A Case Apart: The Evolution of Spanish Feminism.

Abstract

This paper explores the historical development of Spanish feminism from 1931 to the transition.

Full text

A Case Apart: The Evolution of Spanish Feminism
Lorraine Ryan
The Spanish feminist movement stands as a marked exception to the European
paradigm of feminist movements, its vicissitudes having only been equalled
by the turbulent history of Spain itself in the twentieth century. From half-
hearted attempts at suffragism in the 1920s to the plethora of feminist
organisations in the 1930s; from excessively reticent organisations under
Franco to the fragmented women's movement of the Transition, the prevailing
ethos of feminism has been heavily influenced by the socio-cultural shifts of
twentieth century Spain. In this paper, I shall examine each of these shifts ill
feminism and also analyse the socio-cultural contexts in which they occurred.
A feminist movement first originated in Spain as early as 1915, with the
establishment of the Asociacion Nacional de Mujeres Espanolas (the National
Association of Women). Claiming women's increased participation in the
workforce and equal wages, it was also an unashamedly political movement,
manifesting an unapologetic jingoism in its literature. Although it proclaimed
its membership open to all political creeds, in reality, its members were
predominantly right-wing (Gonzalez Calbet 54). This imbrication of political
concerns with feminism, which I will classify as dual activism, was to become
a permanent feature of Spanish feminism, and one that was ultimately to
hinder the progress of the movement by relegating feminist issues to a
secondary position.
This pioneering feminism, although largely ineffectual, did succeed in
raising the novel idea of rights for women and, as such, contributed towards a
form of gender awareness. However, it was with the establishment of the
Spanish Second Republic in 1931 that Spanish feminism reached its zenith. The
Second Republic, in keeping with its liberal and progressive ethos, created
optimum conditions for women's advancement in society (Abella 33). The
Constitution of 1931 not only granted women the right to maternity insurance
and legalised civil marriage, but it also sought to eradicate discrimination in
the workplace by legislating pro-feminist labour laws (Martin Carretero 14). A
woman's reproductive freedom was safeguarded by the legalisation of
contraception, and women also began to participate in political life (Graham
184). Not surprisingly, such innovative measures created a situation in which
an enormous amount of women's organisations flourished. It is necessary,
however, to qualify this image of a feminist utopia since, although the Second
Republic conceded much freedom to women, theorists concur that this did not
eradicate traditional thinking and, moreover, did not expedite equality in the

workplace. Divorce was only availed of in traditional, left-wing cities; in
Madrid, a relatively liberal city, only eight out of every 1000 troubled
marriages ended in divorce (Bussy Genevoise 182). The tendency to
irreconcilable political views, which, in turn, created trenchant divisions
within the feminist movement - thus, substantially reducing the movement's
capacity for consensus on key issues - once again plagued the movement
during this period. The aims of the two main groups, the Female Republican
Union, led by Clara Campoamor, and the Foundation for Women, led by the
radical socialists Victoria Kent and Margarita Nelken, were so different as to
be mutually exclusive. While Campoamor was solely concerned with women's
suffrage, Kent and Nelken were enmeshed in party politics, an affiliation to
which their feminist leanings were decidedly subservient. Indeed, both
women were vehemently opposed to the enfranchisement of women, astutely
recognising that giving the combination of the Catholic Church's avowed
hatred of the secular Second Republic and the blind obedience of the majority
of women to the dictates of the prelates, the granting of the vote to women
could very well precipitate the collapse of the Second Republic. Their intuition
was to prove remarkably prescient with the Conservatives winning the
elections in 1933, due to the clerically-influenced vote of the female electorate
(Mangini 25).
Challenging as it did the hegemony of the Catholic Church in Spain and
the omnipotence of the land-owning classes, the Second Republic was faced
with a serious threat from both these groups. Possessing only a rudimentary
grasp of socialism, they equated it with atheism and dissoluteness that was
antithetical to their vision of an ultra-Catholic Spain. The outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War in 1936 was to act as the prelude to a new chapter in the
history of the feminist movement in Spain. Groups such as the republican
Mujeres Litres (Free Women) propounded an ambitious agenda, stating their
objective "to combat the triple enslavement to which (women) have been
subject: enslavement to ignorance, enslavement as women and enslavement as
workers" (Smith 476). Mow innovative this feminist group was can be
deduced from the fact that it was the only group during the Civil War to really
prioritise the 'woman question', going even as far as critiquing gender
inequities within the anarchist movement itself, an inconceivable act of daring
in the Spain of that time. Not restricting themselves to disseminating highly
inflammable rhetoric in its journal, they also sought to ameliorate the living
conditions of working class women by initiating literacy and medical schemes
(Kaplan 415). Albeit groundbreaking in its demands, the association never
focused on contraception and abortion, a deviation from their radical policy
on all other feminist issues which, again, demonstrates the irreversible

