Supplementary Article for Course 3: Resilience or Stubbornness?

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Why should we consider resilience from a collective perspective?

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I'm sure many of us have walked that path. Perhaps without even realizing it, we've managed to overcome the obstacles and hardships that stand in our way to become who we are today. 

The term "resilience" comes from the Latin *resilio*, which means to spring back, to bounce, to rebound, or to bounce off. Dictionaries define resilience as a body’s resistance to breaking under impact: the ability of a material or object to return to its original shape after being subjected to deforming pressure. 

That path is the path of resilience. It isn't always positive, but it is what has kept us standing in the face of a world full of adversity.

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So… What does it mean to be resilient? 

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One of the problems with the concept of resilience is its definition. There is no complete consensus because, although it has been studied by psychology, other social movements have taken it up, appropriated it, and redefined it—as is the case with feminism. 

When discussing resilience and feminism, we must understand the misogynistic violence that women face. UN Women defines gender-based violence as harmful acts directed against a person or group of people on the basis of their gender—that is, male or female. 

Gender-based violence stems from gender inequality, the abuse of power, and the existence of arbitrary norms that perpetuate men’s position of power over women. The term is primarily used to highlight the fact that structural power differences based on gender place women, sexual minorities, and non-binary people at risk of multiple forms of violence. 

Such violence can manifest in the workplace as workplace harassment or outright exclusion from certain sectors of the labor market. While it is not exclusive to women, the vast majority of this social group experiences it.  

Of course, there is a reality of extreme violence against women—one that the feminist movement has been striving to combat and bring to light for decades. It is against this backdrop that feminist women are redefining the concept of resilience, reclaiming it as a personal practice. Women around the world are resilient in the face of misogynistic, sexist, and patriarchal violence.

They are resilient because they have had no other choice but to navigate this world, and that is why we must not romanticize resilience but rather understand its positive impact on women’s lives: for example, more and more girls, adolescents, and women are speaking out against violence, standing up for themselves, and seeking legal recourse; more and more are breaking free from the stereotypes associated with being a woman. 

At the political level, significant changes have also taken place. More and more women are entering decision-making roles in politics, and this benefits us all. As Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s first female president, once said: “When a woman enters politics, women change. If many women enter politics, it is not women who change, but policies.” We have seen this in a substantial way in laws promoting women’s rights and, consequently, the rights of other groups, as in the case of the fight for legal abortion in Latin America, which has made significant progress in countries like México Argentina, or in Colombia and Chile, where it is gaining momentum. 

Resilience is a powerful tool. 

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How can I become resilient? 

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Edith Grotberg, a researcher and scholar in the field of resilience, developed the Grotberg Model, which involves visualizing and understanding how the resources and attitudes necessary to promote resilience are interconnected. Although it focuses on individual aspects, it does not deny the influence of context.  

This last point is very important if we are to understand that, while there are individual attitudes we can cultivate, context plays a major role in shaping our path to resilience. It is not the same for a middle-class woman—who has completed her education and has a support network—to go through a traumatic situation as it is for an impoverished, racialized woman who has not finished elementary school.

According to Grotberg, to overcome adversity and emerge from it stronger and transformed, it is necessary to draw on resilience factors from four sources: I HAVE, I AM, I AM HERE, I CAN

I HAVE 

• People around me whom I trust and who love me unconditionally. • People who set boundaries for me so that I can learn to avoid dangers or problems. 

• People who, through their behavior, show me the right way to act. 

• People who want me to learn how to get by

• People who help me when I'm sick or in danger, or when I need to learn something.

I AM 

• Someone whom others hold in high regard and care for deeply. 

• I feel happy when I do something nice for others and show them my affection. 

• Respectful of myself and others. 

• Able to learn

I AM 

• Willing to take responsibility for my actions. 

• Confident that everything will turn out all right. 

• I’m sad; I admit it, and I’m sharing this knowing I’ll find support. 

• Surrounded by colleagues who care about me.

I CAN 

• Talk about things that scare or worry me. 

• Find a way to solve my problems. 

• Control myself when I feel like doing something dangerous or wrong. 

• Find the right moment to talk to someone or take action. 

• Finding someone to help me when I need it. 

• Make a mistake 

• Feel affection and express it. 

Thinking about what you have, what resources you possess, your positive qualities, how you’re doing, and what you’re capable of is an exercise that seems simple but requires significant self-awareness—an awareness that will help you cope emotionally and physically when facing adversity. I encourage you to practice this not only when you’re going through a difficult time, but also when you’re not. This exercise will help you become aware of the tools at your disposal. 

From the progress made by many feminist movements in Latin America, we can learn that resilience is not merely an individual capacity, but a collective one. Becoming aware of the support networks we have is essential for getting through times that require greater resilience.

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