JE #8

Due to the campus organizations I am a member of, I knew about the Juarez femicides. I was aware of the horrific murders of thousands of women in Juarez but I did not know specifics. My organizations have put on workshops and events educating students on campus about the women in Juarez. This class, specifically Entry Denied by Ethne Lubheid and Desert Blood by la Profe, brought to light the harsh reality of the femicides and the history of border policing. In Entry Denied by Ethne Lubheid, chapter 4 Looking Like a Lesbian angered me the most. According to Luibhéid, since the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952, immigration service efforts began to police the border against lesbians and gay men (Luibhéid, Entry Denied, 77). The reason was lesbian and gay men were considered being mentally defective and sexual deviates. This process of exclusion was extremely problematic because how could the border patrol know if a woman was a lesbian? The answer, in my opinion, is “sexuality profiling.” Officers assume a woman was lesbian primarily based on stereotypical notions. For example, short hair equated to being lesbian. I was shocked to learn that lesbian immigrants were excludable and deportable from the United States until as recently as 1990. These women were not only excluded for their culture but also for whom they love. In Desert Blood by la Profe, the last and final chapter affected me the most. Specifically this quote, That’s what this was, she realized. A huge malignant tumor of silence, meant to protect not the perpetrators, themselves, but the profit reaped by the handiwork of the perpetrators. (Gaspar de Alba, Desert Blood, 335). Ivon realized the lives of these women were no one’s concern. These marginalized women that are subjected to rape and murder were disregarded and forgotten. Both books provided a better understanding to not only the misogynistic murders of young women and girls in Juarez and on the border but also the history of border policing. The Gregory Nava's film Bordertown was effective at raising my consciousness about the Juarez femicides in the sense that it provided visibility on a grand stage such as film. However, I do not feel it did the murders and experiences of the mujeres justice.