"Perhaps Asunta did not share some aspects of her life because she was taught that some of her experiences were not significant." Although Gregorio Mamani's testimony is shocking and moving, Asunta Quispe's intrigues me much more, precisely because of those silences you mention. Motherhood represents a large part of what matters about her life, but there is much that we still ignore. How did she understand, for example, her own body? We have some glimpses, but as you say, that silence may be the result of an idea of patriarchal "decency" in which her femininity cannot be expressed in words.
I was right behind the father and kids at the top! He was telling the kids that they better not drink all the water because she’d be mad and then I heard him call her and tell her to hurry up because they were about to be up for the photo op at the top. Bro. They took the photo without her. I wanted to scream.
“I’ve felt that many women in my life do not discuss their hardships because they worry about burdening others around them. “
This line really spoke to me. This is an experience I have seen so many times with friends and family. It reminds me of the way women don’t talk about miscarriage. So many mothers feel shame and hide the pain they go through. We are taught to take up as little space as possible, that we are emotional and always overreacting. We are taught that the way we experience the world is wrong.
I try to tell my mom I appreciate all the things I am now coming around to realize she did/sacrificed/taught me (sorry, being an angsty teenage girl is the worst). I know it’s not a lot but I w t her to know it’s not lost on me.
"Perhaps Asunta did not share some aspects of her life because she was taught that some of her experiences were not significant." Although Gregorio Mamani's testimony is shocking and moving, Asunta Quispe's intrigues me much more, precisely because of those silences you mention. Motherhood represents a large part of what matters about her life, but there is much that we still ignore. How did she understand, for example, her own body? We have some glimpses, but as you say, that silence may be the result of an idea of patriarchal "decency" in which her femininity cannot be expressed in words.
I was right behind the father and kids at the top! He was telling the kids that they better not drink all the water because she’d be mad and then I heard him call her and tell her to hurry up because they were about to be up for the photo op at the top. Bro. They took the photo without her. I wanted to scream.
“I’ve felt that many women in my life do not discuss their hardships because they worry about burdening others around them. “
This line really spoke to me. This is an experience I have seen so many times with friends and family. It reminds me of the way women don’t talk about miscarriage. So many mothers feel shame and hide the pain they go through. We are taught to take up as little space as possible, that we are emotional and always overreacting. We are taught that the way we experience the world is wrong.
I try to tell my mom I appreciate all the things I am now coming around to realize she did/sacrificed/taught me (sorry, being an angsty teenage girl is the worst). I know it’s not a lot but I w t her to know it’s not lost on me.