Latin Amer Women Played an Unheralded, Unsung

Latin Amer

Women played an unheralded, unsung role in the history of Latin America. Just as women's roles in global history has been relegated to domestic servitude, much of what women did in Latin America was household-related. Farming was also a female duty (Chasteen). Given the importance of farming and childrearing to the cohesiveness of a society, though, women did play an important role in the history of Latin America. Even if many of the most influential women did not get recognized for their deeds, the role of women should never be downplayed. Some women, though, do make their names known even within the patriarchal structure of Latin American society and within the patriarchal hegemony of historiography. For example, Rigoberta Menchu was raised in a gender-egalitarian native society that enabled her to become a political activist. Menchu's activism earned her a place in the history of her people and Guatemala as a whole. Her autobiography is testimony to the rare cases in which women were able to transcend the European male hegemony. Similarly, Fraser and Navarro detail the life of Eva Peron of Argentina. Eva Peron, or Evita, has become a legendary figure. Like other legendary women, Eva Peron's life was mythologized in ways than the lives of male historical figures are not. Peron's biographers have often resorted to propaganda "in the guise of biography," as Fraser and Navarro point out (1).

However, Peron and Menchu both show how women did play major roles in the evolution of South American history. As far as conquest goes, there are few women who made their marks. Conquest is itself a patriarchal endeavor, so it is no wonder that there were no female plunderers or rapists. However, where there was plunder and rape there were also those who resisted the oppression. Some of the most formidable enemies of European conquest and cultural oppression were female. Unfortunately, their songs remain unsung.

After independence movements took root, though, many women did make a clear mark on the histories of their nations and of the region as a whole. Unfortunately, "Latin American women…would find the new republics nearly as patriarchal as the old colonies, even though women had fought hard for independence and often died for it," (Chasteen 111). Many women who fought hard for the independence of their nations from the Europeans included indigenous women. Indigenous women were not socialized the same way as women from European descent. Therefore, many indigenous women did not have anything holding them back from being revolutionary heroes. Rigoberta Menchu was not the only indigenous woman to become a powerful leader in her community. As Chasteen points out, Andean women "led the way back in the 1780s" towards independence and liberation (111). Names like Manuela Beltran, Micaela Bastidas, and Bartolina Sisa suffered in order to achieve political goals. These are courageous women whose names are not well-known outside of the most obscure references in history books (Chasteen). Interestingly, many women in Latin American liberation movements took on a Joan of Arc-like status. Some, like Juana Azurduy of Bolivia, even dressed like a man. Azurduy dressed like a man in order to ruse her opponent. Azurduy was "remembered for wearing a man's uniform and leading a cavalry charge in which she personally captured the enemy flag, a feat that normally defined the superior male (Chasteen 111). Such women made a major mark on the history of Latin America without receiving any recognition in standard history textbooks.

In spite of this lack of recognition or respect, "patriot women became powerful symbols" of their nations (Chasteen 111). Few symbols are as powerful as that of Evita, Eva Peron. Peron is an Argentinian emblem, as much as steak. Latin American women like Evita or Azurduy are thought of as being uncommon. This is why their biographies are anomalous. Unfortunately, even biographers that laud their accomplishments tend to tarnish their triumphs because they are women. For instance, Eva Peron is not fully appreciated. Fraser and Navarro go so far as to question her relevance as a Latin American hero by questioning, "Was Evita really a saint, or was she really a whore?" (1). This question is asked as if there are only two polarities or alternatives available to women: women cannot simply be human beings. Men can be leaders and have faults but women are expected to either be virginal and pure or evil. The entrenchment of Catholicism in Latin America makes it understandable that women would be given the virgin/whore designation and binary. The story of Malintzin, at least the one told by Townsend, shows how women struggle to assert an identity without the confining boundaries of social convention. Malintzin was a saint to some and a sinner to others. She knew how to manipulate the colonialists who were working from a patriarchal and sexist framework. Because of this, it is impossible to know exactly what Malintzin's motives actually were. Regardless, she made enough of a mark on the history of Latin American society that she would be remembered.