday we woke up bright and early and traveled through the cold, rain, and fog to the largest city in world, Mexico City. During our time there we heard from many interesting speakers on topics such as marianismo and machismo, reproductive rights, feminist liberation theology, and also a visit with a lesbian organization. All of these speakers gave us helpful insight into the function of radical women in Mexican society and some of the ways they themselves try to empower those around them. The two that I keep referring back to in my daily thoughts occurred on our first day there.

Our first talk was from Dr. Patricia Contreras, a Mexican psychologist and professor of Women’s Studies and Pastoral Psychology at the Communidad Teologica, on marianismo and machismo. Her talk gave us a psychological insight about what forms the typical Mexican gender roles. The conquest was a mile stone in shaping the family and before this time men and women both had work which was equally valued in their communities. At the time of the conquest indigenous had difficulty relating to Christianity because of the fact that God would sacrifice his son. The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe helped to relate Christianity to many indigenous people of Mexico and provided a strong influence in the role of women in Mexican society. Dr. Contreras told us that through her studies she found that in Mexico there are two main female figures, the Virgin and the mother. She used Jung’ opposites model to show how the emphasis on the mother over partner and medium over amazon influence the make up of the “typical” Mexican family. Too much emphasis on one aspect can turn that positive aspect into a negative. The idea of the “good goddess” in which a woman does not act out against her husband’s abusive actions, instead she deals with it calmly gains her respect in the community and makes him look worse, even though she must deal with the abuse. Another extreme occurs when mothers are too controlling of their children, when this occurs the mother is most likely fostering the perfect environment to raise a “macho.” This is because the son is always babied and taken care of by their mother and as a result never gains independence.

We then left and went to Coyoacan for some free time. Coyoacan is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Mexico City. It has colonial buildings and is the town that Frida Kahlo grew up in. Across the street from the Frida Kahlo museum we visited the offices of Jovenes Catolicas por el derecho a decidir (Catholics for a Free Choice). One of the youth leaders, Elva Garcia, informed us about the way the organization functions and how they work within and against the Catholic Church. The organization uses the feminist liberation theology lens which allows women to use their sexuality for more than just reproduction. The organization passes out condoms to youth because they believe people have the right to protect themselves from AIDS and to decide when they want to become pregnant. The Bishop came out and excommunicated the group and said it was wrong for women to say these things and preferred the companionship of dogs over women. This is an example of the oppression and disrespect that women face within the Church and what Catolicas and other organizations are fighting to change. Abortion has been decriminalized in Mexico City, but every state and city has different types of people and some areas are more progressive than others, so it is hard to legalize all over the nation. Elva quoted the late Pope John Paul II saying, “if you are following your consciousness, you are taking the best option supported by God.” This is the manner in which the organization functions because the members truly believe and are conscious that women should have the right to decide to use contraceptives and to protect themselves in anyway from having a baby.

I believe that these two speakers complimented each other well because one dealt with the traditional make up of women and family and the other was a younger, more progressive manifestation of the traditional. During Pat´s talk I was a little confused and frustrated at the way in which women have been influenced to be quiet and calm and serve their “macho.” Our talk from Catolicas was totally different because it showed that some women are tired of being forced to sit there and not stick up for their rights and their bodies. I always find it reassuring to see people fighting for their rights and standing up for what they believe even if it is challenging one of the strongest powers, religious leaders.

Virgin of Guadalupe at the Cultural Museum in Coyoacan, Mexico City.