Brainstorm #5 - Chloe Rabinowitz

Senorita Extraviada is a film that aims to hold the Mexican government responsible and accountable for the atrocities that occur under their not only negligence but encouragement of misogynistic gender roles and narratives. By highlighting the injustices allowed by the governing body of Ciudad Juarez, Senorita Extraviada challenges the dangerous narratives of blaming the victims of these disappearances and murders due to their participation in “non-normative female practices” which are often untrue mischaracterizations (even if they were true - this doesn’t put their lives at lower values than those of women not partaking in these activities). These victim-blaming strategies encouraged by the government cause institutionalized characterizations of young women often in the labor force in Ciudad Juarez as disposable, which this film counters through representation and activism. Lisa Cacho’s concept of “social death” is seen throughout this documentary and in the reality of Ciudad Juarez as the young women who are victims of these crimes are already viewed as ‘dead’ by their society and families because of their independence and nontraditional choices. To confront these tragedies and hold authorities accountable, working poor mothers and families speak out against the institutionalized misogyny that promotes acts of violence against these women. They also utilize art to pay tribute and breathe life into the legacies of the women who have fallen victim to these atrocities, often by creating black crosses with pink backgrounds to show representation and recognition of these murders and disappearances in their communities.