The female vote in the country of Chile
INTRODUCTION
The struggle for the full acquisition of political rights for women occurred with immense force during the twentieth century, both in Chile and in the world. However, feminism and political activity occurred much previously, at least in our country.
In Chile there is a very special phenomenon, which differentiates it from much of the world. The obstacles and obstacles faced by women to access the right to vote were placed by the anticlerical groups that saw in them a threat to the increase in the conservative electorate. On the contrary, the Catholic Church was closely related to upper class women from the S. XIX and vehemently supported poor and unprotected women through charity and charity.
In 1934 they get the right to vote and be candidates for municipal elections. 15 years later and late in the Latin American context, its right to vote for parliamentary and presidential elections was expanded.
It is commonly those lateCaffarena and Adela Edwards de Salas, separated by an ideology, but joined by the same end.
The main problem is that the woman’s vote is associated as another achievement of the governments of Arturo Alessandri and Gabriel González Videla, which prevents understanding the magnitude of what this fact really meant in Chile.
In our opinion, the feminist struggle for the political rights of women is worthy of being claimed and that is why in this work we will analyze the historical process that opened the way to the female vote in Chile.
Contextualization
The first thing that must be taken into consideration is the world context in which the female vote arises. There are countries very advanced to their time and others that, strangely, postponed this right long. The interesting thing, in addition, is to consider that the political rights of women do not necessarily go hand in hand with more developed societies or countries.
New Zealand made history in 1893 and the feminist movement, led by Kate Sheppard, made women vote without restrictions. However, the possibility of being elected and occupying political positions occurred in 1919. Even so, this country is a pioneer in the matter.
In Latin America, Uruguay stands out over the rest of the countries. In 1927 they allowed women to vote in the town of Cerro Chato and in 1938 they allowed their participation in the national elections.
In 1929 Ecuador allowed the vote for women who could accredit a series of faculties and in 1967 they expanded the right eliminating the restrictions. On the other hand, Brazil hosted a bill of Bertha Luz in 1932 and two years later granted the female vote without limitations.
One of the most backward countries in the matter was Switzerland, a nation in which the feminist struggle was arduous. Only in 1991 the full political law to women was granted.
Chilean case
The first time women went openly in Chilean politics was during the question of Sacristan in 1856. That since the female gender was very strongly linked to the Catholic Church, so the most conservative women and who had a better economic status felt with the moral duty to protect the interests of the Church. Archbishop Valdivieso defended itself, who was also always very involved in women’s education.
The political interest of the Chilean woman went hand in hand with the social progress of which they were part. Together with the Church they contributed early to the education of the most unprotected female sectors. Those who came from the upper class made important donations to lift and carry out their projects
The support of women was really very important. In fact, once the State decided to take care of education they withdrew their economic support and left with the Church to notice that, by itself, the government did not possess the necessary resources to make radical social changes as itmade the Catholic Church.
In the S. XIX were already very organized. There was the Ladies Society for Christian Charity, Ladies’ Charity Society, among others. Juana Ross de Edwards was the most important woman at this time because in 1878 she was the richest person in the country, so her donations really meant much for the progress of female charity.
Empowered with the social mission they carried out also continued with their own political work. In 1865, while freedom of worship was discussed, weekly publications of the echo of the ladies of Santiago emerged, which were fervently opposed to the possibility that non -Catholic groups opened churches in Chile. These publications were part of El Independiente, Diario of the Conservative Party that welcomed female complaints for being part of the opposition.
In 1874 there was a modification to the law that allowed the right to vote to "Chileans" adults who knew how to read and write. Interestingly, Chilean meaning includes both men and women, so many of them were presented to register in the electoral records. In fact, for example, the San Felipe Qualifying Board enrolled a woman and the La Serena Board registered more than eight. This news caused a lot of stir in Santiago, but the justification of the provinces was that women effectively met the requirements and had been authorized by their husbands.
This intention was considered by the government as a strategy of the conservative party to return to power, so in 1884 the Congress expressly prohibits the vote for women. The anticlericals agreed to grant any kind of civil rights, but never that of suffrage, at least until they were sure that the votes would not go to the conservative block.
Already in 1890 Catholic women began a struggle with anticlericals and increased the amount of social works they did to captivate much more to their gender. They openly focused on prostitution issues, sexual abuse, women’s childhood and old age, union formation, among others. In 1912 they created the Chilean Ladies League that cooperated hard with this task.
Amanda Labarca was the undisputed feminist leader of the Radical Party. In 1919 he created the National Women’s Council that aimed to claim women within society. He was recognized worldwide for fighting tirelessly for the female vote of Chilean and Latin American.
Adela Edwards de Salas (granddaughter of Juana Ross de Edwards) wanted. Therefore, this second feminist leader pointed to a new direction that was the improvement of women’s salary. Like Labarca, he believed that there were no differences between men and women, but he went further by considering that it was they who held the family and therefore had to access a minimum wage and equal income with their male peers. With those ideas in mind he got many followers, but also a large number of detractors against whom he had to deal with eternally.
In 1931 Carlos Ibáñez introduced in Chile a decree law that allowed the female vote in municipal elections with the restriction of possessing a property. However, he never put into practice because there were no elections during that period. When Alessandri returned to power he was strongly pressed, especially by leftist groups that wanted to eliminate the property requirement to avoid discrimination against the poorest women. In 1934 Law No. 5 was approved.357 that allowed women to vote and be chosen in municipal elections, being the first in 1935.
Obviously, those who were leading the feminist movement were the first to register and postulate the charges. The women of the Conservative Party, such as Adela Edwards de Salas, obtained almost half of the total votes. In addition, in Santiago they achieved a majority because the women who during those years had benefited from their social and charity expressed preference and loyalty.
