Gender Violence, Reproductiive Justice and “Feminicide”

This week’s readings delve into a critical analysis of gender violence as an expression of domination, control, oppression and power over women. Antonia I. Catañeda examines the historical role of rape and other forms of sexual violence as instruments of terrorism used against women to maintain heterosexual male supremacy. She also analyzes how the objectification and over sexualization of women of color perpetuate the production of stereotypes that normalize and justify the violence against women. Castañeda’s article also brings into discussion mechanisms of resistance to challenge socio-cultural and patriarchal norms that obscure the real impact of gender violence across many generations. In the article “They breed like Rabbits,” we encounter part of the history of sterilization abuse in the United States that demonstrates that practitioners in the 60s and 70s targeted their subjects according to race, class and gender. As the article argues, the cases of coercive sterilization against Chicana and Mexican women in Los Angeles are part of the called epidemic of sterilization in the 70s. Mercedes Olivera’s chapter explores the situation of familicidal violence in Latin America as a consequence of the structural violence of the neoliberal system. Olivera analyses the intersection of poverty, marginalization and neoliberal economic systems in invigorating a patriarchal social and cultural environment that renders women to situations of extreme vulnerability. For this week’s discussion post, think about the multiple elements economic, social, cultural, and political systems/ideologies/structures that perpetuate a culture of violence against women. Include in your post, a reflexion on how coercive sterilization impacted the lives of Chicana and Mexican women. Discussion post is due December 2. The replies to your peers’ discussion posts are due December 5. These posts should be 100-200 words.