Situation of Women in Spain During Franco's Regime and After.
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- Category: History: European
- Date Submitted: 05/22/2010 03:02 PM
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‘Spanish women - how their position within the society has changed since Franco’s death’
After death of General Francisco Franco Bahamonde on 20 November 1975, Spain started its ‘transition’ towards democracy. This transformation, sometimes defined as ‘the metamorphosis of Francoism: the gradual transformation of an authoritarian regime into a parliamentary democracy’ (Graham, 1984:8), was followed by the promulgation of the constitution in December 1978 which brought many changes in politics, economics and on social grounds. Talking about the society, the Spanish women, who during the Franco’s regime were treated as second class citizens, got their political rights back in 1977. Before that time the organization responsible for indoctrination and formation of ‘new Spanish women’ was known as ‘Seccion Femina’ (under Franco) where we could find this kind of regulations:
‘Throughout her life, the mission of women is to serve. When God made the first man, he thought "It is not good for man to be lonely". And he made woman to help and accompany man, and to serve as a mother. God's first idea was "man". He thought of woman afterwards, as a necessary complement, as something useful’
or
‘When he arrives home from work, have a delicious meal ready for him...Take off his shoes. Speak in a low, relaxed and pleasant tone. Get ready - touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair. Make yourself look a little more interesting for him. He may need a bit of cheer after his hard day at work, and your job is to give it to him. Looking after his needs will provide you with immense personal satisfaction’ (www. family.jrank.org).
The idea that ‘women should be confined to their homes’ (which continued after Moorish Conquest) was finally brought down (Moxon-Bowne, 1989:67). However, it is worth underlining that even though this ‘idea’ was no longer apparent, there are still families (mostly in rural Spain) who follow the tradition that women should take care of a house and...
After death of General Francisco Franco Bahamonde on 20 November 1975, Spain started its ‘transition’ towards democracy. This transformation, sometimes defined as ‘the metamorphosis of Francoism: the gradual transformation of an authoritarian regime into a parliamentary democracy’ (Graham, 1984:8), was followed by the promulgation of the constitution in December 1978 which brought many changes in politics, economics and on social grounds. Talking about the society, the Spanish women, who during the Franco’s regime were treated as second class citizens, got their political rights back in 1977. Before that time the organization responsible for indoctrination and formation of ‘new Spanish women’ was known as ‘Seccion Femina’ (under Franco) where we could find this kind of regulations:
‘Throughout her life, the mission of women is to serve. When God made the first man, he thought "It is not good for man to be lonely". And he made woman to help and accompany man, and to serve as a mother. God's first idea was "man". He thought of woman afterwards, as a necessary complement, as something useful’
or
‘When he arrives home from work, have a delicious meal ready for him...Take off his shoes. Speak in a low, relaxed and pleasant tone. Get ready - touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair. Make yourself look a little more interesting for him. He may need a bit of cheer after his hard day at work, and your job is to give it to him. Looking after his needs will provide you with immense personal satisfaction’ (www. family.jrank.org).
The idea that ‘women should be confined to their homes’ (which continued after Moorish Conquest) was finally brought down (Moxon-Bowne, 1989:67). However, it is worth underlining that even though this ‘idea’ was no longer apparent, there are still families (mostly in rural Spain) who follow the tradition that women should take care of a house and...