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Mothers Making Latin America: Gender, Households, and Politics Since 1825
Mothers Making Latin America utilizes a combination of gender scholarship and source material to dispel the belief that women were separated from--or unimportant to--central developments in Latin American history since independence.Presents nuanced issues in gender historiography for Latin America in a readable narrative for undergraduate students Offers brief, primary-source document excerpts at the end of each chapter that instructors can use to stimulate class discussion Adheres to a focus on motherhood, which allows for a coherent narrative that touches upon important themes without falling into a "list of facts" textbook style
- GenresHistory
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2013
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December 26, 2018
Popular culture has created an image of the Latin American women as the absolute matriarch of the family. She is often portrayed as a strong motherly figure who is sure to make sure her kids get up for school and that the family is well fed. Erin O’Connor delves deeper into the roles of mothers in Latin America in her book Mothers Making Latin America: Gender, Households, and Politics since 1825. Recent history in Latin America has seen the rise of multiple women who have become the head of state in a variety of different countries. O’Connor seeks to trace the history of women’s movements in Latin America through motherhood, in which she emphasizes the various ways in which mothers of all classes interpret and assert their role in feminist movements.
Erin O’Connor is presently an associate professor of history at Bridgewater State University and is the co-author of Documenting Latin America: Gender, Race, and Empire Volume 1 and 2. Graduate level courses could benefit from the use of O’Connor’s Mothers Making Latin America as the details provided in this book are quite extensive. The book does however, assume the reader has more than a cursory understanding of Latin American history and includes examples form a variety of countries from Central and South America. The varied histories of each of these countries are extremely complex and this can lead to some confusion for the reader who is no familiar with the topic, which I why this book should be reserved for graduate level courses. Some use of the book, in parts, could be beneficial for an undergraduate course on either Latin American history or a women’s studies course.
While Mothers Making Latin America is divided into ten different chapters which cover history from the years 1825 through the present, there is a clear underlying division of the book into three different periods of history. Chapters 2-4 cover the history of Latin America through the 19th century, Chapters 5-6 cover the period from 1900-1950, and Chapters 7-10 covers the last half of the 20th century to the present. Each chapter also begins with a specific story which relates to an individual woman who in her own way works for the progress of women. Gabriela Mistral is one of these cases, she was born a poor woman who through education becomes a teacher and by 1922 the Mexican Secretary of Education. Mistral never marries and through education identifies herself as being married to the state; therefore, mother to all people of Mexico. Each of these stories of individuals adds to the overall text in a way as to humanize each different chapter and put a face to the history of women in Latin America.
O’Connor believes that gender is cultural and economic circumstances are a far better indicator of the role of motherhood on feminism and the way in which women react to and improve their situation in society. Within each of these different sections of the book, she can spend chapters looking at the role of middle and upper class women versus poor women. For example, wealthy women during the first half of the twentieth century saw their role as a mother to be one in which they took care of poor women and showed them the proper ways in which a more affluent and wealthy woman was able to care for their household. Poor women were often not given the luxury of staying home with their children and instead were forced due to economics to find a job to provide money to keep their families afloat. This would often mean her children were left unattended; to fend for themselves. The irony in the situation is often women who were poor would find themselves in a position of a servant for a wealthy family caring for their children while the wealthy woman would be out working in charitable positions trying to educate and care for poor women.
Another important theme in this book relates to the concepts of progress, modernity, and tradition. The first few chapters focus on the historical role of women in Latin American society and early movements in the later half of the nineteenth century which can be seen as tradition. The middle chapters focus on the middle of the twentieth century and give insight into how mothers continue to maintain their traditional role while also accepting new, more modern ways of living. The end of the book could be viewed as progress as O’Connor introduces us to women who are active participants in government. Interwoven throughout each of these chapters O’Connor also uses these themes to show that women were faced with challenges in related to each of these themes. “Women’s supposedly traditional virtues of tenderness, morality, and discipline could be revived in order to rescue modern society from materialism and selfishness run rampant” (109). The underlying themes of tradition, modernity, and progress organize and enrich this book so that the reader is made aware of the myriad of ways motherhood and women’s movements mirrored each other.
