User:Izaahd/Mujeres Creando

Political Ideology
Julieta Paredes and Monica Galindo were known for making provocative statements in the traditional patriarchal state of Bolivia surrounding cosmopolitan indigenous feminism and communitarian feminism. The intentions of their street art are to challenge the colonial mindset in which all states abide by according to patriarchal standards. “The State as we understand it from the standpoint of communitarian feminism, is a social construct that seeks to materialize itself historically on the basis of the fear and vulnerability of humanity.” The system is a state institution created out of fear of the possibility that people might carry more weight than the institution itself. Since the state needs these actors to be alive, it makes it so that the laborers need the system to stay alive creating an infinite cycle of oppression. Work should not be survival it should be for the sake of working.

One of the politics that inspires Mujeres Creando is the recognition of protected classes in the constitution of Bolivia. It is not sufficient enough to claim equality nor does it offer political strength it needs to make those rights a reality. Mujeres Creando believes that the state is an extension of the patriarchy, and by that logic, they challenge and denounce the characterized oppressions of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. Instead they offer those methods of oppression as opportunity for activism and celebration. Using the body as an agent for change is the most crucial asset they have, the state sees people as an asset to use and exploit, therefore by weaponize that power in avant-garde street art and poetry they achieve their non-traditional roles in iconic non-traditional methods. Dissidence and communitarian feminism are ways in which activists can dismantle the system because society is a construct of man, thus it shall be ended by man. “Patriarchy, for communitarian feminists, is the system of ALL oppressions that oppresses everything that lives on the planet and thus, all humanity (men, women, and intersexual persons) as well as nature...[belong to the] patriarchal patrix.”

The criticisms of perversion, craziness, and scandalous aren’t things that they avoid but rather take pride in those criticisms to normalize and disconnect those feelings and stigmas evoked in their work. The work of this group revitalizes an iconic culture of rebellion in the region inspired by their roots rather than being tainted by the neoliberal feminism as something to subscribe to as the default.They don’t represent a social class or group they represent a social class of activists.

Performing Difference
In a street performance by Julieta Paredes and Maria Galindo, they made a political statement denouncing homophobia and promoting self expression in La Plaza San Francisco in Bolivia. The performance begins with the two painting a giant bright red heart gushing with red paint. This was the representation of love and the woman, articulating the inability to contain that love, and it must spew and pour itself out forcibly like menstruation. The heart explodes from the confines of the patriarchy. As they complete their painting, they hand out roses to the audience with some accepting, and others not. Regardless, this gesture offers an invitation to the community, take it or not that is your decision and that is ok because you are part of the community. It argues that there is no form of individualism in this feminism, it is all who are representations of everyone. The individual does not hold claim to be the symbol of hate, or symbol of power, however it may be if you choose to do so for your body; the argument is that nobody can claim something in the same way that a caudillo would claim their power. Everyone is a multifaceted individual with their own recipe of identities which subject them to their unique oppressions and life experiences. After setting the stage for the tone of the performance, the two fold themselves up in sheets and pillows representing the intimate love between two same sex partners. They say to each other "we are allowed to be free and you as well however we, or you, define freedom." This framework for all or none does not impose an agenda obstructively, it is a public shareable space indicating this experience as open and shareable in public mundanely, not just for hyper-visible artistic expressions. The element of hyper-visibility is to emphasize the idea that these people and identities are not invisible. They are not going nowhere it is a new century for a new society built by the people it represents.