Acción 5

This is a video documentation of an 'acción' performed in the streets of La Paz, Bolivia. Two women walk carrying a mirror and Barbie dolls, inviting women to question the beauty patterns imposed by a patriarchal and neo-colonial society. At the public square, a group of women struggle with the mirrors, the Barbie dolls, and colored ribbons that tie and constrain them. Finally, they free themselves from the ribbons and the mirrors. With this acción, Mujeres Creando criticize the beauty patterns imposed upon women, and the social expectations that make women fight against women; they also question the racism embedded in Bolivian society, where indigenous women don't recognize themselves in the white skin and blond hair of the 'model' of feminine beauty.

Mujeres Creando is a feminist anarchist movement created in 1990 in La Paz, Bolivia. It is comprised of women of different cultural, social, and ethnic origins, and explores creativity as an instrument of resistance and social participation. The three women who founded this communitarian proposal (Maria Galindo, Julieta Paredes, and Monica Mendoza) worked together to recover the public space that the patriarchal system appropriated. In this sense, the group does not only struggle for women's rights or issues that affect women, but also against other problems that affect society. The ways of expression of Mujeres Creando are graffiti, creativity, ongoing public debates, and acciones, along with a constant presence in the streets to reclaim a voice and participation in the public sphere. Since its beginnings, the group has been part of international gatherings, dialoguing with different feminist tendencies and thus being able to build its ideological identity within the autonomous feminism, in contrast and in connection with global struggles. In April 2001, due to ethical and political disagreements, there was a division in the group, which brought the necessity to differentiate names. In spite of this divergence, Maria Galindo continues working with Mujeres Creando in Bolivia.