[eng] Valentina Correa Uribe - Revolution of care

Hitman. Caliber 38mm. Crime. Murder. Criminal intent. 

These are some of the words that I have had to integrate in these last 10 months regarding the murder of my father. On the road of mourning and justice, I would like to reflect on the masculinity of the path. Violence and everything that surrounds the execution and reaction to a crime - murderers, lawyers, judges, prosecutors and policemen - domain and monopoly of the male gender, is one more attribute of the patriarchy rooted in Latin American societies.

In this sense, it is neither curious nor striking that 92% of homicides in Chile - similar numbers in the world - are committed by men, like 95% of sexual offenders. Men are also crowned in the world of drug trafficking, weapons and corruption. I do not seek here to sanctify the female gender as an always careful, kind and noble figure, nor do I want to locate the male gender as the origin of all evils.

The criticism is directed at the current hegemonic social order - the patriarchy - which places man at the top of the administration of power, with a monopoly on the exercise of physical and symbolic violence. Is this a problem of power itself or one of the male gender? Power based on fear legitimizes violence as Hobbes stated a few centuries ago. I do not consider that the problem is power, but its exercise and basal component. I believe in power at the service of care. When a father or mother forbids his young daughter or son certain content on the internet, they are using their power to care, and so on thousands of examples. So, if it is not power, is it the male gender? No, rather it is the formal and informal education that builds masculinities with ambition for dominant power, property and social prestige.

If power can take care and masculinity is built, then we have a window of hope. Faced with the breakdown of patriarchy, the possibility of proposing a new social order and adding the main ingredient of power emerges: care. The gender barter, that men leave the domes of domination and that women enter, will not reduce sexual, physical or symbolic violence: the key lies in the revolution of care that is ordered from power.

After living through such a traumatic experience and by the way, so cartoonish of the male chauvinist - and so macho – masculinity, that for property, prestige and power killed my father in cold blood on a silent Monday of confinement, my proposal to heal the wound, believe and live again, lies in feminism. In that feminism that not only proclaims the end of patriarchy, but also proposes how this new social order is built: exchanging fear for care and domination for collaboration.

It is time to cross borders, go beyond the noisy slogan "the patriarchy is going to fall" and discuss the sourdough of the new social order, since it will be the only way not to repeat old recipes. Power will continue to exist and it will be necessary for a society that seeks to protect. Entering into the post-patriarchal discussion is key, because we run the risk - unlikely, but undeniable - that the gender swap in leadership may mean that women will seek the same power, prestige and property as their predecessors, the same ambition that can lead us women to hire hitmen, become murderers, buy 38mm caliber guns and commit intentional crimes.

* Valentina Correa U.

Woman with 32 intense years. I grew up in Viña del Mar, Chile, a lucky traveler and in love with Ethiopia. Always in rebellion, today in mourning and seeking justice. A bit of an acupuncturist, a former missionary, on the way to sociology and a master's degree in interdisciplinary social intervention. From the Fundación Para la Confianza [Foundation for trust] committed to a world without abuse.

[1] Translated from the Spanish (Chile) by Andrea Balart-Perrier.