Margarita Neri: The Mexican Revolution

In The Underdogs written by Mariano Azuela, we are introduced to a character that strongly symbolizes the fuel of the Mexican Revolution. Heroes like Demetrio Macias brought the Serrano’s hope of giving them what they felt they truly deserved. Although Demetrio Macias, the general (colonel) of a rebel army is hunting down the army of Pancho Villa, he seems to have the same ideals as the enemy. In addition to Demetrio Macias, we meet women like Camilla and War Paint who represent the different roles that women played during the Mexican Revolution.

In the unique position of being both related to the Marxist president whose reign preceded that of Augusto Pinochet, and a woman in an increasingly gender-sensitive society, Isabel Allende witnessed much of the tragedy that befell Latin America in the late 1900’s. Allende made it her task to combine elements of the magical and absurd with her own struggles, and those of society under oppressive rule and stereotypes. She ultimately acted as an influential supporter of women’s empowerment, and she harnessed this desire for equality and strength through her own literary work.

Negotiating Conquest is a scholarly work written by Miroslava Chavez-Garcia, which analyzes women 's roles in history, and discusses how the political system has affected their roles. It covers the period between the 1770 's to the 1880 's, the periods before and after American Conquest. Likewise, this book is divided into two sections, chapters 1-3 discusses "Women in Spanish and Mexican California," and chapters 4-6 discusses "Women in American California." This work analyzes the major ideas present within each period and how it affected women 's roles and power. The time and effort put into this book, is something that the author enjoyed, calling it a "labor of love." Overall, she then claims that her purpose in writing this work is to, "honor and recognize woman of all ethnic backgrounds, social classes, and regions, who established households, nurtured and reared families, and rose above personal adversity in societies that often ignored, overlooked, and rendered them invisible."

Women took a more active role in the revolutionary process and rendered themselves useful in society (Henretta, 2009). Women’s status in the family, society, and politics had long been a subject of argument. The rights women had during this time were an issue for years. Women were viewed as “subordinate to males’ and were subject to laws and regulations imposed by men. However, the role of women and their political, economic, and social rights shifted greatly because of the revolution. Because they were responsible for marrying, raising families, and performing the duties of diligent wives and mothers, they took action and pursued to support the revolution. Women resolved to contribute to the liberation of their

The Mexican Revolution is a complicated part of the Mexico history and it is very hard to pin down when the revolution had ended. It is something that is highly debated about even in today. History of this period of Mexico is every changing as people interpret what the revolution was about. Some Scholars say 1940’s like Mexican historian Daniel Cosio Villegas while other professors would say that it ends later or early then that. It depends on what you think the Revolution was being fought for. I think that is some ways the Villegas is right, but that depend on my definition of the Mexican Revolution, but overall I must disagree with the statement. I think that it had the end of the tail end of the 1910’s into the 1920’s. I believe in some

During the Mexican Revolution, Mexico as a nation torn in many directions, people gave up simple farming lives to take up arms against causes that many of them did not fully understand. Gender roles during the period in Mexico were exceptionally degrading towards women. Having little more rights than slaves and treated as trophies or property more than human beings, women role in society was nothing near that of a man’s. In The Underdogs, Mariano Anzuela highlights the issue of gender roles by continuously illustrating the punitive role of women and their mistreatment. Augmenting Anzuelas work with citations from Oscar Lewis and Stephanie Smith will paint a picture of the degrading gender roles for women during the Mexican Revolution. Highlighted points brought up by Azuela are how men speak with and treat women, women’s place in society, and general disregard for women’s feelings.

Every day parents send their children off to school with the expectation that they will be returned home safely at the end of the day. However, with an ever increasing number of school shootings some parents are pulling their children out of school because they feel as if school can no longer offer the same sense of security as they once had. Some schools are pressing for the right for school instructors to carry a loaded weapon on campus. School instructors should be allowed to carry a loaded weapon on campus because it helps prevent school shootings, it protects them during school shootings, and gives students and staff an added sense of security.

Mexicans opened the twentieth century with the most drastic action that citizens can take against their government: revolution. The open rebellion against the military dictator Porfirio Díaz began in 1910 and led to ten years of violent and destructive warfare within Mexico. When the fighting finally ended, many Mexicans were disillusioned about the revolution as the small political and economic changes that were finally implemented was not worth the senseless violence that wracked Mexico. Mariano Azuela, in his novel The Underdogs (Los de abajo), examines this notable problem of the Mexican Revolution through the narrative of a band of rebel soldiers. Their leader is a poor, illiterate, Indian Demetrio Marcías, with his trusted aide the educated, city-boy, journalist Luis Cervantes. As displayed in The Underdogs, the disillusionment with the revolution resulted from the lack of a clear purpose for the fighting, a charismatic and powerful leader that could unify the rebels, and the lack of major societal change resulting from it.

