I find it increasingly harsh to read the news. Violence. Lies. Trump. Death. All threats to our mental health.
But there are exceptions.
A few days ago, as I reluctantly perused the news that daily assaults us in the mainstream and social media, I was surprised by an amazing, brief and powerful two-minute video. It took place in Santiago, Chile.
It featured a female-led demonstration against some of the many evils that poison our contemporary patriarchal societies. Among them, sexism, as manifested (or “man-infected”?) in the abhorrent inferior status that women have been historically assigned. Some of the resultant malignancies from that secondary status are called domestic violence and sexual harassment.
The main participants in the demonstration were college students, so their demands included a principal focus: a change in what they called a sexist education.
The young women were shown doing a forceful choreography, reminiscent of the Haka, a ritual war dance from the Maori people, originally from New Zealand. Today that dance is used in a variety of situations, including weddings, funerals and as an intimidating pre-game ritual, made famous by the male and female rugby teams of New Zealand and Samoa. The ritual is meant to be a challenge to a rival. It can also be a strong positive message that says to the target of the challenge “Be strong!” or “You can get through this!” ¿Si se puede?
Although similar to the Haka dance, the young Chilean women had their own version, as they forcefully danced and screamed their message with their heads covered by ski masks, but naked from the waist up.
It was an awesome image, which carried their message across the world. Their bodies and voices screamed a pointed question, demanding an answer: “So what? So what? So what about this crap? They rape us and they murder us and no one will speak up!”
Quite often, the natural beauty of female body is generally used and exploited—by all media—with the purpose of arousing sexual interest, although it can also be seen as the subject of art pieces, such as paintings, drawings, sculptures or photos. In parts of the world, these female bodies are covered up, from head to toe. In some other parts, nudity, partial or total, is a more natural behavior.
But the partial nudity shown by the Chilean demonstrators was a cry for freedom, for the right that women should have over their own bodies and the respect that they deserve.
In a traditional Roman Catholic country, such as Chile, it was also meant as an act of defiance against the Church and against the men and women who have historically controlled the lives and politics of the people of that country.
Most certainly, the young college women were aware of the intense discussion that would follow their actions. And they welcomed the debate.
Their masked faces and bare torsos marked a vivid contrast. Was this done as a way to feel free to express their message? Perhaps, because the mask has always served that particular purpose.
The message sounded (and looked) free and powerful. The way their bodies must have felt.
Most societies still debate over the right of women to bare their bodies in public, including breast-feeding their children. Even if they are careful and discreet, there are many, men and women, who are against that natural use of the female body. Chile and the U.S. are no exceptions. It took some guts to carry out that protest!
There is a well-known painting, by Eugene Delacroix, called “Liberty leading the People.” It depicts a young woman, bare-chested, personifying the concept and the Goddess of Liberty, as she leads the people over a barricade. In one hand, she holds the tricolor flag of the French Revolution and in the other, a musket with a bayonet. It was painted in 1830. Based on real events, the painting is an allegory of freedom. Today, it hangs on the famous Louvre Museum, which qualifies it as a masterpiece.
Maybe the young Chilean women who protested were inspired by the painting? After all, it is a powerful image, known all over the world, but I believe that the Chilean women were inspired by their very real need for a freer society.
They did not have to be inspired by neither a Haka dance or by a painting that hangs on a museum.