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Oct 20, 2009,3:33 PM
CNN + male psychologists blame suicide rate on bad mothers...what's new.

This is an important article about the terrifying prevalence of suicide and attempted suicide in the Latina community. However, as happens all too often, the published psychological study decides that the major reason for this issue is that Latina mothers don't understand their daughters. The article highlights what is assumed to be a typical story of a Latina girl, Francisca, whose mother is too busy working 3 jobs (their father is not in the picture) to correctly parent her daughter, causing the daughter to be depressed.

Francisca blames her mother for not paying enough attention, in the midst of working 3 jobs and raising 4 kids, to notice the depression. Psychologist Luis Zayas, explains that mothers are also busy trying to instill the cultural values of their homeland, instead of acknowledging the cultural realities of the US. What are the cultural realities of the US? Francisca ends up pregnant at the age of 14, at which point she readily admits that she now understands that her mom was making sacrifices for her.

Which makes me wonder - how do we reach the pseudo-scientific conclusion that this depression is the mom's fault? What about societal factors - the inherent racism and inequality in our educational system, the prevalence of anti-"illegal immigrant" rhetoric in our media, etc. But of course, these issues are not the reason that young Latina girls feel little self-worth. It's their mom's fault.
Oct 18, 2009,11:27 PM
Film Reactions



Last Tuesday, we watched a documentary called The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. It was a disturbing and moving film about the way rape and other forms of sexual violence are used as a war tactics. Due to time constraints, we weren't able to host a discussion about the film. But, we want to hear your reactions. What did you think? Did you know this was going on? Where else does this happen? What is the government [not] doing? What can we do? Leave a comment and let us know how you feel.
Oct 6, 2009,11:35 AM
Whip It!


This past weekend I saw "WHIP IT" which was an awesome, women empowering movie, though not explicitly feministy. Ellen Page is the heroine, a nerdy girl from a podunk town in rural Texas who sneaks her way into the badass world of roller derby. Derby is part of her larger rebellion from her mom's dated ideas of what it means to be a woman. A star studded cast makes up the roller derby ladies, including Juliette Lewis, Eve, and Drew Barrymore, who also directed the movie. I give this movie a strong fuck yes [especially for a mainstream movie], for badass roller derby women, a woman director, and some cool chicks in the cast. Definitely check it out!
Here's a link to Feministing's review of the movie.
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