01 Oct Journal
Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Introduction to Women in Latin America Chapter Goals To introduce a general discussion about women’s social position from a historical perspective, exploring women’s “invisibility,” patriarchy, and feminism. To explore women in Latin America understanding that women are integral part of historical, political, economic, and cultural developments in the region. To understand that women in Latin America as elsewhere in the world are a diverse group of different social classes, ethnicities, and racial backgrounds. To discuss the role of the United Nations, the Declaration of Human Rights as a preamble for Chapter 3. Introduction During the course of this book, you and I will engage in a fascinating learning experience. We will learn about women in Latin America. In general, women have been apparently absent from history. What we know today about the past was apparently done by men, being women invisible in the historical making of human beings. Stop for a while and think. Is this true? Have been women passive actors in the political, economic, cultural, and social developments? If your answer is yes, you urgently need to engage in this learning experience. And if your answer is no, I will invite you to think about the reasons of women’s invisibility. One reason is the fact that although women are integral part of global societal development, history has been written by men. For example, most social scientists such as Plato, Aristotle, Karl Marx, Friedrich Hegel, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, Jürgen Habermas, and Jacques Derrida among others are men. However, women have fought for inclusion, education, citizenship, and legal and health rights throughout the course of history. From ancient history to present times women have defied their “natural vocation” that is home and family or the private sphere and fought to be equal partners with men in private and public spheres, to be equal members of society. Examples of these women are found from east to west and from north to south of the globe. Open Box Here ________________________________________________ Women Transcending History and Geographies in the Fight for Equality The following list provide few examples of women’s contribution to societal developments around the world Hypatia the head of the platonist school in Alexandria, Egypt in the fourth century, revolutionized the field of mathematics and astronomy. She was labeled a Hellenistic pagan and killed by a Christian mob. Christine de Pazian wrote the book “The Book of the City of Ladies” in 1405. In this book de Pazian advocated for women’s rights to be educated, to be able to live and work independently, to participate in public life, and be masters of their own fate. Juana Ines de la Cruz (1651-1695) advocated for women’s rights to education being herself impeded of attending school. She was a writer, philosopher, master of Greek logic, proficient in many languages but her life and talent was silenced just because she was a woman. Sojouner Truth was an African American abolitionist and women’s rights activists during mid nineteenth century. Her famous speech “Ain’t I a women delivered in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention places Truth as a feminist pioneering women’s equality and African American civil rights. Evangelina Rodriguez the first woman to obtain a Medical Doctor degree from the University of Santo Domingo in 1911 was an advocate for women’s health rights. After finishing a specialty in Gynecology and Obstetrics in Paris, France, she developed programs on sexual education, STDs prevention, and family planning in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Rodriguez opposed the tyrannic regime of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo and as a punishment she was deprived of her job and properties, and dying Pschizophrenic and homeless. _____________________________________________________________________ end box here “Women’s invisibility” can also be explained by patriarchy. The perseverance of patriarchy also known as sexism is key in the continuation of women’s subordination. Patriarchy is a set of beliefs that assign men power over women. In the United States for example, a University of Michigan survey revealed that more than two-third of women agreed that the most important family decisions should be made by the man of the house (Stephanie Coontz). This perception has changed through the times. The United States women’s movement, women’s education, women’s insertion in the labor force among other factors have substantially changed past perceptions of gender inequalities, although some believe that the gender revolution has hit a wall and women still need to go another long way to stall patriarchy (Stephanie Coontz). In other regions of the world women are still defined as mothers, wives, and household “employees” (cleaning, cooking, taking care of children and husbands) while men are the breadwinners, decision-makers, and disciplinarians. Yet as in the United States, women of the world are also fighting to destroy gender barriers. Open Box Here Sex, Gender, and Inequality Women and men are biologically different. These difference includes the primary sex characteristics that are present at birth (i.e. the presence of specific female or male genitalia) and the secondary sex characteristics that develop later (facial and body hair, voice quality, and so on). One must take into consideration that these biological characteristics differ considerably