by Silvia Chester

For most of the 20th century Argentina has alternated between periods of civilian rule and military dictatorship. The latest chapter, after the army seized power in 1976, was perhaps the most brutal, with thousands of people killed in military campaigns against all opposition. Finally, facing a humiliating military defeat in the Mavinas and severe economic crisis, the military agreed to elections in 1983. The result was the surprise victory of Raul Alfonsin of the center-left Radical Party.

Women were among the most outspoken opponents to the military dictatorship and defenders of human rights. In this article Silvia Chester, an Argentinian feminist, describes some of the development and activities of the women's movement in her country.

Feminism is not a new phenomenon in Argentina. As early as 19(K), women were making demands for equal political and civil rights, access to education, equality at work and, though to a lesser extent, campaigning for the right to divorce, peace and the need for an end to prostitution. By 1920 the emphasis had shifted away from these last three concerns (mainly the preoccupation of socialist and anarchist groups) into the political arena, namely women's right to vote and to be elected on an equal platform with men.

The right to vote was finally won in 1947, much helped by strong support from Eva Peron. Once the Peronist government had passed the law granting women equal political rights with men, women's participation in politics reached unprecedented heights: women were elected to public office, a women's branch of the party was formed and a number of legal reforms introduced to improve conditions for women workers. The feminist movement at this time may have been small in numbers, mainly comprising professional and middle-class women, but this was easily made up for by the significance of its impact on the political, social and parliamentary struggles of the period.

The 1970s saw the emergence of a new kind of women's liberation movement that was much more questioning of male power, sex-role definitions and the fundamental roots of women's oppression. It challenged prevalent concepts of sexuality and the role of the family, questioned the obligatory nature of motherhood, and raised the issues of abortion (still illegal in our country), divorce and sexual violence. In other words, feminists began to recognize that, in spite of women's early achievements in terms of equal rights and legal reforms, certain basic inequalities between the sexes continued to persist.

The feminist organizations which emerged in the 1970s tended to be small and closed, focusing on internal work with only very limited outreach into the wider community of women. The unleashing of repression in 1975. followed a year later by the military dictatorship, meant that feminists had little opportunity to extend their activities beyond organizing a few consciousness-raising and study groups. In the early years of this decade, however, at least three organizations deserve a mention: Union Feminista Argentina, Movimiento de Liberacion Femenina and Frente de Lucha de la Mujer.

The Feminist Union, founded in 1970. was most important in terms of numbers, though it mainly attracted middle-class and professional women. Its main priorities were consciousness-raising, the organization of debates and the dissemination of propaganda. Many present-day militant feminists came to feminism through the Union, which disappeared in 1976.

The "Women's Liberation Movement" was founded in 1971 and disappeared four years later, to re-emerge in 1980 as the Feminist Organization of Argentina. This group publishes the magazine Persona and spreads information in other ways, keeping in touch with international women's organizations. Since 1984 it has been most well-known for campaigns against violence against women, under the name Tribunal de Violencia Contra la Mujer.

In 1975 feminist organizations, independent feminists and women from political parties grouped together to form Frente de Lucha de la Mujer (Front for Women's Struggle), outlining a series of demands, many of which form the basis for the present program. These are: reform of the law concerning childcare facilities, equality at work and in education, abolition of the decree prohibiting the distribution of contraceptives, free and legal abortion, wages for housework, repression of the white slave trade, recognition of paternal responsibility for children, protection for single mothers, abolition of the law which obliges a woman to follow her husband to the home of his choice, and protection for working mothers.

Feminism in the 1980s

Since 1980 there has been a resurgence of feminist activity, much of it extending beyond the usual focus on consciousness-raising. One example is the campaign to change the law of patria potestad (paternal authority) whereby the man has all the rights over his offspring with none of the obligations to look after them. This demand for the equal sharing of parental responsibilities became a rallying point for independent feminists and women from quite diverse organizations, some of which are briefly described below.

• Atem, 25 de Noviemhre organizes talks, debates, conferences and study days on themes such as sexuality and violence.

• Alternativa Feminista focuses above all on the revision of sex roles. These two organizations produce their own publications aimed at encouraging a wider diffusion of feminist ideas and activities.

• Lugar de Mujer (A Women's Place), founded in August 1983, calls itself a pluralist organization and carries out ongoing work through a women's house - the only one in the country. The house, run by a collective of 14 women, is open every day for various activities. These include: conferences, exhibitions, literary readings, video, theater and cinema shows; closed consciousness-raising groups; advice on legal, psychological and sexual matters; the running of self-help groups for battered women; and theoretical discussion in the form of round tables, debates and conferences. The house also has a feminist bookshop, library and bar.

