Brainstorm #5, Grace Burchett

Many attempts to challenge the rendition that these young women were disposable came about from community efforts. Many reading in our class have centered on community efforts through art as a form of resistance, and this idea is furthered in Senorita Extraviada. The pink crosses painted on a background of black throughout the city are a physical representation that these women are not forgotten. They were not disposable, but instead were women who had a physical presence to their family, friends, and community at large. These paintings challenged the specific idea pushed by the Mexican Government in minutes 11:00-12:00 that the women’s deaths were caused by dressing promiscuously and otherwise ignoring patriarchal social expectations. 

This practice of resilience resists the idea of social death because it recognizes the impact that these women have. They are not nameless of faceless bodies, but real people who will continue to live in the memories of those around them. By resisting the idea of social death, the conditions that allowed for their deaths to occur become more recognizable. In particular, remembering those who have died allows the community remember why they died as well, which is essential for future reform.