among individuals. Some people are born as hermaphrodites (having both male and female genitalia). Other people are transxesuals who feel that the sexual organs they were born with do not conform with what they believe their sex should be. Gender on the other hand culturally defines ways of acting as male or female that become part of an individual’s personal sense of self. Women and men learn about their gender identity through the process of socialization where group of people or agents of socialization (family, school, the community, mass media, peer groups, religion, etc.) influence a person’s gender identity and develop according to cultural norms of “masculinity” or “femininity.” In this process of socialization men and women are programmed to behave in accordance to a patriarchal system. The unequal treatment of men and women is directly related to gender roles. The roles assigned to men and women are related to amount of money, prestige, power, access to opportunities, equal pay for equal work, freedom, and body control. Process of gender socialization and the social construction of gender roles varies from one culture to another. The work of anthropologist Margaret Mead showed how gender roles varied from one culture to another. Gender roles are also challenged by women’s education. The example of Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi, a defender of women and children human rights in Iran and awardee of the 2003 Nobel Prize, illustrates how education can be weapon against women’s oppression. Political participation is also another way to challenge traditionally assigned gender roles. The actions of the mothers of the disappeared in Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s elevated the status of women in the region. These examples show that patriarchy is not a static notion oppressing women throughout history and geography. __________________________________________________________________________ The fight for women’s rights that defy patriarchy extended into present times. During late 19th and throughout the 20th century women became fierce activists for educational, political, cultural, sexual, reproductive, employment, and health vindications. During early twentieth century the suffragist movement (the right to vote) was a very important example of women’s struggle to be part of society in equal terms with men. As a continuation of the struggle, during the 1970s, a group of feminist intellectuals started to explain social dynamics with a “gender eye.” Afterwards, colleges and universities started to open women’s studies programs and departments that contributed to the reformulation of theories oriented to place women as important agents in historical developments. Further the United Nations started to target gender inequalities organizing the women’s decade in 1970, creating the United Nations Fund for Women-UNIFEM, implementing different programs to insert women as equal members of society, and enforcing the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women-CEDAW. Latin America was also the scenario of the struggle to transform women from objects to subjects (Rosalin Delmar). From late nineteenth century to the 1960s, Latin American women created feminist organizations such as the International Feminist Congress, meeting in Argentina and Mexico in 1910 and 1916 respectively. These organization agenda was oriented toward three major vindications: gaining women’s suffrage, protective labor laws, and access to education. The struggle for the right to vote took most of the first half of the twentieth century as it is shown in the following chart. Chronology of the year women in Latin America Gained the Right to Vote Country Year Right to Vote was granted Ecuador 1929 Puerto Rico 1929 Brazil 1932 Cuba 1934 Bolivia 1938 (Municipal level) 1952 (National Level) El Salvador 1939 Dominican Republic 1942 Guatemala 1945 Venezuela 1946 Argentina 1947 Mexico 1947 (Municipal Level) 1953 (National Level) Chile 1931 (Municipal Level) 1949 (national Level) Colombia 1954 Nicaragua 1955 Peru 1955 Honduras 1955 Paraguay 1961 ================================================================ Feminism in Latin America was in the hands of middle class women until the 1970s when working class women engaged in the mother’s of the disappeared movements, soup kitchen, and popular health movements. Concomitantly, middle class women following the United Nations declaration of the Decade of the Woman started to organize the Feminist Encounters or Encuentros Feministas Latinoamericanos. These encounters were essential in linking United Nations efforts to narrow the gender gap and Latin American women’s agenda. One of the most important achievements of the encuentros was to propose to the United Nations an international day to protest violence against women in honor to the brutal assassination of the Mirabal Sisters in November 25,1960 by the Dominican Dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. The United Nations approved this international celebration in 2000. Today, the world commemorates the lives of the Mirabal Sisters and repudiates all forms of violence against women on November 25. Today Latin American women continue their feminist struggle through Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) demanding women’s rights, women’s research, resources to provide for women’s health, and becoming watchdogs for the fulfillment of United Nations CEDAW policies by their governments. Open Box Here Definition of Feminism
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