Imperiled Femininity: The Dismembering of Citizenship in Northern Mexico.

CHIHUAHUA (Mexico : State); NORTHERN Mexico

A bstract This article examines how historical constructions of Mexican citizenship are implicated in women's current performances of femininity in Chihuahua City. Throughout much of Mexican history, women's rights to life and bodily integrity did not inhere within their own persons but were extensions of the rights of their fathers and husbands. Women living outside male protection had no guarantee of security, and those living within such protection were only guaranteed security from men outside of their relationships of dependency. The following work argues that the legacy of dependent citizenship has created a 'bodies politic,' which structures the current system of impunity for gendered violence, and that these structures continue to have an impact on the reimagining of femininity. Drawing on 13 months of fieldwork spent investigating which performances of femininity women most associated with security; this research examines the quotidian strategies through which women are negotiating their need and/or desire to expand upon such performances with their continued desire for security in the increasingly dangerous environment of Northern Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen Este articulo examina como las construcciones hist6ricas de la ciudadanía mexicana se traducen en el desempeño de la feminidad de las mujeres en la ciudad de Chihuahua. Los derechos de la mujer a la vida y ala integridad personal no son inherentes a su persona sino que se construyeron como extensiones de los derechos de sus padres 0 maridos. Aquellas mujeres que viven fuera de la protecci6n masculina no han tenido garantías de seguridad y aquellas que viven bajo la protecci6n masculina no tienen seguridad fuera de sus relaciones de dependencia. Sostengo que este legado de ciudadanía dependiente crea 'cuerpos políticos' que estructuran el sistema actual de impunidad de la violencia de genero e impactan la manera en que la feminidad es imaginada. A partir de un trabajo de campo de 13 meses investigando cuales son los desempeños de la feminidad asociados con la seguridad, examine; particularmente; las estrategias a partir de las cuales las mujeres negocian sus necesidades y/o deseos. Así mismo, analizo sus deseos (posibilidades?) de expandir sus demandas, cuando a un deseo de seguridad en un ambiente cada vez mas peligroso como el del Norte de México. [Genero, Historia, México] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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