Myriam Irizarry came from humble beginnings. Born in Puerto Rico in the 1954, she lived with her single mother and eight siblings in a small hut with a dirt floor, no running water, no kitchen and no bathroom.
Now, as an accomplished attorney with bar membership in two states, she speaks on women’s rights in her community.
“If it had not been the strong will of my most courageous mother, and her foresight to rise above poverty and the machismo culture, I would not be here telling you this story today,” she said during a panel discussion on women’s rights at the USF St. Petersburg on Feb. 27.
USFSP hosted the three day St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs Feb. 26-28 at the University Student Center. The conference featured 16 talks by 40 different speakers. Irizarry spoke on the panel called “Women’s Rights: A Western Concept or a Universal Goal?” alongside Pierre Guerlain, Neelofer Syed and moderator Marcia Cohen.
Irizarry discussed machismo, a cultural idea in Puerto Rico and other parts of Latin America that leaves men with more freedoms than women, especially when it comes to sexual standards.
“My father would keep my mother of eight children at home, barefoot and pregnant, while he maintained another home with another woman, while gallivanting with other women all over Puerto Rico.” This concept, although outdated, still has its influences in Latin American and US law today.
The discussion prompted this question by Irizarry: “Are there still vestiges of machismo in the culture that hampers our ability to move forward?”
Irizarry answered her own question quickly.
“[Machismos] vestiges, especially in Latin American countries, are entrenched in the laws that are designed to protect women’s rights.” She spoke of the high rates of domestic violence and abuse in Latin American countries, and that these cases still occur in high numbers today, due to the lack of enforcement, not by lack of law.
“There is still much work to be done to build the path to look ahead to a future where we can compete equally on a global landscape.”
She wrapped the discussion up by tying in her life story to a solution for women today:
“[My story is] a story is one of survival, and beating the odds, because there was a powerful woman pushing the envelope, my mother. We need to find those great role models who give us the courage to preserve, to achieve in a world we fight discrimination, prejudice, machismo and gender inequality.”
