Feminist Context: Intersections between Substance Abuse and Treatment between Women in the U.S.A. and Mexico

Introduction
For this paper, I will be considering the intersection between women in the United States of America and Mexico, in regard to the status of drug treatment in each country, and the roles that it plays in these women’s lives through a feministic perspective. Further, I will be discussing how gender is in direct juxtaposition to the outcomes of drug treatments in both countries, in regard to the base of the models used to treat. Another key issue in regard to the status of treatment is the notion of the Other, with special consideration to women. Whereby in this sense, I am defining the Other, as implying a double standard set of stigma to the female, not only as the “gendered” other, but further, into the Other as seen as a drug abuser/addict, which plays an important role in treatment as well, and especially when considering further role obligations that are attachments to women’s live, such as having and/or caring for children. Finally, it is imperative to consider these issues under a veil of feminism, for women are not equal in either country, and there is a need to understand some of the social constrictors that are unique to women, before we can expect there to be meaningful drug treatment outcomes.
Positionality Statement
In my own life, I have held many identities, and took many years struggling to actually own these identities to gain insight into myself and the world around me. Some of the more trying identities had to do with being female, and what that role was supposed to entail. The most enduring role was that of a drug addict. This was prevalent since I was 13 years old, and to this day (at 31 years old), I still hold this identity, but with the addition of adjectives, like recovered, cle...

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