Dr. Pilar Melero is a very accomplished professor, researcher, and journalist. Her latest speech at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater was called “Women of the Revolution!” and was on the role of women in the Mexican revolutionary war that started in 1910. She opened with a story of a beautiful big-eyed little Latina girl who was dying. The girl’s mother was desperate to find a cure for the little girl. Her mother went to doctors, churches, and even the government to try to find help for the little girl. None of them could find any reason for the little girl’s failing health and told the mother that there was nothing they could do for her. Finally, the heartbroken mother returned to her daughter and did the only thing she could think of
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Without a past, she cannot have a future. In 2006, the Mexican president had a book published about the Mexican revolution. Women, who were a large part of the revolution, were not mentioned in the book. Why does any of this matter? It matters because Dr. Melero grew up not knowing that women from her homeland had even participated in the revolution. It matters because the role models of old pave the way for new generations by showing us who we can be. Representation is a powerful thing. Women in Mexico are more likely to have a lower level of education than their male counterpart, are more likely to live in poverty, and are more likely to be killed. Knowing that smart strong women have come before you is a powerful thing. It means that maybe you can be powerful, as they once were. However, knowledge of the women revolutionary fighters is not widespread and they’ve often been misrepresented throughout history. In Mexican culture, female revolutionaries have been painted as “adelitas.” Adelitas were the “colorful oversexualized girlfriends who followed the male revolutionary fighters.” In reality, these women were actually soldiers, spies, nurses, and …show more content…
Juana Belen Guitierez de Mendoza was a farmer who sold her goats to buy a printing press. She started making a wildly popular newspapers about the corruption of the government. Her newspapers were burned and she was tortured. However, she persisted. Also, Aquiles Serdan is often credited with effectively beginning the Mexican revolution. This is despite the fact that when the government came for him, he hid under a bed. Meanwhile, his sister and pregnant wife were on the roof firing at the oncoming troops. Other women would load donkeys, or “burros”, with saddlebags of food to bring to the troops. This is where the word “burrito” comes from. These women fought, were tortured, and died alongside the male revolutionaries. These woman deserve to be recognized, and their historical erasure has very real consequences. After the war, the Mexican government gave pensions to the sisters and widows of male revolutionaries. Female revolutionaries received nothing. However, in 1918, Mexican women did gain the right to divorce and also the right to keep their children in the event of a divorce. This was largely in part to the political participation of women that was spurred by the Mexican revolutionary
Without a past, she cannot have a future. In 2006, the Mexican president had a book published about the Mexican revolution. Women, who were a large part of the revolution, were not mentioned in the book. Why does any of this matter? It matters because Dr. Melero grew up not knowing that women from her homeland had even participated in the revolution. It matters because the role models of old pave the way for new generations by showing us who we can be. Representation is a powerful thing. Women in Mexico are more likely to have a lower level of education than their male counterpart, are more likely to live in poverty, and are more likely to be killed. Knowing that smart strong women have come before you is a powerful thing. It means that maybe you can be powerful, as they once were. However, knowledge of the women revolutionary fighters is not widespread and they’ve often been misrepresented throughout history. In Mexican culture, female revolutionaries have been painted as “adelitas.” Adelitas were the “colorful oversexualized girlfriends who followed the male revolutionary fighters.” In reality, these women were actually soldiers, spies, nurses, and …show more content…
Juana Belen Guitierez de Mendoza was a farmer who sold her goats to buy a printing press. She started making a wildly popular newspapers about the corruption of the government. Her newspapers were burned and she was tortured. However, she persisted. Also, Aquiles Serdan is often credited with effectively beginning the Mexican revolution. This is despite the fact that when the government came for him, he hid under a bed. Meanwhile, his sister and pregnant wife were on the roof firing at the oncoming troops. Other women would load donkeys, or “burros”, with saddlebags of food to bring to the troops. This is where the word “burrito” comes from. These women fought, were tortured, and died alongside the male revolutionaries. These woman deserve to be recognized, and their historical erasure has very real consequences. After the war, the Mexican government gave pensions to the sisters and widows of male revolutionaries. Female revolutionaries received nothing. However, in 1918, Mexican women did gain the right to divorce and also the right to keep their children in the event of a divorce. This was largely in part to the political participation of women that was spurred by the Mexican revolutionary