The Cuban Women's Movement

Cuban history, like many other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean which have experienced colonial subjugation and imperial interference, is highlighted by tumultuous rebellions. Ever since the revolt of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes in 1868, who took up arms with his slaves to liberate Cuba from Spain’s colonial grasp, the existence of insurrectionists and adamant government opposition in Cuba has flourished. Social revolution and a strong will and practice of nationalism has indelibly characterized Cuban history. Nevertheless, the outcomes of particular movements and struggles for social justice have consistently frustrated revolutionary and radical leaders. Government regimes throughout

Castro focus revolves around the idea of allowing an individual to express their ideas regardless of their gender. She achieves this by narrating her own story of how she arrived at college “hungry”, with the desire to learn and being able to express those ideas that as a kid she wasn’t able to as the result of her parents strict parenting. One example is when Castro describes how her mother’s vision of her is her getting married and not pursuing higher education. In this example, Castro tries to urge the need for freedom of expression by bringing up how in that time most women wore destined to get married and be a house wife. She reinforces such notion by establishing that by graduation time,

In most history books, Pancho Villa is depicted as a often cruel but always fearless and cunning leader who courageously fought the dictatorial behavior of Porfirian Diaz in the Mexican Revolution. And some of this is certainly true. The great majority of reports and undocumented stories of Pancho Villa's epic struggles against injustice are all about males, but authors Anna Macias and Elena Poniatowska record the fact that women were a big part of the Mexican Revolution and that Villa was a viciously bloodthirsty scoundrel when it came to women and young girls. In order to set the record straight, Macias and Poniatowska present the writings of three women who ably report involvement of women in these moments in history; for example: a) there were women fighting on the side of Villa and his revolutionary band of warriors; and b) "hundreds of thousands" of women "of every class, were among the victims and casualties" of the conflict.

The effects of the Cuban Revolution on women’s lives and gender relations in Cuba from 1959 to 1990 include that some say women have not reached equality yet with men, women gained more opportunities for themselves, economy and politics, and also how women still had responsibility for children and home, not men.

The Effects of the Cuban Revolution on Women’s lives and Gender relations in Cuba from 1959 to 1990

The readings for this week consisted of the second half of Conceiving Cuba by Elise Andaya (2014). This half of the book focused on abortion, gendered work and surviving through migration (Andaya, 2014). Overall, Andaya (2014) focuses less on reproductive health and women than one would expect, and instead provides more of a critique of the shortcomings of the socialist revolution in Cuba. These critiques get in the way of Andaya’s (2014) narrative and ultimately detract from the discussion of reproductive health in Cuba.

Richard Falcon wonderfully directs the play "Soladeras", by Ruben Amavizca-Murua, It is stated in the Play Bill that Richard Falcon "is considered an actors' director because he knows

The communist Political system adopted in 1952, remains in effect today. Under Cuba’s communist state every citizen has the right to participate in discussions of political, social, and economic issues, but that participation is constrained by the chain of command structure of society and government. The Cuban Communist Party (PCC) plays a key factor in the selection of everyone voted into the legislative bodies. Even though Cuba has legislative bodies, their decisions must meet the President needs for his approval. Since Raul Castro is currently President of the Republic, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party,

The Communist Revolution of Cuba didn’t just impact the working class, but rather also affected the youth living in Cuba as well. Many children fought in the brigades to avoid capital punishment. One such account tells the story of Jose Agustin, who wrote an autobiography of his experiences in the brigades titled “Diario de brigadista, Cuba 1961”. It was in this book that Jose talked about his daily

In early as 1940, Celia writes about the widespread poverty in the countryside. In 1945, she writes, “if I was born to live on an island, then I 'm grateful for one thing: that the tides rearrange the borders. At least I have the illusion of change, of possibility. To be locked within boundaries plotted by priests and politicians would be the only thing more intolerable” The corruption in Cuban politics was a precursor for the revolution. It was a sign that the people wanted change, and Castro would utilize these sentiments to garner support. In 1952, Celia writes about the rise of Fulgencio Batista, and his subsequent takeover of the state as a U.S. backed dictator. She writes, “that bastard Batista stole the country from us just when it seemed things could finally change. The U.S. wants him in the palace. How else could he have pulled this off?” Celia opposes Batista and participates in marches against him, which are led by a, “young lawyer”, Fidel Castro. In 1955, she celebrates that, “the rebels have been released! Now the revolution is close enough we 'll make it stick like rice to a pot!” Four years later, the revolution would begin and Castro and his regime would continue to rule the island to this day.

Beginning in the 1920’s, relations improved somewhat for women in Cuba. With the political arrival of Ramón Grau San Martín, women’s rights furthered, and women’s suffrage was achieved in 1934. Grau San Martín attributed his presidential victory of 1944 to the support from the Cuban women. The upward trend of women in Cuba reversed in the 50’s underneath Batista. With sexual tourism, corruption, and Mafia ties, Cuba’s government increased the difference between the sexes that already existed, and gender relations worsened.

When developing this proposal I wanted to look at the everyday life and struggles of women during and after the Cuban Revolution. Looking at a lot of the sources available from the Cuban Revolution it is clear to see that women played a crucial role in the revolution. But most of the secondary sources that I have found surround three specific women, Haydée Santamaría, Celia Sanchez and Vilma Espín. These revolutionaries played a crucial role in shaping the outcome of the Cuban Revolution while also advancing feminism and gender equality. By looking specifically at these women I developed the central question: how Haydée Santamaría, Celia Sanchez and Vilma Espin, able to shape the future of women’s lives in Cuba? Some other questions that helped

On the contrary, during the 1969 Revolution, many things on this island had changed. Fidel Castro wanted the island to portray a certain image in order to show excellence and greatness. As a result, Castro enacted various laws and policies in order to achieve the desired ideal image. One of his goals was to better the lives of women in the island; some would even say that he was successful in implementing this goal. Although lives for women became significantly better after the Revolution, it was not perfect. It almost seems as if the government placed a blanket over the true problems in which women were facing throughout society. The patriarchy still existed and women were still being discriminated in certain ways. I argue that this kind of feminism, known

Throughout history, Canada’s identity has changed in many ways and there have been many historical events that have greatly shaped and impacted Canada’s history and identity. The Women’s Movement and women’s contribution in the past and throughout history has had the greatest impact on shaping Canada into what it is today. Among many identifying qualities like being multicultural, bilingual, and world leaders, Canada is also country that has changed immensely in the way of becoming a country that has learned to accept women, move towards providing them with equal opportunities and treating them equally. Through economic, social and political movements and actions, the contribution from women and the women’s movement have increased, changed and improved women’s rights and equality greatly. Women worked to create independence and equality economically through their contributions to war on the homefront in WWI resulting in greater workplace equality, socially through the actions of the Flappers in the 1920’s giving women currently, the confidence and strength that they need to speak up, and politically, through the work of the Suffragists including the Famous 5 to allow women to have the same political rights as men.

The Women’s Liberation Movement greatly impacted Australia and the United States throughout the 60’s and 70’s carrying on to the 90’s. Without the Women’s Liberation Movement women wouldn’t have received changes in laws primarily regarding employment impacting on them moving forward in terms of equal opportunities. However there is still a there is still process to be made concerning employment and social roles for women to have equal rights as men. The Women’s Liberation Movement started in the 60’s during the second wave of feminism. Even though the 70’s were a time of change, both Australia and the United States saw women remaining in low status roles and staying primarily in the domestic sphere. The 90’s however saw a dramatic change in the amount of women employed and working more so in the domestic sphere.