Women's Political Participation in the Dominican Republic: The Case of the Mirabal Sisters
2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 52; Issue: 2-3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00086495.2006.11829706
ISSN2470-6302
Autores Tópico(s)Cuban History and Society
ResumoContrary to traditional perceptions of women's essentially passive role in Hispanic societies, women have often been at the vanguard of popular resistance against dictatorship and military rule. Women have often played a pivotal role in galvanizing public opinion against dictatorship, totalitarianism and state terror. The role of the mothers of the desaparecidos (disappeared) of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina is probably the most dramatic example in recent times. Women have sometimes achieved heroic stature in Hispanic culture in the struggle for social change, from the legendary Dolores Ibarruri (La Pasionaria) in the Spanish Civil War, to Evita Peron as standardbearer (abanderada) of the descamisados (shirtless ones) in Argentina, where she is still revered sixty-odd years after her death. Rigoberta Menchu, a Maya Quiche Indian leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her struggle against the Guatemalan military, has become an international symbol of the crusade for human rights. These women are not empty figures, but have become imbued with deep emotive meaning for women, men and youth in their countries, often serving as potent catalysts for change.
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