Women in Mexico: A Past Unveiled

by Julia Tuñón Pablos

Throughout Mexico's history, women have been subjected to a dual exalted in myth, they remain subordinated in their social role by their biology. But this dualism is not so much a battle between the sexes as the product of a social system. The injustices of this system have led Mexican women to conclude that they deserve a better world, one worth struggling for. Published originally in Spanish as Mujeres en Mé Una historia olvidada , this work examines the role of Mexican women from pre-Cortés to the 1980s, addressing the interplay between myth and history and the gap between theory and practice. Pointing to such varied prototypes as the Virgin of Guadalupe, La Malinche, and Sor Juana, Tuñón contrasts what these women represent with more realistic but less-exalted counterparts such as Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, La Güera Rodríguez, and Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza. She also discusses the identity transformation by which indigenous women come to see themselves as Mexicanas, and analyzes such issues as women's economic dislocation in the labor force, education, and self-image. In challenging the illusion that historians have created of women in Mexico's history, Tuñón hopes to recover feminism—with its strengths and weaknesses, its vision of the world that is both intellectual and full of feeling. By examining the social world of Mexico, she also hopes to determine those situations that cause oppression, exploitation, and marginalization of women.

Genres: History, Feminism, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Julia Tuñón Pablos (born 1948) is a Mexican historian and author. In 1987, she wrote the first comprehensive historical account of women's contributions to building the nation, as prior histories had predominantly left women out of the narrative. In 1983 and again in 2000 she was awarded the Gabino Barreda Medal for academic excellence. She won the Susana San Juan Literary Prize in 1998 and was awarded the Emilio García Riera Medal by the University of Guadalajara in 2004.

Reviews

[Citlali Helenes González]

3.5-4

[Caitlin]

Was just a bit boring really lads

[George]

A lot of the information in the book is outdated and the most recent statistics referenced are from 1998 but it’s a decent quick overview of women in Mexican history.