The Paradox of the Women of La Paz

Just wanted to make a few clarifications: La Paz is a city of largely Aymara people. Aymara society is traditionally matriarchal. That means women traditionally have had the leading role. Overt racism has been curbed some since Evo Morales took power, but he is far from deserving any of the credit (don't believe the hype). Evo is hardly Bolivia's first Indian president (look up Mariscal Andres Santa Cruz). Chauvinism, machismo and the patriarchy are European imports, like Catholicism and smart phones. To my feminist friends: can you say "Colonialism", it is still happening. Remember your colonial baggage whenever you want to dig the culture one of the last strongholds of American Indians on this continent. La Paz is ground zero for the resistance. 500 years and counting...

I was in Bolivia for a year and noticed the same thing: women did all the work, women and their children were the only ones working, and if you wanted anything done you had to get a woman to do it. There was a little bit of hyperbole in that, but not much.

Ah, Jada, may you learn that visiting a country as a tourist is to bring the heavy baggage of your biases and assumptions - in this case, your nouvelle 2018 Feminist easy dissing of men. Perhaps you might dig into that before you travel and write about anywhere else. We '70's Feminists were NOT about building a wall between ourselves and men.

I lived in Bolivia. Sure, if all you see is the tourist circuit, like this author did, women are highly visible as vendors. But sexism, domestic abuse, and sexual harassment are rampant. All of those women you saw in the market are working to bring home their wages to support their families because the men, if they’re still around, are drunk and unemployed. Rates of infant and maternal mortality are some of the highest in Latin America (thanks largely to the Catholic Church and its prohibition on contraception). This article was facile and did not even begin to scratch the surface of what Bolivian women endure. Their cheerfulness in the face of it all is a testament to their fortitude.

I think this is a very interesting article, but may be your depiction of Bolivian women is a bit romantic or naif. I can't share your vision of the empowerment of women in Bolivia. There are a lot of Bolivian people living in Argentina. They are very nice, respectful and hardworkers. But men usually send the women to work. Thay just give the orders or drive them to work. Later, in the evening, they pick them up. Men don't work as much as women do in their culture. May be this is the reason why you saw so many women in the streets and not so many men. As I read in one of the comments here, men usually gather to drink alcohol while women work. The cholitas are sent to work at an early age, so many of them can't attend or finish school. They are really picturesque, but many of them are also victims of different forms of abuse or exploitation. But, not taking into account your view of the empowerment of Bolivian women, your article was very interesting.

Great article, was opportune since I was reading while I was awaiting my flight to La Paz. The city is one of the more interesting places I’ve been to before. I’m glad you mentioned Bolivian Popular Food restaurant, I had a great lunch there yesterday. I sat at the bar and watched one of the hardest working kitchens I’ve seen prepare lunch. And made it to Gustu last night for the tasting menu that was really wonderful.

Thank you for yet another gorgeous piece, Jada! Your dispatches have become the highlight of my reading day. I have no idea how you manage to travel from place to place, taking glorious pictures while producing such thoughtful prose. Stay safe!

There is nothing more beautiful or empowering than watching a cholita using a cell phone in downtown La Paz to check up on her mother in El Alto. It is tradition meeting technology.

Thumbs up for the article! La Paz is great fun. The aerial trams are a terrific way to travel. They are clean and quiet and yes, one does meet a cross section of Bolivians who are very proud of the tram system and eager to share their thoughts. For Americans traveling to Cusco and Machu Picchu, consider adding a few days in La Paz. It's an easy ad-on and after Cusco you'll be used to the altitude.

I remember a trip that I took through rural Bolivia about 30 years ago. What impressed me then was the sheer burden of field work that fell upon the women. One of the most routine sights I saw was a group of men sitting around in a field smoking and shooting the breeze while woman (often with young babies tied to them with their rebozos) worked strenuously in the fields. At that time, it sure didn’t look like empowerment to me; it looked like subordination and extreme gender inequality. I hope that things are changing in that regard, as you suggest they are.

I have visited Bolivia several times as part of Quaker Bolivia Link (see qbl.org). Personally, I was surprised by the gender equality I found in Bolivia, although I spent most of my time outside of La Paz. We would go into smaller villages and meet with the leaders of those villages. I believe the leader of a Quechua village is called a "Mallco", although my spelling may be incorrect. Anyway, we could identify the leader by the symbolic whip worn around their shoulder. It was not uncommon for that leader to be a woman. In every village we visited women had a significant or even a dominant role in village affairs. In fact, we learned that in social situations, it was the woman who picked the husband rather than the husband who picked the wife. I cannot say enough about the kindness, hospitality and overall graciousness of the Bolivian people I have met in my travels. Steve Solosky www.travelingprofessor.com

I've really been enjoying Ms. Yuan's writing and her perspectives on cultures. This was one of her best so far. On the other hand, NY Times, would you please send her a lens with a wide aperture? Thank you.

Bolivia is a wonderful country to visit. Living there has some drawbacks however, given the current mismanagement by Evo's party MAS, not only for the increasing contamination of our environment, but because of the ongoing narcotrafficking, contraband and underground economy, and the generalized social anomie by thinking no changes are possible when incompetence is like an open door for corruption. Of note, corruption is not unique to any given regime nor country, it is universal, to our chagrin...as seen currently in the U.S., under Trump's pluto-kleptocracy. But I digress; if you can, visiting Bolivia would be a wonderful experience, particularly in La Paz, with it's unique topography and it's richness in people's folklore. Speaking the language, though not obligatory, would be an invaluable asset.

Many years ago, while in graduate school I became friends with a wonderful woman who was doing graduate work in Anthropology. With assistance from a prestigious grant program, she was able to spend several months in Cuzco, studying the women who ran the market there, because the men were off working in the mines. As a single woman, she said they often asked her, "Where is your man?"

Fascinating story. I spent a month in LaPaz 50 years ago. Now that I think about it, most of the vendors we encountered then were women. Thank you.

Thank you Jada! Your articles have become the Times reading I most look forward to each week. I get what you're up against - trying to capture these complicated, fascinating places after spending only a few days. There will always be one or two who think you’ve missed something (perhaps there is some travel/career envy creeping into this space?). But your descriptions of the people, relevant history, food (oh the food – especially in this piece!) are so rich. I will return to these pieces as I plan trips – or at least daydream.