Women in Latin American History

Index

From: Kristin Lehner <klehner@GMU.EDU>

Date: February 1, 2006 1:32:13 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the teaching forum on women in Latin American history. For me it is a treat to keep in contact with people interested in devising gender courses or finding new ways to integrate Women into Latin American history.

The study of women in Latin America, whether in specific courses or as part of Latin American history courses or specific country courses, has been offered in the United States since the late 1970s. Now with the accessibility of the internet, it is very easy to access course syllabi and special web pages devoted to the study of women in Latin America, and I will be glad to share my favorites with you and I hope that you will also contribute your favorites to share with others. I will begin with my own web page for the History of Women in Latin America athttp://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/guy60/history533.06/. Through this web page it is possible to read the syllabus, download the powerpoint presentations and discover web sites dealing with Latin America.

I have been teaching the history of women in Latin America for more than twenty years at the University of Arizona and now at Ohio State University. I have also published several books on the topic including Sex and Danger in Buenos Aires: Prostitution, Family and Nation in Argentina and a co-edited volume with Daniel Balderston entitled Sex and Sexuality in Latin America. I am currently finishing a book about feminists, female philanthropists and the rise of the welfare state in Argentina.

Those interested in Latin American topics can also benefit from the Title VI Area Studies Centers specializing in Latin American topics. These Latin American Studies Centers have received national grants to promote the study of different areas and languages of the world, the main focus of Title VI Grants.Most have lending libraries of videos, and some like the Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University (http://stonecenter.tulane.edu /),the University of Texas ( http://lanic.utexas.edu/) and Stanford (http://spice.stanford.edu/)offer individual lesson plans on topics of interest, as well as complete courses on teaching Latin American history, and many include women in these curricular materials. The LANIC site has a specific site for women''s issues. Some materials are for sale, while others can be purchased. Once again, I invited participants in the forum to tell us of their favorites and perhaps to make suggestions for new curricular materials. I will be glad to forward ideas to the Title VI Centers.

In terms of teaching the history of women in Latin America, several major issues have dominated the literature. Generally speaking, the approach is both topical and chronological. The chronological periods divide between the colonial and national period after 1810, as well as specific time period within individual countries. Colonial topics include the impact of the conquest on native American women, European women and the conquest, Imperial laws governing race relations, and the impact of slavery on African and Afro-Latin American women. General topics include religion, the law, women and the family, and women in the work place, women and sexuality, and women and crime. These appear in both the colonial and national period. Specific topics in the national period include women in revolution, dictatorship, and democracy; women and the nation state, the history of feminism; women and the spread of education. Issues of race and class are central to the study of women in Latin America, and most historians are careful to distinguish between ideals emanating from religious or governmental sources, and those that stem from indigenous, Afro-Latin American, and immigrant communities.

Specialists in Latin American women's history have continued the tradition of Latin American historians who have utilized interdisciplinary sources and methods to approach the topic of women. Thus the recommended readings and sources often have an anthropological, sociological, or literary perspective, and wonderful readings on female writers and painters abound, as well as the translations of important oral histories of indigenous women such as the story of Rigoberta Menchu, to name one of the most well known. This has been a critical advance in understanding the impact of race and ethnicity on women, as there are few traditions in Latin America to promote female memoirs, and only recently has female literacy been the norm in many Latin American countries.

There are so many things to chat about, but I wanted to begin with a few concrete topics that will serve as coordinates in our journey this month. Welcome aboard and I hope to hear from you soon.

Donna Guy

From: Kristin Lehner <klehner@GMU.EDU>

Date: February 1, 2006 1:34:34 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Opening Statement from Sharon Cohen

Welcome to what promises to be an interesting and fruitful discussion on issues and resources for teaching about Latin America. I look forward to learning more about the concerns specialists in Latin America have about using gender as a category for analysis in their research and in their classrooms. I also would like to spark some debate on the reasons why so many world history teachers neglect teaching about Latin America. Finally, I plan to use this forum to increase my store of resources for the classroom.

I imagine that our discussions in this forum will echo some of the concerns that were addressed in a panel at the January 2006 annual meeting of the American Historical Association in Philadelphia entitled "Gender, National Identities, and World History: Problems and Trends in Historiography and the Classroom." Teresa A. Meade of Union College made some cogent remarks on "Gender and Nation in Recent Latin American History" that were repeated by the other panelists who spoke on gender in European historiography, Southeast Asian history, and in world historiography. They all referenced Benedict Anderson's master work Imagined Communities and its ideas about the way cultural constructions bind and support national communities as a possible approach to finding new ways to analyze the gendered nature of both the modern nation-state and citizenship in those states. Meade also emphasized the need to get beyond the brief mentioning of women such as Eva Peron or Rigoberta Menchu as emblematic of all Latin American women.

Furthermore, the panel emphasized what my students confront in learning about Latin America in the world history survey. They bring their stereotypes about Latin American men and women embracing machismo and marianismo status into the classroom. Moreover, despite the fact that a growing percentage of students from the Caribbean and Latin America fill the classrooms in our school district, Montgomery County Public Schools, a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C., the students do not have a nuanced view of the diversity of cultures across the Latin American region that might help highlight the differences and similarities in the roles and status of women there.

Is there one Latin American culture? Another important concern is how to define the region of Latin America. Does it include only Spanish and Portuguese speaking societies? Where do we place the English speaking communities in the Caribbean and societies like Guyana and Trinidad with substantial populations of South Asian heritage?

The place of Latin America in the world history survey course unfortunately often takes a back seat to other regions of the world. Although the state-mandated curricula for world history includes topics related to Latin America in their syllabi as does the description for the Advanced Placement World History course, many teachers in the United States admit that they deliberately neglect teaching about Latin America and Latin Americans in their world history classes. I hope we can discuss both some of the causes for secondary school teachers' reluctance to include topics about Latin America as well as share teaching resources we have found useful.

Other interesting issues we could discuss might be:

How can we include the voices of women who did nontraditional jobs like healers in colonial Peru, fortune tellers in rural Brazil, or prostitutes for the Spanish galleys in the Caribbean in the 16 thcentury?

When male slaves of African origin gained freedom by joining the royal military against rebellions, how did their new status affect women in their communities?

We can use this forum to discuss how men and women organize and participate in public festivals that helped define citizenship and cultural identity in Latin America. How does their participation change over time from the 19th to the 20th centuries?

How does migration in the 19th century affect cultural identities, e.g. how did the identity of the English-speaking Afro-Caribbean community in Costa Rica who were denied citizenship until the 1950s differ from their Spanish-speaking neighbors?

To what extent did migration patterns in the Americas, both within the region of Latin America, and across the Mexican border to North America change during the 20th century, and to what degree did single or married women join the migrations?

How different were the urban feminist movements in Argentina and Chile from the organizations women developed in agrarian communities to protect their rights to use land?

I would like to offer some solutions for these issues and concerns and am eager to hear from you all what resources and teaching ideas you have for teaching about Latin America in your classrooms. I greatly appreciate this opportunity to join you all for a month in discussing these important issues for improving the teaching about Latin America, especially in world history survey courses.

Sharon Cohen

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From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 1, 2006 3:11:34 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Hi Donna,

Thank you very much for putting this forum together. It seems like it is going to enlighten our knowledge and points of view. I teach literature and I am particularly interested in issues of race and clase. This semester I am teaching a class on Culture and Civilization. I would like to be able to discuss how some of the people in the forum would teach a class like that one from that particular perspective.

Luz Consuelo Triana-Echeverría, PhD

Assistant Professor of Spanish

St. Cloud State University

Foreign Languages Department

G12 Lawrence Hall

720 Fourth Ave. South

St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498

PH: (320)308--4199

FAX (320)308-2002

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 1, 2006 6:02:25 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Luz,

Thanks for boldly starting off our forum. Perhaps you could tell us a bit more about your class so that we can be of better use to you. For example, what time period are you covering? What level are your students? Do you want them to understand the difference between race and ethnicity? Would you be interested in pursuing the issue of race, class and marriage? There are so many wonderful ways to teach, but we need some more information. Donna

Donna Guy,

Distinguished Professor of Humanities

Department of History

Ohio State University

106 Dulles Hall

230 W. 17th Ave.

Columbus, OH 43210-1367

614-292-0324

[ Back to Index ]

From: Jesse Hingson <jesse.hingson@GCSU.EDU>

Date: February 1, 2006 8:08:16 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Hi Donna,

I agree with Luz that this forum will add greatly to our efforts in the classroom. I am a great admirer of your work, especially Sex and Danger in Buenos Aires, and I use this book whenever I teach a Modern Latin American history course or a course related to this. I am also a historian teaching at Georgia College and State University, and I hope, too, that this forum will allow us to explore some of the theoretical issues on the theme of women in Latin America. My research focuses on how families (especially women) in Cordoba, Argentina during the nineteenth century were able to resist and survive the political purges of the Rosas era and how they struggled to regain what they had lost. These efforts endured several generations and often lasted well into the 20th century. Thus, I would also like to discuss, perhaps, survival strategies that women, in particular, used in the face of a variety of large-scale changes in Latin America's history (e.g. capitalism, industrialization, revolution, nationalism, etc).

To Luz, I would like to hear more about the course you are teaching. Perhaps, you can share a copy of your syllabus?

I am not sure if this is the kind of response you are looking for, but in my teaching experience, I have found that the most useful case studies on race and class tend to be found in discussions on colonial Mexico. A very well known academic exchange is the so-called "caste versus class" debate centering around the question of whether race or class was more important in determining social rank and upward social mobility in colonial Mexico (and perhaps Latin America). One group of scholars contends that colonial Mexico’s caste-based system prevented African descended peoples from upward mobility because endogamy and lack of socioeconomic opportunities prevailed. By contrast, others argue that the caste system was weak and that the colonial structure was based more upon class distinctions where greater socioeconomic mobility and marriage prevailed across racial boundaries. In other words, race and ethnicity declined as a consideration for marriage choice among Afro-Mexicans, lending more credence to the argument that class was more of a factor in determining social rank. I often use the debate in a series of classic articles published in Comparative Studies in Society and History in the late 1970s and early 1980s centering around a group of mulatos and mestizos found in eighteenth-century ecclesiastical records of Oaxaca’s provincial archives. On one side, some saw evidence that these racially mixed groups achieved some upward mobility by marrying higher-ranked racial groups, suggesting that the "caste system" was less rigid and actually ended in Mexico during the seventeenth century. Others argued that the most enduring racial barriers during the colonial period continued against peoples of African ancestry and that racial considerations continued to influence the selection of marriage spouses. These are very challenging articles and would only recommend these to upper level or grad student courses.

There is more to say about this, so I would be happy to share a brief bibliography if needed. Sorry for the long response!

Jesse

Jesse Hingson, Ph.D.

Georgia College and State University

108 Humber-White House

Milledgeville, GA 31061

(478) 445-7380

jesse.hingson@gcsu.edu

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On 2/2/06, Laura Isabel Serna < serna@fas.harvard.edu> wrote:

Dear Donna and Sharon,

Again, thank you for facilitating this forum.I wanted to pose two specific questions.

(1) What are some good strategies for getting students to understand the difference between race and ethnicity? In particular how to get them to think about the way that the meanings of these terms might be different in a Latin American context than in the US context they might be more familiar with.

(2) My area of emphasis is actually Latino/a History, but my goal is to teach the history of Latino/as in the US with an emphasis on both countries of origin and countries of arrival. Do people have some "best practices" for linking these two sub-fields? And in particular for talking about both continuities and differences without falling into the caricature ("machismo and marianismo") that Sharon described.

Many thanks,

Laura Isabel Serna

Diagonal de San Antonio 1107-6

Col. Narvarte, Del. Benito Juarez

Mexico DF CP 03020

MEXICO

52-55-3095-2139 (Phone/Fax)

52-55-1477-9741 (Celular)

___________________________________________________

Ph.D. Candidate

Harvard University

History of American Civilization Program

12 Quincy Street

Barker Center 225

Cambridge, MA 02138

[ Back to Index ]

I am looking very forward to being part of this forum and thank you for taking time to put it together. I am a high school teacher who teaches 2 sections of Advanced Placement World History. Seeing that it is only my 5th year teaching this course, I felt it would be an excellent idea to join this forum to get perspective on how Latin American studies are being taught from high school to graduate levels. I unfortunately am one who does not have extensive knowledge and background in Latin American studies, so I will take much more than I can offer. Again, thank you and looking forward to your perspectives and extensive knowledge on this subject.

Erin Towns

Edward Little High School

Auburn Maine

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From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 2, 2006 11:17:27 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Jesse,

Thank you for your kind comments about my book. I hope some day to use your published materials in my courses. Your description of your own research on how women survive moments of extreme political tension, in this case the 19th century Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, is an important contribution to the discussion of how to teach the history of women in Latin America. It underscores the reality that women of all races and classes have not been mere bystanders to historical events. Indeed, they often are part of the process and their survival skill benefit not only themselves, but their families. Ricardo Salvatore in his recent book about the Rosas period, Wandering Paysanos, discusses how poor men used their female family connections to deal with issues of migration and subsistence.

