Sandino's Daughters Revisited: Feminism in Nicaragua [Paperback]

Margaret Randall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1994

"A collection of varied and amazing lives, all bent on shaping history. Together, these experienced, undeterred Nicaraguan women offer powerful clues about a truly revolutionary and democratizing feminism." --Adrienne Rich "Powerful, moving, and challenging. Everyone interested in decency and justice will want to read Sandino's Daughters Revisited." --Blanche Wiesen Cook "If it were not for writers like Margaret, how would women around the world find each other when there is such an institutional effort to keep us apart and silent? Here Margaret brings us the voice of Sandino's daughters, honoring his hat and wearing their own, wiser now, having been part of political and personal revolution." --Holly Near Sandino's Daughters, Margaret Randall's conversations with Nicaraguan women in their struggle against the dictator Somoza in 1979, brought the lives of a group of extraordinary female revolutionaries to the American and world public. The book remains a landmark. A decade later, Randall returned to interview many of the same women and others. In Sandino's Daughters Revisited, they speak of their lives during the Sandinista adminstration, the ways in which the revolution made them strong--and also held them back. Ironically, the 1990 defeat of the Sandinistas at the ballot box has given Sandinista women greater freedom to express their feelings and ideas. Randall interviewed outspoken women from all walks of life. The voices of these women lead us to recognize both the failed promises and continuing attraction of the Sandinista movement for women. This is a moving account of the relationship between feminism and revolution as it is expressed in the daily lives of Nicaraguan women. Margaret Randall is the author of more than fifty books, including four others about Nicaragua. She was born and raised in the U.S., but lived for twenty-three years in Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Having relinquished her citizenship when she married a Mexican, she was denied U.S. residency when she returned to the United States in 1984. After a five-year fight, she regained her citizenship in 1989. She lives in New Mexico and teaches at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, in the spring.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Randall ( Sandino's Daughters ) lived for more than three years in Nicaragua and supported the Sandinistas. Returning there in 1991 after the Sandinista defeat, she concluded that the party's inability to confront feminism was a major failure, and resolved to explore the state of Nicaraguan feminism. What emerged are deeply textured interviews with 12 women, a worthy contribution to the literature concerning both Nicaragua and the role of women in social change. Poet Michele Najlis recalls Daniel Ortega dismissing abortion and family planning as exotic ideas important only to intellectuals. Doctor Mirna Cunningham, raped by contras in a notorious incident, says that ethnically diverse women from the Atlantic Coast face ``an inordinate degree of violence.'' Daisy Zamora, the former vice-minister of culture, reflects that the few women in power should have protested in louder voices. Lawyer Milu Vargas makes the central point that a revolution means both external and internal change. Despite their detailed and thoughtful criticisms, these women remain proud of the progress of their country and retain many of their revolutionary ideals. Illustrations not seen by PW.

Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Born in 1936 and raised in the United States, poet, journalist, and photographer Randall lived for many years in Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Her 50-plus books were deemed too political to allow her to remain in America. Randall, who argues that feminism and socialism need each other, interviewed women opposing the Somoza regime for Sandino's Daughters (1981), one of her books about Nicaragua. Here she has interviewed some of the same women (e.g., poet Daisy Zamora and politician Dora Maria Tellez) and others (e.g., Diana Espinoza, head bookkeeper of an employee-owned factory), providing translations, editing, photography, and a lengthy background introduction. There are few comparable booklength works in English. Useful for most libraries, including collections serving Latin American areas and women studies.
- Helen Rippier Wheeler, formerly with Univ. of California at Berkeley, SLIS
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press; First Edition edition (February 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813520258
• ISBN-13: 978-0813520254
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,186,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > History > Americas > Central America > Nicaragua

More About the Author

I am a poet, essayist, photographer, feminist and social activist, born in New York City (1936), lived for many years in Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua, and returned to the U.S. in 1984. I now live in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my partner of many years, the painter Barbara Byers. I travel widely to read and lecture. Recent books include TO CHANGE THE WORLD: MY YEARS IN CUBA (memoir, with photos), and STONES WITNESS, THEIR BACKS TO THE SEA, and MY TOWN (poetry, with photographs). Soon to be released: AS IF THE EMPTY CHAIR / COMO SI LA SILLA VACIA (poems in tribute to the disappeared of Latin America, in bilingual edition, translations by Leandro Katz and Diego Guerra), FIRST LAUGH (essays), SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE CORNFIELDS, and RUINS (poems, with photos). The desert of the U.S. Southwest is my spiritual home, and ancient ruins--here and in other parts of the world--increasingly my greatest source of inspiration. Visit my web page at www.margaretrandall.org for a more detailed biography, curriculum vita, up-to-date information on my books and to view four ever-evolving portfolios of my photographic images, as well as current news about where and when I will be reading my work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Contribution, October 22, 2010

By 

Chris M. White (Lawrence, KS United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sandino's Daughters Revisited: Feminism in Nicaragua (Paperback)

The other reviewer's comments can not be the sole representation of Ms. Randall's important book. There simply are no other studies such as hers with the insight and depth that she brings to this book. A must read for anyone who wants to learn about the role of women in the Sandinista Revolution.

1 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Feminist Propaganda, March 6, 2007

By 

M. N. Thompson "otaku hime" (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sandino's Daughters Revisited: Feminism in Nicaragua (Paperback)

Reading this book filled me with an undescribable rage. It was nothing more than feminist propaganda for chapter after chapter. This book would not appeal to anyone other than feminists, so men and us regular women should stay away. The only reason I gave it a "1" is that's the lowest score. I would have givin it a "-8" if I could have.