influence of the Catholic Church on the evolution of feminism in Spain. Offen
contends that due to the spectre of punitive counteraction by the Church,
these questions did not even arise in that period (Offen 326).
In a country convulsed with violence and seething with political
passions, as was Spain during the Civil War, it is of small surprise that most
feminist groups followed the by now familiar pattern of letting political
dreams supersede their feminist aspirations. Bridenthal and Koonz observe
that, although women on the Republican side were involved in war production
and even construction work, this reversal of gender roles was effected at the
price of their feminist ideals (472). Of further significance is the fact that
women's participation in the republican cause took place, for the most part, at
the beginning of the Civil War, when the Republican side were desperately
searching for volunteers. After this initial threat had subsided, the battalions of
female fighters were disbanded.
Certainly, the republican movement had no qualms in using
stereotypical images of women in order to gain support. The Agrupacion de
Mujeres Antifascistas (Antifascist Women's Organisation of the Spanish
Communist Party) and the Feminine Secretariat of the Dissident Marxist Party
targeted women with emotive poster campaigns, designed to spark a
decidedly maternal outrage against the atrocities being committed against
their sons and husbands by the fascists (Nash 235). Therefore, even radical
political affiliations did not help Spanish women to escape the pervasiveness
of traditional thinking, as the co-option of women into these movements
translated into a worryingly high proportion of women occupying ancillary
roles. While the republican attitude towards women's involvement in the war
effort was not as progressive as one would expect considering their liberal
ethos, the nationalists' stance was the very opposite, prescribing motherhood
and domesticity as not only the unique functions of women, but also as their
only possible patriotic contribution (Gallego Mendez 1983). The accession to
power of General Francisco Franco in 1939 effectively signalled the death-knell
for the egalitarian expectations fostered by the Second Republic. Furthermore,
the ideological clash between Francoism and the Second Republic meant that
the policies of the Regime, especially those relating to the social domain, were
engendered from their fear of liberalism, a political conviction which they
equated with moral dissoluteness. Further, instigated by their alliance with the
Catholic Church, they implemented legislation that can only be described as
inimical to women's progress on a social, economic and personal level; thus, an
essentialist, polarised concept of gender relations came to govern Spanish life.
Logically, in such an atmosphere, feminist groups suffered a severe setback.
Highly distrustful of any splinter groups, the Regime instilled in the Spanish

national psyche the notion of 'anti-Espana' (against-Spain), which vilified all
forms of otherness, such as socialism, feminism, communism and liberalism.
Posing a formidable threat to the Regime's social policies, which, at the time,
were primarily concerned with demographic growth, feminist organisations
were in fact considered a potentially subversive group by the State. Harsh
conditions were laid down for their legalisation and, not surprisingly, only
four feminist organisations succeeded in gaining official approval.
Unfortunately, having diluted their aims to a very languid version of feminism
in order to obtain the necessary approval, these organisations soon showed
themselves to be unwilling to challenge the status quo, and did not even dare to
question the prevailing gender structure (Threlfall 139).
At this juncture, a significant problem arises. Up to this point, I have
been using Rodriguez et al's definition of feminism, which involves women
"challenging the relations between men and women and rebelling against all
power structures, laws and conventions that keep women servile and
subordinate" (3). The women's movement that I am about to analysis, and
which undoubtedly had the most influence on Spanish women during the
Francoist era, stood in proud and defiant opposition to any such ideals: La
Sección Femenina, (Falange Women's Section), which incessantly propounded
the silent and docile stereotype of the supposedly innately maternal Catholic
woman, hardly qualifies as a feminist movement within most definitions
(Perez Moreno 182). However, various theorists, applying a revisionist
framework to the study of the movement, have unearthed feminist elements
within it. Kaplan argues that, although traditionalist in outlook, the Falange's
women's section did precipitate a quasi-entry of women into the public sphere
by obliging them to do six months Social Service (Kaplan 96). Furthermore, if
we reflect on the following speech made by Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera,
whose sister Pilar was leader of the Sección Femenina and remained doggedly
faithful to her brother's ideals throughout her life, we can also perceive an
attempt to improve the public perception of traditional womanly duties: "True
feminism should consist in surrounding feminine functions with increased
human and social dignity" (Enders 676).
Thus, Sección Femenina embarked on its educational mission, founding
agricultural and adult schools, cultural groups, sports centres and libraries,
publishing magazines, organising discussion groups, awarding scholarships
and preserving oral traditions such as folk songs. Therefore, conservative
ethos aside, Sección Femenina elevated womanly functions to an
unprecedented, honorific level: indeed, from interviews I have conducted with
former members of the Sección Femenina, I can actually conclude that the
organisation gave them a sense of pride in their domestic abilities and their

