Soldaderas in the Mexican Military

Soldaderas in the Mexican Military PDF Author: Elizabeth Salas
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292787669
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
This study explores the evolving role of women soldiers in Mexico—as both fighters and cultural symbols—from the pre-Columbian era to the present. Since pre-Columbian times, soldiering has been a traditional life experience for innumerable women in Mexico. Yet the many names given these women warriors—heroines, camp followers, Amazons, coronelas, soldadas, soldaderas, and Adelitas—indicate their ambivalent position within Mexican society. In this original study, Elizabeth Salas challenges many traditional stereotypes, shedding new light on the significance of these women. Drawing on military archival data, anthropological studies, and oral history interviews, Salas first explores the real roles played by Mexican women in armed conflicts. She finds that most of the functions performed by women easily equate to those performed by revolutionaries and male soldiers in the quartermaster corps and regular ranks. She then turns her attention to the soldadera as a continuing symbol, examining the image of the soldadera in literature, corridos, art, music, and film. Salas finds that the fundamental realities of war link all Mexican women, regardless of time period, social class, or nom de guerre.

Soldaderas in the Mexican Military

Soldaderas in the Mexican Military PDF Author: Elizabeth Salas
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292787669
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Get Book

Book Description
This study explores the evolving role of women soldiers in Mexico—as both fighters and cultural symbols—from the pre-Columbian era to the present. Since pre-Columbian times, soldiering has been a traditional life experience for innumerable women in Mexico. Yet the many names given these women warriors—heroines, camp followers, Amazons, coronelas, soldadas, soldaderas, and Adelitas—indicate their ambivalent position within Mexican society. In this original study, Elizabeth Salas challenges many traditional stereotypes, shedding new light on the significance of these women. Drawing on military archival data, anthropological studies, and oral history interviews, Salas first explores the real roles played by Mexican women in armed conflicts. She finds that most of the functions performed by women easily equate to those performed by revolutionaries and male soldiers in the quartermaster corps and regular ranks. She then turns her attention to the soldadera as a continuing symbol, examining the image of the soldadera in literature, corridos, art, music, and film. Salas finds that the fundamental realities of war link all Mexican women, regardless of time period, social class, or nom de guerre.

Las Soldaderas

Las Soldaderas PDF Author: Elena Poniatowska
Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
Archival photos and Elena Poniatowska tell the story of women soldiers during the Mexican Revolution.

Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico

Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico PDF Author: Kathy Sosa
Publisher: Trinity University Press
ISBN: 159534926X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Much ink has been spilled over the men of the Mexican Revolution, but far less has been written about its women. Kathy Sosa, Ellen Riojas Clark, and Jennifer Speed set out to right this wrong in Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico, which celebrates the women of early Texas and Mexico who refused to walk a traditional path. The anthology embraces an expansive definition of the word revolutionary by looking at female role models from decades ago and subversives who continue to stand up for their visions and ideals. Eighteen portraits introduce readers to these rebels by providing glimpses into their lives and places in history. At the heart of the portraits are the women of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920)⁠—women like the soldaderas who shadowed the Mexican armies, tasked with caring for and treating the wounded troops. Filling in the gaps are iconic godmothers⁠ like the Virgin of Guadalupe and La Malinche whose stories are seamlessly woven into the collective history of Texas and Mexico. Portraits of artists Frida Kahlo and Nahui Olin and activists Emma Tenayuca and Genoveva Morales take readers from postrevolutionary Mexico into the present. Portraits include a biography, an original pen-and-ink illustration, and a historical or literary piece by a contemporary writer who was inspired by their subject’s legacy. Sandra Cisneros, Laura Esquivel, Elena Poniatowska, Carmen Tafolla, and other contributors bring their experience to bear in their pieces, and historian Jennifer Speed’s introduction contextualizes each woman in her cultural-historical moment. A foreword by civil rights activist Dolores Huerta and an afterword by scholar Norma Elia Cantú bookend this powerful celebration of women who revolutionized their worlds.