If we go back to the colonial period and the issue of class vs. caste and link that to issues of women and gender, we should emphasize your point that historians often look at marriages as indices of racial and ethnic mobility in Latin America. We must add a caveat to that since the majority of Latin Americans prior to the 20th century did not marry, but rather formed concensual relationships. But here, too, we can see evidence of racial and class status in the ways that other people perceived these relationships. For the upper class, as seen in Ann Twinam's

Public Lives, Private Secrets: Gender, Honor, Sexuality, and Illegitimacy in Colonial Spanish America upper class women could hide these relationships and still retain both honor and class, whereas non-white women found this to be more difficult.

Pedagogically, this might be difficult to teach, but over the years, I developed a graph to explain this called Patterns of Female Life Expectations and perhaps others have additional teaching resources to explain this phenomenon. By the way, this is a powerpoint available on my web site at http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/history533.06/lecture4.ppt

Another way to approach the impact of marital relationships is through what has been called "Casta Paintings". These have been found mostly in Mexico, but also in Peru and Argentina. Examples can be in a great article by Ilona Katzew at http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/laberinto/fall1997/casta1997.htm

Donna

[ Back to Index ]

On 2/1/06, Jesse Hingson < >wrote:

Hi Donna,

I agree with Luz that this forum will add greatly to our efforts in the classroom. I am a great admirer of your work, especially Sex and Danger in Buenos Aires, and I use this book whenever I teach a Modern Latin American history course or a course related to this. I am also a historian teaching at Georgia College and State University, and I hope, too, that this forum will allow us to explore some of the theoretical issues on the theme of women in Latin America. My research focuses on how families (especially women) in Cordoba, Argentina during the nineteenth century were able to resist and survive the political purges of the Rosas era and how they struggled to regain what they had lost. These efforts endured several generations and often lasted well into the 20th century. Thus, I would also like to discuss, perhaps, survival strategies that women, in particular, used in the face of a variety of large-scale changes in Latin America's history ( e.g. capitalism, industrialization, revolution, nationalism, etc).

To Luz, I would like to hear more about the course you are teaching. Perhaps, you can share a copy of your syllabus?

I am not sure if this is the kind of response you are looking for, but in my teaching experience, I have found that the most useful case studies on race and class tend to be found in discussions on colonial Mexico. A very well known academic exchange is the so-called "caste versus class" debate centering around the question of whether race or class was more important in determining social rank and upward social mobility in colonial Mexico (and perhaps Latin America). One group of scholars contends that colonial Mexico's caste-based system prevented African descended peoples from upward mobility because endogamy and lack of socioeconomic opportunities prevailed. By contrast, others argue that the caste system was weak and that the colonial structure was based more upon class distinctions where greater socioeconomic mobility and marriage prevailed across racial boundaries. In other words, race and ethnicity declined as a consideration for marriage choice among Afro-Mexicans, lending more credence to the argument that class was more of a factor in determining social rank. I often use the debate in a series of classic articles published in Comparative Studies in Society and History in the late 1970s and early 1980s centering around a group of mulatos and mestizos found in eighteenth-century ecclesiastical records of Oaxaca's provincial archives. On one side, some saw evidence that these racially mixed groups achieved some upward mobility by marrying higher-ranked racial groups, suggesting that the "caste system" was less rigid and actually ended in Mexico during the seventeenth century. Others argued that the most enduring racial barriers during the colonial period continued against peoples of African ancestry and that racial considerations continued to influence the selection of marriage spouses. These are very challenging articles and would only recommend these to upper level or grad student courses.

There is more to say about this, so I would be happy to share a brief bibliography if needed. Sorry for the long response!

Jesse

Jesse Hingson, Ph.D.

Georgia College and State University

108 Humber-White House

Milledgeville, GA 31061

(478) 445-7380

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 2, 2006 11:26:18 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Erin,

Welcome to the forum. I am so glad that you are willing to think about integrating Latin American studies into AP World History. It is so important. One thing I would suggest is for you to send to publishers and get some desk copies of Latin American History textbooks for the colonial and national period. You would need to place the request on letterhead from your school. The names of the many textbooks are available on Amazon.For the colonial period Susan Socolow's The Women of Colonial Latin America is great for women, and for a general thematic history book that I used for a Freshman class is Mark Wasserman and Cheryl Martin, Latin America and Its People. Do any of you have additional suggestions? Donna

Donna Guy,

Distinguished Professor of Humanities

Department of History

Ohio State University

106 Dulles Hall

230 W. 17th Ave.

Columbus, OH 43210-1367

614-292-0324

[ Back to Index ]

On 2/2/06, Gregory Hammond <

Dear Colleagues-

First, let me add my appreciation to Sharon and Donna for organizing this forum- I look forward to discussing these topics with you all.

My name is Greg Hammond- I earned my Ph.D last year from U.T Austin where I wrote on the women's suffrage movement in Argentina.I'm currently teaching at Oberlin, where I'll be running a senior seminar on gender issues in Latin America (the syllabus is available at http://www.oberlin.edu/history/Courses/H366S06.htmyou'll notice I included "Sex and Danger" in the reading).I'd love to get your opinions on how to promote discussion within such a class, since that will be a critical element of the course.

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From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 2, 2006 11:38:04 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Greg,

Welcom to Ohio. I look forward to meeting you. I took a brief look at your syllabus and I see that you have focused on themes, which is often the easiest way to teach the topic. As for promoting discussion, this is an issuethat most of you can help. Very often, the people who enroll and their particular interests shape the nature of discussion. At OSU, and at the University of Arizona I have found that there are a few students with a great familiarity either with women's history or with Latin America, but most don't have that, so the first half of the course is crucial to promoting dialogue and not allowing a few people to dominate the discussion. I often find that by the time we reach the 20th century students are much more willing to partipate because 1) they have more familiarity with the issues and 2) they feel more comfortable talking about contemporary issues.

At the beginning of class I often ask students to fill in a 3x5 card with information about whether they have taken courses in Latin American history or women's history or women's studies, have they travelled in Latin America, and whether they speak Spanish or Portuguese. This often gives me usefuly information to draw them out.

As I mentioned before, let's hear from the rest of you about how to spark participation. Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 2, 2006 12:01:53 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Laura,

This is a wonderful question. In the United States we tend to think about ethnicity in terms of countries of origin, and race as somehow fixed racial categories. In Latin America, depending on the country, ethnicity covers both issues, whereas elsewhere, ethnicity is often related to indigenous identities whereas race is about sorting out broad European, African, and Indigenous categories and is much more flexible and less focused on biology than in the United States.

Given the history of slavery in the US, the ethnicity of Afro-Americans is hard to determine as efforts were made to separate slaves imported from the same place of origin. In Latin America, religious and cultural continuities are stronger, andoften seen in syncretic religious practices, in the history of runaway slaves, and in less emphasis on separating slaves from the same locality.

Ethnicity is much stronger in the US among the native American population as they define themselves according to their ethnic "tribe" and anyone who has lived in the Southwest, as I have, can clearly distinguish between and among tribal groups by their material culture. The same is true of Latin America. People of Aztec culture did not speak the same language or practice the same beliefs as Mayans, Incas, Toltecs, etc.

Thus one way to teach this topic to Americans is through material culture transmittedby women. There is a wonderful article by Inga Clendinnen onMayan women and weaving,"Yucatec Maya Women and the Spanish Conquest: Role an Ritual in Historical Reconstruction," Journal of Social History 15 (Spring 1982), 427-442, and you could use it to organize student participation in documentinghow ethnicity was maintained by female weaving and arts. Donna

Donna Guy,

Distinguished Professor of Humanities

Department of History

Ohio State University

106 Dulles Hall

230 W. 17th Ave.

Columbus, OH 43210-1367

614-292-0324

[ Back to Index ]

From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 2, 2006 12:40:29 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Hi Donna,

Thank you again for having the forum. I feel fortunate to be part of it.

About my class: time period: that's the problem: ALL culture and civilization from the pre-columbian times to the present. The students are third year Spanish students. Yes, it would be good to deal with the topics of race and ethnicity. Yes, class, race, marriage are topics important to me. Those were the topics in my dissertation. I just feel that trying to cover all history in one semester is overwhelming and haven't came up with the way to do it wisely.

I appreciate your input.

Luz

Luz Consuelo Triana-Echeverría, PhD

Assistant Professor of Spanish

St. Cloud State University

Foreign Languages Department

G12 Lawrence Hall

720 Fourth Ave. South

St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498

PH: (320)308--4199

FAX (320)308-2002

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 2, 2006 6:21:17 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Luz,

I presume you don't have a syllabus ready? Have you looked at my website or Greg Hammond's? Since you are a Spanish teacher, perhaps one way to organize the course is to read from testimonios, wills, and other public documents that women of different ethnicities have left. Any suggestions from the group? Alternative solutions? Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 3, 2006 3:41:25 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Donna,

It sounds like a good idea. Thanks.

Luz

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On 2/3/06 6:33 AM, "Roy Rosenzweig" <rrosenzw@GMU.EDU> wrote:

For those planning a new course, I thought I would plug a great resource we have at CHNM--the syllabus finder (http://chnm.gmu.edu/tools/syllabi/). It allows you to sample syllabi on almost any different topic. You can enter "Latin American history" and get 408 syllabi. Or, you could search for courses that assign particular authors that you might use (say "Donna Guy") and then look at their syllabi and other readers.

Roy

[ Back to Index ]

As moderator for the Women in Latin American Forum, I'd like to make a general announcement that our listserv system will not accept attachments. If you'd like any documents to be accessible to the list, please email me directly at klehner@gmu.edu, and I'll make them available through the Women in World History site.

You can find Luz's course syllabus at http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/temp/pdfs/luzsyllabus.pdf

It is in .pdf format.

Best wishes,

Kristin

Kristin Lehner

Women in World History Project Associate

Center for History and New Media

George Mason University

4400 University Dr. MSN 3G1

Fairfax, Virginia 22030

United States

Phone: (703)993-4528

Email: klehner@gmu.edu

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 4, 2006 10:22:38 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Luz,

I looked over your ambitious syllabus and I have a few suggestions. Since you use a textbook, you might want to tell the students what are the main themes brought up. Then within the themes you might want to offer a list of people, both male and female, who would be good candidates for a student presentation and perhaps offer some web sites where they could obtain information. For example, there are great web sites for Sor Juana, Rigoberta Menchu, Frida Kahlo, Isabel Allende, Eva Peron, etc. A little bit of googling on your part could really help students.

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 5, 2006 1:19:48 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

p>Dear Group,

I hope all of you will present other suggestions for Luz. But I also want to steer the group towards other topics that also might be of interest to people who wish to teach women in Latin America. One topic that many people try to ignore is the relationship between women and Catholic Church, both in the colonial and national period. Do we teach about the victimization of women by the church? The way women draw strength from the church? The role of women in providing social and educational services within the church? Of course, I have my own ideas about this, but I would be interested in hearing from others. And please feel to introduce other topics as well. Donna

[ Back to Index ]

Thanks to everyone who has organized and is participating in this forum. It could not have come at a better time for me! I am a veteran student of the course--I've taken it at the bachelors, masters (with Donna) and PhD level and am now preparing to teach it myself for the first time as an adjunct professor. I will be teaching it as a summer course, so the workload must be condensed. It is a 300 level history course and a 400 level women's studies course, but there are no prerequisites. In fact, this will be the first Latin America course offered at my university ever, I believe. I have arranged the class to be roughly chronological and topical (as most others seem to have done), but my question for you all is, how much theory can I expect the students to read? How much should I present myself in lecture? How much do I just leave out?

Some of the theories I have considered are: Joan Scott, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo, Mona Etienne and Eleanor Leacock, and John L. Comaroff. Am I missing anything?

As for Laura's question on race and ethnicity, I like the defintions presented by Peter Wade in _Race and Ethnicity in Latin America_ (London: Pluto Press, 1997). Chapter 1, especially, could be assigned to an upper division undergrad class.

Thanks to everyone and hi Donna,

Gretchen Pierce

Ph.D. Candidate

University of Arizona

Adjunct Instructor

Indiana University Northwest

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From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 6, 2006 12:28:40 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Donna,

Thanks a lot.

Luz

On 2/7/06, Laura BalbuenaGonzalez <> wrote:

Dear all, I will like to add my two cents. I would also take into account the resistance women had against dictatorships, terrorist organizations and Spain itself (if we talk about colonial times). For example, I will add Maria Elena Moyano to the list of women Donna suggested to Luz. Maria Elena Moyano was a Peruvian leader, deputy mayor of VES, and strong opponent to the Shining Path of Peru. She was brutally murdered by them in 1992. There is her autobiography (in English and Spanish) available in the States. You also have the Argentinean madres de la Plaza de Mayo or the Chilean arpilleras. As a Latin American woman (Peruvian), I like to emphasize the pivotal role women play in changing oppresion and fighting for peace. Not only you have Maria Elena as an example in Peru, but you also have Flora Tristan, a feminist and political scientist, in the early Peruvian republic that has influenced Marx himself. If you would like to go to the pre-colombian times, you have to take into account the binary conception of the world the pre-Incan cultures had, where women and men complemented each other and where women had an enormous economical power. This was weakened first with the Incas and later with the Spanierds.

Hope this helped and gave some ideas,

Laura

Laura Balbuena-Gonzalez, MA

Dorothy Marchus Senesh Fellow, Intl Peace Research Association

PhD Candidate, Political Science Department, Graduate Faculty,

New School for Social Research

mobile: 51-1-99939512

http://geocities.com/lalibg

"Well-behaved women rarely make history."

