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Militant Heroines and the Consecration of the Patriarchal State: the Glorification of Loyalty, Combat, and National Suicide in the Making of Cuban National Identity

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Militant Heroines and the Consecration of the Patriarchal State: the Glorification of Loyalty, Combat, and National Suicide in the Making of Cuban National Identity K. LYNN STONER Militant Heroines and the Consecration of the Patriarchal State: The Glorification of Loyalty, Combat, and National Suicide in the Making of Cuban National Identity ABSTRACT The female combatant, a common icon of Cuban nationalism, is found in every histori- cal period from independence through the post-Soviet period. Unlike most other nations, Cubans have eulogized women who have defended their nation with their own lives and with those of their husbands and children. Yet, for all the fanfare these heroines have received in the nationalist discourse, few scholarly treatments of their lives exist. In- stead, their heroism has been used to exalt male leaders and to uphold a patriarchal state. Their martyrdom has served as a model of sacrifice unto death for all citizens to follow. This article examines the nature of Cuban combatant iconography that followed the Cuban wars of independence, the Early Republic, and the Cuban Revolution, and con- nects that iconography to the purposes of state building in each era. RESUMEN La mujer combatiente, ícono tradicional del nacionalismo cubano, se encuentra en cada período histórico desde la independencia hasta la etapa post-soviética. A diferencia de la mayoría de las naciones, los cubanos han alabado a las mujeres que han defendido sus naciones con sus propias vidas y las de sus esposos e hijos. Sin embargo, pese a toda la atención que estas heroínas han recibido en el discurso nacionalista, existen pocos estudios académicos sobre sus vidas. Por el contrario, su heroísmo ha sido utilizado para exaltar a los líderes masculinos y sostener el estado patriarcal. El martirologio ha servido como un modelo de sacrificio hasta la muerte que todos los ciudadanos deben seguir. Este artículo examina la naturaleza de la iconografía combatiente después de las guerras de independencia, los primeros años de la República y la Revolución de 1959, y rela- ciona esta iconografía a los propósitos de la construcción de la nación en cada período. Female allegiance to male leadership and la patria, so frequently present in Cuban nationalist discourse, is a cultural artifact that transcends the island’s historical periods and ruling ideologies. Women’s heroism and sacrifice glori- fied the brave and recalcitrant Mambí Army,1 condoned the subversives who 71 72 : K. Lynn Stoner eroded President Gerardo Machado’s corrupt second term,2 resonated with the guerrillas’ daring acts in the Sierra Maestra,3 and today defends Castro’s revo- lution in the post-Soviet world.4 No other symbol so permeates Cuban national- ist lore than that of the stalwart and feminine combatant, willing to sacrifice her home, family, and wealth for her nation and its patriarchal leaders. The ubiqui- tous image of the female warrior also convinced Spain and the United States of the Cuban resolve to fight to the death, if need be, for its right to be free from foreign control. Imaging women as patriotic, nationalist symbols is only one aspect of national identity formation, to be sure, but one that achieves a particular logic. The qualities it conveys are loyalty, sacrifice, combativeness, recalcitrance, ingenuity, courage, strength, and the equal distribution of suffering. Women’s exceptional suffering on the battlefield has symbolized the torment of a nation constantly at war with colonizers from without and traitors from within. It has represented national resolve to be victorious at all costs. Men’s sacrifice and bravery were also exemplary, and they composed the majority of eulogized, national heroes. But loyalty, suffering, and sacrifice of the lives of women and their children have been most effectively conveyed by the deeds of female combatants, because they have equaled men’s bravery outside the traditional protection of the home, and they have consecrated the nationalist cause by bringing the home onto the battlefield and transforming the war theatre into a moral arena. Embedding the image of the female warrior into the national ideal also has a dark side, for it sanctifies insurgency and the highest form of commitment to sovereignty: national suicide. By placing women and children within the heroic struggle, the Cuban myth has glorified heroic sacrifice of its men, and also its women, children, and its future. Cuban nationalists throughout the twentieth century have revered martyrdom in ways that are unique. They have not in- voked God, as Mexicans have with their Virgin of Guadalupe, for the consecra- tion of their national cause. The Cuban passion of faith lies in personal martyr- dom. The violation of women, which Cubans have made inevitable by literally and figuratively fielding female soldiers, has been the clarion call for the coun- try to unite and fight. By extension, honoring women capable of killing the sons of an enemy has condoned political violence and embedded it