The Meaning of Mexico's Day of the Dead Is Changing Pilar Zazueta - Dallas Morning News
go to original November 1, 2016

Men with their faces painted as sculls pose for a photo during a Day of the Dead parade along Mexico City's main Reforma Avenue. Hollywood movies, zombie shows, Halloween and even politics are fast changing Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations, which traditionally consisted of quiet family gatherings at the graves of their departed loved ones bringing them music, drink and conversation. (AP/Dario Lopez-Mills)

El Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, has become an emblematic holiday for Mexicans. So much so that Mexico's government has used the colorful and original imagery associated with this celebration to promote tourism and sell Mexican folklore. Today, the country is going through a dramatic wave of violence and impunity, and the Día de Muertos is acquiring a different meaning.

Homicides and disappearances dominate foreign press coverage about Mexico. These are not exactly the kind of muertos that make people eager to visit the country or celebrate its traditions. Even more alarming for Mexican society is that a large part of the violence cannot be blamed solely on the clash between organized crime and law enforcement, or the failed "War on Drugs." The violence also has to do with the failure to admit how widespread misogyny, homophobia and transphobia are in the country, as well as social practices that normalize everyday discrimination and aggression toward women and the LGBT community.

The fact that violence is rooted in toxic gender dynamics is not news for women in Mexico, the rest of Latin America, or the United States. The current U.S. presidential election, for example, has been marred by ugly rhetoric about women and allegations of sexual assault.

...Día de Muertos has never been a static ritual. It has the meaning that people give to it: spiritual, celebratory, but mostly challenging the status quo. In a context in which we all have counted thousands of victims of homicides and disappeared persons in Mexico, maybe there is nothing to celebrate. But if it helps us to remember and publicly recognize the work and the life of people such as Alessa Flores, Día de Muertos might not be dead after all. Perhaps in the future, the ritual will reincorporate its satirical and playful roots, but for now this seems unlikely.

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