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 7, 2006 10:59:12 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Laura,

Thanks for the great comments. We could add a theoretical question to your comments: When does resistance lead to feminist behavior? Is all resistance feminist? Donna

Donna Guy,

Distinguished Professor of Humanities

Department of History

Ohio State University

106 Dulles Hall

230 W. 17th Ave.

Columbus, OH 43210-1367

614-292-0324

I would like to respond to two of Donna's questions and hopefully tie them together. First of all, how to discuss the church. I think that the church can set up negative, unattainable roles for women (the self-sacrificing virgin) and often has encouraged a double standard of morality (or at least looked the other way). However, we fall into the trap of marianismo/machismo or even of imposing first world, middle class feminism on a group of ethnically and socially diverse women. Therefore, I think it is essential to also show the positive outlets religion has provided, not only through monasteries, but also through the emphasis on family, community, and women as moral leaders. (Through the official Catholic church, syncretic popular religions, or Evangelical Protestantism.) Of course, Sor Juana is the obvious example, escaping the burdens of marriage for a life as an educated nun. We can also look at Irene Silverblatt's Andean women who maintained their communities' ties to traditional worship of the moon and other entities, defiantly thwarting Peruvian priests. Or Mexican women during the revolution who refused to let their children attend godless socialist schools. There is also the flip side of that, Catalina de Erauso, who escaped the drudgeries of monastery life in Spain by going to the Americas dressed as a man and serving as a soldier. Thus, I would present the positive and negative aspects of religion on women's life and show that it varied by the woman's ethnicity, class, sexuality, and a number of other factors.

This takes me to point two: resistance. I, like any good liberal academic, want to focus on leftist resistance: Mexican soldaderas, madres de la plaza de mayo, etc. But there are three things I will temper this with. One, not all women intend to be political when they begin resisting. For instance, this was especially true in the 80s when women (and men) abandoned traditional politically-oriented movements for more broadly defined "social movements." These community-based organizations often fought for such simple things as to have electricity or sewage in their neighborhood and found, in the end, that they became political actors. (Sometimes women also became feminists in the process). Two, not all leftist resistance ends on a happy note--see Sandra McGee Deutch's evaluation of what women gained from populism or revolutions in Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina. Three, many Latin American women also participated in right-wing protests. For instance, middle-class women, accompanied by their pot-banging maids, cheered on military coups in Chile and Argentina, even calling men wimps (I think they used slightly harsher language) if they would not overthrow Allende/Goulart.

The point of all of this is: Latin America is a big place. There are so many different nationalities, ethnicities, and classes to deal with. We have to present the entire spectrum, from Rigoberta Menchu to Eva Peron. Our students may begin the semester thinking that all Latin American women eat tacos and speak Spanish. We have to challenge them to see the diversity.

Gretchen Pierce

Ph.D. Candidate

University of Arizona

Adjunct Instructor

Indiana University Northwest

[ Back to Index ]

Quoting Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>:

Laura,

Thank you very much for the suggestion on Maria Elena Moyano whom I had never read about. I currently include Sor Juana, E. Perón, Las Mujeres de la Plaza de Mayo, the Women in Chile in my curriculum of culture class, but I didn't know of Maria E. Moyano. She seems to be a good sample of the politics and the role of a woman in a country.

Thank you again for contributing to the forum.

Luz

On 2/7/06, Laura BalbuenaGonzalez <> wrote:

Dear Donna and all, this is a very interesting topic. And Donna, your questions are very good. "When does resistance lead to feminist behavior?Is all resistance feminist?" Well, I think that as Gretchen pointed out, we cannot talk about Latin American women as one single entity. And the same can happen when we talk about resistance. When I have taught the course on "Third World Women" I have always emphasized the fact that we, third world women, are not the same. Under the same token, all Latin American women do not dance salsa and eat tacos. I always ask the questions "what do we undestand by women?", which I see as crucial and at the base of any feminist politics, and "what do we understand by third world?" which is also crucial to understand how the so called first world feminists approach the so called third world ones. Therefore, I was always aware of the diversity not only of the women from the third but from the first world.

I do not think that because the resistance is done by women, it necesarily becomes feminist. Even though Maria Elena Moyano is portrayed as a feminist by some feminist organizations, I think that she is actually a good example of the division that exists between womens organizations and feminist organizations. One can do the analogy with white-middle-class feminism and black feminism in the States, where feminists like bell hooks criticize the white middle class feminists for fighting for a freedom that is not equal to all women. The womens movements were born out of necessity, they were created to fulfil the basic needs of the population. Something that a middle or upper class woman has fulfilled, so she is looking for a space in the public sphere, not for food in the refrigerator. In the case of Peru, due to bad goverment policies and terrorism, the country suffered a big depression during the 1980s and 1990s. Maria Elena Moyano was the main leader of the women s organizations of the shanty towns of Lima. Her resistance was against the terrorist organization "the Shining Path" that was trying to take over her neighborhood and the women s organization. Not against the status quo, patriarchy or looking for a better position of women as political actors.

Therefore, I think we have to understand two types of resistance: one against patriarchy, that can be seen as the feminist organizations which fight more for political rights (right to vote, to have political participation, etc) and another against poverty which fights more for social rights (the right to have a decent meal, to have daycares, health... to fulfill basic needs). One is driven by gendered politics (therefore, we can see it as a feminist one), the other one is driven by necessity (not necesarily gender). The two are not exclusive, but complement each other. My main problem is that I do not see enough dialogue between them. Not in the local, not in the global arena.

Laura

Laura Balbuena-Gonzalez, MA

Dorothy Marchus Senesh Fellow, Intl Peace Research Association

PhD Candidate, Political Science Department, Graduate Faculty,

New School for Social Research

Balbl116@newschool.edu

mobile: 51-1-99939512

http://geocities.com/lalibg

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 8, 2006 10:33:26 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Forum members,

We are now in the midst of a great discussion and to focus the issue of "When does resistance lead to feminist behavior?" can we offer other members of the forum some practical advice regarding this issue to those who might be teaching Latin American Women's history for the first time?

We also need to answer Gretchen's question about the use of theory in women's history courses. I personally tend to use less theory in undergraduate reading assignments and discuss theory in specific contexts. In graduate classes I focus more on theory. What do you folks think? Let's get some new voices and participants in this discussion! Donna

Donna Guy,

Distinguished Professor of Humanities

Department of History

Ohio State University

106 Dulles Hall

230 W. 17th Ave.

Columbus, OH 43210-1367

614-292-0324

[ Back to Index ]

On 2/8/06, Luz María Gordillo <> wrote:

Hola a todos,

I just wanted to thank Donna and Sharon for doing this, what a great way to communicate with each other. I'm Luz María Gordillo and I do research on immigration to and from the U.S. and Mexico. I focus on women's immigrational experience through the intersections of class, race, sexuality, nationality and immigration status. I am very interested in looking for a marriage between studies on Women in Latin America and immigration studies that focus on any migratory flowfrom Latin America to the U.S. The latter focusing more on Latin American women when they arrive in the U.S. thus displacing their previous experience as Latin American and pushing a narrative of liberation and adoption of different understandings of femininity but always geared towards a female emancipation. These narratives perpetuate the dichotomy U.S. - modern and progressive - v.s. Mexico - backward.

Some feminist immigration studies include women and their position vis a vis the church. I agree with Donna that we don't have enough studies on this issue. However, I would not pose these two questions opposing each other - whether women draw stregth from the church or they are victimized - because they are not mutually exclusive, on the contrary they work simultaneously. In my work I stress contradictions in the lives of Mexican immigrants and my investigation has shown that the church is a source of both. I must say, however, that in my research it would be impossible not to mention the church as an institution of great power - culturally, socially, economically and politically - particularly because the area I study was one of the primary areas where the Cristero Revolt in Mexico took place in 1926, in San Ignacio, Jalisco, Mexico.

Any thoughts?

Gracias,

Dr. Luz María Gordillo

Assistant Professor

Department of History

Washington State University Vancouver

14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue

Vancouver, WA 98686-9600

360) 546 9099 Fax: 360) 546 9036

http://libarts.wsu.edu/history/faculty-staff/gordillo.html

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 9, 2006 10:49:50 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Immigration and Women

Dear all,

It seems that women and immigration is a topic of interest to forum members. We know something about your own interests in the subject, but we really haven't discussed how to teach this. Does anyone want to share their syllabus or make comments on this? Thanks for your comments Luz Maria. Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 9, 2006 10:55:24 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Women and the Church

Dear Luz,

Regarding your comments on the church, the multi-faceted role of the Catholic Church in the lives of women has been commented on by several respondents. I think what you are all trying to say, is that it is a complex topic and people who want to teach the history of women in their courses, particularly in relationship to the Church, should not rely on stereotypes found both here and in Latin America,. Women's relationships to the Church change over time, and the Church's relationship to poor people, including women, also changes over time. At the same time, the Church has remained firm on certain issues like reproduction, the role of sex outside marriage, and the double standard. Yet despite this, women have been attracted to the Church as an escape from marriage, an opportunity to learn and write, and offered the first social services staffed by women in Latin America. Anybody want to add or subtract something from this?

Donna

From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 9, 2006 2:00:15 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Latin American Feminism

Hi to everyone again,

I have had this question for years, and I finally find a forum of wonderful people who might be able to help me. I see it as a big problem that a lot of critics use Latin American women issues through American or French theories of feminism. Does anyone know a book(s) about Latin American Feminism(s) an its history? I have looked for a book with this content in different countries of Latin America and Spain and have not found want yet. Does anyone have an answer?

Luz Consuelo Triana-Echeverría

St. Cloud State University, Minnesota

[ Back to Index ]

On 2/9/06 2:38 PM, "Laura BalbuenaGonzalez" <balbl116@NEWSCHOOL.EDU> wrote:

Dear Luz, the Centro para la mujer peruana Flora Tristan recently edited a book on 25 years of Peruvian feminism. Also CENDOC-Mujer has materials on that (I have used them during my undergrad years here when I made a presentation on Peruvian feminism). They should have more on Latin America. I just recently came back from the States (to write my dissertation), so I haven t had time to stop by and see.

Best,

Laura

Laura Balbuena-Gonzalez, MA

Dorothy Marchus Senesh Fellow, Intl Peace Research Association

PhD Candidate, Political Science Department, Graduate Faculty,

New School for Social Research

Balbl116@newschool.edu

mobile: 51-1-99939512

http://geocities.com/lalibg

On 2/9/06, Luz Triana-Echeverria <> wrote:

Laura,

Is that book exclusively on Peruvian feminism?Is it posible to say that Feminism has developed differently in each country of the Spanish speaking countries?

Luz Consuelo

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 10, 2006 10:29:05 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Latin American Feminism

Dear Laura and Luz,

I know that there are Mexican feminists who have been writing theory. Could our Mexico specialists help us out? Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: "Auchter, Craig" <auchter@BUTLER.EDU>

Date: February 10, 2006 1:20:25 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Latin American Feminism

Hello Everyone,

I come to thisconversation as a poltical scientist interested in issues of popular participation in Latin America in which gender, class, race and ethnicity are intermingled. I also am part of an interdisciplinary group of four faculty at Butler University that is beginning to work on a Global and Historical Studies core course, Frontiers in Latin America, in which we willseek to introduceour sophomores to (1) conquest and colonialism in the Amazon basin, (2) the promise of modernization in the 19th and 20th century Southern Cone, and (3) modern and contemporary global cross currents especially between Mexico and the U.S., including Mexican migration to Central Indiana. I expect that gender will be interwoven across the threeunits. Donna already knows about our efforts since she has graciously agreed to serve as oneof our consultants should we be receive the grant that we have applied for to support this work.

I'm attaching a pdf file of a review of Mexican feminist scholarship that looks very interesting.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's messages.

Saludos,

Craig Auchter

From: K Lehman <lehmannz28@YAHOO.COM>

Date: February 10, 2006 3:18:00 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Latin American Feminism

Dear Donna and others,

Thank you very much for these intriguing questions and answers. It has been wonderful reading these postings.

The matter of Latin American feminist theory is a very interesting and important one, but to be properly understood, I believe it should be placed in the larger context of theory and philosophy originating in Latin America (and the third world) in general. If we take a look at the history of "theory/philosophy" we find that what counts as theory is often ignored in Europe or the US until intellectuals in those locations take the ideas and systematically explain them and circulate them.

Here are my examples:

Derrida and Foucault, along with many other theorists of what came to be known as postmodernism read, studied and cited Jorge Luis Borges in many of their works. Borges came to be known as the first postmodernist, or at least one of the authors who was most influential in stimulating an analysis of multiple temporalities, or a critique of European philosophy (logocentrism) more generally. Borges, living in Latin America but well versed in European thought, showed that philosophy was as much a linguistic construction as a referential field of knowledge. His stories served as excellent texts for poststructuralists to understand the critique of European philosophy.

In economics, the work of Latin American sociologists influenced economists such as those with CEPAL in developing what cam! e to be known as dependency theory, the idea that third world countries could not "develop" like the first world because of the international economic structures developed through colonialism.This became avery influential theory in the US, (now discredited in that location), but still serves an important function in other places, especially now, when globalisation has become nearly universally denounced as inequitable.

