The stigmatization of Latino women
Women from the Latinx community have struggled with stigma while seeking mental health care. The stigmatization of Latino women has its origins both from inside and outside their community. From inside the community, mental illness is considered a sign of weakness from the women. In the Latino community, women are always expected to be strong and face daily challenges head-on. Conventionally, women are expected to go through the obstacles in life without complaints, which is akin to referring to them as animals. Additionally, the stigmatization can be tied to race in cases of seeking for interventions for mental illnesses. Most people both in and out the Latino community view therapy for relieving mental illnesses as a reserve for the whites. Subsequently, by having a different skin color from the whites, Latino women are expected not to enroll for therapy sessions, which are considered a racial issue. Women from the Latino community also fear being labelled names such as “loco,” which generally refers to a crazy person or an animal. The gender and racial hierarchies in society have ganged up against women to deny them a purely humane form of intervention for mental illness cases. It is crucial to move away from the stigmatization of Latino women suffering from mental illnesses and find a way of remedying the situation by talking about them and creating awareness. Consequently, using the concepts of humanity and animality propounded by Aph and Syl Ko, this paper will examine the various interventions of destigmatizing the topic of mental health and increasing education and awareness about human rights in the Latino communities, especially in cases of women.
The process of destigmatizing the topic of mental health in the Latino communities should begin with the changing of narrative about the subject. According to Syl Ko, it is crucial to move away from the racialization of the world, which has made people of Latino origin view themselves as inferior, especially when compared to the whites. Subsequently, racialization has stopped most women from the Latino community from seeking interventions such as therapy, which they believe is not for them. The general consensus is that women from the Latino community should be strong and keep their struggles to themselves. In this regard, the admission of struggles with mental health is seen as a sign of weakness. According to Syl Ko, there is a need to “decolonize the frameworks that govern our concepts” (27). In this aspect, Syl Ko believes that the fear of going for therapy sessions by the Latino community is a Eurocentric concept which only serves to protect the “human” aspect of the whites. On the other hand, Latino women are viewed in terms of animal character due to the belief that they are lower in the hierarchy of racial ladder. Similarly, Aph Ko supports the contentions of Syl Ko by stating that “we’ve inherited our conceptual tools and activist theories from the Eurocentric system” (88). Aph Ko thus notes the importance of getting rid of these age-old conceptual ideas. The suggestion is that “before dismantling this system of oppression, we first need to understand how we’re still chained to it through the theory we employ to understand and discuss oppression” (88). Therefore, Aph Ko provides a passionate plea for people, especially those considered minority groups, to change their way of thinking and begin breaking the ceilings that held them down for so long.
Creating a safe haven for women in the Latino community means identifying specific people who could ensure that the process is accommodative and not stigmatized or incriminate. The specific people could appear for the purposes of application include professionals and sometimes nurses. Opening up is crucial in dealing with the mental conditions affecting wider popularity because it can boost others’ confidence and assist in learning about the status of mental health. Education around mental health and human rights should also be undertaken in the Latino communities to assist in passing on the information to everyone. According to articles by both Aph and Syl Ko, in terms of changing views about humanity and animality, education acts as a great tool of emancipation Education in this instance comes in two aspects. First, there is the literal meaning that ensures that the communication barrier is eliminated and a patient can communicate with the therapist of health care provider during treatment. Secondly, education is used here in the aspect of making the community understand that mental illnesses exist, and it is not right to stigmatize other people. Women are the ones mostly affected by mental illnesses and, in most cases, lead to fatality during childbirth. Raj Patel presents a grim picture of deaths per every childbirths recorded, and the minority communities seem to suffer a lot. Patel states that “more women are dying in childbirth with African American women experiencing mortality rates almost five times higher than white people” (11). The explanation given Raj Patel is a classic example of how education is needed in Latino communities, especially during childbirth. Moreover, training should be aimed at encouraging families in the Latino community to get involved in the fight against mental illnesses. Education provides a physiologic history of the mental condition and individual suffering, thus protecting the ones who have not gotten it.
Women have been, in most instances, considered the inferior gender in society. The case gets worse, especially when a woman hails from a minority race, such as the Latinos. Therefore, the stakes are higher, and the possibility of getting help for mental health becomes slim every day. The solution to this issue should be eliminating gender hierarchy, which has relegated women’s voices even further in society. Syl Ko refers to a book by Oyeronke Oyewumi, which casts aspersions to pre-colonial Nigeria where the gender system did not exist. The reason for referring to this book is to bring about the period when hierarchies did not exist, and people were not viewed in terms of animals and humans. The introduction of humanity and animality has ensured that most services related to health care are not available to the Latino community. Services such as therapy have been designated for elites, which loosely refers to the whites. In terms of the Latino community, anyone who has a mental illness is considered crazy in an animalistic way. Subsequently, most of the women, therefore, would hide their struggles with mental health to avoid stigmatization. There should be changes to the views held about mental health and the stigma around it allow more women and men struggling with the conditions to come forward and get help. Accommodating people with mental conditions and accepting that the conditions can affect anyone goes a long way in creating safe places for the patients.