Las muertes chiquitas

Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is a decadent voyeuristic film where women are speaking about sexuality and salacious sex acts. No, this is a serious documentary that deals with the position of women, not only in Mexico, but throughout the West. A spectacular sociological work linking the historical position of women today. Issues of love, family, political oppression, sexual violence and murder are discussed.

The title of the film Little Deaths refers not only to orgasms, but to that little bit of the female psyche that is killed everyday through societal oppression. When we think of sexuality, we think of it in terms of something private, but female sexuality is not a private matter as this documentary shows. It is dictated by a patriarchal system; through the church, the media, and the politicians whose purpose is to stifle human liberation (among them female sexuality) in order to maintain an oppressive economic system of exploitation. Discussions abound on the role of the church in teaching women sex is wrong; on an economic system that creates female prostitution; on the media, i.e, newspapers, magazines and TV that display constant images of sexy women that rather than liberate further objectifies them into sexual objects; object defined as a tool to be used. In fact, even discussions on the responsibility of society for turning a blind eye and minimizing female assault, rape and abduction. This documentary is not a cataloging of faults in our society, but an emancipatory work. The female orgasm is used in the film not only as a prelude to discuss these greater issues, but as a pathway to liberation; for liberation is freedom. As one woman states, when women realize that they themselves through their actions and self-castration sustain patriarchy and learn the importance of loving themselves with all their idiosyncrasies, then the status quo will forcibly change.