Gender Roles and Base Christian Communities

By Andy Chadwick,

Augsburg College

These past few weeks, the Migration and Globalization students have really settled in with their Mexican families. It has been an easy transition integrating into a Mexican family; they have been exceedingly welcoming and accommodating. There is so much to learn but at the same time we also have a lot in common with our families. It has been fascinating hearing the stories of our families, especially when they can relate to topics we are studying in class. It has been especially interesting to start to understand gender roles within Mexico and to have a dialogue with our families to hear their personal stories and philosophies related to this subject.

In addition to becoming settled in with our families, we, as well as the Social Work students, had the opportunity to hear two amazing women tell their personal stories regarding gender roles. These speakers put a face to the issues that we have previously learned about, regarding gender roles, from Irene Ortiz and others. They talked about the hardships they have faced in their lives due to unfair gender roles and expectations. They were treated horribly by their husbands and were not even allowed to leave the house most of the time. They each found their way to Base Christian Communities, (BCC´s) which changed their lives. They were taught to read and this allowed them to read the Bible for themselves. By studying the Bible, they realized that they shouldn't be treated this way, God created them equal to men. BCC´s, like the one these women are a part of, are autonomous religious groups based in liberation theology. Liberation theology is the idea that God is on the side of the poor and marginalized of the world. BCC´s, coupled with the influence of liberation theology, focus on material conditions and issues of class.

Our speakers opened my eyes to the hardships that women often face to achieve equality. They also showed me that there is hope for equality among the genders, that there is a way of achieving it through liberation theology and BCC´s. I kept asking myself questions like: how has being a male unfairly given me privilege or benefited me in my life to this point? How has my un-acknowledgment of this privilege furthered unfair gender roles and expectations? What can I do in the future to support women's rights without over-stepping my bounds as a male? These speakers were an eye-opening experience for all of us and this experience, I think, changed us for the better.

Spring 2010 Semester Off to a Great Start!

“Migration & Globalization: Engaging Our Communities” is back, as this semester-long program occurs every spring in Cuernavaca, Mexico through the Center for Global Education at Augsburg College. We just began last week and are happy to report a fabulous new group of students from colleges as diverse as Augsburg, Bowdoin, Emory, Davidson, and Drake University. For the first half of the semester, we are also being accompanied by a recent graduate of Carleton College who is participating in many aspects of our program.

During the first week we spent a lot of time getting to know Cuernavaca and each other. We took Spanish pre-tests at the Universal Universal Center for Language and Social Communication, which is a highly respected Spanish school, where you can choose two of 17 different Spanish courses ranging from basic grammar and conversation courses to Contemporary Mexican Literature, Spanish for Heritage Speakers, and Mexican Art.

We also visited the ancient pyramids at Xochicalco in the southern part of the state of Morelos and learned about the cosmovision (worldview) of pre-Columbian peoples, whose spirituality emphasized unity, bipolar duality (as opposed to Western oppositional binary dualism), fluidity, interconnectedness, balance, and reciprocity.

At Xochicalco we saw the remains of magnificent temples built by the Nahua-speaking population that existed long before the Spanish conquest, as the construction there began approximately 200 years BCE, and the civilization flourished between 600 and 900 of this era. It is believed that the Toltec emperor Quetzalcoatl (known often as the “Mesoamerican Christ-figure”) studied astronomy in Xochicalco, whose principle temple is dedicated to the feathered-serpent God Quetzalcaotl. (Quetzal = the bird, & coatl = serpent in the Nahuatl language). As you can see in the picture of the pyramids both above and below, the carvings represent this great feathered serpent god who united the heavens and the earth. (In the picture below, his feathered heaad is in the upper far left corner and his serpent-like body winds around to the right.)

After visiting Xochicalco, we visited a nearby former sugarcane plantation called the Ex-Hacienda Santa Cruz. We learned about the history of the plantations that were established during the colonial period and the exploitation of both indigenous and African slaves who were forced to work on them.

We spent the night there and then spent the next day getting further acquainted with each other and talking about our roles as foreigners in Mexico. Our discussions included articles such as Ivan Illich’s “To Hell with Good Intentions” and several articles on power, privilege, and positionality. This is especially important because many of us will be conducting internships in Mexican organizations, as well as living with Mexican host families, and we want to be as sensitive as possible to this cultural context.

Have you ever been to Mexico? If so, did you visit ancient sacred sites such as Xochicalco? What have you learned about Mexican pre-Columbian civilizations and contemporary indigenous peopes? What are your thoughts about your/our responsibility as foreigners here? We’d love to hear your thoughts!