Claudia Sheinbaum She has become the 66th president of the United Mexican States, after being sworn in as head of the Executive Branch on October 1, and in her speech she will make it very clear that she is becoming President, yes, with an "a" at the end, because as she said: "only what is named exists."
The fact that she came to power has become the banner of many who attack her, and with it the millions of women who are accused of having reached certain positions due to the support and help of a man, not because of their merits.
In this regard, Dr. Elionor Bartra y Muriá, distinguished professor at the Autonomous Metropolitan University Xochimilco Unit, said in an interview with Manuel Ortiz for the program Por La Libre that Sheinbaum became president because she earned it and worked for it, not because of a man.
"She won it by her own right, she has been fighting and working hard for several decades and she won it because she wanted to get to the presidency. Now, why did she want to get there? Because she believes that she has a project that can transform this country and that can transform the women of this country," said Bartra.
The co-founder and coordinator of the research area "Women, Identity and Power" and of the postgraduate programs Master's in Women's Studies and Doctorate in Feminist Studies at the UAM, highlighted that "every time a woman reaches a prominent position, a position of power, something like that, it is always said that obviously there has to be a man there, either because she slept with the boss or because the boss put her there because he liked her or something like that."
And although the case with Claudia Sheinbaum is more sophisticated, he said, it amounts to the same thing.
"Within the political machinery they say that it was Mr. López Obrador who decided who would be president of the Republic, without taking into account, in stating this, that there are millions and millions and millions of votes that even exceed the votes that Andrés Manuel himself received. So, it seems to me that this is absurd," he stressed.
Whether the president is a feminist or not, she said, will be discussed very soon; however, what is certain is that she said and announced that she will promote many actions in favor of women, among which stands out the policy of remunerating women who have done invisible work throughout history. "It has not been remunerated, it has not been recognized, in fact, it has not even been seen as work," added Dr. Bartra.
Eli Bartra pointed out that Claudia, indeed and as she has already mentioned, does not arrive alone because "we are in a collective, in a community, and she has a history of women's struggles in this country that goes back more than a century. They did not start yesterday."
She explained that the entire 20th century was a time of women's struggles. First the fight for the right to vote, then the fight for the decriminalization of abortion, which is still ongoing, then the fight against rape and the denunciation and protection of battered women, among others.
?So, all these struggles, of course, have left their mark on women, not just on her, on women who today have power, different powers in this country, in universities, without coming from a practice of militancy, of feminist activism, they have been marked, they have been sealed by feminist struggles, they have been impregnated with those ideas, with those needs?, she specified.
"I think that (Claudia Sheinbaum) is an extremely valuable woman in many fields and I feel enormous pride that they gave her the presidential sash, and what's more, at certain moments I got so emotional that I almost cried. Well, it was a very emotional moment, and I don't think it's only emotional for Mexico. I think it encompasses Latin America and America in general," he said.
Just a couple of days after Claudia Sheinbaum took office as President, Mexican actor Rafael Inclán made a misogynistic comment against the current supreme commander of the Mexican Armed Forces.
"We're going to have a housewife for six years," Inclán told the media while laughing and accompanied by fellow actor Luis de Alba.
To this, the Mexican president responded in the morning press conference on Thursday, October 3: "There is this word that is used on the networks for 'servant', which is terrible (?) that is from the Porfiriato, from the Colonial period. They are domestic workers and they do a decent job, and we must always recognize them."
On Friday, she returned to the topic and made it very clear that it is unfortunate that housework is seen as something negative.
"What I find most regrettable is that the word 'housewife' is used as a pejorative. I am a president, grandmother, mother and housewife, and proud of it."
To learn more about what Dr. Eli Bartra said in an interview with Manuel Ortiz, don't miss the full program this Saturday on "Por la Libre," the mobile community radio station of Península 360 Press.
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