“A Rapist in Your Path”: Feminist Artivism in the Chilean Social Revolt

Abstract

594 Feminist Studies 47, no. 3. © 2021 by Feminist Studies, Inc. Débora de Fina Gonzalez “A Rapist in Your Path”: Feminist Artivism in the Chilean Social Revolt It was November 20, 2019, and the streets of Chile were (literally) on fire in a generalized social revolt against the country’s neoliberal economic model, the biggest uprising since the end of dictatorship in 1990.1 On that day, a couple of women and gender dissidents took to the streets of Valparaíso, dancing to an electronic drum, with masked eyes, chanting loudly, “the rapist is you!” Pointing at the police, at the church, at the president’s house, at the judges, they collectively denounced the institutional violence against women and sexual and gender dissidents that is endorsed and practiced by the state, with a simple choreography and a potent set of lyrics.2 These performers were responding to a call by the interdisciplinary collective Las Tesis, formed by four young artists—Sibila Sotomayor, Lea Cáceres, Daffne Valdés, and Paula Cometa—all of them recent graduates of the University of Valparaíso. Because of the growing unrest and violence in many cities, the country was under “constitutional emergency status,” and Las Tesis was not able to present their play in a theater , as initially planned. So, they decided to adapt the performance to 1. A documentary titled “Chile in Flammen” (Chile in flames), about the street protests in Chile, can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5im9 2x9yK3w. 2. A video of the first performance of “A Rapist in Your Path” in Valparaíso can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sbcU0pmViM&t=20s. News and Views 595 a form that could be presented collectively in a public space, joining the ongoing social upheaval. To do so, they put the word out on social networks , calling women and gender dissidents to perform “Un violador en tu camino” (A rapist in your path), which was inspired by the feminist theorizing of authors Rita Segato and Silvia Frederici. In a clear synergy between feminist theory, art, and activism, the performance offers the possibility of critique and denunciation in women’s own voices, based on their shared experiences. Through the performance, the broader outraged chorus of the Chilean social revolt also becomes feminist. Five days later, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the performance was replicated in a massive event in the capital, Santiago, attended by more than 2000 people.3 A week later, it was staged again by Las Tesis Senior in front of the National Stadium , which brought together older women who had experienced the violence perpetrated in the dictatorial period.4 In a few days, the performance traveled rapidly through social networks and turned into a contemporary feminist anthem chanted in chorus all over the country and translated, appropriated, and adapted to different contexts and languages by women in diverse circumstances around the world.5 Background and context of the emergence of Las Tesis Chile has experienced important processes of social and political transformation throughout the last two decades. Since the student mobilizations in 2006 and 2011, which marked the renewed prominence of a “generation without fear,” there has been a resurgence of popular 3. Performance of “A Rapist in Your Path,” in Santiago, Chile, November 25, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB7r6hdo3W4 4. A group of women over 40 years of age join to perform “A Rapist in Your Path” in front of the former detention and torture center of the military dictatorship, on December 4, 2019. See video at https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=Tk10XBMJkdU. 5. “A Rapist in Your Path” has been performed in more than 52 countries on 5 continents and translated into more than 20 languages, including sign language and languages of native peoples. This map shows all the cities where the performances have been carried out: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/es/map /un-violador-en-tu-camino-20192021-actualizado -al-2_394247#3/-13.84/-119.09. Las Tesis were recognized among the 100 most influential personalities of 2020 by Time magazine, https://time.com /collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888485...