The Normal School for Women and Liberal Feminism in Mexico City, Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century

In 1904 first liberal feminist association is formed at Normal de Profesoras (Normal School for Women) in Mexico City. The article profiles first generation of feminists (writers, teachers, and atypical women), their demands and their social networks. Drawing from life story of Dolores Correa Zapata, influence she exerted upon next generation of feminists--who attended events such as Baltimore Feminist Congress (United States, 1922), The National Convention of Women (Mexico City, 1925), and International Feminist Congress--is identified. Feminism lies in raising to level of their species, human species. Dolores Correa Zapata (1906, p. 16) Feminist culture, so debated nowadays, ... must have Normal School for Women as its core Maria Arias Bernal (1916, p. 69) Introduction As twentieth century began to unfold, a group of advocating for feminism in Mexico City later came to be known as first wave of Mexican feminism (Lau, 1987). This paper attempts to analyze activities of these as agents of social change by identifying their demands, accomplishments and social networks. International research has documented that a feminist movement, linked to liberal, socialist and anarchist tendencies advocating women's right to vote and access upper education, erupted onto political scene in European cities late in nineteenth century (Anderson and Zinnsser ,1992). In Mexico, Macias (1982) conducted pioneering research on Mexican feminist movement from late nineteenth century to 1940s. He identified existence of a feminist association in Mexico City in 1904, namely Sociedad Protectora de la Mujer (Society for Protection of Women), though he failed to delve deeper into subject. Other research focusing on revolutionary period has singled out Hermila Galindo de Topete's request to Constituent Congress regarding women's suffrage, as well as First Feminist Congress, which took place in 1916 in Merida, as symbolic cornerstones of feminist movement (Cano, 1990, 1991; Lau and Ramos, 1993; Lau, 1995; Ramos, 1996). (1) In Mexican history, other have fought for their rights (if not openly using this particular terminology), even from far more radical standpoints than their predecessors. I offer two examples: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1651-1695) was silenced by Catholic clergy, not for being a poet, as other nuns were, but for being erudite in her own right (Paz, 1983). Ignacia Riechy, a patriot who wished to organize a women's battalion to fight against French intervention, committed suicide in 1866 because of a liberal soldier's joke about her masculine appearance. However, their participation was individual rather than as part of a political movement. A political movement implies interaction, agreement, and social networking (2) between individuals who freely decide to stand for a social cause. Furthermore, if it indeed entails movement, it is bound to produce a reaction. The pioneering introduced in this paper gathered to discuss and bring about change in life of Mexican women. As part of feminist movement, they exposed subordination of by publicly advocating for particular demands. Methodology This research involves so-called cultural (Burke, 2003), and in particular history of women (Ramos, 1996; Scott, 2003). Making use of Lopez Austin's metaphor (1990), similar to a telephone company technician I investigated the order of wiring in social subsoil of writers of late nineteenth century. I designed a database of writers who were popular between 1880 and 1905, and I created another database concerning writers from magazines intended for a female audience: El Correo de las Senoras (CS) (1882-1883), El Album de la Mujer (EAM) (1883-1886), Violetas del Anahuac (VA) (1887-1889), and La Mujer Mexicana (LMM) (1904-1908). …

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