In film, many of us know that Solanas, Guzman, Rocha and other filmmakers had, and still have a highly original approach to filmmaking (Cine Liberacion, Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Cinema Novo) that was later theorised abroad as "third cinema", the only film theory to have originated outside of the US or Europe. Once again, the praxis came first, the theory later, with a term applied to it from outside.

The same thing happened in religion: the Bishops Conference in Medellin in 1968 declared that Jesus had a "preferential option for the poor", and many parish priests put their lives on the line, siding with movements for social justice and shaking the Church hierarchy from below. This movement later was theorised both in Latin America and abroad as "liberation theology". One of the priests I interviewed explained that "we in Bolivia have done the liberating and you in the US have d! one the theology". In other words, one of the most influential movements in religion started in Latin America, but has not really been understood as a theoretical/philosophical change in the understanding of religion. It has been described as a "social movement" instead of a theoretical change in our way of understanding religion.

In philosophy, Enrique Dussel (an Argentinean-Mexican), has been highly influential and innovative in attempting to explain why it is so frequently thought that "there is no theory or philosophy in Latin America". He has very convincingly demonstrated that Latin American philosophy (and of! ten this idea can be expanded to the third world), is tied to an ethos of practical knowledge rooted in liberation. In this way, often what happens as a social movement is not considered "theoretical" or "philosophical" enough until a US or European theorist systematically explains it and circulates the ideas in those locations. This is what Walter Mignolo is getting at when he talks about the geopolitics of knowledge production or knowledge communities. Dussel himself, along with many other philosophers in Latin America, is changing the idea of philosophy itself, but his work may not make the textbooks or canon in the US or Europe for some time.

If we then think of the ways in which women in Latin America have formed social movements and their relations to feminism, we find a similar trend. When I first went to Argentina with a head full of Anglo and French feminism, I could not find what I was looking for, because women were doing other things, and often rejected the whole notion of feminism, particularly Anglo Feminism. This is no longer the case for a series of important reasons. However, at the same time that I could not find feminists, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo were changing the representation of women, motherhood, politics and the way in which women acted in the public space. Their innovation has had repercussions in many other locations in the world, such as Turkey, where women now wear white headscarves as they protest against government action! s that affect them. This movement and others like it, tend not to be placed in the realm of theory or philosophy, but in the area of 'social movements'. Even today, some of the Madres/Abuelas/Hijos may not consider themselves feminist even as they change the ways in which women are represented in the public space.

There are so many important social movements going on in Latin America, in which women have been instrumental not only in organising, but in theorising what they are doing. It is only later when others describe their work in professional journals that these new ideas begin to be thought of as theory.

In recent years, feminist ideas and women's movements have come closer, in my opinion. One example that comes to mind is the Argentine journal and publisher Feminaria, edited by Lea Fletcher. The goal of the journalhas beento make Anglo and French feminist ideas circulate widely among women in Latin America, and to make Latin American women's theory, philosophy, and creative work (usually feminist but not always self-defined as such) circulate more widely abroad. The achievement of this journal has been to establish a dialogue among feminists and women’s groups to lessen the divide that used to exist. I think it has been successful in this endeavour.

Similar journals, such as Fem in Mexico, and many other groups in many other countries have served a similar important function, so that the gap that used to divide US/European feminists from Latin American women is less than was previously the case. However, it is important for those who are just beginning to analyse these issues to realize that many feminists in Latin America who work for social justice and women's rights may not identify themselves as feminist per se.

We now see indigenous movements offering highly innovative ways of organ! ising for a new social praxis, (largely in Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala), and the Bolivarian Revolution is using a Latin American icon to press for a different set of international economic relations. Once again, the praxis has initiated a new social movement, but it will be some time until this is theorised.

I guess my point is that we need to enlarge our idea of what constitutes theory, philosophy, and feminism and find these in locations that we might not have anticipated.

Kathryn Lehman

The University of Auckland

New Zealand

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 10, 2006 6:31:53 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Latin American Feminism

Dear Craig,

I look forward to meeting you. And thanks so much for the Heather's review of Mexican Feminist literature. Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 10, 2006 6:41:41 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Latin American Feminism

Dear Kathryn,

Thanks for joining us. Your observations about women in social movementsare right on target. There has been a debate about this because originally Maxine Molyneaux suggested that generally women involved in social movements did so for specific concrete reasons (medical care, housing, food), and not for feminist reasons. Lynn Stephen's 1997oral histories of women involved in social movements Women and Social Movements in Latin America : Power from Below argues that such behavior can lead to feminism and hence, forces us to rethink feminist theory.

Donna

From: K Lehman <lehmannz28@YAHOO.COM>

Date: February 11, 2006 12:17:28 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Latin American Feminism

Dear Donna,

These are excellent examples of the situation I was describing and they help to answer Luz's original question regarding whether there is abibliography on Latin American feminism or does this work emerge by nation. Because these movements, groups, and publications tend to take place within an individual nation-state, they tend to be described as Argentinean feminism, Peruvian feminism, or by nation, and circulation of the excellent theory that these women produce often does not go beyond national borders for economic reasons, so they are not in US libraries. It is only from abroad with tremendouseconomic resources that US and European scholars are able toanalyse the region as a whole, sometimes under-representing regional and other differencesin creating an entityfrom an enormous heterogeneitythat may be known asLatin America or Latin American feminism. There are some Latin ! American studies centres and institutes in some countries (I am aware of one at the Universidad de Chile and in el Colegio de Mexico) which publish outstanding work, but much of that work does not circulate in US libraries, unfortunately.

Kathryn

Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 06:38:51 -0000

From: "H-AmIndian (Joyce Ann Kievit)" <amindian@MAIL.H-NET.MSU.EDU>

Subject: Call for Presenters: 7th Annual Indigenous Women's Symposium

Date: Wednesday, February 8 2006 09:47 am

From: Paula Sherman <paulasherman@trentu.ca>

Subject: Call for Presenters: 7th Annual Indigenous Women's Symposium

The 7th annual Indigenous Women's Symposium is being held at Trent University in Peterborough and invites proposals for presentations and workshops on the theme of Justice for Indigenous Women. The symposium sessions are as follows:

Behind These Eyes: Explorations Of Identity

Voice And Visibility: Breaking Down The Barriers

The Earth On The Turtle's Back: Indigenous Understandings Of

Environmental Justice

Embodying Agency: Creating Change Through The Arts

Please submit your proposal by e-mail(christineluza@trentu.ca) by

[ Back to Index ]

From: "Frank, Ilene" <ifrank@LIB.USF.EDU>

Date: February 11, 2006 10:54:05 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Latin American Feminism

Hi! I just wanted to say that I'm a librarian lurking on this discussion because I got personally interested in learning more about Latin American... everything! I've been busy jotting down book titles that have already been mentioned for our collection development librarians to put on our library's wishlist. If anyone has suggestions about non-USA publications on Latin American feminism, send them along!

Sincerely,

Ilene Frank,

Tampa Library, Reference Department

University of South Florida

(813) 974-2483

http://www.lib.usf.edu/ref/ifrank/

[ Back to Index ]

From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 12, 2006 4:35:53 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Latin American Feminism

Ilene,

I recommend:

Henderson, James and Henderson, Linda. Diez mujeres notables en la historia de América Latina. Bogotá: Aguilar, 2003.

Best,

Luz C Triana-Echeverría, PhD

St. Cloud State University

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 13, 2006 10:55:23 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Women and Work

Dear Forum members,

I am going to introduce other possible discussion topics that might be of use to teachers interested in Latin American Women's history. This one involves the theme women and work. Historically, women in many Latin American countries experienced a marked decrease in female employment as demographic shifts led to the growth of cities. Part of this can be explained by limited industrialization. What other factors should be used to explain this phenomenon? Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 13, 2006 10:58:52 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Women and Sexuality in Latin America

Dear Forum participants,

Another topic of interest to people who teach women in Latin America is the issue of sexuality. Many stereotypes exist regarding this issue, including the idea that the Catholic Church controls female sexuality, even though most women in Latin America in the historical past did not marry, and Latin American women, both historically and in the present, utilize abortion. Is this a topic of interest to you all? Donna

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 13, 2006 11:04:01 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Women in Politics

A number of years ago, political scientist Elsa Chaney wrote Supermadre, based upon interviews with female politicians, mostly from Peru. It argued that once women get involved in politics, the corruption dissuades them from continuing. She also noted that women tended to be assigned, or as for, government positions that mirrored "public mothering", hence the name Supermadre.

Now the situation has changed, and more and more women are entering politics, and the percentages of women elected to political office in Latin America is higher, often by considerable amounts, than in the U.S. Indeed, some countries mandate that a significant portion of elected seats both national and local, be allocated to women. How do you teach this issue to your students? Donna

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 13, 2006 11:06:58 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Books or articles to assign

Dear Forum members,

One thing that would be very useful to teachers are suggestions about readings for a general course on women in Latin America. Can you help us out by identifying those that have been the most popular with your students? Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: Gregory Hammond <Greg.Hammond@OBERLIN.EDU>

Date: February 13, 2006 11:55:03 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Books or articles to assign

One good article (and useful for the discussion of sexuality Donna mentioned earlier) is

"Living in Offense of Our Lord": Indigenous Sexual Values and Marital Life in the Colonial Crucible

by Ward Stavig, which not only discusses sexuality but the intersection of Spanish and Native American gender ideologies.

Greg Hammond

From: "Dr. Olga Lazin" <olazin@UCLA.EDU>

Date: February 13, 2006 12:21:20 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Sexuality in Latin America

Dear neteras--

What a great topic. I would like to add/argue that many Latin American women come to the U.S. to have an abortion. Please see attachment,

From: "Dr. Olga Lazin" <olazin@UCLA.EDU>

Date: February 13, 2006 12:42:36 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Lat Am, Taboo: Women and Sexuality in Latin America

Dear Maria & Donna--

Yes, my students confirmed this is the taboo topic in the family.

Parents wouldn't even discuss it; and lots of students are complaining of having battered mothers.

- Olga Magdalena Lazin, Ph.D.

UCLA Post-Doctoral Fellow, Latin American Studies, Spanish Department

Tel: (310) 479 7922

Fax: (310) 312-6982

10905 Ohio Ave, Apt. #206

Los Angeles, CA 90024

http://www.isop.ucla.edu/profmex/cv-copies/OlgaLazinCV.htm

http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~olazin

http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gss/postdocdir/pdresult.asp?Name=Lazin%2C+Olga+Magdelena

http://www.traduguide.com/tr/5970.htm

http://www.isop.ucla.edu/profmex/volume6/1winter01/01lazin1.htm

www.bol.ucla.edu/~olazin/

[ Back to Index ]

From: Kellen McIntyre <kellenkee@SWBELL.NET>

Date: February 13, 2006 12:52:46 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Books or articles to assign

Dear Forum Members,

I am really enjoying the discussion so far and a number of important issues that have been raised are things I have been questioning for a number of years. I am an art historian specializing in the art and architecture of Early Modern Latin America. I have twice taught a graduate courseon images of women in this period. Suffice it to say that it was a wonderful yet often times frustrating experience, given the dearth of material on the topic, most in disparate journals and hard-to-come-by publications. This frustration led me to my current project, and given this request by Donna and Ilene, it seems like the opportune moment to bring this up.

I am co-editor, with Richard Phillips, of the anthology "Woman and Art in Early Modern Latin America."The 17-chapter book, in English, contains about 80 illustrations, and drawson various methodologies ! to discuss the representation of women in painting, prints, architecture, etc. . . as well as women artistsand patrons active during the Early Modern period (contact through c. mid-19th c.).Mexico is the primary geographical focus, but essays also cover the Andean region, especially Peru,and Ecuador. It is aimed at an upper-level undergraduate or graduate audience.

We have recently submitted the first draft of the manuscript to a publisher who has asked that we supply some marketinginformation. We are looking for appropriate journals that might be interested in reviewing the book or where we might promote it,societies and associations (for Art History, the College ArtAssociation and theAssociation for Latin American Art come to mind, but thereare literary or historical groups of which we are not yet aware)that might be interested in knowing about the book, and discussion lists! (such as this one, we hope!), etc., that would be interested in learning about the book. We would greatly appreciateit if discussion group members could provide some of this information to us. In addition, would any of you or your college and university programsconsider using a book such as this as a text or as supplemental reading?Would it be presumptuous of us to ask those of you who might be interested to provide contact information for your programs?