In recent years, some scholars are challenging the lack of women representation in the Haitian War of Independence. Scholars like Philippe Girard are dissecting historical texts to examine the impact of women in the Haitian Revolution. In Rebelles with a Cause: Women in the Haitian War of Independence, 1802-04 Girard focuses on gender. His work sheds light on this undeveloped topic by exposing the inequalities women faced and their resistance during the Haitian war of independence. Women in the Haitian Revolution fought monarchy and patriarchy in the French colony of Saint Domingo by using resistance during the Haitian Revolution. For example, he states “the revolution did bring debates on women’s political role into the open for the first time, but only to offer a negative response to request for gender equality”. Philippe R. Girard’s essay Rebelles with a Cause: Women in the Haitian War of Independence, 1802–04 also discusses Haitian women serving during the revolt both in combat and helping behind the scenes.

Alfonsa had strong convictions toward women being suppressed as she was growing up in a time before and after the Mexican revolutionary war. Her father sending her to Europe had made its contributions to her "revolutionary spirit." Women at that time lived their lives in the constant shadows of men. The women were consumed by family life, marriage, the Catholic church, and lived silently behind their dominant male counterparts. There were many inequalities women and other ethnic, economic, political, or religious minorities suffered under the regime of Porferio Diaz. Mexican women at that time knew they were essential in a number of ways and rose up becoming strong advocates for causes they believed in (Jandura 1). Alfonsa's character speaks of "Dictator Diaz" in a conversation with the main character by the name of John Grady (McCarthy 236).

The Mexican Revolution was an armed battle that became known as one of the most important sociopolitical events in Mexico and one of the greatest twentieth century upheavals that started in 1910. This revolution first began as a middle-class protest against the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz who had been in rule for a span of thirty four years. Diaz had violated the principles and ideals of the Mexican Constitution of 1857 which prompted many people to challenge his power. As the battle for independence carried on over the years over 900,000 lives were lost and many struggled for the power as leaders were overthrown and replaced. The main ideas of the Mexican Revolution came from basic belief that a few wealthy landowners could no longer continue the old ways of Spanish colonial rule. The system had to be replaced to a new modernized one in which those who actually worked the land should withdraw its wealth through their labor.

“’I love the revolution like a volcano in eruption; I love the volcano because it’s a volcano; the revolution because it’s the revolution!’” cries a revolutionary soldier in Azuela’s The Underdogs (159). The Mexican Revolution of 1910 was aimed to overthrow the dictatorship of the Mexican government, which was in constant turmoil as presidents were constantly toppled from power. Porfirio Diaz, the president at the time the uprising began, was removed from power when revolutionary generals, Emiliano Zapata and Francisco “Pancho” Villa, answered Francisco Madero’s call for rebellion. After Madero took power, he was defeated by Victoriano Huerta. Venustiano Carranza seized power from Huerta, and Alvaro Obregon gained control after Carranza was deposed. The revolution lasted a decade and ended with the new Mexican Constitution of 1917. These events are told in The Underdogs, by Mariano Azuela, in which a native Indian, Demetrio Macias, is forced to side with and aid the rebels when his home is destroyed and his loved ones are put in danger. Throughout the battles, Macias becomes hardened by war, which eventually leads him into Villa’s army as a general. Yet, his original gang of rebels and newly recruited men begin to lose battle after battle. The soldiers go to war and some do not come back. Written from the revolutionaries’ point of view, The Underdogs, by Marino Azuela, is a historically accurate novel that argues that the ideals of

For 33 years according to its one political leader Mexico experienced different amounts of success but this success didn’t included “all” Mexicans which its majority were lower class citizens, on this equation the majority of people were never the ones to gain; wealth and land inequalities and abuse of power will part of the daily struggle, as result of this Mexican revolution will began.

During a decade of political and social chaos in Mexico, an uprising was conjuring against President Porfirio Diaz and the dictator style of his reign. As stated in Mexicans in Revolution, 1910-1946: An Introduction, “The roots of the Revolution reached back to the successful programs of the government of Porfirio Díaz and his regime, called the Porfiriato, that governed the republic from 1876 to 1911.”1 Francisco Madero, a representative for the common people and a candidate in the presidential election in 1910, promoted a resistance that opposed the reelection of Diaz. Eventually, the struggle to overthrow Diaz resulted in the Mexican Revolution. Madero’s forces, as well as the federal army, were compiled from middle and lower class men as well as las soldaderas, women soldiers. Las soldaderas represented the brave women that fought next to their brethren on the front line of battle, but also aided the cause behind the scenes by serving as nurses, washers, and cooks. The women’s involvement in the Mexican Revolution was portrayed solely as assistance in the movement to reinvent their country’s government. However, the soldaderas not only aided in the future of their country, but the future of women’s right as a whole. The soldaderas’ contribution in the Mexican Revolution sparked the desire to demand equality and a life free of constraints bound by male ideals of a women’s domestic responsibilities.

As a child, Mancún is the place where Negi felt the most security. No matter where her family relocated to she always wanted to return to Mancún. Life in Mancún was tough,