Adios, Patroncito
"In the Chiapas highlands, on the sides of roads that are almost always laced with fog, the campesino families walk: the head of the family in the lead, his wife following, holding a few chickens by their feet, a bundle of firewood on her back, a child strapped onto her chest, and several more clinging to her skirt.
"If there's a pair of shoes for the family, they'll belong to the man. If there aren't enough tortillas to go around it will be the woman who does without. He might speak Spanish. She is undoubtedly monolingual. As will be her daughters, destined to be tiny mothers to their own brothers, and who from their first steps will learn to always walk behind the men, in silence, with their heads down.
"But on Tuesday when the leaders of the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee (CCRI) of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) appeared for the first time before a group of strangers to explain the reasons for their armed uprising, Comandante Ramona, the only woman in the group, did not walk behind the men, but came in at their side.
"Nor did she come with her head down, but held high, looking directly at us." (Excerpt from "Voices From the Masks" by Blanche Petrich, in First World, Ha Ha Ha! The Zapatista Challenge, edited by Elaine Katzenberger.)
Women in Mexico suffer super-exploitation of their labour. Before Comandante Ramona joined the revolutionary movement, she was an embroiderer. It would take her about three years to finish a piece, and she would sell it for pittance. Garment workers can be paid as little as $19 a week; often it is necessary to sustain a family on these wages.
Many women are involved in "paid work" as well as being expected to prepare food and care for children. In more isolated areas, they are the ones to fetch water and wood. Women have very few rights to make decisions about their lives. Indigenous girls are sold by their families to prospective husbands. Most marry at the age of 14 or 15. There is virtually no access to contraception.
But the other side of the story is that women are organising. After an earthquake destroyed a garment factory, the women workers, who had previously adored their patroncito ("little boss"), awoke to the fact that he was more concerned about his wealth than his workers. They formed a union. Women are organising within political parties, including the PRD (Revolutionary Democratic Party). A movement against "disappearances" has formed and united peasant women.
However, one of the most significant trends is the large number of young women who are taking up arms.
The Zapatista guerillas take the question of women's liberation very seriously. They have formulated the Revolutionary Women's Law, consisting of 10 articles, including the rights to: participate in the revolutionary struggle in any way; work and receive a fair salary; decide the number of children they will bear and care for; hold positions of authority; primary attention in matters of health and nutrition; education; and to choose their partner and not be forced into marriage. This has been groundbreaking in the society that the Zapatistas have sprung from.
There are many women in the leadership of the Zapatistas. Subcomandante Marcos has become famous throughout Mexico and around the world as the spokesperson for the Zapatistas. Many women are higher ranking than him. Their limitation in being spokespersons is that they do not speak Spanish. Mostly, women speak only their indigenous language.
The enormous steps forward taken by women in the Zapatistas are inspirational. The position of women in Mexican society is a stark contrast to the position of women within the armed struggle.
By Trish Corcoran