patriotic contribution, findings which validate Guiliana Di Febo's formulation
of a "Christian feminism", which is "the regenerating" and "reChristianising"
mission confided to the feminine masses in the wake of the political and
anticlerical turmoil of the Civil War (cited in Enders 678). My own research
was conducted in the summer of 2004 in the village of Zalamea la Real in the
province of Huelva. The women I interviewed fondly remembered the
camaraderie of the Sección Femenina and, indeed, credited it with their lifelong
passion for domestic pursuits, an interest which they felt had enriched their
lives immeasurably. Granted, this is a paltry version of feminism by some
definitions, but, when judging it, one has to take into account that this was a
country with one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world and under the
repressive domination of the Catholic Church, so equality feminism was never
destined to flourish.
However, as Spain experienced industrialisation in the 1960s, so too did
Sección Femenina adopt a different, altogether more modern, ethos. The Ley de
Derechos Politicos, profesionales y laborales (Political, Labour and Professional
law) exemplifies this: the law, proposed by Sección Femenina, granted more
privileges to women. Its subsequent approval was much vaunted by Sección
Femenina as a measure of its commitment to ensuring an improved quality of
life for women (Sanchez Lopez 44). Furthermore, in its magazine, Teresa, it
featured debates and interviews with modern, successful young women who
were university-educated. Indeed, Teresa took to supporting the idea of
women working outside the home, boldly featuring a weekly column entitled
"Las Mujeres quieren trabajar" (women want to work). But its finest hour came
in 1969 with the recommendation of Betty Friedan's The Feminist Mystique,
which was praised precisely because of its subversive feminist qualities;
women, the writer held, could overcome what she referred to as "this con-
trick", which held that a woman's self-realisation was only obtainable in the
home, by "leaving behind [their] small, enclosed world, becoming more
outward- looking" (Coca Hernando 9). Therefore, as the socio-cultural
parameters widened to allow Sección Femenina greater agency, it became a
more liberal, modern movement.
Although the barriers to female emancipation were lifted somewhat by
the rapid economic growth of the 1960s, ardent feminists recognised that in
order to achieve their aims they would have to infiltrate other government-
approved organisations, such as the Association of Homemakers, thus
surmounting the constraints imposed by its illegality.
I
However, attempts to
I
The Association of Homemakers was, as the name suggests, a group which prioritised
homemaking skills such as sewing and cooking, and had no feminist ethos.
61

influence government policy proved to be their undoing, and the government
refused to legalise any other branches of the Homemakers movement.
Undaunted, the most powerful women's organisation, the MDM (Movement
of Women) turned its attentions to the Castilian Association of Homemakers
and Consumers, a collaboration which resulted in the building of nineteen
new centres and the launching of many previously unthinkable initiatives.
These Housewives' Associations were, in their own right, and despite their
purportedly domestic function, highly political: working class members
voiced their unhappiness with the paucity of services provided by the State,
and, in this way, dissatisfaction with the Regime became the predominant
mood within the movement (Threlfall 1996,121). Thus, a woman's organisation
approved by the Regime became a conduit for political awareness, and was
thereby transformed into a locus of political dissent.
The death of Francisco Franco in 1975 ushered in a new era in Spanish
politics and society. The feminist movement, now unfettered by any legal
restrictions, experienced a dramatic upsurge in the 1975- 1978 period as it
campaigned vigorously for anti-discriminatory measures to be stipulated in
the new Constitution, a demand partially met by the 1978 Constitution, which
legalised contraception and penalised sexual discrimination (Montero 382).
The immediate aftermath of the new Consitution was something of an anti-
climax for the feminist movement, mainly due to two factors, which I shall
analyse respectively: the failure of the different feminist bodies to coalesce, and
disagreement as to the pertinence of politics to the movement. Due to the
polarisation between older feminists (who viewed the feminist struggle and
the political struggle as inextricably linked), and young feminists (untroubled
by memories of repression) no single, co-ordinating Spanish feminist body was
created. As the years went by, competing visions of equality and,
paradoxically, the lack of a single goal, such as the fight for democracy, made
that possibility chimerical: at present, the movement consists of small
autonomous regional units.
As I have continually emphasised throughout this paper, the cause of
the seemingly irreparably fragmented state of the Spanish feminist
movement is intrinsically political, and never was the movement more
political than in the early years of the Transition to democracy in Spain when
the so-called femocrats (feminists who were involved in party politics)
emerged as a formidable political force, Naturally, divisions between dual
and single activists resurrected themselves in this period, as dual activists
found themselves torn between party loyalties and their feminist goals, as
well as earning the wrath of single activists who viewed them as
irredeemably compromised by their party affiliations. In fact, the very idea of