By the way, both of us are specialists in Early Modern LatAmArt History.Richard Phillips, who teaches art history at UT Pan America,has dealt with this topic in a number offorms--conference papers, etc. . .--over the past few years. Neither of us have produced a volume of this type before, however, and so anysage advicethat you might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Kellen

Kellen Kee McIntyre

Assistant Professor of Art History

Art Department

University of the Incarnate Word

4301 Broadway

San Antonio, TX 78209

(210) 829-3855

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 13, 2006 5:14:49 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Sexuality in Latin America

Dear Olga,

Thanks so much for contributing your materials on Mexican Machismo. Donna

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 13, 2006 7:04:40 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Books or articles to assign

Dear Kellen,

I personally believe that a history of women and art in early modern Latin America would be of interest to people in other disciplines and certainly journals like the Latin American Research Review, the Colonial Latin American History Review, The Americas nd the Hispanic American Historical Review would be interested in reviewing it. Anyone else have suggestions? Donna

[ Back to Index ]

Helen I. Safa and Cornelia Butler Flora "Production, Reproduction, the Polity: Women's Strategic and Practical Gender Issues," Marysa Navarro-Aranguren's "The construction of a Latin American Feminist Identity," M. Patricia Fernandex Kelly and Alejandro Portes' "Continent on the Move: Immigration and Refugees in the Americas," and Ruben G. Rumbaut's "The Americans: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples in the United States." Another text they created is Americas, An Anthology edited by Mark B. Rosenberg, A. Douglas Kincaid, and Kathleen Logan that gives students access to these primary source documents about women in Latin America: "A Modern Voice from the 17th century by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz," "The Suffrage Movement in Chile (1920s-1930s) by Amanda Labarca," "A Maid in the Capital by Rigoberta Menchu," "Life in the Favela by Carolina Maria de Jesus - a diary by AfroBrazilian woman (late 1950s)," "Women of El Salvador by farmers and workers in processing plants (1980s)," "The Peasant Women's Organization in Bolivia (anthropologist Rosario Leon 1974-1984)," "Embrodiery as Protest (during Pinochet 70s to 80s)," "Taming Macho Ways (autobiography of Elvia Alvarado Honduran capesina)," and "Feminist Movements in Latin America by Silvia Chester, Argentinian feminist." Finally, I would like to suggest using excerpts from John D. French and Daniel James, editors Gendered Worlds of Latin American Women Workers, From Household and Factory to the Union Hall and the Ballot Box. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997 to help students see the participation of Latin American women in the industrialized economies of the early twentieth century which can move the focus from mentioning Eva Peron and Rigoberta Menchu to a study of ways Latin American women contributed to the national economy.

Ciao,

Sharon Cohen

AP World History and IB Theory of Knowledge

Springbrook High School

201 Valley Brook Drive

Silver Spring, MD 20904

301-989-5700

sharon_c_cohen@mcpsmd.org

________________________________

From: Kellen McIntyre <kellenkee@SWBELL.NET>

Date: February 13, 2006 9:57:27 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Fwd: CFP: 2007 AHA Panel on Gender Cuba

I thought this might be of inerest to our members.

Note: forwarded message attached.

From: "Dennis R. Hidalgo" <hidalgo@MAIL.H-NET.MSU.EDU>

Date: February 13, 2006 6:17:30 PM EST

To: H-LATAM@H-NET.MSU.EDU

Subject: CFP: 2007 AHA Panel on Gender & Cuba

Reply-To: hidalgo@mail.h-net.msu.edu

From: Armand Garcia <agt@wsu.edu>

Due to large interest in Cuba and Gender, I'm organizing a second panel dealing specifically with 20th century and/or Revolution Cuba and Gender Graciella Cruz-Taura of Florida Atlantic University has offered to Chair the panel. Please respond off list to agt@wsu.edu with an abstract of your paper and CV by Tuesday, Feb. 14 if you are interested in presenting in the panel. The deadline for proposals is Wednesday, Feb. 15.

Armand García, ABD

Department of History

Washington State University

agt@wsu.edu

[ Back to Index ]

From: "Dr. Olga Lazin" <olazin@UCLA.EDU>

Date: February 14, 2006 12:42:35 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Hygienic Abrotion: Women and Sexuality in Latin America

Well, just for the sake of a hygienic abortion, educated and rich Latin American women come over to NY, to be more specific.

(See Silvana Paternostro, Ed. In the Land of God and Men, 1998).

Have you seen "El Crimen del Padre Amaro"? It is a very realistic scenario.

I would be very careful to say that "many" Latin American women go to the US to have an abortion because it involves a lot of money (it is a bad generalization). First of all: the US visa, it is not only painful to get one (the humiliation at the USAmerican embassy is well known among LAmericans) but expensive ($100 dollars for the "interview" regardless of you getting it or not and there are rumors that it will go up to $300). Second, the flight ticket. Third, the abortion itself. If a South American girl has that amount of money to have an abortion... she can have it in a private clinic in her own country where people don't say anything about it. Money plays an important role in breaking the rules. Or are you talking about Mexican middle class women? (I assume this from the attachment that is only about MX) Maybe it would be easier for them to just cross the border, but for women beyond the Mexican border I really doubt that they would go through the hazard of going to the States just to have an abortion. What it is common is to go to the States to give birth and then go back to their country, so the child would be born USAmerican and then, when he/she is 18yo would be able to claim them.

Laura B.

Olga

http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gss/postdocdir/pdresult.asp?Name=Lazin%2C+Olga+Magdelena

Lecturer's Representative, CSUDH

http://www.calfac.org/lecturerscouncil.html

http://www.isop.ucla.edu/profmex/volume6/1winter01/01lazin1.htm

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 14, 2006 12:33:28 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Latina Women in the US

Dear Forum members,

Since there are so many people who have written about Latinas in the United States, a topic that is crucial to women's history but not a direct part of Latin American history, I would like to initiate a separate theme and invite others to weigh in. Thanks, Donna

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 14, 2006 12:35:06 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Valentine's Day request

Happy Valentine's Day to all,

My ideal Valentine's Day present would be ten new Forum members identifying themselves and commenting on what we have been doing. Does anyone want to give me a present? Donna

[ Back to Index ]

I have some experience teaching both Latin America more broadly (surveys) and Mexico more explicitly, and while I have always included issues of gender in readings, lecture and discussion (as well as my research), never felt I could define myself in as "doing gender." The discussion here has been enormously fruitful for me; I have printed off every submission for future reference.

I suppose along that vein my only contribution would be for all of us who teach (and research) to remember that gender is integrally woven into all of our work, and students should see this. It isn't only something separate and apart. Towards that end, it is essential, for me, that it be integrated into concepts of resistance, oppression, organizing, organizaitonal resources, social makeup, class and yes, ethnicity.

So I am enormously appreciative for the insights and suggestions this forum has already generated and look forward to continued dialogue.

Best,

Nelly Hanson

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Nelly Blacker-Hanson, Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor

Department of History

University of the Pacific

Stockton, CA

United States

(209) 946-2270

"...cold objectivity in the face of injustice is a form of complicity."

--Octavio Paz

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's reponses. Thank you very much.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Miluska Martínez

Latin American Studies Department

University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ

"O god, I could be bounded in a nutshell

and count myself a king of infinite space,

were it not that I have bad dreams."

Hamlet

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 14, 2006 4:00:26 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Fwd: introduction

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Feb 14, 2006 1:30 PM

Subject: introduction

Donna

My name is Stefanie Beninato.I hold a law degree from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. from the University of NM.My minor field was Latin American history and my doctoral work compared Indian policies in Mexico and the US in the 20C.

I was interested in the forum because of my interest both in women's history and Latin American history.I have taught as an adjunct and at the ELderhostel program--although no more since several years ago I suggested that they could raise instructor's pay--something they had not done for fifteen years at that point.

So the forum is for my personal edification and enjoyment rather than something I use professionally. Currently I do research and lectures mostly on Southwestern topics, cultural and educational tours in the SW and mediate community, personal and business disputes.

Stefanie Beninato

Independent Scholar

Santa Fe, NM 87504

From: "Rankin, Monica A" <mrankin@UTDALLAS.EDU>

Date: February 14, 2006 5:03:16 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Syllabus

Here is my syllabus.

Monica

________________________________

[ Back to Index ]

From: Natalie Arsenault <n.arsenault@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU>

Date: February 14, 2006 5:57:48 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

I work in Outreach at the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies at UT-Austin. I do the kind of work that Donna mentioned in her first e-mail; I'm part of the network of National Resource Centers on Latin America that provide materials and other resources to educators. I joined the group to keep up on what's being read, discussed, and taught on women in Latin America. I work extensively with K-12 teachers throughout Texas and there's an increased interest in women and women's movements.

I'm not very current on these issues. My thesis work was on a 19th century Brazilian writer, Júlia Lopes de Almeida. She was a critically acclaimed writer during her lifetime (it's generally accepted that her poet husband was inducted into the Brazilian Academy of Letters in her stead, since the organization did not--and still does not--admit women), but was all but forgotten until 20 years ago when feminist presses started to rescue her novels. It was interesting research, but somewhat specialized for the audience I serve.

I joined the list hoping to listen in on current concerns/trends and, on a more practical level, to familiarize myself with the resources that are out there. Since I don't teach myself, I'm not as aware of new articles and books on these topics. So far, I've got a long reading list! So I thank everyone who has contributed.

I echo Sharon Cohen's "Americas" recommendations. I have those items (except for the videos, which were borrowed and never returned) in my outreach library. They're excellent. I also like "Threads of Hope," a documentary about the Chilean women who defied Pinochet by making and smuggling out arpilleras about the violence and repression that surrounded them. Other than these couple of items, though, I don't have much in my collection that focuses on women. I'm interested in gathering more that will be of use to the K-12 audience. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Best,

Natalie

________________________________

Natalie Arsenault, Outreach Coordinator

Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS)

University of Texas at Austin

1 University Station D0800

Austin, Texas 78712-0331

Tel: (512) 232-2404

Fax: (512) 471-3090

On 2/14/06, Melissa Guy <

So that Donna may have her ideal Valentine's day,I would like to jump in and thank the organizers and participants of this forum.This is a fabulous idea that allows for a more in-depth and focused discussion than what tends to occur on H-Latam and other listservs (as fabulous as they are!) I particularly enjoyed reading Kathryn Lehman's post challenging what constitutes theory on an international level.Her comments about dependency theory and social movements/feminist theory are right on.I will have more to say about this in relation to teaching in the next few days when I have more time.For now I would like to call attention to a book that crossed my desk today:

Cultural Studies in the Curriculum: Teaching Latin America, edited by Danny J. Anderson and Jill S. Kuhnheim (MLA Press, 2003).

The volume has one chapter by Robert McKee Irwin on Gender and Sexuality Studies in the Undergraduate Curriculum and also contains some sample course syllabi. I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to read it yet, so I can't attest to it's quality, but I wanted to mention it for those in the forum who are interested in building a bibliography.

Happy valentine's day!

More later,

Melissa Guy

PhD Candidate, Ohio State University History Department

MSIS Candidate, School of Information, UT-Austin

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 14, 2006 8:52:00 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Dear Natalie,

Welcome aboard!! Your work is very important. Perhaps you could describe the collection to the group? Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 14, 2006 9:11:02 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Dear Melissa,

Thanks for joining in. I still need six more people to make my Valentine's Day present!!!! Donna

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 14, 2006 9:21:08 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Fwd: introduction

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: DONNA GUY <

Date: Feb 14, 2006 7:20 PM

Subject: Re: introduction

Dear Stefanie. Welcome to the group. I am going to forward your message to the List Serve so that we all can learn about you. Donna

From: Women in Latin America [mailto:WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU] On Behalf Of Allyson Poska

Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 5:49 AM

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

I'll help with the request! Trained as an early modern Spanish historian as well as a colonialist, I've been teaching Latin American Women's history at University of Mary Washington for 13 years including this semester. I also teach a "race and gender intensive" latin american survey, so i'm always interested in new ideas on teaching about gender issues.

These discussions are all very useful for me.

Allyson Poska

Dr. Allyson M. Poska

Professor of History

University of Mary Washington

Fredericksburg, VA 22401

aposka@umw.edu (please note the change in the college name and new email address)

[ Back to Index ]

Tuesday is a crazy day for me so I couldn't get back to my email until today. I'm glad to be on this discussion list. I teach modern Latin American history, the history of Argentina, US-Latin American relations, and Latin American in the Age of Revolution, and I also do a section on gender in our team-taught intro to Latin American studies course. I try to always include issues of gender in my lectures and readings and other class activities (tomorrow, I am sending many of my students to a guest lecture by Marisela Fleites-Lear who will be talking about the "New Cuban Woman" in our Latin American Area Focus lecture). I have successfully used two of Donna's books ("Sex and Danger" and "Mothers Dead and Alive"), among other readings. I look forward to getting more ideas on how to effectively incorporate gender into my courses. My research on nineteenth-century Argentina has grappled with the intersection of gender, family, and the nation state. I am planning to develop a course on gender in Latin America, and one of my next book projects will look at gender and Argentine nation building through the lens of two icons of gender: Mariquita Sánchez and Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Thanks to Donna, Sharon, and everyone else for putting this list together and showing that concern for students and for teaching can accompany, and be invigorated by, vigorous research. As her student I saw Donna perform that balancing act with great skill in Arizona, and she hasn't stopped.

Take care. Jeff

Jeffrey M. Shumway, Ph.D.

Department of History

Brigham Young University

2143 JFSB

Provo, Utah 84602

phone: 801-422-8943

fax: 801-422-0275

From: Caroline Dodds <ced44@CAM.AC.UK>

Date: February 15, 2006 12:37:07 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Allow me to help with make Donna's Valentine's day!

First of all, can I add my thanks to the organisers for running this forum. Women in Latin America is far from a mainstream topic in the UK where I work, and so I am something of a lone voice at times, so it is very welcome to feel part of this larger worldwide discussion.

