© Copyright 2016 Noralis Rodríguez Coss
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© Copyright 2016 Noralis Rodríguez Coss Feminist Street Performances in Puerto Rico: Alternative Imaginaries Shifting the Ideal(ized) National Body Noralis Rodríguez Coss A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2016 Reading Committee: Angela B. Ginorio, Co-Chair Shirley J. Yee, Co-Chair Michelle Habell-Pallán Ileana M. Rodríguez Silva Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Feminist Studies University of Washington Abstract Feminist Street Performances in Puerto Rico: Alternative Imaginaries Shifting the Ideal(ized) National Body Noralis Rodríguez Coss Chairs of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Emerita Angela B. Ginorio Professor Shirley J. Yee Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies The body of literature that documents feminist activist efforts to eradicate gender violence in Puerto Rico does not includes and interpret contemporary feminist responses to heteropatriarchal narratives, such as feminist street performances. The purpose of this study is to investigate how feminist anti-violence activism exposes interconnections between gender and ongoing processes of violence in Puerto Rico through the use of feminist street performances. Specifically, I look into street performances denouncing gender-based violence and the oppression of historically marginalized communities in Puerto Rico during 2009: Musas Desprovistas y Sin Sostén, Ponte En Mi Falda, and Silueta de Mujer. These performances were also responding to decisions made by the governmental administration of the time and the discriminatory impact these decisions had on historically marginalized communities. The historical and social context of these feminist street performances in Puerto Rico include: (a) a riot at the Oficina de la Procuradora de las Mujeres in 2002 and (b) two “anti- violence” campaigns promoting traditional gender and family roles by former governor Luis Fortuño from 2009 to 2013. Public records are used as a source for providing the social and historical context to complement the collection of 14 oral histories of respondents that participated these street performances. Drawing from Chicana border studies and Indigenous Pacific Island studies, this dissertation advances an island feminist perspective of two concepts: the ideal(ized) national body and alternative imaginaries. The ideal(ized) national body works as a gender paradigm intentionally inscribed on and experienced by female bodies—a body socially constructed and categorized as “female,” linked to cultural gender paradigms of womanhood and other qualities attributed to females. The alternative imaginaries generated by feminist grassroots practices, such as feminist street performances, shift heteropatriarchal narratives of the female body into alternative understandings of women’s multiple identities and experiences. By documenting feminist street performances I aim to provoke further discussions about island feminism inside and outside Puerto Rico. This study advances an interdisciplinary conversation between feminist, border, performance, body, Puerto Rican, and island studies. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 Feminist Street Performance: Musas Desprovistas y Sin Sostén .............................................................. 6 Background and Context ........................................................................................................................... 9 Island Feminist Party Identifications and Dis-Identifications ................................................................ 14 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................................... 16 Statement of Purpose and Questions ....................................................................................................... 17 Research Approach .................................................................................................................................. 17 Assumptions ............................................................................................................................................. 20 The Researcher Perspective .................................................................................................................... 20 Rationale and Significance ...................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER ONE: An Island Feminist Perspective of the Construction of the Female Body in Puerto Rico ................................................................................................................................... 24 Section One: Borders and Islands ........................................................................................................... 26 Section Two: Levels of Operation, the Ideal(ized) National Body, and Feminist Street Performances . 34 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER TWO: The Ideal(ized) National Body Under Spanish and U.S. Domain .................. 46 Section One: Sexual Violence and Reproductive Control Under Spanish Domain ................................ 47 Section Two: The Post-emancipation Era and the Surveillance of Libertas’ Bodies .............................. 50 Section Three: Discourses of Ideal(ized) Womanhood and Reproductive Control Under U. S. Domain ........................................................................................................................................... 54 Discourses of Ideal Womanhood ........................................................................................................ 55 Reproductive Control .......................................................................................................................... 63 v Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER THREE: The Ideal(ized) National Body Under Neocolonial Violence .................... 69 Section One: Functions and Significance of La Oficina de la Procuradora de las Mujeres .................. 72 Section Two: The Abrupt Entrance of Pesquera to Hoist the United States Flag ................................... 76 Section Three: The Promesa de Hombre and Tus Valores Cuentan Initiatives ...................................... 81 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER FOUR: Feminist Street Performances as Alternative Imaginaries ............................ 93 Section One: Ponte En Mi Falda ............................................................................................................. 95 Section Two: Silueta de Mujer ............................................................................................................... 103 Section Three: Alternative Imaginaries Shifting the Ideal(ized) National Body ................................... 111 Section Four: Impact and Closing Remarks About Feminist Street Performances .............................. 126 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 143 References ................................................................................................................................... 149 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................. 161 Appendix B ................................................................................................................................. 163 Appendix C ................................................................................................................................. 166 Appendix D ................................................................................................................................. 169 Footnotes ..................................................................................................................................... 173 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would not have been possible without the help of many people. First, I want to thanks the respondents of this study, anti violence activists in Puerto Rico. Thank you for sharing with me your stories and experiences that inspired and helped to create this dissertation. I want to acknowledge the care and unconditional love I received from mami Norma I. Coss and papi Edgardo Rodríguez, my sister Noelia María, and my partner Luis E. Rodríguez. I also want to thanks my tías, tíos, abuelas, abuelos, primas, and primos that believed in me from the very beginning. Without the love they all gave me I would not have had the strength to face all the challenges I have encountered in my life. I want to mention in particular the help provided by padrino Edwin Rodríguez, titi Diana Martínez, titi Nancy Coss, tío Néstor Rodríguez, and my abuelas Claudina Torres, and Justina Rodríguez. I am eternally grateful to my two advisors: Dr. Angela B. Ginorio and Dr. Shirley J. Yee. Thank you for your continuous support, motivation, trust and immense knowledge that pushed