| |
| author |
Katja Zengel
| | title |
Gender and Nationalism: Women's Roles in Twentieth-Century Spain
| | abstract |
This thesis compares the social and political positions of Spanish women during the Second
Spanish Republic (1931-1939) and Francisco Franco's authoritarian regime (1939-1975). With
an interdisciplinary approach, this paper utilizes perspectives from historical, political, and
feminist theorists to interpret the differing conceptualizations of Spanish womanhood and its
evolution during this time period of the twentieth-century. Analysis of women's involvement
during the Second Republic unveils the underlying sexism within the progressive Republic that
hindered women's full emancipation. Upon the onset of the Franco regime, women's freedoms
were gradually dismantled through legal measures that affirmed Franco's ideology of strict
adherence to gendered social constructs. However paradoxical, efforts of women's mobilization
emerged through channels of social organization that were reserved for women's concerns, such
as the Sección Femenina, which was weaponized by the Franco regime as a tool of
indoctrination. Investigation of laws and organizations that promoted structured gender
ideologies, reveals the roots of Franco's conservatism to lie within Catholic doctrine. Franco's
conceptualization of womanhood positioned women to become "reproducers of the nation" to
ensure the continuation of his nationalist project of creating the Spanish state. The evaluation of
women's roles, rights, and responsibilities during the reign of both political factions reveals how
gender was utilized as a means to reinforce ideals that provided the framework of the Spanish
nation.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2024)
|
| advisor |
Wendy Kolmar
|
| full text | KZengel.pdf |
| |