politics, with its patriarchal orientation, was anathema to these single
activists who, having been heavily influenced by French feminist thought,
advocated difference and personal experience as paramount to the feminist
struggle. The politicisation of the feminist movement in Spain, they further
argued, had only one function: namely, to assert control over the movement's
activities (Brooksbank-Jones 11). Certainly, there was a certain amount of
credibility in the accusations they levelled against party feminists. These
feminists were invariably attracted to politics, representing as it did a
possibility for promoting the feminist cause in a powerful forum. However,
once enmeshed in political machinations, they were forced to perform a
delicate balancing act between maintaining their position within the party
and remaining loyal to their feminist ideals. The victories achieved by the
femocrats were, for the most part, only minor concessions designed to
placate feminist demands, which inevitably fell short of the long-term
investment required to solve deep-rooted social problems. More often than
not, the goals of the feminists and their political colleagues were
incompatible, so, in order to achieve these minor victories, the femocrats
began to subdue their demands, thereby neglecting key issues of the feminist
agenda and decreasing the autonomy of the feminist movement.
Despite the internal difficulties of the feminist movement, the situation
of Spanish women has undoubtedly improved, with the PSOE (Socialist
government), which came to-power in 1982, giving funding to women's
groups. A governmental organisation specifically addressing the question of
women's status in society, the Instituto de la Mujer (Women's Institute), was
established in 1982 under the tutelage of the Ministry of Culture, and was to
seek to promote women's increased involvement in all spheres of life.
However, problems remain. Notwithstanding the fact that Spain has morphed
into a liberal, advanced society, tinctures of misogyny simmer under the
surface, and female underemployment continues to be a problem (Threlfall
124). Neither has the Instituto de la Mujer delivered on the reforms it pledged
to implement in the sanguine atmosphere of the early years of the Transition;
inadequate financial resources, a failure to coalesce with the feminist
movement, and bureaucracy have all impeded its progress. Its
accomplishments tend to be vicarious as it functions primarily as a lobby
group of other state bodies and, even in that regard, fails to make a significant
impact, as it usually placidly accepts party policy on the issue in question
(Valiente 225).
Clearly, the evolution of Spanish feminism has been fraught with
difficulties. Hindered as it was by a dictatorial regime and an overarching
machismo, its progress is nonetheless commendable: academic feminism is

flourishing and women's issues now receive extensive media coverage.
However, its history continues to exert an influence on its development.
After all, throughout the Francoist era, the fundamental implications of
gender equality were completely ignored as the necessity for basic
survival eclipsed such abstract concepts. Angela Glasner asserts that
"extreme levels of poverty and low levels of industrial development"
(Glasner 79) are almost insurmountable obstacles to the progress of a
feminist movement, a contention verified by the evolution of Spanish
feminism.
Certainly an entitlement to equal treatment was inconceivable for
Spanish women until 1975 as, until then, domestic violence was a taboo topic,
exempt from the retribution of the public sphere (Falcon 20). Therefore, the
struggle to enshrine a perception of gender equality in the public
consciousness was always destined to be arduous. In many ways, feminism
has been a victim of the greater political struggles of twentieth century Spain,
as its objectives were subsumed into higher-profile rubrics, such as the fight
for democracy, which had the effect of confusing the essence of the
movement. The politicisation of the movement eclipsed the feminist cause
itself, and also caused it to lose a certain amount of credibility with
supporters. Furthermore, the fact that the Francoist Regime discredited the
majority of feminist organisations as 'anti-Spain' instilled in the Spanish
subconscious a view of feminists as troublemakers, one which unfortunately
prevails today (Hooper 83). Although its principal purpose was clarified
j
somewhat by the return to democracy, the feminist movement at present is
characterised by disunity and, consequently, has failed to attain the stature
and public recognition accorded to other national ; feminist movements. Only,
it would seem, with greater unity is the Spanish feminist movement ever
really going to prosper. Let's hope that the events of this century prove more
beneficial for its progress than the previous one.
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