The Focus on Women

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Discussions about International Women’s Day highlight several perspectives: some are nuanced with a plural and respectful commemoration of the events that took place in 1857 in New York; others recognize that not only “woman” in the strict sense of gender must be validated, but all women, considering their realities, histories, cultures, origins, contexts, and ideologies. However, on this date, there are also regrettable congratulations “to women, for their essence, for their delicacy, for having been cut from a wood very different from that of men and whose mission is to protect and mother.”

The struggle of women has been continuous; it did not begin in 1800 nor in the United States. The efforts of the upper socioeconomic classes of women in Europe, Latin America, and Asia have guided the movement’s growth to defend women’s rights, which have been recognized and even legitimized by some. But there is still much to be done; information, sensitization, and awareness are essential premises for a societal change of perspective to emerge. This includes understanding that not only androcentric privilege undermines women’s prerogatives and freedoms but also actions guided by the structural and symbolic power of patriarchy.

The French writer and pioneer of feminism, Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), asserted that love of neighbor without undermining anyone, promoting equity, exalting the value of Being, and respecting the differences of all people through acceptance would lead us to paths of greater equality and justice. One of the guiding premises in her work and walk was to make the Other a neighbor, “to give the best of herself by first losing herself and then finding herself.” Through love and reflection, she discovered her individuality, which, undoubtedly, she could integrate into an expansive environment with an unbreakable will. In her best-known work, The Second Sex, she expressed her hope that one day, men and women would come together again “to affirm unequivocally their fraternity, a noble and bold vision of a society freed from the prison of sex roles and master-slave relationships.” Feminism is not only a social and political stance seeking equality among people but also the eradication of all forms of slavery and torture.

The breaking of stereotypes is the lesson she left us, allowing us to question what we really want and how much we do by hegemonic precepts. We have, for example, the value judgment that Beauvoir made in insisting on “not condemning mothers, but the ideology that incites all women to be mothers and the conditions under which they must not be.” Reflecting on gender mandates (those subtle ones that pass without us noticing, sweep us up, and guide us to comply with slogans) is not easy; they go unnoticed, and we must be alert and fight them. These not only affect women; machismo also affects men, obligating them not to be, to hide their feelings, and to provide even from emotional lack. Beauvoir invites us to reflect and trace our journey. She affirmed that love and freedom, when given together, are the salt of the earth. “If love takes away freedom, salt becomes tasteless. Only freedom will return its flavor.”

The Center for the Recognition of Human Dignity is located on all the campuses of Tecnologico de Monterrey for the sake of equity and the promotion of a culture of peace. This area promotes the importance of women and their diversity, as well as the different genera and their diversity, for their empowerment, validation, and defense.

Looking through the lens of the gender perspective, we see that awareness and reflection on respect and self-acceptance lead to a better quality of life because we can be sure that our walk is on firm footing. We care for each other, not because we are equal, but because of the difference that unity makes.

This month, we invite you to follow this reflection through the activities taking place on the campuses. Learn about the agenda; follow #TrazandoElFuturo #8M

Magdalena Berenice Sánchez Alcalá
Coordinator of the CRDH State of Mexico Campus

Nelly Gabriela Orozco Reyes
Coordinator of the CRDH Office Mexico City Campus

References

Freud, Sigmund.(1915). Observaciones sobre el amor de transferencia y la Conferencia 27
Fromm, Erich. (1959). El arte de amar. Armas, I de. (1987)
Armas, Isabel de. (1987). Simone de Beauvoir: amor sin ataduras
Document: Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos. Núm. 449, noviembre 1987
URI: https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/nd/ark:/59851/bmc0930295