Green Tides and Pink Glitter: A Brief Account of the 21st-century Feminist Movement in Mexican Higher Education

The first decades of the 21st century have witnessed a tremendous feminist uprise on a global scale. In Mexico, the protagonists of this movement are predominantly young university students. Through many creative strategies, these women have gained visibility and brought to the public opinion long-ignored issues such as sexual harassment and systemic sexism within universities. At the same time, they have joined other women outside academic settings to address problems that surpass university settings, such as reproductive rights, femicides, and forced disappearances. This social movement collides with the backfire of a conservative, religious sector of Mexican society and the inefficacy of the Mexican government that appears to be oblivious to the dangers that Mexican women face in everyday life. In this text, I’d like to sketch a landscape that illustrates that the uprising of women in Mexico has been going on for decades. Global historic junctures have given it momentum and potency. As a result, the feminist movement in higher education achieved accurate, tangible results that have legally and culturally transformed Mexico and its universities.