That is not surprising. Adela Edwards directed La Cruz Blanca and in 1918 he published an article in which he defended his female childhood protection project;She intended to rescue the violated and disturbed girls from the conventillos and create an asylum in which they could form, educate and learn a trade that would allow them to lead a dignified life. Edwards categorically rejected men who did not agree with their ideas because he believed that women had the same intellectual abilities to be able to understand that they should or did not do in society. In addition, she made a very strong political criticism of the ruling class for neglecting and not dealing with the social issue.[Footnoteref: 2] (Edwards, 1918) helped to politicize its gender a lot.
The great scope obtained by the Conservative Party in the women’s electorate scared the other political parties. Pedro Aguirre Cerda believed in those years that granting full vote law to women would not be possible because it was not the right time. When he effectively became president, women bowed much more for the radical party and conservative power decreased. Therefore, the President sent to Congress a bill written by Elena Caffarena and Flor Heredia, leaders of the Movement for Emancipation of Women in Chile (MEMCH) and that aimed to grant them a right to vote for national elections. However, Aguirre Cerda died and his attempt went with him to the tomb.
One of the really remarkable men in this fight was precisely Pedro Aguirre Cerda, who was open to dialogue with outstanding women such as Gabriela Mistral and Elena Caffarena, mentioned above. In fact, some consider Caffarena as the most important feminist in the country, however, he died without receiving any tribute for all his years of struggle and effort for female emancipation and the improvement of the working situation.
As more women began to vote, leftist parties, especially the Communist Party, managed to capture a greater preference. That was reflected in the municipal elections of 1944 and in 1949 the Government decided to take measures in the matter and issued a new law that allows universal female suffrage. Gabriel González Videla resumed the project of Aguirre Cerda and Caffarena and made him part of his government. (Historical Memory, S.f) Worse, days after the approval of the female vote, Elena’s civil rights were suspended under the "damn law" because he was considered a communist, despite being anarchist and not linking to any political party. (Chilean memory, s.F)
In 1952 for the first time women can vote for the presidential election. Its electoral weight was felt strongly from that moment and to the future.
In 1950, before choosing president, women voted for Congress elections, where Inés Enriquez Fröden, first deputy in the history of Chile, won who crowned an arduous fight. Finally, women could be part of the legislative process and see their dreams materialized to improve the social status of the most unprotected sectors of society.
CONCLUSION
Once the background of the feminist struggle is known, it is impossible to continue considering the female vote as part of a public policy of Alessandri and Gabriel González Videla. It was the women who fought hard to expand their political rights, without fear and without hesitation before the male refusal.
The only president who really interested was Pedro Aguirre Cerda and unfortunately is not his government to which women’s suffrage is attributed. If he had achieved, it is likely that he had enriched the country’s culture because he would have high.
The Chilean woman was not socially submissive or politically, their ideals defended hard. Even the most Catholic set aside taboo and double moral speech to approach and help their most unprotected companions. Adela Edwards de Salas did not feel modest of being with prostitutes because she did not attribute to them the fault of their condition but to the negligent government for not protecting them and caring for them.
Those who were Catholics had to face a sum of obstacles that were imposed for being part of the conservative block. The anticlericals, meanwhile, had to lift their own fighting flag and stay together when they were criticized for destroyers of society and family. However, they all armed themselves and continued fighting for forming a space in Chilean society and politics.
They were crowned with obtaining female suffrage, it is impossible to see it in another way. The women acquired the political rights that they wanted so much and, at least in that aspect, they managed to match the height of the man, revealing that they were not intellectually lower than them. They began to participate in a really democratic and legitimate society, which before only created laws for and for men and then went on to represent society as a whole. The achievement of the Chilean woman was not only for their gender, it allowed the progress of an entire country, without distinction of sex, age or race.
- Bibliographic references
- Maza Valenzuela, and. (nineteen ninety five). Catholicism, anticlericalism and the extension of suffrage to women in Chile. Public Studies, 58. PP 137-197.
- Edwards Salas, A. (1918). The white cross. Marian Congress Women. PP 319-327.
- Eltit, d. (1994). Chronicle of female suffrage in Chile. Santiago, Chile. Sponsored by the National Women’s Service (Sernam).
- Female vote. Chilean Memory, National Library of Chile. Rescued from: http: // www.Chilean memory.Gob.CL/602/W3-ARTICLE-93508.HTML
- ELENA CAFFARENA (1903-2003)-Chilean Memory, National Library of Chile. Rescued from: http: // www.Chilean memory.Gob.CL/602/W3-ARTICLE-100606.HTML
- Amanda Labarca – Chilean Memory, National Library of Chile. Rescued from: http: // www.Chilean memory.Gob.CL/602/W3-ARTICLE-92516.HTML
- [Bookmark: _HLK13040235] SMMK, V. (October 5, 2013). 5 Precursors of the female vote in Latin America. BBC. Rescued from: https: // www.BBC.com/world/news/2013/10/131018_100_MUJERES_BASTIONS_FEMINISMO_VS
- The Chilean suffragists: the day a group of women achieved the female vote in our country. (January 8, 2019). CNN Chile. Rescued from: https: // www.CNNCHILE.com/country/lasufragistas-chilenas-el-dia-in-what-a-group-of-women-lograten-el-voto-femenino-in-our-pais_20190108/
- Universal Women’s Suffrage Law. (s.F.). Historical Memory – Chamber of Deputies. Rescued from: https: // www.camera.CL/MEMORY/MITISE.ASPX?PRMHITOID = 21
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