Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 71, No. 2. (May, 1991), pp. 259-306.
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H i s ) ~ a ! I iAnlei-icn~i
c l l i s t o r i c a ~R e c i e ~ c71.2
Copyright 0 1991 by Duke University Press
ccc 0018-~168/~1/$1.50
I
recent years gender has emerged as a subject of histori-
N
cal inquiry. It is a coinplex term, one not susceptible to
a single, facile definition. I11 a pathbreaking article, Joan
Scott offered a multifaceted explanation of gender. In the first part of her
definition, she viewed it as "a constitl~tiveelement of social relatio11ships
based on perceived differences between the sexes." This element, in turn,
rests on four others: "symbolic representations" of these differences; "nor-
mative concepts" interpreting these symbols; institutions that help deter-
mine the social relations between inen and women; and the ways in which
people slll~jectivelycreate their own identities. Scott tied this first part of
her explanation to another that is "interrelated but must he analytically
distinct"-that gender also is "a primary way of signifying relationsl~ips
of power." She perceptively noted that "this part of the definition might
seem to helong in the normative section of the argument, yet it does not,
for concepts of power, though they inay build on gender, are not always
literally about gender itself."' Seen in this light, genderecl rhetoric and
policies can symbolize and express iinportant facets of the desired political
I thank Charles Anrhler, Rosemary Brana-Shute, Elsa Chaney. Alicia Frolrman. Donna Guy,
Linda Wall, Kathleeli Staudt. K. Lynn Stoner, and Maria Elena Valenzuela for sr~ggestiolrs
and materials; the UTEP Minigrant Progr'lm for its financial support; and, particularly,
Cheryl hlartin for her \aluable comments on tlie various dlxfts of tlris article. Tlrese peraons
are not. however. responsible for the opinions espressecl.
1. Joan Scott, "Gender: 4 Useful Category of Historical .\nalysis," A ~ n c r i c c lHisto,-icul
~~
Rcuiew, 91:s (Dec. 1986), 1067-1070. On definitions of gender alao are Susan C. Bourque,
"Gender and tlie State: Perspectives fro111 Latin .\mrrica," in \\'OJII~II,
the State, ci11t1Dcccl-
opnlcnt, ed. Sue Ellen Cliarlton, Jana Everett, and Kathleen Staudt (Albany, 1989); "Edito-
or propositions as
rial," Signs, i 3 : 3 (Spring 1988). 399-402. 1"ly labeling of the co~npo~rents
first and second does not imply any ranking.
260 ( HAI-IK / blXY / S . i N D R i AICGEE DEUTSCH
and social order. Scott's linkage of these two propositions, as she called
thein, suggests that one cannot analyze either in isolation from the other.
The seconcl part of Scott's explanation also suggests that one cannot
separate politics from gender. Throughout history, people in all social
ranks have coinprehendecl, interpreted, and justified authority relations
in society by referring to what is close to them and readily understand-
able, nainely authority relations in the home. As Scott pointed out, those
who have lauded a hierarchical order have often seen the "well-ordered
family" as the microcosm of the "well-ordered state." In this regard, one
might cite the bourgeoisie in nineteenth-centurp Europe and the United
States, which viewed the nature and roles of the sexes as unchanging. Its
rigid definitions of mai~l~oocland woinanl~oocl,along with its narrow code
of proper sexual practices, helped to reinforce and justify the division of
labor along gencler and class lines in capitalist industrial society and the
bourgeois values of frugality, discipline, '~ndhard work. This is but one ex-
anlple of the deeply iinbeclclecl tendency to express relationships of power
in gendered terms.'
Power relations and gender relations are, then, intertwined. This im-
plies that those who would attempt to o\7erthro\\~the social hierarchy
would also need to break its synlbolic ties with the hierarchy within the
family and redefine gender in a inore clemocratic fashion. If, instead,
leaders ancl the inasses continue to define sex roles in traditional terins
and use this framework as a paradigin for the state and society, they may
undermine the entire process of political and social change.
Inspired by the ideals of socioecoi~onlicequality, inass clemocrac~y,and
self-determination, progressive governments and movements in twentieth-
century Latin Ainerica have sought to tr:insform their respective societies.
Their egalitarian goal has often incll~deda desire to change inherited gen-
der roles and family structure.' Presumably, the degree to which they
have revised sex roles and the gendered imagery they have used to express
ancl justify their political actions should help reveal the nature of their
reforn~programs. If for various reasons thry have decided to restrain the
process of change they initiated or encouraged, they may have used the
imagery of gender to express and justify these limits. One might also ex-
pect their opponents to have criticized the reforms ill terms of traditional
gender notions.
31y original aim was to write a historiographical essay assessing the sec-
ondary literature on gender in the context of political and social change. As
my case studies, I chose revolutionary hlexico (1gio-24), the first Peronist
administration in Argentina (1946-j5), Cuba under Fidel Castro (1959-),
and the Unidad Popular period in Chile (1970-73).;' Since the existing
works did not adequately cover the issues, I cleciclecl to add consider-
ation of printed primary sources, suggest sonle tentative hypotheses, and
point out areas for future research. Thus what follows is a combination of
literature review and substantive article.
This essay covers the two parts of Scott's definition and the subtle ties
between them. I explore the nleaning of the first part, or, as Scott puts
it, "how politics constructs gender," by studying symbols, rhetoric, and
programs relating to the definition of lnale and female roles. The Cuban
and Chilean governments professed to welconle important chi~ngesin the
status of men and women, whereas the hIexican and Argentine envisioned
more limited changes. Considering the second part of the definition, "how
gender constructs politics," these distinctions are not surprising. for the
desired gender roles symbolized the desired social and political relations
as a Deeper analysis of the second part, however, shows that
the statements and actions of protagonists in all four cases had implicit
meanings that at times contradicted the explicit messages. Their manipu-
lation of gendered concepts for political ends leads one to question the
revolutionary character of the governments under study.
Mexico
La historia prirnitiva de la mujer es contmria a1 estado social y
politico que actualinente guarda.
-Salvador hl\rarado, 1 ~ ~ 1 5
In its epic phase (1910-20) and the first years that followed, the Mexi-
can Revolution contained many tendencies at \var n7ith each other. Even
n~enlbersof the same factions, such as President \7enustiano Carranza's
(1917-20) allies, often disagreed on vital issues. The gender notions of lead-
ing re\rolutionaries also exhibited these differences. Yet Go\,ernor Sal\,ados
Alvarado of YucatAn (1915-18) and other spokespersol~sagreed that the
re\,olution would have far-reaching effects on gender roles. They secog-
nized that a re\rolution that undermined the social hierarchy would in-
evitably influence the relations between men and women.We\rertl~eless.
the gender-related rhetoric and programs often belied the equality that
X'fexican revolutionasies ostensibly sought.
Before the revoll~tion.nlost h'lexican \\70111c11carried out their tasks
within the honle or the family econoinic unit. Only 8.82 percent in lylo
I~elongedto the work force, a figure that ignores the labor of rural women
in the fields alongside their hl~sbanclsand cllildren. The duties of middle-
and upper-class women. a tiny minority of the female popl~lation,had
become sharply cliflerentiatecl from those of illen: these wolnen found
themselves enshrined within the cloillestic sphere, their tasks limited to
the home, the falnily, education, and religious endeavors. Partl). for this
reason, many hfexicans viewed women as the church's natural allies in the
latter's conflict with the state. Nevertheless, liberal and other progressive
mo\7ements had attracted some femi~lesupporters.'
Women actively participated in the revolution from its beginnings.
They protested against the Porfirio Diaz governnlent (1876-1911) through
strike action, writings in the opposition press, and inembership in the
ai~arcl~osyi~clicalistParticlo Liberal Yfexicano (PLhl). Once the actual con-
198;): Mary K . Vaughan, "\.Yomen, Class, and Education in hlexico, 1880-1928." ill LIUrr~erz
Rartra. Also see Ricardo Flores Slagon. "A la mujer." 235 (from Reger~ewcii,,~, Sept. 24.
1910): Gilbert h I . Joseph, R e ~ o l u t i o F'rof11
~l Withorit: f'rrcatci~~. ,\lerico, c~ndtlie I'llitrd Stnte.9.
1h8o-lgz4 (Cambridge, 1982). 218; Ilene Yirginia O'\lalley. "Propaganda, the hlyt1l of the
Revolution. and the Institr~tionalizationof the Xlerican State. 1920-1940'' (PI1.D. cliss.. Lni-
vexit)- of Xlichigan. 1983), 44-45, 237-239: Salas, Solclurlarc~s.82-101. Anarchists else\vhere
in the Americas held similarly conser\'ati\e. although not religiously inspired views of female
roles. see Slarifran Carlson, ; F e ~ l l i ~ ~ i sTllc~
~ ~ ~\lh,,le,l',s
o! Jloce~~lerlt ill Argcvlti~lcl FI-01111t.s
Beginnings to Ecn Pel-611(Chicago. 1988). 123-124, 12;; h l a x i n ~\ l o l ~ ~ l e u ' i"No , God. No
Ross, No Husband: Anarchist Feminism in Nineteenth-Crnti~ryArgentina." Loti11~\itiericnfl
Pcrspcctitic.~. i 3 : i (\Vinter 198A\, 129, 132-135: .ASLIIIC~~II La\'rin. "The 1cleolog)- of Femi-
nism in the Southern Cone, 1900-1940.'' The iVilson Center Latin A~nerican Program.
if'orking Paper no. 169 (1986), 13.
lo. Legislators quoted in Bermildez. "La F~~milia." 89; Sal\,ador .4lvarado, Ln r-ecorl-
.strucci6n de Mixico: 1111 lrler~,s(ije11 10s plreblo.s de ,Virico. 3 vols. (Slexico Cit)., 1919). 11,
293-294, O n Slarianism see Stevens, "Slarianismo." The phrase "el pueblo sufrido" appea~-s
f r e ~ ~ i ~ e nint l corridos.
y
11. Eric R. \Volf, "The Virgin of Guadalupe: .4 hlexican National Symbol." Jourtlnl
the Virgin did not prompt a radical alteration in the view of womanhood,
despite the potential opposition to patriarchy that some authors clainl she
manifested.
Indeed, the revolution's effect on the conception of lilanllood may
have threatened women's status. Ilene Virginia O'hlalley suggested that
the oppressive l~rerevoll~tionary order had enlasculated lower-class Mexi-
can illen by denyiilg them equality and the ability to both support their
fanlilies econoinically and protect their womenfolk from sexual abuse by
upper-class men. One might also ask whether priests. with their
infll~enceover fenlale parishioners, seenlecl to linlit secular inale control
over women. By attacking the church and the socioeconomic hierarchy,
revolutionaries inay have reclaiined their manhood. This hypothesis re-
quires research on such unexplored topics as tlle genderecl connotations
!)f anticlericalism and of male nlotives for activism. Yet it inight help ex-
plain Ain6rico Parecles's assertion that exaggerated notions of unfettered
machismo did not appear in Mexican folklore until the revolution. At any
rate, this association between social change and manliness implied that
the equality of inen ulould entail fernale subordination. It also seeined to
deny women the ability to become genuine revolutionaries.12
If, in ternls of Scott's first proposition, revolutionaries enlpllasized ag-
gression and virility in their construction of the inale personality, they also
included other values. Rarely stated explicitly in speeches or writings,
the male ideal was depicted in corridos of these years, u l l ~ i c lextolled
~
various revoll~tionaryfigures as fearless, upright, loyal, incorruptible, and
constant. The corridos also praised inen for the "\Iarian" virtues of gen-
hlexican Culture." in Religioil ii1 Latiil Arne,-icn: L t f ~ c111d Literattrre, ed. 1,yle C . Bro\vn
and IVilliam F. Cooper (II'aco. 1980), 190-20:3; Virgil Elizondo, ''0111. Lady of Guadiilr~pe
as a Cultr~ralSymbol: 'The Power of the Po\i~erle\s.'"C o n c i l i ~ r ~ ~ ~(i97;),
lo2 . 25-33: Jacqi~es
L,afaye, Qrretzalcontl and Gtradnlnpe: Tlie Forrncrtion of' Xfesicnrl S a t i o ~ ~ nCoilsciorl.rrless,
l
1531-1813, trans. R e ~ ~ j ~ ~Keen
r n i n (Chicago dnd L,ondon, 1976), esp. 299-300. Il'illia~ir R.
