{"id":346,"date":"2008-02-11T22:45:21","date_gmt":"2008-02-12T03:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/?p=346"},"modified":"2008-02-11T22:45:21","modified_gmt":"2008-02-12T03:45:21","slug":"monterrey-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/?p=346","title":{"rendered":"Monterrey, Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mujeres_mexico_08.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m ambivalent about the places I\u2019ve visited in Mexico largely in part because I have traveled there for business not leisure. From the moment I board my connecting flight in Dallas\/Fort Worth and notice the flight is nearly full with American white male and Mexican male subcontractors and multinational workers I brace myself.\u00a0 \"mujeres_mexico_1.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On a previous trip and this trip I found myself unexpectedly challenged by the potential \u201cisms\u201d I would have to confront if I weren\u2019t mindful of the brutal violence against women, particularly violence perpetrated against unattached independent women. The expressions of over the top patriarchy, sexual repression and religious dogma put me in check and thus dampens my travel experience.<\/p>\n

First and foremost as a woman I didn\u2019t feel safe in Monterrey<\/a> or any of the places I transited or visited in Mexico, Secondly as a dreadlocked out lesbian I REALLY don’t feel safe and possibly in harms way. I know it’s a big country but I’m talking about deeply ingrained and institutionalized sexism and racism like some mess out of the Jim Crow south!<\/p>\n

It seems to me the threat of violence lurks just barely below the surface. Hence I found myself on edge and somewhat anxious in Leon, Mexico City and Monterrey during my first visit a few years ago and once again on this trip. The internalized racism, colorism and classism I\u2019ve observed amongst Mexicans are just too much for me. I don\u2019t feel very well equipped to deal effectively with the cultural dissonance and in such a manner that would enable me to\u00a0be a gracious traveler and visitor.<\/p>\n

\"monterrey_suburbia.JPG\"<\/a>\"monterrey_suburb2.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n


\nAs serendipity would have it a cyber sistah and fellow traveler I had not heard from in many years contacted me on the very day I arrived in Monterrey. I was feeling pissy about being out in the suburbs in and was trying to find something positive to shift my mood. The approaching full moon, the magnificent Cerro de Silla and the sistahs invitation to visit her and her partners\u2019 traditional, Mexican casita’s bed and full, breakfast helped to ground me.<\/p>\n

\"monterrey_1.JPG\"<\/a>It was good to vent and more importantly get another perspective from a dreadlocked Afriles American expat living on the west coast of Mexico. I have posted with permission our email exchange<\/a> to give Skyeview readers another perspective on Mexico and hopefully a considerably less biased viewpoint than my own.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

\"barrio_antigua_1.JPG\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Hot!<\/o:p><\/font><\/span><\/td>\nWhat\u2019s Not!<\/o:p><\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cerro de Silla<\/o:p><\/a><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nLatin machismo<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Full moon over Cerro de Silla<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nInstitutional sexism and misogyny<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barrio Antigua<\/st1:place><\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nUgly suburbs<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anti-violence consciousness raising and organization support for women and children.<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nRampant violence against women and girls<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kindness of strangers<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nOvert heterosexism<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mexican nougat candy.<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nOdious (skin) colorism<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vibrate textile and architectural colors<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nProliferation of multi-national corporations.<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Museo de Arte Contempor\u00e1neo de Monterrey<\/span><\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nApparent and widening gap between economically poor and affluent class due to NAFTA.<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Inexpensive and convenient airport transfer via pre-paid taxi service<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\nKnowledge that taxi drivers in some cities like Monterrey<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> routinely assault women.\u00a0 <\/span>In Mexico City<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> women travelers are advised not to take taxis unaccompanied especially at night. <\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n


\n\"barrio_antigua_2.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sistah Travelers Share Perspectives<\/strong><\/p>\n

