Eva Duarte de Peron, Evita: Feminist Movement in Argentina - Essay Example

Biographical Essay Eva Duarte De Perón (Evita) Argentine Women before Eva Perón  Before the emergence of feminist movements in Argentina, women in Argentina are simply properties of men in their families – single women belong to their fathers while married women belong to the husbands (Mercer).  Naturally, they are also not permitted to have any political or administrative positions, and have no ability to inherit land grants or to be the head of their own estates.  The Argentine society inherited this from Spain which has colonized them until 1861.  However, during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the women of Argentina from the upper class began to organize occasions where women and men will be able to interact and have decent informal intellectual discussions, due to the notion that Spanish customs are backward and outmoded compared to the French customs which were slowly beginning to penetrate inside Argentina (Mercer).  There were various feminist movements that fought for different agendas.  There were those who fought for equal education and career opportunities and there were also those who focused on the working conditions of women from the lower class.  There were feminist movements who centered on humanitarian causes and those who advocated achieving political and economic rights for the women (Mercer).  However, the downside of this was that all the women who lead the said feminist movements are from the upper class, women who did not connect with those in the lower class and asked for their interest to join them in their struggle as equal partners (Mercer).  This was the case until Eva Perón stepped into the scene.  It was probably because of the fact that she came from the lower class that she was able to effectively draw support from the women of the lower class.  Through Eva Perón, the women of the lower class felt as if she knew their concerns and their situation unlike the upper class women who appear to them as if they only care for their own personal interests. The upper class women did not give Perón their attention because of her roots. However, despite being snubbed by the early feminist, Perón’s influence could not be ignored – women who used to ignore the cries of the upper class feminists regarding women’s rights began to involve themselves in politics (Mercer).  Beginning of Maria Eva Duarte  Eva Perón was born on July 5, 1919 at Los Toldos, Argentina.  She was commonly known as “Evita” as the affectionate for “Eva” which means “our little Eva”.  She was the youngest of the five children of Juan Duarte. Her family moved to Junin when their father died and it was there where she realized that she wanted to be an actress (Morrison).    She then went to Buenos Aires and experienced the difficulties that an aspiring actress has to face. She only has a hand-to-mouth lifestyle and was frequently sick. Fortunately, her luck began when a manufacturer fell in love with her, this manufacturer gave her a radio show – her very own radio show (Morrison). Though she did not have her own movie, her career was still considered as a success especially since she did good compared to the other actresses who have gone to workshops and proper training (Biography Shelf).  Life with Juan Perón  Then she met the was the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, Colonel Juan Domingo Perón, at a fund-raising event for the victims of the earthquake that occurred in San Juan of 1944 (Morrison, The Biography Channel).  At that time, Colonel Perón has been vying to be the president of Argentina. Eva made a very strong impression towards the Colonel, who coincidentally was a widow. Perón’s relationship with Eva helped his popularity to boost up, however, this newfound popularity led to his arrest in 1945 (The Biography Channel).  Nonetheless, Eva was there to arrange a mass demonstration for his freedom. Additionally, he and Eva got married on the same year.  Her support for Perón was beyond everybody’s expectations (Morrison). When Perón rose to the heights as Minister of Labor and Welfare, Eva did the best that she could in order to influence him to believe that his strength depends on the lower class that have always been ignored (Morrison).  From the time that she has met Perón, she was totally unaware how much influence she will conjure; however, she already had a goal in her and that is to give social justice to the lower class with the help of Perón’s status.  With the promise of a minimum wage, enhanced lifestyles, increase in salary and security over the oligarchy, Perón was able to earn the support of the labor unions (Biography Shelf; Morrison).  Perón recognized the magic that Eva has with her; he learned that he has to have her in order to become the president of Argentina.  She was able to gather a huge number of supporters who have helped them in their campaign, and these are the “descamisados” or the “shirtless ones” (Morrison).  Of course, Eva was a very active campaigner herself, thus, Perón won the 1946 presidential elections.  Once they were finally at position, their supporters did not stop increasing, in fact, their popularity among the masses continued to grow (Biography Shelf).    Eva was proclaimed as the new Secretary of Labor and she began to formulate social welfare programs and reforms (The Biography Channel; Biography Shelf).  In addition, she visited various factories and hospitals, coordinated with those who wanted to provide their assistance, and began to get inclined with health issues.  