Spanish Speaking World Exam 3

Question 1

Arpilleras

Answer 1

• “burlap” in Spanish
• quilts with brightly colored patchwork depicting political scenes, became popular in Chile during the military dictatorship of August Pinochet
• used as a form of silent protest

Question 2

Why were the arpilleras a successful form of protest?

Answer 2

They were overlooked because they were seen as a “woman’s craft”

Question 3

Composite families

Answer 3

• a household that holds large “families”, which may include extended family as well as non-blood related people such as godchildren or best friends
• used as a “safe-guard”: if someone lost their job, they would have financial support from the others in the household; and paying bills and rent was also cheaper with so many people paying

Question 4

Familism

Answer 4

a belief in the centrality of family and often prioritizes family over the individual

Question 5

Pros and cons of composite families

Answer 5

Pros: shared financial support, provides a safety net for the individual
Cons: oppressive to individuals who don’t conform to “normal standards”

Question 6

Heteronormativity

Answer 6

the tendency to organize social relations and citizen rights based on the notion that reproductive heterosexuality is ideal, then to judge a person’s worth and eligibility for jobs, social status, and inheritance

Question 7

Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo

Answer 7

• The Mothers
• an all-female protest against the military dictatorship in Argentina for the disappearance of sons and brothers
• played on the image of “the mother”: protesters wore clothing that women would wear in the house, reminding people of their own mothers
• played on image of Mary

Question 8

Machismo

Answer 8

• a strong or exaggerated sense of manliness
• virility, courage, strength, and entitlement to dominate are masculine traits
• men are physically stronger, but morally weaker than women

Question 9

Marianismo

Answer 9

• a strong exaggeration of women being physically weaker but morally stronger

Question 10

What is the problem with machismo and marianismo?

Answer 10

• since men are seen as morally weaker, this gives them loopholes to be unfaithful to their wives as long as they provide for their family
• as long as they meet the limited expectations, no one will question their moral or sexual actions, homosexual or not

Question 11

Patrimonialism

Answer 11

• a form of governance where the power flows directly from the leader themselves, the person is more powerful than the office
• constitutes the blending of private and public sector
• family networks can even become too powerful

Question 12

Remittances

Answer 12

money transfers from an immigrated person to their family or friends in their home country

Question 13

Super Mom (Supermadre)

Answer 13

• a term often applied to how female politicians imagine or cast their role as leaders, as mothers to the nation or region

Question 14

Violencia de Genero

Answer 14

the term in Spanish for domestic violence or violence against women

Question 15

What are “feminine powers” and what are they derived from?

Answer 15

• caregiving, moral, responsible, domestic, associated with the house
• Super mom uses stereotypes to their advantage: marianismo
• allows feminine things to slip under the gov.’s nose

Question 16

What is the sexuality grab basket?

Answer 16

• many groups thrown into one basket
• under the loopholes made by machismo (the low standards for men)
• includes all sexual encounters outside of marriage, homo- and heterosexual
• creates closets to hide in

Question 17

Historically, why haven’t LGBTQ+ issues been part of “the Left’s” agenda?

Answer 17

• gender and sexuality issues are considered post-material concerns by Latin America, who focuses on material concerns such as food and shelter
• The Left’s image is hypermasculine, making it maybe not the best place to take issues such as this

Question 18

Why is the Left’s image so hypermasculine?

Answer 18

Latin America had to play up their military power during the cold war, which lead to them upholding images in military garb, with guns, and smoking cigars

Question 19

Why have shocks and horrors been ineffective in Latin America?

Answer 19

Because there is already a high rate of violence in Latin America, so hate crimes based on gender and sexuality and other such things get drowned out by everything else.
- AIDS crisis was one successful shock because public figures were effected

Question 20

Why would LGBTQ+ people be more likely to leave home early?

Answer 20

• pressures from family about fitting the heteronormative “standard”
• dangers of getting sucked into the informal economy (because they lack an address, are very young, do not have an education, or are pushed into it by other people because they “can’t do anything else”)
• the only two paths out of the house are marriage or a career and both are unobtainable for some people: heteronormativity rewarded by jobs and you can’t marry who you want

Question 21

What are some dangers of LGBTQ+ people leaving home early?

Answer 21

• getting sucked into the informal economy which causes social and physical dangers
• physical: hate crimes, murder, cyclical violence because the police cannot be involved
• social: hard to return to formal economy => gaps in resume, penalization for informal work, invisible to authorities