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June 3, 2007
SisterSong, day 2: Latinas Unite for Reproductive Justice
Submitted by Molly Jackson
Today I attended a really interesting session called “Sexual Health and Latina Youth Development.” This session, lead by two women from the Health Initiatives for Youth organization, identified how Latinas are affected by overlapping oppressions such as adultism (something I personally had little experience with), classism, racism, sexism, and many other “ism”s. This session was unique in it that it was incredibly interactive, which I believe led to really compelling and dynamic discussions.
It started with going around the room and identifying what about our culture – “our” being Latina as that was the majority of people in the room – gives us strength and sustenance. Not surprisingly, most of the things mentioned were family centric: family, mothers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, family history, and fellow immigrants.
As a next step, we were asked to identify the stereotypes that are assigned to Latinas. I’ll mention some of those that affect sexual health fields: pregnant, Catholic, against birth control, fertile, and married young. Interesting, right?
The session’s leaders said these stereotypes affect the way the media portrays and conveys Latinos. In turn, policy is frequently made based on these stereotypes, and our communities end up with policy that doesn’t address the issues it needs to address. For instance, the types of programs that are funded (“abstinence-only” education, anyone?) aren’t adequately tackling the problems that exist. By going back to the sources of comfort and strength in Latino communities, we can integrate those aspects of Latino culture into our discussions and youth development programs to positively affect Latino reproductive justice.
Posted by Bush v. Choice at June 3, 2007 9:02 AM