The Growing Generations of Nicaraguan Women Understanding the Stereotypes and Family Structures of Empowered Women through their Voices by Pauline Chryselyza Alvarez A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in International Studies in History Presented on [May 27, 2016] i Commencement June 2017 AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Pauline Chryselyza Alvarez for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in International Studies in History presented on [May 27, 2016]. Title: The Growing Generations of Nicaraguan Women: Understanding the Stereotypes and Family Structures of Empowered Women through their Voices Abstract approved: ____________________________________________________________ This particular study focuses on the changes in the ideas and perspectives of Nicaraguan women throughout the span of several generations. With the gaining popularity and successful strides that women have made to advance the Women’s Movement in Nicaragua, the definition of empowerment, the ideology of stereotypes, and the manner in which family is structured have transformed. Through oral histories from a range of Nicaraguan women, empowerment, stereotypes, and family structure are analyzed to comprehend in what way these aspects have or have not changed. Through the interviews, women explained their personal beliefs about what they had interpreted based on their experiences. From their dialogue, empowerment connections were made with historical events based on ages. In relation to stereotypes, women had affiliated their perspectives with women’s actions, appearances, and purpose. Lastly, in regards to family structure, women had alluded to several different themes leaving the topic open for interpretation. ii © by Pauline Chryselyza Alvarez [May 27, 2016] All Rights Reserved iii Bachelor of Arts in International Studies in History thesis of Pauline Chryselyza Alvarez presented on [May 27th, 2016]. Approved: I understand that my thesis will become part of the collection of Oregon State University. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request. I also affirm that the work represented in this thesis is my own work. Pauline Chryselyza Alvarez, Author iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For all the encouragement and bravery of all Nicaraguan women that I had the privilege and honor to work, to speak, and to build a relationship with… Para todas las mujeres nicaragüense que tuve la valentía y el estímulo. Gracia para el privilegio y el honor para trabajar, hablar, y crear una relación con usted… Eimeel Castillo Eva Parrales María Teresa Gómez Castillo Morealía Ramos Norma Chavarria Verónica Ríos Rosa Chavarria María Dolores Salgado Carolina Corrales Josefa Dolores Salinas María Eduviges Karla Sánchez María Teresa Fuentes Mayra Sánchez Magda Ivett Gómez González Aynn Setright María Petrona Hernández Violeta Sarria Torres Silda Leytón Hilda Alegría Vega Nidia Diez López Jessica Azusena Ríos Vílchez Yari Medina Marta Yadira María Haydee Mora Karla Patricia Blandón Zamora Aracely Alfaro Morales v TABLE OF CONTENT Introduction……………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………….03 Interpretation of Historiography……………..………………………………………………………………..04 During the Dictatorship………………………………………………………………………………..04 During the Revolution…..……………………………………………………………………………..07 During the Change……………………………………………………………………………………….09 Methodology.…………………………………………………………………………………………………………11 Managua……………………………………………………………………………………………………..11 Matagalpa……………………………………………………………………………………………………13 Demographics………………………………………………………………………………………………………..15 Empowerment…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..17 Transcripts……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..18 ¿Qué es su definición del empoderamiento?..........................................................18 ¿Usted cree que el Movimiento ha tenido un impacto en el empoderamiento? ¿En que manera?......................................................................................................22 Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….26 Final Thoughts……………………………………………………………………………………………………….30 Defining Empowerment……………………………………………………………………………….30 Impact of Women’s Movement on Empowerment………………………………………….32 Stereotypes……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….35 Transcripts……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..36 ¿Usted cree que hayan estereotipos sobre las mujeres? ¿Qué son ejemplos? ¿Usted cree que hay un cambio en los estereotipos?...............................................36 1 Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….42 Final Thoughts……………………………………………………………………………………………………….45 Example of Stereotypes………………………………………………………………………………..45 The Change in Stereotypical Perspectives……………………………………………………….48 Family Structure………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..52 Transcripts……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..53 ¿Usted cree que haya un cambio en su estructura de la familia? ¿En qué manera?..................................................................................................... ................53 Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….58 Final Thoughts……………………………………………………………………………………………………….60 Change……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..63 Transcripts……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..64 ¿Qué ha cambiado para las mujeres en su opinión?...............................................64 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..69 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..71 Primary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….72 Secondary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………74 2 INTRODUCTION 3 INTERPRETATION OF HISTORIOGRAPHY The “Interpretation of Historiography” represents a collection of anecdotes and my personal explanations about the experiences that Nicaraguan women faced throughout the generations. During the Dictatorship 1850s-1950s For women, living in a machista society meant that from the moment they are born they are told through societal norms who to be and what they cannot do to represent a persona that their society accepts. This ideology inhibits women to the home as housemaids, caring for children and catering head-to-toe to their male family members, and enforcing a certain hierarchal structure in their families.1 Women must petition to enter higher-level education and reflect a submissive persona to men. In the 1850s in Nicaragua, what a woman could and could not do began to change. The women in Nicaragua, like others in many other macho idealistic countries, no longer wanted to live a life that did not belong to them. While not every single Nicaraguan ascribed to the belief that women held less importance than a man, many did not recognize their strides for equality, which benefited Nicaraguan women and their cause. However, not until 1852, when Josefa Vega petitioned the court for her right to attend a university and won, when women decided to follow her example and demanded their right to high-level education as well. 2 At first, women rallied behind Vega, in efforts to start the Nicaraguan Women’s Movement. However, not until a century later did women organize together to achieve their first, official political right. By the 1930s, at the same time that the Somoza family began to overthrow the government with the control of the Guardia Nacional, women also began to construct collectives in order to 1 Steven F. White and Esthela Calderón, “Social Customs: Nicaraguan Women in a Sexist Society,” in Culture and Customs of Nicaragua, (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2008), 58-61. 2 Josefa Vega was not dismissed like other women, because of her family background. Her father was a politician at the time of her petition, and her family had strong contributions with the Spanish and indigenous people of Nicaragua. Since her family had a political connection and strong influence in the Granada community, her petition was granted. Victoria Gonzalez-Rivera, Before the Revolution: Women’s Rights and Right-Wing Politics in Nicaragua, 1821-1979. (United States of America: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2011), 26. 4 fight for Women’s Suffrage. 3 Juanita Molinda de Fromen and Josefa Toledo de Aguerri led the feminist efforts at this time. Toledo de Aguerri shared a strong relationship with Luis Manuel Debayle, their relationship later became leverage for the Somoza family to gain influence in the Movement’s Women. 4 Nonetheless, Toledo de Aguerri envisioned specific needs for the suffragist. Her vision revolved around education, politics, protections, and work opportunities for all women of all classes. In 1955, with Salvadora Debayle de Somoza’s administration and both the Conservative and Liberal Parties, women won the right to vote, and the Somoza family gained their support from a fraction of Nicaraguan women. 5 After World War II, Nicaragua reached an economic crisis of high unemployment, overcrowding, and wrongful land distribution which mostly affected women.6 With the unfair distribution of land in the countryside, women left for the city in hopes of finding jobs to support their families back at home, in the countryside. While the population doubled in Managua at this time, working women made up more than half the population.7 With the Somoza dictatorship in full effect, the Women’s Movement could only survive with their support. Somoza ripped the unity of the Women’s Movement in several directions. Nonetheless, “[s]omocista women as a whole backed the Somoza family and its Liberal Party in exchange for suffrage