Patriots, Prostitutes, and Spies

Patriots, Prostitutes, and Spies PDF Author: John M. Belohlavek
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813939917
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
In Patriots, Prostitutes, and Spies, John M. Belohlavek tells the story of women on both sides of the Mexican-American War (1846-48) as they were propelled by the bloody conflict to adopt new roles and expand traditional ones. American women "back home" functioned as anti-war activists, pro-war supporters, and pioneering female journalists. Others moved west and established their own reputations for courage and determination in dusty border towns or bordellos. Women formed a critical component of the popular culture of the period, as trendy theatrical and musical performances drew audiences eager to witness tales of derring-do, while contemporary novels, in tales resplendent with heroism and the promise of love fulfilled, painted a romanticized picture of encounters between Yankee soldiers and fair Mexican senoritas. Belohlavek juxtaposes these romantic dreams with the reality in Mexico, which included sexual assault, women soldaderas marching with men to provide critical supportive services, and the challenges and courage of working women off the battlefield. In all, Belohlavek shows the critical roles played by women, real and imagined, on both sides of this controversial war of American imperial expansion.

México's Nobodies

México's Nobodies PDF Author: B. Christine Arce
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 143846357X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
2016 Victoria Urbano Critical Monograph Book Prize, presented by the International Association of Hispanic Feminine Literature and Culture Winner of the 2018 Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize presented by the Modern Language Association Honorable Mention, 2018 Elli Kongas-Maranda Professional Award presented by the Women's Studies Section of the American Folklore Society Analyzes cultural materials that grapple with gender and blackness to revise traditional interpretations of Mexicanness. México’s Nobodies examines two key figures in Mexican history that have remained anonymous despite their proliferation in the arts: the soldadera and the figure of the mulata. B. Christine Arce unravels the stunning paradox evident in the simultaneous erasure (in official circles) and ongoing fascination (in the popular imagination) with the nameless people who both define and fall outside of traditional norms of national identity. The book traces the legacy of these extraordinary figures in popular histories and legends, the Inquisition, ballads such as “La Adelita” and “La Cucaracha,” iconic performers like Toña la Negra, and musical genres such as the son jarocho and danzón. This study is the first of its kind to draw attention to art’s crucial role in bearing witness to the rich heritage of blacks and women in contemporary México.

The Blood Contingent

The Blood Contingent PDF Author: Stephen Neufeld
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
ISBN: 0826358055
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
"In the pursuit of the modern, the armed forces served as instrument, model, and metaphor for national progress. I examine in this book how the military experience, as representative of the process, failed or fulfilled aspects of the broad national transition towards hegemony and sovereignty. This is the first work combining personnel records and military literature with cultural sources to address the setting of military life for soldiers and their families rather than politics or officers. In connection with nation formation and identity, this book moves away from studies of the army as an institution to broaden understandings of inculcations and the limits and fault lines of building Mexico as a nation. More social and cultural in historical outlook, I examine the creation of political cultures rooted in or derived from the personal experiences of the lower ranks. In doing so, the book removes some of the privileged view that official narratives emphasize in order to explain the making of a bureaucratic institution from the bottom up, and to more clearly describe how this process both encouraged the development of nationalism and limited it in important ways. In this fashion I build on the works of scholars whose focus has centered more on officers, education, and political conflicts"--Introduction.

Women of the Mexican Countryside, 1850-1990

Women of the Mexican Countryside, 1850-1990 PDF Author: Heather Fowler-Salamini
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816514311
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
"Collection of thirteen essays - nine of which relate to the post-1910 period - examining the role of women and gender relations as rural families make the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society. The nine essays are organized around two themes: Rural Women and Revolution in Mexico and Rural Women, Urbanization, and Gender Relations"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

