Mujeres en la cocina de la mayordomía. Prestigio y costumbre en la mixteca de Oaxaca

Abstract

In this article I explain how women are re-elaborating certain practices and social spaces tied to notions of "la costumbre"-custom-, as a way to gain access to communitarian prestige and recognition in light of changes to social, ritual and political organization in a municipality from the Oaxacan Mixtec region. Taking into account an old feminist anthropology concern about the gender system as a prestige system, I question the rigidity of the power and prestige structure conferred upon gender relationships within cargo systems and I show the relevance of what are considered to be "domestic" activities in the construction of intimate communitarian spaces that women have created via the reproduction of a relevant rituality in the construction of contemporary communities. I observed how women use the concept of "la costumbre" to claim a type of symbolic capital that helped them prepare for and participate in other communitarian decision-making spaces, such as village assemblies.

Making futures in Oaxaca: Remittances in the diverse economies of social reproduction

“…But women also push against gendered hierarchies. For example, they insist that the work they do serving the communal, such as preparing food for hundreds or even thousands of people at fiestas , be recognised and grant them decision‐making in spaces where they were once excluded (Curiel, 2019; Aguilar Gil, 2019). These struggles and others against imposed colonial hierarchies and capitalist relations take on a non‐linear temporality that stretches beyond the territorial boundaries of communities.…”

Reconstituyendo la asamblea ciudadana pos-conflicto político en San Luis Amatlán, Oaxaca

“…Los sni incorporan en su praxis a los "usos y costumbres" en poblaciones indígenas y no indígenas oaxaqueñas, ya que el poder local se concentra en el proceder histórico de los pueblos a través de estrategias de vecindad e identidad originaria. En el sentido anterior, desde las políticas públicas y desde la academia dichos usos y costumbres han desatado la pugna entre opositores y defensores, quienes por un lado subrayan que estos son opresivos y limitan las libertades y derechos individuales, sobre todo de las mujeres indígenas (Curiel y Hernández-Díaz, 2015). Por su parte, los defensores ponderan el consenso y la inclusión comprendida en el sistema de cargos, así como el carácter altamente participativo de la asamblea comunitaria, por lo tanto, la discusión se ha centrado en la correcta armonización entre los derechos individuales y colectivos que ampara el Estado mexicano y su contraparte al interior de los pueblos regidos por los sni (Canedo, 2008).…”

Subordinated Autonomy and the Political Inclusion of Women in Indigenous Mexico

“…There is less evidence to support the claims that the Oaxacan transformation was the result of pressure from women’s social movements. Women certainly have advocated on their own behalf in many SNI municipalities (Curiel 2014; Vázquez García and Muñoz Rodríguez 2013), and some of these women pursued their claims through the courts once that avenue became available. There are also civic organizations advocating for indigenous women’s rights in Oaxaca City and throughout the state.…”

“…For example, Recondo (2001) and Eisenstadt (2007) estimate that women were prohibited from voting in about 75 of Oaxaca’s SNI municipalities (or 18 percent), based on government data from the late 1990s 3 . The true total was certainly higher, since the data were self-reported by local officials (Recondo 2001), and since there are many case descriptions of female exclusion in extant literature, which are not coded as such in the official record (e.g., Curiel 2014; Juan Martínez 2014). In addition, women have been discouraged from voting in many communities even where they were not formally excluded 4 .…”