Newsletter 11, March 2022
Corageous yes, submissive no…
Marilys Zayas Shuman y Lirians Gordillo Piña
This year Cuba had a March 8 fitting fitting for its time, the struggle to achieve gender equity and empowerment, the battles against patriarchy were made visible from different spheres and regions of the country.
This March 8 coincided with the first anniversary of the Program for the Advancement of Women (PAM), and it was an opportunity for the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) to analyze and evaluate it and its functioning and impact in the personal and work life of Cuban women.
PAM is a Government Program that promotes more comprehensive and effective actions for the prevention and elimination of manifestations of discrimination and violence against women, therefore, it constitutes a fundamental tool for the feminist struggle and the promotion of an inclusive culture in Cuban society today. Video https://youtu.be/Pd8kueZMLe0)
Among the contributions that have been made from academia and other spheres to the empowerment of Cuban women are the evaluation of fertility and adolescent pregnancy, the adoption of the strategy on gender and inclusion for technical and vocational education; similarly, 400 Gender Committees were created in agencies and institutions and the granting of a bonus of 50 percent was authorized for the payment of personal income taxes and housing solutions for mothers with multiple children or in situations of hardship, from which six thousand women have already benefited in provinces such as Villa Clara, Ciego de Ávila and Granma.
This March 8 coincided with the first anniversary of the Program for the Advancement of Women (PAM), and it was an opportunity for the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) to analyze and evaluate it and its functioning and impact in the personal and work life of Cuban women.
PAM is a Government Program that promotes more comprehensive and effective actions for the prevention and elimination of manifestations of discrimination and violence against women, therefore, it constitutes a fundamental tool for the feminist struggle and the promotion of an inclusive culture in Cuban society today. Video https://youtu.be/Pd8kueZMLe0)
Among the contributions that have been made from academia and other spheres to the empowerment of Cuban women are the evaluation of fertility and adolescent pregnancy, the adoption of the strategy on gender and inclusion for technical and vocational education; similarly, 400 Gender Committees were created in agencies and institutions and the granting of a bonus of 50 percent was authorized for the payment of personal income taxes and housing solutions for mothers with multiple children or in situations of hardship, from which six thousand women have already benefited in provinces such as Villa Clara, Ciego de Ávila and Granma.
From the streets
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Various initiatives in different provinces highlight the need to eliminate gender gaps and support female empowerment.
This March 8 began with an eye on the future, while remembering our victories. We called for resilience, conscious of the long road that remains. It was a good day to shout: #ValienteSí, #SumisaNo, #Feliz_alegre_fuerte Te quiero yo (#CorageousYes,SubmissiveNo, I want you #Joyful,Happy,Strong).
In the amphitheater of the neighborhood of Marianao a grassroots feminist M8 was held, an initiative that chose as its slogan: "Don’t say Happy Women's Day, say to hell with patriarchy".
This March 8 began with an eye on the future, while remembering our victories. We called for resilience, conscious of the long road that remains. It was a good day to shout: #ValienteSí, #SumisaNo, #Feliz_alegre_fuerte Te quiero yo (#CorageousYes,SubmissiveNo, I want you #Joyful,Happy,Strong).
In the amphitheater of the neighborhood of Marianao a grassroots feminist M8 was held, an initiative that chose as its slogan: "Don’t say Happy Women's Day, say to hell with patriarchy".
To turn our gaze to those stories of women who continue to rebel and who with their struggles live a superlative existence, the Cinematheque of Cuba and the Cimarronas Project (Maroon, [f]) opened an invitation to the cycle "Ísimas. They rebel", as an opportunity to defend, through the moving image, the struggle for the emancipation of women and that history will never again be told in the masculine.
Unity, sisterhood, grassroots participation, articulation, responsible communication, equality, equity, freedom, knowledge, were key words in the meeting of the National FMC with a group of feminist collectives to bring to the table some key issues about their struggles against patriarchy.
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The grassroots feminist space of sisterhood included massages, crafts, music, audiovisuals, dance therapy, board games, accompaniment in legal matters, sale of books, moments to share life experiences, gastronomy and self-defense, in addition to a concert by the women’s group Obini Batá.
For its part, the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Havana held a participatory workshop with teachers and students to reflect on gender from their own experiences. 
In the province of Santa Clara activists and entrepreneurs of that city met with the aim of vindicating the rights of women, to talk about gender-based violence and support the new Family Code. From the tables, the activists shared with the population and clarified doubts linked, mostly, to issues related health and gender violence.
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Girls who do not believe patriarchy’s stories speak out
Ana Clara participated in the Red Scarves’ call to a grassroots feminist March 8. “To hell with the patriarchy, to hell with the patriarchy”, chanted a group of women and men on March 8 in the Fe del Valle Park, in the municipality of Centro Habana. The street performance was part of a day’s actions that questioned the sexual division of leisure and domestic work, harassment, sexist violence and femicide.
Brief conversations with participants in the initiative and a review of social networks and WhatsApp groups revealed other ideas in the commemoration of International Women's Day. It is common to find the recognition of the spaces of equality reached and conquered by Cuban women, also the denunciation of own challenges and, of great interest, the commitment to spaces and autonomous projects that unite young people.
“I do believe that, for a while now, especially in the last two years, the meanings of March 8 have been changing and this year I feel it more. That makes me super happy because more and more women and people are joining a narrative that means March 8 as a day to also demand rights and problems for which we must continue to fight”, agrees the young journalist Claudia Rafaela Ortiz Alba.
The party and the revelry of fighting in the street and in bed; anger and indignation at normalized sexism; visual and creative force as an ally; organizing among women: accompaniment from allies; uncomfortable and challenging intersectionality; the feminist cry and clamor that raises its voice with pride, and also a certain fashionable air about female empowerment without an intersectional vision, were some of the things left behind by this M8. For all of us to come together could be a not-so-distant dream.
Brief conversations with participants in the initiative and a review of social networks and WhatsApp groups revealed other ideas in the commemoration of International Women's Day. It is common to find the recognition of the spaces of equality reached and conquered by Cuban women, also the denunciation of own challenges and, of great interest, the commitment to spaces and autonomous projects that unite young people.
“I do believe that, for a while now, especially in the last two years, the meanings of March 8 have been changing and this year I feel it more. That makes me super happy because more and more women and people are joining a narrative that means March 8 as a day to also demand rights and problems for which we must continue to fight”, agrees the young journalist Claudia Rafaela Ortiz Alba.
The party and the revelry of fighting in the street and in bed; anger and indignation at normalized sexism; visual and creative force as an ally; organizing among women: accompaniment from allies; uncomfortable and challenging intersectionality; the feminist cry and clamor that raises its voice with pride, and also a certain fashionable air about female empowerment without an intersectional vision, were some of the things left behind by this M8. For all of us to come together could be a not-so-distant dream.
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