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CS 313- La Chicana Patricia A. Pérez, Ph.D.

CHICANAS AND THE BORDER(LANDS)- THEORIZING IN LAS FRONTERAS

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NAFTA

  • North American Free Trade Agreement
  • U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Congress passed NAFTA in Nov. 1993
  • Implemented since January 1st, 1994
  • Eliminated tariffs between U.S., Mexico and Canada
  • Positive effects of NAFTA: Poverty levels down in Mexico, business owners/elites profit, trade increased dramatically, & maquiladora (prominent trade) sector rose15.5%
  • Negative effects of NAFTA: U.S. workers lost jobs, Mexican farmers lost money, contributed to rising levels of inequality in U.S. and Mexico
  • On the Edge: Free Trade

With the passage of NAFTA it made it easier and more profitable for U.S. companies to go to Mexico and open factories, or maquiladoras. These maquilas attracted young men and women alike from all over Mexico and Central America to come work for these companies. While the pay is not substantial by U.S. standards, it is much more than the money they could make in their hometowns. Since NAFTA the percentage of maquiladora workers that are female has increased substantially.

Please view 10 minute video on slide.

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Anzaldúa- U.S.-Mexican Border

  • “Borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe, to distinguish us from them. A border is a dividing line, a narrow strip along a steep edge. A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary. It is in a constant state of transition. The prohibited and forbidden are it inhabitants” (Anzaldúa, 1999, p. 25).

While Anzaldúa discusses borders as a metaphor she poignantly captures the sentiment of the consequences of living on or traversing the U.S.-Mexico border. This quote is written in 1999 and reflects the negative consequences of this “undetermined place.”

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Maquiladora Murders in Juárez

  • Difficult to define how many women actually missing and assaulted/murdered
  • Varying problematic definitions of what constitutes “violación”
  • Under-reporting of crimes
  • Several theories regarding who is responsible
  • Drug cartels, gangs, satanic cults, serial killers, etc.
  • On the Edge: Torture (3 minute video)

According to de Alba (2003) within a ten-year time span approximately 320 women were kidnapped and brutally murdered in Ciudad Juárez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. The actual number of women murdered differs partly as a result of the under-reporting of crimes and also as a result of the definition of what constitutes rape (or violación) versus sexual assault/abuse in Mexico.

Per de Alba (2003), “A sex crime is considered to be a “rape” if the “passive subject” is under fourteen years old, is a private citizen of sound mind, or is an infirm person; if the person is forced into vaginal, anal, or oral copulation; and if the person is unable to resist the attack” (p. 2). If the subject is under 14 the crime carries a harsher punishment. de Alba (2003) continues, “However, if the victim is at least twelve years old and is a “proven prostitute,” no legal sanctions apply to assailants as the victim is an “active subject” (p. 2).

Sexual abuse is defined as “a sexual act other than copulation that takes places by force.” Sexual abuse carries a lighter punishment per the Mexican penal code. Interestingly, if vaginal or anal penetration occurs with an object other than a penis, it is not considered rape but sexual abuse. As a result, within a ten-year time span, only 98 of the 320 violent murders in Juárez were considered violaciónes, or rape cases.

There are several theories as to who is responsible for all these murders that continue unabated despite arrests. These include:

• Serial killers

• Satanic cults

• Egyptian chemist “mastermind” (arrested in 1995)

• Los Rebeldes (local gang arrested in 1996)

• Los Choferes (band of bus drivers arrested in 1999)

• Corrupt Mexican police

• Well-protected sons of rich families

• Drug cartels

Further, de Alba (2003) notes that, “El Paso is the largest dumping ground of registered sex offenders in the U.S. This public information has not been used to provide any leads in the investigation of the Juárez crimes” (p. 3). That is, one additional theory is that American citizens are coming across the border to kidnap and murder women.

Please view 3 minute video on slide.

