Feminism in Latin America

The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. Please help improve the lead and read the lead layout guide. (January 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Latin American feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and achieving equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for Latin American women.^[1][2] This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. People who practice feminism by advocating or supporting the rights and equality of women are feminists.^[3]

Latin American feminism exists in the context of centuries of colonialism, the transportation and subjugation of slaves from Africa, and the mistreatment of native people.^[4][5] The origins of modern Latin American feminism can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s social movements, where it encompasses the women's liberation movement, but prior feminist ideas have expanded before there were written records. With various regions in Latin America and the Caribbean, the definition of feminism varies across different groups where there has been cultural, political, and social involvement.

The emergence of the Latin American feminism movement is contributed to five key factors. It has been said that the beginning of the revolution for Latin American feminism started in the 1800s with two women, Manuela Sáenz in Ecuador and Juana Manuela Gorriti in Argentina. Prior to these movements, women had close to no rights after colonialism. However, women who belonged to wealthier, European families had more opportunities in education. Then in the 1920s, feminism was reignited and moved towards political and educational changes for women's rights. In the 1930-50s a Puerto Rican group of women founded what is now considered the current movement for Latin American women. Some of these movements included founding the needle industry such as working as sewists in factories. Then in the 1960s, the movement changed to advocate for bodily and economic rights of women. The 1970s had a downfall in the movement due to a laissez-faire liberalism combined with free market capitalism. After the fall of neoliberalism, the 1980s brought a resurgence of the feminist movement towards political rights. The 1980s also began to shed light on the topic of domestic violence. The 1990s made strides towards the legal equality of women. In today's society, Latin American feminism has been broken down into multiple subcategories by either ethnicity or topic awareness.