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20th-Century Mexican Woman Analysis

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Mexico has a colorful and remarkable history. This is especially true during the 20th century. The 1900s saw many changes in political, social, economic matters in Mexico. Mexico went through a revolution, reinstated democracy, and saw improvements to the economy. One of the most notable change in Mexico was in its social reform. At the turn of the 20th century, women rights, native rights, and educational opportunities were very few. As the 20th century progressed, many Mexican people began advocating for social reform in these areas. In the early 1900s, the sociocultural characteristics of Mexico was very different than it is today. Women’s role in society was to only stay at home with the family and they did not have the right to vote. …show more content…

She began publishing essays in 1963 for a weekly cultural supplement for several newspapers in Mexico City. According to Maureen Ahern, “Rosario Castellanos was the first Mexican writer to draw the essential connections among sex, class, and race as factors that define women in Mexico.” Castellanos explored this connection in her essays and tried to enlighten others about them as well. This is especially seen in the essay “The Nineteenth-Century Mexican Woman”. In the essay, Castellanos discusses the many stereotypes given to women- chaste, loyal, sacrificial, and stolid- and if a woman is not these things, she is compared to a prostitute by society. She goes on to ask the reader if these things are indeed the true characteristics of the Mexican Woman, or the characteristics society forces on women. Racial discrimination is another topic of Castellanos’s essays, although not as common as the topic of women in Mexico. In her essay “Discrimination in the United States and Chiapas”, Castellanos does a wonderful job of showing the similarities in the United States and in Chiapas when it comes to racial issues. She begins by discussing the horror of the Nazis and Klu Klux Klan and their violence toward other races and points out that there are similarities between the two groups and the situation in Mexico. However, she believes the situation is not as dire in Mexico and proposes that fate can be averted. She discusses that the natives need to be given education, the chance to assimilate, and the opportunity to fuse into Mexican society. If this is accomplished. Castellanos proposes that the natives and whites can live together harmoniously in Mexico. Castellanos does a beautiful job in all of her essays of discussing the issues with race and gender in Mexican society and calls the readers to action in order to accomplish

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