Women in the Mexican Revolution

Women in the Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920 marks a time of extreme social and political change in the country. As such, the event is not only significant in terms of history, but also in the lives of ordinary Mexicans. This is especially true in terms of heroism, intellectualism, support, and how these manifested themselves in the lives of Mexican women. According to Goetze, the Mexican culture of the time was very much focused on patriarchy. The most important roles in social and professional life before the revolution were reserved for men. The events leading up to the revolution, while not providing women with the same status as men, did provide the platform for a more prominent feminist movement in the country. In this way, women taking on the roles of soldiers and even leaders during the Revolution worked to overcome the timidity and subservience imposed upon their gender in this country for centuries. Indeed, women in their capacity beyond the traditional role of wife and mother had been viewed as at least unusual and at most rebellious up until the time of the Revolution. During the Revolution, however, women took it upon themselves to provide their country with a worthy feminine energy to compliment and support their men. In many ways this was a thankless task often hidden from the general view by patriarchal propaganda. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that women played a very important role during the Mexican Revolution. Perhaps the most traditional of these was the role of supporter: women provided cooking and nursing services, as well as companionship for the fighting men; these women are referred to as soldaderas. Others were actively against the Revolution, and used their intellectual and caring professions towards the end of protesting the event via women's groups. Many women however moved beyond the traditional feminine role in two important ways: as intellectuals and placing themselves in the role of fighters at the front lines of the Revolution.

According to Goetze, many authors do not distinguish between the soldadera and the female fighter in the Mexican Revolution. The soldadera, however, played the most traditional role in terms of supporter to the male soldiers in the war itself. Specifically, the soldaderas were large groups of women that traveled with the respective revolutionary armies and provided care in terms of providing meals, nursing, and laundry services. As such, the soldaderas fulfilled the entire range of feminine duties expected of them during normal life, even to the extent of motherhood. Some of these women even bore children under the terrible living conditions and malnutrition they often suffered. In terms of companionship, the role of the soldadera further extended to duties of companionship beyond the scope of that usually expected of a woman in daily life. When a soldadera's husband was killed, for example, she would often remain in the company to provide companionship for another soldier (Goetze). This played a vital role in sustaining the morale of the often exhausted soldiers. According to Goetze, soldaderas served not only in the opposition forces, but also in the Federal army. This was motivated by a number of elements; some women responded to a need in the Federal army for their services, while others accompanied husbands in bondage to the army. According to Goetze, these women chose to endure terrible hardship, misfortune and danger in the field rather than remain alone, destitute and worried in the safety of their homes. Once again, this testifies to the inner strength and power of these women that contradicts the general chauvinistic view of them as weak and subservient. It is a testimony to their inner sense of strength and pride that the soldaderas within a camp would compete to provide the best quality of service in terms of providing the best of what was available in table cloths, food baskets, decorative plates and flowers. In this way, the women saw it as their role to provide as welcoming an environment as possible for the soldiers. This was done in addition to their normal duties such as laundry, child care and nursing. When needed, the soldaderas also provided military duties such as spying, arms smuggling, and occasional fighting. In this way the soldaderas paved the way for current and future feminism. On the one hand, they provided the basic services usually expected of their gender. On the other hand, however, they proved to men that they were also able to withstand extreme hardship and to provide more traditionally male services when called upon to do so. They therefore played a vital role in the transition between the view of the woman as subservient and weak caregiver, and that of the woman as strong and capable of adding any challenge to the roles she already fulfills, and finally more radical departures from the traditional view. The most tragic element regarding the soldaderas is that they not only remained largely anonymous, but that they also remained unrecognized for their invaluable service to the fighters. All their various duties in terms of support focused on morale, without which no army could survive in the long-term. Like the soldaderas, women who were in principle actively against the revolution also played an integral role during this time in Mexico. They were furthermore also largely overlooked for their role in this historical period. This group of women generally belonged to the Catholic Church, whose position was strongly in contrast to the principles of the Mexican Revolution. Many of the histories connected with these women have been lost and unrecognized in time. Nevertheless, like the soldaderas, it is impossible to ignore their impact.

