When one pictures the leadership in a revolution, a common misconception is that it is a male-dominated image. The photograph to the left breaks down the barriers of this misconception and shows that women were just as a part of the revolution as their male counterparts. The EZLN were not only fighting for the rights of indigenous people, but for the breaking down of the patriarchal boundaries that held not only indigenous women, but all women back in Mexican society. Women were just as important to the revolution as the indigenous males. One document that was important to the cause of the revolution was entitled Women’s Revolutionary Law. The document demanded ten points to be carried out that would bring women to the same level of equal footing in society as men. This photograph attest to the fight for equality for not just indigenous, but all members of the Mexican population. To raise the standard of living of the women in a society is to raise all parts of society. The mask that the women wore in the photograph symbolized the fight for equality not for just the indigenous population, but for the equality for both men and women. (https://eng316.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/zapatista-images/)
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http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/mexico/ezln/womlaw.html
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This link will take you to a document from the EZLN that includes all of the rights that a woman should be given in a society. The EZLN revolution was not only about the rights of the indigenous in Mexico, but it was a fight for equality of all people. Women, according to this document, should have the same rights that are freely given to men. This part of the population is subject to more exploitation simply by being both a member of the indigenous community and based on gender. Contained in this document is the call for all women to enjoy equality under Mexican law, not one particular division in the population. This document, entitled Women’s Revolutinary Law, shows a feminist aspect to the EZLN revolution that is sometimes not seen because the focus is on the rebellion against the NAFTA trade agreement and economic injustices. The ten points listed in the document are all aimed at taking away the patriarchal aspects of society that do not allow women to fully participate in society. The EZLN was not only a fight for the rights of the indigenous population, but for all people who are marginalized within the Mexican society.
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https://www.opendemocracy.net/sylvia-marcos/zapatista-women%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-law-as-it-is-lived-today
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In this essay by Sylvia Marcos, the role of the document entitled Women’s Revolutionary Law is discussed twenty years later after the revolution started in 1994. Marcos takes an in-depth look at the feminist aspect that this document brought to the revolution by interviewing women and getting their opinion on how gender equality in Mexico has evolved in the past twenty years. Throughout the essay, she includes quotes of women when discussing the ten demands of the Women’s Revolutionary Law. When discussing each of the ten demands, the opinions of Mexican women are given to show why they believe so strongly in this idea of gender equality. The inclusion of women’s opinions by Marcos is important because they are the ones affected by unjust gender equality in a negative fashion. Marcos shows how the revolution of the EZLN for indigenous and economic rights could not happen without the fight for the inclusion of women into an equal society. The capitalist system in which the EZLN is fighting against has led to the unjust placement of women into a lower position than men in society. For the EZLN to leave the fight for equality of women out, they would not be fighting for the whole group of marginalized people in society.
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