Critical Commentary: 4 reasons why having a woman as president is important for Mexico

 

4 reasons why having a woman as president is important for Mexico

Notes:

I am transcribing this schoolwork to the blog to display more of my writing. Any mistake or overly optimistic argument is done out of innocence*. 

The "( ! )" indicate points of interest, something I had no time to explain to the person who received this assignment.

*Or compliance with assignment directions

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By Cindy

In present day society, women are a vulnerable population, suffering from an inequality relative to men. This inequality comes into being due to the lack of access to work opportunities and their systemic exclusion from them, making women have no say in their own lives. That a woman occupies the presidential seat means other women can do the same; a country lead by a woman points to a better future for them as well, and given a woman is in power, women in general will be able to reclaim their rights' right to be codified in the constitution, by a woman. Lastly, the fact a woman will be president, makes the implementation of anti-discriminatory policy possible to give way to the economic emancipation of women. Let us examine the matter more closely. 

The positions of leadership and decision-making (legislative members, heads of State, and prime ministers) are only occupied by women an 18-20% worldwide (Axtle-Ortiz & Caro-Guzman, 2017), i.e, only around a fifth of the positions designated for decision making are occupied by women, and they thus have less representation. Greater still, this means that, in the words of Axtle-Ortiz and Caro-Guzman (2017): "Their limited participation in government structures where essential political questions and the distribution and the distribution of resources are decided tend to have negative effects (!) on the opportunities of women in the political (!), economic (!) and social (!) ambit."

This takes us to a different matter, feminine leadership. It has 4 characteristics: to listen, empathize, communicate and work as a team. (Do Better, 2023). In addition to the search for cooperation, inclusion and equality that this leadership tends to show, it is conducive to "an increase of 5-20% in their benefits, greater creativity and innovation, and the higher retention of talent" (Do Better, 2023). Seen this way, it is plain that a woman in a leadership position would have these same values in mind, benefitting the women of the working class*.

*Remains to be seen at time of writing, seriously. 

Effectively, an inequality in political representations and in leadership positions consequently leads to the economic inequality of a vulnerable population. According to a study precisely on feminine participation in typically masculine workspaces, we are told that "men have a much easier time finding employment as a mechanic [than a woman]" (Ballesteros & Maira, 2019); this fact reflects that, given a low amount of political representation, there will appear a proportional inequality in the unrepresented population in typically male spaces.

The inequality between men and women, therefore, is perpetuated by economic conditions and a low political representation, a product of an idea that plagues society: that women depend on men. Melero (2011), tells us that "The inequality between men and women is a consequence of differences in access and participation in favor of men and to the detriment of women (!), in all social, political and economic structure, being a constant in different societies independently of their distinct levels of development that are generated." In other words, the reason why women is unequal, it can be inferred, is their lack of sufficient political representation, engorged by the misogyny in the leading body.  

In conclusion, given the lack of representation of women in political decision-making affects them negatively in the economic, political and social aspects (effects which can be seen right now), the opposite effect would result from a women occupying the most important political position of the nation, from which she'd take actions to attempt to eradicate inequality on the systemic level from the country and foster inclusion on a cultural level*, precisely due to being a historical political event.

*From what I can currently recall, this was outlined in a document put out before Sheinbaum's election, named "100 points of development", or something similar. 

References

1. Axtle-Ortiz, Miguel Ángel, & Caro-Guzmán, Lorena. (2017). La presencia de las mujeres en posiciones directivas. The Anáhuac journal, 17(2), 53-92. Epub 24 de enero de 2022.https://doi.org/10.36105/theanahuacjour.2017v17n2.03 

2. Ballesteros Doncel, E., & Maira Vida, M. del. (2019). Explorando Las Barreras de la Segregación Ocupacional. Un Estudio Comparativo Entre mujeres maquinistas de tren y mecánicas de vehículos de automoción. Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, 37(1), 113–133. https://doi.org/10.5209/crla.63822 

3. Better, E. D. (2023, 15 de Junio). El Liderazgo Femenino, Una Gran Ventaja Competitiva. Esade. https://dobetter.esade.edu/es/liderazgo-femenino-ventaja-competitiva [Consultado el 3-11-2024]

4. Melero, N. (2011). La participación de las mujeres  en la gestión local: hacia  liderazgos equitativos. cdsaaacademica.org. https://cdsa.aacademica.org/000-034/388.pdf 

Note: Even though it seems like a lie, I was well aware of how some points used were shoddy, but I had to write a persuasive argument, not an accurate one. Enjoy picking it apart if you want to waste time. 

