GENERAL EMBROIDERY, SHIRT

A very interesting shirt made in support of the women in the in the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, a revolutionary leftist group in Chiapas, Mexico.

These women were usually married early, and in a very patriarchal and sometimes abusive relationships. Women mobilised creating EZLN to fight for opportunities within their lives and communities. They created a charter of issues of greatest importance to them. As part of their protest, they wore black balaclavas and created embroidered shirts – of which this is one.

The organisation now has built to having international support and events.

The shirt has a lady in dressed in a black balaclava with dark coloured shirt, with one yellow flower on each side.

Embroidered on the shirt is:

Nuestra Feurza es La Razon EZLN

We are not afraid of you

In Chiapas during the second half of the twentieth century, indigenous women were married at a very young age, usually around thirteen or fourteen. They tended to have little choice in the matter; the future husband selected a woman and the marriage was negotiated between the parents. Once married, the women fulfilled their primary roles of child-rearing, cooking, and housekeeping, though they also participated in other labour such as agriculture. Married women were often subject to mistreatment by their husbands, including physical abuse. In addition, indigenous women of Chiapas lacked access to formal education, and they typically did not learn Spanish like many men. This inhibited their socioeconomic mobility because Spanish is the main language spoken in cities and used in business practices.

Indigenous feminism is invested in struggles of women, indigenous people, and look to their roots for solutions whilst using some western ideas for achieving these goals.

The Women’s Revolutionary Law strived to change “traditional patriarchal domination” and it addressed many of the grievances that Chiapas women had. There are 10 laws which were created in consultation with the women of the region.

Included are:

• Second, women have the right to work and to receive a just salary.
• Third, women have the right to decide on the number of children they have and take care of.

Fourth, women have the right to participate in community affairs and hold leadership positions if they are freely and democratically elected.