Besides its activities in the community. Lugar de Mujer has started to lobby for the legal recognition of women's rights. On December 12, 1983 our first day of democracy under the newly elected civilian president Alfonsin, the group presented two proposals to the Chamber of Deputies asking for ratification of the Convention for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women; and equal legal parity for children born within and outside marriage, a problem derived from the illegal status of divorce. In addition, Lugar de Mujer provides on open forum for feminist groups of all different perspectives to discuss ideas and initiate projects for communal action.
• Multisectorial de la Mujer is a national alliance of women from different political parties, cultural groups, feminist associations and trade unions, who mobilized together for the first time on International Women's Day in 1984. In a document drawn up for that day they expressed the importance of unifying women across ideological and political boundaries. They also outlined the following demands: ratification of the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women; equal protection for children under the law; modification of the law concerning "paternal authority"; accomplishment of the law granting equal pay for equal work; regulation of the law concerning childcare facilities; pension rights for housewives; and the creation of a Ministry for Women.

In the face of so many obstacles, the commemoration of March 8 represented an important step towards the achievement of these basic objectives. The alliance made further demands concerning divorce and violence and there was a significant contribution from human rights organizations, three of which - Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Widows of the Plaza de Mayo and Families of the Detained and Disappeared - were commemorating the date for the first time. Their particular slogans called for justice and punishment for all guilty parties, and the return of children to their rightful families.

In spite of the existence of feminist organizations since the beginning of the century, feminism in Argentina is weak and cannot be compared to the development of the women's movement in other Latin American countries this last decade. Our organizations are small and for them to grow, we clearly need to make the dissemination of feminist ideas one of our main priorities.

Up until now, feminism has reached only small numbers of women from the middle and working classes, but its impact shouldn't just be measured in terms of organizational development or the amount of actions carried out. The influence of feminism is evident in other less direct ways, such as use of the term in newspapers and magazines, on radio programs and in cultural gatherings. The elaboration of different ways of expressing women's oppression is central to feminist thought and so, clearly, the more widely it features, especially in professional and political circles, the better.

Since the 1983 elections, in which women played a significant role, there has been a definite growth in feminist consciousness. Although women's issues were raised on the electoral platform, many were dissatisfied and unhappy about the limited channels of communication provided by existing institutions. It may have been a negative experience, but it gave them the strength to forge their own path towards the achievement of women's demands.

The reluctance of women in political parties to support feminist slogans stems partly from a lack of consciousness of feminist issues. However, even when the consciousness is there they have great trouble trying to make such issues a priority within their parties. Divorce, an age-old feminist demand, first raised in 1902, may be recognized as a problem by many political parties, but not one is prepared to include it as part of their political campaign. Inevitably, the reason given is simply that other problems are more important, despite a strong consensus of support for the issue. Themes such as divorce and sexual violence remain completely taboo within political parties.

In terms of how the politics of feminist organizations relate to the work of political parties, there is no one common attitude. Many feminists accept the need to work in political organizations, although the majority are not prepared to compromise, arguing that it is very hard to work in organizations governed by authoritarian values or for which they simply don't have the necessary competitive and aggressive attitudes. Those who do make the compromise usually operate a form of double militancy.

In the current development of feminism in Argentina autonomous organization is a necessity for survival. Our struggle will never be recognized if we let it be diluted within organizations with other priorities. Only through developing our own strength can we ever be ready to link up with the general struggle against injustice and oppression being carried out by other organizations, from political, union and human rights groups to neighborhood associations.

It cannot be said that feminism in Argentina is an unknown phenomenon, but it is certainly unfamiliar and the prejudices against it are many. However, it is important to bear in mind that the feminist activity that began in the early seventies more or less disappeared for several years, only to re-emerge at the beginning of 1980. The dominance of the military dictatorship throughout the last decade prevented any public activity, leaving women isolated both among themselves and from what was happening in other countries.

Other obstacles lie in the unshakeable hold of authoritarian ideas and the strength of patriarchal ideology. The latter permeates every area from "scientific knowledge" to interpretations of ideology and psychoanalysis, but its weight is probably most felt in the influence of the Catholic Church which relegates women to the family, exalting their role as mothers and subordinating their sexuality to that of men. Yet another manifestation of patriarchy is the tendency to regard as synonymous feminism and lesbianism.

How can feminism achieve more recognition? Given an urgent need for •spreading feminist ideas, I suggest a few proposals based on my conversations with companeras from different organizations:

• the creation of more space, such as women's centers, for reflection and discussion;
• the dissemination of feminist ideas in the widest possible circles, through radio and television programs, writing in papers and magazines, distributing theoretical papers on women's oppression ;
• participation in all possible professional, political and cultural events in order to raise the specific issue of women's oppression and incorporate an analysis of sexism in every field;
• inclusion of feminist demands in the human rights movement;
• spreading of a feminist viewpoint among women in trade unions
• spreading of feminist ideas within neighborhood, community, education and health organizations and all institutions including or aimed at women.