She then established the Social Aid Foundation which catered to building hospitals and schools, training medical personnel and doling out money to the poor (Morrison).  Then there is also the Maria Eva Duarte de Perón Welfare Foundation, whose major purpose is to give out money, food and medicine to those who cannot afford these (The Biography Channel).  Moreover, Eva also expanded the foundation of the Perónista Feminist Party (Morrison).  The Perónista Feminist Party was then regarded as the women’s branch of the main Perónista Party.  Along with this, she actively campaigned for women’s suffrage. With her tremendous effort, women’s suffrage was passed in 1947 (The Biography Channel).  However, despite being popular with the masses, all her actions – from all the social welfare programs and reforms to her campaign for women’s suffrage – were greatly opposed by the upper class. Hence, her popularity and her husband’s popularity among the elites are extremely low.  Even the women of the upper class does not approve of her – The Social Elite, a charity organization of upper class women, who always had a tradition to ask the current First Lady to be their president, did not even make an effort to invite her because she was from the lower class and they believed that she only “slept” her way up (Collins).  Nonetheless, her international appeal was greatly welcomed during the Rainbow Tour, a long tour in Europe, where she met various political figures.  However, not all the European countries were grateful to welcome her to their soil – Spain may have given her the Great Cross of Isabel through General Franco; however, it was not the case in countries like Italy and France (Collins). When Eva arrived in Italy, she was welcomed by angry communist protesters and ever naming her a “whore”. Also, Pope Pius XII only presented her with gold rosary beads. On the other hand, in France, Pope John XXIII only provided her with donations for the victims of the explosion in Port of Brest where she was expecting to be given a title. The exhaustion of travelling caught up on her, that after France, she decided to go back to Argentina. Moreover, England did not even invite her to the Buckingham Palace making Perón angry (Collins).  Nonetheless, she was able to attract the international “audience” with her charisma, zealous speeches and movie star-like allure – she was continuously printed in various forms of media including the prestigious Time Magazine where she was made the cover for a particular issue (Morrison).  Death and Beyond  Eva was set to run for the position of a vice-president in the 1951 elections under her husband’s party; however, she learned that she is already suffering from uterine cancer, thus, she needed to withdraw her candidacy (The Biography Channel; Morrison). During her last speech in front of the descamisados, Eva said her farewell to the people and to the country with Perón holding her up. At the age of thirty-two, in July 26, 1952, Eva died and made Argentina idle. The people, most especially the masses, were in shock as they take in the fact that Eva was finally gone.  Her body was embalmed and thousands of people from all over Argentina paid their last respects (Morrison).  Unfortunately, her body was stolen by the military in 1955 after Perón was put off his seat as president. This proves that the military, who also opposed Eva’s candidacy as president, still fear her even to her death (Morrison). At that moment also, the upper class took their revenge.  Eva’s body was taken to Europe – to Germany then to Italy where it was buried for sixteen years under another name. The body was only returned to Perón when he was exiled in Spain (Morrison).  In 1974, Perón died in Argentina and Eva’s body was returned to its own country to be buried next to her husband.  There were clamors to make Eva a saint; however, the Vatican turned it down.  Even until now, slogans like “Evita Vive (Evita Lives)!” are all over Argentina. Moreover, supporters and pilgrims still leave flowers at Eva’s family crypt where there are guards to protect the place from vandalism. Words “I will be back and I will be millions!” were written on her deathbed (Morrison).  Women in Argentina and Politics  The brief biographical background of Eva Perón made the campaign of the women’s suffrage law and the formation of the Perónista Feminist Party looks simple and easy. Aside from the Women’s Suffrage Law and the Perónista Feminist Party, Eva also worked on giving women equal civil rights and rights in the workplace (Vásquez). Her husband also established the Women’s Division of Work and Assistance in 1944. According to McKenna (1996), in her movie review of “Eva Perón: The True Story,” Eva needed to suppress the charities owned by the upper class women and put up her own foundation. The call for women’s suffrage caused a huge amount of controversy the moment Eva beckoned for equality between men and women as well as universal suffrage in 1946 (Gardner).  Eva believed that women are no longer capable of being just a “guardian.”  For Eva a woman must start to pronounce her every action, hence, they should start to vote – they should have an active role in the convoluted society. Women should start to transform as their duties piled up (Gardner). The congress passed the law despite the numerous issues that surrounded it.  Finally, in 1947, Law 13,010 was approved, stating that men and women will have equal political rights and universal suffrage is finally granted in Argentina (Gardner).  