Feminism in Chile
[6] As such, they were largely able to put together these groups where exploration of the interest in feminism came to be by shedding particular light on the issues that middle to upper-class feminists found to be the most important.
For example, feminists such as Amanda Labarca promoted a domestic form of feminism which was sensitive to the socially and politically conservative governmental powers of the time.
[13] Women such as Amanda Labarca were particularly successful in their feminist efforts mainly due to some of their international contacts and experiences resulting from studying abroad.
[11] The Consejo Nacional de Mujeres maintained a home for girls attending the university in Santiago, and helped the women students in the capital city.
The conservative element of this club focused primarily on pursuing women's intellectual work, while later on, Consejo Nacional took more progressive ideas into account.
Their members consisted of impressive middle class, aristocratic, woman who had a great deal of influence on their communities, including government and private sectors.
[13] Labarca wrote several interesting volumes— such as, Actividades femeninas en Estados Unidos (1915), and ¿A dónde va la mujer?
In a 1922 address given before the Club de Señoras of Santiago, Chilean publisher Ricardo Salas Edwards stated the following: "There have been manifested during the last 25 years phenomena of importance that have bettered woman's general culture and the development of her independence.
Among them were the spread of establishments for the primary and secondary education of women; the occupations that they have found themselves as the teachers of the present generation, which can no longer entertain a doubt of feminine intellectual capacity; the establishment of great factories and commercial houses, which have already given her lucrative employment, independent of the home; the organization of societies and clubs; and, finally, artistic and literary activities, or the catholic social action of the highest classes of women, which has been developed as a stimulus to the entire sex during recent years.
"[9] This sentiment began to change as the post-World War I economic crisis hit, and more and more women were pushed into the working class.
[9] A new political body was formed in the early 1920s under the name of the Progressive Feminist Party with the purpose of gaining all the rights claimed by women.
It was understood that concession of these rights would elevate the authority of the mother and bring more general consideration for women, as well as benefits to family life and social welfare.
Founded in 1935 by influential feminists such as Marta Vergara, MEMCh fought for the legal, economic, and reproductive emancipation of women as well as their community involvement to improve social conditions.
[9] MEMCh produced an inspiring monthly bulletin (La Mujer Nueva) that contextualized the work being done in Chile with international feminism.
While feminism in Chile of a decade earlier had focused on more nationalistic and religious goals, MEMCh initiated a connectedness between South and North American women, in defense of democracy.
[9] During Pinochet's dictatorship throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, coalitions and federations of women's groups—not all of which necessarily designated themselves in name as feminists—gathered in kitchens, living rooms, and other non-political arenas to devise strategies of bringing down the dictator's rule.
Through this they created grassroots organizations such as Moviemento pro emancipación de la Mujer that is credited with directly influencing the downfall of Pinochet.
While Chilean women were living in exile in Vancouver, Canada, a feminist magazine created by Latinas, called Aquelarre began to circulate widely.
There has been a general trend towards disregarding this moment in the history of feminism in Chile even though there were significant organizations who continued to work towards liberation.
While the privileged professors of newly established gender and women's studies programs in universities were given more of a say, the average citizens found that their voices were often muffled and restrained by institutionalized feminism.
[20] More recently, the Chilean women's movements continue to advocate for their rights and participation in all levels of the democratic society and through non-governmental organizations.
In the beginning of its creation, some opinions were that SERNAM organization was said to have weakened the women's rights agenda due because it wasn't successful at policy influence.
The CEMA Chile [es] (Center for Mothers) was created in 1954, to "provide spiritual and material well-being to the Chilean women".
[23] Through motherhood, the Chilean woman has been politicized- not only is she ridiculed for overpopulating a country while given minimal means of reproductive support, but she is also taken as a passive object of governance.
[31] Influenced by the ideologies of sociologist Enzo Faletto, she contributed to FLACSO’s theoretical framework of rebellious practices in the name of feminism.
