By Arantza Caudillo Alvarez

Academics have long overlooked the Otomi, Tepehua, and Nahua people from the southeastern mountain range of Hidalgo. Anthropologists, sociologists, biologists, and overall researchers deemed the region “uninteresting” merely because the Otomi, Tepehua, and Nahua people and their traditions did not resemble their Westernized and romanticized ideas about Indigenous communities. I am honored and excited to present my research project at the President’s Showcase. It would be one of the first research by a Mexican student from an American institution about the Otomi-Tepehua-Nahua region. I hope not only to educate Florida State University's student body about how the Otomi, Tepehua, and Nahua gain agency within their communities and find moments of freedom within a patriarchal space but also contribute to the paltry amount of information available about the region. I hope this research will bridge cultural and academic divides, shedding light on the unique experiences and challenges faced by Otomi, Tepehua, and Nahua women, which often go overlooked in the field of the social sciences.

The Otomí, Tepehua, and Nahua women navigate a complex interplay of traditional gender roles and modern influences, where they express their agency through religious practices, economic and commercial activities, and social roles within their communities. I will delve into the commercialization of their traditional embroideries and coffee industry to understand how family dynamics and women’s roles have shifted throughout the years and the challenges they face because of their gender. Moreover, I will also talk about the presence of Western and traditional religious practices in the region and how they may empower or disempower women.

Despite the richness of these women's experiences, there is a significant lack of academic research focusing on their lives, particularly in gender relations and empowerment. By bringing this research to an American academic context, it not only contributes to the diversification of the social sciences but also challenges the dominant narratives of empowerment that often exclude or marginalize non-Western perspectives.

This research also addresses the limitations these women face, such as patriarchal structures, economic marginalization, and limited access to education and healthcare. Exploring how they assert their agency within these constraints reveals the resilience and creativity of Otomí-Tepehua-Nahua women in redefining their roles within both the private and public
spheres.

Moreover, this work has the potential to enrich conversations about feminism and women’s empowerment in Western spaces. It highlights the importance of intersectionality, acknowledging that gender inequality cannot be understood in isolation from cultural, economic, and social contexts. Including indigenous Mexican women’s voices in these
discussions challenges Western-centric models of feminism and promotes a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of women’s empowerment. 

In conclusion, this research not only fills a gap in academic literature but will also incentivize more inclusive dialogues within the social sciences. It emphasizes the need to recognize and value the diverse ways in which women from around the world experience and enact empowerment. By doing so, it contributes to a broader, more global understanding of gender equality, one that honors and learns from the experiences of women from the Otomí-Tepehua-Nahua region of Mexico.