A quick glance at the title of this book Mothers Making Latin America may imply a limited scope for a book about feminism in Latin America. Audre Lorde would cringe at the thought of being identified only as mother. It would be a mistake to think Mothers Making Latin America limits women to being only mothers. O’Connor uses motherhood as a tool to deepen our understanding of the role of women in Latin America.
Erin O’Connor is presently an associate professor of history at Bridgewater State University and is the co-author of Documenting Latin America: Gender, Race, and Empire Volume 1 and 2. Graduate level courses could benefit from the use of O’Connor’s Mothers Making Latin America as the details provided in this book are quite extensive. The book does however, assume the reader has more than a cursory understanding of Latin American history and includes examples form a variety of countries from Central and South America. The varied histories of each of these countries are extremely complex and this can lead to some confusion for the reader who is no familiar with the topic, which I why this book should be reserved for graduate level courses. Some use of the book, in parts, could be beneficial for an undergraduate course on either Latin American history or a women’s studies course.
While Mothers Making Latin America is divided into ten different chapters which cover history from the years 1825 through the present, there is a clear underlying division of the book into three different periods of history. Chapters 2-4 cover the history of Latin America through the 19th century, Chapters 5-6 cover the period from 1900-1950, and Chapters 7-10 covers the last half of the 20th century to the present. Each chapter also begins with a specific story which relates to an individual woman who in her own way works for the progress of women. Gabriela Mistral is one of these cases, she was born a poor woman who through education becomes a teacher and by 1922 the Mexican Secretary of Education. Mistral never marries and through education identifies herself as being married to the state; therefore, mother to all people of Mexico. Each of these stories of individuals adds to the overall text in a way as to humanize each different chapter and put a face to the history of women in Latin America.
O’Connor believes that gender is cultural and economic circumstances are a far better indicator of the role of motherhood on feminism and the way in which women react to and improve their situation in society. Within each of these different sections of the book, she can spend chapters looking at the role of middle and upper class women versus poor women. For example, wealthy women during the first half of the twentieth century saw their role as a mother to be one in which they took care of poor women and showed them the proper ways in which a more affluent and wealthy woman was able to care for their household. Poor women were often not given the luxury of staying home with their children and instead were forced due to economics to find a job to provide money to keep their families afloat. This would often mean her children were left unattended; to fend for themselves. The irony in the situation is often women who were poor would find themselves in a position of a servant for a wealthy family caring for their children while the wealthy woman would be out working in charitable positions trying to educate and care for poor women.
Another important theme in this book relates to the concepts of progress, modernity, and tradition. The first few chapters focus on the historical role of women in Latin American society and early movements in the later half of the nineteenth century which can be seen as tradition. The middle chapters focus on the middle of the twentieth century and give insight into how mothers continue to maintain their traditional role while also accepting new, more modern ways of living. The end of the book could be viewed as progress as O’Connor introduces us to women who are active participants in government. Interwoven throughout each of these chapters O’Connor also uses these themes to show that women were faced with challenges in related to each of these themes. “Women’s supposedly traditional virtues of tenderness, morality, and discipline could be revived in order to rescue modern society from materialism and selfishness run rampant” (109). The underlying themes of tradition, modernity, and progress organize and enrich this book so that the reader is made aware of the myriad of ways motherhood and women’s movements mirrored each other.
A quick glance at the title of this book Mothers Making Latin America may imply a limited scope for a book about feminism in Latin America. Audre Lorde would cringe at the thought of being identified only as mother. It would be a mistake to think Mothers Making Latin America limits women to being only mothers. O’Connor uses motherhood as a tool to deepen our understanding of the role of women in Latin America.
May 12, 2025
i actually finished this a while ago lol whoops.
a very good source, though that may be skewed because i read a couple REALLYYY bad ones at the same time.
read for school, latin american women in history
a very good source, though that may be skewed because i read a couple REALLYYY bad ones at the same time.
read for school, latin american women in history
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews