Dissident Women Chapter 3In chapter 3 they are speaking of the Chipas women who were apart of the social movement, but I can't help to see and mention how gender repressive this movement was. In the section of about the women of the 20th century and how they were there for every key moment during this movement of "activism" and that during this time it seems as though they had the same rights as men at that time with owning land, going to marches, etc, but it crazy that once invasion occurred the women had to go back to their same old chores and repressive roles. I wonder if the women went peacefully back into these roles? The San Cristobal Diocese had really good intentions, and as I was reading it felt like it was the hooray or the end of the rainbow for the Chipa women were the church actually came to their side and became almost like an advocate for the women. The "Option for the Poor" where they would actually educate those in the rural areas trying to change views of women. I am just feeling though because this IS religious and the church intervening..the roles are still repressed despite having religion back it up. Last time I checked women were not very high on the food chain in the bible. So what are we to think are the roles going to remain although education given? I just worry about the resistance...was there any that was not included?
I feel that its not really welcomed a forced change. When reading I was really afraid for the women because it seems when a group of people who have been sharing the same repressive group think for many years, there would be much resistance. In few sections over in the chapter its titled "Indigenous Women Between Conciousness and Being Left Out" a key word is used that hope many people picked up on "social transformation" I think that phrase says alot. It does use the word "Option" like the Diocese used. Options can call for resistance, but transformation speaks of changing views inside and out. Yet, it screams a painstaking task. Maybe I am just skimming the surface too much? Any thoughts?
P.S. did i mention that the pictures at the end of the chapter are really powerful? My favorite was of the woman marching, and breast feeding her child at the same time...that's definitely double duty!
Don't Let the Sun Step Over You (Intro, ch1, & ch2)
The first thing I probably noticed about Eva Watt's writing is that her voice is so vibrant and she makes you feel as if you were really there or that she and I were sitting next to each other and was she was telling me a story. I did notice however how her accounts were not linear and I remember Ron Pond (if any of ya'll know him) telling my class once upon a time that not everything is linear when it comes to Native American storytelling and this is very prevalent in how the music is sung. But for me even though non-linear accounts are the way in which people tell stories it made it slightly more difficult to piece together who were the members of her family or her grandmother's accounts of being in the boarding school. Now to really focus on the reading, it was very interesting to see the women's perspective on Indian Boarding schools and the effects later on. I recall when Watt asked her mother or grandmother who raised her she would respond "no one" on pg. 4 she said her grandmother Rose ...
"used to cry alot when she talked about it, too [her life]... one time my oldest brother Eugene got mad at her. He said " How come you cry? You're not in that time still. Now you're safe. I don't see why you want to cry." My grandmother said, "I think how we suffered in those times , that's what I'm thinking about."
I think that was the thing that seriously stuck out to me because althought the stories are linear and that was a quote among the first few pages of the book, it helps the reader to understand and connect to the stories in ch. 2 which focused more on the Rice & Carlisle Boarding Schools, as well as Paul who "never had a chance"...anyway those are my thoughts...
Charla
