Group items tagged

This article explores the roles of women in Latin America and the Caribbean. The article begins with the traditional view of women and their stereotypes. Then it moves into the feminist movements and how women are trying to recreate their identities. It discusses the conflict of feminism in a patriarchal society and the women of Latin America and the Caribbean can rise above the traditions and have equal rights. Women are trying to transform this exclusive society in to an inclusive one.

This website offers an in-depth definition of machismo, how it was constructed and how it affects feminism. This article also explores the causes of the "Macho man". Mostly however, this article discusses the affects of the "Machismo" on women's identities over the years.

This article addresses the issue of HIV/AIDS in Latin America is becoming feminized due to socio-economic and gender inequalities. The concept of machismo increases the vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS when combined with other factors such as poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy. There are roughly 1.8 million people in Latin America with HIV/AIDS, with women representing 25% of the infected population. The strong tradition of Catholicism stands in the way of education on sex and sexuality intended to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

The article entitled "Guatemala's 'Femicide' Crisis" seeks to explain the implications of the unnecessary and brutal mass killings occurring amongst women in Guatemala mostly by male gangs. Because the killings have exceeded such an unusual extent, it has been deemed a "Femicide", otherwise known as a "Gendercide" or a genocide directed mainly against females. The ages of girls or women discussed in this article being raped, beaten, and murdered range from three year old toddlers to middle aged women. Not only do gangs of men perform these acts for no reason other to establish masculinity within their affinity groups. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies are so corrupt that it was said, "justice imposed by the state is non-existent" and "only two per cent of crimes against women are solved." This article seeks to establish the problem that is still going on even after the forty-year civil war while other chosen articles are determined to look for solutions.

Although the previously bookmarked article seeks to establish an outline of the human or women rights violations that occur within Guatemala, here, author Karim Velasco, sheds light upon newly distinguished laws and explains despite their hopeful goals, why they have ceased to work effectively. She argues that because of the "lack of effective investigation and prevention strategies of the Guatemalan authorities", women continue to be raped, tortured, and murdered at an increasing rate. Because of pressures from the European Parliament to abide by human rights laws, "on April 9, 2008, Guatemalan Congressed passed the 'Law Against Femicide and other Forms of Violence against Women Act' to severely punish any kind of gender-based violence..." However, because the violence stems from the power inequality between men and women in the first place, there is little belief or evidence that this Act will be implemented or strongly enforced by the men in power who seek to represent masculinity or display a constant idea of machismo.

In an effort to tie the three bookmarked articles together, this piece also discusses relevant material to Nelson's "Reckoning" alongside the movie, "When the Mountains Tremble". This article too discuses the idea and reality of Femicide or the genocide against women in Guatemala that still occurs to date. While the other readings set up an outline of what acts occur against women and the lack of influence police powers have, this article flashes numbers at the reader as a shock value to paint a picture of the immense number of women who have experienced brutality. While the other articles have mentioned the extent to which corruption influences the lack of punishment, this author seeks punishment in a different way. While doing research in Guatemala, he took victims who have been harmed themselves or have lost close ones to the war to the mountains to confront the militia men as a form of satisfaction or justice since the impunity rate is 97% in Guatemala. He explained that the gratitude of victims explaining their feelings to murderers would be far more reaching than formal punishment from the criminal justice system ever could be.

This article describes a non-profit organization named CARE, which focuses on "fighting world poverty by improving the lives of women and girls around the globe" (and in this article's case, in Guatemala). In the past 3 years, the program started in a village in Guatemala has resulted in vast improvements in women's empowerment there.