Counterpart relations across genders: Volunteers speak

You asked, we investigated! Some volunteers wanted to hear suggestions or advice for working with counterparts of the opposite sex. We polled current volunteers from all sectors and here’s how volunteers responded in their own words…

Males PCVs with Female CPs …

“I always hear comments or chisme about how I’m dating the profe I work with. When it’s kids from class I tell them that we just work together, but when it’s adults making jokes I laugh it off.”

“I made a point to get to know my profes’ husbands and families. And also just co-plan at times and places they feel comfortable with.”

“I work with all women in both my schools. This can be challenging at times. It can be hard to feel a part of the community there although I get along with most of them individually. I haven’t really found anything (activity or topic of conversation) to make me feel more part of the community. I work there and have confianza with my profess, but my communities are elsewhere.”

We like what you did there, Playboy...

Remember a few months back when we posted a piropo flow-chart about deciding when and when not to respond to street harassment?

Playboy recently published a "Should you catcall her?" flowchart, check it out!

Non-machinsta things to say to young boys

A lot of our work as volunteers when it comes to gender focuses on young girls and how we can elevate their self-esteem, and motivate them to study, work and avoid pregnancy at a young age. But, by ignoring half of the population (young boys) we are missing out on a group of people that are equally involved in and harmed by cultural standards that dictate what people should do or feel according to their gender identification.

With that in mind, here are a few ideas of things we can include in our interactions with young boys to change the machista dialogue they often hear. These ideas come from things I’ve heard around my community and especially in the classroom…

•  “It’s ok to cry.”  They, like a lot boys in the US, are told that boys and men don’t cry. Not only does this encourage boys to bottle up emotions instead of finding healthy ways to express themselves, it also suggests that crying, which is ok and expected from girls, is a sign of weakness.

Piropo rage: a playlist

Fellow blogger, TEFL-era and GAD member Emily has created the following playlist to get you through the days when ignoring piropos just isn't good enough and responding to them proactively doesn't seem possible...

You will not check my right to move around the public sphere and effect positive change!

When the tables are turned...

The short video "Oppressed Majority" (click here for link) does a great job of showing what many daily experiences for women might look like if it were men in their shoes instead.

The director  Eléonore Pourriat actually made the film five years ago in France, but only recently did it receive intense internet attention. As written in an article on the Guardian Women's blog, "Pourriat realised that the film had gone viral only when she started seeing activity on Facebook. Her YouTube mailbox filled up, but the messages were so aggressive she deleted them. "I kept one though because really, you can't believe it. Someone said: 'More patronising feminist bullshit. Keep whining, bitches!' When I read that, I was more convinced than ever that I have to continue to make films." She is already working on her next project – a mockumentary about the removal of pubic hair. 

3 step piropo education process

It didn’t take me a long time in country to come to hate the act of receiving piropos; however, it’s taken me the better part of the past year and a half in country to polish my response. During training I remember mostly hearing the advice that carrying on with my business and ignoring it was best, but that never set well with me. After trying many things (most of which only made people laugh at me), I’ve devised the 3 step pioropo education process.

Piropos in the classroom... what do you do?

Even if it the words weren’t aimed directly towards us, we’ve all heard piropos. Cat calls… Hola mi amor. Chelita bonita. Regálame un beso, mwah! Preciosa. Mírame con esos ojos gatos. Oooh baby. Dame su número. The tone of voice, the leering stares, the kisses and mocking laughter—it’s enough to make your skin crawl right off your body and into a cleansing bleach bath. It’s one thing when piropos come from truck drivers or intoxicated men on the street, but on school grounds, or in the classroom… what do you do?

Volunteers from around the country sound off on how they responded to piropos in the education environment…