8/9/2019 Mexican 'MeToo', bonfire out of control / Blanche Petrich - Politics - La Jornada

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Start / Politics / Mexican 'MeToo', bon re out of control / Blanche Petrich

Mexican 'MeToo', bon re out of control /

Blanche Petrich
Blanche Petrich | Tuesday, 02 Apr 2019 22:01

Protest of women against sexual abuse in archive image. Photo María Luisa Severiano

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I want to say it, not only think about it and rethink it day and night. 

The #MeToo movement disturbed me. First it captivated me, it moved me. I thought of all those little girls that cause me admiration,
the new women, the ones who do what they want, with over owing imagination and that audacity to come and go by bike or
motorcycle everywhere. Strong women, with strong ties of fraternity between them, with their symbolic green scarves around their
necks and sts raised for diversity, equality, justice, against impunity. For our freedom

How are they in front of the mirror of female liberation, how do they face machismo and harassment, far from the disgust and
shyness of our generation? I set out to follow the threads of the platform on Twitter. I read with many shocks complaints of all kinds
against harassment and abuse of writers, journalists - my colleagues, my friends -, musicians, lm people, academia, social activism.

I found between the painful narratives and the traits of lives hurt by the brave lines abuse, solidarity reactions, outrageous stories and
liberating expressions. And also many incongruous texts, words that did not have the bell of sincerity, stories that confused labor
abuse with sexual abuse.

It seemed to me that clumsy and unwanted attempts at seduction were often confused with harassment, toxic relationships with
rapes. There were complaints with a taste of lies, exaggeration, morbidity, revenge. At times #MeToo looked like a summary court,
hysterical, uncritical. I know that I will also be sent to the stake by that chorus of voices that, under the formula of solidarity, repeats

without much thought: # Yotecreo

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without much thought: # Yotecreo. 

After a day of reading the tweets, my alarms sounded. It hurt me that the daughters of the feminist tanned women from before
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su ered the same paralysis as we did; that today's chavitas Friday,
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fail, as we did decades ago, defense mechanisms; that his answer "No
is NO" had as little strength as in the past. I felt that something had failed. In the history of the struggle for women, but also in the
#MeToo tool. 

How were the messages ltered and veri ed to prevent testimonies in good faith from being contaminated with lynchings and false
accounts? What containment mechanisms were arranged to channel revelations and avoid harming innocent people? Were the risks
of releasing all these demons in the blessed (or damn) social networks under the assumption of "throwing away" machismo and abuse
against women?

The lashes of truth, and the false ones, wounded the defendants, turned into villains and rapists on a trending topic level. There were
consequences: layo s, incurable wounds, discredit, truncated careers, whole families injured. There was only one recti cation of
#MeToo: days after hurting the good name of a human rights defender, the mechanism acknowledged that the accusation was false.

Already by then I saw clear signs that the exercise, which should bring strength, health and courage to the indispensable cause of
ensuring women a life free of violence, went out of course.

And the blood came to the river. The rocker Armando Vega Gil was the subject of a devastating accusation. A 13 year old girl. An
episode six, seven years ago. A fact narrated in a confusing way. He said it was not true. But he felt cornered. "I know that in the
networks I have no way to advocate for me, whatever I say will be used against me." And he reaped his life.

It was time to shut up. It was time to stop, everyone. And review the walk. Let no one accuse anyone, there are victims on all sides.
Tall.

Pero #MeToo no supo reconocer el valor del silencio. Sobre el duelo y las lágrimas de la familia y los amigos del botellito de jerez
hablaron las juezas ciegas: “Jugar con eso para salvarte de una demanda por pederastia e intentar limpiar tu imagen no solo es
cobarde, es ruin”. Para mí, el #MeToo mexicano se hundió con esas palabras.

Por eso quiero hablar ahora. Porqué en esas líneas miserables vi las manos torpes e insensibles de unas feministas sin inteligencia,
que no supieron conducir un movimiento liberador de denuncia y verdad. 

Retomo las palabras de un hombre, no de una mujer: “Es correcto que las mujeres alcen la voz para hacer que nuestro mundo podrido
cambie. Es un derecho inalienable el de la denuncia, sobretodo el de las mujeres”. Son palabras de Armando, en su carta póstuma. Si él
supo escucharnos ¿sabremos nosotras escucharlo a él?
El #MeToo de twitter se ha terminado para mí. 

I sit on the side of the road waiting for another feminist movement to pass; That is clean, critical and self-critical, intelligent, non-
revenge. That collect all the cries of those who want all women to have a life free from abuse, violence, o enses, grievances and chains
of machismo, patriarchy and misogyny; A life full of friends, boyfriends, partners and lovers to live life. And in that parade I also want
to see many men, my friends, my companions, ghting together with us.

I am sure that otherwise it will not be possible.

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