Resistance and Revival: Indigenous Women Media-Makers in Contemporary Mexico

• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X20988695
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X20988695

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 237, Vol. 48 No. 2, March 2021, 63–76

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X20988695

© 2021 Latin American Perspectives

63

Resistance and Revival

Indigenous Women Media-Makers in Contemporary Mexico

by

Argelia González Hurtado

Through the use of the documentary genre, a group of Mexican indigenous women

video-makers and their collaborators are depicting contemporary indigenous women.

Occupying transformative roles in their communities, indigenous women are pioneers

opening new cultural and social spaces to work toward a more equitable society. The main

scenarios of their struggle are indigenous marginalization and women’s marginalization

under patriarchy. The documentaries Voladora/Flying Woman (Chloé Campero, 2008),

La vida de la mujer en resistencia/We Are Equal (Chiapas Media Project–Promedios,

2004), and La rebelión de las oaxaqueñas/The Oaxaqueña Rebellion (Mal de Ojo TV,

2008) are case studies of female indigenous resistance through the media.

Un grupo de creadoras de vídeos indígenas mexicanas y sus colaboradores representan

a las mujeres indígenas contemporáneas a través del uso del género documental. Estas

mujeres ocupan funciones transformadoras en sus comunidades y son pioneras en la aper-

tura de nuevos espacios culturales y sociales en la búsqueda de una sociedad más equita-

tiva. Sus principales escenarios de lucha son la marginación indígena y la marginación de

las mujeres bajo el patriarcado. Los documentales Voladora (Chloé Campero, 2008), La

vida de la mujer en resistencia (Chiapas Media Project-Promedios, 2004) y La rebelión

de las oaxaqueñas (Mal de Ojo TV, 2008) son estudios de caso de resistencia indígena

femenina a través de los medios de comunicación.

Keywords: Indigenous women, Mexico, Indigenous media, Documentary, Activism

Around the world, indigenous societies are using the media for their own

cultural and political projects of self-determination. These projects resolve both

to undo the negative effects of the colonialism that has denied and excluded,

among other things, the histories and knowledge of indigenous peoples and to

reverse the negative ideas about indigenous peoples that have marginalized

them (Mignolo, 2000; Smith, 1999). The histories and stories of indigenous peo-

ples around the world have largely been overlooked or erased in dominant

national narratives. In Latin America, indigenous political organization and

cultural activism in resistance to worsening social and economic conditions

have led to an increased effort to revitalize these histories and stories. This

political and cultural activism climaxed with the indigenous uprisings in

Ecuador in May 1990 and the insurgency of the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación

Argelia González Hurtado is an assistant professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and holds

a Ph.D. in Spanish and Latin American studies. Her work focuses on indigenous media and Latin

American cinema.

988695LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X20988695LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVESGonzález / INDIGENOUS WOMEN MEDIA-MAKERS IN MEXICO

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