We are undoing machismo little by little, say the Amazons of Yaxunah

Afp

La Jornada Newspaper
Tuesday, June 4, 2024, p. 7

Los Angeles., When at 47 years old Enedina Canul decided to play ball, nothing stopped her. Neither her husband nor the social conventions of her small indigenous community nor her lack of resources.

From a tree branch she carved her own bat and took a baseball from her husband. Already on the improvised playing field, she realized that she could not run with sandals, so she took them off and began to run barefoot.

Her determination inspired other women from her town, a small indigenous town nestled in the Yucatan jungle, in Mexico, who formed a team they called Las Amazonas de Yaxunah.

The struggle of the team, whose members are known for playing barefoot and wearing traditional indigenous tunics, is the center of the documentary The Amazons of Yaxunah, which premiered on Sunday at the International Latino Film Festival in Los Angeles, California.

The documentary features narration by Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio, nominated for an Oscar for Rome, and will be available on ESPN in English and Spanish in September. It is directed by filmmaker Alfonso Algara and produced by the Sports section of that channel.

“My husband told us: ‘It’s not right for women to go out and play. What are they saying?’” Enedina told Afp hours before stepping on the red carpet.

“But I told him: ‘That doesn’t matter to me. (This is) what I liked as a child, I now have the opportunity to play it again and I’m going to do it.’”

Baseball was Enedina’s passion in her childhood, but due to social conventions she stopped practicing it in her adolescence. The woman is from the housethat phrase marked the tradition in her Yaxunah, says she, who has four children.

The idea to return to playing came when, in 2017, a government program suggested dancing in Zumba classes to combat obesity in the small community.

Choosing softball cost some Amazons their marriages. However, Enedina did not give in.

When it was time to go out to play, her husband would ask her to cook, and she would respond: There’s food in the pot, I’m leaving. He asked his son, Joel Díaz Canul, to grab the bats and gloves.

Although my husband is grunting there at home, I am already there with the other ladies playingremember.

The fame of the Amazons spread through the jungle thanks to a video that spread on social networks and went viral.

It was a matter of time before the cameras arrived in Yaxunah to photograph these women playing huipil, the traditional dress that Frida Kahlo made international.

The story caught the attention of a producer working with ESPN, who contacted Algara to work on the project.

What captivated the 38-year-old director was that each of them was in their own fight. It was a super conservative community, where literally a few years ago they still couldn’t go out on the streets alone, with many restrictions on everything they had to do..

Women could not go out, talk to men, express opinions or go to vote, Enedina says. What husbands do: they tell you, give me your credential, I’ll take it (to the polling station).

But women’s passion for softball changed the rules of the game.

Talking about four years ago and now there is a big difference, because even machismo we are already sort of undoing little by littlesays Sitlali Poot, captain and daughter-in-law of Enedina.

We have put it into the minds of most men that we also have the opportunity to go out and play, to have fun, because a softball or baseball game is about uniting the family.

Joel, Sitlali’s husband and team manager who saw this first-hand at home with his father, adds: we realized the change we have made.

Enedina remembers that on one occasion her husband, who died a year and a half ago, told her: “’I’m proud of you.’

I am thankful that before he died he accepted that I can play softball with my children.

With recognition came trips to compete in other cities, even in the United States. Let’s play cool!Sitlali encouraged his colleagues on Friday before entering the field at Walnut High School, California, where they played a friendly with the school team as part of their visit to Los Angeles for the release of the documentary.

It doesn’t matter if we losehe added looking at the Amazons formed in a circle. The important thing is that we show what we know how to do. That’s what we are here for.