Desde 'Siempreviva' hasta el voto : el legado de una maestra (1870-1953)

Abstract

The study delves into the historical and social context of Mexico and the rise of female emancipation between the period of 1870 and 1953 when the latter being the year Mexicans women received the Vote. This period of Mexico's history included the forty-year dictatorship known as the Porfiriato and the Mexican revolution that followed. During this era Mexican society was very patriarchal and anti-feminist. Being a woman meant being deprived of many social privileges particularly those involving education, careers and governance. The emergence of feminists to some extent may have been influenced by what was happening in other Spanish speaking territories of South America and Europe but the focus of this study is to identify the influence of one particular woman Rita Cetina Gutiérrez and her influence on a generation of women who followed her and were inspired by her to the point of making changes of substance to the cause of women's emancipation that was to follow several years after Rita Cetina Gutiérrez passed away; in particular Rita Cetina's Siempreviva foundation, magazine and educational institutions. There is no doubt that the final victory for feminists with the obtaining of the Vote for women of 1953 very much had its roots embodied in the vision of this great Mexican lady and personality that Rita Cetina Gutiérrez indeed was.