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FEMININE CRITIQUE: Featured (from left to right) is Holt student Frankie Mastrangelo, speaker Anne Lacsamana, and Director of Rollins College Office of Multicultural Affairs, Mahjabeen Rafiuddin.

Girl Talk in Women's Studies

By: TJ Fisher

Posted: 2/5/10

Tuesday, Jan. 26, marked the first part of a three part Women's Study Panel that included Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Scholars, all of which are alumnae of Rollins. The three day event was centered around three presenters: Dr. Molly Talcott '98, Dr. Anne Lacasamana '93, and Dorcas R. Gilmore '00. Dr Talcott's presentation Tuesday was held on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. in Bush 120.

The fairly large classroom filled to the brim with eager faculty and staff ready to learn about Talcott's studies until there was only standing room. Her presentation was named "El Aire es Nuestro": Gender, Culture, and Resistance Among Indigenous Youth in Southern Mexico. For two years, Talcott lived in southern Mexico studying the struggles of running a community radio in rural Mexico, specifically The Network of Indigenous Community Radios of Southwest Mexico.

The presentation focused on the life of the youths who ran the radio stations, and it introduced some of the background of the situation in Mexico. The state is extremely repressed, as well as turning into what Talcott called a militarized polyarchy, which had led to media privatization and consolidation.

The reasons for Talcott's studies are rooted in many places, including the emergence of a gender equity and human rights culture in the youth, as well as the coming of age of a new generation, and examining what the newest generation is capable of. Above all, Talcott took an interest in the youths, and made a bond with those who ran the community stations.

Throughout the seminar, Talcott also talked about the shift towards women's rights in Southern Mexico, as well as the growing popularity of educational, local community stations. With messages that encourage human rights and safe sex, the radio stations were working to assist their community. A big message supported by the station was sexual rights, talking about safe sex, love, and relationships. Talcott said at the commencement of her presentation that it was all about having an alternative use for public airwaves, and in a way that is much more productive for those in the community.

In the question and answer session that followed, Talcott said that she was surprised by the prevalence of human rights in the network, as well as the oppressive nature of the government against the media in Mexico. For instance, the military patrol the station as a threat to the community show. In such situations, the community often comes out to the station and stands up against the military, to show support for their local radio. As for expansion of such community stations, many are popping up all over rural Mexico, creating a positive environment for people to live in, and even making a community where people do not have to migrate in order to live a civil life.

In closing, Talcott explained that these stations were almost constantly in testing mode, something here in the United States we would call pirating the airwaves. Also, these stations demonstrate a generational shift where women are accepted, and cultural restoration and preservation is highlighted.