Ximena Bedregal Sáez (born 1951) is a Chilean-Bolivian architect, writer, theoretician, professor, editor, photographer, and feminist lesbian. In Mexico, she founded Centro de Investigación, Capacitación y Apoyo a la Mujer (CICAM; Centre for Research, Training and Support of Women), and edited its magazine, ''

La Correa Feminista LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

''.

Early years and education

Bedregal was born in 1951, in the Bolivian Andes. She spent her childhood traveling between Chile and Bolivia as her mother was Chilean and her father was Bolivian. When she was in Bolivia she was considered "Chilean", and when she was in Chile, she was nicknamed "bolivianita, cholita", or "lauquita" for having lived near the

Lauca River The Lauca River is a binational river. It originates in the Chilean Altiplano of the Arica and Parinacota Region, crosses the Andes and empties into Coipasa Lake in Bolivia. The upper reach of the river lies within the boundaries of Lauca Nation ...

. From this background, she became critical of the concepts of patriotism and nationalism, developing feminist ideas. At age of eight, Bedregal and her mother moved to Chile. There, she participated in social justice causes, becoming an exile in Mexico at the age of 27. Bedregal studied architecture and the arts at the University of Chile in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

and at the

Higher University of San Andrés Higher University of San Andrés (Universidad Mayor de San Andrés or UMSA or Major University of San Andrés) is the leading public university in Bolivia, established since 1830 in the city of La Paz. UMSA is the second-oldest university in Boli ...

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

, Bolivia. At the Higher University of San Andrés, she also studied film. Her Masters work in Urban Planning occurred at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

. At the Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City, she participated in numerous photography workshops under Ana Casas, Joan Foncuberta,

Graciela Iturbide Graciela Iturbide (born May 16, 1942) is a Mexican photographer. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and is included in many major museum collections such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The J. Paul Getty Museum. Biograp ...

, Hanna Iverson, and

Pedro Meyer Pedro Meyer (born October 6, 1935 in Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish photographer based in Mexico. He is one of the pioneers of the digital revolution in contemporary photography. He was the founder and president of the ''Consejo Mexicano de Fotograf ...

Career

From 1983 through 1985, Bedregal served as Professor of Art History and Architecture at the University of Puebla, Mexico. She formed a feminist center in Mexico, and from 1995 to 2000 was the director and publisher of its magazine, ''La Correa feminista'', which articulated feminist criticism and reflection in 20 quarterly issues. From 1989 to 2001, she served as Director of CICAM in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. From 1997 to 2008, she was the editor and director of the Internet website, "Creatividad Feminista", described as a multimedia feminist reflection space. The site had 60,000 visitors per month, serving as the face of radical and critical cyber feminism in Latin America. With this feminist website journal, she "dedicated herself to expanding the perspectives available in cyberspace". When she forgot to renew the domain name, it was bought by someone else, and Bedregal moved on, From 1998-2006, she served as the editor of "Triple Jornada", the women's supplement to '' La Jornada'' (

); she also was in charge of its online version. In 2006, Bedregal returned to Bolivia as a freelance correspondent for ''La Jornada'' of Mexico and other international publications. In her work as a theoretician and writer, Bedregal has does research in the field of gender studies from a feminist activist perspective, criticising the moderate political discourse on feminism, including lesbophobia. Her publications have addressed the role of women within indigenous movements, as in the case of the Zapatista. She has questioned the weakness of Mexican legislation for women's rights and the efficiency of some international programs such as microcredit through the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

. Rojas, Rosa (20 September 2009). "Bedregal traspasa el miedo a lo diferente y al misterio de lo que da vida: la mujer". In ''La Jornada''. Cultura. Accessdate 19 July 2013. She has written for several other journals, including ''

Debate feminista Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, ...

''. As a visual artist and photographer, Bedregal has participated in several solo and group exhibitions, among which are ''Como mujer no tengo Patria, el mundo entero es mi tierra – La tira de la Peregrinació'' at the National Art Museum in

, Bolivia (2009), ''Bolivia, luces y sombras de un proceso'' at the Centro Cultural de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos de Morelos (2009) and ''Bolivia Resistencia y Esperanza: una muestra documental del proceso boliviano'' at the Casa de la Cultura de Tlayacapan (2009).La Jornada, ed. (23 October 2009). "Bolivia, resistencia y esperanza". ''La Jornada: El Correo Ilustrado''. Accessdate 19 July 2013.

Selected works

* ''Hilos nudos y colores en la violencia hacia las mujeres'' (CICAM, 1991) (with Irma Saucedo and Florinda Riquer) * ''Permanecia Voluntaria en la Utopía'' (CICAM, 1997) * ''Feminismos cómplices: gestos para una cultura tendenciosamente diferente'' (La Correa Feminista, 1993) (with

Margarita Pisano Margarita Pisano Fischer (28 October 1932 – 9 June 2015) was a Chilean architect, writer, theoretician, and feminist belonging to the Movimiento Rebelde del Afuera (Rebel Movement of the Outside). Biography Margarita Pisano Fischer was born ...

Francesca Gargallo Francesca Gargallo (25 November 1956 – 3 March 2022) was a Sicilian-born Mexican writer and poet. Life and career Born in Syracuse, Italy as Francesca Gargallo di Castel Lentini Celentani, she studied philosophy at the Università degli stud ...

, Amalia Fisher, and

Edda Gaviola "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been attributed by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poems ...

) Editor *
Ética y Feminismo
' (CICAM, 1995) Collaboration * ''Chiapas, y las mujeres qué?'' (La Correa Feminista, 1994)

References

Bibliography

* She has written extensively in Mexico. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedregal, Ximena Living people Bolivian emigrants to Chile Bolivian architects Bolivian feminists Bolivian women photographers Bolivian non-fiction writers Bolivian women writers Bolivian women editors 1951 births Bolivian women journalists Bolivian people of Chilean descent Bolivian LGBT writers Bolivian lesbians Lesbian academics Lesbian journalists Chilean lesbian writers Lesbian feminists Organization founders Women founders