Playas, Nayeli (Extra Credit: Manifesto Armado (Armed Manifesto))

This was the first webinar that I have joined and it was extremely interesting from the very beginning. At the beginning of the webinar, there was a performance being done by Mujeres Armadas. The performance was unique and it was something that I had never seen before. 

In the performance, there were four women who were all holding a weapon and speaking spanish. At the very beginning, I was confused as to why there were four women holding a knife, but then I learned that the purpose behind this performance was to show that women also have the power to hold a weapon that is seen as predominantly masculine. Possessing a weapon is considered by many as a way of demonstrating dominant masculinity. They go on to speak about how they have been denied things such as humor and vulgarity. They go on to describe that the weapons that they are holding allows them to bring out their anger and impotence in the face of so much massacre.Their body is the weapon that they have. In the webinar, the knife is a tool that helps cut through their personal insecurities. In the performance they are cutting bananas that have labels on them. They have words such as “urgente” (urgent), “silencio” (silence), “culpas” (fault), and “miedo” (fear). As they are showing the labels on the banana, someone else is saying “Quiero ser cuchillo” (I want to be a knife) over and over. 

In the webinar, they go on to describe what the revolt is. This group of women are looking for ways to make a name for themselves in the cultural, political, and social scene. The main goal of their revolt is to recover the spaces and voices that were silenced in history by using their art as a tool.