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READER‘S LETTER<br />
8th of March: WOMEN’s<br />
MEXICAN march<br />
Liz Lowenberg<br />
Writer<br />
Photo: Viridiana Rivera, yorchllavadu<br />
When I came to Norway as a tourist in 2020 I could not believe<br />
my eyes, calmness, beauty, peace and I felt safe. I was hosted by<br />
the divorced brother of a friend. I have never met him before yet<br />
he kindly agreed to provide a room for my quest searching for the<br />
Northern Lights in Tromsø. He asked me what I like for breakfast<br />
and I thought that was really nice since I arrived at his place<br />
around 11 pm and would not have time to buy groceries myself. He<br />
was a doctor so he left quite early in the morning. When I came out<br />
of the room, there was breakfast served on the table for me. Wow.<br />
Coming back in the evening from being a tourist I wanted to help<br />
with dinner and he kindly said that there was no need to. When<br />
dinner was ready there it was my favorite meal, salmon and other<br />
things on the table for me to enjoy together with his two children. I<br />
was completely surprised. He explained this is normal in Norway.<br />
Another difference he spoke about was his excellent relationship<br />
with his ex wife and they even travel together with the kids in<br />
spite she now is together with another doctor (his colleague at the<br />
hospital). This was too much for me and I felt that I was living like<br />
years ahead of my reality in Mexico. A divorced woman usually<br />
is mistreated by everyone because she is guilty of breaking the<br />
marriage. Also an outcast with the other group of women that are<br />
mainly housewives (64% of women are housewives).<br />
In the same world, at the same time, alternate realities. It made<br />
me question a lot of things when I came back from my travels.<br />
I was enrolled in a gym with only girls and the owner asked us<br />
to celebrate Women‘s day with a photo session and it felt more<br />
relevant than ever to do something bold. We were asked to wear<br />
purple and just be spontaneous. I have never participated in<br />
anything like that because being a feminist is not a “good” thing in<br />
my generation. You see, the problem is that being a woman back<br />
when I was deciding my career path I was not allowed to study<br />
what I wanted. Since college tuition is expensive, only the business<br />
field was allowed for me to study. Medicine or Literature were not<br />
options. Behind the back of my family I applied and passed the<br />
exam to enter medical school. I told the good news with a negative<br />
response. I was discouraged because I would not be a proper wife<br />
and mother in my future. Instead I got a proposal to take a year<br />
off studies to think of another option. I came back from abroad<br />
deciding Economics. I finished 5 years of studies, got the diploma<br />
and when I started working I didn‘t enjoy my daily life. I was<br />
earning very well, but I was not feeling very well. I quit my job.<br />
That led my boyfriend to end the relationship because he thought it<br />
was a waste of my abilities to become a teacher in Economics, and<br />
the same thoughts were on my family.<br />
Becoming a teacher was the best thing. In the education field I have<br />
flourished and led me to Norway. On March 8th of 2020, I decided<br />
to step up and celebrate what other women were doing in Mexico.<br />
In 2020, I decided to give myself another chance and apply to study<br />
what I always dreamed to do, with my own support. My two kids<br />
agreed to the adventure and saw a whole different panorama.<br />
One that puts men and women in a more equal balanced way.<br />
Where gender, age or money is not an issue in terms of studying,<br />
relationships or anything. They saw how women can do a lot of<br />
things and men can also do a lot of things. This is the best gift in life.<br />
This is now what 8th of March means to me. A day to remember all<br />
the things other women fought for me to be here now and HONOR<br />
them. The march is still going.<br />
An approximate preview of Mexico in numbers:<br />
67 million women (CONAPO, 2023)<br />
52% of the entire population is women<br />
40.4% of the working force are women<br />
24.7 million women are working (36% of the women work)<br />
10 women A DAY are killed in Mexico (femicide due to Machismo)<br />
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