Brainstorm Week 8 - Chloe Rabinowitz

These movements for the equality and acceptance of women in society are directly related to the practices of resilience seen within la pachamama. The earth has lost a lot of value within individuals all over the world today and society has shown a divergence from the traditional Indigenous way of thinking that saw the earth at the center of all decisions. We’ve implemented new advances and technologies that benefit off of the exploitation of the earth’s natural resources, with little done to mitigate our negative impact on the natural world. This is why Ecuador’s new constitution that granted rights to nature is full of dangerous rhetoric that only allows, if not furthers, the idea of destroying the earth with little anthropogenic consequences. As a result, soon after this constitution was passed, a new mining law that favored mining companies was implemented in Ecuador. The contrast behind the semantics of this new constitution and the actual impact that it has is paralleled in the societal treatment of women; “it establishes the dominance as masculinity over nature, understood as feminine, unwieldy and in need of protection and control” (Walsh 53-54). Women are oppressed systematically in the world, similar to how earth is treated, and patriarchal values have justified this by seeing women and earth incapable of protecting themselves. However, women and earth have persisted, refusing to be made invisible and incapable of existing without men. These social movements are connected to la pachamama because they share similar experiences while resisting the mindset that oppresses them. In the feminist movement, convivencia is something that connects women and creates a coalition of individuals. Convivencia can connect us to mother earth by showing us our commonalities with the elements of the natural world, fostering a need within us to protect it. In terms of Chicanxfuturism, creating more representation of women by women in our legislative practices will be essential in changing society’s vernacular and systematic treatment of women.