in a nationalist consciousness as a potential way of being. Militancy and death have become properties of a civil religion and aspects of national identity. This article is an inquiry into the nature of combatant iconography that followed the Cuban wars of independence, the Early Republic, and the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Such a study begs to be done if for no other reason than the sheer weight of cultural ephemera that exalts the woman warrior in the post- independence and revolutionary periods. Such evidence calls for an analysis of historical artifacts that projected the female patriot into public consciousness. Militant Heroines and Consecration of Patriarchal State :73 The article, then, will comment on the quantity and quality of heroic biographi- cal legends that are embedded in the national consciousness. It will point out similarities and differences in the ways early republican and revolutionary publicists appropriated feminine militancy to authorize patriarchal systems and construct social order. Finally, it will link female soldiering with concepts of martyrdom, national suicide, honor, and militant faithfulness to male family members, national leaders, and the state. That said, the paper does not intend to suggest an essential Cuban political culture, but it will discuss the conse- quences of public use of heroic biographies for the purpose of state building. La Mambisa Leading up to and during the independence campaigns against Spain, Cuban leaders and intellectuals attempted to unify rebels around symbols of patriotism to solidify a nationalist spirit. Heroism took on extraordinary dimensions, with tales of soldiers’ brave and cunning deeds and civilians’, women’s, old peo- ple’s, and children’s endurance of concentration camps, malaria, malnutrition, and battle wounds for ‘‘Cuba Libre.’’ Tales and cultural artifacts of legendary female combatants boosted patriotic morale during the wars of insurgency and justified national sovereignty for future generations. The substance of the sym- bols lay in their subtext. The woman warrior, or rebel, assaulted the barriers of colonial laws just as the Mambi Army wore down Spain’s colonial army. To secure nationalist ideals, male publicists created the image of the female war- rior and used women’s bravery to instruct a nation in new values, such as loyalty and sacrifice to the state. Women warriors a la cubana could fight as men, nurture as women, and stand beside their men in refusing to surrender to the Spanish Crown, all the while asking little for themselves. These women were not remembered for their individual circumstances, ingenuity, philosophi- cal understanding of independence, or female-centered objectives. Mambisas became inspirational fetishes and examples of nationalist will and a modern orientation, but not individuals in their own right. In their time, women who resisted Spanish colonialism set the patriotic example for the independence campaigns. Between 1807 and 1810, young women cut their long hair, for which they were famous, as a means of distin- guishing themselves from the wives and daughters of Spanish colonizers. Al- ready, Cuban women were aligning a militant attitude with nationalism and their bodies with national identity, even as Cuba did nothing to overthrow 309 years of Spanish rule. By mid-century, demonstrations of repudiating of all things Spanish spilled over into sporadic battles and death, extremes for women in any era, when women involved themselves in Narciso López’s fili- bustering campaigns. Marina Manresa became a legend before the first war of independence and stood as an example of sacrifice for the next generation of 74 : K. Lynn Stoner women who would be the mambisas. She was remembered for her fidelity both to a free Cuba and her fiancé, who aligned himself with López’s 1851 invasion. The lovers had cooperated with the invasion, and José Alonso fought in the weeks’ long battle. Both Marina and José were captured, but she was given the opportunity to condemn both the invasion and her fiancé’s treasonous act to spare her own life. Marina refused to do either and was executed along with her lover. Perhaps Marina’s execution was the first example of female heroism that set the tone for those to follow: women were the ultimate patriots, as they simultaneously sacrificed themselves and their potential offspring for their country and their men. As the first of three wars of independence opened in 1868, two women in particular inspired the notice of patriots. Mariana Grajales Cuello, the mulatta mother of eleven sons, one of whom was the great commander General An- tonio Maceo, was memorialized in her day by José Martí for her willingness to sacrifice her children and herself for Cuba. She taught her sons how to use the machete as a fighting weapon, and she instilled in them dreams of an indepen- dent Cuba devoid of slavery. As the legend goes, with all but her youngest son on the war front, she received news of the death of her oldest, Miguel. Report- edly, she turned to the youngest and said, ‘‘Y tú, muchacho, empíñate, que ya es la hora de que pelees por tu patria’’ (And now, son, stand tall, for it is time for you to fight for your country).
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