Parrhesia, a Cacerolazo beyond Argentina, and a Purple Spring in Mexico
Parrhesia is a Greek word often translated to free speech. As described by Michel Foucault in “The Meaning and Evolution of the word Parrhesia,” this form of “free speech” must follow a set of rules to be considered parrhesia. First, he says the speaker must be a courageous citizen of the state in which he is speaking, and must speak in a public space. Secondly, the speaker must clearly speak of only what he believes is true and correct. And his speech must be a criticism of someone or something in power, which implies the speaker will feel fear (hence the need for courage). Lastly, although parrhesia may be hard to achieve because it requires a lot of characteristics, those who do speak it must do so because they feel it is a duty they owe to themselves to be the best they can be.
Parrhesia done by an individual is very hard to achieve because it basically consists of a person without power challenging one with, which is unfair and unjust since the start. However, if many people perform Parrhesia together for the same cause it is easier for them to truly achieve a voice against those in power. This can be seen in recent women’s protest, where women across the world who for years have been shut up and put down are joining together in large groups and in various forms which is causing an impact. They have achieved through these various forms of protest a voice which is a crucial step on the road to achieving change.
In 2002 women in Argentina started a protest against the practices and policies of IMF/World Bank which have economically harmed their families and against the corruption in their government. These women took the streets armed with pots and pans, banging them as loud as they could in order to be heard. The loud sound made by these pots and pans being banged must have been very impactful to those hearing it. However, there are deeper meanings and symbols embedded in this “cacerolazo.” For example, the idea that these women who for the most part were housewives could use their kitchen utensils as a form of protest was extremely meaningful. This is so, because to a certain extent they used the tools handed down to them by men to be kept in the home doing chores to protest against those whom use their power corruptly. The women in Argentina made such a loud sound that they inspired others in other countries and even other continents, to have a cacerolazo as well. On the same day as the Argentine Cacerolazo women in London, had their very own cacerolazo. Other groups of women following Argentina’s example was important because it showed how a simple way of protest could inspire others beyond Argentina. Ultimately, showing that regardless of physical borders and cultural differences many women across the globe have decided to have their voice heard.
A second more recent protest took place on April 24, 2016 in 40 cities across Mexico. This protest named “Purple Spring” involved thousands of women across a dominantly patriarchal country, protesting against sex violence in that same country, Mexico. The author, Meztli Yoalli Rodriguez says “in Mexico, every day 7 women are murdered. Every day you hear or read in the news about disappeared, murdered, kidnapped, beaten, harassed, and raped women.” It is well known that rape and violence against women occurs across the world, however living in a nation in which this violence against women is so visible and seeing that your government does nothing to help stop it must make Mexican women feel so helpless and fearful. However, despite the fear that these Mexican women must have felt they decided to take a stance and march to show the women of their country who could not be there or are not as brave, that they are not alone that thousands have experienced some form of violence and that there’s hundreds of people just like them. They also showed machista men, who believe they are superior to women and in many cases treat women as their property, that women had each other and together they could break these machista ideals. This protest in my opinion was very well thought out and planned. They had a virtual protest on social medias like Facebook and Twitter using hashtags like vivas nos queremos, which means alive we want each other, simultaneously to their physical protest in which hey had no leaders and marched horizontally to avoid any connection to the figure of a pyramid in a patriarchal structure. Ultimately showing that the parrhesia Greeks wrote about thousands of years ago is still put into use today, and that it may be used most efficiently if many voices with the same opinion join as one.
