Putting bodies on the line in the fight against gender-based violence: the feminist tsunami in Chile in 2018

Abstract

Chile. May 2018. Thousands of women occupy the streets to reclaim their rights, placing the criticism of sexist education, the naturalization of sexual abuse and harassment, and heteronormativity on the public agenda. The protagonists of this social movement call it a feminist tsunami. In this paper, I will discuss Chile’s feminist May from the perspective of practices, embodiments, and performances. I am interested in the palimpsests configured in the protagonists’ bodies while they recycle and re-perform gestures, practices, and actions used by the feminists who preceded them.