Taylor discllssed conflicting interpretations of the Virgin during the colonial and indepen-
dence periods in "Tlre Virgin of Guadalupe in Kew Spain: An Inquiry into the Soci'11 History
of hlarian Devotion." Ait~er.icnil Ethilo/ogi.~t.i 4 : i (February 1987), 9-1.3: research on the
revol~~tionar) era is needed. D. .4. Rrading, in "Tridentine Catholicism and Enlightened
Despotis111 in Bourbon hlexico" (loz~rnnlofl2otiil Ainericnir Strl(lics, 15:1 [\lay 198;3]. 2-5).
noted that tlre cult of the Virgin in this I,e~-iodrepresented, among other things, the unity
of tlre Xlexican colony under Xlexico City and its archbishop. The Zapatista documents con-
tained in El ejircito cclnlpesino del slrr (idcologicl. orgclr~i:c~cicin11progrclincl) (Xlesico City,
1982) did not reveal any interpretation of the Vil-gin.
12. O'hIalley. "Propaganda," 239-247: FSBIICO. Plottiilg W'oinen, 102: Arntrico P;iredes,
"The United States, hIexico, and ,2lncllirino," trans. Nancy Steen, Jotrrilc~lof the Folklorc
In.stitute, 8:1 (June 1g;l). 17-37; 1-inda Hall and Cheryl hlartin. comments. Brief condem-
nations of priests' supposed encouragement of female promiscuity are forind in E . V. Nei-
me)-er. Jr.. Recoltrtion nt Queritclro: The ,2lexicnn Constittrtioncll Coriceiltiorl of 1g16-lg17
(Austin, i974), 81, 9;.
266 / HAHK I MAY I SANUM SICGEE DEUTSCH
13. See tlre sections on Yilla and Zapata in hlerle E . Sim~nons,The Jlerictr~~ Cor-r-ido(1.5
A Sorircefor Interpretice Study of.llotlt,rt/ Jferico (1870-i")o) (Bloo~iii~igto~i, i c ~ ~ j ; ) , 250-
319; and those on the re\.olutionary leaders in John Hr~thel-ford,Jlc~rico~lSocic~t!! d r ~ r - i ~thr ~g
Recoltition: A Liter-fir!! Approach (Oxford, ic~:i), 134-171. .41bo bee Jesils Ro~iieroFlores,
Cor-ridos tle la Recoliici6t/ Jle.vicntln (XIexico City, 1977). O'XIalley, "Propaganda," 44-46.
Katherine Anne Poster, "Corridos," S ~ I I - 52 ~ , ic~zq),157-158.
L ~(Xla?
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 267
lution or to replace clerical dominance over women \vith their own, rather
than to release woinen from religious strictures.14
The Carrancista govcrnor of Yucatan, Salvador Alvarado, also favored
feinale emancipation, which he described as "levantar y dignificar la con-
dici6n de la inujer. haci6ndola fuerte para luchar con la vicla y danclo vigor
a sus alas, entuinecidas por la tradici6n y el convencionalismo." IIe iin-
pleinented this goal through the broadening of educatioi~alopportunities
for women, the con\location of two feminist congresses, revision of the
civil code, laws protecting feinale labor, and the banning of brothels-
thus ostensibly freeing prostitutes from exploitation by madams, pimps,
and others. Yet while Alvarado believed that woinen performed useful
functions outside the household, it was there, he thought, that they ful-
filled their highest calling and developed their true talents. Thus it was
l~referal~le that woinen devote themselves to inarriage and family. Emanci-
pation meant enabling them to become bctter, more respected wives and
inothers who could support theinselves honorably in case of dire need.
And the nlost important talent for them to use in the home was that of
shaping
- *
.
men's character.15
Not only tradition prompted such views. The revolutionary cataclysnl
had sanctioned bloodshed, crime, rape, and other aggressive behavior,
and it had also destroyed old habits of deference and obedience. Disorder
inlpeded consolidating the state and implementing reform. To Alvarado,
reform meant installing bourgeois capitalism through such measures as
the division of land into small, efficient private holdings. The governor
wanted to tame disorderly inale conduct and curb workers' autoi~omyin
order to contain the revolution and guide it ill a capitalist direction. One
may iilterpret his attenlpts to outlaw bordellos, pimps, cockfighting, gain-
hling, and the consuinption of hard liquor and drugs-and similar actions
by Plutarco Elias Calles as governor of Sonora (1917-19) and as president
( 1 ~ ~ ~ 4 - ~ 8 ) - a s e f f o rto
t s iinpose austere, disciplinetl values conducive to
capitalist development, rather than as mere prudery. Yet state action did
not suffice to coiltrol men, and the anticlerical revolutionaries did not want
the church's assistance. Therefore, Alvarado and other leaders stressed
women's moralizing roles in the home as a nleans of delegating the vital
h> treating inale adultery inore leniently than female. and by perinitting
divorced inen to reinany sooner than divorced \von~en.~"
Apart from his divorce legislation, Carrillo's progressivisin did not fit
with the revolution's tendency to~vardconsolidating a capitalist order. The
views of his ally, Carranza, did. The Constitutionalist leader sllpportcd the
First Feminist Congress in Yucatiin and some of Galindo's feminist ideas.
;Clany feminists were pleased wit11 Carranza's decree of 1914 legalizing
divorce and the subsequent divorce provisions of the Constitution of 1917,
altllough these measures, like Canillo's, retained the sexual double stan-
dard. In contrast to Carrillo's lil~ertarianism,Carranza regarded inarriage
as a civil contract, a matter that fell under state jurisdiction. To comple-
nlent the divorce laws and promote equality within the family, the Law
of Family Relations (1917) gave such additional rights to inarriecl women
as authority over tlle children (pcltria potestacl) and control over lnarital
property equal to that of men. However, it still prevented wives from p ~ r -
suing a career \vitllol~ttheir l~usbands'agreement and single \vomen from
leaving their parents' home without permission llntil age thirty. except
to marry. Carranza wanted these regulations "to establish the family on
a inore rational and equitable basis, to inake the consorts aware of the
great responsibility that society hat1 entrnsted to them"-that of raising
a family. He wished to rationalize society by throwing off the weight of
tradition that had impeded capitalist progress. Like Alvarado's, his family
policies reinforced and epitomized his broader social and economic aims.
One of Carranza's justifications for divorce legislation, namely. decreasing
the incidence of consensual unions and illegitimate births among the poor,
further indicated tlle l~ourgeoisiinplications of his programs.'"
18. Felipe Carrillo Puel-to, '"The Se\v Yucatin," Stirre!/, 52 (hlay i c ~ ~ $138-142, ,
Joseph, Recolrltioit, esp. zifj-zi(3, 233-263; hlacias, Agcriilst ,411 Otlds, 87-100, Soto, Tlrc
Alesicuir \Voi)taii, 56-64; Vaugh'~n, '\\hmen," 71-72. On the coedu~ation~tl. anticlerical
schools see Da\,id L Raby, Etlrrctlci6ir !/ rc,col~tcidi~ socinl ell Alkrico (1921-10401, trans.
Roberto G o ~ n e zC i s i ~ a(Xlesico City, 19741, 37-,38. hluch \\-ork remains to 11e done o n the
gender i~n~lications of educational reform in r r \ olutionar) \ l e ~ i c o .
19. Carranza quoted in Donna \I. \\hlf: "\\hmen in \Iodesn hlesico," Strltliei. iir IIir-
tory ntrd Society. 1 (197fj), 34. Beslllildez, "La familia." 88-89, Soto, T11c Jlez~c~liz \llo~irnir,
34-35, Astelnisa Sdenz Ro)-o ("Xocl~itl"~, Ifistoricl politiccl-rociol-crrlt~li.(~ldel 1)toc.it)rieilto
feineizirlo erz JfB.sico 1914-1950 (XIexico Cit!, 1954). 50, 66-67, Lillian Eatelle Fibher, "The
Influence of the Present \lexican Re\olution upon the Statr~sof hlexican \Volnen," HAHR.
22:1 (Feb. 19421, 212-213. Fisher (214) described the conbtitutional clause confel-I-ingeclrlal
rights to all hlexicans, yet its intent was nationalistic rather than feminist. C a s r , ~ n ~ apolitical
's
and economic liber'11ism is discussed in: Clrarles C. (:umberl'~nd, Tlte blesicoit Hecolution:
The Cot~stitrrtioitolistYeclrs (..\ustin, 19723, 383-384, 387, 401, Robert E. Quirk, Tlrc ,\le.xiccliz
Hecolrltion 1914-1915: The Coiroention of Ag~rcrsctrlieirtes(Bloolnington, 196o), 9-10. 152;
John \Idson Hart. Reuolrctionnr!/ Mexico. The Coir~iilg:'lilt1Procc.~, of the Jlrriccri~Rel-olrltioil
(Berkeley and Los Angeles. 1987)
Defense of ~narriageoften is a clc~ss position, ;IS J;~lreJaquette lrotetl in "Felnale Politic'11
270 I HAHR I hlAY I SANDRA AICGEE DEUTSCII
Paradoxically, the post-1920 national regime also used disorder, or at
least syrnl~olsof disorder, to strengthen its coiltrol over the populace.
Like Carranza, Presidents Alvaro Obregcin (1cpo-24) and Calles fi~vored
capitalist developnlent and an authoritarian state, but they contii~ueclto
employ revolutionary rhetoric to justify their power and ol~scurethe gap
between the revolution's stated goals and actual achie\lements. In doing
so, they and their followers drew upon themes already present in popular
songs and literature, particularly the legends that had grown around revo-
lutionary figures and the association between the re\~olutionand manli-
ness. 0 ' ~ f a l l e yhas argued that the ruling elite encouraged the disaffected
to identify writ11 such rebellious heroes as Zapata and Villa. Propagan-
dists stripped their defiance of political and class overtones, leaving only
"masculinity." This masculinity encoinpassed not only the traits previously
illentioiled in corridos, but also exaggerated prowess wit11 women and,
in the case of Villa, wild beha\lior. Thus, according to O'hlalley, govern-
ments attenlpted to channel popular feelings of dissatisf:xction and political
impotence into identification with tough: virile figures. Linda B. IIall,
however, disagreed with O'hlalley's emphasis on the conser\lative and ma-
nipulative implications of the mythification process, noting that the hero
cults predated 1920.20Toll11 Ruthelford's observation that Villa's m\~thic
reputation grew in spite of, not because of, the efforts of official propa-
gandists, \vl~opainted hiin as a villain since he had fought on the losing
side, tends to support Hall's contei~tion.~' Revolutionary mythology and
its functions are another field that calls for more research.
This survey of the early years oftlle revolution demonstrates how poli-
tics constructed gender and gender constructed politics. Leaders devised
gender-related programs that suited their perceived political ends. The
genclered rhetoric and policies of hlexican revolutionaries also served as a
pi-adigin for the preferred political and social order. The Carrillos' inno-
vative views on gender relations were a model for the democratic socialisin
they envisioned. The emphasis that .Alvarado and Carrailza placed on con-
trol and order in their gender and f;~milialnotions syinbolized the hierar-
chical political and econonlic order that prevailed in hlexico by the 1920s.
Considering the first part of Scott's definition, the view of illale and
Participation," in Se.x (iricl Closs i r i 1,ntitt Atrlcr-icn, ed. June Ndah dnd Helen Icken Satb (Ye\\
Yo&, 1976), 230.
20. O'hlalley, "Propaganda," 95, 98-99. 175, 245-24(<, 258: compare Lvith Smith-Rosen-
berg's discussion of tlre lla\!y Crockett m!th in Diro~-tl(,r.l!lC o ~ i c l ~ 90-108. ~~r. Also see
Li~rdnB. IIa11, ~.evie~v ofthe published \erriou of O'Xlc~lley'stli\se~.t,~tion, Tlze .2l!/th O J R C L O -
/iitiorz: llero Czr/ts crrlcl the Irl.ctitutiorln/izntior~of the, Alarico~nStcite. 1c)no-19.40 (Ne\\. Tork.
1986). in Amcricnn Historicc~lRccicu. 9 ~ 3(April : ~ 1988). 33 - , 2-5:33.
