Resumen

RABY, Dominique. Our Mother suffers and cries. Domestic Violence and Good Living based on the Relation with Maize in a Nahua Community of Guerrero, Mexico. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2018, vol.39, n.155, pp.43-75. ISSN 2448-7554.  https://doi.org/10.24901/rehs.v39i155.288.

Domestic violence is an issue of primordial importance for indigenous women in Mexico. Organized indigenous women seek to promote gender equity in the broader framework of respect for their culture, despite traditions and customs that are pervaded with gender hierarchy. This article presents elements for reflecting on this issue based on the analysis of people’s relation to maize in a Nahua community of the State of Guerrero, Mexico. Using three traditional narratives, it shows how maize -which is considered a feminine member of the House (in the Levi-Straussian sense)- embodies fundamental values of non-violence towards women. Since maize is at the very basis of economic and familial life, its highly-positive “differential value” (in the sense of Héritier) has a transformative potential that can be used creatively in the struggle against gendered violence. This potential is analyzed here through such indigenous concepts as gender complementarity and Good Living, with special attention given to women’s voices.

Palabras llave : maize; gender; violence; Good Living; Nahuas; Mexico.

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