海角大神

When Carmen Guzm谩n Orozco first arrived at the Telebachillerato Comunitario San Andr茅s de Bara帽a as a teaching fellow in 2016, she was taken aback.

It wasn鈥檛 the lack of water or internet connection that surprised her at this school of 140 high school students 鈥� it was the whistles.

鈥淚鈥檇 walk by the classrooms and boys would openly whistle at me,鈥� says Ms. Guzm谩n,听a 20-something, second-year fellow with Ense帽a por Mexico (Teach for Mexico), a program modeled after Teach for America that places high-achieving college graduates in public schools here for two years.

Guzm谩n鈥檚 fellowship includes identifying a problem and coming up with a project to address it. The teachers are asked to watch for issues that take kids out of school, but aren't necessarily directly related to education 鈥� such as organized crime 鈥� and to create courses around them.听In Guzm谩n鈥檚 case, after spending time in this rural community on the outskirts of Silao, Guanajuato, where stereotypes about gender roles run rampant,听she quickly realized there was a need for a course on gender violence, respect, and human rights.

Such classes are not common in Mexico, where a conservative religious outlook influences classroom culture, and views about gender 鈥撎齩ften introduced and enforced in the home 鈥� can be difficult to counter with coursework. But incidents of 鈥渕achismo,鈥� like those Guzm谩n encountered, combined with growing violence against women, are lending urgency to the need for more discussion around these topics.

鈥淲omen killed in this country have left a historic imprint on our society,鈥� says Daniel Hern谩ndez Rosete Mart铆nez, a professor who researches masculinity and violence in education at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City. 鈥淢achismo is deeply, deeply ingrained.鈥�

The conservative, Catholic roots in Mexico mean that few teachers want to recognize 鈥� or broach 鈥� gender, machismo, or the human body in the classroom, he explains. And brushing over these conversations has lasting effects.

Deep thinking in class

On a recent Friday afternoon, some 30 high school students sit in a circle, examining a black and white photo. The woman in the picture is walking down the sidewalk, and a string of men in the background appear to be calling out to her, heckling.听

Guzm谩n invites the students to describe what they observe.

鈥淪he looks uncomfortable,鈥� says one student, Lupita, tugging on the collar of her school uniform, a dark blue v-neck sweater.

鈥淚 imagine her getting dressed that morning and feeling very confident,鈥� shares another student across the room, Karla. 鈥淏ut once she gets on the street, these men are interpreting her clothes as something for them.鈥澨�

鈥淭he men think she鈥檚 beautiful, but they鈥檙e expressing it poorly,鈥� offers up a young man named Oscar. 鈥淚t鈥檚 making her uncomfortable.鈥�

鈥淒o you think she likes what the men are saying?鈥� asks Guzm谩n. The group responds with a unanimous 鈥渘o.鈥� The conversation moves toward the students鈥� personal lives: has anyone ever experienced this behavior? 鈥淵es.鈥� Has anyone participated in it? Hands shoot up in the air 鈥� 鈥測es.鈥�

These second-semester seniors, who started the workshop with Guzm谩n last fall, say the conversations with her and their peers, are some of the first about gender, violence, and machismo they鈥檝e had in their 18 years of life.

鈥淲hen the workshop started, I didn鈥檛 think women really suffered that much violence in Mexico,鈥� says senior Juan Mart铆n Santiba帽ez, adding that he is gay and has always considered himself an ally to his female friends. 鈥淏ut then I realized, I had been violent toward my female friends on various occasions, making people uncomfortable without really realizing it. Pinching them or insulting them [based on their gender]. We鈥檙e all thinking a lot more about our behavior.鈥澨�

On average, seven or more women are killed every day in Mexico, according to a 2017 joint report by the Mexican government and the United Nations, which blames increased drug violence for an uptick seen in recent years. In 2016, 2,746 women lost their lives specifically because of their gender.听

鈥淭here hasn鈥檛 been success in changing the cultural patterns that devalue women and consider them disposable,鈥� the report says. It defines femicide as the killing of women by their intimate partners.听

Creating resources

Aside from headlines about missing or murdered women, the topic of machismo and femicide is rarely touched on in a systematic, educational way in Mexican society, observers say.听

That鈥檚 something the nonprofit Legalidad Por M茅xico听has noted as well. The organization was created two years ago by Teach for Mexico staff and alums, and it focuses on identifying challenges in Mexico that may not be directly related to the education system, but impact how students learn 鈥� and whether they stay in school.听Legalidad Por M茅xico听focuses on three broad themes: human rights, crime prevention, and violence prevention. They ask Teach for Mexico fellows to identify problems in their communities that are affecting their students, then train the fellows听on how to create a course like the one Guzm谩n is conducting, offering resources on methodology and evaluation.听

鈥淭he hypothesis we had was that if you increase the knowledge of children regarding these three topics, give them tools to defend themselves from organized听crime, or violence, or understand their rights, they are going to be better able to increase their level of education,鈥� says 脕ngeles Estrada Gonz谩lez, managing director and co-founder of听Legalidad Por M茅xico.

Ms. Estrada says she noted that there are problems that are unique to different regions of Mexico 鈥� such as bullying听or environmental degradation. But one issue seemed to have a universal presence in all of the communities where fellows work: gender discrimination.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just something we were hearing about in the north or the south. No, it鈥檚 something all around Mexico,鈥� Estrada says.

Recognizing violence

Guzm谩n, who hopes to work for a gender-focused nongovernmental organization or women鈥檚 collective after finishing her Teach for Mexico commitment in July, says violence is normalized here. 鈥淎ny kind of violence, it鈥檚 all considered natural,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 鈥榥ormal鈥� that an argument ends in death. It鈥檚 鈥榥ormal鈥� for boys and girls in school to hit each other.鈥�

The first several weeks of her course focused on demystifying these ideas. She spoke to the students about the many different kinds of violence 鈥� economic, physical, verbal 鈥� and their basic human rights, like the right to keep studying, even if a boyfriend or parent pressures them to drop out of school.

鈥淚n the street, [my classmates] really started to put this class into practice,鈥� explains Juan, the senior, saying they now call each other out if someone is听being disrespectful or violent in any way.

Abernece Valdez, a 17-year-old senior who has experienced catcalls walking to school, says she鈥檚 鈥渓earned a ton鈥� from the course. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know that I have a right to education,鈥� she explains.

She鈥檚 since started conversations in her home that she never could have imagined before. 鈥淢y dad is a little machista,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e wouldn鈥檛 let me wear shorts or skirts because he said it would provoke men.鈥�

With the vocabulary and tools she learned in Guzm谩n鈥檚 course, she was able to sit down with her parents and talk about why she wanted to wear shorts: When it鈥檚 hot outside, it鈥檚 more comfortable for her. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not for men,鈥� she says. To her surprise, her father conceded.听

But it also made her realize something important about her own behavior, she says.

鈥淢y boyfriend would yell at me. He grabbed me. When we started the workshop I learned that wasn鈥檛 normal. Before, I thought it was just what happened, or that I provoked it,鈥� she says.

鈥淚 learned that there鈥檚 no point where it鈥檚 OK to get violent.鈥�

She dumped him.

鈥淎ccess to information can create change,鈥� Guzm谩n says, hopeful that her work and her students will put a dent in machismo. The students are now tasked with teaching the same course to their family and community members.听鈥淭hese lessons are reaching [beyond] my classroom.鈥