21. Rutherfor-d, ,2le.~icnrl Societ~y,164.
G E N D E R AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CIIANGE 271
Argentina
Yo me siento nada lnQs que la humilde representante de todas las
lnujeres del pueblo.
hle siento, coino ellas, a1 frente de 1111 hogar . . . : el gran hogar
venturoso de esta Patria inia que conduce Per611 hacia sus 1115s altos
destines.
iCracias a el, el "hogar" que a1 principio file l>ohre y desmantelado,
es ahora justo, lihre y soberano!
iTodo lo hizo kl! ''
In the speeches, writings, and progranls of Juan and Eva Per611, c o n -
plex gendered rhetoric and appeals aboundetl. In terms of Scott's first
proposition, nlany of their policies had gender implications, u~hichin turn
reflected perceived political exigencies. In terms of the second, these
policies, as well as their marriage, also served as niodels for the couple's
broader aims. Eva portrayed herself in the passage cited above as a leader
political rivals, but from a stance that traditionalist supporters inight per-
ceive as radical. Eva assured thein that she and other female Peronists had
retained their femininity and did not hate men, supposedly unlike ferni-
nists.*j X'luch of Eva's gendered rhetoric served to justify her leadership
and the roles of Peronist women in nonthreatening tcrms.
In inany ways, Peronists encouraged female activism. \.Vomen forined
a prosuffrage group under Peron's auspices before his election and par-
ticipated in his campaign. After his victory thcy, like their nlale counter-
parts, formed local Peronist cells. 'A Peronist-dominated Congress passed
a feinale suffrage law in 1947 and other nleasures favorable to women.
The creation of the Partido Peronista Fenlenino (PPF) in 1949 as one of
the three branches of the Peronist movement, autonomous froin and co-
equal writ11 those of men and the union confederation, at least in theory,
marked a significant advance beyond the subordinate felninine sectors of
other political parties in Latin .America. Party menlbership reached an
in~pressivehalf million by 1952, including nlostly working-class women
previously uninvolved in politics. Operating within an exclusively female
organization gave politically inexperienced woinen the opportunity to de-
velop skills, self-confidence, and an awareness of their o\vn needs. It also
introduced many women to activities outside the home in a way that
did not estrange them from their husbands. i\lthough the male l ~ r a n c h ,
backed by Perbn, refused to give her as lllaily slots as she requested, Eva
imposed six female candidates for senator and twenty-three for deputy
on the Peronist ticket in 1951. .A11 won their seats. giving .Argentina the
highest number of elected female representatives in the l ~ e n ~ i s p l ~ e r e . ' ~
Yet several factors detracted from this picture of female mobilization.
.Although Eva tried to do so, the Perons collld not rightfillly clailn ex-
25. Lns nil'jeres cle Arg~ritinn(Buenos Ail-es, 11352[?]),25: \'era Piellel. A l i pciis !/ slrs
~nrtjeres(Buenos Aires, 1968), 73; Per'iil, La r-clzh~i,265-267. 0 1 1 ftlninisl~l,see Carlson,
Fe111ir1is1,zo;.\suncihn L A V I - "\Voliieil.
~~~, Ldbol- dlld the Left: .\rgentilla and Chile, 1890-
11325," Journcll qf Li70t~ie~~'sNistorly, 1 : 2 (Fall 19891 88-116: Lavl-in, "Ideolog\-"; hlaria del
Carmen Feijoti, "Las luchas feministas," Torlo E,s Hi~tor.ic1,110. 128 (J'II~.11378), 7-2:3; Cynthia
Jefhess Little, "Rloral Reform and Feminisnl,"Jo~rr.nnlqfl~iter-Ar~~ericci,~ Studies c111rl\Vorltl
Aflnirs, 17:4 (Nov. 19;s). 386-397; hlaria Isabel Constenla !-hlaria A~lleliaReynoso, "L'I
mujer la politics." Todo Es Historicl, no. 183 (.\ug. 11383). 68-79,
26. Nicllolas Fraser and hlarysa Navarro, E r n Per611(New York, 1981), lo;. On Peron-
ist Lvonren see Esteld dos Santos. Lns ~,irtjerespero~ii.i.tcis(Buenos Ail-es, 1983);.\lberto Ciria.
ljolj~~l(lr:
Politiccl 11clrlt~lr(~ In Argentil~nper.or~istn1946-1955 [Buenos Airt.5. 1983). 181-186:
Julia Silvia Guivant. "La visible Eva Pertin y el invisil~lerol femenino en cl pero-
nismo: 194fj-1952," Lrniversity of Notre Ilame. Kellogg Institute IVorking Paper no. 60 (Jan.
1986), e s p 30, 53: Peron. I,ci rnzdn. 289-295: Nailcy Caro Hollnlldel.. "Si Evita Lriviera . . . ."
in Li70nlen i11 Lntiri Ar~lericn,108: Susana Bianchi and Norma Sancllis, El Pnrtido P<.ro~listci
Fe~nenino,2 vols. (Bi~ellosAires. 1988). I. 37-42: Nornna Sdnchis, " ~ h l ~ ~ j een r e sIn politica
o politica 'de mujeres'? Un anBlisi5 d e la experiencia de las mujeres peronistas, 1945-1955.''
Isis Interrzocioncil, l o (llec. 1988). 99-101.
274 I IIAfIR / AMY / SANDRA XtCGEE DEUTSCH
clusive credit for feinale sufiage; its time had come. thanks to woinen's
advances in einploynlent and education and to the efforts of anti-Peronist
feminists. Orie could also argue that working within an all-female group
inarginalized Peronist woinen, although tlle foundation of fenlinine sec-
tions within the Socialist and other parties had formed a precedent for
Peronists to follo~v.Nor did the creation of the P P F necessarily increase
feinale independence. The various preexisting groups of Peronist women,
which had enjoyed sonle autonomy, dissolved with the founding of the
PPF. Eva ruled the latter, setting its agenda and picking as its leaders
and congresswomen women lacking political credentials who would fol-
low her orders. The illale branch of the party was more democratic than
tlle female, which, unlike the former, ditl not hold internal elections or
congresses during Eva's lifetime and was not formally constituted, with
officers, until two years after its birth. Thus, while Marysa Navarro noted
that Eva imitated her hushand's control over male Peronists, it seeills that
she outdid him." Exemplifying Scott's second proposition, the hierarch!;
within the P P F synlholized the larger Peronist pattern of mobilizing the
inasses while maintaining dominance over t l ~ e i n . ? ~
The Pel6ns defined women's roles in a traditional manner, albeit with
a political t~vist.They referred appro\,ingly to women who worketl outside
the home and implemented programs in their behalf, such as clay care
and the principle of equal pay for equal work, although such measures
were not a priority. Nevertheless, school text1,ooks during tlle Peronist
years depicted most women as house\vives and mothers, in contrast to
inen as jobholders. Juan and Eva justified their social Lvelfare policies by
noting that these would enable ~vorking-classwomen to fulfill their true
calling by staying home. Eva segregated P P F women from inen so that
the former would remain within their o\vn sphere and not assume "mascl~-
line" traits. Following a precedent set by conservative female activists in
the early twentieth centl~ry,she characterized their duties not as "political
action," which was reserved for men, hut as "social action," permissible for
women. By eliminating ambiguity from women's roles, she reduced the
possibility for change in gender relations. Tf'hile she believed that Per611
had "liberated" women, this word had a narrow ineaning for her. Thanks
to the improved econoinic status of workers and to fenlale suffrage, under
Peronism women were free to organize, propagandize, and assist other
women and children, so as to "Peronize" i"1mi1ies. Eva also charged thein
with the duty of organizing const~mptionwithin tlle housel~old,which
2 7 Rlarysa Na\arro. Ecitcl (Buenos Ail-e,, 1981). 211. 21:3, Bianchi and S~unclris,El
Partido, I , 67-68, 91.
28. Peter U'aldrnann. El P e r o ~ l i s i ~1cjq3-1;15,j,
~o trans. NGlida hle~rdilaharzutle hlachuili
29. Percin, I,(I raz611, 289; Navarro, Eritn. 220. Catalina \Vaine~.man,"El mulrdo de la.;
ideas y 10s \alores: Xlujer y trabajo," in Del rleber- ser cl hacer- de 1c1s 111rrjet-es:Dos c,st~rdios
de cclso en Argenti~~cl, ed. Catalilra Wai~rermalr,Elizal~etlrJeli~i,and Xlaria del Cal-mrn Fri-
joo (hlexico City, 198:3),87-89; Bianchi and Sa~lcliir,El Pur-tido. I, 69-70; Salrd1.a F . h l c c e e ,
"The Visible and In\isible Liga Patricitica rgelrtina. 1919-1928: (;ender Rolrs and tlie Right
IVing," H A H R . 64:2 (XIay 19841, 233-258. Bialrclii and Sanclri5 (49) l ~ o i ~ i t eout
d that t h r
Peronist nrobilization of women coliflicted with that of the c1ir11-cli.l'lie gender iniplication5
of tlie relationsliip between Peronism and the church need study.
30. Julia .4. Jolly. "Eva Percin: Ad\enturesa or Xlilitant'?" Pmccedin,os of the PCCLAS,
4 (19751, 86, Percin, La r-az6n, 279; EGOPer611 l~ablnn Ins ~ ~ ~ t t j e r(Buelroa
e,, .Airrs, 1975). 34,
Bianchi and Sancliis. El Paltido. 1, 45; Uianclii. "Pel-oniamo," 278-279. 284.
276 I HAHR ht4Y I SANDFM AICGEE DEUTSCH
this family and Juan as their father, thus also justif:\.ing her political role.
This equation of private and puldic demonstrated, as Guivant poiilted out,
that Peroilisill intruded in people's personal lives more than illany authors
have It also indicated that Eva made no tlistiilctioll between her
relatioilship with her husband, the private, and \vith the Peroilist state,
the public.
In this sense and others, Eva set the model for feinale Peronists to
follow. Just as Eva suborcliilated herself to Juan, women were to suborcli-
ilate theinselves to their husbands, the Leader, and the moveinent. Thus,
both through her exaillple and her explicit admonitioils to wornell, she
assured men of their coiltiilued pi.eeminence in the home and ill society.
111 the Peronist family, women, like Eva, were to defeilcl and b e faithful
to Juan. They were supposed to imitate Eva's Marian image of beauty,
purity, ~llaterllallove, humility, charity, and self-sacrifice, the latter sym-
bolized in her renunciation of the vice-presidency. One illust note that
Eva also praised women who possessed resolve, dynamism, a sense of
responsibility, f~~naticism for the movement, ant1 intuition, yet also, incon-
sistently, rational judgment. These qualities wcre not among the hIariail
virtues, but all save the last fit the traditional view of women as non-
thinking, feeling, and willful beings. Perhaps here Eva responded to the
contradictions in her own public persona; the "madoila de 10s hnmildes"
was at the same time the inore illilitailt "abanderada d e los descamisa-
dos." 3?iinotl~ercontradiction lay in the fact that Eva demanded so much of
female militants that the latter had no time for their own k~milies,whereas
Eva's unique partnership with Juan merged politics and marriage. In this
respect Eva could not serve as a model; hence, also for this reason, she
created a new family for them in Peronism.
Did the Pel6ns coilsicler the ideal feillale traits worthy of eml~lation
by the inale sector? Many values of the Tercera Posicibn, or Peronist
doctrine, such as love, generosity, compassion, ~~nselfishness, harmony,
and peace seemed traditionally fenlinine. Juan isolated two characteristics
he considered female-intuition and attention to detail-as particularly
31. Guivant, "La vi5ible," y-q:i, \fcC;ee, "Tlie \.i5ible": E:ccl Per611sr~ficrlcr1.1 cclr~~i~lo
del cicisnio n ((1 rnr!jer. cirgcntinn (Buenos ..\ires, 1951) 10, 12; Ircn Peron hohltr, 91. Juan
Pe1.611 h ~ justified
d 5tate interference in tlre filmilc ill a speech ill 1944 see Juan Peson, El
pueblo q~rieresclber de quC se trcitn (Buenoh ..\ires. i944!. 5-6
:jz. Eco Per6n l~clblo,42, 44-45. 89, 123. Eco Pcrd~li~~n~ortcll iBuenos .\ires. i953[.']):
Ecn Pel-6n nnd Her Socinl \\'ark (Ruenos .\il-e5. 1950): E1.a Peron. "llirz con5ignas pal-a la
mujer peronista," .2it1rldo Peronisto. 1 : 2 (Aug. 1, 1951). 5. Gui'allt. "La \.isible," 48, J , h l .
Taylor. Eva Per6n: Tlle .2iyths ($0 \l'onlon (Chicago. 1979). e s p 86. BiC~nchi. "Pero~rismo."
