What makes you a psyco? To some, that question might seem offensive - but if you’re like Andi Xoch and Joan Zeta, it’s a question you answer with pride.
Xoch and Zeta are two members of the Ovarian Psycos, an all-women of color, community organization and bicycle brigade, based in East L.A. The group is featured in a new documentary, aptly named Ovarian Psycos, which had several screenings at the Milwaukee Film Festival.
Despite its recent success, the film had a pretty rough start. Xoch says that when the group was first approached by the filmmakers, many of the women were leery about their intentions. And although they all finally agreed to do the documentary, the filmmakers still had a difficult time convincing women to be profiled in the film. Xoch was one of just a few women to tell her story.
"When nobody wanted to step up to do it... I agreed, because I felt like, 'Well, damn. I don't know what it is about me that y'all wanna know, but I'm willing to open up and show what made me a Psyco, what pushed me to organize with these women.' And that alone I think is a story worth telling," she says.
Like many of the Ovarian Psycos, Xoch had a rough relationship with her family. "As I was growing up, I realized like, 'I'm harming myself, and I need sisters and I need a mother.' So I went in search for something that can... help me feel like I'm part of a family, that does care about me or at least shows that they care about me in different ways," she says.
"It's a very sad reality growing up in our community, where we're constantly being pinned against each other."
The group allows women to connect with other women, something that both Xoch and Zeta says is difficult in their community. "I think it's a very sad reality growing up in our community, where we're constantly being pinned against each other and being manipulated to think that we're each other's competition," says Xoch.
The group hosts a monthly Luna Ride that specifically exclude cisgender men, which has caused some controversy. But the group maintains this is a necessity. Part of the goal of these rides is to create a space where women can talk about their sexuality, the dangers they face on the street and the sexism they face in the world.
Although many in their community have come to terms with the rules of the Luna Ride and the group's goal of helping women protect themselves, they still face some backlash. "I still get crap from people and people you actually trust and people you thought you knew," says Zeta. "But it makes me realize that people are not aware, like there are men who are still in the dark ages. So you kind of let them know."
