In sociology, the term feminism refers to a social movement that advocates for the political, economic and social equality between men and women. It was first coined by Charles Fourier, who advocated for the rights of women. This was in response to the discrimination and oppression women faced in a male-dominated society. Feminism tries to address and oppose the role of a patriarchal society, which organizes society into different relationships in the assumption of men's superiority, thereby advocating for women's oppression. There exist three types of feminism: liberal feminism, which uses political and legal reforms to address gender inequality within the parameters of liberal democracy. Secondly, social feminism tries to address the social problems women face in society, such as sex abuse in workplaces. Thirdly, radical feminism assesses society's structures that lead to women's oppression and advocates for the restructuring of society where male dominance is eliminated in all social and economic spaces of society.
Feminism in Mexico advocated for equal rights and opportunities for Mexican women. The first wave of feminism in Mexico began in the early twentieth century. The first wave was more liberal and took place during the revolutionary period, where Mexican citizens fought the dictatorial government of Porfirio Diaz (Barbosa, 2019). Women were involved in this struggle by cooking and nursing wounded soldiers. Nevertheless, the democratic government that was installed still denied women their basic civil rights, such as voting. This led to the rise of liberal feminism that advocated for gender parity in accessing education and women's economic and political empowerment in Mexican society (Barbosa, 2019). This feminism movement was led by the more educated women who joined the Mexican workforce as teachers.
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The second wave of feminism in Mexico began in the late ‘60s. Such was inspired by the popular growth of feminism witnessed in Europe and in the United States, which was influenced by the rise of the civil rights movement that advocated for equal rights within the American society. The civil rights movement laid the ground for protests that swept across Latin America, Mexico being included. The second wave was marked by the 1968 protests led by mostly university students (Pasztor, 2020). The second wave tried to address the patriarchal hierarchy within Mexican families, where only men could access higher education. They called for restructuring, where the government to allow more women to access university education. They also called for structural changes embodied in society and removed restrictive practices based on sexuality (Stodder, 2015). For instance, the removal of restrictive practice that denied women from wearing miniskirts. The second wave also questioned gender roles and inequalities in Mexican society. Moreover, the economic crisis of 1976 influenced the second wave of feminism as more middle-class women raised their grievances on social issues such as lack of proper housing, sanitation, lack of clean and essential utilities like transport (Stodder, 2015). These social issues were a result of rural-urban migration that was rampant at that time. Besides, the Mexican currency's devaluation led to decreased wages where companies opted for women labor as they paid them cheaply. Such led to feminist groups calling for better wages for women.
The third wave of feminism in Mexico began in the early '90s, which resulted from increased murders of women in Mexico where they advocated for the formation of special tribunals to address the disappearances and deaths of Mexican women (Pasztor, 2020). This wave was mainly advocated by women who were economically and politically empowered during the second wave. Moreover, they advocated for women to be given an autonomous choice to decide on family planning and abortion. More recently, feminist groups have called on police accountability and media responsibility to deal with rape victims' privacy. Currently, feminist groups in Mexico have continued to advocate for the right to abortion, gender equality and an end to gender-based violence.
Over the years, feminism has contributed immensely to women's economic, social, and political growth in Mexico. The first feminism wave is credited for making sure the existing government enhanced the civil rights of women. Such gave women the universal suffrage right to vote in 1952. The second wave is credited for ensuring that women could access education, which led to more women professionals' rise. Moreover, it led to an increase in women wages who worked as laborers in factories. It also led to improved public health as women were now allowed family planning methods and a drop in child mortality, which was crucial for women. The third wave is credited for a decrease in women's murder as it pushed for more government vigilance and protection of women.
However, despite this immense contribution, feminism in Mexico is faced with various challenges. One of them is the government's lack of support; moreover, the increase of gender-based violence where police also involved rapes and killing women has watered down the achievements accomplished in reducing gender-based violence. Moreover, the Mexican media negative view of feminism has negatively impacted most feminist groups in Mexico. Nevertheless, despite these overwhelming challenges, feminism in Mexico remains a force to reckon with and whose popularity cannot be diminished easily.
References
Barbosa Cruz, R. M. (2019). Susie S. Porter, from angel to office worker. middle-class identity and female consciousness in Mexico, 1890–1950. Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México , (57), 294. https://doi.org/10.22201/iih.24485004e.2019.57.69788
Pasztor, S. B. (2020). Susana Draper. 1968 Mexico: Constellations of freedom and democracy. The American Historical Review , 125 (3), 1068-1069. https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhz704
Stodder, E. (2015, April 3). Mobilizing and Contesting Motherhood in the Revolutionary Family: Women’s Activism in Mexico City, 1971-1989 . ASIT Sites | Just another WordPress site. https://asit-prod-web1.cc.columbia.edu/
