THE REVOLUTIONARY ROLE OF WOMEN IN CUBA Morgan Philhower World History since 1500 November 2017 Introduction Throughout the Cuban Revolution women made significant strides towards gender equality. Cuban women had been confined in constricting gender roles of Hispanic tradition. Feminist group and activists began to take action in many non-traditional activities. Women broke tradition by leaving the home and joining in revolutionary movements. The struggle for women’s equality in Cuban society is referred to as “Revolution within a Revolution” due to the many revolutionary changes for women that were brought about during the Cuban Revolution. Under Cuba’s new government women attained their right to an education, the ability to have a job outside of the home, child care was available, and women gained access to birth control. The …show more content…
Of the volunteers a large amount were women. The revolution broke barriers for both men and women. Women took on significant roles in the Cuban Revolution. Middle and upper-class women used their skills to write, organize, and network in support of Castro’s movement. Thousands of women of all stations were soon part of the movement. They joined in the fight of the guerilla movement as well as taking on leadership roles in it. Women proved that they were a necessary force in the revolution and could accomplish any task that the men were doing. Due to the perspective that females are fragile men doubted their abilities, but the Cuban women proved them wrong. Women carried out manual tasks such as transmitting messages, supplies, and firearms. In addition, they also undertook “feminine” work throughout the revolution by cooking meals for the rebels, sewing their uniforms, and taking care of sick or wounded soldiers. Cuban women took on all of these roles challenging traditional
In the novel “Cuban Color in Tourism and La Lucha” the author and anthropologist L. Kaifa Roland describes her journey in Cuba and the different people she encounter with that describe to her the life of a citizen in Cuba. Throughout her stay in Cuba, Roland describes the different situations people go through in Cuba economically and gender wise. She also mainly describes “La Lucha” which in the book is identified as the struggle people face and go through every day in order to get by in Cuba economically. However, the thing that caught my attention the most in the book was how women get mistreated and seen by people differently. Through my paper I am going to be discussing how women in Cuba get discriminated not just by their color or where
Linda K. Kerber accomplished a rather large task by researching and completing Women of the Republic. Aside from her lack of research of lower-class and Southern women of the Revolution, Kerber portrays an excellent amount of research and information. Her work is very well-written and articulate and would be very beneficial to anyone hoping to find information about the role women played during the American Revolution. This work does a great job presenting information about the role of Revolutionary women; it is a must read for anyone interested in the subject matter.
The American Revolution had a significant impact on parts of society that included women, slaves, and Indians. Women actually played a significant role in the American Revolution, even if the proper place for a lady during that time was the home. The Cult of Domesticity agreed with this statement, believing women belonged in the home doing the chores and caring for the children. However, women were beginning to prove that they had a purpose beyond the home. Someone once made a woodcut statue of a patriot woman who was holding a gun and wearing a hat similar to what the men wore during the war (Doc A). Women were involved in the war as nurses, spies and aids. Some even cut their hair short and pretended to be
The entire struggle that Helg is alluding to in her book is founded within the racial hierarchies and racial ideologies that were formed early on in Cuba’s history. Several aspects of Cuban society (as discussed by Helg) served to foster the racism and the antagonistic attitudes that whites had towards the Afro-Cubans. An acute example of the inequality that the blacks were made to suffer was the denial of citizenship after 1886. According to Helg, Afro-Cubans were denied the titles of "Don" and "Doña" on their identity cards. This was a blatant form of discrimination against because it prevented blacks from being considered as first class citizens, "…despite the fact that they were full taxpayers". (25) What Helg means by this is that even though the Afro-Cubans were participating in the economic spectrum of Cuba, they were still denied access into the political and social arenas.
As Randall explained of her experiences in Cuba, 'the Cuban Revolution proclaimed women’s equality and seemed to have made enormous strides in its direction. The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) had been established at the beginning of the revolution in order to organize women around the new social goals and make their needs known to Party leadership. It quickly became a mass organization with a membership of ninety seven percent of all women over the age of fourteen. It mobilized women very effectively to an array of necessary tasks' (Lewis 1977).
