Discussion with Alejandra Laprea: Exploring Feminism and Revolution
Let's dive into a conversation with Alejandra Laprea, a passionate activist and an integral part of Venezuela's feminist movement. Born in Guayana, Alejandra moved to Caracas around three decades ago and became deeply involved in popular feminism.
In the early 2010s, Alejandra was part of La Araña Feminista, a collective network. Recognizing the media blockade Venezuela faced, even within international feminist circles, the group decided to internationalize their presence, engaging with fellow feminists worldwide to share Venezuela's reality in the context of the Bolivarian Revolution.
Alejandra's group first joined an international congress of the World March of Women in São Paulo, marking the beginning of their active participation in this space. The aim was to link the Venezuelan revolution with popular feminism around the world, emphasizing the need for neither tutelage nor prescriptions from abroad but rather sovereignty and, if possible, solidarity.
Today, Venezuela has been fully integrated into the Women's March for a decade, with Alejandra serving as one of two continental representatives on the International Committee. This recognition reflects not only her work but also Venezuela's contributions to socialist, popular, and internationalist feminism.
Now, let's talk about the current state of the feminist movement at the continental and national level. Alejandra highlights a key lesson they learned through their involvement in the March: they are part of something much larger. Feminism may manifest differently across the continent and the world, but movements share commonalities.
In recent years, there has been a powerful feminist surge globally, resulting in the "Marea Verde" [Green Tide] movement, the Me Too movement, the March 8 feminist strikes, and "El violador eres tú." However, this was quickly met with a backlash from patriarchal, capitalist, racist, and colonialist forces working in concert.
One notable manifestation of this reaction is the rise of fundamentalist evangelical Christianity in Venezuela and beyond. These forces primarily target women, citing an idealized construct of the traditional, heteronormative monogamous family and blaming societal problems on its perceived breakdown.
The global capitalist crisis has economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Working-class women often bear the brunt of the crisis worldwide, and in Venezuela, the situation has been particularly harsh due to the brutal impact of the imperialist blockade. Despite this, conservative forces exploit the crisis to roll back hard-won advances, scapegoating women and demanding even more sacrifices from them.
Current challenges include the need for the feminist movement and the Bolivarian Revolution to build a common agenda, strengthen their integration with other revolutionary movements, and challenge cultural narratives that label feminists as angry women who hate men. The focus is on defendings bodies and territories, autonomy over our bodies and common goods, peace and demilitarization, and feminist economics as a transformative project.
Finally, let's revisit the concept of popular feminism that Alejandra champions. Popular feminism is an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-racist, and anti-colonial movement deeply rooted in the grassroots. It emphasizes the importance of collective debate, reflection, and action, sourcing its knowledge not only from universities but also from grassroots organizations and student movements.
Popular feminism is not just a women's movement; it is a proposal for the working people of the world. As a committed Venezuelan dedicated to the revolution, Alejandra exemplifies this notion: if the revolution is not feminist, it will not be revolutionary.
- Alejandra Laprea, a Bolivarian and passionate feminista, has been advocating for the integration of Venezuela's feminist movement into the global conversation, aiming to renew and strengthen its presence, particularly during the early 2010s.
- The unresolved question for the feminist movement lies in finding a possible common agenda with the Bolivarian Revolution, marked by the need to challenge cultural narratives and build solidarity, while defendings bodies and territories, autonomy over common goods, peace, and feminist economics.
- Amidst the global capitalist crisis, the resurgence of fundamentalist evangelical Christianity poses a significant challenge for the feminist movement, particularly in Venezuela and beyond, as these forces target women by exploiting societal problems and undermining hard-won advances.
