I won’t say where to keep my somewhat false sense of privacy, but I’ve been noticing an increase in vandalism in my beautiful city by some anarcho-feminist groups.  In fact, there’s an anarcho-feminist surge within Mexico right now as many women are becoming increasingly intolerant of things like femicide.  In basically every major city, you can see physical evidence of feminist protests.

They take to the streets yelling and painting anything they can to try to bring awareness to the countless women who are victimized in both Mexico and the world in general everyday.  They often block whole streets in protest and, while I know they’re “fighting for me,” I can’t say I agree with any of what is happening, and here’s why.

I can’t blame them for their frustration.  Due to the problematic environment of having many governments in Mexico at war (government and cartels both), women have suffered within Mexico.  From emotional and physical abuse, all the way up to brutal rape, murder, and kidnapping…and this stuff happens a LOT.

The thing is, these incidents also happen to the men, but it’s not as often discussed.  Imagine if the men of Mexico violently took to the streets for all their brothers who died as a direct result of cartel violence, what would it really solve?

So, a lot of the young women of Mexico are fed up, understandably so.  What I don’t understand is the way they are going about proving their point.  Fighting a violent system with violence never works.

I became an agorist because I was fed up with being an anarchist with no solutions, other than to complain about it.  I realized, “Wow, the whole world is messed up and pitted against people like me,” pretty quickly.  I also realized I wanted solutions, not to continue discussing the problems over and over as is the custom in some circles.

Agorism was a no-brainer for me, just build what you want to see and make it so appealing it replaces the state.  Do so quietly so the powers at be don’t even know what hit them. Overgrow the government! Build the counter-economy and replace the state.

So, when I see anarchy symbols spray painted on the side of historical buildings that have in fact had nothing to do with femicide, I get angry.  I think, not my fucking anarchy. It misrepresents a movement that should be about peace and protection of property.  How can violent feminists expect people to respect their bodily autonomy while they disrespect property, public or not?

The reality is, when I see my gender defacing public property and protesting in general instead of building the world they want to see in the sake of uplifting women, I become ashamed of womanhood in general.  Am I the only person who sees that taking to the streets to bitch and vandalize is a useless feat? Well, maybe its good for the egos of those involved in the vandalism, but I certainly don’t feel represented.

And I know this theme is common for agorists in general when we see things like violent BLM protests or storming the capital.  In the end, we agree, the systems in place are awful and minorities are at the biggest disadvantage.   And yes, sometimes these things can be entertaining and even cathartic for those involved.  A sort of mental masturbation where you feel like you’re doing something but all you’re really causing is chaos.  Agorists understand that the only way to get rid of the system is to build something better.

In Mexico, thankfully, there does seem to be two different strands of female awakenings as far as feminism is concerned. The biggest and loudest is those running to the streets, blocking traffic and spray painting the barely legible names of women who have been killed by a system technically created by the United States drug war.

They blame the drug cartels for femicide and other brutalities, and then blame the government for not protecting them.  In turn, as far as I see, the violence is fueled as they go to war with both entities of government within Mexico. The reality is, those drug cartels wouldn’t exist without the war on drugs in the good old USSA. And there’s no fighting that, only building something different.  We should already know that trying to fight violent forces with more violence only causes big violent scenes, something no one really needs.

And I can’t say the response has been positive.  What we are left with is tarnished cities which were once drop dead stunning.  Now they look like the hood, covered in hot pink illegible spray paint. The response from the cartels seems to be more aggression, as there seems to be an increase in kidnappings since the protests in the areas where they are most intense.  It makes sense: when you go to war with the cartels, they will fight back.   If positive change is truly desired, it’s never best to fight the system but to build something better.

The second, more quiet awakening, is agorist in nature, and honestly a more natural form of feminism.  Last week while walking by myself, I happened upon a women-only market.  It was filled with women artists selling their handmade wares of all different kinds together.  I walked by and my recent disdain for the local feminists almost made me keep walking, but I turned back and gave it a shot.  I’m not usually one to get excited by the company of other women, but the energy in that space was electric.

My heart swelled as I walked around and looked at all the different items.  Jewelry, hand-embroidered fabric, handmade menstrual pads, macrame pot holders, and a whole lot more.  As an agorist, when I see markets like this, I feel compelled to support them because of my love for markets in general.  But this market was different , as I felt compelled to support them because they are agorist women, coming together to make something beautiful.

As far as I am concerned, the way to change the world in the future for feminists is not by taking to the streets, but by proving ourselves in the marketplace. Make and sell your wares, build what you want to see instead of destroying something that has nothing to do with you. Also, support other agorists’ ventures when you see them, either digitally or in-person.

See a stay-at-home mom making something cool, trying to start a business? Support her, even if it’s only by sharing her posts.