International Women's Day!

Mujeres!

The women of Duveaux made quite a presence March 8th, 2009 in the Dominican Republic. We marched screaming phrases like….. Mujer Lucha, Familia Crece (Women fight, while families grow); Mujeres de Duveaux, pongamos en acción para que cambiemos nuestra situación (Women from Duveaux, put us in action so we can change our situation.) The phrases have a lot more umph in Spanish!
It was pretty exhilarating marching together with these Dominican mothers to celebrate Women’s Day in such a machista society. I was pretty empowered to say the least. Now, this is not to say that all the piropos (catcalls) have stopped or that my conversations with men are no longer limited to why I don’t have a boyfriend or what kind of men I like (dark skinned or light skinned), because something tells me this will be the case while I am living in this country, but regardless, this day was great. I was happy to feel included and partly responsible for an important event that promoted female empowerment in this country or at least in the community of Duveaux. We marched throughout the community and ended up in the Local – the Women’s center. Milanda and Nilcia performed a skit, Melania, Milagros and Martina sang with an audience of about 50 women and 4 men! I had fun and at the same time was supporting women in this community, which felt pretty good. I am not expecting too many male dominated marriages to change, but at least more women in Duveaux know they can hangout with other women every other Thursday, chill out, laugh and relax with their female peers. March on Mujeres de Duveaux!