Sex in Revolution

Sex in Revolution PDF Author: Mary Kay Vaughan
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822388448
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
Sex in Revolution challenges the prevailing narratives of the Mexican Revolution and postrevolutionary state formation by placing women at center stage. Bringing to bear decades of feminist scholarship and cultural approaches to Mexican history, the essays in this book demonstrate how women seized opportunities created by modernization efforts and revolutionary upheaval to challenge conventions of sexuality, work, family life, religious practices, and civil rights. Concentrating on episodes and phenomena that occurred between 1915 and 1950, the contributors deftly render experiences ranging from those of a transgendered Zapatista soldier to upright damas católicas and Mexico City’s chicas modernas pilloried by the press and male students. Women refashioned their lives by seeking relief from bad marriages through divorce courts and preparing for new employment opportunities through vocational education. Activists ranging from Catholics to Communists mobilized for political and social rights. Although forced to compromise in the face of fierce opposition, these women made an indelible imprint on postrevolutionary society. These essays illuminate emerging practices of femininity and masculinity, stressing the formation of subjectivity through civil-society mobilizations, spectatorship and entertainment, and locales such as workplaces, schools, churches, and homes. The volume’s epilogue examines how second-wave feminism catalyzed this revolutionary legacy, sparking widespread, more radically egalitarian rural women’s organizing in the wake of late-twentieth-century democratization campaigns. The conclusion considers the Mexican experience alongside those of other postrevolutionary societies, offering a critical comparative perspective. Contributors. Ann S. Blum, Kristina A. Boylan, Gabriela Cano, María Teresa Fernández Aceves, Heather Fowler-Salamini, Susan Gauss, Temma Kaplan, Carlos Monsiváis, Jocelyn Olcott, Anne Rubenstein, Patience Schell, Stephanie Smith, Lynn Stephen, Julia Tuñón, Mary Kay Vaughan

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna PDF Author: Alda P. Dobbs
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1728234662
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
2022 Pura Belpré Honor Book NYPL Best Book of 2021 Texas Bluebonnet Master List Selection NPR Best Book of 2021 Based on a true story, the tale of one girl's perilous journey to cross the U.S. border and lead her family to safety during the Mexican Revolution. "Wrenching debut about family, loss, and finding the strength to carry on."—Booklist, starred review "Blazes bright, gripping readers until the novel's last page."—Publishers Weekly, starred review "Vital and perilous and hopeful."—Alan Gratz, New York Times bestselling author of Refugee It is 1913, and twelve-year-old Petra Luna's mama has died while the Revolution rages in Mexico. Before her papa is dragged away by soldiers, Petra vows to him that she will care for the family she has left—her abuelita, little sister Amelia, and baby brother Luisito—until they can be reunited. They flee north through the unforgiving desert as their town burns, searching for safe harbor in a world that offers none. Each night when Petra closes her eyes, she holds her dreams close, especially her long-held desire to learn to read. Abuelita calls these barefoot dreams: "They're like us barefoot peasants and indios—they're not meant to go far." But Petra refuses to listen. Through battlefields and deserts, hunger and fear, Petra will stop at nothing to keep her family safe and lead them to a better life across the U.S. border—a life where her barefoot dreams could finally become reality. "Dobbs' wrenching debut, about family, loss, and finding the strength to carry on, illuminates the harsh realities of war, the heartbreaking disparities between the poor and the rich, and the racism faced by Petra and her family. Readers will love Petra, who is as strong as the black-coal rock she carries with her and as beautiful as the diamond hidden within it."—Booklist, starred review

The Mexican Corrido

The Mexican Corrido PDF Author: María Herrera-Sobek
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253207951
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
... well-written and well-documented landmark study... " --Choice This book raises important ideological and esthetic questions about the interpretation of artistic and cultural manifestations in a given society."--Hispanic American Historical Review The present volume is provocative in direction and a refreshing addition to the extant literature on the Mexican corrido genre." --American Ethnologist [Herrera-Sobek's] refreshing approach to analyzing masculine attitudes toward the feminine as expressed in the Mexican corrido is not only insightful but courageous." --Inez Cardozo-Freeman, Southern Folklore ... well-researched, insightful, clearly written, and well-illustrated study of a genre familiar in Hispanic culture." --Journal of the American Studies Association ... provides tantalizing insights into the inner workings and meanings of Mexico's favorite folk ballads..." --Journal of Third World Studies Challenging the stereotypical view of the passive Mexican/Chicana woman of the archetype, the author examines the portrayal of female figures in over three thousand corridos or Mexican ballads and shows that in spite of long-dominant patriarchal ideology, the corridos reveal the presence of self-confident women throughout Mexican history. Included are a discography, a detailed bibliography of corrido collections, and several photographs of soldaderas from the internationally famous Augustin Casasola collection.