On February 11, a young girl the age of 7 was picked up by a stranger from school, who claimed to know her mother, and days later, her body was found dead in a plastic bag. She was beaten and sexually abused before she died. Her name was Fatima and her shocking death caused global outrage and fury. Her death alongside the gruesome killing of Ingrid Escamilla, 25, sparked the fury and fire of the women's march.
On March 9th there was a women's march where tens of thousands of women walked out of their houses and jobs. It was considered “a day without women.” Instead of going to work and school, they went to the streets to protest the recent and ongoing femicides, or the killing of a woman or girl, particularly by a man, on account of her gender. Everyday 10 women are killed or disappear in Mexico. This protest has brought up the topic of the ongoing machismo, which is strong or aggressive masculine pride in Mexico. The women’s march has tested the leadership of the current President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador who when asked what he will do against the large amount of femicides replied by going back to his campaign promises that he would “fight social and economic inequality, combat poverty and the disintegration of families.” The ongoing support towards the march has come though the big #MeToo movement online.
This is relevant in that it connects to the course theme of whether history shaped by individual people or by systematic forces beyond any one person's influence? Even though the women's march was a big systematic force it was sparked by the death and killing of both Fatima and Ingrid Escamilla calling for change which will affect all women in Mexico.
Discussion questions: What may be the cause for violence against a person? How can this type of violence be prevented?
Johnny H Per:5
ReplyDeleteI think violent actions or the attacks on a certain group of people stems from emotional loathing or their view of them. I think it all starts through some kind of feud or conflict between 2 people, however, only vaguely and "peacefully." Then, this quarrel and develop over time or through their impressions and opinions of each other, which can then lead to violence or even worst. One example can be related to protesting. People, at first, verbally ask for changes and demands, peacefully; though this often can advance to people actually using force or violence. I personally don't think violence can ever be avoided, since it's likely that someone on earth will still hate you, even if you if made huge contribution to society. However, to improve this situation or to reduce the occurrences of violence, I think it's best that we all try to be more tolerant and understanding of each other.
Jonathan Gu
ReplyDeleteAs we learned in the Holocaust unit, violent action is a top tier of discrimination. As such, it begins with a single person forming an opinion on a matter. While there is strength in numbers for those facing discrimination, the same works in the opposite when one's hateful outlook spreads beyond the individual and is reinforced in a crowd. Once the mob is formed, people take shelter in the majority to justify their discriminatory perception as the popular opinion. In recent years, much discrimination is still on the rise while some are on the decline. In America, racism towards African Americans has been heavily combated. As such, discrimination remains within the individual for fear of being the unpopular opinion. And in cases where larger groups come together in racism, they have become the minority. Sadly in part of Trump's campaign, discrimination against Latinos has been brought out into the American "popular opinion".
Lauryn Horita, 6
ReplyDeleteA main cause for violence against a person is prejudice. Without knowing one's true qualities, many people associate a certain race, religion, or group with negative stigma that describes them. This stigma may conflict with one's ideas and beliefs, and cause them to dislike a person. Someone may feel as though these people are less than them, or don't belong, and resort to violence to voice this opinion and hatred. I think that violence like this because of prejudice can be prevented by spreading awareness and learning to look beyond qualities associated with them and actually get to know them as people. Stigma only describes a very small percentage of people in a certain group. It's always negative qualities that people associate them with, but you can't judge someone based on things you hear. This violence can stop, if people changed their clouded views and acted based on one's true, real qualities.
A cause for violence targeted against an individual may be because of trauma or trouble within someone's life. In Mexico, considering the drug war, violence, and poverty, it is very hard to live a normal and secure life for children. Not only is it unsafe,but drug and alcohol abuse is very common in our world today. In a study, it was noted that children who've grown up with drugs or alcohol in their homes, double their chances of falling under the same influence. In addition, people who misuse alcohol undergo mood swings, which causes them to demonstrate a more angry or hurtful behavior. I think this cycle of living truly impacts a person's mind, whereas for children they grow up not only through school, but through their personal experiences. Due to past abuse, it may reflect how they would treat others, and possibly continue this cycle of abuse. We shouldn't underestimate the psychological issues going on within a person's mind. Furthermore, we should push to help those who struggle to release their pain, not through violence, but in other safer ways, for themselves and for others.
ReplyDeleteWell in Mexico specifically there are high rates of domestic violence and abuse, especially towards children. There have been numerous studies that show that violence against one as a child can lead to emotional instability and more potential for one to become an abuser as an adult. So this violence could be a result of past victims being emotionally unstable and taking it out on women. Additionally, reportedly there is a lot of violence against pregnant women specifically. This could be because the abusers see them in their state of weakness as someone to take out their anger on who can’t strike back. I think the only way to really stop this if that’s the case is with rigorous mental counseling to help people who are struggling with emotional instability so they don’t become an abuser themselves and don’t take out their anger on someone violently.
ReplyDeleteTamilyn Chang, 5th
ReplyDeleteI believe a cause for violence is the feeling of needing power. People, when power is placed in their hands, can go completely insane, doing whatever they can to exert that power over others. This is widely seen in domestic abuse, with one spouse trying to control the other through pain. For this to be prevented, there has to be a balance of power, without there being too much in anyone's hand or prevent those with tons of power from overexerting it on others.