277. Peronist songs in Julio Dario .ilessandro, e d . . Cn~lcionerotlelrrnr~Per611 y Ecci Per611
(Burnos .\ires. ic~fj(ii,praisrd both inrages of Era. l'he "madom" appears. for rxample. ill
"Eva de .imi.rica," 5fj-57. a11d "E'ita capitam," 306-307, lauds the nili it ant Evita.
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 277
valuable in the art of leadership. He added that hllmility, loyalty, ancl obe-
dience were ilnportant in both leaders and followers; certainly the Perons
ue~ticalisi~zovalued these qualities in both sexes. Yet men and women re-
ceived different messages on warnlth and fervor. Juan told nlale Peronists
that leaders had to be cold ancl passionless, whereas Eva set the oppo-
site example for prospective female leaders. Along these lines, Peronist
textbooks presented models of nlale behavior that varied nlarkedly from
the female. They portrayed men as stern, rational, strong, clomi~leering
fathers hut emphasized the Marian qualities in women. Evidently Eva was
the only woman permitted to exhibit strength and authoritarianism; she
did not train women to elnulate her in this regard, but simpl>-expected
them to follow her c o n ~ m a n d s . " ~
Tlle Per6ns' views on renunciation were ambiguous. On one hand,
Juan believed that leaders sacrificed tl~elnselvesfor others, and all Peron-
ists should elnulate this behavior. Eva's renunciation of the vice-presi-
dency prompted her hl~sbandto award her a special medal for embodying
the highest qualities of a Peronist. On the other hand, Juan frequently
observed that under the Tercera Posici611, Argentines were acllieving
progress "without sacrifice or pain." Nancy Hollantler found that Peronist
songs asked women to offer their lives for Peronism but exhorted men
sinlply to unite in the movement and share in its triumph. This differing
attitude on ahnegation indicates that Peronism based itself on a dichotomy
between Inen and women-one s>-mbolized in the division of labor be-
tween Juan and Eva.l4
Moving to Scott's second proposition, however, in terms of power the
Peronist propagandists' view of wonlen served as a paradigm for their
view of the masses as a whole. As Julie Taylor demonstrated, Peronist
ideologues drew upon middle- ancl upper-class conceptions to formulate
these ideas. Peronist literature depicted Eva's or women's power as spiri-
tual, intuitive, emotional, irrational, and fanatical. It tended to portray the
masses in the saine manner, albeit less explicitly. In this context, Per6n's
words were equivocal. LVhile h e insisted that a successf~~l political organi-
zation required a disciplined, intelligent rank and file with some sense of
33. Juan Dolningo Peron, La tercera posici6n cirgentil~rr(Buenos .&ires. n.d.), lo, 13,
31, 46, and Conducci6n politicrr, 2d ed. (Buenos .&ires, 1974)~14, 150-154, 160, Salicliis,
"hli~jeres,"96-98, \Vainerniali, "El niundo," 87-88,
:34 Peron, Conduccicit~.75; Robert D. Cra5swelle1-. P e r d ~clnd
~ the E ~ ~ i g ~ no$Argrii-
crs
firla (New York, 1987). 241: hIoviniir~rtoNacional Justicialistd. Perdm: Actclali;aciti~t politiccr
y tloctrinoria porn la toltln del poder !Xladl.id. 1971); Hollander, "Si E\itd," 109 hI'~rys;i
Ndvarro described the dual leadership of Peronism in "Evita's Cliarismatic Leadership." in
Latin Arnericalz Populisrl~ill Coitlpclratice Persprctire, ed. Xlichnel I,. Conniff (.&lhuquerquc,
19821, 47-66;
278 I HAI-IR LLI' I SANDlN hlCGEE DEUTSCH
initiative, he admitted that the latter had no "intrinsic value'' except in its
"reactive power." This reactive power, in turn, depended on the leaders,
for the masses feel and intuit rather than think: leaders had to stiinu-
late their reaction, just as the brain activated the muscles." Like female
power, the power of the masses was instinctive and natl~ral,reql~iringthe
control of civilized men. (At the same tiine, Eva Per611 would probably
have added that the ~vomen'stask was to civilize men and children.) As
Peter Waldlnann pointed out, Peronism would "domesticate" the workers,
althol~ghhe did not intentionally use this term in a gendel-cd c ~ n t e x t . ' ~
Like the consolidation of the hlexican state, the domestication of the
Argentine workers apparently required parental guidance; indeed, the
Per6ns used falnilial metaphors to describe and reinforce their Icader-
ship style. A childless couple, the Per6ns may have seemed unsuitable for
this task, hut as Eva 1-epeatedly noted, the Argentine people were their
children. Nor dicl Eva necessarily fit the image of a mother; while her
sl~ppoi-tersl~l-aisedher 11). citing her beauty and her image as a strong,
protective mother, her detractors focused on what they regarded as her
lack of femininity and maternalism." Juan was all even odder choice for
father of the nation than Eva may have been for mother. Some of his
critics questioned his virility and manliness, since he h:~dnever fathered
a child, and he tended to be attracted either to very young 01. passive
women, or to a domineering woman like Eva."' Perhaps another reason
for this perception was the apparent "femininity" of Peronist doctrine, as
indicated above. His followers, however, may have thoilght that with his
virility Jllan attracted young desirable women and rendered thein passive.
Juan's iinage and the entire issue of' his appeal to luen require filrther in-
vestigation. What is clear is that while the Pcr6ns justified their rule in
gendered terms, their opponents used the saine ternls to disparage it.
Peron took soine measures that happened to strengthen his masculine
appeal. He exercised and dieted to remain in shape, and he dyed his hair;
many hrgel~tinescollsidered him attractive ancl virile in appearance. As
"First Sportsman" of the nation, Per611 engaged actively in and encour-
aged sports, particularly boxing and motor-racing, filrther proll~otillghis
manly image.'V~Ielikewise inspired feelings of masculinity in his inale
followers, not so much through identification with his image as through
35. Taylor, .\lyths, esp. 113. 126, Per6n, Cor~dtcccidr~, :jo, rz:j-r25.
36. \Valdrnann, E l Pcro,~ismo,36-37.
37. Ta?lo~-,J lytlts, 72-85, Bia~lcliiand Sanchis, El Portitlo, 11, 152-156.
38. Ta>-lor.M y t h s , 78-79; Joseph A. P'lge, Po.611: A Riogr-tlpll!i [New Yol-k, 198,3), 6.
78-79, 291-292; Nd\rasro, Eoita, 324.
39, Page, Pertin, 24-25, 224-225, 293, 295, :339, ''Histol.~adrl Prl.o~l~\rno, la prlmel.a
psesidencia," parts 16 and 17, Priinercl Plonn, Sept. 6,19(i6, pp. 4 - 4 3 , and Sept. 13, 1966,
PP 38-42.
G E N D E R A S D SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 279
his actions on their behalf As may have been the case with the h~lexican
Revolution, his reforins and his mobilization of workers encouraged them
to experience hope, dignity, and self-worth; now the \vorking inan felt
that he, too, was soinebody and could stand up to his employer. "With
Per611 we were all machos," one laborer put it.40
If Percin helped stinlulate a sense of self-assertion and pride ailioilg
~ \ . power by emphasizing
workers, he sought to linlit their a ~ ~ t o n o mand
his paternal qualities. Although he paicl hoinage to the masses' struggle
to obtain economic concessions, Peron also presented himself, with Eva's
aid. as the dispenser of such concessions. I l e assigned to himself and to the
Peronist state the responsibility for harnlonizing the interests of labor and
capital, just as the kindly 11ut stern father of the Peronist texts would aclju-
dicate clispl~teswithin the householcl. The first lines that children leariled
to write in school incl~~decl "Per611 nos ama. Nos anla a todos. Por eso
todos lo ainamos." These and siinilar se~ltencesrelating to Eva reinforced
the view of the Percins as parents. The schoolbooks' identification of J l ~ a n
Per6n with JosP de San hlartin, the fither of his country, fi~rtherencour-
aged Per6n's paternal image:" So, too, clid Eva's depiction of her husband
as a father figure who possessed all the qllalitics shc lacked and of whom
she had to prove herself worthy.,'"
Peron's attenlpts to regulate the Argentine family also manifested his
paternal role. Besides the First Five Year Plan, the Constitution of 1949
and sonle of his speeches emphasized the family as the nucleus of society
and the need for the state to protect it. Accordiilg to the constitution,
the state would guarantee the equality of the spouses, iilcll~dingtheir all-
thority over their progeny, yet at the saine time it \vould grant special
attention to \vomen and children. The state \vould go so far as to forin "la
unidacl econ6inica familiar" and gl~arantee"el hien de fainilia," presum-
ably through Per6n's redistribution of incoine toward the workers. In this
sense, the Peronist program may have represented a step toward a new,
Inore egalitarian family model. Per611 also expressed a regressive desire,
however, to control laborers throl~ghsuch paternal admonitions as "de
casa al trabajo y del trabajo a casa." Along these lines, hefore the election
of 1946 he advised his supporters to remain at home and to abstain from
alcohol or festivities."
more in keeping with popular customs and more easily lnobilizecl than the
conventional version. Or, like the post-1920 4lexican leaders, the Per6ns
may have manipulated their sexual images to encourage popular identifi-
cation with themselves and thus divert potential sentin~entsof class revolt.
Whether an actual threat existed or not, anlple evidence shows Juan's and
the elite's preoccupation wit11 the leftist specter.4i
The Per6ns' record 011 gender was as contradictory as their overall
achievements. Considering the first part of Scott's analysis, tlie "feminine"
values found in Peronist doctrine, as well as Jl~an'swillingness to rely
on Eva, may have mildly challenged tlie traditional definition of man-
hood. The Per6ns attempted to ease women smootlily into public life and
to offer them a somewhat broader vision of tlieir roles, withol~t,how-
ever, questioning the donlestic sphere. I11 turn (rcgarding Scott's second
component), this reselnblecl their efforts to incorporate workers into the
political and welfkre systems without questioning capitalist principles. To
what extent they may liave intended to restructure tlie family deserves
further research. Nevertheless, even these limited changes required Eva's
presence. I-Ier death removed the nlodel of strong felnale leadership for
other women to follow, particularly since she did not delegate authority.
It also seeills to have curtailed female activism ant1 tlie power of the PPF.
Thus, however progressive some of tlie Per6ns' stands may have heen, tlie
legacy appears to liave heen brief. In other respects, their statements and
programs reinforced the traditional gender roles, and they utilized con-
ceptions of these roles to justif:\. their hierarchical control and authority
relations within the society. The Peronist revolution, such as it was, may
have weakened hut did not overturn capitalism, the corporatist state, or
male rule in the householcl. The Per6ns' use of gender and hmilial con-
cepts with ambiguous conte~ltwas tailor-made to serve a movement with
a heterogeneous membership and essentially co~lservativeends.
Cuba
This p h e ~ l o i n e n oof~ women's
~ participation in the revolution was a
revoll~tionwithin a revolution . . . . And if we were asked what tlie
inost revolutionary thing is that the revolution is doing, we would
Castro has consistently tied the revolution to the issue of feinale libera-
tion. Regarding Scott's first proposition, his government has implemented
many prograins for women, and regarding the second, its progressive view
of male-female relations serves as a illode1 for the entire spectrum of' social
change since 1959 Yet- the probleins ficed by a besieged, ui~derdeveloped
island, as well as the legacy of traditional attitudes, continue to liinit the
revolutioil within a revolution. These liinits, in turn, call into question the
estent of transformation in broader power relationships.