Thanks for reading

Achtung. Achtung.

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Essay On Patriarchy

How have the traits of patriarchy manifested in my familial and personal life?

Note: This is schoolwork I’ve transcribed, and some details have been omitted for my privacy. 

By Cindy

Today, my mother has asked me how I slept, and I told her I’ve slept well. Two days earlier, due to me staying awake past 12AM, she wasn’t able to sleep due to my room’s light, but she still forgave me. With this phrase, I’d like to try and encapsulate the feeling behind the following words, which is love for my mother.

For many years now, the feminist movement has grown quite popular, and not without reason: it is a movement that seeks the absolute liberation of a part of the population oppressed by the hand, not of the social construct of gender, but by its ideological horsemen of death: misogyny, machismo, chauvinism, apathy; along with its creators, perpetrators and perpetuators, the men. These are related to more things, but for this essay, I shall speak only on what I believe to know aptly, which is the patriarchy.

We’ll first need an appropriate starting point in order to advance toward the complex, which we have just conveniently heard of: The patriarchy. Now, what is it? The term comes from Friedrich Engels, who coined it in his work “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State”, where it was defined as the system of oppression of most antiquity: where man situates himself above the woman, from where he holds dominion over her; however, the feminists would go on to develop this concept further, Gerda Lerner saying that it is “The manifestation and institutionalization of male dominance over women and children of the family, and the amplification of that dominion over the women of society in general.”

Having this conceptual base in mind, it is urgent to present apt examples of the reality, exactitude and precision of Lerner’s asseveration regarding it. Let’s start with the most obvious and fundamental example for me, the writer of this essay: The fact that I was born a man; it is therefore worth mentioning that, thanks to the existence of the patriarchy, I find myself in a privileged position relative to women, *only* for being a man. Not because of talent, virtue, capability, but for being a *man*. Due to this privilege, there is not as much constraint on men as women, less restrictions are placed on them, they are allowed to grow without maturing, with, for example, the phrase “boys will be boys”, a manner of excusing the misbehavior believed to be inherent in men, and not in the languid rules of their upbringing.

When young and when adults, men perceive themselves as some sort of model of logic and maturity purely by nature (a terrible falsehood!), they call themselves protectors, providers and, therefore, as the only people who should occupy positions of authority (part of the “glass ceiling phenomenon), this in contrast with how women in society are treated and perceived. Stalking, “It was her fault”, Femicide, “they shouldn’t have defied him”; over any injustice, they immediately blame the woman for the acts of the man. But “what is the glass ceiling?”. It is the invisible (or glassy,) barrier that prevents women from climbing up the workplace hierarchy, due to the patriarchal influence on thought. 

Let us return to my first proposition, which says that I as a man, have privilege. I have said that as men, we are not constrained in the same way as women, and this lack of constraints favors the bestowal of positions of authority to men and not women. A usual counterargument is that men are also limited in their lives, and more forcefully: not being able to talk about their emotions, suffering in silence, having to carry the responsibility of providing, having to appeal to the traditional definition of manhood, reasons that successively become pettier than the last, which may be refuted by pointing to the inventor of these notions, and the one who forces himself to follow them like a lamb; it is overstood that I think they are one and the same and they are men. In pursuit to maintain their position of power, men must establish a twofold hierarchy to thus extend their reign: the hierarchy of men within society, whose purpose is to keep the brainwashed men as subordinate followers, and the hierarchy of these two genders: men and women, the latter serving to divert the attention of the working class men toward women instead of the government or, if we’re feeling ambitious, the bourgeoisie. In addition, the burden of hate usually destined for the oppressor, is conveniently directed to the oppressed. Regular hatred of women is even made out to be normal, their stereotyping as crazy, emotional, submissive, traitorous, whiny; this with the purpose of fitting in with the other men by sharing an enemy in common: women. 

