Berkley Center

In one of my classes in Chile, we have read essays by several authors who argue that a necessary prerequisite to understanding one’s own nation is studying others. As I live abroad for the first time in Santiago, one image from history classes of my younger years continues to pop into my head: the United States as a melting pot. In contrast, Chile’s population is tremendously homogenous. In pre-orientation materials, my program warned that students of color, sexual minorities, and overweight students would likely receive stares and comments from Chileans. Through the JYAN, I would like to share my struggle to reconcile the facts that while some Chileans point out difference in ways that can appear intolerant, I have also discovered them to be incredibly cariñoso, or loving people.

A professor recently called my attention to the significance of the fact that at the top of the San Cristóbal hill, the highest point in Santiago, sits a massive statue of the Virgin Mary. This religious image of the purity of motherhood sets the tone for all gender relations in Chile, particularly the way in which women are valued. Although I had learned about the Whore-Madonna Complex in gender studies classes in the United States, I have found that the conservative Catholic nature of Chile creates an even more severe dividing line between the two models for women. I think the complexities of this religious image in Chile will make an interesting topic for my second letter.