Their primary mission was to establish equality amongst men and to gain more rights. Contrary to popular belief, many famous rebellion leaders such as Pancho Villa were not supportive of women’s integration into the bandit forces (Fernandez 55). Within his book The Underdogs, Mariano Azuela distorts the image of women with the hopes of dissuading them from straying away from their traditional pre-Revolution roles within Mexican culture. During the Mexican Revolution, women typically chose to either fight in the conflicts to advance their rights or to take a submissive role and accept status quo.
Through the 20th century, the communist movement advocated greatly for women's’ rights. Despite this, women still struggled for equality.
The time before the Revolutionary War, women’s main role was in the home. They were the manufacturers of the home, taking raw materials and turning them into household goods. The women were the consumers and before the Revolution they led the boycotts against British goods. During the Revolutionary War, they became the men at home on top of the roles they already had. They became spies, nurses, propagandists, and even took over the battlefield.
Women played a larger role than they were given credit for, in multiple capacities such as being “camp followers”, taking care of the home-front and raising funds for soldiers, as well as fighting in the Revolution. Some were more famous than others, like Martha Washington, Deborah Sampson, and Molly Pitcher, but all women involved played an important role and aided in tipping the scale in the American’s favor. As camp followers during the Revolution, women and their children were allowed to accompany the soldiers. Warren also corresponded with many leaders such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Hancock.
Women had a role in the forming of our country that many historians overlook. In the years leading to the revolution and after women were political activists. During the war, women took care of the home front. Some poor women followed the army and assisted to the troops. They acted as cooks, laundresses and nurses. There were even soldiers and spies that were women. After the revolution, women advocated for higher education. In the early 1800’s women aided in the increase of factories, and the changing of American society. Women in America were an important and active part of achieving independence and the framing of American life over the years.
Often historical events leading up to the twentieth century are dominated by men and the role of women is seemingly non-existent outside of reproduction. When one thinks of notable and memorable names and events of the Revolution, men are the first to be mentioned. The American Revolution was mainly dominated by men including George Washington, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. There is no denying that men were vitally important to the American Revolution, but what were the women doing? Often overlooked, the women of the Revolution played a key role in the outcome of the nation. The women of the American Revolution, although not always recognized, were an influential society that assumed risky jobs like soldiers, as well as involvement
When drastic changes are needed to be done for equal opportunities and a better chance for the future a revolt is bound to happen. So with the Mexican revolution going on and men off to fight, the women faced many personal and governmental issues at home. Eventually being mobilized through political destruction, women were able to change the roles they were perceived, restrictions amongst them lessened, and Hermila Galindo became a huge factor with it all as she had political connections. In the end, the women of Mexico were bounded successfully in which they change how they were look upon among men and the rest of Latin America.
The Cuban revolution was one that transformed Cuba into an independent socialist society. This revolution sent a message around the globe. The message: “ Socialism can be achieved and capitalism, with its culture stripping mechanism’s can be supplemented”. However, the revolution did leave its mark on Cuba. This can be seen in the events that took place during the early stages of the revolution. The effects of the revolution were positive for certain sections of the population and negative for others.
From 1956 to 1989, multiple social, political, and cultural movements transpired in Cuba. Throughout this time, women in Hispanic society experienced severe discrimination, oppression, and inflexible gender roles. After the previous dictator, Fulgencio Batista, was overthrown by Fidel Castro, the societal and cultural structure in Cuba was radically transformed. Literacy increased among the classes, racism drastically decreased, multiple public healthcare institutions were installed, employment opportunities increased, and Women's Rights movements ensued. During this time period, numerous middle and upper-class women implemented strong writing, networking and communication skills as well as organized large-scale protests in Cuba to catalyze
Women possessed little to no rights and most, regardless of class, were illiterate. Nicaraguan women were second class citizens whose sole obligation was to procreate and manage the household affairs. The Sandinistas, however provided an opportunity for women to step out of their traditional roles and to be seen as equals in society. Women who joined were involved in many important tasks such as sheltering the guerilla soldiers, providing first aid, food and clothing, building weapons, rallyings, passing messages, and being involved in direct combat 9(1). Many women held important leadership positions and were