This, if you'd allow, I’d like to demonstrate through an interaction I had, which exemplifies this behavior perfectly, though I use it not to contribute to the point given its anecdotal nature, but to recount a related experience. I stood in front of the tarpaulin chessboard they’d set some weeks ago as part of the sports club recruitment here at my campus, where I was able to watch a chess game alongside a few more men. Near the end of this, I was next to some of them, who spoke of chess, and I asked them questions about it. One of them began to speak about how, in the social sciences campus of my university, there was a large quantity of women in comparison to our campus (the arts, architecture and design campus). This was by no means an abnormal observation, it was a recognition that in this campus, there are effectively a lot of men, (by virtue, probably, of containing the engineering campus); he went on, but he mentioned how women seem to like social sciences, letters, things of this nature, better than engineering or arts. These statements don’t have much wrong with them. It was however the last thing he said, which confused me: “and then women complain when they get paid less!” I, of course, asked him what he meant, mainly to know what made him say such an absurdity, to then express that in fact, the wage gap comes from the discrimination of women at the workplace. But he went silent, then babbled that “they [the men who were with us] know what I’m talking about”. Again, I shall now say this does not serve as a solid base for any broad argument due to the fact that is easily falsifiable, but what the man who said such nonsense and retreated with cowardice is real: the wage gap, along with the way in which this phenomenon is perceived by the population. They see it as a fact that women get paid less for the work they do, and that men somehow always take “riskier” or “better paid” jobs by nature; and along with his shamelessness, the men who were present appeared deaf: they said nothing against it. 

This latter thing is what is called the “patriarchal pact”, the silence and complicity of a man before the violence of another. Some will no doubt say that words are not an act of violence, due to no physical harm coming to a person due to them; but you can observe now, in September of 2024, how violent words can be when used by a person who has a position of power over another group, as small as it may be. With this I refer to the hateful rhetoric and discrimination of the Haitian people, who stand accused of killing and eating their pets due to their home’s famines. This has resulted in a campaign of hatred that has already caused the deaths of cats and the publication of inflammatory news. (Morphet & Reilly, 2024) This use of words, no matter how small they are, have a political impact on the world. Therefore, the act of speaking oppressively of an oppressed population, though it causes not any immediate physical harm, if left unrefuted, leads to real and lasting damage being inflicted on said group. Though if we want to look at an example that most easily demonstrates my point, we shall look at the cases where a man from a given family sexually assaults one of their family members, a woman or little girl, and said family attempts to hide this fact and speak nothing of it. The silence of the family consequently obscures the violent act of the man and protects him, in the same way in which the silence of the two men to my right shielded the coward from criticism. 

In conclusion, I think the patriarchy has influenced my life a great deal, due to the fact I was born part of it. I am part of a privileged population, and I was therefore influenced by its ideas of what is right when I was little, from which I had to separate from as I grew and learned for myself it was naught but an illusion. In spite of this, it doesn’t affect me nearly in the same way as it affects women who, day by day, have to walk the streets with fear and be cautious with men and that, despite this precaution, fear and deterrent measures in the shape of self-defense weapons, they end up being murdered just for existing beyond the working day. In the way in which, for every dollar a man makes, a woman makes 54 cents (Parker & Tyson, 2019); for every day that women suffer under men's societal oppression, men suffer only half of it. 

Addendum:

If it weren't obvious beforehand, I am passionate about this topic. I hope that reading this has been satisfactory. But, as a final note, I would like to say that the reason why I am compelled to be an advocate for women’s rights is my mother, who did much of the work of raising me, and for that I am thankful beyond words. For the very same reason, I dedicate this text to her. 

Every day, more terrible things happen to more women, especially in this city, and one must not stay quiet in these subjects, they must be combatted through dialogue; this goes for men especially, who are the supposed protectors of women, kill and abuse them.