I have beenfollowing thediscussionwith interest. My researchin onAztec history and the Atlantic world, with a particular interest in issues of gender, and I'm currently working on a book about gender in Aztec culture for Palgrave. I've been teaching at the University of Cambridgein early modern European and Latin American history for about three years. We don't teach a gender-specific course, although we're introducing one next year. The paper will be mostly about Europe and Britain, but I hope to be at least able to bring a comparative and Atlantic perspective to the students, so I've been very interested to see people's suggestions and comments on teaching the topic.

Best wishes,

Caroline

------

Dr. Caroline Dodds

Junior Research Fellow

Sidney Sussex College

Cambridge

CB2 3HU

Tel: 01223 (3)30867

Mob: 07740675610

From: "Cohen, Sharon C." <Sharon_C_Cohen@MCPSMD.ORG>

Date: February 15, 2006 2:19:58 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Reply-To: Women in Latin America <WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU>

Dear Caroline and others who teach courses on gender,

What kinds of questions do you pose to your students? What was the perfect set of primary sources you had them analyze?

Give us some views into what and how you're teaching.

Thanks,

Sharon Cohen

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 15, 2006 2:30:43 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Dear Caroline,

Welcom to the group, and I hope you had a happy Valentine's day. Are there some questions we could answer that might help you organize your course? Donna

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 15, 2006 2:33:15 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Feminist Theory

Dear Melissa,

Do you want to weigh in on the debate about teaching feminist theory in undergraduate classes? Donna

From: Jacqueline Holler <holler@UNBC.CA>

Date: February 15, 2006 2:53:01 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Hello all:

As a long-time admirer of Donna's I'll try to help make her Valentine's wish come true, even if belatedly…

First of all, I too would like to thank and commend everyone responsible for bringing this together. Everything so far has been useful to me, not to mention a breath of fresh air and an antidote to feelings of isolation.

My research centres on women and gender in early New Spain. I've done some stuff on nuns and holy women, and am now working in a couple of different areas, including a project on sexuality, violence, embodiment and mental illness (!) and a political-culture study in which masculinity plays an important role. I teach in a small research-intensive, student-centred (read: exhaustion) university in northern British Columbia. I was hired almost three years ago not as a Latin Americanist but as a gender/women's historian. So I teach surveys of gender history, the history of feminism, feminist theory, and specialized seminars of my choosing. I have twice offered a fourth-year seminar called Gender and Sexuality in Latin America in which I attempted to survey some of the larger questions that animate the gender field in our particular regional context. Though students enjoyed the class, I found it painful and frustrating to teach anything related to Latin America without the support of lower-level surveys. I ended up lecturing for at least an hour before each seminar to set things up, and it still was unsatisfactory. I'll be teaching the LA surveys beginning this fall, and that should help, but I'm particularly interested in strategies for teaching in contexts where students are almost wholly unfamiliar with Latin America. I also attempt to incorporate as much Latin American material as possible into my "gender" and "feminism" surveys, but I find that challenging too, especially from the point of view of selecting textbooks-few offer a truly global perspective, though we're seeing more "add periphery and stir." Finally, I offer a seminar on women and revolution in which there's much Latin American content, and I find that the narrow theoretical focus-women in social movements/feminist versus women's activism/gender & women in revolutionary states-gives students comfort and also allows me to let go of everything we're NOT doing in the class.

All this by way of saying that I am one very happy lurker and look forward to reading more of the posts, which are being housed in a dedicated binder for long-term utility.

Thanks again and best wishes to all.

Jacqueline

Jacqueline Holler

Assistant Professor, History/Women’s Studies

Coordinator, Women’s and Gender Studies Programs

University of Northern British Columbia

Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9

[ Back to Index ]

From: Laura Isabel Serna <serna@FAS.HARVARD.EDU>

Date: February 16, 2006 10:16:32 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Sexuality in Latin America

I think that what this exchange is pointing to is that class is an important analytic category that is often overlooked when teaching Women in Latin America. This begs the question of how do we avoid falling into stereotypes of Latin American women as all being, just for example, poor. I think this requires us to be precise about who we are talking about and when (space and place). One book I especially like that doesn't deal with sexuality per se but does deal with gender is Silvia Arrom's Las Mujeres de la Ciudad de Mexico , 1790-1857 (I only have the book in Spanish. I'm assuming the English title is similar.) There she challenges the notion that marianismo (broadly speaking that women are spiritually superior to men--what makes them distinctive and gives them power) is a Latin American cultural trait, arguing that instead it was a historically contingent phenomena introduced during the 19th century. Her analysis is a great example to students about how to work with difficult material -- here census data -- and tell a story about change over time.

In regards to the abortion issue, at least in Mexico City it is both possible and relatively cheap (for those of economic means) to get an abortion. I have never met a woman who went to the US to get one. Obviously in smaller cities--provincial capitals, for example--this may be different.

best,

Laura Isabel

Laura Isabel Serna

Diagonal de San Antonio 1107-6

Col. Narvarte, Del. Benito Juarez

Mexico DF CP 03020

MEXICO

52-55-3095-2139 (Phone/Fax)

52-55-1477-9741 (Celular)

___________________________________________________

Ph.D. Candidate

Harvard University

History of American Civilization Program

12 Quincy Street

Barker Center 225

Cambridge, MA 02138

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 16, 2006 11:06:39 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Dear Sharon,

I was just thinking that for the colonial period, there is a great set of primary documents in Susan Socolow's text book The Women of Colonial Latin America, which undergraduates like a lot. For other documents in English on Latin American women, Benjamin Keen's Keen's Latin American Civilization, 8th ed., has some good translated documents on women. Donna

On 2/16/06, DONNA GUY <

Thank you all for a great Valentine's Day. Is anyone willing to answer Sharon's questions? As for me, I haven't found a perfect set of primary sources as I have graduate students minoring in Latin American history who can't read Spanish. As for a question, one of the more puzzling questions I ask them is what is the difference between sex and gender. What about others? Donna

From: Women in Latin America on behalf of Kristen McCleary

Sent: Mon 2/13/2006 1:50 PM

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Books for courses

I often use historical fiction in my classes and we recently read The Slum by the Brazilian writer/illustrator Aluisio Azevedo. (The novel was published for the first time around 1890.) The book depicts the social hierarchy of Rio de Janeiro and underscores the ways in which the quest for upward mobility is linked to social class/race/gender. 20 Rita, a mulata from Bahia, more or less represents "Brazilianness," in the novel in both positive and negative stereotypes. I think the novel generates great discussions about patriarchal society, women, sexuality, and social power. The figure of Rita, in particular, can generate a lot of discussion about sexuality and stereotypes based on the mulata figure which get replayed later in many of Jorge Amado's works. Immigration had come up as a theme on this thread, too, and the novel certainly covers the transformation of Brazilian society at the end of the 19th century in regard to the arrival of Portuguese immigrants. I think students especially like the novel because it is not quite what they expect a 19th-century novel to be in that Azevedo very openly describes sexual relations as an important component of Brazilian society. It also generates a lot of discussion about the degrees to which Azevedo reflects and perpetuates stereotypes about "passionate" Brazilians and the degree to which he actually criticizes the social and racial hierarchies of his time. As an instructor, I would like to include more readings about the history and depictions of the figure of the mulata in Brazil/Latin America so if anyone has some suggestions on this topic, they would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Kristen McCleary

Asst. Professor

James Madison University

301 Cleveland Hall

Dept. of History

Harrisonburg, VA 22807

(540) 568-6142

________________________________

[ Back to Index ]

From: Pérez Lizaur Marisol <marisol.perez@UIA.MX>

Date: February 16, 2006 11:51:39 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Sexuality in Latin America

I have read the different communications. One of my studentes María Orellana has done research on abortion in Mexico City, where she found that young (19-21 years) middle class women, mainly university students, were those who looked more for abortion. My research on elite, Mexico City, families in the XX Century (A Mexican Elite Family, Princeton 1987) has no information on abortion, but certainly it stresses Laura Isabel's point on class differences.

Marisol Pérez Lizaur

Universidad Iberoamericana

Mexico City

De: Women in Latin America [mailto:WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU] En nombre de Laura Isabel Serna

Enviado el: Jueves, 16 de Febrero de 2006 09:17 a.m.

Para: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Asunto: Re: Women and Sexuality in Latin America

best,

Laura Isabel

Laura Isabel Serna

Diagonal de San Antonio 1107-6

Col. Narvarte, Del. Benito Juarez

Mexico DF CP 03020

MEXICO

52-55-3095-2139 (Phone/Fax)

52-55-1477-9741 (Celular)

___________________________________________________

Ph.D. Candidate

Harvard University

History of American Civilization Program

12 Quincy Street

Barker Center 225

Cambridge, MA 02138

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From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 16, 2006 1:13:19 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Dear Monica,

So nice to hear from you. Ann's book has made a major impact on the history of elite women in late Colonial Latin America. Unfortunately, we can only accept PDF files to forward to the list. However, you can place your syllabus on the web site according to earlier instructions.

I hope others will join in this conversation. Among the questions that are asked are:Are the concepts of private and public honor accurate? Nancy Van Deusen has others.

Why are there regional variations in the success of applications of gracias al sacar, the request to grant changes in social status and racial identity? I invite others to make additional comments. Donna

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 16, 2006 1:15:13 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine Day's

Dear Miluska,

Welcome aboard. You might want to contact the head of WID at Ohio State University, Cathy Rakowski. She has done a lot of work on women's movements in V

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 16, 2006 1:19:36 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Dear Jacqueline,

You are not alone. We are here to help. One of the ways that I have taught Latin American sexuality and gender issues is to place key works in an international, world history perspective. This allows students to utilize what they already know, and helps to prevent "orientalization" of Latin American women and men. On my web site is a syllabus for a graduate class in Latin American Gender and Sexuality, I believe. Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: Melissa Guy <melissa.guy@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 16, 2006 2:45:53 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Syllabus

Hi Monica, I just took a look at your syllabus and I think it looks great. Since it is a graduate course, you can make them read ALL of that stuff! Regarding non-elite women and honor, perhaps you could pose questions based on what you know from the Johnson/Lipsett Rivera Text, The Faces of Honor. For those who don't know, this volume looks at the diverse discourses and practices of honor and related cultural codes during the colonial period and is geared toward undergrads. It has some material on non-elite notions of honor.

For future courses, I would encourage you to assign Nancy Van Deusen's outstanding book, Between the Sacred and the Worldly: The Institutional and Cultural Practice of Recogimiento in Colonial Lima. (I think that's the title.) Published by Stanford in 2001 or 2002. It deals mostly with the 17th C, so it is outside the timeframe of Twinam's work. But Van Deusen's discussion of Recogimeinto as a component of honor that women of various classes defined in their own terms certainly facilitates a very important discussion about non-elite women's ideasregarding complex cultural codes. Her writing is impeccable, but dense, so undergrads would need more guidance with the book, but it is a must read for any graduate student interested in women and gender in Latin America. IT is also a great book to juxtapose with Kathryn Burns' Colonial Habits. While Burns looks primarily at the economic role of convents, van Deusen is able to deal with important spiritual matters linked to cultural institutions.

One question that comes up after reading both Twinam and Van deusen's books is the extent to which cultural codes such as honor or recogimiento are external or internal....can we tell from the historical evidence?

Anyway, your class looks great. I didn't realize you were in Dallas. I'm in Austin now so we should get together. Write to me off list when you have a chance.

Donna, I promise the comment on feminism is on the way!

Best,

Melissa

From: Natalie Arsenault <n.arsenault@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU>

Date: February 16, 2006 3:33:54 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: K-12 Materials & Curriculum

Sure, Donna, here's some additional information:

I maintain a small lending library of books, children's literature, videos, curriculum materials, artifacts, music, etc. that are available for loan, free of charge, to educators around the country. Because most of my borrowers are K-12 teachers, the collection is very generalized and most of the materials provide little more than basic background information on the region. I purchase materials from whatever sources I find: Social Studies School Service, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Bullfrog Films, etc. The problem is that a lot of materials are not geared for K-12 audiences, and what's out there isn't always of good quality, so I'm running out of things to buy!

Because of these limitations, my colleagues in other area studies centers and I have started to create standards-aligned curriculum units about our world regions. I just finished one, with my counterpart in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, entitled "Africa Enslaved: A Curriculum Unit on Comparative Slave Systems for Grades 9-12," in which we compare slavery in Brazil, Haiti, the Swahili Coast, and Egypt by looking at primary sources that address legal status, slave labor, emancipation, abolition, etc.

I would like to begin working on curricular resources about women. To that end, I've found great resources on the World History Matters Web site, where I found out about this listserv. So the reason for my presence here is two-fold: (1) I'd like to know about resources I can purchase for or recommend to secondary educators and (2) I'm compiling a list of books that might be useful when I begin my next curriculum project.

If you're curious, you can check out my outreach collection online: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/llilas/outreach/library/.

Natalie

[ Back to Index ]

From: K Lehman <lehmannz28@YAHOO.COM>

Date: February 16, 2006 4:04:07 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Padre Amaro, abortion, drugs and institutions under globalisation

Dear All,

While I completely agree with all the comments made so far about the Mexican film El crimen del Padre Amaro, (melodramatic, soap opera, simplistic dialogue, stereotypes) I would like to point out that even the worst films can often get us and our students to reflect on important social issues in a way that print may not quite achieve, especially in teaching. In the case of Padre Amaro, the link between unneccessary death of women who have abortions (many of you know more about this problem than I do), and the social structures that make this phenomenon so common. The film tries to do too much, and succeeds only in part, but it brought together several strands that are operating across the continent and the world today.

