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Mexican history mexico historia mexicano Revolution women and children niños
Mexican Revolution: Impact on Women
Figure 1.--The mist famous of the Mexican soldaderas de la Revolución was Clara de la Rocha. This is Clara beside her father General Herrculano de la Rocha. She was a colonel in the Mexican Revolution, inolved in tyhe fighting from the beginning (1910) to the end (1920). Clara made waves furing n aimprtnt battle in Sinaloa. She crossed a river on horseback and seized a powerplant. The section enables the rebels to attck in force. Her hairdo was adopted by thar worn by Hopi maidens. This was the hairdo George Lucas selected for Princes Leia in the first Starwars film. He was looking for a style that was not in fashion--something thst would be seen as unwordly. >
Porfirio Díaz established an oppressive regime known as Porfiriato. Elections were rigged and freedom of expression was linited. The Revolution began among the educated urban elite who chafed under the restrictions of the Porfiriato. their opinions, their democratic right to choose public officials and there were many cases of injustices that were happening in the country. Francisco Madero was no revolutionary, he simply believed in honest elections and moderate reforms. But his reformist ideas and brutal murder galvanized the immagination. And the forces unleashed by Revolution would change Mexico forever. The large numbers of campsinos recruited for huge armies maeant that their issues had to be addressed. Mexico was a strongly patriarchal society. Women did not have have high status. Deciscions were made by and for men. Mexican law essentially gave men control over women and the family. Women lived at home and wee mostly involved in family life: marriage, homekeeping, child raising, and the Catholic Church. Mexico's Civil Code enacted during the Porfiriato (1884), severly restricted women's rights both at home and the work place. The massive dissruptions of the Revolution (1910-20) meant that many women were forced to take control of their own lives. Women became an important element in the Revolution. In many cases this was because they lost husbands and fathers who had provided for them. In other cases they followed their husbands into battle. The Revolution was mostly fought by men. There were, however, women involved in the fighting and more importantly every other aspect of the many campaigns, cooking, mending clothes, nursing, as well as setting up amd moving camps. And the women that stayed at home often had to take in new roles and responsibilities to keep the family fed and housed. In many cases women for the first time were living freely and independently. The Revolution was primarily concerned with social issues like land reform. But te expeiences of women would lead to the beginning of a moverment for women's rights after the Revolution. Perhaps the most famous soldaderas de la Revolución was Clara de la Rocha who adopted the destinctive Hopi hair style for young maidens made famous by Pricess Leia in 'Starwars'.
