I guess I'll start by telling you why I wanted to read this book (apologies to Megan, who I sort of already told). I came across an old campaign story in my magazine's archives that mentioned Ciudad Juarez and referred to it as the "female murder capital." I didn't know anything about this, so I did some Googling and some Wikipedia-ing, asked Megan some questions, and have since been haunted by what I've learned. I know there are other places where women are more vulnerable to violence (Congo comes to mind first), and I've read my share of horror stories in the news, so I'm not sure what it is about this place that bothers me so much. Maybe it's just that at this particular moment in my life, I've started to actually think about these problems on a deeper level.
A wanted sign went up in my neighborhood a few days ago for a man who raped a woman and has attempted to rape several more. Since moving to Brooklyn I've loved this neighborhood and have always felt safe here. I love how diverse it is, and I love running into friends on the street. It makes me angry that this man can cause me and my female friends to feel afraid in our own neighborhood. I'm not trying to compare South Slope to Ciudad Juarez, but I was thinking about how in Juarez it's not just one man, it's god knows how many, and there are no wanted signs, no police searching for the men responsible, no security measures taken to protect those women, who are afraid for their lives, not only their bodies. You're right, Megan - the world's problems can seem so abstract, so distant. It's difficult for me to imagine such a horrible reality.
All that thinking and Googling led me to 2666, which focuses on the disappearing women of Ciudad Juarez (called Santa Teresa in the book). After reading a little bit of it I'm also wondering how the story will end up in Mexico.
One of the things I love about books is they do help you imagine other realities - as best as they can, which is nowhere close to solving anything, but maybe it's a place to start.