References:

1. Morphet, J. y Reilly, P. (2024). Post witnesses Haitian motorist making illegal turn in Springfield, Ohio, smashes into mom driving with autistic daughter, New York Post en el Viernes 13 de Septiembre de 2024. Available at: https://nypost.com/2024/09/13/us-news/haitian-driver-makes-illegal-turn-in-springfield-oh-smashes-into-moms-truck-with-autistic-daughter-in-back/ [Accessed 15 September 2024] 2. Parker, C. y Tyson, L. (2019). An economist explains why women are paid less, World Economic Forum en el Viernes 8 de Marzo de 2019. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/an-economist-explains-why-women-get-paid-less/ [Accessed 15 September 2024]

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English translation! Hope you enjoyed the read. Send any counterarguments (there are plenty of things to pick at here) through comments. If I ever link my email in this blog, make sure to send a message there. If you are overtly hateful of women, or myself, I shan't take the time to argue with you seriously and will send a message containing an image of a brick back to you.

With that said,

Achtung. Achtung.

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Ensayo del Patriarcado

¿Cómo se han presentado los rasgos del patriarcado en mi vida personal y familiar?

Nota: Este es un trabajo escolar que he transcrito, y algunos detalles han sido omitidos por mi privacidad. 

Por Cindy

Mi madre hoy me ha preguntado cómo he dormido y le he dicho que bien. Dos días antes, por estar despierto hasta las 12:00 AM, no ha podido dormir bien ella por la luz, pero aún así me perdona. Con esta frase, quisiera intentar encapsular el sentimiento que hay detrás de las siguientes palabras, qué es el de amor a mi madre. Desde hace ya varios años, el movimiento feminista ha cobrado bastante popularidad, y no sin razón: es un movimiento que aspira a la liberación total de un sector de la población oprimido por mano, no del constructo social del género, sino por sus jinetes ideológicos de la muerte: la misoginia, el machismo, el chovinismo, la apatía; junto con sus creadores, perpetradores y perpetuadores, los hombres.  Estas se encuentran relacionadas con más cosas, empero para este ensayo, hablaré tan sólo de lo que creo conocer aptamente, que es el patriarcado.

Primero necesitaremos un punto de partida para poder avanzar a lo más complejo, el cual, convenientemente, acabamos de escuchar: El patriarcado. Ahora bien, ¿qué es el patriarcado? El término proviene de Friedrich Engels, que lo acuñó en su obra llamada “Estado, Familia y Propiedad privada”, donde se definió como el sistema de opresión de más antigüedad: en el que el hombre se situaba por encima de la mujer, desde donde la domina; sin embargo, pasarían a ser las feministas las que desarrollarían más este concepto, diciendo Gerda Lerner que es “La manifestación e institucionalización del dominio masculino sobre las mujeres y niños/as de la familia y la ampliación de ese dominio sobre las mujeres en la sociedad en general.”

Teniendo esta base conceptual en mente, apremia presentar ejemplos aptos de la realidad, exactitud y precisión de la aseveración de Lerner al respecto. Comencemos con el ejemplo que es el más obvio y fundamental para mí, el escritor de este ensayo: Es un hecho que nací siendo un hombre; por tanto cabe mencionar que, gracias a la existencia del patriarcado, me encuentro en una posición privilegiada sobre las mujeres, *solo* por ser hombre. No por talento, virtud, o capacidad, por ser *hombre*. Por este privilegio, a los hombres se les perdonan más cosas que a las mujeres, se les imponen menos restricciones, se les permite crecer sin madurar, por ejemplo, con la frase “boys will be boys” (los niños serán niños), una manera de excusar el mal comportamiento como algo inherente al género masculino y no las reglas lánguidas sobre su crianza. 

Al ser jóvenes y adultos, los hombres se perciben a sí mismos como algún tipo de modelo de la lógica y la madurez por naturaleza (¡terrible falsedad!), se califican de protectores, proveedores y, por tanto, como las únicas personas que deberían figurar en posiciones de autoridad (parte del fenómeno del techo de cristal), esto mismo en contraste con cómo se trata y percibe a las mujeres en la sociedad. Ante el acoso, “no debió de provocar al hombre”, ante el abuso, “no debió discutir”, ante la violación, “fue su culpa”, ante el feminicidio, “no debieron de haberlo desafiado”; por cualquier injusticia, inmediatamente culpan a la mujer por los actos del hombre. Pero, “¿Qué es el techo de cristal?”. Es la barrera invisible (o de cristal) que previene que las mujeres asciendan en la jerarquía del trabajo, debido a la influencia patriarcal en el pensamiento. 