I11 some respects Cuban m70111e11before lygy enjoyed a higher status
than their counterparts in prerevol~~tionary Mexico and pre-Peronist Ar-
gentina. A dyilainic fenliilist inoveineilt had won inale politiciails over to
its agenda. The results were sweeping laws on divorce, maternity and
other benefits for female workers. civil equality with men, and tlle vote,
all of which subsequently appeared in the Constitution of 1940. K. 12yi1i1
Stoner attributed this progressive legislation to the siinultaileous birth of
(and links between) deinocratic nationalism and feminism, as well as to
politicians' need for allies in the unstable early years of the republic. To
what extent this legacy helped iilflueilce gender prograills after 1959 de-
serves scholarly attention. By the iyijos m70111e11had achieved a slightly
higher literacy rate than men, although they were vastly outilumhered
in the universities. But the advances in feinale legal status and education
did not necessarily reflect their position in society. Governments failed
to enforce the impressive laws. In i g j 3 , only 17.2 percent of m70111e11
worked as paid laborers outside the llonle, a percentage sm;~llertllail that
of' Argeiltiila ill 1947, and, as in hot11 Argentina aild hlexico, they were
overrepresented in poorly paid, unskilled jobs. Nor had feinale civil rights
altered the traditional definitions of sex role^.^"
\irl1e11 they assuinecl power, Castro and his guerrilla army comrades,
50. ;\nlorig many stateruents to this efyect, see Castso. "Tlie Re\~ol~ltion."48-ji: Susan
Kaufman Purcell, "h~lodesriizingLfIomen for a Iloderri Society: The Cuban Case." in F e ~ ~ ~ c l l e
and Male, ed. Pescatello, 261-262: Fidel Cosiro 011 Chile ( N e ~ Y
v osk, 1982), 127-128.
ji. Cuban programs for Ivomen arid tlre farllily Irave inspised a vast litel.ntuse. See. for
example, Purcell, "hlodernizing"; Isabel Lasguia and John Dunioulin. "Lf'onien's Equality
2%
/ HAHK 1 hL4Y / bANDR4 AICGEE DEUTSCH
Eve11 so, Cubail rulers have not fully confronted the issue of how far to
associate the redefinition of society with the redefinition of gendcr roles.
Ailoinalies in government rhetoric and action continue. The new image
of womanhood as revolutionary but discreetly "feininine" exllil~itssoine
of these contradictions. In its fashion section, which occupies a signifi-
cant portion of each issue, the FRlC's inagaziile Mtrjcres has consistently
advised women to dress attractively yet soberly and noilprovocatively.
Similarly, the FRlC trained former prostitutes to dress and 1)ehave in a
subdued femiiliile fashion as part of their education for a new life. Para-
doxically, the revolutioil seemed to approve of \voinen displaying their
bodies on cereinoilial occasions. Coiltests to pick carnival clueells took
place at least until the mid-1~-jos,although judges and audiences chose
wiililers on the basis not only of physical bcm~tyhut of revolutionary atti-
tudes and participation. Criticism 1)y the FhIC and the Coini~~uilist party
led to the end o f t h e practice of choosing carnival queens. Nevertheless,
tourist hotels and nig11tclul)s still feature scantily clad fem;xle dancer^.'^
His coinmitinent to feinale equality not\vithstailding, Castro himself
has betrayed ambivalei~ce.Kepeatedly he denounced the bol~rgeoisview
of m7ome11as sex ol~jectsaild "decorative figures." He has praised woinen
for their abnegation, concern for justice, discipliile. and combativeness.
While the first two are qualities traditionally associated with women, the
last two are not; moreover, these are revol~tionar~. traits he wants men to
and tlre Cuban Ke\olution." 344-368. lid C,lrnren Diana I>ee~-e,"Kur,31 \\omen and
-\grarialr Reform in Peru, Cliilr, and <:uba," 199-203, in Mhnrer~ N I I ~Change i r ~Ltiti~r
An~ericci.r d . June Kash and Helen Saft~(South Hadley. AlA, 1985); Ctrbo Reuietc. 4:2 (Sept.
1974):Cuhcz Recierc. 5 : 4 (llec. 1975);Oscar Le\vis. H11t1rh l . Lc\vis, S~lsalrhl. Rigdon. Fotrr
ii'ortlen: 1,icing t l ~ eRcco!trtion. An Oral History of' Co~rten~portiry C t ~ b akUrl>a~ra.19;;);
hlargaret Kandall. \,i'o~ne~rin Ctiha: Ttcolt!j Yecirs Ltrttzr (New Tor-k, 1981). I,tr nrtrjer en
Crrba socialists (tlavana, 19;;): entire ibsur of Ciibnir Sttrtlics. 1; (198;); I,au~-etteSrj.journi..
I,n ~t~tcjcrcuba~laol el qtcchncer de la 11i.rtor-in(hleuico City. 1980). On day care and etlu-
cation, see \lar\in Leiner, Children L4rethe Rrcolrition: Dc~yCare in Ctilxi, zd ed. (Ne\v
l'ork, 1978) Karen \\'aid, Childr-en of Che: Childcar-P and Edricutioi~ i l l Ctrhci (P'11o Alto,
1978); Jonathan Kozol, Cltiltlrcn of the Rerolirtion: A Ycitlhec Tcaclrer irr tlze Ctrhcl~rSclrouls
(New Tork, 1978) For additional sources before 1974, see Nelson P. \'alder. ".4 Bibliogrnplry
o ~ rCubalr \\'omen i ~ rthe T\ientietlr Century." Criban Studies Set~slettcr-.4 : 2 (June 1974),
1-31.
52. Stone. "Ir~troduction."18. and Communist Party of Cuba. "Tlresis: On tlre Full
Exercise of \Vomerr's Eclualit!.." 102, in Stone. \\'oi~rpn. \'irgi~rid Olesen. "Col~fltle~rces in
Social Change: Cuban \\'omen t ~ n dHealth Care," Jotirnal of Into--rlrtlericcin Studie.~tincl
%.or-!d Affairs. i;:4 (No\'. 1975). 401-402. hfax .4zicri, "\Vo~rrel~'rDevelopnre~rtTlrrot~glr
Revolutio~rary Slobilization: A Study of the Federation of Cuban \fJomen." Interirntionnl
Journal of '\Vo~nen'sStrrtlies, 2 . 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1979). 35: P~wcell."Sfodernizing." 267-268,
"PI\so a la estrella." Ctiba Internacionnl. Sept. 1973, p. 74. Sourcrc on beat~tyronterts are
licted in \'<~ldes."Bibliography," 38. I sur\.e!ed J1trjerc.s. ]an.-Dec. 1978, Jan.-June 1980,
July-Dec. 1981. RIar. 1984. and Jan.-June 1986. In three issuer picked at randonr, clothing
and sewing patterns covered froni i j to 18 percent of the total pages.
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE: 285
53. Fidel Castro. "The Struggle for \\'ome~r's Equalit!," 68-72, and Communist Party,
"Thesis." 75. in Stone. ~ V V I ~ CC.I I Fred
: Judson. Cuba and the Rccoltrtior~a~-y Afytlz. Tllc
Political Erlucatio~zofthe C t ~ b a nRebel AI-~ny,195.3-196.3 (Boulcler. 1984h esl)eci,tll!. 239
54, Stoner. 'Breaking tlre hlold: The hlambisas and the C u l ~ a \Vass
~ r of Independence."
ma.: Carollee Bengelsdosf. "On the Problem of Studying \Vo~nenin Cuba." in Crlbon Politi-
cal Economy: Co~~troc.ersies in Cttbanology. ed. Andrew Zilllbalist (Boulder. 1988). 126-129:
M~rjeres.passim.
286 / HAHR / XlAY / SAWDlt4 h I C G E E D E U T S C I I
55. For information in this and the next p,iragrapll. see Olesen. "Confiuellcer." 402-403;
Casal. "Revolution." 191: Pastor Vega, director, Retrc~tode Tei-e.sa (1979); J u l i a ~ ~ nbur
e tor^.
"Seeing. Being. Being Seen: 'Portrait of Teresa.' or Coiltradictionr of Sexual Politics in Con-
temporary Cuba," Sociul Test. 4 (Fall 1981). 79-95: Lois SI. Smith. "Teenage Pregnancy
and Sex Ediication in Cliba." paper presented at Latin .American Studies Association (L.AS.4)
uneetii~g.New Orleans (SIar. 1988). 27; Isolina TI-iay, "Hilda del Carlllen: la realizc~ci6ntle
un suefio," Altljeres, 2G:4 (Apr. 198G), 61; Stoner, commentr. Maxine iclolyneux noted a simi-
lar enlplrasis 011 ~nothedroodi ~ other
r socialist countries in "Soci'11ist Societies Old and New,:
Progress Towards IVome~r'sEnrc~~rcipatio~rP" Felnir~istRecietc, 8 (Summer 1981), 1-35. 0 1 1
the tendenc!- of female bureaucrats to work in family-related matters, ree Elsa hl. Chaney.
S~i~errrzndre: IVoir~erzin Politics in Latin rlit~ericn(Austin, 1979). .-\pp~-o~ir~latelyhalf of the
hldrdr 1984 issiie of Altjeres was d e ~ o t e dto motherlrood- 01.fanrilyrelated matters, and h i s
coverage seeilled typical for tlre magazi~re
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 287
and virtually ignores paternity for men. E\lidently. as in the h'lexican and
Argentine cases, female revolutionaries must be mothers, but, unlike their
counterparts in Argentina, inale revolutionaries need not be fathers.
The definition of inanhood may draw upon Castro's image as well as
traditional notions. The leader of the Cuban Revolution serves as a illode1
of virility. hlany photographs feature Castro engaged in sports or in tlle
company of athletes. His large physique and apparent attractiveness to
women add to his masculine image, as does his history of standing up to
the United States. This, in turn, reinforces his popularity anlong Cubans,
who affectionately call him "el caballo." While Castro offers an image of
virility, h e has been single for inany years, and although h e has fi~thered
cllilclren, h e does not portray lliinself as a paternal type or fanlily head-
unlike Juan Per6n. In terins of Scott's second component of gender, per-
haps this serves as a paradigill for a socialist government that has s o ~ ~ g l l t
to destroy old l l i e r a r c h i e ~ . ~ B research
ut is needed on Castro's image and
its influence on inale roles under Cuban socialism.
The few existing works on male roles suggest sonle change over time.
In 1966, citing the need for more daycare centers and other f'acilities to
help boost female participation in the labor force, Castro asked who was
going to prepare food and perform other housekeeping chores without
such services, implying that h e did not en\lision illale f;~milymeinl~ersin
that role. However, at least one Cuban official has called for illore male
l>erson~~el in daycare centers, and husbands ~ v h otruly share household
chores have received the praise of Mrfjere.s in recent years. One article
featured photographs of the subject in military uniform, clearly suggesting
that one could perforin cloinestic chores and retain one's masculinity. The
effect of this publicity is uncertain. Oscar L,ewis's interviews indicated
that as of 1970 inen of different ages strongly resisted gender role change,
but apparently no study has measured attitudes since that date. The lack
of communications inedia specifically directed toward men inlpedes the
studv of inale roles. This absence is in itself significant; like tlle exclusive
category of the "new man," it iinplies that nlen (ire the revolutionaries;
as in the Mexican case, so they do not require special attention. It also
iinplies that men, unlike woinen, do not need to alter their identity to join
the revolutioi~.~'
56. Trevor Slack. "Cuba's Political Involvement in Sport Since tlre Socialist Re~olution."
,/owma1 of Sport and Sociol Issues. G : 2 (Fall-IVinter 1982). 36, pllotor of Castro in Fidel
Castro. Fidel sobre el rleporte ( H a ~ a n a .1975). Lois hl. Smith and Alfred Padula. "Twenty
Questions on Sex and Gender in Re~olutionaryCuba," Ctiban Sttidies. 18 (1988), 150,
57. Castro. "Revolution," 52-53; Bengelsdorf, "Studying IVornen." 1 3 5 n. 33; Judsolr,
Cuba. 58: Gladys Castaiio. "Una pareja de hoy," Mujet-es. 18:: (July 1978). 75. Alicia Cas-
caret. "Teresa y hfanolo." Altijeres. 20:6 (June 1980), 24-25: Lewis et al. Forii- \lrotnen: Ana
Maria Radaelli. "For The FUll Equality of IVo~nen,"Cubo Intertlntio~lal,i : 4 (July i985), 15;
288 ( HAHR 1 XIAY I SANDRA MCGEE DECTSCII
Tlie persistence of traditional gender patterns notwithstancling, many
Cubans have viewecl tlie re\lolutioii as tlie "revolution of \vonien." Tliis
attitude has particularly characterized Castro's opponents, who, since
early in the revolution, have utilized gender and faniilial change as a
metaphor for tlie social transformations tliey despise. By sending feiiiale
as well as inale students into the hinterland to teacli peasants to read, tlie
literacy calnpaigri of tlie early 1960s aroused opposition. Bourgeois par-
ents, especially fathers, resented the state for undermining "their role as
guardians of their daughter's virtue," as Alfred Padula and Lois Smitli put
it. The state was challengi~igtlieir honor and, ultimately, tlieir class stand-
ing, already besieged by econonlic policies. The literacy calnpaign and
other prograins to remove \voinen and children from the hoine and inte-
grate them into tlie revolution pronipted parents to send their children to
hliami. Such parents expected to cventually reunite their fanlilies either
in exile or in a post-Castl-o Cuba, but ironically tliey decided that, in tlie
meantime, tlieir children were safer alone in the capitalist United States
than supervised by revolutionaries in Cuba. Cuban inale exiles in the late
1960s exaggerated tlie changes in women's roles and equated tlieni with
promiscuity. They claimed tliat Lvonlen no longer depended on inen eco-
nomically, nor were tliey accountable to parents or liushancls. Women;
one exile lamented; almost ruled tlie~nselvesor were ruled "from outside;"
that is, from outside tlie family. (In Lewis's book, sonie inale supporters of
the revolution ruefully agreed.) The exiles used tlicse charges to niohilize
opposition to Castro within the Cuhan community in tlie United States.