#1
\nhey there sis so sorry you had that kinda experience in Monterrey…but they do have a reputation of drug related crap and all the attendant stuff that goes with it… mexico is a big place and the customs\/mores definitely vary by region… here, in the southern pacific, it is all peace and tranquilo…the area is known for it by mexicans…we are out…drag queens rule…women walk arm in arm, some boys do too…no one even so much as turns around to look…..we do feel safer here than anywhere we had been in the states…we can walk at night and look at a magnificent sky and enjoy it…no one thinks about it…or bothers us..as they are doing a similar thing…the stares we do draw(and they love reggaeton here!) are our locks and being curious about where we\u2019re from…no one ever assumes the
\nstates…dig that….and my dark skinned woman is worshipped by man, woman, child and beast here….so our take is different…no place is paradise, but this has been the closest i\u2019ve seen close up and personal…and it is close to the states should either of us need to go for whatever reason….awwwww, give it another
\ntry…. \ud83d\ude42
\nlotsa light<\/p>\n

ps: we drove back from the states and passed thru monterrey, we were advised not to stay there if we didn\u2019t have to…we stopped in san luis potosi..that was an adventure!!!<\/p>\n

skye9@berkeley.edu wrote:
\n21 January 2007 7:45 pm Monterrey, Mexico
\nGreeting and respect sistren,
\nWOW! I arrived in Monterrey a couple of hours ago. And as I sat in the taxi on my way to the hotel I thought about your last post to me informing me of your move to Mexico. As I approached my hotel I thought how nice it would be to know some sistahs in Mexico because frankly the Mexican brand of patriarchy and machismo just doesn\u2019t work for me. I made this trip as brief as I could so that I can leave ASAP.<\/p>\n

The flip side is the moon is filling and this amazing mountain range calls my spirit. I want to explore more. Frankly I don\u2019t feel safe in Mexico perhaps it\u2019s just because I\u2019ve only visited urban areas.
\nMuch thanks for your post.
\nSkye<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

—–
\n#2
\nhola hermna
\nlo siento no contestar, pero mi computador was onna fritz..some things jsut are the same no matter what…claro que si no prob with sharing my take onna situation….
\nsis, it is beautiful here…and sadly, too much western\/white\/usa folk influence always jacks a situation up for the worse…. mo to come…safew journey!
\noh yes, another interesting aside…i am to begin teaching english to hotel\/hosptiality industry folks..it\u00b4s a trip how in the face of folk struggling to survive all over the world, the luxury industry (owned by mostly white folk\/european folk).another lockhead sistah and her husband..from detroit(!)…are the most respected americans here in ixtapa-zihua…
\ni\u00b4ll be looking for ya coming …r and i would love to have you check us out…we are not a fancy place, but it is a beautiful, peaceful place and we can provide a perspective on this part of the world that apple vacations won\u00b4t \ud83d\ude09
\nsafe journeying…y hasta los proximos!<\/p>\n

#3
\nSkyediver wrote:
\nI can\u2019t tell you how glad I was to receive your posts while I was in Mexico. It really helped to ground me and stay open. Sis, some places I\u2019ve visited just \u201crub me the wrong way\u201d from day one. But of course you are right, Mexico is a large country with varied customs and norms. My Paris buddy wrote to me too, she lived and did research in the southern region of Mexico for many years. She worked with indigenous women, lesbians and women who\u2019d participated in arm struggle, some encompassing all these identities. I spent the last evening in Barrio Antigua\u2014and even encountered a lesbian couple swooning over each other in a park plaza filled with heterosexual couples. A beautiful sight to my eyes.
\nI will definitely keep in the back of my head a visit to your casa. I consider it a personal challenge to shift my biases or dislike of a places by visiting more and seeking a deeper experience. It\u2019s nice to know you two are inna de country. My challenge will be to schedule leisure travel that accommodates my business travel commitments. I am gearing up now to travel to India (Feb 9-22) and France (Feb 22-29).
\nLet\u2019s keep in touch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m ambivalent about the places I\u2019ve visited in Mexico largely in part because I have traveled there for business not leisure. From the moment I board my connecting flight in Dallas\/Fort Worth and notice the flight is nearly full with American white male and Mexican male subcontractors and multinational workers I brace myself.\u00a0 On a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travelogues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1c8Xx-5A","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}