The Arts and Symbolism in Mexico's Feminist Movement

Webinar Content:

Introduction of Speaker: 0:00 – 6:12
Presentation: 6:13 – 39:56
Questions and Answers: 39:57 – 56:55

Webinar Description:

Performance “Un violador en tu camino” in Ecatepec, on the outskirts of Mexico City. Credit: Joss Medina.

Last August, during a press conference with Mexico City’s police chief, a group of young women were seen breaking windows and throwing pink glitter in the police chief’s face. This was to demand justice for a teenager allegedly raped by four police officers. The episode sparked what became known as the glitter revolution, a new wave of feminist activism in Mexico with connections to other feminist collectives worldwide.

This webinar addressed questions around the Mexican feminist movement, its radical actions, its use of the arts, symbols, its mobilization of broad coalitions and its relationship to a global fight against gender violence and the patriarchal system. Poncho Hernandez explored how this diverse and innovative movement uses civil resistance to denounce injustice, remember victims, and heal wounds.

Presenter:

Alfonso Poncho Hernández is a Mexico City–based activist, community organizer, philosopher, and anthropologist with more than 10 years of work in nonviolence and peacebuilding. An experienced trainer and conferencist, he has delivered workshops, seminars, and conferences in several universities in Mexico, and countries like India, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and the USA. His academic work is focused on the use of arts in social responses to violence, including civil resistance and creative social movements in Latin America. He is specifically interested in peacebuilding through cultural practices in communities with high levels of violence in Mexico.