Mariarosa Dalla Costa's Women And The Subversion Of The Community

The article entitled “Women and the Subversion of the Community”, written by Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Selma James, goes in depth about women’s roles in society in the past and present and how to change for the better in the future. A few of the specific points discussed in this article include what women’s roles in society tend to be and why, how women have struggled to break this stereotype and how no matter what women do, men are always in charge on some if not all levels. Each of these major discussion points is also exemplified through the culture and life style of Las Cholitas shown in the documentary “The Fighting Cholitas”.

Cholitas are simply put, women who wear long, layered skirts with elegant shawls and braids. Traditionally

these women are expected to be housewives but many also have an unlikely hobby: wrestling. Here we reach our first run in with Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Selma James. Las Cholitas are expected to be housewives partly because they wear feminine clothing and proudly portray a feminine culture in a modern world where many women dress less traditionally. But we can’t blame society’s expectations solely on how a woman chooses to dress. Women working in the home goes way back to when work outside the home first came to existence which gave people the opportunity to earn a wage elsewhere. However, it was always men who got a job, leaving the women and children behind. This movement additionally stripped the women and children of their power that “derived from the family’s dependence on their labor…” and gave it all to the men who were now financial responsible for everyone who didn’t earn a wage. Taking care of the home became a woman’s only job since they had to make up for their husband’s and children’s efforts once they started work and school. Eventually this lead to the exploitation of women in the home as they work as hard for the family as the man the main difference being that women don’t earn a wage. In a sense, Las Cholitas demand to be housewives is simply a bi-product of industrialization leading to exploitation and expectation of women to work for free in the home under the husband’s power since he is financially responsible.
With the abandonment of women by their husband and children, comes a sense of exclusion from the outside world. If a woman doesn’t have a job outside the home, what is her purpose to leave? If she’s always at home cooking or cleaning, how is she to gain a purpose to leave? This exclusion leads to the misconception that women can’t have jobs beyond the home because they are innocent and incapable. On the contrary, a women’s supposed incapability comes from the fact she is trapped in her home, alone with her work never allowing her any outside experience thus keeping her innocent. This misconception towards women is exactly why Las Cholitas wrestle. The sport gives Las Cholitas an outlet. It allows them to have a social life and prove that they are able bodied human beings instead of incapable, innocent and dependent on their husbands. Many Cholitas are criticized by their community for participating in wrestling because of the Cholita culture and expectations but they continue the sport regardless. One wrestler even explained that the sport allows Las Cholitas to express a sort of strength that is inside all women that wouldn’t be recognized or bothered with otherwise.
Mariarosa Dalla Costa makes another important point about men and how they are always somehow in control.

She argues that this is due to the female perception that “to have a penis means to have power”. This is a result of the Freudian idea that every relationship is powered by the fear of castration and the Oedipus complex. A man’s fear of castration coupled with an Oedipus complex essentially gives the man a simultaneous fear and love for women leading to the need to control them. Men having power is still seen even in the lives of Las Cholitas, a culture focused on women. Las Cholitas’ wrestling helps them be independent in a predominantly male powered society but everything around the sport is still controlled by men. Their training is handled by men and each competition is organized and announced by men. In addition, at the specific gym featured in “The Fighting Cholitas”, it was a man’s idea to invite the Cholitas to train in his facility and more or less exploit them so he could make money off hosting each match. Furthermore many families of the Cholitas don’t approve of their wrestling because it is dangerous and what is the family to do if the mother gets hurt? The whole house would fall apart if the housewife can’t fulfill her daily chores. But there is some hope as not all families are like this. A specific wrestler interviewed for the documentary mentions that her husband doesn’t want her to wrestle but supports her anyway because he can’t stop her from doing something she

loves.