To Put One’s Body  2023

Poner el cuerpo (To Put One’s Body) was part of the 2023 Encuentro TRAMA Festival in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. It featured ten conversations between feminist activists and female police officers who participate in feminist marches in public spaces. These discussions, conducted in person and with anonymity preserved, explored the meaning of "putting the body" in protest spaces, as well as their respective roles as activists and law enforcement.

These unlikely but not impossible conversations took place within a context defined by the belief: “My friends protect me, not the police.” Poner el cuerpo (To Put One’s Body) fosters dialogue that delves into the motivations, actions, values, and experiences of those on opposing sides of public confrontations, united in their demand for justice and an end to violence against women and dissidents.

Focused on rehumanizing those who, despite differing positions, share the same aspiration for a violence-free life, the project offers a systemic analysis of how gender-based violence impacts feminized bodies, specifically feminist activists and female police officers.

Imagining alternatives for a more just and dignified world is impossible without an informed, unbiased understanding of the individuals within the institutions we challenge, which are responsible for delivering justice in the face of violence.

By confronting gender-based violence, while also perpetuating it in a differentiated manner, the system compels both sides to act. Poner el cuerpo (To Put One’s Body) creates a space for a deeper understanding of the people behind hoods and bulletproof vests, not through equating positions or responsibilities, but recognizing that those of us who "put the body" in a cis heteropatriarchal, racist, and classist system are women and feminized individuals.

The conversations were recorded in the dark to prevent recognition and edited for anonymity. The testimonies, narrated in the first person, were fully respected.

As part of the Encuentro TRAMA Festival, Poner el cuerpo (To Put One’s Body) intervened in the strip of Avenida Chapultepec, the route of the annual feminist march, providing a designated space for participants to listen to the conversations, in the very location where confrontations occur.