Re-Visioning the Mexican Revolution

But the soldaderas’ stories, and more prominently, their images, have survived and become an iconic component of Mexican history. When I was researching this project, I found that it was much easier to find photographs of soldaderas than information about them or records of their lives. Several historians have pointed out that the prominence of soldaderas in photography has lead to the truth about how important women were in the revolution, and Horacio Legras has suggested that these photographs have allowed women to become the “rightful subject of history” that they had previously been left out of (6). Elena Poniatowska, in Las Soldaderas, states that, “if not for the photography of Agustin Casasola and Jorge Guerra, and countless rolls of celluloid by Salvador Toscano, we would know nothing about the soldaderas because history has not treated them kindly-in fact, it has denigrated them” (27). Denigrated through verbal written history, the soldadera has ironically become the focal point of Mexican Revolution

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.

The Mexican Revolution began November 20, 1910, and ended on May 21, 1920. The revolution was against the regime of Porfirio Diaz who reigned for 35 years, after Mexico gained its independence from Spain. and was not a good president in the sense that he failed to support the middle and lower classes of Mexico. It was run by the middle (some in the middle (A very a little amount) and all in the lower classes, and they were all influenced by Francisco I. Madero. Although the lower classes didn’t originally full on oppose Diaz they felt neglected as a people. Madero saw this and sought out to influence the people of the country to revolt, so that they could then shift their views completely. Madero writes the Plan de San Luis Potosi, which was a political document written by Madero to describe how he was wrongly imprisoned by Diaz in order for him to lose the election. Madero also wrote the document to spread new ideas on what democracy was, and how to eradicate corruption in Mexico’s government. With the publication of this document support for Diaz and his presidency easily disappeared eventually causing him to resign. Madero then ran for president and won the election properly. But he only reigned for two years before being assassinated, by none other than the military governors, military, and lower classes because Madera failed to make any change in the social classes. A key factor that lead to his assignation was that the

With Madero’s efforts he was able to become president but was assassinated by a team put together by Victoriano Huerta. “Two Mexico’s” was addressed when the Revolution was sparked and taken control by Venustiano Carranza part of the constitutionalist army and Emiliano Zapata which whom will be under credited for their efforts in the future. They took Huerta out of power in 1914.

During the Mexican Revolution there were many prominent figures that emerged during the long struggle. Some of the figures had a positive impact on the region, and some others a very negative impact on the people of Mexico and their quest for an uncorrupted government. One figure that stands out in the border region between Mexico and The United States during this time is General Francisco “Pancho” Villa. To understand Pancho Villa’s significant role during this uprising it is important to understand who Villa was prior to the revolution, and what acts lead to his rise to power.

     The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly

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."

Few historical figures from the period of colonial Mexico tower as high as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Sor Juana was a criolla woman who lived from 1651 to 1695. She was born as an illegitimate child but was eventually taken in by the Mexican viceroy’s family. A voracious reader as a child, Sor Juana tirelessly pursued an educating herself. As a young woman, she chose to enter into the cloister so that she could avoid marriage and thus devote herself to her scholarship. She became a prominent writer and her works were widely read in both New Spain and Spain. However, in 1990 she published one of her most famous works: “Reply to Sor Philothea”. This critique of a sermon written by a prominent member of the Church proclaimed the ability of women to participate in intellectual pursuits. Facing intensifying pressure from the Church, Sor Juana publically renounced her work before her death in 1965. Sor Juana’s story was shaped by the societal rules governing gender, race, and class during Mexico’s colonial period and, despite the effort of many to consign her voice to oblivion, she holds tremendous influence upon modern Mexican culture and feminist thought.

The author of this novel used her real life experiences in combination with the friendship that she experienced with Josefina Bórquez in order to create an experience for the reader that helped to justify and understand the life of a woman during the Mexican Revolution. Josefina lived her teenage years as a soldadera, a woman soldier in the Mexican Revolution. After the hardship she faced during wartime, she was subjected to a life of extreme poverty and oppression while living in the slums of Mexico City. The author, Elena Poniatowska, first interacted with Josefina in 1964 during a compilation of interviews that revealed her life story. This is where Josefina became the fictional character of Jesusa, the main character in the novel, Here’s To You, Jesusa!

The Mexican Revolution is viewed/ considered as the first major political, social, and cultural Revolution of the 20th century. The united states had a lot of positive outcomes from Mexico, since they were the country that was right next to them, this eventually caused for the US to become involved in the Revolution. The Revolution began in 1910, like any other war it was very devastating that resulted in many deaths. The main purpose for the start of the revolution was to remove Porfirio Diaz from presidency because he was a very impulsive and manipulating man who did not care for others but himself. There were several groups from the US that were involved in the Revolution due to their interest in the population of Mexico.

The story illustrates the overlapping influences of women’s status and roles in Mexican culture, and the social institutions of family, religion, economics, education, and politics. In addition, issues of physical and mental/emotional health, social deviance and crime, and social and personal identity are

Not only did these women find a place in society other than by the stove, they won the appreciation and respect of men and women around them. Two of the most extraordinary of these women were Dolores Jimenez y Muro, who was an important political writer, and Hermila Galindo, who was a political speaker and advocate for Carranza’s campaign and regime. Dolores Jimenez y Muro's importance is evident in how she was able to have her voice heard and listened to by high-ranking revolutionary officials. Hermila Galindo's prominence is shown by her distinguished political career and feminist movements.

Anachronologically deemed a feminist for her writings, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz stood in the New World as a defiant, female Catholic. Through her work, she displays her head-strong character, illuminating the hypocrisy that was flourishing in patriarchal Mexico while simultaneously creating metaphors that clearly showed how she viewed her situation. Moreover, through extenstive allusions, she displays her aptitude, proving that she had one true love in life: the love for learning. Perhaps doomed from the start because of her sex, any time Sor Juana delved into her passion she was bound to hear insolence from a traditional member of society, namely the Bishop of Puebla,

Throughout its history Mexico has had many revolutions. The most famous perhaps is the Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920. The people of Mexico were getting tired of the dictator rule of President Porfino Diaz. People of all classes were fighting in the revolution. The middle and upper classes were dissatisfied with the President’s ways. The lower and working class people had many factors such as poor working conditions, inflation, inferior housing, low wages, and deficient social services. Within the classes everyone was fighting; men, women, and children all contributed to the fight for freedom from Diaz (Baxman 2). This revolution proved to be the rise and fall of many leaders.

The Mexican Revolution was one of the great revolutionary upheavals of the twentieth century and had a profound impact on the development of Mexico well into the modern day. The revolutionary period itself can be split into three distinct stages: First, several factions united behind Francisco Madero in order to overthrow the dictatorial government of Porfirio Diaz. When Madero’s government appeared to maintain the status quo set forth during the Porfiriato period, however, the same forces that brought Madero to power rose up once again to remove him. Finally, the remaining factions, no longer possessing a common goal to unite them, turned on one another in a fight to establish dominance. At the end of this bloody period emerged a new triumvirate: