Gender and the Mexican Revolution: Yucatan Women and the Realities of Patriarchy [Hardcover]

Smith Stephanie J. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807832847 | ISBN-13: 978-0807832844 | Publication Date: May 8, 2009 | Edition: 1

The state of Yucatan is commonly considered to have been a hotbed of radical feminism during the Mexican Revolution. Challenging this romanticized view, Stephanie Smith examines the revolutionary reforms designed to break women's ties to tradition and religion, as well as the ways in which women shaped these developments.

Smith analyzes the various regulations introduced by Yucatan's two revolution-era governors, Salvador Alvarado and Felipe Carrillo Puerto. Like many revolutionary leaders throughout Mexico, the Yucatan policy makers professed allegiance to women's rights and socialist principles. Yet they, too, passed laws and condoned legal practices that excluded women from equal participation and reinforced their inferior status.

Using court cases brought by ordinary women, including those of Mayan descent, Smith demonstrates the importance of women's agency during the Mexican Revolution. But, she says, despite the intervention of women at many levels of Yucatecan society, the rigid definition of women's social roles as strictly that of wives and mothers within the Mexican nation guaranteed that long-term, substantial gains remained out of reach for most women for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Provides a fresh analysis of the impact of the revolution on Yucatecan society . . . . a welcome addition to the historiography of patriarchy in Mexico." -Bulletin of Latin American Research

"Studies in English on the Mexican Revolution must strike a difficult balance that is common in area studies. . . . Smith . . . does an admirable job of satisfying on all counts. . . . A lucid, accessible text. . . . Highly recommended."
-Choice

"Thoughtful. . . . Smith has revealed and sensitively analyzed a world awash in complexity and complication, a revolutionary world in which Yucatan women fought to be treated properly. These women, as Smith reminds us, crafted legacies to which future women could turn."
-American Historical Review

"Smith's work contributes significantly to our understanding of how the Mexican Revolution affected gender in the Yucatán…Impressive original research."
-Mexican Studies

"A highly readable and at times poignant social history rich with political implications."
-Hispanic American Historical Review

"An engaging story of women who struggled to shape the revolutionary project. . . . Smith's engaging writing style and clear analysis makes this an excellent choice for classroom use."
-H-Net Reviews

"An important contribution to the emergent field of Mexican feminist theory. . . . Scholars of Mexican history, women and gender, and legal studies will learn much from this very readable book."
-The Americas

"An example of groundbreaking research in gender studies. . . . Smith's research shows that women were far more active and influential than is usually admitted. . . . A welcomed contribution to the field of gender studies and will definitely force us to see the Mexican Revolution in a new light."
-The Latin Americanist

"With a multiple focus on laws, court proceedings, and women's mobilizations, Gender and the Mexican Revolution demonstrates how gender identities, old and new, pervaded political and legal processes in a moment of extraordinary instability and turbulence. It makes a significant contribution to the thriving field of twentieth-century women and gender history in Latin America."
- Mary Kay Vaughan, coeditor of Sex in Revolution: Gender, Politics,and Power in Modern Mexico

"Smith has rewritten the revolutionary history of the Yucatan. We will never be able to go back to romanticizing the socialist governors or imagining an egalitarian society that never existed in the first place."
- Patrick McNamara, author of Sons of the Sierra: Juarez, Diaz, and the People of Ixtlan, Oaxaca, 1855-1920

About the Author

Stephanie J. Smith is assistant professor of history at the Ohio State University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press; 1 edition (May 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807832847
• ISBN-13: 978-0807832844
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,816,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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