Generalizations

I tend to make broad, sweeping generalization about Argentina. I know i shouldn't. Even when I am writing the generalizations, I know they are not true. But, honestly, they are just so easy to make.

I generalize, the world generalizes, to make life easier. Generalizations give an order to a world that most probably doesn't have an order. My brain wants to catagorize Argentina. It wants to make Argentina into a bulleted list or put it neatly into a spread sheet.

But today i discovered Argentina doesn't fit into my ideal world of catagories.

Today, per the advice of one persisitent cousin, I walked with my head up- with occasional glances down to make sure i didn't step in dog shit of course. And with my head up I found i didn't encounter more piropos. I didn't encounter less, but I also wasn't assaulted with piropos from every direction like i thought i was going to be.

And with my head up, for the first time I saw women react to the piropos. One blond-haired Argetine women replied to a piropo with a sarcastic "gracias" and something i couldn't make out under her breath. The guys tried to laugh it off but I could tell they were a little taken back.

I still think machismo exists in full force in Argentina. I just am begining to realize that doesn't mean submission by all women or aggression by all men- even if sometimes it feels that way. And it definitely doesn't mean I need to submit to anything.

People may generalize. They may say feminism may be bullshit. But that doesn't mean I'm not still a feminist. Because I don't fit in a bulleted list, nor in a spread sheet, nor in any catagory Argentina could make for me.