This is going to be fragmented and all over the place (more so than usual, which is probably an achievement in and by itself).
Some very subjective facts about my country of birth (Argentina).
- It is part of the Global South
- Poverty is rampant although not necessarily visible for those who do not venture outside the “nice areas”
- Racial discrimination against those with darker skin is so pervasive that one might be led to believe that the country never left the 19th century
- Classism rules all social relations, although it is somewhat veiled (i.e. the poors are spoken about but not with).
- The President (a woman) is regularly referred to as “the whore” or “the crazy one” by those who oppose what they consider to be “populist” stances. (Again, these monickers are pervasive, people even write entire blogs about them).
- A good portion of the well educated, wealthy ones (a sizable amount of people) prefer imported stuff to anything produced locally (from commodities, to entertainment, to ideologies).
- The poors have tried to (and succeeded in varying degrees) to organize social programs, activism, etc. This has resulted in some serious social tensions because their methods of organization are not “tidy” or “polite”.
So now, I dared express my criticism of a certain group of feminists who imported an initiative from London. My point is that it is not tailored for the local culture. It doesn’t take into consideration the local issues and, instead, brings an ideology that is foreign to the country.
Or at least that’s what I said in my original criticism. And it earned me a steady attack from at least one fellow Argentinian feminist.
But here’s what I left out and I am incensed about:
There are at least a dozen similar initiatives in the country. Started, with no support, by local people. However, these initiatives come from marginalized areas, from people whose struggles are varied and run deep. These initiatives were started by the poor. And of course, they are not as glamorous and well polished as something brought from London.
So, instead of joining one of the local initiatives, these women decided that a foreign model was better. And now they are getting all the press attention and the media loves them. While the poors have been vying for some positive media attention for decades. While people from the same class and social standing as these women importing stuff look the other way in the presence of a poor and make disparaging remarks about their living conditions.
So yeah, I have no solidarity for such programs. I will not promote them as something “worthy” or something commendable. No matter how much I anger my fellow country’s feminists.
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