Volvamos a mi primera proposición, que dice que tengo privilegio por ser hombre. He dicho que no se nos limita a los hombres de la misma manera que las mujeres, y que esta falta de límites favorece el otorgamiento de posiciones de autoridad a los hombres antes que a las mujeres. Un contraargumento usual es que a los hombres también se les limita en su vida y con más fuerza: por no poder hablar de sus emociones, por sufrir el dolor en silencio, por tener que cargar con la responsabilidad de proveer, por tener que apegarse a la definición tradicional de lo que es un hombre, razones que se vuelven sucesivamente más nimias que las anteriores, que se pueden refutar con apuntar a quien ha inventado todas estas nociones, y quien se forza a sí mismo a seguirlas como un cordero; se sobreentiende pues, que estoy hablando del hombre como su inventor. En su búsqueda de mantener su posición de poder, el hombre debe establecer una doble jerarquía para así extender su reinado: la jerarquía entre los mismos hombres de la sociedad, con el propósito de mantener a los hombres de débil voluntad como subalternos, y la jerarquía entre los dos géneros: los hombres y las mujeres, esta última sirviendo para divertir la atención de los hombres que se encuentran entre la clase trabajadora hacia las mujeres en lugar de hacia el gobierno o, si queremos ser un poco ambiciosos, la burguesía. Asimismo, la carga del odio que usualmente se destina hacia el opresor, convenientemente termina siendo dirigido hacia las mujeres. Hasta se normaliza el odio regular a las mujeres, su estereotipado como locas, emocionales, sumisas, traicioneras, quejumbrosas; esto con el propósito de encajar con los demás hombres mediante compartir un enemigo en común: las mujeres. 

Esto, si es que me lo permite, lo quisiera demostrar con una interacción que he tenido, que ejemplifica este comportamiento perfectamente, aunque no lo uso para contribuir al punto dado que es evidencia anecdótica, sino para contar una vivencia relacionada. Estaba frente al tablero de ajedrez hecho de lona que habían puesto hace algunas semanas como parte de reclutamiento para club de deportes en [mi universidad], donde pude ver una partida de ajedrez junto con algunos hombres más. Cerca del final de esto, estaba yo junto a algunos hombres que hablaban sobre el ajedrez, y les hacía preguntas al respecto. Uno de ellos comenzó a hablar sobre como en [el campus de ciencias sociales], había tantas mujeres a comparación de [el campus de artes, arquitectura e ingeniería]. Esto era una observación para nada anormal, solo es reconocer que en este campus efectivamente hay muchos hombres (por virtud probablemente, de también contener a [campus de ingeniería); él siguió hablando. pero mencionó como a las mujeres al parecer les gustan más las ciencias sociales, las letras, cosas de esta índole, que verdaderamente no tiene nada de malo. Lo último que ha dicho, sin embargo, ha causado revuelo en mi: “y luego las mujeres se quejan de que les paguen menos!”. Acto seguido, claro, le pregunté a qué se refería, principalmente para saber que lo ha hecho decir tal disparate, y expresar que de hecho, la disparidad entre salarios proviene de la discriminación de las mujeres en el lugar de trabajo. Sin embargo, él solo calló, y balbuceó que “ellos [los demás hombres] saben de qué hablo”. De nuevo, no diré que esto sirve como sustento sólido para cualquier argumento por que es fácilmente falsificable, pero lo que referencia el hombre que ha dicho tal desatino y se ha retirado por cobardía es real: la disparidad entre salarios, junto con la manera en la que se percibe este fenómeno por la población. Lo ven como un hecho que las mujeres obtienen menos paga por los trabajos que hacen, y que los hombres siempre toman trabajos más riesgosos o mejor pagados por “naturaleza”; y aunado a que ha dicho esto sin vergüenza alguna, los demás hombres presentes se hicieron los sordos: no han dicho nada en contra. 

