Monday, December 22, 2008

Mexico: Eyebrow plucking = future lesbians?!

Some stories speak for themselves:
The Tamaulipan Youth Institute (Itjuve) is demanding action against a high school principal in Matamoros, Mexico, who suspended fifteen female students for plucking their eyebrows arguing that the practice was "unique to women or youth with a homosexual tendency."

Efraín Hernández
, director of Itjuve, told La Jornada...that the sanctions taken against the students on December 15th by principal Rubén Reyes Urbina were discriminatory ("Matamoros: High school principal suspends fifteen alumna who had plucked eyebrows").
“No one can be denied the right to enter an institution simply because they look different to the rest of the alumnus or because they decided to make a change in their person," Hérnandez said, "we clearly see a discrimination that is worrisome since it is a center that shapes individuals which is not in the best of hands."
It’s stunning to read that such blatant sexism and homophobia exists in this world, especially among educators like Reyes Urbina.

Then again, such backwards thought shouldn't be surprising when the Catholic archdiocese publicly condemns women for wearing skimpy clothing.

(Hat Tip: Vivirlatino).

Image- daylife.com (“A man, dressed in the traditional costume of a Zapotec woman, plucks his eyebrows at the town of Juchitan in southern Mexico, November 22, 2008. Anthropologists say the tradition of blurring genders among Mexico's indigenous population is centuries old but has been revived in recent decades due to the gay pride movement.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Vivirlatino, Blabbeando, La Jornada

No comments: