Feminist Media Strategies for Social Engagement
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MEDIACIONES Nº15 ISSN 1692-5688 JULIO-DICIEMBRE 2015 AT HOME, IN BED AND IN THE STREET: FEMINIST MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT EN LA CASA, LA CAMA Y LA CALLE: ESTRATEGIAS MEDIÁTICAS FEMINISTAS PARA EL COMPROMISO SOCIAL NA CASA, A CAMA E A RUA: ESTRATÉGIAS DE MÍDIA FEMINISTAS PARA O COMPROMISSO SOCIAL Páginas Elizabeth Miller 80-95 [email protected] Recibido Associate professor at Concordia University in Communication Studies in Montreal. 28 de noviembre de 2015 The article was connected to a research project called Going Aceptado Public: Oral History, New Media and the Performing Arts that 25 de diciembre de 2015 resulted in a companion website. 80 Elizabeth Miller AT HOME, IN BED AND IN THE STREET: FEMINIST MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT Abstract Using a Contracorriente exam, a project of the Ni- caraguan feminist organization Puntos de encuen- tro, I have explored the role that feminist media can play in combination with support networks in multiplying dialogue opportunities and the promo- tion of women’s rights. The article tries to answer the following questions: How does feminist media take advantage of the power and knowledge base of transnational networks of support to represent and debate the impacts of globalization on the li- ves of women? What type of media and mediation can they access to discuss complex issues such as abortion, incest or rape with the general public? How does the creative process happen to trans- form a TV program in a catalyst to imagine the change and a platform for sharing solutions? Keywords Nicaragua, Centroamérica, medios feministas, tele- visión, telenovelas . 81 MEDIACIONES Nº15 ISSN 1692-5688 JULIO-DICIEMBRE 2015 Resumen Resumo A partir de un examen a Contracorriente, un pro- Partindo do exame de Contracorrente, um projeto yecto de la organización feminista nicaragüense da organização feminista nicaraguense Pontos de Puntos de encuentro, he explorado el papel que los encontro, tenho explorado o papel que a mídia fe- medios feministas pueden cumplir en combinación minista pode desempenhar em combinação com con las redes de apoyo en la multiplicación de opor- redes de apoio na multiplicação de oportunidades tunidades de diálogo y en el fomento de los dere- de diálogo e na promoção dos direitos das mulhe- chos de las mujeres. El artículo trata de responder res. O artigo busca responder às seguintes pergun- las siguiente preguntas: ¿Cómo aprovechan los me- tas: Como a mídia feminista lança mão do poder e dios feministas el poder y la base de conocimiento da base do conhecimento das redes de apoio trans- de las redes de apoyo transnacional para repre- nacional para representar e discutir os impactos sentar y debatir los impactos de la globalización da globalização na vida das mulheres? Que tipo de en la vida de las mujeres? ¿A qué tipo de medios y mídia e mediação são usadas a fim de discutir ques- mediación acuden con el fin de discutir temas com- tões complexas tais como aborto, incesto ou estu- plejos tales como el aborto, el incesto o la violación pro com o público em geral? E como se dá o proces- con el público en general? ¿Y cómo se da el proceso so criativo que converte um programa de televisão creativo que convierte un programa televisivo en em um catalisador para imaginar a mudança e uma un catalizador para imaginar el cambio y en una plataforma para compartilhar soluções? plataforma para compartir soluciones? Palavras-chave Palabras clave Nicarágua, América Central, mídia feminista, tele- Nicaragua, Centroamérica, medios feministas, tele- visão, telenovelas visión, telenovelas 82 Elizabeth Miller AT HOME, IN BED AND IN THE STREET: FEMINIST MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT Over the years, I have borrowed, adapted and advocacy networks can play in multiplying oppor- made films about individuals and groups that use tunities for dialogue and for the advancement of media to foster dialogue and go public with see- women’s rights. The project offers a unique portal mingly private, or difficult subjects such as incest, to explore a range of questions relevant to feminist rape, or even genocide. Puntos de Encuentro (Mee- media and social advocacy: How are feminist me- ting Points), referred to as Puntos, a feminist group dia projects tapping into the power and knowledge in Nicaragua, captured my attention early on and base of transnational advocacy networks to repre- for over twenty years I have learned from and do- sent and debate the impacts of globalization on wo- cumented their unique way of blending communi- men’s lives? What forms of media and mediation cation projects with social movement strategies to are they drawing on to address complex subjects build public awareness around women and chil- such as abortion, incest, or rape with the general dren’s rights. Puntos was founded by a group of public? And how is the creative process of making women who were involved in the Sandinista revo- a