Zapatista women continue to suffer under the hands of the indigenous father.

What is it about?

Indigenous women of Mexico will continue to be ruled by the will and right of the indigenous father unless they can extricate themselves from the ideological rhetoric that solely blames gender violence, inequity, and reproductive subjugation on capitalismo y liberalismo, conquest, and colonization. Women must embrace their historical memory and acknowledge the sexual division of labor and the traditional ontological principles that existed in indigenous communities before conquest and colonization. Moving beyond the mestizo-indigenous binary will enable indigenous women to open spaces for true revolutionary change.

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Why is it important?

Zapatismo does not recognize indigenous patriarchal oppression in its revolutionary rhetoric and analysis of existing gender relations, women have continued to face systematic oppression. While it is true that capitalism and neoliberalism have wreaked havoc on women’s livelihoods heightening oppression and gender violence, it is crucial to recognize traditional patriarchal systems as one of the many constitutive factors in the present subjugation of indigenous women’s reproductive systems.

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