After the Woman’s Suffrage Law was passed, there were 3,816,654 women who voted during the 1951 elections; moreover, women also entered the world of politics when 23 deputies and six senators became part of the Congress (Vásquez).  After the approval of the Women’s Suffrage Law, Eva formed the Perónista Feminist Party in 1949 – the first ever largest political party of women in the country with approximately 500,000 members and 3,600 headquarters (Hines; Gardner). Their first assembly was held at the Cervantes Theater, Buenos Aires, afterwards, Eva was made its president by the majority of the party. It was in the 1947 when measures in forming an organization for women began – the Supreme Council of the Perónista Party thought of making changes in the party in order to make room for another Perónista Party that only belongs to women (Vásquez).  However, she was faced with huge challenges – women in Argentina are not united as they are also divided with class, she found difficulty in formulating a common identity of a “woman,” and there is also the issue of women having insufficient experience in the world of politics (Rodriquez, 6).    Nonetheless, during one of her speeches, in order to promote the Perónista Feminist Party, she stressed on the fact that it is a party that has a sole purpose of supporting Perón.  As a result, the relationship between Perón and the party is not exactly like a partnership, it was more like the kind of role a woman plays as a wife who was extraordinarily supporting her husband (Rodriguez, 7).  The party did not became a major challenge to the traditional sex roles as she only reflected an image of a loyal wife that will always be below her husband (Hines).    The women of Argentina did not only love her because of what she has done for them but also because of the power she has (Collins).  She also made sure that she looks appealing to the masses – she always wore a sophisticated look with her hair tied up in a bun and wearing smart looking expensive suits and jewelry.  Critics may say and it might be true that she persisted to have things that defined a glamorous life because they were all denied to her during her childhood; however, she also said that she wanted to look beautiful and elegant because she knows that the lower class would not trust her to protect them if she look like a “badly dressed old hag” (Collins; McKenna).  Legacy of Eva Perón  Eva was able to make things happen because of her charisma and intelligence.  The intelligence mentioned here is her being resourceful with making the most of what she has to make the lower class believe in her.  She used her background – she was from a lower class family, hence, she knows what the people in the lower class needed.  In addition, she also utilized the fact that she is a woman, together with her lower class status, to advocate for the rights of the lower class population most especially the women who have always been ignored by the upper class feminists.  Still, she was able to do everything that she did with the help of her husband, because in all truth, Juan Perón was the one who held the power.  Eva just convinced him to center his actions onto the lower class and on women to gain their support for his candidacy. Her constant visibility was also a great influence on her advocacies.  With “Perónism” and other factors like the bequest of Catholicism, machismo and marianismo complexes, various women’s rights movements, the women of Argentina have their perceptions vigorously molded particularly regarding dominance and aggression. At present, female aggression and dominance are highly reflected but in a very restrained manner (Hines).   Works Cited  Collins, Dyana. Evita Peron Biography: The Peronist Saint. n.d. Associated Content. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/914763/evita_peron_biography_the_ peronist.html?cat=37> Eva (Evita) Peron Biography. n.d. The Biography Channel. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/596:278/1/Eva_Evita_Peron.htm> Gardner, K. “I Will Come Again and I Will be Million.” Evita and Hillary. 2008. Democratic Underground. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://journals.democraticunderground.com/K%20Gardner/48> Hines, Nicole J. Indirect Modes of Aggression among Women of Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1994. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is _n3-4_v30/ai_15383477/> McKenna, Kristine. Eva Peron: The True Story – A Weepy, Argentine Look at the Life of Eva Peron. 1996. Los Angeles Times. 16 Nov. 2008. < http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/cl-movie961218-1,0,4553753.story> Mercer, Marilyn. Feminism in Argentina. 1998. Center for Digital Discourse and Culture. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://www.cddc.vt.edu/feminism/arg.html> Morrison, Eddy. ‘I Will be Back, and I Will be Millions! Eddy Morrison Looks at the Colourful Career of Eva Perón. n.d. Spearhead Online. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://www.spearhead.com/0412-em.html> Rodriguez, Marco V. Common Themes in Culture & Power: Class, Race & Gender. 2004. Marco Rodriguez. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://www.marcorodriguez.net/Documents/Common%20 Themes%20in%20Culture%20&%20Power%20Class,%20Race%20and%20Gender%20in%20Latin%20America.pdf> Short Biography of Eva Peron. 2008. Biography Shelf. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://www.biographyshelf.com/eva_peron_biography.html> Vásquez, Lic. Pablo A. Evita and Women’s Participation in Politics. 2007. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Históricas Eva Perón. 16 Nov. 2008 < http://www.evitaperon.org/evita_peron_ instituto.htm> Read More