television show a catalyst for imagining change lutionary period of the 80’s, but who felt that while and a platform for sharing solutions? many important reforms had come out of this time, not enough attention had been paid to the rights Shifting the terms of mainstream of women in both the public and private spheres. television They recognized that decades of dictatorship, war, and authoritarian rule could not be undone throu- I lived in Nicaragua in the early 90’s, just after the gh governmental or policy changes alone. They Sandinista Revolutionary period of the eighties. wanted to inspire change at all levels, at home, in While the country was undergoing enormous so- bed and in the street. Using multi-platform commu- cial and economic transitions, the autonomous wo- nication strategies including print publications, ra- men’s movement was flourishing. Puntos was cen- dio, television dramas and public service announ- tral to this movement and proposed that beyond the cements, their mandate has been to draw attention provision of direct services such as health clinics or to the power relations that play out in everyday life. shelters, the women’s movement needed to coun- Rather than seeking only to change individual be- ter oppression in both private and public discour- haviours, their emphasis has been on challenging se. They developed an open school for women, a the social and cultural norms that shape interper- popular women’s magazine called La Boletina, and sonal relations. In collaboration with a wide range a youth talk radio program to promote dialogue of partners and networks, Puntos has been using within Nicaragua’s growing women’s movement. media to initiate processes that challenge existing Years later the organization expanded their man- cultural frameworks, offer alternative feminist re- date to include television. Their first series, Sexto presentations and motivate personal and collective Sentido, (Sixth Sense) featured six young friends action. It was the unique intersection of feminist living together in Managua, a bit like the sitcom politics, narratives, organizational networks, and Friends but with a serious social agenda and made multiple media platforms that first captured and with a fraction of a standard television budget. has held my attention over the years. I contributed to their efforts by developing Nove- Through a close examination of their most recent la, Novela, a documentary about the process of project, Contracorriente (Turning the Tide), a fami- making and distributing the series. I was eager to ly drama that depicts the impact of globalization share the story of how this women’s group was ma- on women’s lives, I explore the role that feminist naging to produce a wide reaching television pro- media projects in combination with women’s rights gram in a small Central American country like Ni- 83 MEDIACIONES Nº15 ISSN 1692-5688 JULIO-DICIEMBRE 2015 caragua, considered one of the poorest countries in who were hoping to develop their own grass roots the Americas. Nicaragua was still recovering from media campaigns. the effects of dictatorship, revolution, and war and had only a minimal infrastructure for television A decade later, I returned to Nicaragua to make a production. Enthusiastically occupying the new second documentary, this time about the group’s space afforded by the digital revolution, Puntos newest television project, Contracorriente, a family was shifting the terms of mainstream television in drama developed in response to the global econo- Nicaragua. On the one hand, the series represented mic crisis. The series grappled with issues such as one of the first television projects in the region to tourism, the rising incidence of commercial sexual introduce complex representations of LGBTQ (Les- exploitation of adolescents and trafficking, workers bian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans-Gender or Questioning) rights in free trade zones, economic power rela- identity and abortion into the mass media. This tions in the family, and the concerns of transgender was particularly noteworthy in a country where youth coming of age in a small city. Addressing glo- the Catholic Church has enormous political and bal economic issues required developing new part- cultural influence and has opposed sexual and re- ners and strategies and over a three-year period, I productive rights. observed and documented the organization’s pro- cess of scripting, directing and making strategic Within this conservative context, the organization connections to regional organizing efforts. Issues was piloting a means of introducing controversial like sexual exploitation, which they define as the issues like abortion, domestic violence and homo- sexual abuse of youth in exchange for money or sexuality to mainstream audiences by collabora- protection, reach beyond national borders and as ting with a national anti-violence network, prepa- a result, Puntos was now collaborating with groups red to handle a range of responses to the programs. through out Central America.