Equally important, but much more prominent perhaps because of their radical departure from the shadow of recognized feminine status quo of the time, was the role of the female intellectual in the Mexican Revolution. These women generally did not fight a physical battle, like the soldaderas or the female soldier, but rather an intellectual battle. They used their intelligence to further the cause of the Revolution, and are recognized as one of the most important sectors of the female population of the time. The roles generally fulfilled by these women included political activism, thinkers, writers, and role models. They are recognized for the fearless pursuit of the principles they adhered to (Jandura). They sought to make their country a worthy place for all its citizens to live and work. As such, women from all classes were able to unite for this single intellectual goal, and managed to gain the respect not only of their female followers, but also of the men fighting for the Revolutionary cause. Like the soldaderas did on the battle field, the female intellectual and politician set the precedent for future female paradigms in the country. In the future, it would no longer be possible to hide behind familial and kitchen duties. Women during the Revolution proved themselves to not only be physically strong, but also intellectually more than capable. Many women are known specifically for their contribution in the political arena. According to Tereza Jandura, two of these are hailed as most important for their tenacity and effort towards the Revolutionary effort:

The political writer Dolores Jimenez y Muro, and Hermila Galindo, the political speaker and advocate for Carranza. The former was originally a schoolteacher by profession, and became a political radical for the purpose of further the cause of the Revolution. As a poet and writer, she contributed regularly to left-wing journals. As political leader, Jiminez was part of a group that planned the "Complot de Tacubaya." This was a planned rebellion for the purpose of bringing Madero to power (Jandura). The resultant "Political and Social Plan" was published in March 18, 1911. The Plan advocated political and social reforms such as better working conditions, better wages, maximum hours of work, equal working conditions for Mexicans and workers of other nationalities, education, and many others. Jiminez's main political power was thus manifest in her writing efforts. Her power of language provided her with a level of respect and admiration that was unheard of for women of the time. As such, she emerged from her fairly obscure career as schoolteacher to a radical revolutionary seen by many to be at the same level as the revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. This is much deserved, as her "Plan" provided the basis of many reforms for women and other minorities after the revolution. Hermila Galindo also fought for the Revolution on an intellectual level. Like Jiminez, she manifested her intellectual powers through writing. She was a public advocate of Carranza, and the editor of Mujer Moderna, a feminist journal (Jandura). Her intelligence and speaking skills advanced her career considerably, as did her high standing with Carranza himself, who was impressed when hearing her speak at a welcoming party after the fall of General Victoriano Huerta. She also played a role in the attempt against the above-mentioned counter-revolution led mostly by Roman Catholic women. While the soldaderas played an important but subdued role as supporter, the intellectual female during the Mexican Revolution made it clear that women could be respected for something other than their household skills and physical endurance. Female Revolutionaries on the political battleground provided women with power and respect in terms of their mental skills as well.

As seen above, women were able to operate on the basis of their accepted roles as caregivers and teachers in order to assume new, more unorthodox tasks for the purpose of the Revolution. The most radical and prominent departure from the traditional role of the Mexican woman was that of the female soldier. In contrast to the soldadera, the women joining the columnas volantes (flying columns), tended to masculinize themselves, completely departing from their traditional roles as women (Goetze). Known as soldados rasos (privates), they not only dressed like men, and endured the hardships of the battle field along with their male counterparts; they also acted like men. These women rode horses like men, endured long marches and fought with weapons. They also had the opportunity to distinguish themselves on the battle field and become military leaders. It was possible for a soldadera to join these ranks and give up her former feminine duties in favor of joining the men in battle. While the female soldiers generally emerged from higher social classes than the soldaderas, social class played a less important role in the Revolution than social change. Women often interchanged their roles between intellectual, soldadera, and female soldier to fill the needs as they saw them.