Esto último, es lo que se llama el "pacto patriarcal", el silencio y complicidad de un hombre ante la violencia de otro. Algunos sin duda dirán que las palabras no pueden considerarse un acto de violencia, porque no afectan físicamente a una persona; pero se pueden mirar ahora en septiembre del 2024, lo violentas que pueden ser las palabras cuando se usan por una persona que tiene poder sobre otro grupo, cuán mínimo sea dicho poder. Con esto me refiero a la retórica de odio y discriminacion hacia las personas de Haití, que se les acusa de matar y consumir a sus mascotas por la hambruna de ese lugar. Esto ha dado como resultado, una campaña de odio que ya ha causado las muertes de gatos, y de la publicación de noticias inflamatorias. (Morphet y Reilly, 2024) Este uso de las palabras, sin importar lo pequeñas que sean, tienen un impacto político sobre el mundo. Por lo tanto, aunque el acto de hablar de una manera que resulta opresiva a otro grupo no le cause daño físico inmediato a la población oprimida, si no se refuta, lleva a daños reales y duraderos sobre esta misma. Aunque si queremos poner un ejemplo que más fácilmente demuestra mi punto, se pueden ver los casos en los que un miembro hombre de una familia viola a uno de sus familiares, una mujer o niña, y dicha familia intenta esconder este hecho y no hablar de ello. El silencio de la familia, sucesivamente, esconde el acto violento del hombre y lo protege, de la misma manera en la que el silencio de los dos hombres a mi derecha protegieron al cobarde de la crítica. 

En conclusión, pienso que el patriarcado ha influido muchísimo en mi vida, por el hecho de que he nacido como parte de él. Formo parte de una población privilegiada, y por tanto fui influenciado por sus ideas de lo que es correcto cuando era pequeño, de lo que tuve que separarme al crecer y aprender por mi mismo que todo era falso. Sin embargo, no me afecta ni siquiera en la misma manera en la que afecta a las mujeres que, día tras día, tienen que salir con miedo a las calles y ser precavidas con los hombres, a pesar de que aún con toda esa precaución, miedo, y medidas de disuasión en forma de armas de defensa propia, resultan siendo asesinadas por solo existir fuera del horario de trabajo. Del mismo modo en el que, por cada dólar que gana un hombre, una mujer gana 54 centavos (Parker y Tyson, 2019); por cada día que sufre la mujer bajo la opresión social de los hombres, el hombre solo sufre la mitad. 

Addenda:

Si es que no fuera obvio de antemano, me apasiona mucho este tema. Espero que leer esto haya sido satisfactorio. Pero como una nota final, quisiera decir que la razón que me impulsa a ser un partidario de los derechos de las mujeres, es mi madre, que hizo mucho del trabajo de criarme y por eso le agradezco más que las palabras pueden expresar. Por esto mismo, le dedico este texto. 

Cada día suceden cosas más horribles a cada vez más mujeres, especialmente en esta ciudad, y no se debe de quedar callada una persona ante estos temas, se deben combatir con el diálogo; esto va especialmente para los hombres, que supuestamente siendo protectores de las mujeres, las matan y maltratan. 

Referencias:

1. Morphet, J. y Reilly, P. (2024). Post witnesses Haitian motorist making illegal turn in Springfield, Ohio, smashes into mom driving with autistic daughter, New York Post en el Viernes 13 de Septiembre de 2024. Disponible en: https://nypost.com/2024/09/13/us-news/haitian-driver-makes-illegal-turn-in-springfield-oh-smashes-into-moms-truck-with-autistic-daughter-in-back/ [Accedido el 15 de Septiembre de 2024]

2. Parker, C. y Tyson, L. (2019). An economist explains why women are paid less, World Economic Forum en el Viernes 8 de Marzo de 2019. Disponible en: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/an-economist-explains-why-women-get-paid-less/ [Accedido el 15 de Septiembre de 2024]

Gracias por leer

Achtung. Achtung. 

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