Brainstorm Week 10 - Paul Druta

In the Ovarian Psycos video, we can see feministas coming together to flip the narratives that mainstream society has labeled them with. Growing up, many of the feministas in the Ovarian Psycos were discouraged from leaving their homes at night for fear of the dangers of the streets of their neighborhood. Rather than giving in to fear or to the demands of their parents, the Psycos decided to band together to form a group of feministas that can back each other up. The movement provides a way for women and girls to not only enjoy biking around their city in safety, but also provides a platform for speaking out on the social issues that women of color face in their communities. Like many other feminista movements, the Ovarian Psycos have faced criticism, but they continue to fight to make their histories heard. One of the leaders describes this need for forming their community as a resilience practice for the injustices their cultures have faced: "We're the remnants of 500 years of colonization. A lot of our history isn't even in the history books. We haven't addressed the rape and the slaughter of our people, and the burning of our books. So we're people without roots" (around minute 32 of the movie). We can see the bike collective not only as a resilience practice for each individual member, but also as a way of expressing Chela Sandoval's idea of affinities within difference. Each member of Ovarian Psycos has a different story, but they have come together around a common goal of providing a voice and a place for women of color, and this common goal enables them to touch upon many different issues with their Luna rides (addressing racism, domestic violence, etc). By providing alternative futures for the next generations, the Ovarian Psycos are an example of Chicanafuturism: they show young Chicanas that they don't have to be what society expects them to be. On this same note, we can see the Chicas Rockeras Camp as being another example of Chicanafuturism by giving young girls the tools and the confidence they need to express themselves through Rock/Punk music (a genre typically associated with men). The organizer of the camp, Marin, describes this empowerment perfectly: “Girls are often made to feel small, to not be loud, to not take up space, so imagine being ten, coming into camp, and being told ‘Yes you can’ over and over again, being celebrated for your mistakes, given a high-five, or even being encouraged to yell into a mic. Some girls, they have a breakdown, but they also have a breakthrough.” (Wolfe).