The subtext of this film is that the social and civil institutions set up by the state after the Mexican Revolution (and internationally after WWII) such as universal secular education, health care, police, and legal protections under the law, were eroded in the decades of globalisation when governments sold off (privatised) national programmes. Thus,in many places the Catholic Church, once a relatively autonomous power in Mexico, in some places has institutionally come under the control of drug cartels, and some priests who will not tolerate this have left. Because state institutions have disappeared or been privatised and cannot or do not serve the interests of a majority of people, in its place what have arisen are powers that function strictly in a "market economy", whether they are legal or not, and in some cases they function humanely and provide services in an alternative economy that allow people to survive. Something quite similar is explained in the DVD that accompanies the film City of God. Not the film itself, but the documentary in that DVD interviews people in the favelas of Sao Paulo who stated that although the drug economy brought with it enormous violence, they also provide access to medicines and other services that are impossibly expensive otherwise, and the police were worse for them than the drug lords. One gets an impression of the normal life of people in the favela who have found ways of surviving amidst violence.

So Padre Amaro gives us a glimpse of the factors that may be in play in some locations in which women choose to have an abortion in spite of the terrible consequences, because they do not perceive any better alternative. This film, for all its flaws (and there are many), personalises what the statistics have been telling us, that a major cause of death for women in many Latin American countries is a botched abortion. Similarly, a far better film, Maria llena de gracia (Maria Full of Grace) offered us a closeup of why young women would choose to participate in drug trafficking when the consequences are so horrific.

As a teaching tool, one would need to work with good secondary source material with statistics that offset the "cheezy, soap opera" flaws of the film, including many negative stereotypes. And yet students may come away with some sense of the social factors that made Amelia choose an abortion and allowed a priest to literally get away with murder by blaming a leftist journalist, while the best medical care in the town and the most fantastic social events were organised by the families involved in drug trafficking. These families have mainstreamed in many places, and therefore they are portrayed as powerful and violent people who provide services for money instead of the black-and-white shadowy demons that appear in many Hollywood films.

I would like to point out that this phenomenon of powerful people who get away with murder is not restricted to Latin America, there are powerful figures in all countries who can literally shoot other people and get away with it because of who they are, whereas most people who shoot others are immediately questioned by police.

Those of us who have followed the drug trade are aware that journalists in some places in Latin America have just announced that they will no longer print articles about the drug trade because too many journalists have been targeted and killed. The fact that the state offers no protection for these journalists is one of the major factors cited for this decision.

Kathryn Lehman

The University of Auckland

From: Caroline Dodds <ced44@CAM.AC.UK>

Date: February 16, 2006 4:54:57 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Valentine's Day request

Dear Donna,

Thank you for your welcome! I'm afraid that I have no control at all over the course here. It is being organised by gender historians from the European and British groups and will have a set reading list from the faculty. In terms of teaching it at an individual, collegelevel though (in Cambridge we have faculty-organised lectures andone-on-one college-organised supervisions) I have some input as to what my students will read, however. So if anyone has any suggestions as to work which compares early modern Latin American and European gender issues then they would be much appreciated.

From a UK perspective, Latin American history is frequently sidelined into 'Regional Studies' and regarded as a world apart from Europe. Of course, in the Latin American field, we are used to looking at the meeting of the cultures in the colonial perspective, but the importance/relevance of this encounter is frequently neglected in courses about early modern Europe. (Until I arrived, it was almost totally absent from the lecture course here for example.) So I would really appreciate suggestions for readings about gender which bring the European and Latin American worlds together, either through comparisonor connection.

Thanks and best wishes,

Caroline

------

Dr. Caroline Dodds

Junior Research Fellow

Sidney Sussex College

Cambridge

CB2 3HU

Tel: 01223 (3)30867

Mob: 07740675610

[ Back to Index ]

From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 16, 2006 6:57:08 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Social movements

Dear All,

A propos. I just received an e-mail from the sociology department from a student who wants to do research about social movements in Colombia? Can someone help me?

Luz

From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 17, 2006 12:52:23 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Work

I think this is a very important topic. Although I have not done research on the topic, I know that Latin American women are discriminated by their age once they reach certain age. There is also the problem of motherhood. How much can a woman leave her child in the day-care center or with relatives in order to go to work before she is judged as a 'bad mother'.

Luz

[ Back to Index ]

From: Pérez Lizaur Marisol <marisol.perez@UIA.MX>

Date: February 17, 2006 2:22:01 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Work

There are many publications around the Tepic in Mexico. The best book I know is: GARCIA, Brígida y Orlandina DE OLIVEIRA. 1998. Trabajo femenino y vida familiar en México. México: El Colegio de México. There is also my work about mexican women managers: "Decisiones laborales entre ejecutivas de alto nivel de una gran corporación transnacional" 2000. Carmen Bueno editora. La globalización vista desde México CIESAS. Mexico. 167-190

Marisol Pérez Lizaur

From: Melissa Guy <melissa.guy@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 17, 2006 3:27:53 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Work

Hello All:

I would love suggestions for readings on women and labor during the colonial period. A while ago I was asked to cover a lecture on women in colonial Mexico for a colleague and I was dismayed to find that in the already prepared lecture, women showed up only as nuns and witches! At the last minute I scrambled to put together a section on women and labor by relying on Susan Socolow's well-known textbook, The Women of Colonial Latin America, which Donna already mentioned.I have plenty of stuff for the post-independence era, but need ideas for the colonial period......

Saludos,

Melissa

From: Sue Taylor <taylors@UNM.EDU>

Date: February 17, 2006 3:50:31 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Work

Hello all

I am one of the lurkers who have been quiet up until now. I am a Ph.D. student at the University of New Mexico and am in Caracas at present doing research for my project on women and slavery in Venezuela. Regarding readings on women and labor during the colonial period, I would suggest Kimberly Gauderman's book Women's lives in Colonial Quito: gender, law, and economy in Spanish America (University of Texas Press, 2003). There are also some interesting works on slave women, especially in Brazil, if your definition of women and labor includes slaves.

Thanks for the very interesting discussion so far.

Sue Taylor

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From: Caroline Dodds <ced44@CAM.AC.UK>

Date: February 18, 2006 6:51:58 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Women and Work

Dear Melissa,

MayI suggest, for women and labour in the colonial period, Jane E. Mangan's Trading Roles: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Urban Economy in Colonial Potosí (Duke University Press, 2005). I was sent it to review not long ago, and although it has strengths and weaknesses (as I'm sure all our work does!) it is certainly excellent if you would like to give a sense of the importance of women in the colonial market.Mangan has an excellent chronological and thematic coverage within her study, looking at the importance of both men and women of different racial backgrounds in both formal and informal economies and her archival work points to a number of interesting patterns (including the importance of women as providers of credit). She also looks at traditional issues such as women's significance in the food market, and provides a subtle reading of the respective importance of gender and ethnicity in shaping one's place in the colonial market of Potosí. Whilst Mangan certainly considers the importance of the silver mines which have driven so much of the historiography about Peru, she incorporates a far broader spectrum of material and her study would certainly be a good one if you wanted to counter the idea that women were only nuns and witches!

Best wishes,

Caroline

-----

Dr. Caroline Dodds

Junior Research Fellow

Sidney Sussex College

Cambridge

CB2 3HU

Tel: 01223 (3)30867

Mob: 07740675610

I would recommend:

Arrom, Silvia. M. The Women of Mexico City, 1790-1857. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985.

Pescador, Juan José. "Vanishing Woman: Female Migration and Ethnic Identity in Colonial Mexico City." Ethnohistory 42 (1995): 617-626.

Premo, Bianca. From the Pockets of Women: The Gendering of the Mita, Migration, and Tribute in Colonial Chucuito, Peru. The Americas 57:1 (2000): 63-93.

Ramirez, María Himelda. Las mujeres y la sociedad colonial de Santa Fe de Bogotá, 1750-1810. Santa Fe de Bogotá: Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia, 2000.

Villanueva, Margaret A. From Calpixqui to Corregidor: Appropriation of Women's Cotton Textile Production in Early Colonial Mexico. Latin American Perspectives 12 (1985): 17-40.

Wightman, Ann. ". . . residente en esa ciudad . . .": Urban Migrants in Colonia Cuzco." In Migration in Colonial Spanish America, David J. Robinson, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Zulawski, Anne. "Social Differentiation, Gender, and Ethnicity: Urban Indian Women in Colonial Bolivia, 1640-1725." Latin American Research Review 25:2 (1990): 93-113.

Some of the insights gained from these articles and books include: 1) Spanish labor obligations restructured native gender norms in a variety of ways, forcing women to take on new occupations to make up for absent husbands or to change the amount and quality of goods produced. 2) The type of occupations that colonial women held (obviously) depended on class and ethnicity as well as age and marital status. 3) Work in cities (especially in the Bourbon period) provided new opportunities for women, but also put them in danger of sexual exploitation and other violent crimes. 4) Migration to cities for indigenous women helped to sever their community ties. They may have begun to identify themselves more as members of a class, rather than of an ethnic group (or, maybe even more appropriately, than of a particular rural community).

I know these aren't all Mexican, but I think some of the most interesting work on labor and the intersections of class and ethnic identities is being done in the Andes.

Gretchen Pierce

Ph.D. Candidate

University of Arizona

Adjunct Instructor

Indiana University Northwest

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 19, 2006 10:48:02 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Female victimization

Dear Forum members,

Our month long forum is almost up, much to my regret. In the last week, I would encourage all to add their comments regarding the different topics we have been discussing, and add a new one: How to teach the history of women in Latin America from the perspective of victimization. Do we want to encourage other teachers to consider more positive models? How do we deal with victimization? What if students ask about this topic?

I also invite all of you to suggest other themes in addition to this. Let's have another incredible week of exchanges. Donna

From: Gregory Hammond <Greg.Hammond@OBERLIN.EDU>

Date: February 20, 2006 8:16:29 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Female victimization

Victimization can be a broad topic, and there are many ways to approach it. In my class, we'll be looking particularly at women's response to the military regimes of the 1970's, and my students will read Heidi Tinsman's "Partner's in Conflict" and Marguerite Bouvard's "Revolutionzing Motherhood". The latter, in particular, presents a very positive model of women responding to a tragic and often brutal situation.

Greg Hammond

[ Back to Index ]

From: Luz Triana-Echeverria <lctriana@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU>

Date: February 21, 2006 6:06:47 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Donna,

It is a shame the forum is coming to an end. I am sure all of us are going to miss it. I don't know if you plan on doing it again, but if you do, would it be possible for you to keep the e-mail addresses from this forum and let us know that way? Someone happened to forward me your original e-mail but since I am not a historian, chances are, I might not get another announcement from you in the future.

Thank you for all your insights to everyone and Donna, thank you for making this intellectual exchange possible.

Luz C Triana-Echeverria

St. Cloud State University, Minnesota

On 2/22/06, Rachel Pooley <> wrote:

Hi all,

I've been following your discussions closely and feel fortunate to be in such interesting company! I've been out of academia for a while, and have been interested to see what topics seem to generate the most interest. (My MA dealt w/ race, class and gender in colonial Mexico).

Now I'm combining my background in history with information science. I'm interested in teaching people how to do research in the internet age; we all know that there's far more information than we can possibly digest, so the task is getting to the good stuff.

Along those lines I thought some of you might like to use some online research tutorials specifically related to research on Latin America for your students. The best I've found so far comes from UNC, and though much is related to their specific library, I think it's a great overall tutorial.

Latin American Studies: Approaches to Library Research Tutorial University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries http://www.lib.unc.edu/instruct/latinamerica/

Also, the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM), lists of a number of research guides from various university libraries which I thought might be helpful:

Resources for Bibliographic Instruction in Latin American Studies

http://spot.colorado.edu/~knowlton/SALALM/

Good luck with all your research!

Rachel

Rachel Pooley

MSI Student

School of Information

University of Michigan

rpooley@umich.edu

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 23, 2006 11:08:58 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: research resources

Dear Rachel,

Thanks. These are wonderful resources. Donna

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 23, 2006 11:28:41 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Teaching Strategies

Dear Forum Members,

As part of our last week on the forum, I would like to invite people to share their teaching tips with each other. My students all know that I hand out 3x5 cards on the first day asking the students to fill in information such as their class rank, major, courses related to the subject that they have taken, languages they speak, and places they have visited. Finally I ask them why they are taking the course. These questions are very useful as they help me figure out if someone is cheating (I once had a grad student plagiarize a text complete with Spanish and Portuguese citations after he told me he only knew English!!!!), how well prepared they are for the course, and what interests them. This has enabled me to tweak the courses from year to year so that it is of greater interest to students. What do you do? Donna

Donna Guy,

Distinguished Professor of Humanities

Department of History

Ohio State University

106 Dulles Hall

230 W. 17th Ave.

Columbus, OH 43210-1367

614-292-0324

On 2/23/06, Joseph Puentes <

Here I go jumping in again -

fyi:

Message: 4

Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 15:03:35 -0600

Subject: [Aztlan] Divine and Human; Women in Ancient Mexico and Peru

To: AZTLAN@lists.famsi.org

Message-ID: <29411-43FB8027-12833@storefull-3352.bay.webtv.net>

Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII

March 3-May 28, 2006

Divine and Human: Women in Ancient Mexico and Peru

In ancient Mesoamerica and Andean civilizations, women had daily roles in both the spiritual and actual worlds.

