Public Nudity

Pubic nudity in Medellin is not the taboo that it is in the States.  On any given day you can witness several different displays of nudity.  Where one would receive a ticket of indecent exposure in the States it is just a common necessity that doesn’t even receive a second glance here.

Women completely pull out a boob on the metro to breast-feed.  I am all for a woman’s right to breast-feed in public, though taking your boob out on a metro calls for a second look.  But that doesn’t even scratch the surface.  On our walks home there is always at least one taxi driver pulled over, with his hazards on, urinating in our bushes.   I have seen men creatively finding a restroom in about every inch of the city: a tree, a bush, a trashcan or even a Botero sculpture.  They don’t stop at public urination, although it is less common, I have been witness to others defecating in the middle of the city streets.  Imagine you are walking along a crowded metropolitan street. People are shoulder-to-shoulder trudging by: shopping, heading off to work, or running errands.   You take a moment and glance around to see a woman just whip down her pants and get some of her own business done, right in the middle of everything.  No one even stops to look! 

We also live next to a rancher that strips down every day to take a bucket shower in the middle of his field.   I would say that it is one of the harder things to get used to here and it is a constant reminder that we are not home.   We have to watch our step as soon as we leave our house. Is that puddle just collected raindrops, or something more?   I don’t take the risk!  I wake up every morning to look out the window at the beautiful landscape that surrounds us.  As my eyes move down the mountains I see a man butt naked in the center of the field and I say “I don’t think I am in Kansas any more!” 

Women in Medellin

               As a woman in a foreign country there is always a concern that the freedoms and liberties that the women of the United States enjoy would not be the same elsewhere.  In my experience in Medellin there are certain things that are definitely different then what you would experience in the States. 

Historically in Latin America male and female roles have been distinctly different and it has been a patriarchal culture. The Spanish language gives an example of how this is true.  In Spanish there are masculine and feminine words. For example if it is a group of men you say “ellos” for “they” and if it is a group of women you say “ellas;” however if there are 1 million women and 1 man in a group you still say “ellos.” This is only one example of many that shows the male dominance in their language. 

Although this male centeredness is ingrained into their history I do not see blatant inequalities between men and women in the work place.  The head of the English department is a woman and women hold many of the other higher positions at the university (as well as the ministry of education.)  Although these women hold high positions in the university they do seem to be treated differently then the men who hold the same positions.  Women seem to have to work much harder to earn the respect and authority needed in their position.  I see this daily from my experiences in the classroom compared to Dales, although I’m sure it does help Dale that he is 2 feet taller then any of his students.  The women who are holding high positions also seem to be coddled and treated and spoken to in a much soother way when hearing criticisms and when issues arise then when speaking to man. 

Socially there are still distinct gender roles that are expected by both men and women.  On the metro women are given all of the seats on the train before men and it is looked down upon if a man is seen sitting while a woman is left to stand.  Doors are held open for all the women and in greetings men give a woman a kiss on the cheek.  These are gentlemanly acts that are socially required to be performed by all the men.  The woman’s roles are mostly in the house and therefor they are in charge of being the leader of the household.  Women clean, cook and run the daily routines of the home.  Not only do men not do these activities but they do not even know how or our ever taught.  It is so uncommon that when our household watched Dale clean the dishes their mouths hung open in shock. 

Although the gender roles are more distinct here and maybe with more time with the Colombian culture I will understand more, but right now it seems like they are moving into the right direction.  It also seems as though they struggle with similar issues that we do in the States.  So I will take and enjoy the seats on the metro and doors being held open and hopefully Dale will be a role model in our apartment and change their ideas of who should do what domestically.