Manifesto
For love to be a party, we need less biological penetration, less intercourse,
less genitality and instinct and more language, more eroticism, more listening to a different one.
We need less eagerness and more slowness; less consumption and more contemplation of him, of her.
Florence Thomas
«Take advantage of the times you live in and build a world where you are as happy as you can. For me and for all of us, the ones who their wings were cut», this was the advice left to us by grandma Aura, a woman who maintained her vitality and confidence in life, despite the multiple violence she experienced.
We listen to the words of the grandmother and, following her advice, we begin to identify the bases on which we historically founded love and relationships, affectivity and eroticism: stereotypes, privileges, control, fear, shame, guilt and pain... the public space for him and the private space for her, the sacrificed mothers and the invisible parents, the feminine resignation and the masculine success, the authoritarian men and the docile women, the desire for him and the peaceful waiting for her. We say ENOUGH to this way of living that oppresses, imposing masks here and there, that prevent us from relating in freedom. We deconstruct in our daily lives unhealthy practices that perpetuate inequality and generate violence by cutting the wings of girls and boys from an early age. We become agents of change that pose a new Ethics of Pleasure.
The slogan
Search, behind the infinite diversity of the world, for a principle that makes a good defense of our rights, and those of the girls, boys, adolescents and young people who still do not have a voice. That principle is love.
Amorfiesta is Love in freedom, and freedom to Love. It is the discovering of other ways of relating and dreaming that equity is possible here and now.
We understand that love is learning and a social issue that identifies us as individuals. We seek the closeness, the embrace, the look, the smells, the hormonal processes that are woven towards Love and allow us to grow. We are beings of bonds, and thanks to them we have historically survived. But the time has come to grow; transform the idea that Love is sacrifice and it hurts, that it is a space for control. Change the capitalistic vision that separates us into categories and creates privilege systems, cutting the wings of millions of people. Deconstruct the old discourses to build new meeting spaces. Take the quantum leap from survival, to collective well-being and ask ourselves: Who are we? How do we relate? What do we generate together? Overcoming the fears and renewing identities from healthy relationships; recovering the links and all those parts that power and control mutilated, creating abysses of incomprehension and violence that fragment us as people and as a society.
Let's create a world where we can create new pacts, listen to ourselves, accept ourselves, support ourselves; where the overwhelming competitiveness opens the way to solidarity, and rivalry becomes sorority; where it is allowed to enjoy pleasure without harming ourselves, or violating others, and also to bet on eroticism without fear, for self-care and with healthy limits; where the masks imposed by historical mandates, foreign to being, where we come together to ask ourselves about new ways of loving, equitable, resilient and libertarian, is more than a utopia. The personal is political, yes. And Amorfiesta is a project that is built on all levels: from home to school, from academy to the media, in the institutional fabric and among friends. In the I and in the he, she, people with other identities... because there are no free people when information is lacking and there are no free relationships without affective coresponsibility.
Amorfiesta is created to give us clues that allow us to open the wings of equity and freedom. From the hand of an Andrógino Holograma we discover that showing emotions allows us to grow. That equity also benefits boys, gives them freedom to be, de-constructs stereotypes and removes the masks that oppress them. That sex is not a race. Sexuality is not just penetration and penetration does not make you more man. That women can decide on their body, when, with whom and how. That the street is also theirs and street harassment is not cool. That the girls can face any situation and do not need a «savior prince», on the other hand, that they respect their spaces. That sorority strengthens them. That love is not control but recognition, self-care and care of the other, and this leads to more just and less painful relationships.
Goodbye Patriarcalito!
Today, many girls, boys, adolescents and young people grow up in homes that are less violent, more equal and libertarian than those of their fathers, mothers, grandmothers and grandparents. They have seen how their parents deconstruct the ways of being a man and being a woman in their daily lives and can decide on their life project, building Amorfiesta.
But Patriarcalito continues to plant the seed of inequality and putting masks anywhere he can: the pinks on the girls clothing and the blues on the ones for the boys. Adventure and exploration toys for the child. Dolls and kitchenettes for the girl. Princesses who need salvation and brave princes who rescue. Advertising, images and sounds, that feed these childhood fantasies. When you grow up, you have to be pretty, the selection criteria to fit. And docile to be taken care of, because of course! The girls need affection and care. The guys mmm ... not so much. They are enough, they are enough alone. They are strong and risky. The virility that measures the male. Pressure and appearance for both.