Paradoxically, a considerably higher percentage of Cubanas participates
in the labor force in tlie Cliited States than in Cuba-55.4 lwrceiit ver-
sus 37.3 percent as of the mid-ly8os-and some Cuban fenlale workers
in tlie United States indicated tliat their jobs have given tllem a sense of
independence." This information suggests that the inale exiles' gendered
rhetoric is a critique more of the new power relatioiisliips 011 tlie island
than of woiiie~i'sstatus per se.
Smitli and Padula, "T\irenty Questions," 15;. The ~ n a l erole in tlie Ilome 11as changed little,
accordi~igto Safa, "\\'omen, Industrialization and State Policy in Cuba," C'ni\el-sitv of Notre
Dame, Kellogg Inutitute Mbrking Paper (December 1989). 39. J u ~ . e ~ i t uKeGelde.
d C:r.crrlltlci,
and the debates at varior~slevels of society over the Fanlily Code might be ubeful sources fol-
a study of male roles.
58. Padula and Smith, "\floi~ien in Socialist Cuba, 1959-1984,'' ill C u l ~ a :Ttoelity-Fice
Yecrrs of Recolntio~~, 1959-1984, ed. Sandor Halehsky and J o h ~ iX I . Kirk (New York, 1985).
82; Geoffrey E . Fox, "Honor, Sliame and \flo:omen's Liheration in Cuha: \'ie\vs of IVorking-
Class Emigri. \fen," in Pescatello, Fei~laleand ,\!ale, 279-280, 287; Stoner, (potation on the
"re\olution of \i~oiiien";Lewis et al., Four- iYo111e1i.Contemporary critics of the French re\ o-
lutio~ialso equated it with promiscuity; see Scott, 'Gendel-," 1071. For the figures o ~working
i
women, see Yolanda Prieto, "Cuba11 \flo~iienin the U.S. Lal~orForce: Perspecti~eson the
h'ature of Change," Cnbnr~Studies, 17 (1987), 77. and Bengelsdorf "Studying \Vomen," 1 2 3
GENDEK AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 289
59, Olesen, "Context and Posture: Notes on Socio-Cultural Aspects of LVomen's Roles
and Family Policy in Contemporary Cuh,~,"Jonrnal of ,tfarricr,ae crnd the Fainily, 33 (Aug.
1971), 551-552; Smith, "Pregnancy," 5, klonikd Krause. "Sex Education in cub^," paper
presented at LASA n~eeting,h'ew Orleans (hlar. 1988); Krause, "Los cuba~losy el '~mos,"
Cuba Intcrnircior~al.15:161 (Apr. 19831. 32-34; "En defensa del nmos," Jfujeres, 24:3 (Mar.
1984). 52-53. Kralrse is the coordin'ltor for the Grupo Naciondl de Trabajo de Educacibn
Sexual (GNTES).
60. Krause, comments in discussion nt LASA session. This sanle reaction also is related
to the antihomosexr~alpolicy of the 1960s and i97os, an exception to the tolerant go\ern~nent
actions mentioned above. See Lourdes Arguelles and B. Rub! Rich, "Homosexuality. H o n ~ o -
phobia, and Revolution: Notes Toward An Understanding of the Cuhan Lesbinn nnd Gay
Xlale Experience, Part I." Signs, 9:4 (Summer 1984), 683-699; 'Cuban Prisons. A Prelimi-
nary Report," Cuban C'pdatc?. 9:1-3 (June 1988). 28; "Segunda cal-ta a 10s padres." Jlrljeres,
18:6 [June 1978), 65; Carlos Alherto Xlontaner, Fidel Castr-o y lo r e ~ o l u c i d ic~rbana
~ (Barce-
lona, 1983), 131-134, 257-261. X101~11euxp ointed out that other socialist countsies ~.egasd
homosexuality as a crime, in "Socialist Societies," 1 1 .
290 I HAHR I RWY I SANDRA MCGEE DEUTSCII
within the home. It declared that women and men had equal rights ~ ~ i t h i n
all spheres of activity, including the family, and assigned husbands half
the share of cloinestic chores. Thus it also attempted to iinprove ~ ~ o i n e n ' s
status and end the division of' labor \vithin tlle fanlily, and in this sense
may have symbolized the new egalitarian social order."'
By the 1970s econon~icdilemmas had emerged \vhich also help ex-
plain the context of the Family Code and the new constitution. Cubans
were earning good wages but the economy did not produce sufficient con-
sumer goods for thein to purchase. Productivity was low and absenteeisin
high. The heavy denland for labor that had characterized the 1960s-
and had proinpted the hiring of women-had reversed itself. To reduce
the ainount of currency in circulation and spur productivity, the govern-
ment increased prices for many goods and utilities and began to charge
fees fbr claycare, among other previously free services. Under a new, de-
centralized nlanagerial system, it became disadvailtageous for enterprises
expected to realize profits to hire woinen, M J ~ Oincurred maternitv 1eal.e
or btheiurise were likely to miss work for family-related reasons. ~ ~ ; i the th
labor surplus, the regime decided to give priority to inale over feinalc
employment; it guaranteed jobs only to inen and to feinale heads of house-
holds. These changes, and inore broadly the substitution of a new socialist
system of distribution according to work for the previous communist sys-
tein of distribution according to need, in Muriel Nazzari's opinion set
women's liberation back.@'
Under the coininunist systein the state had taken over some of the
family's tasks of bringing up children and providing for the elderly and
infirm. Under the new socialist system, however, the Family Code held
individuals, rather than society, respoilsible for s ~ ~ p p o r t i ntheir
g children.
parents, and other family members, and, to soine extent, for inculcating
socialist principles. Thus the regression from communism signified a con-
servative trend in family and gender policy, for it implied that women
~vouldhave to return home to assume these duties. Just as in nineteenth-
century capitalist society, order in the sexual and familial realins suitecl
econoinic policy and served as a metaphor for the new focus on discipline
and hard work.
61. The texts of tlre Falnily Code nnd rele\-nnt artlcles 01' the constitution ,Ire found
in Lo lriiijer, 281-3411, 386-390, resl~ectivel!, Also see Smith, "Preglralrcy," 9-10; Bengels-
dorf, "Studying If'omen," 122. Various artlcles in .2ft!jeres described the tlmily as the cell of
socialist society
62. Azicri, 'IVolnen's Development," 41-42: Belrgelsdorf, "Str~d>,ilrg IVomen," 121-122;
and, for information in this nnd the next paragrapll, Xluriel Nazzari, "The 'IVoman Question'
in Cuba: An Analysis of hlaterial Constraints on Its Solution," Signs, y : z (\\'inter 1983), 258-
263: and Robert Colren, "Cuba's New Generation: Coming of Age," Cirba Keuietc, 8 : 2 (June
1978), 10-11.
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 291
This evidence supports hlax Azicri's argument that the regime has set
certain priorities above felnale liberation. Azicri claiinecl that it encour-
aged women to join the labor force as long as that policy coincided with
the ol~jectiveof increasing production. \Vhen a labor surplus and a con-
cern for efficiency developed, it reduced its commitment. hloreover, it has
lnobilized wonlen through the FRIC, an institution that serves primarily
as an official mouthpiece, although it also sends conlplaints fronl the ranks
up to the leadership. This top-down style characterizes all of the nlass
organizations; in terms of' Scott's second proposition, just as in revolu-
tionary Mexico and Peronist Argentina, domination of women symbolizes
and expresses doinination of the entire populace. Also, the enlphasis on
defense and on supporting revolutions overseas has diverted resources
from the developnlent of goods and services needed by orki king MJo1nen.
The transportation bottlenecks, the lack of'household appliances, the poor
quality of foods and other consumption items-along with the absence
of' domestic servants-impede ~ ~ o i n e nstruggles
's to free themselves from
the home.""
Nazzari ancl Azicri, however, ignored the very real strides Cuba has
nlade toward gencler equality in the midst of' econonlic difficulties. The
government found that the onerous "double day" kept women from enter-
ing or staying in the labor force and fiom pursuing political office. It
instituted the Falnilv Code and family-related sections of tlle constitu-
tion partly to tackle this probleln by encouraging nlen to share household
duties. IVhile it does not enfbrce these laws, the governinent has publi-
cized them by sponsoring debates on their ramifications, filnls like Portrait
of Teresa, and coverage in other media. Despite tlle reversion to social-
isin and the labor surplus, ~ ~ o i n e nparticipation
's rose from 25.3 percent
of the labor fbrce in 1975 to 37.3 percent in the mid-1980s. Vndoubt-
eclly the greater cleinand fbr cash to pay for services and consumer goods
helped influence women to work outside the home. During the same
years, the percentage of felnale Cominunist party members and leaders as
well as trade union and government officials also increased significantly.
Nevertheless, only one woman, Villna Espin, holds full meinhership in
the Politbureau, the highest political body, while two are alternate^.^^
This review of gender notions and policies in Cuba enables us to uncler-
Chile
Es gran tarea, la d e conquistarla conscientemente, para que ella
[la mujer] entienda que su propio futuro clistinto est6 precisainente
en esos derechos que se le negaron y que nosotros no le vanlos
a regalar, porque ella 10s tiene conquistados por el hecho de ser
mafiana una mujer que construira una sociedad distinta.""
111this passage Salvador Allende revealed a central dilemma of'both the
Chilean deinocratic road to socialisill and of the ruling coalition's gender
65. Padula and Smith, "If~on~en." yo. Also see Fou, "Honor." 289; Rhoda Pearl Rahkilr.
"Crlban Political Structure: Valrguard Party and the hlasses," in Ctrhn, ed. Hnlebsky and
Kirk, 250, 267; Sah, "\\'omen," 48.
66. Salvador Allende, Snlvcldor Allende 1908-1973: P1.6cer de la libernci611 ticlcioncll,
ed. Alejandro If'alker (lIe,xico City, igXo), 255.
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 293
67, Bergquist noted the UP'S "un~ritic~ll acceptance of '1 hlasxist orthodox)" in Lahor
i r ~Lntiri Arnericcr, 79. E d d ~G a l iola Astigas. Lorelld Lopresti XL~rtinez.and Cl,ludia Rojas
X1il.a. "La p~rticip~~cicin
politicd de la ~nu~jerchilena entse 10s afios 1 c ~ ( i ~ - 1 ~jms.,
7 ~ " Santiago,
1987), 13, and Xlaria Elena 1:alenzuela. private commu~~ication. pointed out the \\-idespread
view that Lvithin socialisnl women could dchieve liberation painleisly. O n populist i u ~ dcor-
por,ltist tendencies in Chilean socialism, see Paul U~.,l!ir. Socirrlisrr~cztrd Poj~lrlisr,i in Chile.
1932-52 (Urbana. 1978b
68. O n feminism and \vomen's statl~sbefore 1970, see CChaney. Suj~ertiic~dre: Gaviola
.\rtigas et al., "Qurremos cotczr en Ins j~rdsir~znseleccioncs." Historin del n~ocitiiiertto
feiilerlino cliiler~o1913-1952 (Santiago. 1986), Paz Co\.arrubiaa, "El movimiento Seminista
chileno," in Chile: nitijer !/ sociednd, ed. Paz Covarrubias and Rola~ldoFranco (Santiago,
1978), 615-648: .\rlnand hlattelart ancl hlichi.le hlattel'lrt, Ln rilrijer chilericr en lrri(r r~uecci
sociecind. I;IIestudio esplorcrtorio crcercci de In situcrcidri e ii~lnger~
de In ntt!jer eti Chile (San-
tiago. 1968): La\.sin, "Icleology" ancl "\f'on~en"; Gaviol;~Artigas et al., "La participaci6n."