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  • Why are the women of Juárez being murdered?
  • Sex slaves, organ harvesting, lead double-lives, dress provocatively, resentment by men
  • Why has it been difficult to end the murders?
  • Police/authority corruption
  • Incompetence, personnel turnover
  • No profiles/no access to police files/poor evidence collected
  • Border region characteristics (see next slide)

There are several theories surrounding why these women are being targeted and murdered. They include:

• Snuff films (pornography)

• Organ harvesting

• White slavery

• The victims were leading double lives as prostitutes

• The victims dressed like “maqui-locas,” in short dresses and high heels that provoked their attackers

• Unemployed men are resentful of women getting jobs at the maquiladoras

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  • Border Characteristics:
  • Constant influx of migrants
  • Drug cartels operate in area
  • Job opportunities because of proximity

  • Examples of femicide:
  • Battery, torture, prostitution, rape, sexual assault, child abuse, female infanticide, genital mutilation, domestic violence, etc.

As a result of the border characteristics noted, Ciudad Juárez becomes a ripe place for femicide.

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Anzaldúa- U.S.-Mexican Border

  • “Los atravesados live here: the squint-eyed, the perverse, the queer, the troublesome, the mongrel, the mulato, the half-breed, the half dead; in short, those who cross over, pass over, or go through the confines of the “normal.” Gringos in the U.S. Southwest consider the inhabitants of the borderlands transgressors, aliens- whether they possess documents or not, whether they’re Chicanos, Indians or Blacks. Do not enter, trespassers will be raped, maimed, strangled, gassed, shot” (Anzaldúa, 1999, p. 25).

Anzaldúa wrote this in 1999 four years after NAFTA opened up the doors to several more maquiladoras.

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Theoretical Contributions

  • Sexual Femicide
  • Definition of femicide- systemic killing of women; misogynist killing of women by men
  • Definition of misogynist- a person who dislikes and/or mistreats women
  • How to identify femicide:
  • Sexual assault/violent acts
  • Motives
  • Imbalance of power
  • Political, social and economic context
  • Structural changes in society
  • Community tolerance to acts/violence (Russell, 1976)

Please view 8 minute video on slide.

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Theoretical Contributions (cont.)

  • Patriarchal system- sex crimes are a logical consequence (Caputi, 1987)
  • “Sexual murder is the ultimate expression of sexuality as a form of power” (p. 39).
  • Eroticization of violence- masculinity demonstrated as a form of supremacy over others- victimizer always men (Cameron & Frazer, 1987)
  • Social class system- societies under stress; religious systems and ideologies contribute to violence (McWilliams, 1998)

Theoretical Contributions (cont.)

  • Foucault- “the body is a political field, pulled taut between competing powers that act and leave their mark on it, restrict it, and subject it to torture, punishment, and rituals” (Fragoso, 2003, p. 162)
  • Bodies with less power are subjected to bodies with more power
  • Little emphasis on murders because women are disposable
  • Women blamed for atrocities- “They asked for it.”
  • Those victimized are most oppressed

“Sexuality itself is the object of punishment (p. 163).

Several of the women share similar characteristics:

-poor

-young

-from the interior of Mexico and Central America; however, at least 6 of the women were U.S. citizens of Mexican descent from U.S. bordertowns

-short in stature

-slim

-dark-haired

-dark-skinned

-average age is 15-18, however, there were victims as young as 6 and as old as in their 70s

-more than ½ were employed by or were looking for work in a maquiladora; 1 in 6 were students (Fragoso, 2003)

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Patriarchy- recap

  • Greek- “father rule”
  • Control by men, rooted in subjugation of women
  • Significant roots in Christianity
  • Role of patriarchy- 3Ps:
  • Protect- property
  • Provide- familial, monetary
  • Privilege- male, heterosexual

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Machismo vs. Marianismo- recap

  • Rooted in patriarchy
  • Standard by which men rate their masculinity
  • Virility, strength & status
  • Latin American definitions:
  • Provider
  • Honorable
  • Superiority of feminine over masculine
  • Veneration of women b/c they give life
  • Rooted in Catholic faith- worship of Virgin Mary as iconic symbol of what women should be
  • Results in whore/saint dichotomy

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Is this topic relevant to us?

  • What is the role of marianismo in femicide?
  • What is our role in femicide?

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