They were not only daughters, wives, mothers, and grandmothers, but also healers, midwives, scribes, artists, priestesses, warriors, governors, and even goddesses. Divine and Human brings together 400 archaeological treasures from the unparalleled museum collections of Mexico and Peru.

Magnificent sculptures, textiles, pottery, and jewelry explore the feminine "sphere" in cultures as varied as the Aztec, Mayan, Zapotec, Moche, Mixtec, and Incan.

Divine and Human will be seen exclusively in the United States at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

More about this exhibition.

National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.

http://www.nmwa.org/calendar/detail.asp?eventId=416

Mike Ruggeri's Ancient America and Mesoamerica News and Links

http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIKERUGGERISANCIENT

Mike Ruggeri's Maya Archaeology News and Links

http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIkeRuggerisMaya

MIKE RUGGERI'S MOUND BUILDERS/ ANCIENT SOUTHWEST NEWS AND LINKS

http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIKERUGGERISMOUND

Ancient America, Mesoamerica and Andean Museum Exhibitions, Lectures and Conferences

http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/AncientAmerica

Mike Ruggeri's Andean Archaeology News and Links

http://community.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MikeRuggerisAndean

[ Back to Index ]

This post is offered in the spirit of más vale tarde que nunca, better late than never. Because I have benefited from hearing others' ideas on teaching these topics, I'd like to share a few thoughts about how I teach Women and Gender in Latin American History, a course I've offered both as a seminar and as a lecture at the undergraduate level.

When I ask students on the first day about their associations with this topic, they inevitably mention Madonna's rendition of don't cry for me Argentina and Colombian pop-star Shakira. (At least the Spanish majors often name Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.) How do we go about making this topic relevant to students without playing to the preconceived images they have, mostly gleaned from popular culture and the media? How do we explain gender history versus women's history? Below I give a brief overview of how I approach these issues.

In the beginning of class, I ask students to share their preconceived notions of gender roles in Latin America. Generally, they come up with a composite of Latin American woman as deeply devout Catholic, confined to home, marriage and motherhood, steeped in conservative social mores, oppressed by machismo, etc (so much for Shakira!) Then I throw out a few pieces of information to complicate that stereotype: for example, the fact that women had much more expansive property rights in colonial LA law than did Anglo-American women; that women in LA have long participated in the labor force; that the region has historically high rates of illegitimacy; that today there are more women in the congresses of several countries in the region than is the case for the U.S. And how about last month's election of a socialist, agnostic, divorced mother of three (Michelle Bachelet) to the presidency of what the U.S. press repeatedly characterized as the most socially conservative country in Latin America(Chile)? The purpose is not to reverse the calculus of oppression (hey, they are actually liberated after all!) but simply to begin to throw into question stereotypes that students consciously or unconsciously harbor.

This leads us to the first course readings. As some forum members have mentioned, in teaching gender in Latin America, there is the grave risk of orientalization, and in particular, of viewing Women in Latin America as hopelessly subjugated by Church and culture. To counter this pitfall, I assign Chandra Mohanty's article (which several people have already mentioned) as well as a wonderful article by Lila Ahmed about the complex meanings of the harem and the veil. I encourage them to think about these issues not only in relation to the course but in relation to North American media representation of women in the third world in general. (Obviously we hear a lot about oppressed women in the Middle East these days, and Ahmed's article in particular resonates with these portrayals.) In particular, we discuss the function that such representations perform in our own gender culture ( things may not be perfect here, but at least we're not in Brazil/Afghanistan/ Guatemala/Saudi Arabia!).

Next, we discuss women's and gender history. Most students can figure out women's history even if they haven't been exposed to it before, but gender? Here I assign Joan Scott's classic, Gender as a Category of Analysis. There's no question the article is very challenging for students, but I assign it the second week of class and tell them if they begin to understand it by the end of the semester, that's good enough for me. I explain that gender analysis is powerful in that it can reveal how historical events, processes, and discourses that ostensibly have nothing to do with women may still be constructed in terms of the differences between the sexes. Here I hand out some of those classic political cartoons from the U.S. press during the Spanish-American war, in which a dashing Uncle Sam rescues Cuba, represented as a lovely and demur young woman, from the evil clutches of a swarthy, villainous Spain. We talk about how gender works its way into representations of a conflict that has, on the face of it, nothing to do with gender at all.

Once we get past the oppressed Latin American woman syndrome, and we've established what women's history and gender history are, we can get down to business. I organize the course chronologically (colonial period to present) and thematically (weekly themes include, for example, race, class and family (colonial); gender and the state (nineteenth century); revolution and reaction; feminism; gender and neoliberalism (twentieth century)).

Throughout the course, I emphasize the persistent discrepancy between gender prescriptions and reality, an issue that gets them thinking about how to read historical sources in general. Another recurring theme is the notion that gender can't be understood without thinking about race and class (an obvious point, but one that deserves sustained attention in the context of the course, I think).

I have more thoughts on teaching this topic, but I'd like to post this before the forum shuts down! I will post my syllabus to the forum site.

Best to all.

Saludos,

Nara Milanich

Asssistant Professor

Department of History

Barnard College

Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 16:08:23 -0600

From: ewest <ewest@UARK.EDU>

Subject: New Yahoo Group: Women Writers of the West

This is an annoucement about a new yahoo group for Women entitled, Women Writers of the American West.

I initiated this group for women to come together and discuss their writing and publishing, their unique experieces as women writers, and their passion for the American West. to subscribe: womenwritersofwesternamerica-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/womenwritersofwesternamerica/

Thanks,

SUE

Sue Schrems

sue.schrems@HorseCreekPublications.com

http://westernamericana.blogspot.com/

End of H-WEST Digest - 21 Feb 2006 (#2006-33)

*********************************************

joseph

============================================================

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 24, 2006 11:08:42 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Divine and Human: Women in Ancient Mexico and Peru

Dear Joseph,

Thanks for your imput on internet resources. Donna

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 24, 2006 11:10:47 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Opening Statement from Donna Guy

Dear Luz,

All the emails are being stored and will be available on email. Perhaps one of you would like to moderate the forum through HLATAM or HWOMAN. Donna

From: "Frank, Ilene" <ifrank@LIB.USF.EDU>

Date: February 25, 2006 6:01:00 PM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Books mentioned on Women in Latin America

Hi! I'm not sure if I got all the books mentioned on this discussion list- but here's at least some of them. I'll see if I can get all the websites and media in lists as well. See below.

-- Ilene Frank, Univ of South Florida,

Anderson, Danny J., and Jill S. Kuhnheim. Cultural Studies in the Curriculum : Teaching Latin America. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

Arrom, Silvia Marina. Women and the Family in Mexico City, 1800-1857., 1985.

Azevedo, Aluísio, and Daphne Patai. Mulatto. Rutherford N.J.; Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ; London; Associated University Presses, 1990.

Balderston, Daniel, and Donna J. Guy. Sex and Sexuality in Latin America. New York: New York University Press, 1997.

Bouvard, Marguerite Guzman. Revolutionizing Motherhood : The Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo. Wilmington, Del: Scholarly Resources Inc, 1994.

Burns, Kathryn. Colonial Habits : Convents and the Spiritual Economy of Cuzco, Peru. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999.

Chaney, Elsa. Supermadre : La Mujer Dentro De La Política En América Latina. 1a ed. en español ed. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1983.

---. Supermadre : Women in Politics in Latin America. Austin: Published for Institute of Latin American Studies by University of Texas Press, 1979.

de Lomnitz, Larissa Adler, and Marisol Pérez Lizaur. A Mexican Elite Family, 1820-1980 : Kinship, Class, and Culture. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1987.

García, Brígida, and Orlandina de Oliveira. Trabajo Femenino y Vida Familiar En México. México, D.F: El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Demográficos y de Desarrollo Urbano : Centro de Estudios Sociológicos, 1994.

Gauderman, Kimberly. Women's Lives in Colonial Quito : Gender, Law, and Economy in Spanish America. 1st ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003.

Guy, Donna J. Sex and Danger in Buenos Aires : Prostitution, Family, and Nation in Argentina. Vol. 1. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991.

Henderson, James D., and Linda Roddy Henderson. Ten Notable Women of Latin America. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1978.

Himelda Ramírez, María. Las Mujeres y La Sociedad Colonial De Santa Fé De Bogotá 1750-1810. 1.th ed. Vol. título 7. Santafé de Bogotá: Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia, 2000.

Keen, Benjamin, Robert Buffington, and Lila M. Caimari. Keen's Latin American Civilization : History & Society, 1492 to the Present. 8th ed. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2004.

Keen, Benjamin. Latin American Civilization : History and Society, 1492 to the Present. 7th ed., rev. and updat ed. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press, 2000.

Mangan, Jane E. Trading Roles : Gender, Ethnicity, and the Urban Economy in Colonial Potosí. Durham N.C.: Duke University Press, 2005.

Matto de Turner, Clorinda, Antonio Cornejo Polar, and John Herman Richard Polt. Torn from the Nest. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

McIntyre, Kellen Kee, and Richard Phillips, eds. Women and Art in Early Modern Latin America., forthcoming.

Paternostro, Silvana. In the Land of God and Man : Confronting our Sexual Culture. New York: Dutton, 1998.

Pescador, Juan Javier. "Vanishing Woman: Female Migration and Ethnic Identity in Late-Colonial Mexico City." Ethnohistory 42.4 (1995): 617-26.

Salvatore, Ricardo Donato. Wandering Paysanos : State Order and Subaltern Experience in Buenos Aires during the Rosas Era (1820-1860). Durham N.C.: Duke University Press, 2003.

Socolow, Susan Migden. The Women of Colonial Latin America. Cambridge, UK ;; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Stavig, Ward. ""Living in Offense of our Lord": Indigenous Sexual Values and Marital Life in the Colonial Crucible." Hispanic American Historical Review 75.4 (1995): 597-622.

Stephen, Lynn. Women and Social Movements in Latin America : Power from Below. 1st ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.

Tinsman, Heidi. Partners in Conflict : The Politics of Gender, Sexuality, and Labor in the Chilean Agrarian Reform, 1950-1973. Durham: Duke University Press, 2002.

Twinam, Ann. Public Lives, Private Secrets : Gender, Honor, Sexuality, and Illegitimacy in Colonial Spanish America. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Van Deusen, Nancy E. Between the Sacred and the Worldly : The Institutional and Cultural Practice of Recogimiento in Colonial Lima. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2001.

Zulawski, Anne. "Social Differentiation, Gender, and Ethnicity - Urban Indian Women in Colonial Bolivia, 1640-1725." Latin American Research Review 25.2 (1990): 93-113.

On 2/26/06, viviana kluger <> wrote:

I don't knnow if I missed something, but I would like to add my book "Escenas de la vida conyugal. Los conflictos matrimoniales en la sociedad virreinal rioplatense". Ed.Quorum.Buenos Aires 2003 and the articles mentioned and that may be dowlowled from my web site www.vivianakluger.com.ar

Viviana Kluger

www.vivianakluger.com.ar

Buenos Aires

Argentina

Teléfonos:

oficina: 4348-1728/1738

celular: 154564-1206

_________________________________________________________________

MSN Amor: busca tu ½ naranja http://latam.msn.com/amor/

[ Back to Index ]

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 27, 2006 9:59:00 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: women in Latin America

Dear Viviana,

We did not ignore your book. Many of the Forum members don't read Spanish, so most of the suggestions have been English publications. The availability of your book on the internet should be of great use to those who do read Spanish. Donna

Donna Guy,

Distinguished Professor of Humanities

Department of History

Ohio State University

106 Dulles Hall

230 W. 17th Ave.

Columbus, OH 43210-1367

614-292-0324

From: DONNA GUY <donna.guy.60@GMAIL.COM>

Date: February 27, 2006 10:03:29 AM EST

To: WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L@mail04.GMU.EDU

Subject: Re: Books mentioned on Women in Latin America

Dear Ilene,

Thanks for all your book suggestions. Donna

Yesterday marked the official close of the Women in Latin America forum. So, on behalf of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University (http://chnm.gmu.edu), I'd like to thank our moderators Donna Guy and Sharon Cohen, and all of the participants--active and lurking.

I also like to point out that all of the messages this month will be archived and accessible through the Women and World History website at: https://listserv.gmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=WOMENINLATINAMERICA-L

All the messages are listed by subject thread and are fully searchable. We're still working on the design for this page, so please pardon our dust for a few more days!

Finally, we hope you will join us for the last in our series of four forums this academic year, Women in Asia, moderated by Dorothy Ko of Barnard College and Kurt Waters of the Virginia Public Schools, which starts today, March 1. As before, you can find registration instructions at: http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/forum.html

Best wishes,

Kristin

Kristin Lehner

Women in World History Project Associate

Center for History and New Media

George Mason University

4400 University Dr. MSN 3G1

Fairfax, Virginia 22030

United States

Phone: (703)993-4528

Email: klehner@gmu.edu