Toxic masculinity, rage, and activism in Chile and South Africa

Abstract

In this videographic essay, I juxtapose two feminist responses to patriarchal violence and highlight their similarities by drawing from the insights of Argentine anthropologist Rita Segato. I compare the performance “A rapist in your path” (2019) by the Chilean feminist collective Las Tesis with the documentary The people vs patriarchy (2018) by South African filmmaker Lebogang Rasethaba and producer Jasmyn Asvat. Both works emerged within the context of the global #MeToo movement and attest to the ubiquity of gender inequality, rape culture and the creative outrage fueling societal transformation. The form of the video essay uses visible grid lines and text on screen to denormalize structures of patriarchal power and prompt viewers to critically think about the intersections of oppression and resistance. I take cues from Barbara Zecchi’s audiovisual language of the multiscreen that keeps audiences alert to challenge the naturalized mechanisms concealed by dominant patriarchal cinematic language.