Patriarcalito divides us. It locates each other on different sides, although, historically, that division has favored the men, we give ourselves to all, cutting wings here and there.
Advertising and media content feed stereotypes that oppress dreams. Teens obsessed with penetration. Pornography as a sexual referent The fine line between Yes and No, is violated every time. The emotional void. Many kids bullied in their schools for being «different». Anxiety and power consume their psyche, following the precepts of their ancestors. There is no place for freedom. In the house and on the streets, the spaces are still not safe for boys, girls or women:
«Hey cutie!», «Do not move that crib a lot, you're going to wake my baby up», «Hey, sexy!», «Wow! you got some nice legs »,« if you love me as I love you why don’t we kiss? »... are the daily situations in Latin American and Asian cities. The body as an object. Body for consumption «if you put on a little skirt it’s because you want sex», «if she dressed like that, she was asking for it»
Patriarcalito incubates violence and perpetuates the circles of inequality in which no one is able to reflect on their responsibility as an agent of social change. And, while the world succumbs to their masks and young people are distracted in the Patriarcalito collage, increasingly colorful and assorted, the adults are divided perpetuating the game of fear and fear of change, retreating before any proposal different towards the comfort zone of the Patriarchal. Although the present is not even close to being the ideal one.
Patriarcalito´s figures:
In the world of Patriarcalito there is no Amorfiesta, no sexual education for prevention, yes there is much disinformation, state invisibility and taboos.
That's why only 15 million adolescent women have access to information and contraceptives, the remaining 23 million, can’t.
Adolescent pregnancy perpetuates the poverty circle of women and their children significantly. HIV and STIs, on the other hand, violate the lives of adolescents, leaving them «at the very center of the crisis», as stated by Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF. If the factors for its perpetuation include early sexual relations, sexual abuse, inability to negotiate sexual relations or not, poverty and lack of access to information and advice.
Why not act together, creating networks and fabrics that counteract these problems and provide life options for children, adolescents and teens? Why not overcome fears unfounded by Patriarcalito? What do we gain as a society in the face of division and the repetition of ancestral errors while he reinvents himself? Can we change its principles? Or are we going to follow his perverse game, looking elsewhere while adding violence, inequality and death to the story?
Addressing aspects that make up the psyche of our sex-affective relationships to unmask the Patriarcalito that we carry within, is our proposal. Betting on listening, observation and recognition of the other, without fear of the difference to grow together, is the challenge. Believing in autonomy, self-care and responsibility to eliminate guilt is desire. Playing solidarity and sorority to get closer and empathize is the way. Providing the information tools to build a structured life project and make your own decisions, when the time is right and without harming others, is the strategy. And this, as we know, is our political and educational commitment.
Amorfiesta is the program of visibility and sensitization in affectivity and ethics of pleasure where we will discover, with Andógino Holograma, other ways of loving that become libertarian and free of violence, prevention and reduction of teenage pregnancies, HIV and STIs. Not to cut the wings of more children, adolescents and young people and that equity is more than a utopia.
Amorfiesta Collective
I love Amorfiesta because I feel that I can be me and I learn what stereotypes are... and when I fall in love I will not fall for them».
Amorfiesta is learning to love me, take care of me, respect me and give me my value. When you understand this you are able to do the same with other people, couple, family, friend or neighbor. And when you do this you can love in different ways and, simply be».
Amorfiesta is a very good project that shows things that happen to us with our body, our friends, the boys, and it is important to know them at our age».
Amorfiesta is a super cool project that teaches us to make decisions and take responsibility. It also shows you what to do or not when your friends pressures you. I really liked to participate!».
Amorfiesta has taught me to value myself, to make decisions and to choose the best for me».
Amorfiesta is learning to make decisions, know the consequences and be brave to start over. For me, this is Amorfiesta: learning, decisions, filling ourselves with knowledge».
Amorfiesta is a learning opportunity».
Amorfiesta in addition to a really educational process is very fun and makes you reflect on your place in society. Learning while laughing That's Amorfiesta».
Amorfiesta is, essentially, friendship and affection. The possibility of talking, reflecting and questioning together, in the midst of intense personal processes. It is the shared birth of a creature that we want to continue feeding».