294 I IIhIIH I hIAY I SANDRA XICGEE DEYTSCH
Like their ( h ~ h a npredecessors, UP leaders recognized the importance
of incorporating women into their movement. Salvador Allende ancl Carlos
Altamirano, secretary general of the Socialist party, stated on occasioll
that the fate of the government would rest in female hands. Their con-
cern was more immediate and practical than that of the Cul~ans.The UP
had assulnecl power through a tiny plurality of votes, not through arined
struggle; in fact, it was only laying the grou~~clwork for socialism rather
than creating it. To relnain in office and fulfill its mandate. it needed to
increase its following. This nleant recruiting women, particularly of the
middle and upper classes, the majority of whom had voted for Christian
Democrats and Nationalists in 1970 and previousyears. \T7hile a majority
of inen had also voted for the opposition in these elections, the left had
managed to secure a higher percentage of male votes tl~ailf e n ~ a l e . ' ~
The neat division of the electorate into thirds and the resulting heavy
colnpetition for votes meant, however, that all three political contenders
sought women's support. The Nationalist and Cl~ristianDeinocratic plat-
forms of 1970 contained separate sections on women. Both called fbr
equal pay for equal work, legal equality for n~arriedwoinen, and eco-
nonlic opportunities or econolnic security for housewives. But while the
rightist party doct~inentemphasized feillale roles within the home, the
Christian Delllocrats envisioned wolnell entering the public sphere. prom-
ising, for example, to integrate them "in all levels of action and decisior~
~ n a k i ~ ill
l g the next governlnent." During the Eduardo Frei administra-
tion jiy64-.--ly70),the Cilristian Denlocrats had encouraged female activ-
ism, albeit within the traditionally organized CEhIAS, by granting them
juridical personage. According to hlicllael A. Francis and Patricia A. Kyle,
of the three parties only the Christian Democrats favored birth ~ontrol.'~'
The UP platform also addressed women's needs, with provisions on
establishing cllildcare centers, a hlinistry of the Family, alcoholisln pro-
grams, equal pay for ec1ual work, and solne type of security for hol~sewives;
on liberalizing divorce laws; and on equalizing thc legal status of legiti-
mate and illeg.itiinate children. I11 addition, Allende endorsed full legal
equality and educational ancl cultural opportni~itiesfor wornell. Except for
153: Chaney, "The Xlobilization of \Vomen ill .\llencle's Chile," in \i'ot~letl it1 Politics, ed.
Jane S. Jaquette (New York, 1974), 268-269: Challry, infornlatioll on female voting patter~ls.
70. Xlichael Francis and Patricia .I.Kyle, "Clrile: The I'owvr of Lb111e11 at tlre Polls," in
lntegrciting the Seglected Al(zjority: Cocet-l~rtlet~t
Respoirses to Del~lni~rls
for
Yell: Sex Roles,
ed. Patl.icia A. Kyle (Brunswick, OH, 1976), 106, 108-110.
the statelnents on divorce and illegitimacy, the UP'S plans appeared less
progressive than tlle Christian Democrats'. Francis and Kyle claimed that
the UP docnillent simply commented on wornell here and there, and they
attributed the left's reluctance to focus on women to inale paterllalism and
political o p p o r t ~ n i s i n . ~ '
However, the UP did concentrate on wolnen in a separate work, Ln
~rz~ijer e n el gobierno de la Unidad Poprllnr, in \vhich it expanded upon
themes broached in the platform. This work viewed female labor am-
bivalently. On one hand, it blamed capitalisin for forcing women to work
outside the home and thus abandoning their families to ruin. On the
other hand, it colnmitted the UP to helping women liberate themselves
from house\vork through the establishnlent of coinmnnity services, and
it specified innovative means of integrating women into production. It
even proinised access to family plailning and sex education. It is unclear
\vhether the puhlicatioil appeared before or after the election; if it came
out afterward, perhaps, as Francis and Kyle charged, the UP did not pub-
licize its views earlier for fear of alienatiilg the pliblic, or perhaps the UP'S
thinking had evolved.72
If, as it asserted, capitalisin was responsible for tlle oppression of
woinen and the family. the UP w s determined to show that socialisin
would help them. Quickly the government established free milk programs
for children and mothers and free medical care in sluin areas. It raised the
wage scale, ellahling the poor to eat more-at least until food shortages
commenced. These lneasures reduced the rates of infant and maternal
death, disease, and malnutrition. The administration made primary edu-
cation universally accessible and primary texts gratis, froze tuition for sec-
ondary education, and provided school buses. It continued Frei's policy
of opening daycare centers, and it required businesses over a certain size
to set up their own claycare programs. Significantly, it helped integrate
CEMAS ineinhers into production hy offering vocational training in their
facilities and supplying then1 with sewing machines and other eciuipment.
It constructed workers' housing and recreational centers. Excluded from
agrarian reform under Frei, woineil were now eligible for nlemhership in
agrarian cooperatives. Doinestic servants benefitted from a law requiring
employers to show due cause before firing t l ~ e m . ~ '
7 1 Ibid., 110-111.
72. Unidad Popular, La ttrtjer en el gobierno de 10 rnidnd Populnr (Santiago. 1970).
73. On the reforms thr UP implemented or planned. see Drrrt., "Rnral \.tJomen." 196-
197: Altarnil-ano, Decisid~i. 162. 164-165; Samuel Cha\.kin, Storiiz Ocer Chile: The Jtirztc~
rnrler Siege (u'estport. 1985). 195. 199-202. 204: Pnlottz(i. 2 (No\'. 28. i972), 24: Gaviola
Artigas, Lopresti, and Rojas, "Chile-Centro de Xladres-iLa ~ l l l ~ j epoprllar
r en movi-
miento?" Isis Inierncicioncil, l o (Dec. 1988), 86: Gaviola Astigas et al.. "La participaci6n."
More work is needed on policies to\\-ard \\-omen before ;1nd cluring the Allende years.
296 I HAHR I \MY I S A N D I U MCGEE DEUTSCH
The UP was unable, however, to ilnpleinent all of its policies ori-
ented toward women. Different reasons have been suggested-its political
rivals' hindrance, the UP'S own tepid support of these programs, a wide-
spread view that women's issues were less pressing than others and could
be postponed, and the short duration of the administration. The oppo-
sition in Congress delayed passage of the bill creating the LIinistry of
the Family until the eve of the coup, when it probably would have won
approval. In its place, the government founded a less powerf~llNational
Secretariat for \%'omen, administered by six women. Bills providing for
maternity leave, legal equality for married women, divorce, the reinoval of
the stigina of illegitimacy, and sanctions against hoarding food and specu-
lating over food prices did not become law. Nevertheless, some members
of the goveri1iilg coalition had plans to push for food preparation, laundry,
and other services to help working women, as well as for the regulation of
cottage labor; nor did they abandon hope of in1plementing the ui1fulfillecl
aspects of the platform. Despitc the failures, these programs and ideas,
along with other socioeconoinic reforms, boosted female-and male-
electoral support for the UP, at least in its first six ll1onths in office."
The UP inohilized women for various causes. Only a few weeks after
Allende's inauguration, the adininistratioi1 issued an invitation to women
over the radio to a meeting in downtown Santiago. There, women forinetl
the Comando Nacional Femenino to counteract the rightist media's anti-
government propaganda and to work with sluin area residents. The Co-
lnando organized twenty thousand women by 1971 to distribute inilk and
train @ELIAS rneinhers in the slums to improve their fainilies' dietary,
sanitary, ancl other health-related habits. It also proposed the full-scale
transformation of CE hIAS into officially financed productive enterprises,
lllanaged cooperatively hy the women who worked in them. Although
the government did not fully meet this goal, CEMAS multiplied rapidly
and attracted an impressive one million members by 1973, indicating the
appeal of their new orientation. I11 response to rank-and-file demand-and
particularly after the rightist women's first "inarcha de cacerolas vacias"
in late 197i-UP leaders called women to large public meetings and
74. Chaney. "hlobilization," 272; Kyle ancl Francis, "IVomen at the 13011s: The C,lsr of
Chile. 1970-1971," C o ~ ~ ~ p n r n tPoliticcd
ice Stt~dics,11:3 (Oct. 1978). 306: Steven h I . Nouse,
"1:oting in Chile: The Feminine Responae." in Citizert ntld Stcrte, ed. John A. Booth and
Llitchell A. Seligson, vol. 1 of their Politiccll Participc~tiorii l i Latirl Artier-icn, 2 \zols. (Nr\ir
York, 1978). 128-144: Ulliclacl Popular, Progrczlr~tzb6sico de In Cnitlrd Populnr. .4gotd(z
1971 (Santiago. 1971): P t ~ l o n ~1( ~(No\,.
. 14. 1972). 7. and 3 (Dec. 12, 1972), 6-7: Biblioteca
clel Collgreso Nacional. Santiago, Secci6n La11or Parlalnentaria, file on tlre SIinistel.io cle la
Fanlilia. Chanry attributrd the failures to the UP'S decisiolr to as\igl> low priority to wolnen's
issues; Chackin, Storm, to the oppositiol>;and Valenzuela. in private comments. to a varirty
of factors.
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHAKGE 297
discussed food shortages and other probleins with them. At one such
meeting in 1971 with Pedro \.'uscovic, minister of the economy, the plan
arose to create Juntas de Abastecimiento y Precios (JAPs) to control food
prices, supplies, and the black market. By 1973 wonlei1 and men, nlostly
in working-class neighborhoods, had established al~outfifteen hundred
JAPs, and women playecl important roles in thein. The UP and the hlovi-
miento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (hlIR), which remained outside the
ruling coalition, helped organize woinen in other kinds of neighborhood
and local groups. Allende eilcouraged woinen to lobby for, draft, and sub-
niit laws; wonlen wrote the laws pertaining to divorce and illegitimacy.
The UP ran seventeen feinale candidates for the lower house and two for
the senate in March 1973, while the opposition only presented five for
deputy and none for the senate. The leftist coalition managed to elect one
--
feinale senator and ten feinale deputies."
Despite these indications, most of the secondary literature and some
participants have fouild fault with the UP'S record on women. Critics have
focused not on the prograins but on the degree of commitment and, espe-
cially, on gendered rhetoric. Fenlale activists complained to Elsa Chaney
that the UP postponed their agenda, undervalued their contributions, and
excluded thein from leadership. Allende appointed few woineil to high-
level positions, and they, as well as the women inentioiled above, tended to
work in health, education, food distribution, and other "female" concerns.
The principal exception-and a significant one-was \linister of Labor
Mire? Baltra. Sonle critics also charged that the UP parties marginal-
ized women by organizing thein separately horn men. (In this regard one
might argue, however, that the UP inainly built upoil precedent.) L'ania
Bambirra, a Brazilian exile and governinent s!~mpathizer, concluded that
the UP had not exerted enough effort to understand women's problems
and inobilize them. Another Brazilian exile went further and condemned
the Chilean left for what she saw as its fear of fenlale inilitai~cy.'~
Existing studies have stressed the left's inability-of which there are
79. Henfre)- and Sorj, Clzileni~Voices, 43, 136, Allende quoted in A r g ~ e d ~Chile,
~ s , 147.
80. Allende, Allerlde, 255; Arguedas, Chile, 1.17.
300 I HAHR 1 >MY / S A N D M MCGEE DEUTSCH
as mothers and wives. The Socialist leader defended the adlninistration's
record on wonien and argued that despite its rhetoric the right had never
assisted them. It had inlprisonecl them within the home, denied them
rights over their own bodies, and questioned their abilities. The right
tried to manipulate the woman, to keep her "un objeto pasivo y a1 mismo
tiempo como un agente activo-aunqne inconsciente-de la dominaci6n
burguesa." It did so by confusing "la estabilidacl d e su hmilia con la esta-
bilidad del r6gimen capitalista."" Here Altanlirano delnonstrated that he,
inore than any other revolutionary figure in the four cases, clearly under-
stood how gender expressed power relations.
While Altamirano viewed women in some stereotypical Lvays, he used
these stereotypes to construct an active fenlale image and genclered sym-
bols with a progressive political connotation. I l e implied that under social-
ism the wonla11 could alter her capitalist-inspired passivity, when h e asked
her to convert "tus liigrimas d e humillaci6n en sonrisas de esperanza; tu
llanto d e inlpotencia en himnos de rebeldia; tu incertidumbre en decisi6n
d e lucha; tus telnores en cantos d e victoria!" Rlore strikingly, h e equated
the revolution to motherhoocl; just as the fornler created a new society,
women created new life. Here Altamirano not only presented woinen in
a vital, creative role, albeit a traditional one, but firnlly identified them
with the left and with the subjects of the historical process.
