Reconcebir

“ ‘At the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here’ ” (Luke 11:32).

This morning at Maryknoll: the weekly conference, today on the subject of violence against women. We applied the method of social analysis used in Catholic Social Teaching to understand the topic: See, Judge, Act. 

To see better, we received the following information from Profesora Liliana, our presenter:

Direct Violence

In Bolivia, 9 out of every 10 women suffer some form of violence, whether sexual, physical, or psychological.

At some time in their lives, 7 out of every 10 women suffer sexual abuse.

Only 0.04 percent of the incidents of abuse reported to the authorities results in punishment for the attacker. Only 1.3 percent of domestic violence cases reported to the authorities results in a conviction.

Every three days, a woman is murdered, a victim of femicide. With 128 such murders in 2018, Bolivia unhappily ranks third in South America in femicides, behind Colombia and Brazil.

Structural Violence 

In Bolivia, 63 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

Around 2.5 million persons, or 20 percent of the population, has migrated out of the country.

Among children and teenagers, 7 out of every 1,000 live in a condition of sexual exploitation. The most vulnerable are minors who suffer from family disintegration.

Of every 10 persons, 5 consume alcohol regularly. Of these, 20 percent suffer from alcohol addiction.

Cultural Violence 

Profesora Liliana says there are attitudes and beliefs that form the dominant discourse in Bolivian society and that favor direct violence and structural violence. These attitudes and beliefs refer, for example, to gender roles and concepts about the female body. For instance, cultural codes consign women to private spheres, as passive recipients of the goods and money provided by the men who alone occupy the public sphere, who alone exercise authority over the community, who alone are the protectors of society. Women are objects carefully guarded by the men who possess autonomy and a monopoly on power, knowledge, and ability to act.

Moving to the second step of social analysis, we judged for ourselves what it means to be a woman and to be a man in the context of this systemic violence. We found ourselves uncovering the traditional roles for men and women, which can both promote the common good and the flourishing of persons—and also inhibit their creativity, restrict their freedom, and create the environment for unhealthy attitudes, beliefs, and values leading to outright domination and violence. I noticed that the questions themselves—What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a man?—come laden with assumptions. Well, what kind of a woman are we talking about, and what kind of a man? Are there not many varieties of femininity and masculinity? What is a feminine trait and what is a masculine trait? Moreover, the experiences of LGBT persons do not fit in neatly with these questions. The questions we received strongly assume the norms of heterosexual, cisgender men and women. There is an LGBT movement in Bolivia, but it’s dangerous to be out and/or trans. But let us have perspective. For the people here, to challenge, denounce, and recover from sexism, and for the Church to join in all of this, is courage. Seeing the humanity of persons who do not fit in the binary of gender is the next frontier.

What is to be done? How are we to act? One of the candidates for the presidency of Bolivia has suggested permitting women to bear arms to defend themselves and their children from any and all violence. (It is illegal for anyone to bear arms in Bolivia.) We discussed this proposal among ourselves. This proposal struck me as a very macho thing, to say nothing of the Pandora’s Box it would open. But my main thought was, I want to know what women in Bolivia themselves propose as a solution to the violence they suffer. Profesora Liliana described some advances, led by women, in the midst of real difficulties in Bolivia and throughout Latin America. She lifted up the examples of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo of Argentina, who demanded justice for their children, disappeared during a time of dictatorship; Ni Una Menos, a movement to denounce gender-based violence that has spread from Argentina across the continent; and the Mujeres Creando movement, a Bolivian artists’ collective that fights poverty through street theater and direct action. Finally, she called for reconcebir, a reconceiving of femininity and masculinity, in which all persons are recognized as unique, free, strong, and dignified, capable of acting in justice and solidarity with others.

In the Gospel reading for today, Jesus admonishes the wicked crowd that seeks a sign from God that they are missing “something greater than Jonah here” (Luke 11:32). Could we not say that the resistance women are valiantly making against direct, structural, and cultural violence is a prophetic call to repentance; and more than that, a call to all of us to have more faith in what these women are doing to overcome inequality and oppression? It is impossible to make too little of these movements. They have always been underestimated, too little esteemed. There is something greater than Jonah here. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

How do we increase our faith? Scripture also tells us, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). In the context of today’s presentation, and our judgment on the signs of the times, I hear a call not to think or say “male” or “female” in ways that over-determine the role of any particular person or which hinder any person from taking one’s rightful place in the body of Christ, as members gifted, talented, beloved, and necessary for the fulfillment of God’s work. One of my pastoral colleagues writes to me, “Toxic expectations can exist for all gender identities. It is for each person to determine what is an authentic and healthy expression of their gender identity, and it is for the society to create space for each person to express and inhabit their identity in a meaningful way. It is also for society, I think, to integrate and equally celebrate both traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine traits. That is not currently being done in the way that feminine stereotypes are associated with weakness. Through Jesus’ life, Jesus models for us an integration and equal celebration of both masculine and feminine traits. Jesus models bravery, tenacity, tenderness, compassionate, gentleness, ferocity, determination, mercy, wisdom, humility and generosity.”

In Bolivia, and anywhere, can women and men reconceive their identities and make Jesus’ way their way? My pastoral colleague believes it can be done. “At church, I have witnessed many men’s stories—stories of heartache, struggle, loneliness, longing, joy, insecurity, anxiety, depression, love, and wonder. I have remained with them. I have prayed with them. I have found they could relate to me in the full expression of who I am—my strengths as well as my struggles. Moreover, when I preach on anxiety, I have found that I get a strong, positive reaction from the congregation, but the strongest is always from the men, without fail. My words of vulnerability and humility are needed. I give permission to people not to have it all together. These days, our veneers are falling off—veneers of macho-ism and certitude—and what is left is integration, authenticity and humanity.”

We can have faith. We can find hope. A parishioner from Church of the Good Shepherd reminds me, “We as a universe are moving closer to being one with Christ. Humans, male and female, become who they are as they participate in this evolution.” All persons, however they live into their personhood, are needed to bring God’s work of creation to fulfillment. For all persons to participate fully in God’s creativity, we must not put any hindrance or obstacle in the way of their becoming who they are. Bringing an end to violence to women, and to all persons, is not only an act of justice but also an act of continuing creation.