The official nledia also provided images of women as revolutionary
actors. Interviews with fenlale activists and government officeholders ap-
peared in Pnlo7)l-a. Rnrizonn, a youth-oriented magazine, praised young
women active in the labor force, the universities, and politics (although it
said little or nothing about altering men's traditional activities). The Com-
munist daily El Siglo cited Luis CorvalBn, secretary general of that party,
on the ilnportant fenlale role in constructing socialism. In the same news-
paper Ruth Castillo, a leader of the Central Onica d e Trabajadores (CUT),
warned the governlnent not to relegate wonlen to "el illtinlo rinc6n d e la
cocina."" Her statelllent revealed both the prejudice against mobilizing
women and women's determination to surmount such discriminat 1' 011.
Some nlelnbers of the leftist coalition, I>articularly women, beliebed
that the context of social transformation denlanded the redefinition of sex
81. Allende, Allende, 255. For Altamirano's quoted statemrnts in this and the following
paragrap]>, see Decisibn, 157, 167, also see 154, 156-161, 166-167. An opponent of the UP,
Teresa Donoso Loero, however, claimed in La epopeyci rle las 0110s cacias (Santiago, 1974),
74, that Alt'ulliralro had characterized fe~u'devotes 1' s "second class." Gaviola Artigas et al.,
"La participacibn," is an exception to the tendency found in lllost of the s e c o ~ r d a rworks.~
82. R a ~ , ~ o l l El
a ; Siglo, hIdr. 8, 1972, 1) 9, and hla!- 29, 1971, I). 1. Also see the following
issues of Palomci: 1 (Yov. 14, 1972), 114-115; 2 (No\. 28, 1972), l o ; 8 (Fell. 20, ly73), 12-1 j;
20 (Atig. 7, 1973). 4-8.
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 301
roles. Such ideas appeared in Pnlorlza alongside traditional ones, but the
newer viewpoints predominated. Interestingly, the magazine devoted far
less space to domestic concerns and fashion than its Cuban counterpart,
~Mujeres.The lnaiil theme of Pnlonza was that, as Chile moved toward
socialism, women were learni~lgto develop their talents and personalities
and to express their needs. The publication stressed the need to partici-
pate in social change and achieve more rights, but it also discl~ssedother
women's requisites, such as asserting their sexuality. \Vhile Pnlolnc~ cli-
rected itself nlainly to a fenlale audience, as noted above, it also invited
nlen to a dialogue. Whether it attracted nlanv nlale readers is doubtful, but
some Inen wrote colnnlns reacting to changing mores, often defen~ively.~.'
Quimantti published another volume on women that differed nlarkeclly
from La ~ 1 - r ~ j eIts
r . author, L'irginia Vidal, who also wrote for El Siglo,
pointed out the interdependence between feniale enlancipation and revo-
lution to a proletarian female audience. In a significant departure from
the gendered rhetoric found in all four countries, she criticized both ma-
chislno and, particularly, "la mistica d e la maternidad" for condelnning
wonien to frustration, isolation, subordination, and sexual dissatisfaction.
She added that wonien should not be expected to marry or have chil-
dren in order to lead happy, productive lives. Nevertheless, Vidal defined
fernale liberation siulply as women's involvement in the creation of social-
ism. While she cellsured machismo, she avoided the issue of male respon-
sibility within the home and assigned traditional domestic tasks to either
Mronlen or the state.'-'
Other U P spokespersons did question the inlmutability of Inale roles
and the family structure. The Colnlnunist senator Julieta Campusano pub-
licly called for men to share household chores with wonlen and insisted
that, by doing so, they need not feel "menoscabado en su condicion d e
tal [hombre]." Pnlomn provided examples of husbands who helped in the
home and thus enabled their wives to participate in activities outside it.
It also encouraged Inen to assume responsibility for birth control by inter-
viewing a Inan who had had himself sterilized and highly recolnnlended
the procedure to other men. Congressman Luis hlaira of the Christian
Left party, a UP affiliate, described the ill-fated projected law to grant
legal equality to married women as a first step toward creating a socialist
family within which nlen and women would enjoy equal rights and obliga-
tions. Indeed, a feniale professional reported in Palorna that women were
83, Gaviola Artigas et al., "La participacicin," 19; Pnlomu, 1 (Nov. 14, 19721, inside
cover. Nineteen percent of this issue \CIS devoted to motherhood- and house\vife-related
concerns, and 12 percent to hsl~ion,colnpare to Altljerris, 1). 52 and 55.
84. Virginia Vidal, La ernarrcipacidt~rle In tn~ljer(Santiago, 19721.
302 I HAHR \LA1 I S A K D l t l bfCGEE L)EUT\CH
training their sons and l~ushanclsnot to he "u11 patron en el hogar," indi-
cating that other Cllileans hesides Altainirano linked authority relations in
society with those \vithin the f ~ ~ i n i l y . ' ~
This group included the feinale opponeiits of the government. Even
before ,Sllende's inauguration, sollie honrgeois \voineii had already de-
clared their opposition to him. The food shortages (whicli they helped
create), proposed changes in fanlily law, nationalization measures, and
harsh UP responses to their demonstrations reinforced their fears of hlarx-
ism. So, too, did the UP's ineflectual cainpaign for educational reform, in
which it planned to enlist schools in the struggle for social transformation.
Beyond vague rhetoric on the schools' role in the creation of the "new
socialist man" and the need to comhine work and learning, the ednca-
tional reform did not explicitly challenge the values of bourgeois hoines.
Nonetheless, middle- and upper-class parents regarded it as a governinent
atteinpt to indoctrinate ancl control their children. This was an exainple of
how they, like anti-Casti-o Cubans, described the UP'S inultiple offensives
against the class hierarchy as a hlarxist threat to the family. To combat
this perceived threat, bourgeois \vomen formed Poder Femenino (PF) and
other anti-,Sllende groups.""
Soine inemhers of P F fearecl that their title souilded feminist, an ide-
ology they opposed. They defined their ii~issioninstead in terins of tracli-
tional "feminine power": their task was to challenge lneil to he trul!. "mas-
culine" and defend woinen and children against the leftist onslaught. In
reaffirming the gender system they were hot11 nietaphorically and other-
wise maintaining the socioeconomic systen~.I11 their famous "inarchas
de cacerolas vacias," they criticized the governmei~t'seconomic policy for
hindering women froin pelforming their f ~ ~ n c t i oofn feeding the family.
Echoing Eva Perbn, they identified homes as the "trenches," \vhere the!
would oppose hfai-xisin by doing what Chilenas had always done-telling
inen what to do. Indeed, they spent much of their time denouncing mili-
tary officers and upper-class inales as cowardly, impotent, and homosexual
85. El Siglo, >lay 21, 1971, p . 3, and \la). 29, 1971, p . 5, Alsosee the followi~rgissues
of Pa2oi)zc~:1 (Nov. 14, 1972), 46-48, 4 (Dec. 26. i g p ) , 11: 22 (Sept 4, ig;3), 105. 109.
86. On the UP's fernale opponents. see accou~rtswritten by P F ~rre~rrbers: Do1roso
1,oel.o. Ida epopeya, and Maria Correa blorandc, La gr~errorle 10s ~tzrrjeres(Santiago, 1974).
Otlrer sources ilrclude Clraney, information on thc food shortages, Nathaniel Davis, The
Last T u o Yeci,m of Salocidor Alle~lde(Ithaca, 1984), 47-48, 65, 154-155, 196, and passim;
hlaria d e 10s .\ngeles Crumrnett, "El Poder Femenino: The hlohilization of \Vomen .\gainst
Socialism in Chile." Latin Ainerican Perspectires, j : q (Fall 1977). 103-113; >lichGle >fat-
telart, "Chile: The Feminine Side of tlre Coup Or \Vhen Bourgeois Women Take to the
Streets," N A C l A ' s 1,citin Anxerica ond Enxpire Report, 9:G (Sept. 1975). 14-25: Ercilla, 1989
(Aug. eg-Sept. 4. 1973). 10-13. 011school refor~rrsee Joseph P. Farrell, The National Cni-
fret! School in Allentie's Chile. The Rolr of Etiucc~tiollin tht, Destructioll of a Rcuolutiorl
(Vancouver, 1986).
GENDER AND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 303
for not overthrowing the government. The rightist \vonien left the actual
counterrevolution to men, hut as Gen, Augusto Pinochet recognized, they
had summoned the n1e11 to action.'7
The traditionalism of PF and, indeed, of many Chileans influeilced tlle
UP's gender policies and statements to some extent. A precarious govern-
ment that did not control the senate, tlle courts, the armed forces, and the
media, unlike tlle Cuba11 regime, perhaps coulcl not afford to place itself
too far ahead of popular opinion. Yet the leadership pressed other divi-
sive issues. such as the restructuring of tlle economy and agriculture, in
spite of tlle difficulties caused. A consideration as iniportant to U P leaders
as limiting opposition was keeping their unruly coalition together. The
MIR and some illemhers o f t h e alliance, including the Christian Left, one
faction of the Socialist party, and groups of workers and landless peasants,
urged the governnlent to take illore radical stands and carried out pro-
vocative actions in the hope of forcing their will on Allende. Others, such
as the Cominunists, advised restraint. Caught between these diverging
viewpoints \vithin its own ranks, to say nothing o f t h e opposition froin out-
side, the regime tried desperately to conciliate and unite its beleagiiered
forces." The diverse opinions on gender may well have reflected these
divisions. The UP's atteinpted seduction and conquest of women seeillecl
to serve as a paradigin for this larger effort to maintain the coalition.
Ultimately, the former proved no inore successful than the latter.
This review of gender notions in the lillende years underscores the
contradictions of the democratic road to socialism. Regarding Scott's first
l~roposition,Arinand and k l i c h ~ l eMattelart had warned the Chilean left
in the late igGos that a successful revolution ~voulddepend on integrating
hot11 \vonien and illen into revolutionary 01-ganizations, using education
and the inedia to destroy sex roles, and ending tlle excessive familism of
bourgeois society. For various reasons, tlle U P was unahle to achieve these
ends. In terms of tlle second proposition, that its gender policy nlirroi-ed
Conclusion
The immediate, natural, and necessary relationship of human being
to human being is the relationship of' man to woman. . . . In this
relationshiu is sensuouslv revealed and reduced to an observable
fi~cthow far for nlan his essence has l>ecome nature or nature has
become man's human essence. Thus, from this relationship the
~vllolecultural level of man call be judged. From the character
of this relationship we can conclude how far man has become a
species-being, a human being, and conceives of himself as such.""
-Karl klarx, 1844
As Marx indicated, gender analysis is a useful nleans of' determin-
ing the true character of a particular regime, movement, or society. The
notions of both components of gender expressed by the governments under
study generally matched the nature of the administrations as a whole.
The Carrillos, Galindo, Castro, and Unidad Popular helieved that the new
order could not coexist with the subordinate status of women. Govern-
ments and individuals that genuinely aspired to transcend authority rela-
tions in the puhlic realin attempted to do the same in the domestic realm,
as shown in Cuba, in Yucatan under Carrillo, and to a liinited extent in
Allende's Chile. Their egalitarian gender policies and, in some cases, gen-
dered rhetoric expressed ancl symbolized their overall aims. The belief in
social hierarchy of'the Percins, Alvarado, Carranza, and hlexican govern-
inents of'the ~gzos-and of Castro's and Allende's opponents-translated
89. Chabkin, Storrn, 207; hlattelart dllcl hlattelart. La nmjer, 215-217, Pillochet. .\Jell-
saje, Franz Hinkelmart, "La ideologia cle la Juntd klilitar," in C l ~ i l ebajo lo J I I I (Ecornonzin
I~~
y mciednci e n la ciictc~citrrclmilitclr- chileuel), ed. Luis Vargas et al. (hladrid. ic~7G\,iGc~-igi;
hlaria Eleira Valenzuela. I,ci nlujer en el Chile rnilitclr. (Santiago, 1987). e r p 87.
90. Karl hlarx, "Economic and Philo~o~lricalhl;~nuscri~ts," (1844) in Karl hfaru:
Selectecl WI-itings,ed. David hIcLellan ( K c w York, 1977). 88.
GENDER -4ND SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE 305